2 Vintage Sports Guys - Episode 13

Episode 13: Join Joe and Paul as they argue who is worse: the Mets or the Phillies. What the ranking of highest payroll means (spoiler alert: nada!) and if their seasons are over.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Good afternoon, everyone. This is Joe Rendacci of Two Vintage Sports Guys. Welcome back to another episode. We did our dirty dozen. Now we'll go for the Baker's dozen with number 13. Passing it over to my partner, Mr. Paul Gallagher. What's going on, Paul?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hello, Joe. Number lucky, number 13. That's great. I'm glad I can bring you such luck on uh on a on a Monday night.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

So 13 is lucky in Italy. So there goes that for the Italians, but uh I don't know what it means here for uh for us.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Born on the 13th, so it's not that unlucky. Are you? But but I hate to interrupt. Please go.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

I really don't like that number now. So okay, so we have let's talk about little MLB. We're a month in, we're a month in, and both your Philadelphia Phillies and my New York Mets coaches should be fired. Coaches, manager, front office, the guy who waters the lawn, everybody needs to play players fire everyone.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Well, I love what the Red Sox did. They just they cleared house. Uh everybody talks about it, and the Red Sox did it. I think I I watched Portnoy talk about uh the owner needs to be fired. He didn't stop. So maybe that's true. I'm not sure. But yeah, I I actually I live in Atlanta, as we talked about, and um I went and paid hard-earned money uh to go see the Phillies yesterday at the uh at the battery, which was a lovely complex in Cobb County, where the Braves moved to a few years ago, and they got crushed. Nola, who I was reminded by the gentleman next to me, was great for Team Italy in the WBC. Uh that did not translate over to the MLB season, where he can't get out of the first inning without giving up runs.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

So your millions your Ivish Brogue is talking about the guineas here. This is racist.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Well, that's that's you know, I I I just said he was playing for Team Italy and he did very well. I thought this was gonna be an exciting season that we had Aaron Nola back. Uh we we have Wheeler come back on Saturday, which we did win, but I think it's a combined billion dollars. What do we have? We had 300 million each, 275, half a billion dollars combined, and that got us 18 wins and 30 38 losses combined. I mean, the Red Sox can't be too far. You probably check in another 200 million, so there's 700 million. Um, we could start a small country and do very well, or we could pay guys to go 0 for three.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Red Sox are 11 and 17, so there's six games under 500. Phillies and Mets, uh you really you're 10 games under 500. Yes. Do you have a whole season to go? But to get back to just 500 is to win 10 more games than you're going to lose over the next three months. So if you're playing a month, 20, say 22 games a month, 23 games a month.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, it's painful. It is painful. I think the saying is you can't win it in April, but you can certainly lose it.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

You can they're gonna have to fight for a wild card. And if you look at the if you look at the league in the Central, in the East, the Milwaukee Brewers are in last place and they're 14 and 13. The Colorado Rockies, who just swept the Mets, are 13 and 16 in last place. So what's my point? If everybody's gonna hover near or just below or above 500 all year, it's gonna make for even the wild cards are gonna be tough for the Phillies and Mets to get back into this thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

And and I think that's what other sports, I know NFL, they love the word parity, right? So if you have a 14 and 13 cellar dweller, well, that's parody. He's okay. I don't think anybody thought the Milwaukee Brewers were gonna be in last place. Um, now, does that mean we're we're turning the page on some teams? Are some teams getting too old? And some teams' formula is not working. I think we're seeing that in in hockey. Some of the dynasties uh are starting to lose. Edmonton goes down three games to one to the Anaheim Ducks, the Pittsburgh Penguins down three to one to the Flyers. Um there is some age there, but there's age in Tampa. Are we seeing that across the board? Are we getting to the NFL's level of parody, which they just love everybody gutting each other and and having a 500 record? So uh it's very depressing.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah, no, parody's not the thing here. You and I, Phillies and Mets, I think I'm the top payroll, and you're number two or three, or I'm what we're we're in top three. So top three cannot buy you 10 games under 500, 28 games into the the season.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Uh yes, but it is only April, and so we will go on a five-game winning streak. It will come back and claw back, and there will be a fight. They'll be playing some meaningful games in August and September. So I disagree.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Will they make it? I'll bet you another one. I'll bet you another one show on that.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Well, you're the pessimist of us too.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

And so you're basically so let's find the realist in the middle of us and see where we where we are come August and September.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

The realist is, you know, that we can do better than the Washington Nationals. That's that's realism. Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

They they were playing about them and the Marlins are 13, 15, 13, and 16, and they they'll hover there all year. But we will see.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

But let's let's see what the young kids can do. Let's see who comes out.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Um, talk to me about your Phillips. Well, how many youngsters are on that that roster right now playing?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Well, no, that's the point, right? It it might be an old team. Alec Boehm can't be considered a youngster. Uh, they brought up a center fielder um to to to play yesterday, who's a young guy. They did bring up a guy uh in the outfield, Felix Reyes, who you know can hit home runs, but they're they are an older team. Harper, Schwarber, Boehm, Turner. They're not spring chickens anymore. So is is the curtain drawing, and we're gonna have a long three years ahead of us, four years in some people's contract case, uh, until it's mediocre. And so yeah, it they're not getting a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, I don't I don't think the Phillies, and I I can't tell you everybody they brought in, but the Mets, they chop their core, right? Pete Alonzo is not doing well in Baltimore, Nemo's doing well in Texas, O'Neill is doing okay in Oakland. They bring in David Stearns, right? The the GM there, who thought he masterminded Milwaukee, and you know, he was all right in the regular season, but they couldn't do anything in the playoffs uh for all his years. He brings in these Boland, Marcus Simeon, Luis Robert, like these people, they're lackluster, and this team had like no cohesion or or mojo coming into the season, and it showed this is like the worst. Again, the key is how much money they spent. Okay, the Mets are good at sucking, they've done this with like their whole like since 1962, right? They they've had like three moments of glory is since 1962, but the payroll wasn't there, like we're paying Juan Soto, like a zillion dollars, yeah, right? Right, right. Yeah, like Lindor, like you could go how much money we're we're paying some of these people to have a nine and nineteen record.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

I you know, I know the Phillies are paying Harper and Wheeler and you know Swarbur and Turner and Nola and Wheeler. Yeah, I mean it's it's they're paying everybody. So let's see what happens. It's not the end of the season, but it's not it's not good at all. You know, I don't know how many more times I'll pay to see them. Um, but yeah, there's some other good teams out there, and maybe we're just seeing the baton being passed, would be my point.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

So at the end of the day, this is just all fodder for the Dodgers to go have a three-peat because how do you beat that traveling all-star team on October again?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. That I don't think anybody can, but they've they've listened the other you can't blame it all on money because we're proving the point that you we you know we didn't spend wisely and we're losing. So it's it's gotta be something else, and maybe you hit it. It's chemistry, it's it's it's being aggressive, it's it's it's clubhouse spirit. You know, there's a lot of things to it that you know, team's not put together, then they don't gel and they don't go on a roll. And and let's not absolve the Red Sox of all their sins either. They fired everybody, so they're not doing well either.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

So I think that payroll that payroll wasn't there, and they still have two more wins than us, and they fired their manager.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

I don't think they're they're not light on the payroll, though. I don't have the Google in front of me, but it it it's gotta be above in the upper half of the league, I would assume.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

So I found it, and we're going back to it, and we were wrong in a bunch of places. So the Mets are number one at 333 million. Okay, Dodgers are number two at 297 million, so nobody even cracks 300, but the Mets. Yankees are third, the Braves are actually fourth. Toronto is fifth. Yeah, Toronto is fifth. And then your Phillies are sixth with 264 million. Red Sox are all the way at number 12 at 193 million. Just a little notable thing. The Rangers are number 14 at 185 million.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

First place.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

And and who do you think the last is just incredible? Who do you think the last place team is?

SPEAKER_00 10:48

The Marlins or the Pirates? We'll flip a coin and say the Marlins, because the Pirates paid uh that guy Connor.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

I'm impressed. You are correct. Now let's see if you go for the daily double and tell me how much their payroll is this year. 62 million. No, but close enough, 77. That's pretty good for non-googling. Insanity. 77 million.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Well, so next year. We can stay on baseball and talk about are they going to be locked out next year? And will they have a salary cap, but also a salary floor, so that teams like Florida and Pittsburgh and other bottom dwellers have to spend money. That'll be the big thing. We won't we won't be sitting here next April even talking about baseball because they won't even be playing, because they'll be locked out.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

So they're for years. I kind of took the owner's side that the players were played paid too much to play the game compared to the owners who usually earned all their money out of industry and then bought a team and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But we're at such a place that I don't care anymore. It's all out the window. And you know what? It should be now a minimum.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

It should be a minimum.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

So at least it's competitive for parity.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Right. It should be a minimum. And all the players that complain and whine, well, their their careers would be extended because they can go to Florida and be a DH and make a lot of money. They can go to Pittsburgh, they can go other the whole market. 10 teams who are spending under 100 million will be forced to spend anywhere between at your number with Florida at 72. So they're going to have to spend 28 million more to reach 100 million. I don't know what the floor is, but it's going to bring in tens of millions of dollars that'll be reallocated. Not to sound like that, but um there should be a minimum. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

So let's talk. Yes, there should be. Like, why isn't there? If you're gonna put a league together, and you know, baseball's kind of weird because it's the only real sport where there's not what's the word beyond parody. Uh all things aren't equal, i.e. a basketball court, uh hockey, hockey ice, and a football field are all the same proportion. Uh well, not the proportion, what's the word? Um the dimensions are all the same. Yeah. As compared to baseball, you build whatever stadium you want. You want to put the green monster up, you want to put uh a foul pole at 290 feet away instead of 340, like some places.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Well, not only that, you can get your own um media network. You got yes up in New York, and you've got other media networks, you can generate your own revenue from having your own media network. Um, there's all there's merchandise. Um, I mean, that's what makes the Shohei contract unbelievable, is that they're selling more in Japan than teams probably sell merchandise um, you know, in total. And they're that's just one market. So they've you could probably do that in Seattle and San Diego and along the west coast too. So they're creating markets and they're creating demand for their product by winning. So yeah, they shelled out a lot for for Shohei, but they're making it back in spades with with media dollars and and merchandise in Japan. Win-win.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Yeah, but uh talk to me a little about what I'm saying. Beyond that, yes, there's there's definitely not parody with with the the stations and then what they could afford to pay and buy everybody like Yankees and Yes, etc. But if every other major sport plays with the same dimensions, okay, first of all, right? Football, football for the most part, is outside. Yes, we have indoor stadiums, so that little but I guess my point is uh if you are the New York Yankees with a short porch in right field, you look to sign left-handed hitters. Yeah, they're gonna hit more home runs, right? So you're doing things per your stadium for your team, right? Right, like the Mets, the Mets built their new city field back in 2009, I think, and they literally hit much less home runs than they thought that they brought the fence in on the new stadium after they designed it, like two years later, so they could hit more home runs.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Well, you could even look at teams like Colorado that play up in higher elevated thin air, and so more home runs should be leaving that park. So, why don't we go out and sign you know six Kyle Schwarbers that just hit home runs, right? You could do you could look at it a bunch of different ways to make your team more competitive than the others and give them an advantage, and then there's other little things like you know, taxes in some states. If if you had if you could play in Texas or California, I bet you'd choose Texas because you're gonna make X amount dollars more because you're not paying uh high income tax. I know that works in Canada as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

So I'd so we agree that there should be a floor minimum, yes, that absolutely doesn't have a disparity of 260 million between the last place payroll marlins and the first place New York Mets. And those marlins are ahead of my Mets and your Phillies right now.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Yeah, we could solve everything probably in a uh in a dispute, you know. So, you know, we'll we'll we'll hope that we have baseball next year. It'll probably be delayed, but we'll hope, and and this year we'll hope that our teams get back to winning and you know, somebody does something, and we find the next stars the route for. So with that, you know, we've got basketball playoffs. We didn't even get to the third major sport, basketball. We had the draft this past weekend, so we're gonna have to do another show. We had the draft this past weekend. Not a lot of players that I saw that were big name players. Um, you know, I think the Rams made a weird decision in drafting a quarterback at number 13 overall, and probably not the way I would have gone or the way I would make up a team when they're that close to making the Super Bowl. They should have probably gotten Makai Lemon or um somebody else that's impactful. My Eagles stole Makhi Lemon. Speaking of him from the Pittsburgh, I don't know whether you saw he was on the phone with the Steelers, and the Eagles made a trade with Dallas to pick in front. So while he was on the phone getting told he's been picked by the Steelers, the Eagles um picked him and swiped them right out. So what do we have? We had the draft, we had NFTs.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I got something with the draft, which I think we talked about. Um I think in in just like last year's draft where uh Deion Sanders' kid was escaping me this yeah, was that yeah yeah, Shadur. Yeah, Shador went what'd he go, fifth or sixth round, right? After he was retracted to the first round?

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

So who who was this year's Shador Shador Sanders who went undrafted? The corporate belt.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

He's a little fella named Diego Pavia, who's who went undraft. So yeah, on a good day, he might have had heels on too. So if he jump up in the air, and you know, like so. But you know, I don't know though. I I actually think that not only was it height, his attitude wasn't the best. Attitude, baby. Ooh, yeah, he doesn't seem to be a genuine fella, but um, there was a lot of good start. I know the Eagles took a gentleman from Nigeria that's never played football before. And he was he's 300 pounds, six percent body fat, runs a 4-6. Never played the game. Never played defensive end, they'll put him on the defensive line, and he'll be an end rusher. Never played the game, got drafted. We've done the same thing before the Eagles, new program. NFL's trying to broaden its base everywhere. They have programs in Nigeria and Europe, and they have more games in Europe, and uh they're really doing an outreach. But to circle it all back, well hang on. I got a question on your box.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

I didn't I didn't hear that story. How do you how do you get drafted having never played? What do you do? Do you just do you have do you declare yourself for the draft? And is there any criteria to be accepted to declare yourself for a draft? No, you can declare.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

I think the NFL has a program in certain countries in which they have a developmental funnel and they promote gentlemen, and uh you go to um the combine. And if you go to the combine, which this guy did, and he ran a 4640, that that puts up a lot of green flags. It's the numbers. So, yes, you declare yourself, you go to the combine, you get into the funnel, you make yourself name, you hire a good agent, and then you get drafted.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

So what round was he drafted?

SPEAKER_00 20:30

I think we got him in the seventh. Seventh round out of seven. So last round, but yeah, you know, you spent capital on him, so uh they have a vested interest to make it go. So um, so we'll wrap it up with you know, we've had NBA playoffs, we've got Bowman basketball cards that have hit the market, and that's the really the biggest product. I saw a product for twelve hundred dollars a box coming out the door. So that's a big one. We've got the playoffs going, we've got Bowman basketball, we've got um Topps Chrome football still going out. I pulled a uh Matthew Stafford MVP card, so that means that I can trade him in for some uh some money, so redemption. I can do that. And that's about it. Let's get back to playoffs. Puck's drops in one minute, so I think we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

All right. Well, we'll just call it there. Say goodbye, Paul.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Goodbye, Paul.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

All right, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, you should say lady. Maybe my wife might listen to this. But Jets, have a great night, and we shall see you soon. Bye bye.