This week, Mike and I are joined by a special guest: Jon Hurwitz, co-creator of the hit TV series Cobra-Kai and diehard Mets fan! Jon had some great conversations with us about his love for the Mets, expectations for this season, the Steve Cohen effect, and much more!

What does the new ownership group mean to a Mets fan in their 40s who has seen “varying” levels of ownership in their life? For Jon, it felt life-changing:

“When it was official that Steve Cohen was going to buy the team, I just remember calling all my Mets-fan friends, my dad, and just saying that the rest of my life is going to be so much better. Outside of my family and work, the Mets are literally everything to me. I don’t pay attention to any other sports teams, when I younger I was into other sports but I just don’t have the bandwidth for that anymore. So my bandwidth is the Mets. That’s what I follow all the time, so as soon as I knew that a guy who was richer than all of the other owners whose wife and father-in-law are huge Mets fans, this is important stuff here. He’s a smart guy who cares about running a good organization; he believes in the process and working with the team, but he really did change my life overnight.”

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This week, Mathias, Christian and I discuss the re-signing of veteran outfielder Jesse Winker, the latest rumblings from the Pete Alonso free agency saga, should the Mets really try and trade for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. instead, and much more!

How much of an impact will a full season of Winker in New York have on the Mets? For Christian, Winker’s impact in the clubhouse, along with his bat, make for another hopeful partnership:

“A platoon of Winker and Starling Marte [If Marte doesn’t get traded] I think is great for the DH, but we’ll see how things play out with Marte. Winker didn’t have a great regular season last year, but when you have those moments in the postseason to go along with the way that you are in the clubhouse, having those relationships prior to being on the Mets with guys like Francisco Lindor, I think it just bodes well for the camaraderie, which was obviously fantastic last season. I expect nothing less in 2025, and on a one-year deal there’s not a lot of risk for the Mets, I think Winker will hopefully be healthy and checks off a lot off the boxes for a good left-handed bat.” 

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Mets fans, an all-new episode is here!

This week, Mike and I are joined by Mets’ super fan and drummer for the band Coheed and Cambria, Josh Eppard! We had some great discussions with Eppard about being Mets fans, following the season while touring, finding similarities between baseball and music, finding out Josh’s baseball bucket list, and much more!

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This week, Marquee Sports Network’s Lance Brozdowski joins me to discuss the Mets 2024 draft picks and more!

Were there any Mets draft picks that were a surprise this year? For Lance, the only surprise was a pitcher like Jonathan Santucci falling to the Amazins in the second round:

Let’s go with Santucci, I liked that pick a lot. He was a tough player to evaluate, however, because he just couldn’t find the strikeout nearly as consistently as other pitchers taken earlier in the draft. I wouldn’t say I was surprised to see him at pick 46, but I think when you look at the arms taken around him, Santucci slots in very nicely.  There’s not a ton of arms that I loved who were taken after him, so I think the Mets did a good job overall.”

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Matt Mancuso joins the show to discuss all things MLB draft ahead of the big day on Sunday.

What should we expect from David Stearn’s first draft running the show for the Mets at pick #19? For Matt, expect the Amazins’ to draft a more polished collegiate bat over a potential high school arm or position player:

“The main prospect pundits online have all done these mock-ups in the last 24 hours and all have the Mets selecting a college bat.”

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This week Mike and I are joined by long-time head of public relations and current VP of Mets Alumni Relations, the legendary Jay Horwitz! Jay had some great conversations with us about getting his start with the team and his memorable interview, his relationship with the late Shannon Forde, his most memorable moment working for the team, orchestrating Old Timer’s Day in 2022, and much more!

What was it like getting to work with a superstar like David Wright for his entire career? For Jay, getting to watch Wright the player was a pleasure, but it’s the person who Wright is that makes him so special:

“I always tell people, Wright was a seven-time all star, and as good a player as he was, he was a seven times better person. He has a great sense of community, he started his own foundation at 22, and I never had to ask him to do something twice. Whether it was asking him to write a letter to a sick child or to make a call to someone who was injured, Wright was always there, never turned away an autograph, and unfortunately because of injuries that happened might still be playing, and probably well on his way to a hall of fame career too. But, he is just a delightful person and really understood what it meant to be a player in New York.”

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This week I’m joined by Mets 2023 fourth-round pick A.J. Ewing—who was just promoted to St. Lucie—for some great discussions about his first offseason as a professional, the biggest differences going to pro ball, learning a new position, expectations for this season, and more!

What was it like making the jump from high school to professional baseball? For A.J., there were a few immediate differences from the even the highest amateur levels:

 “You definitely can’t take anything off once you get here. In high school and going through the travel ball circuit, you’ll have some pitchers that can really bring it, but then you have some other guys that don’t have as good of stuff. Once you get here, though, everyone throwing stuff that moves like crazy, everyone has the velocity, so you really have to be locked in at all times and no at bats can be taken off. Even on defense you need to be locked in every pitch for all nine innings of every single out.”

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Edwin Díaz. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

Mets fans, an all-new episode is here!

This week, Mike Mayer joins the show once again to discuss Edwin Díaz 2024 struggles and if there should be cause for concern long-term, Luis Severino‘s success in Queens and a possible extension to anchor the Mets rotation should Mark Vientos get the everyday third baseman job from the struggling Brett Baty, and more!

What has been the most troubling sign of Edwin Díaz’s struggles in 2024? For Mike, velocity and command are the two most obvious hurdles for Díaz right now, but expect the former all-star to settle back in the longterm:

“Obviously Diaz’s struggles are a big surprise. He looked healthy when he pitched in spring training as well as to start the regular season, so this certainly isn’t something the Mets were expecting. They’ve had some games recently that looked like wins where with Díaz in to close you expect them to be wins, so they feel a lot bigger than a blown lead when it’s Díaz that’s doing it. So to me it always comes back to “stuff”, and anyone’s going to lack some confidence when their fastball is three to four miles per hour slower than it was before, when their slider isn’t getting the same break as it did before, or have command of those pitches like you did before.”

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This week, I’m joined by Mets radio announcer Keith Raad to preview the 2024 season. Keith shares his thoughts on Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns’ first spring training running the club, Pete Alonso‘s contract situation, the return of Edwin Díaz, and much more!

What is Keith looking forward to most in the booth for 2024? Besides calling an abundance of Alonso home runs, Keith can’t wait for Edwin Díaz‘s trumpets to triumphantly return to Citi Field:

“From a personal standpoint, going to London in June is going to be really cool…and of course, Edwin Díaz pitching at Citi Field. I was unable to see that last year in my first year in the majors, but the trumpets and to see him pitch on a big stage…you know the game is over over, you just want to see kind of like in the movie Gladiator, “how are these bodies going to die today?” Outside of Díaz, of course the Alonso situation, I’m excited to see how Starling Marte bounces back, there really are a lot of things here on this roster to gets excited for.”

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This week, I’m joined by Mets beat reporter for FanNation and former MMO writer Pat Ragazzo! Pat and I discuss the Kodai Senga injury news and if the team will look to add more pitching help as well as the possibility of the Mets upgrading their DH before the season begins while Pat updates us on how Brett Baty and Mark Vientos have fared so far and much more!

With the news of Senga’s shoulder injury, might we see the Mets sign another significant starting pitcher before Opening Day? According to Pat, who you’re seeing now is who you’re going to get for the 2024 starting rotation, with room for minor league prospects to contribute:

“The Mets really don’t know how long Senga could be out, it could be months and that all depends on when his symptoms begin to subside, but David Stearns said in his press conference that he still expects Kodai to make a significant amount of starts for the Mets in 2024…now, the theme of today among fans has been to go and sign Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell. The problem with that scenario is that the Mets would have to pay 110% luxury tax on every dollar of that contract if they were to sign a Snell or Montgomery, which would double the value figure of the contract, and the Mets are just not going to that, which is why Stearns said they are confident in the depth that they have within the organization and the rotation.”

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