Former Met Mark Canha made a recent appearance on the podcast “The Show” with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, where he talked about a range of topics from being a Brewer, to Tommy Pham‘s comments on Mets’ players’ work ethics, to being teammates with Pete Alonso.

Canha joined the show and first spoke about the trade that sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers: “It was wild, and it’s a tough experience… It took a minute, it did take probably a week or maybe two weeks for the dust to settle and for you to start feeling comfortable and kind of normal again.”

Photo by Roberto Carlo

Canha was very outspoken while he was still a Met that he loved living in New York City, and while the trade was tough on him in the sense that he had to uproot himself and his family to a new city, he has certainly settled in. In 46 games since the trade, Canha has compiled an .839 OPS and has exceeded even the Brewers’ expectations of what he would provide for the team.

Naturally, the conversation shifted shortly after to the Mets. After saying he felt “lighter” in Milwaukee, Canha was asked by Sherman if his time with the Mets this year was “heavy,” to which Canha responded: “I think it’s heavy in New York, regardless of the circumstances it’s heavy in New York. I think it was heavy in New York last year. It’s always going to be that way.”

Canha explained that he knew what to expect in New York coming in as a free agent before the 2022 season, but it felt more real this year with the massive drop in performance on the field from the whole team. That allowed Heyman to segue into what has been a hot topic recently: Tommy Pham’s statement that the Mets’ position players were the “least-hardest working” group he’s played with.

When asked for his reaction to that proposition, Canha pushed back on it a bit: “I’ll say this. It doesn’t surprise me, really, that Tommy said that. Not because I feel the same way, but because of the way that Tommy works specifically.”

Canha explained that he believes each player has a specific routine that works for them and that Pham’s routine was more intense than most players did.

“Guys are gonna go about their business in their own way, and Tommy goes about his business in his own way. And the fact of the matter is… his workload that he puts on himself on a daily basis is significantly more than anybody else on the team. So I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that other players don’t work hard, I think it’s just, to expect everyone to work the way that Tommy Pham works every day is a little bit much. And that works for him, and what I do works for me.”

Canha concluded his answer by stating he “can understand where he’s coming from based on what he does and maybe he expects other people to do the same as him,” which perhaps speaks more to Pham’s competitiveness, desire to win, and personality than to the work ethics of certain Mets players.

Whatever the reason for the Mets’ demise this year, Canha doesn’t seem to think it’s for a lack of effort. When asked, “Why didn’t it click this season?” by Sherman, Canha acknowledged he doesn’t have a definitive answer but pointed to injuries and suspensions to the pitching staff, saying, “It made it tough to win” early in the season when some of the best pitchers on the team were unavailable.

The conversation took on a lighter tone when Sherman asked Canha about Buck Showalter, to which Canha heaped praise on his former skipper: “Right when you say his name, I just smile, because I love Buck. Playing for him was amazing and so much fun, and just a great experience,” before raving about Showalter’s attention to detail and his handling of the players on his team. “I think Buck could manage any team. I don’t think he’s a part of a problem there or anything like that.”

Canha was then asked about Pete Alonso and whether he could shed any light on the reports that Alonso is a problem in the Mets’ clubhouse, which Canha vehemently denied.

“He feels like such a New York guy, he really embraces that role…he’s so all-in on the Mets. I loved playing with Pete. Saying that he’s a problem in the clubhouse couldn’t be further from the truth. I could say, ‘Oh, well everyone has their own opinion,’ but I honestly can’t imagine how anyone would come to the conclusion that Pete is a problem in the clubhouse. It’s the opposite of that.”

Both Heyman and Sherman, who have carved out great careers in New York media and have spent plenty of time around the New York Mets, attested to Canha’s review of Alonso as a person and teammate.

While Canha’s time with the Mets didn’t come to the happiest of endings, it’s clear that he holds his time and his relationships with the team in high regard. The Mets will unfortunately be sitting at home this October, but Canha will have the chance to be a key part of a playoff team for the second year in a row.