Yankees Offseason Updates | Jets & Dolphins Preview | NFL Picks – The Michael Kay Show – 12/5/25

Yankees Offseason Updates | Jets & Dolphins Preview | NFL Picks – The Michael Kay Show – 12/5/25

SQ WCBS FM HD2 New York. Michael K is on the radio today and he ain’t afraid to say what he’s thinking. It’s the Michael K show on 880 ESPN radio. And a good afternoon everybody. This is indeed the Michael K show. We thank you for joining us on this Friday. It’s December 5th, 2025. Me and you for two. It’s the fastest two hours in sports talk radio. And we thank you for spending time with me over these next 120 minutes. A lot of stuff to do. Um football. The Giants are off this week. They have their buy and the Jets are playing the Dolphins. So, we’ll get into that. We have our two pack for sure. But this is going to be a collaborative show. I want you to be involved as well. So, there’s a lot of stuff to hit on, a lot of stuff to talk about. And let’s get to it. I am going to start um right now with the present day in uh in coaching and managing because there’s a very interesting story in the Athletic by James Edwards III who covers the Knicks for the Athletic and it kind of illuminated uh what I’ I’ve been trying to tell people for a number of years. Now, there are outliers for sure, but for the most part, teams are looking to hire coaches or managers that will be collaborative, that will not go rogue, will not be a lone wolf. And the more we dig down deep and try to figure why the Knicks let go of Tom Tibido, what James Edwards wrote today tells you essentially why Tom Tibido is no longer the head coach. What Edwards writes is that Mike Brown is very very collaborative. Uh before each game, he goes over his rotation chart with Leon Rose, president of basketball operations of the Knicks. Goes over with him so that Rose will not be surprised and if he has conversations during the game, why this was done, why that was done. Then also at the end of each game, he will meet with front office types to go over what they might tweak moving forward, right? Um, in the story, it also says that Brown is very collaborative with his assistant coaches. Sometimes he’ll let them draw plays during huddles and timeouts. Now, consider what I have heard about Tom Tibido. It was Tom Tibido’s way or the highway. He did not collaborate with the front office. He did not take suggestions all that well from the front office. They obviously, and I think they were wrong on this, wanted him to play his bench more. And if you look at this year’s bench and that bench that he had last year, this year’s bench is a lot more usable than last year’s was. So, he pushed back on that. Uh there were also complaints from what I heard from some of his assistants that he didn’t really involve them in any of the decision-making process as well. He didn’t do it. He was about I’m I’m the coach. I’m the head coach. And this is what head coaches do. They make the decisions. You acquire the players to the front office and the assistants work with the players um in practice and stuff like that. But during the game, I’m going to be the guy making the call. I’m going to be the guy diagramming the play. So Mike Brown is the complete diametric opposite of what Tibido was. Now, what’s right, what’s wrong? That’s why I laugh when I hear people argue about um baseball managers, how, you know, there’s no more Billy Martins anymore. there. There’s no more Earl Weavers. No, they don’t want those types of managers. They want managers that will collaborate with the front office, with their coaching staff, will listen to suggestions. It is it is all for one, one for all. It’s not just one. And that’s the way sports are now. Now, are there outliers? Of course there are. Of course there are. I’m sure Mike Tomlin calls all the shots with the Steelers. I’m sure that Andy Reid calls all the shots with um with the Chiefs. There are certain coaches that have earned that right. But even some of the best coaches and the best managers that you might consider great managers, they are highly collaborative. You don’t think Dave Roberts works in concert with the Dodgers front office about what to do, what situations, the lanes to use and stuff like that. I mean, there’s always a knock on Aaron Boone. I believe that Aaron Boon definitely makes the decisions during the game. I believe him when he says that. I know a lot of you within the sound of my voice, you don’t believe it. There’s nothing that I could say and there’s nothing that you could say that will convince you otherwise. And that’s fine. That’s what sports is about. You root a certain way, you believe certain things, and we move on from there. But I will tell you that Boone does work with the front office. They go over analytic charts and and where pitchers might fit in the best parts. Does he deviate from what they they say? Of of course he does. Of course he does. And if it works, then it’s no problem. If it doesn’t work, I guess he’ll have to explain why he deviates. And that’s not just Aaron Boon, it’s Carlos Mendoza, too. Most managers in baseball, they operate this way. And most coaches in basketball operate this way collaboratively. So, the days of um the headstrong manager or the the coach that calls all the shots, they’re few and far between. And and I think it’s awfully hard for any of us to expect to put the milk back in the udder. I don’t think it’s going back. And you know, frankly, I don’t think it should. As long as the manager or the coach has the discretion to make his decisions and somewhat deviate from what might be dictated from up top, I’m cool with it because I think information is important. So if if a manager could derive information from a front office where they say, you know what, this pitcher probably works best against these batters in this line, that’s not guessing. That’s highly researched information that a Dave Roberts might get from the Dodgers front office. I truly believe though, you’ve got to have the manager be the last say. And the way it works in this world though, the manager shall have the last say. But if he if he is wrong a lot, he’s not going to have his job because the information they’re giving you is real time information and it’s not made up and it’s not draconian. It’s coming from highlevel research on what works and what doesn’t. Now, there have been instances, I’ll just leave it at this, as an American League manager that is really a successful manager, but his front office really does dictate most everything that goes on. And one time he deviated from what was dictated. This is a couple of years ago. and it didn’t work, but his team still won the game. Well, when he got to his manager’s office after the game, some of the executives from the front office were sitting there, started cursing him and berating him, and he said, “Whoa, whoa, we won the game.” And they said, “You won the game despite you doing that wrong when you were told that that was not the thing to do.” So yes, sometimes it does get dra draconian and I think there is a line that it could cross, but the fact that Mike Brown is collaborating with Leon Rose and the Knicks front office, does that make him weak? No. Makes him smart because those are the rules of engagement to get the job. And again, when I was trying to investigate, why would they get rid of Tibido who took him to game six of the Eastern Conference Finals as far as the Knicks have gone since 2000? The thing that I kept hearing from different people, he never listened to anybody. He didn’t want to hear it from anybody. Now, if you want to defend Tibs, and I’m a defender of Tibs, you know what? It worked out pretty well. They did get to within two wins of going to the NBA finals. Within two wins. And the team they lost to, the Indiana Pacers, turned out to be much better than everyone all of us thought that they they were. So, he didn’t lose to a team that was bad. You can say, “Well, the Knicks were favored in that series.” Well, you know, that doesn’t mean that the oddsmakers are right by any stretch of the imagination. So, Tibs did it his way and took the team a long way, but the Knicks felt, you know what, we’ve got information to give. We need a coach that’s a little bit more agreeable and pliable. and also his own assistant coaches felt that he was very very um exclusionary when it came to making decisions. Every decision you saw on that floor came from Tom Tibido’s head. That’s not a bad head to have information come from. This is an old wise guy who knows exactly what he’s doing and it showed by the improvement the Nixon made. But the front office could say, “Well, a lot of that improvement is we got some great players for Tom Tibido.” And they did. They’re the ones that got Jaylen Brunson. They’re the ones that got Josh Hart, OG Anobi. They they made those deals to give him the players that he can make the decisions on. But when you read the story, you’ll see this is the new world. And for all of you that sit back and you watch the games and you’re the fans, you’re the people that pay the bills and you want a guy who’s going to be a screamer or who’s going to be um a guy who embarrasses his players. That’s not the way it works in 2025 and moving forward. You can even look in the postgame press conference. Tibido was not expansive in his answers. You know, sometimes was short, didn’t give you much. Mike Brown is a chatterbox. Loves to talk, gives you all the information, opens up his soul, and that’s the job. That’s one of the main jobs now of a person leading a team. You’re the face of the team. You are the liaison to the fans to tell them exactly what’s going on. And the Knicks felt that Mike Brown would be better with that and would be more agreeable with some of the players and suggestions from them. So my advice to you, give that story a read because it does tell you about the new world that we live in and the things that you hope and dream for. You know, that dictatorial type of of um of leadership. It’s not embraced anymore. It’s not embraced by players and it’s not embraced by front offices who have information that they want to get to a manager or coach and have that information used and disseminated in the right way. I can’t blame them because organizations are spending a truckload of money on getting this information, finding a better way um to to work a win or the most effective way to get to a victory. and they don’t want to be ignored, nor should they be. There’s too much time, effort, and money put into acquiring that information to just sit back and go, “Well, we we have a coach that doesn’t want to use it.” Well, that coach is not going to be uh employed for a long time. You know, they the the New England Patriots, they hung with Bill Bich because Bill Bich won. Bill Bich was not collaborative. It was his way of the highway. But then a couple of losing seasons, the fact that he wasn’t inclusive with the Craft family, he lost his job, despite six Super Bowls, despite making that organization so much money, that is not the way it’s done anymore. I don’t think Varel is any pushover. But I think that Vrabel has a better relationship with the crafts and the front office. That’s what you need. It’s It’s not It’s not the way it used to be. That that’s pretty much what I’m trying to tell you. And with James Edwards III and the Athletic trying to tell you about the Knicks, it’s not that way anymore. It’s not Red Holtzman and Danny Whan, the only two people sitting on the bench as the Knicks won, you know, two championships. No, no, that’s not the way it is anymore. You take a look at an NBA bench, there’s a second row of coaches. There’s not enough room on that one row. There’s a second row of coaches. They all have iPads and those iPads have information. So before you knock a Dave Roberts or a Carlos Mendoza or an Aaron Boone, this is the way of the world. This is the way of the world. Again, outliers, sure, but those outliers better win. And if they don’t win, they’re going to lose their job. And the next guy that’s going to be hired is going to be much more agreeable and collaborative. 1 800 9193776. Let’s go to Greg on the work truck. Start it off, Greg. Leading off, I should say. Yeah. How are you on this Friday, Michael? I’m doing great. How about you? Fine and dandy. Thank you for asking. I I couldn’t agree more with with your assessment. For context, I’m not a basketball fan, but I can relate to the baseball side. But you hit the nail on the head. Dirty Martin isn’t coming through the Yankee doors, and Wally Backman for sure isn’t coming through the Mets doors to manage anything. No, it’s it’s like you said, it’s going to be uh Sunshine and Daisies, as I put it, with the managers where they’re going to be these guys best friend. Well, not so and not not only the best friend of the players, but also to work closely with the front office and not dismiss them as being intrusive. They can’t look at it as being intrusive. They have to look at it as being helpful. They’ve got information that they don’t have that the manager doesn’t have working on his own. I mean, you know, Tony Larusa, let’s look at Earl Weaver. Earl Weaver used to keep individual matchups on index cards. He was well ahead of his time. He had people tracking that. Maybe the trainer Ralph Salon maybe, but he had information. Well, this guy’s like six for 17 against this pitcher and he used that. Now, let’s take that to the the nth degree. Not only do they know that this guy’s six for 17 against this pitcher, but the six hits he got were off of breaking balls and this guy doesn’t throw that breaking ball anymore. So that six for 17 doesn’t really mean anything. That’s the kind of information they’re getting. That’s the kind of information they’re getting. You can’t dismiss it. You might not like it. You might not like it because we’ve been raised in a different era. Well, now we have to grow just like the sport has grown. Mike Brown’s done just fine with the Knicks. Is he going to take the team as far as Tibido did? We’ll see. That’s going to be the ultimate scorecard, right? That’ll be the ultimate scorecard. Let’s go to John and Chadam. John. Hey, Michael. Yeah, you’re so you’re so you’re so right about the general manager wants to be involved on every little thing. Wasn’t there a time the uh maybe they should go back to it that the manager was the general manager also? So you do away it’s too much work the owner. Yeah I I know because there’s so much to do and everything else but the I think the reason Tibs got fired was he he wasn’t 100% on board with the trade. Uh, Randall and Deb Venenzo were his kind of players and I I just think it was known but not known to the media that he wasn’t on board 100% on board with that trait. Well, I I I’m listen I can’t speak to that, John, because I’ve never heard that. uh you know he he had already coached uh Carl Anthony Towns in Minnesota and they seemed like they worked over whatever problems they might have had. Uh I just think it comes down to Tibs was an oldtime guy. Didn’t want people interfering from upstairs and these were his friends. These are his closest friends in the world like Leon Rose and William Wesley. But there were other people too. There are analytics groups and stuff like that. He didn’t want any part of it. Now, he looked at it, but he did what he wanted to do. And he coached the way he wanted to coach and no one was going to tell him how to do it. And as long as you succeed, well, it gets done. Then you could keep your job. Now, you can make the argument, well, he did succeed last year. He didn’t get the ultimate prize, but he certainly did as well as any Nick coach has done in forever, about a quarter of a century. but they they want more and they think to move, you know, take that next step and to win that championship, they did not want an all or nothing guy. And that’s what that’s what Tibs was. And, you know, I talked to a couple people around the Knicks who, you know, I’m close with and and they’re very familiar with what goes on and they said like last year Tom was like kind of brutal to be around. He didn’t he he just didn’t want to hear it from anybody. He was very short with people. And these are people that, you know, are are part of the Nick organization. And as I said, some of the the assistant coaches felt like like, why are we here? Why why are we here if if he’s not going to listen to us? Let’s go to Stephen in New Jersey. Stephen, how you doing, Mike? How’s everything going? Hope I’m good. How you doing? I’m doing good. I’m alive. Can’t can’t complain. There you go. Oh, that’s um yes, Tom. You can see at times Tom Tibido arguing with Rick Brunson because Rick Brunson’s pointing out, you know, something that’s going on with on the court and Tom is literally just brushing him off and and it was a couple times it was in the uh the Indiana series and in the Boston series. Uh he just was like, “All right, whatever.” Like he just walks off. And it’s like, you can’t be stubborn like that. You got to be able to to listen to the staff. You got to be able to listen to everyone cuz they’re all out there fighting for the same cause. And it’s like no one’s above another. I mean, I know that you’re a head coach, but it’s like teams that flourish, they all, you know, play with one another. They all work off of one another. They all relate to one another from the head coach to the owners down to the players. So, you know, Mike Brown is doing it. Mike Brown, he just started. I’ve seen nothing but success. I’ve even seen players that weren’t vocal as much last year, being very vocal, speaking up to players that’s not taking accountability when they lacking on defense or lacking hustle, whatever. So, I I I love what I’m seeing thus far. You know, do we need uh extra boost to get over the humps? Uh that might be so. Um but so far so good on my end. I I agree. The only thing I’m concerned with, Stephen, and I I don’t think it’s Mike Brown. I just think it’s the roster they have. They’re not that great defensively. And that’s that’s a concern. But it he has he has gotten more offensively out of Bridges than Tibido did. Now Bridges did a lot offensively for Tibido when Brunson was out. But with Brunson in there, Brown has has found an avenue for Bridges to be more effective offensively than he was last year rather than just be limited to the corner jumper. you know, he does have offensive skills and the other night against the Celtics, you he looked great, 35 points and they kept getting him the ball. So, uh I think he has changed the offense. He has quickened the pace. Um but but the defense has not been good and the defense could be the thing that actually gets them. But it’s not because he’s not listening to the front office or anything like that. It’s because that’s a team that they have. Jaylen Brunson’s not a good defender. Carl Anthony Town’s not a good defender. that’s 40% of their starting five. So, we’ll see if if somehow they make moves or or can improve, but that that that’s the issue. Uh I think they’ve got to be very happy with Brown at this point. Let’s go to Dave in Westchester. David, oh, thanks for taking the call, Michael. Um I just wanted to bring up a point. You were talking about the precursor to the uh the um the Hillies. Yeah. Uh years ago, I’m the same age as you. Uh years ago, Earl Monroe demanded a trade. He was injured. He didn’t demand a trade to the Knicks, but he demanded a trade. The Knicks traded for him for two two guys, Slworth and Rearen, and they won a championship. I’m saying you don’t have that many opportunities to get a superstar. In my opinion, the Knicks have had maybe five superstars in their history. Okay? They haven’t won in 50 years. I make the trade yesterday, the day before, today, tomorrow. All right. Let me stop you, though. Let me stop. Be honest. Who you giving up? I want to know who you’re giving up. Who am I giving up? I give either Bridges and Cat or OG and Cat. Somebody on on the internet had it worked out perfectly. Kyle Krishma and somebody else and Giannis for I forgot who it was. Cat, somebody else and and some and so you’d be willing to give up OG on a team that doesn’t play great defense? Yes. Yes. All right. I want to ask you a simple question. Would you be happier if the Knicks go to the finals and lose in six games this year? Or take Giannis right now and don’t give him his two to four weeks. Give him eight weeks. This way he’s completely healed. He’s fine. As long as we’re in the top eight, who cares? Okay. You don’t get a chance to get a superhuman superstar every day. Somebody may come in there and sneak in and get the guy. That’s my point. Okay. I’m not happy with them going to the sixth game of of the finals and losing to OKC. I would rather have Giannis on my team. Take OG or Bridges and Cat and I’d be much happier. So, you’re saying if they don’t make the deal, they go to the sixth game and lose in the finals. Okay. So, if they get Antmpo, where do they go, Dave? What What’s their Where do they go? My opinion is they have a percentage-wise they have a better chance of beating OKC. There’s no guarantee. They may lose too, but they have a better chance. You don’t give up on a superstar. A superstar. Earl Monroe, Walt Frasier, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, those are superstars. You’re not getting any. Jaylen Brunson is not a superstar. No matter what you say, he’s not a superstar. I’m interested to get your take on this because I don’t I don’t know where I would stand. Was Carmelo a superstar? Uh, yeah. He had no team on him. No team with him. I would consider him essentially. You’re right. and and and essentially Dave, I agree with you. If you can get Giannis, you get him. But I do want to make sure he’s he’s healthy because if you in fact give him the eight weeks like you said, you might lose a lot of games without Cat and without the other player that you’re you’re teaming up uh to get Antakmpo. But if you believe um what Doc River said, Antakmpo has never demanded a trade. Now, that could be semantics. Maybe the agent has talked about it and they, you know, there were reports by Sham Shirania who’s locked in more than anybody that they they did discuss a deal during the offseason. So, I’m not fighting getting Antakmpoo. It’d be unbelievable. And I would trade Carl Anthony Towns for Antakmpo. In fact, I would try to make it work without Cat because if Cat could end up being um teamed up with Antakmpo, that’s a scary proposition. And I’m going to leave it to a front office that for the most part has done a great job and I trust them to do the right thing and come up with a package that doesn’t weaken them considerably. But you might take away your chance to win this year, especially it takes a while for, you know, you say give them eight weeks off. Well, there’s got to be some cohesion with what they’re doing and they’ve got to, you know, know where everybody is at any given time. It takes a long time to do that. So, that that’s an interesting aspect of this as well. Maybe you better your chance to win a championship next year, but this year it’s all open for you. This year it’s all there are some teams in the East that have, you know, proved out to be very, very good. But next year, Hallebertton’s back, Tatum’s back, and then Indiana becomes an impediment. And the Celtics, although they’ve played much better than a lot of people thought they were going to, they become a major impediment when you you add Tatum um to Brown and White. But this is the year that the Knicks want to make a run for it. Can they make a run if they make a late deal like this without the cohesion? That’s that’s the big question that that’s what I worry about. We got so much more so many topics I have to talk about with you today. I’m excited about it. I I haven’t booked a guest, anything like that. It’s just me and you for two. 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Hey fans, welcome back to Fansville’s Cheers and Tears. Oh, okay. So, like everybody deals with losing, right? To a rival on a last second field goal. Whatever. It’s fine. I’m totally fine. But I cope with losing with an ice cold Dr. Pepper. M. Those 23 flavors are like so delicious. They totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat L. College football. It’s a pepper thing. Okay, all signed up. Easy. Now, let’s run payroll. What the Hey girl, I’m you with more gusto. Nice. Who’s that? New social media manager, hired and onboarded with Gusto. And spoiler, we’re kind of famous now. Wait, we’re famous. Oh, well, I’m famous. Payroll benefits and HR designed and built for small businesses. Choose a future with Gusto. Welcome back to the show everybody. Jets and the Dolphins. Uh on Sunday, we’ll have our two pack for sure. I went one and one last week. Uh so I’ll have a couple of picks. Um that should be interesting. Some they’re they’re not they’re not mainstream games, let’s put it that way, but uh I think you’ll enjoy them. Hey, game time brought to you by Tomu Irish Whiskey because when it’s game time, it’s Tully time. 700 p.m. the Devils host the Golden Knights at the Credential Center. Don LGRA on the call. 7:30 the Knicks host the Jazz at Madison Square Garden. Coverage will begin at 7:00 p.m. right here on 880 ESPN. Telm do the original triple distilled triple blended triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Telmord. Try the new Telmord honey during today’s action. Glasses up to enjoying Telmord responsibly. Let’s go back to the phone calls talking about the the new age in sports where it’s collaborative from top to bottom and it’s not just resting at the feet of the coach and you have to have relationships with players as well. Um, and be able to explain and transfer the information that you’re getting from up top to the people that have to uh put it into action and make it seem sensible to them. Let’s go to uh Jamie in Yoners. Jamie, talk to me. Hey, Michael. Good afternoon. How you doing? Great. Uh, so I’ve been meaning to call in for several years now about this. I think the lens that I choose to look at baseball analytics through and I’m curious for your thoughts on this is similar to the stock market. If you’re looking at a mutual fund or any kind of financial services products, what’s the warning at the end of every uh advertisement that past performance does not necessarily indicate future performance, right? That’s the way to bet though, Jamie, right? Well, maybe yes or maybe no. But then also keep in mind that like, you know, every hedge fund on Wall Street relies on quote unquote analytics. Yet fewer than 50% of fund managers beat the S&P 500 index, right? So, I’m just I’m just saying there are serious limitations. And I think part of the Yankees problem is messaging. It’s that publicly they’ll site analytics, whereas I think some other teams, even though those that are as deeply involved, you know, maybe don’t cite it quite as much as they do. But, okay, give me an example of how they cite it. Well, you know, they said, “Well, you know, we were looking for the right the the right lane to get this guy involved in.” I mean, to me, that implies analytics, right? Those kinds of comments. Comments are Let me throw this at you, Jamie, because this is an interesting conversation. So, would it be better if a manager just, you know, manages from the seat of his pants rather than without the information? No, not No, no, no, no. I’m not I’m not saying that at all. And obviously you always say that analytics remove the human element and you’re obviously 100% dead right. But I’m just saying from a fans perspective like people I think just need to understand that you know they’re relying on past results and past trends to try to predict future trends. But let’s say you you remove a hitter because uh you know that hitter is uh uh you know you don’t want him to face pitcher XYZ because of his inability to hit a right-handed slider that moves in a certain plane right well maybe that pitcher doesn’t have you know the same handle for that slider. So that’s where human element comes in and that’s why you know Aaron Boon and Mendoza are paid and to figure things out like that. Right. Uh, I hear everything that you’re saying and I don’t think that there’s anything um whatsoever that is 100%. I mean, if anybody had a a stock market uh plan that’s 100%, they’d be a billionaire in weeks. So, I I think you you try to you try to increase your odds. And yeah, it’s not 100%. it doesn’t um totally dictate what’s going to happen by looking at the past. But what’s the old cliche that goes back before analytics even reared its head was if you don’t study history, you’re doomed to repeat it. So you you’ve got to study history and and and I think it’s more detailed than is even made available to us. you know, you’re you’re fixating on the Yankees, but I can tell you the Dodgers are an incredibly highly analytic um organization. And I think most teams now in baseball, we’re talking have some level of analytics, but only one team can win. You know, Don Matt addingly once told me, you could bring in the right relief pitcher at the right time. That was the move. That was the right move to make. And you know what? He didn’t execute. and he gave up a big hit and they’ll say you made the wrong move. But he explained it wasn’t the wrong move, it was the right move. The pitcher didn’t execute. So, I guess this is a long-winded way to say I I want every bit of information I could get. I I don’t fight against analytics like most people. And the one thing that I find that is a a bit of a flaw when it comes to analytics is they cannot put a number on and intangible heart desire. They don’t really go crazy over clutchness and stuff like that. And I think that’s where you have to allow the coach of a basketball team or the manager of a baseball team or the coach of a football team to have the leeway to to say, I I think this guy is better in this situation, although the numbers would tell me otherwise. And I I always quote this one line that that Joe Tory gave me because Joe Tori was not going to be collaborative and have the front office send down a suggested lineup. He didn’t want it and that’s why he didn’t last uh despite winning four championships and going to World Series all those years. He said, “The numbers might tell me it’s time to bring that guy in from the bullpen, but I know the guy I have on the mound, let’s say it’s David Conn, would really kill a small farmland animal in order to get this guy out. And I don’t know if the guy in the bullpen feels the same way. So, I’m going to take my chance going against the numbers and the trends that tell me to go to the bullpen because I know the guy on the mound has the inards to perform this better than the guy that I’m bringing in. That’s where I think you have to give leeway to a Mike Brown or a Carlos Mendoza or an Aaron Boon. They know their players better than anybody. They know, okay, it might be the time to bring in player X, but the guys upstairs do not realize that player X just broke up with his girlfriend. and is miserable and has been sleeping in the back room trying to like, you know, in a fetal position because he’s upset over losing his girlfriend. Numbers are not attached to that. That’s why I think when I say collaborative, I mean collaborative. I think the numbers are really, really important. I think that the Knicks front office having a say with Mike Brown really, really, really important. But Mike Brown knows stuff about his players that the front office and the numbers crunchers might not know. I think it has to all work together. Has to all work together. Let’s go to Frank and New Rashelle. Frank, hey, what’s up, Mike? Um, you know, to the next point, um, so I agree with you. Towns and Brunson are weak defensive players, although Brunson continuously leads the league or in the top five and taking charges, which is a a factor for him defensively. But they get to the Eastern Conference Finals with these two weak defenders. Mhm. And now a year later, they’re around the same area in team defense. And as you have said numerous times, they’re 28th in three-point defense, which was never the case under Tibs. So I when you give credit to Brown, I’m trying to, but I’m having a difficult time. They have pretty much the same. They have better personnel. I know two guys are hurt, but OG should be back. Tibs never had the luxury of going nine deep. He just didn’t. She met was hurt last year. They had Robinson and they had uh um and McBride, right? So, I I don’t know that if defense is going to be the priority, which it isn’t with Brown. It’s just not like it it just can’t be if you’re with Charlotte, right? 28th and 29th defending the three. Um how how much more Nick fan we’re great at on the at home, but you need to win on the road. You have to be tough on the road. It’s not a great sample yet, but I I mean, right now they they just wilt in the fourth quarter on the road to date. I’m going to give them more time, but I need to see this team with more toughness. And that comes from Brown, just like it did tips, same thing. I I agree with everything you’re saying. And you know, Frank, the ultimate report card is going to be how they do at the end of the year. How far they go. Will they go to game six of the Eastern Conference Finals? Will they go to the NBA finals? Will they get eliminated in the first or second round? Then you’d say it was a failure. But if they go to about the same place as they went last year with Tibs, right, then it comes down to this. The front office feels more comfortable with Mike Brown. So they’d rather go that route. They would. I think Tibs and I’m a fan of Tibs. I think in their mind again when you wear out your welcome with people that love you like Leon Rose. I mean inseparable for years with Tibido represented him as an agent. Same thing with William Wesley. And those guys got tired of the my way or the highway stuff. But the ultimate the ultimate evaluation will be do they go further this year with Brown than they did last year with Tibido. That that’s what it’s going to come down to. Let’s go to Mike in LA. What’s up Mike? Hey Mike. Um I just had a want to make a point. I wanted to get your thought on it um about more of the collaboration with managers in baseball. I think it correlates to things outside of just baseball. I’m a I’m a film director in Los Angeles and I see it with studios how we have to collaborate more with studio heads and studio owners that interfere more with the art where back then it was the same with managers. They just get to control the team and film directors used to sit back there and just make their movie and get the get the money from the studios. But now you see it with government with college football and boosters are designed coaches and movie studios are getting interfering with art. And I think it has a lot to do with just there’s just way more billionaires now than there was before and the guys on top just aren’t sitting around anymore and kind of want to stay in everything in entertainment. I I want know I want to know what you think about that. And you know what Mike it’s a great point and there’s also those outliers because I’m sure Scorsesei does not bend to the will of somebody that you know there there are still some people left over from the way it used to be. I’m sure that James Cameron does not change his movie. But if you’re trying to make a movie now, you are going to have to be collaborative. You just are. Otherwise, you’re not going to get the funding. And the outliers and the outliers are in sports as well. You know, there’s great managers, there’s great coaches, and there’s always a few outliers. Those are the guys that go into the Hall of Fame. Those are the guys that get immortal in what they do. But for the majority, you know, not everybody’s going to be a Joe Tory, not everybody’s get to be a Dave Roberts. For for most people, and it’s a little bit more difficult. And I think though the just those people got involved with the entertainment, with the creative process, and now you have to move differently. And I I changed my ways around here and changed my game due to what’s happening. And I see in sports and and uh it’s it’s amazing. Well, one thing one thing I would push back on you, Mike, Dave Roberts is very collaborative with that front office. he wouldn’t have had the job and he wouldn’t have kept the job with some of the at the time seemingly curious moves that he made in the postseason, but those moves were collaborative moves that the front office suggested and stuff like that and he he put into play. So, you know, Dave Roberts is not some lone wolf like you know, he’s not Billy Martin or Joe Tory or Lupinella. Dave Roberts worked closely with Andrew Freriedman and that front office. And listen, we we’re living in an era now with AI that, you know, they’re going to make a lot of AI is going to make a lot of decisions for us. And I’m sure AI is coming into play in some progressive front offices as well because you could say, hey, that’s information, too. So, they’re going to shove all the information into, you know, artificial intelligence, and they’re going to spit out this is the way the game should roll. Again, I think that the coach or the manager should have the right to deviate somewhat from that because AI doesn’t know that player X broke up with his girlfriend. AI doesn’t know that. But they can give you a guide to go which way if everything is according to plan. And I think that with with analytics over a long hall, it will prove right. And that’s why analytics don’t work as perfectly in the postseason because a short stretch might not work. You know, you you have to really let it breathe to let all of the different models play out. That’s why you end up winning, I don’t know, in in in basketball, you might win 60 games, but over a best of seven series, that all might not work out the way you want it to, and that’s why you lose that series. That’s why the Yankees could win 94 games in the regular season, but in that in that one series against the Blue Jays, it all didn’t play out the way they wanted. So, yeah, there’s there’s good and bad to it. And that’s I think at over time it’ll be tweaked more where it will work even better in shorter um shorter bursts. And I I’ve said this be I think I’ve said it twice before on the show. It’s like if you play with a system in in blackjack, if you play for a couple of hours, you’ll end up, you know, probably making some money unless you run into a a a string of bad luck. If you play one shoe, it might not work. You know, if you hold on, if you have a 12 and the the dealer’s, you know, showing a five, you might not take the hit and the dealer turns around the card and the other card’s a six and bang, he hits a 10 and then you lost. But over a long stretch, that is going to play out. that’s going to play out and it’s going to work. 1 800 919 3776. We’ll come back. More to talk about big football uh in the second hour as well. It’s the K show right here on ESPN New York. [Music] Seven cars for kids. Ks for kids. 1877 cars for kids. Donate your car today. 1877 Cars for Kids. 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And right now at Target, you can save 20% on the Lawnmower 4 and three kits, Handyman, and the Beard Hedger. Hurry up. Supplies won’t last long. You live for this. The wins, the losses, the slam dunks, and the buzzer beers. The dream that this is your team’s year. Hope. It’s what keeps you coming back. So you represent with anticipation and with pride. Because when everything’s on the line, your support means everything. That’s why the NBA store is here to support you. Check out the largest selection of official NBA gear at nbastore.com. A fanatics experience. Welcome back to the show everybody. Having a good time with you on a Friday ESPN New York holiday party next Friday. It’s back. this show, the Michael K show and Don Han and Rosenberg, they’re bringing the holiday cheer at your mother’s house in Garden City Park, Long Island. That’s on Friday, December 12th, a week from today. We’re once again collecting unwrapped toy donations this year to benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation. It all kicks off at 1 p.m. with this show on Friday, December 12th at Your Mother’s House. It’s brought to you by Amazon Pickup, Security Dodge, and Spike Daid. Made for big city social stamina. Now, if you’re a Jet fan, you should settle in uh tomorrow and watch the Big 10 Championship because it’s going to be Ohio State against Indiana. And of all the quarterbacks that we know will be in the draft, um at the top of the list is Fernando Mandoza of Indiana. And we’ve had Paul Finebomb on with us. We have him on every Tuesday. And you know, he said something really interesting that Indiana has not played a very stout schedule. You know, they’ve gotten the draw in the Big 10 where they they have not played the best of the Big 10, so to speak. Well, they’re going to get probably the best team in the country on Saturday against Ohio State, undefeated. And Indiana’s undefeated, too. Let’s see if we’re still looking at Mendoza in such a positive way after facing the Ohio State defense. It’s the best defense that he has faced. And I know there’s a lot of Jet fans that are are angered a bit that the Jets have have won games recently and takes them away from uh getting the number one pick, which could be Mendoza. now. But by the time the draft rolls around, maybe Oregon’s Dante Moore will uh come out. Alabama’s Tai Simpson will come out. But but here’s what I would say to Jet fans as you’re evaluating and the Jets will be evaluating Fernando Mendoza as well, the quarterback for the Hooers. The top two teams that will pick right in the draft if the season ended today would be the Titans and the Giants. Well, the Titans have Cam Ward. They used top pick on him. The Giants have their quarterback of the future and Jackson Dart. So, all the draft capital that the Jets have collected, they have two teams at the top that in all likelihood should not, would not, probably won’t want to select a quarterback. So, it’s up for bid. If you see Mendoza shred the Buckeyes, right? If you see him shred the Buckeyes and you say, “Well, that’s the guy now. He’s proven it against a top flight college team,” then you could make that move. Like the Giants, they didn’t have a chance to take draft Drake May. The top three teams in that draft wanted quarterbacks. They were going to select a quarterback. The Commanders, by the way, Jaden Daniels is playing this week. the Bears and the Patriots. There was no way for the Giants to move up and they they tried. They offered a lot to New England. New England said, “No, no, we’re taking Drake May.” So, in that situation with the Giants winning some games that they didn’t necessarily have to win, it hurt them. But nothing can hurt the Jets if in fact the Titans and the Giants remain one-two because those picks could be had. Now you might have to give up some of that capital but that’s why you acred those five first round draft picks for a situation like this but again let’s watch how Mendoza does against Ohio State that’s going to be a big time litmus test. All right. There’s something to look forward to on um Sunday at 7:30 and it could make New York baseball fans extraordinarily happy. I’ll tell you what that is. Again, 7:30 Sunday has nothing to do with football. Has to do with baseball and has to do with some fans favorite baseball player ever. We’ll talk about it when we get back on the K show right here on ESPN New York. Do you have trouble getting in and out of the bathtub? Are you afraid you’ll slip and fall entering or exiting a tub? Safeep walk-in tubs can transform your bathtub from an area of concern to a calming refuge. Call them today at 1800731-4558 and save $1600. 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A progressive home in Autobundle can protect you round the clock, but we can’t protect you from those painful moments in sports. Home defense. The ref totally blew that call. Oh, I’m sure he’ll make the right call next time. It’s too late. It cost us the game. Well, it’s just one game. That loss eliminated us from the playoffs. Oh, the playoffs are on so late. Now you’ll be well rested. Okay, I need you to stop talking now. Well, at least your home and auto are protected with a bundle from Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurance is not available in all states or situations. Hi, welcome back to the show. It is a big big Sunday really weekend for fans of some players that this might be their last chance to get into the Hall of Fame. And one of those guys is Don Mattingley. So what what takes place this weekend is called the contemporary era committee. So those that didn’t make it uh with the writer vote, they get a chance now with a 16 member panel. 16 member panel. Uh you have to get 12 of those votes in order to get in. Matalie has come close before. some think that he and um Dale Murphy have a real chance to get in. Now, each of the 16 members could vote for three players. So, that limits, you know, who’s going to be able to make it. These are the members um in the committee. It’s it’s a hodgepodge of players, executives, owners, and writers. Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Cot, Juan Marishelle, Tony Perez, Alan Traml, Azie Smith, and Robin Ya. Milwaukee owner Markasio, Angel owner, uh, Arty Moreno. Um, Doug Melvin, former GM, Kim Ang, former GM, Tony Regan’s, former GM. um guy who’s so bright in terms of numbers and used to run the Eliia Sports Bureau. Steve Hurt is one of the members and the two writers are Jason Stark and Tyler Keaptainner both of the athletic. So that is the contemporary error committee. So there are people that are on the list uh Valenuela um G um Gary Sheffield but Murphy and Mattingley seem like they probably have the best chance. Now, what’s going to be interesting is that Bonds and Clemens are on the list to be voted on. And and many people, and I think they’re wrong about this, they think that this is the best chance for those guys to get in if they get away from the writers. And I I think the complete opposite. Now, it takes 75% of the writers, uh, it’s about 300 350 writers to get in to get elected to the Hall of Fame. And the writers for both Bonds and Clemens got up to 60%. They both got up to 60% of the vote. So, it’s not like they were ignored. There was a big um swath of voters that said, “You know what? They were the best at what they did. I don’t care about anything that they might have done. Neither one of them failed tests. Um, I’m gonna vote for them. But they they didn’t have enough of those people. And I think what hurt them is a lot of the hardline older voters, they didn’t want them in. They they they would not vote for them. I think the younger voters skewed toward putting them in. But I think players and former players, they protect the Hall of Fame even more so than the writers might. So you have to look at the players here. Fergie Jenkins is old time. I don’t know if he would vote for Bonser Clemens. Jim Cot in the past said, “Who are we to judge these people? Who are we to judge these people?” You know, who knows if it was available to us that we wouldn’t do it. So to to me he’s a maybe. Juan Marishelle, I don’t think he’ll vote for them. Tony Perez, even in his Hall of Fame speech, he kind of took a shot at stero steroid users. I don’t think he’s going to vote for him. Allan Traml, I would guess no. Aussie Smith, I would guess no. Uh, and Robin Ya, I’m I’m not certain, but I would guess no. Atasio and Moreno, your guess is as good as mine. I’d say the front office people would probably vote no. Melvin Ang Reagan’s I I again my guess is Steve Hurt would say no. And I’m not sure when it comes down to Jason and Tyler. I think Jason has actually voted for some guys that have been connected um to steroid use. I’m not certain about Tyler, but I don’t see 12 votes there for either Bonds or Clemens. I don’t I think there’s so many people in baseball though that are going to root for Don Mattingley to get it and Dale Murphy. Dale Murphy is is a guy who was really liked and Don Mattingley was beloved beloved throughout baseball by all players. And there’s a six-year period when Mattingly played where he was about as good a player that has ever lived. But after the back injury happened, yeah, he averaged about 10 to 12 home runs over his last five years, a year. Wasn’t the same player, but when you look at his numbers and you put them alongside Kirby Pucket’s numbers, they’re almost identical. And Kirby Pucket’s in and Don Mattingley’s not. So, I think the fact that Maddenley gets a lot of love from former players who appreciated the way he played the game and he wasn’t a showboat or anything like that. I think he’s got a chance. And I’m going to tell you one thing on Monday when we open the show at 1:00, if Don Maddingley’s a Hall of Famer, I’m going to be in a good mood. I’m going to be in a really, really good mood because he’s a Hall of Fame person. I’ve told you that before. And for those five or six years, you’re about as good as anybody who’s ever played. But it’s the other years that make you give pause. The one time he played in the postseason, that fivegame series against Seattle, he was like oldtime Donnie. But it comes down to 7:30. We’ll know on Sunday. all the uh football games will be over except for Sunday night football and we can concentrate on baseball right then and the winter meetings essentially start on Sunday. So I’m I’m jacked up for Don. I hope that he gets it. Um also want to throw this out at you. So the MLB network is doing a special on game seven of this year’s World Series, which was a classic game that the Dodgers won in 11 innings. And uh it’s going to be on December 11th at 7 p.m. on the MLB Network. I’m just wondering, I don’t know how many Blue Jay fans we have that listen to the show. Will you watch or will you not because it’s too painful? Because although it was painful, Blue Jays played a great game. If Hoffman doesn’t give up that home run to Rojos, we’re talking about the Blue Jays being a champion, but you’re going to have to watch that home run. But there are other plays, too, that was just phenomenal where the Blue Jays they they excelled. Blue Jays played great in that seven game set because no one thought the Blue Jays had a chance. Although I picked the Blue Jays in six, no one thought mo most of the baseball cognizante, well, they have no chance. Well, they they they did have a chance and only Yamamoto, I think, kept them from winning the World Series. So, I guess I could ask Yankee fans this. Would you watch a retrospective of the 2001 World Series, which was one of the greatest World Series ever? I would. Met fans, would you watch a retrospective of the 2015 World Series against the Royals? I don’t know if if I’m a Blue Jay fan, maybe it’s still too raw, but I’d be curious to to see Bob Kostas and and Tom Verduchi break down all the big moments. I’m going to watch it, but I didn’t have a dog in the fight. 1 800 9193776. Let’s go back to our co-host, Ira Staten Island. Ira, what do you got? Michael, how good point about uh set good point about Saturday night, but you know, it’s funny. I saw Justin Fields play against big-time schools. He looked great. Uh Zack Wilson had a had a lower schedule. Um you know how that played out. Sam Donnell played good competition and that worked out well. But you know at the end of the day Jets are going to pick somewhere between seven and 10 and they’re not giving up three four draft picks to go up to number one. Um unless it’s a completely another Pton Manning and I don’t think Mando is another Pton Manning. So, I think the Jets are going to skip on their quarterback. I didn’t believe that was going to be possible, but I think they’re going to wait till the following year. And and I think that might be the play, Ira, because the following year, if if Moore comes out and Simpson comes out, all of a sudden, that’s a great quarterback class. And you also have Arch Manning who would come out the following year as well. Maybe it is. Maybe again, it it it’s Jet fans don’t want to hear another year of of building, but maybe you could fill in the other parts of the team with the draft this year and skip on the quarterback. But again, Mendoza’s looked great, Ira. I don’t know how much of him you’ve seen, but is he a guy that you’re going to trade a lot of draft capital to move up? I’m not sure you can. Yeah, I’m not sure they can, but you know what, and I know a lot of GMs will say it, if you target that guy and you believe that’s your guy, you do whatever it takes to go get him, right? Like the Giants did with Manning. That’s exactly right. So, we’ll see. We’ll hope for the best. Oh, by the way, I don’t know if you saw Sin’s tweet uh or you mentioned it already. Brady Cooks number two Justin Field has a mysterious knee injury. He hasn’t played but he has a knee injury. I think it’s very convenient that they did that. Interesting. Interesting. So now Tara Taylor definitely has to stay healthy otherwise we’ll get a look at another quarterback. Enjoy the game this weekend. Have a good weekend. 1 800 919 3776 Stephen Chapqua. Steve, my number one your show is amazing. My favorite of your two uh guest hosts uh weekly are Lupa and Sims. They’re both phenomenal. Thank you. I have a take on the World Series that I I think is kind of interesting. Game seven. Mhm. Otani gives up a three-run homer to Bashette in the first inning. Yamamoto gives up a drive that should have won the game for uh uh Toronto, but for a phenomenal catch. He would have been the goat. Otani would have been the goat. And they came back because of home runs not from Otani Betts and uh Otani Betts and Freeman but from Muny Roth and Will Smith. Yep. You can’t make a baseball judges. Oh, he’s not good in the postseason. It takes a lot of things to win. Oh, absolutely. And you know when people talk about, well, you got to spend the most money, right? So, the Dodgers clearly spent the most money. clearly and they had to first of all they got into the playoffs as a wild card. Got into playoffs as a wild card. Uh for all intents and purposes they probably should have lost the World Series because the Blue Jays overall outplayed them. The Blue Jays just didn’t didn’t have a a counter to Yamamoto, you know, pitching on no rest. Um but the Dodgers just got by by the skin of their teeth by a team that was, you know, against a team that was fifth in payroll. fifth in payroll and the Dodgers were far and away number one. Yeah. Does it help cover up some mistakes? Sure it does. You know, we talked yesterday like if the Yankees decide to stay under 300 million. It doesn’t mean doom. It just means that the front office has to get creative. And I believe in this front office. I believe that this front office will get creative. You think they’re going to go into a season and and not want to be in a competitive team that has a chance to win a championship? I don’t believe it. I’ve been around this organization too long to believe that they’re just going to cash in their chips and go, “Well, not this season.” They will be a really, really good team when it’s all put together. You can’t judge it now on December 5th. The winter meetings haven’t even happened yet. Let’s see what they do. I think Brian Cashman can pull a rabbit out of the hat. And I also believe and I I I’ve long disagreed with people who say this, how Steinberg wants to win just as much as you want him to win. For those that say all he cares about is making a profit. He wants to win as much as you want to win. You know, there’s ego involved in wants to be able to put together a team that won. And the team in 2009 that won that was Hal Steiner’s team. His dad was still alive. Hal Steinber was calling the shots. so desperately wants to win and if push came to shove and they had to go over 300 million, would I be surprised if they go over 300 million? Not at all. He’s done it before. So, you have to believe in him and you have to believe in Cashman. And I know there’s a lot of Yankee fans that don’t. That’s your choice. I’ve seen enough of them that they put together a really good team every single year. When have they ever put together a team that you go into the season you go well they have no chance of making the playoffs when so even if they stay under 300 I think somehow they’ll make it work and John Haymon reporting today the Yankees are very much engaged engaged on Bellinger very much engaged does it work out that they sign him who knows I mean we’re not owes you know owes the mentalist But if they’re engaged, that means they’re in the game. It’s not like they’re stepping away. Well, this is going to be too rich for our taste. They’re engaged with them. Let’s see how it turns out. Um, let’s go to Danny in Long Island. Danny, good afternoon. Michael, first of all, a good a feelood story if I may drop one in. Uh the punt returner for the Detroit Lions last night, Tommy Kennedy, local kid from Long Island, father a captain in the NYPD, a walk-on, never got drafted, played lacrosse in in college and uh keep working kids, dreams can come true. Got a game ball in the locker room. How great was that? That’s great. Now, two two things, uh as far as Mendoza concerned, you know, like you said, he hasn’t played he hasn’t played the difficult schedule and the Steelers picked Will Howard last year. He won the national championship with Ohio State. Ohio after four years at Kansas City, Kansas State, Ohio State said, “This is the guy we believe in. He threw for 4,000 yards in the highest pressure in the highest situations on national television. He wasn’t he wasn’t just handing the ball off. He passed over 4,000 yards and he was a sixround pick in the draft.” So, I think I’m not an expert in college football by any stretch, but I think Will Howard is was a lot more of a prospect than Mendoza is. So all these Mendozas might just be fortunate that there isn’t a lot of great quarterbacks coming out this year that he’s the one. Look what happened a couple years ago was picket and this other guy and neither one of them ended up being start they were both first round picks and neither one of them panned out. So sometimes just in the right draft where there isn’t a lot of competition. I I couldn’t agree with you more. I think a couple of years ago let’s say Mendoza the same player is coming out a couple of years ago he he’s probably a second round player maybe a third round player. Now I want to talk about Manning Lee because you know I’ve been calling for 25 years. I’m a Steve Garvey guy. I’d be very happy for you, Mattingly, and all the Manningly fans. He’s a good guy. He’s a baseball lifer. I I There’s something wrong with me with me when guys get elected because they hung around the sport for 40 years and they make more friends. Jim Cot is one of the people that’s going to vote. I don’t care if Matt’s in the Hall of Fame. He was a great player, but Matley wasn’t significantly better or even as good in my opinion as Steve Garvey, equal to Hernandez and a bunch of other people. And I don’t like people who like, you know, you stick around the sport for 30 years and all of a sudden you’re getting better your career because those are the people who are voting for you. And there’s just something not right about that because certain people disappear off the stage and go away. And then when you look at their numbers 20 years ago and you say, “Hey, how come they never got any consideration?” Cuz they just left and went went to Alaska and, you know, hunted bad. They didn’t they didn’t call games. They weren’t around the thing. So I hope Matt Mattingley makes it. But Mattingly in the Hall of Fame and Steve Garvey not in the Hall of Fame. to me. I I don’t think that’s where Garvey was. But I believe I believe if Mattingly gets in, it opens the doors for Hernandez and Garvey. I I I hope so, man. Cuz you know what Garvey left? I’m not sure what you’re saying. So you don’t think that Jim Cot should be on the committee. I think anyone that’s personally friends with someone shouldn’t It’s like being on a juror. If you walked in the jury room and your and your worst enemy was sitting on the jury, you’d be like, “Get that guy out of here.” It’s almost like, you know, it’s it shouldn’t it it it works the other way. If you’re if you’re friends with the guy, you’re not going to be impartial. I mean, we can we can admit that. Yeah, but everybody has a relationship with with any number of people that that are on that list. I I think Jim Cot would be a would be above above that. I mean, who who knows what kind of relationship that Fergie Jenkins has or Juan Marishell or Tony Perez or Traml or Smith uh or Robin Ya. I don’t think you could judge it that way. And it’s not like it’s not like a jury, you know, you still have to get 75%. Juries can’t convict somebody on 75%. Yeah. And if they’re friends with somebody, they take them off because one person could hold up a conviction or an exoneration. But in this case, let’s say that Jim Cot who, you know, who’s in his 80s, I don’t think he’s that close with Donnie, who’s 64 years old. Um, let’s say that Jim Cot loves Don Matt. No matter what, he’s going to choose him. That doesn’t mean Dom Mattingly automatically gets in. It doesn’t tilt it that much. You still need 12 votes out of the 16. Let’s go to U. Tim. He’s on the road. What’s up, Tim? Yeah, I I I uh wanted to talk about this coaching issue. Okay. With um I I think I think that I think that the generational element is something that um people have not really looked at. Um especially with Tibs coming from an an older generation and coaching uh millennials and younger generations, you know, they’re the first generation that has been exposed to in information independent of adults. They make their own decisions, come to their own conclusions. They collaborate with each other. they don’t accept uh older generations as being authorities and they crave collaboration and I think that when you have uh someone who who does not collaborate that is something that that is um that is a turnoff to them. Yep. And I think that I think that you have to have someone who’s leading them who understands that generational difference and and it’s not and it’s not just in sports and it’s in every issue and every industry in in in the business world they understand that you have to understand the difference generationally and how the younger generation thinks about uh leadership and collaboration and the importance of it. And I think that that’s something that um that that all leaders in sports and whatever it is have to recognize the importance of collaboration to be to be effective and uh leading uh leading teams and and that’s something that Tibs didn’t do that. Yeah. And that’s what surprised me about Tibs because Tibs is really smart and all you have to do in this in this day and age is play the game. If you’re going to be the guy who ultimately makes the decision, play the game. Why be the lone wolf? Why look down your nose at the information? Why look down your nose at the people that are paid to give you the information? Why not play the collaborative game? And maybe you’ll uncover or unear something that helps you win. It helps you win. Maybe in Tibs’ next stop, if he gets another job, although he’s getting up there in age, he becomes that collaborative guy because there are guys that are older that understand the value of the information and they go along with it. Tammy Franka been around forever. He’s got two World Series titles. He’s going to go to the Hall of Fame. You know, it’s his way of the highway in terms of like the decisions made on the field, but he takes all that information in. He does. He took it in in Cleveland. Cleveland’s a very smart front office, but it it ultimately came down to him how he wants to use it. But he didn’t say, “I don’t want that information or or throw people out of the office.” This this is the bottom line. You’ve got to be able to play the game. And I’m saying being a phony, play the game by being stubborn. The only way you win by being stubborn is if you win at all. And if you don’t win it all, then it opens up the portal to then be um uh picked apart or doubted that your way doesn’t work. I I just think it’s so much easier to to be the guy who listens to everybody. And as front offices in sports become younger, it’s not the grizzled old GM. It’s just not like Trader Trader Frank Lane, you know, used to be with the Lion uh with the Tigers. It’s not that. That’s not Ralph Hal in the Yankee um front office. It’s not Frank Cashin. These are young, bright people. Not that those people weren’t bright, but they they were smart in a different way. And they did a lot of stuff by the gut because the information that these guys have now, it wasn’t available. Now there’s so much information available. And the good front offices, they whittle it down and they present that stuff to their leader. And again, in a perfect system to me, that leader gets to pick and choose how he wants to use it. He’s not demanded to use it, but he picks and chooses how to use it. You can make people feel as if they’re part of the decision making process. And the way it is, and we all, a lot of you people that call in, you fight back against this. Who want who wants those eggs head eggheheads to like um to to make the they’re not making decisions. They’re smart people. They went to the best colleges in the world and they have information and they give it to a manager and they make suggestion. Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a hay stack. 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Uh there’s some people questioning the effort put out by by Pickkins. Uh Jerry Jones shot that down today. He said he didn’t have the game that he’s had in the past, but don’t question that kid’s effort. The bottom line, that’s a gigantic loss for the Cowboys and an equally gigantic win uh for the Lions. A uh a big game for them, a big victory for them on Thursday Night Football. Again, the Lions are 8 and five. Cowboys are 66 and one. Uh let’s go to Jason in New Jersey. Jason, hey, Michael, how’s it going? Thanks for taking my call. You got it. Thanks for calling. if the Yankees uh cap was going to be, you know, around 300 million or be below 300 million, which, you know, I which I don’t completely disagree with, but if that is, you know, going to be the case, I’m still very confused then as to why they put the qualifying offer out on Trent Gisham because now you have locked in $22 million a year for a uh center fielder, right? Who off of a career, I’m not sure if he’s going to be that that same player. I mean, history says he’s not. I think you could have gotten um a lesser player for cheaper maybe like a Harrison Bader who could play center fielder or even I know he’s off the board now but a Cedric Mullins to get that same type of production that Gisham could have minus the home runs but great defense and be somewhat of the same player. Um if they’re going to spend money I know you mentioned in the past that you’re not you haven’t heard much on it but I think Edwin Diaz for the Yankees is a huge get. I really like David Bednar. He’s cheap, controllable, but closers nowadays are like field goal kickers in the NFL. They come and go. One year they’re great, one year they’re bad. Bet. So why would you give Edwin Diaz five years? Because Edwin Diaz has proven, especially in New York City and over the last few years that he is one of the best closers in the league and and he is capable of being that guy for for years. Listen, I I don’t I Jason, I don’t have any inside information, but I will tell you the Yankees will not be in on Edwin Diaz. that their bullpen David Bedmar had a great year coming over to the Yankees as the closer. He pitched very very well. He’s cost effective and if there is a limitation on what they could spend, it’s going to take five years $100 million to sign Edwin Diaz. I Oh, yeah. That’s what I was saying. If there is no if there is no limitation, that’s something I would think would be would be worthwhile. And also, let me ask you, you sound like a smart fan. If there was no limitation, wouldn’t you rather have Kyle Tucker than Edwin Diaz? Honestly, I’m gonna say I think Kyle Tucker is a great player, but no, because I I really believe in Jason Dominguez as a rookie. If you watch I mean I know you listen and watch every single game, but the guy from the left side of the plate, which maybe he should bat only left-handed going forward, and that’s something that Cedric Mullins has done did in the past. The way he commands the strike zone as at the plate with his speed, I think he’s a plus player. I just think he needs more time to grow at the plate and especially in the outfield. I mean, if he gets better defensively in left field and continues to grow as a hitter, I think he’s a plus-winning player that’s cheap and and controllable for years. Well, I’m not going to fight that. I I think highly of him, too. Uh he’s got to improve his right-handed hitting, otherwise he becomes a platoon player, but we also must remember he’s 22 years old. Uh he he’s below average defensively. That has to improve. Um, in terms of listen, I I’ve questioned why they offered the qualifying offer to Gisham. The only thing I could think of is maybe they knew it was going to be difficult to sign Bellinger whose market is going to be robust and he has Scott Boris as an agent. Yankees are engaged with him, but maybe they know that somebody’s going to make an offer that they don’t want to go there. Not not because of the money. They don’t believe in giving, you know, a seven-year deal or six-year deal to him. So, this way they know for sure they have a center fielder. It’s a It’s a vast overpay in my opinion, but maybe that was their hedge. At least we have him that we know we have a center fielder and then if we don’t get back Bellinger, then we could go with either Spencer Jones or or Jason Dominguez. I I maybe that’s their thinking. But again, I I don’t think we we should lock them into definitely under 300 or definitely over 300 because I think it’s fluid. It always has been. There’s always a dialogue between House Diamond and Brian Kman. Uh, let’s go to Frankie in Florida. Frankie, hey Michael, thanks again for taking my call. Love your show. Thank you. I’d appreciate uh the d having some dialogue with you on both things that you’re speaking about today. Uh certainly that I’ll piggyback on that last call. I firmly believe the Yankees painted themselves into a corner signing Gisham. Uh but maybe they did that for a purpose and I’m going to get to that. Okay. Uh the Yankees uh I think their need with the people that they need are out there. I think we can hopefully you can agree with that. Starting with Bette, right? He’s the perfect fit. He’s a leadoff hitter. He’s a righty hitter. He uses the whole field. He Let me stop you, Frank. Where you putting him? He’s a bad shortstop. Well, he’s a bad shortstop. Vulpi made the most errors in in the league. But Vulpi is still much better. behind the metrics is a much better shortstop than Bette even with the errors. Yeah, Fielding I’m going to give you Fielding. Okay, but the the Blue Jays went to the World Series with Bashette. But if let’s put it this way, if they have if Well, they won the same amount of games as the Yankees did and the Yankees didn’t get in production out of shortstop. So, they won 94 games and they went to the World Series not with Bashette playing shortstop with Jimenez playing shortstop. And if they resign Bette, he’s going to be a second baseman. Jimenez is going to be the shortstop. Okay. Well, that even that even so again he the addition to the lineup I think outweighs his defensive problems and also that’s fine if you move him to second base. Moving him to second base. What do you do with Jazz? I’m sorry. What do you do with Jazz? I would Jazz becomes a great trade option. Okay. For so many reasons. He’s young. He’s talented. He he he’s a talented player. But but here’s one deal. I don’t know if there’s going to be that many teams that are going to want to take a chance on Jazz Chisum. I don’t think that people were fighting the Yankees to get Jazz Chisum from the Marlins. Well, I think that they’re a better team with Bette because it balances their lineup and he puts the ball in play. He does all the things that they need. Now, I know they won’t go sign Diaz. I think Diaz and and Diaz Bednar combination would be outstanding. I get it. They won’t do that. They’re not going to spend that money. But I have a theory on that as well. And I also have a theory on why they signed Gisham. Not only for uh insurance just in case they weren’t going to sign Bellinger, who they should also sign. Everybody they need is out there. Okay. I think the reason why they’re not signing him is because of the shutdown that’s coming up. Okay? Because if things don’t go the right way for the owners, okay, and with with uh Cohen right next door, okay, who’s going to spend trillions of dollars on flushing, okay, the Yankees are going to be in deep trouble competing with that market. And maybe that’s another reason why they only signed Gisham for one year because we don’t know what’s going to happen next year at all. If it doesn’t go the owner’s way, there is no way that the Steinbrunners are going to be able to compete with with Cohen. Okay. And maybe they’re going to look to sell the team at that point. Well, I mean, but we’re we’re really Frankie, we’re we’re really getting into a lot of, you know, supposition here. We have no idea, you know, about that. They have not really they they keep saying that they like the player in Gisham. I think it’s a vast overpay. if he was a free agent, he would not make near $22 million. And if there is a little bit of a restriction on what you’re going to spend or what your payroll is going to be, that’s not the perfect allocation of that money. I agree with all of that, but I think you’re getting too deep into because of the lockout and stuff like that. House Diner when you when you know you had that Zoom call with me, they said they’re operating the same way they would operate if there was, you know, no labor unrest at all. So, I think all teams are operating that way. And if anything, you can sign somebody to a long-term contract. And if baseball is, for instance, shut down in 2027, that that long-term contract becomes one year shorter. You have to pay that money. I mean, that’s not the way to root. But I think it’s way too complicated for us to to sit here and suppose this is what’s going to happen. They can’t compete. You know, even with Cohen and Guggenheim partners being as aggressive and non-aring whether or not they lose money or not, the Yankees still are top three in payroll every single year. So, they’re not getting dwarfed by other teams. And if there’s two teams that dwarf them, that still doesn’t mean that the Yankees can’t win. The Mets had had a $340 million payroll last year. They didn’t make the playoffs. The Dodgers had over a $400 million payroll. They made the playoffs as a wild card card and they won fewer games than the Yankees did. So, I know that you could tie success to um payroll. I think that you can tie mistakes made and the ability to buy out from those mistakes to payroll. But if you’re a smart team and you put together um a good roster, you don’t have to overspend. The Blue Jays had the fifth highest payroll and they went to within the 11th inning of the seventh game and almost won the World Series. So again, if you told me that baseball was going to blow out the Yankees in terms of their ability um to compete, I’ I’d have to fight you on that because, you know, the the the the Cohen phenomenon has been there for 5 years. the Guggenheim phenomenon has been there uh even longer and the Yankees are either first or second and now third in payroll. So you can’t say they don’t compete. They had a $320 million payroll last year. And if there’s if there’s two owners that want to go rogue, there’s 28 owners that will not go there. And the Mets proved last year you could spend a truckload a boatload of money and still not make the playoffs. So it’s not exclusively tied to how much you spend. whether or not you’re going to be successful. Does it help? I I’ll put it this way. If you’re a smart organization and you could spend whatever you want, then the likelihood of you competing for a championship every single year is excellent. And that’s why the Yankees compete every single year. Not only do they have an extraordinarily high payroll, they have a really smart front office. So, they’ll always compete. Now, the naysayers are going to be calling in right now and go, “Well, they haven’t won a championship since 2009.” Yeah, they haven’t. But they’re in the World Series in 2024. Every year they go into the season and you think they have a chance to win a championship and they compete for it. And if if they get knocked out in the playoffs, yeah, they got knocked out in the playoffs. So, it’s not perfect, but never do they show up and not have a competitive team that has a chance to win a championship. I’d like to get give me the year when that happened. you know, the last year of Gerardi, they came into that season hoping that they were going to compete and then they broke it down and they still competed and they got to game seven of the ALCS. So, they’re always going to be competitive whether not the payroll is 300 or 320 or whatever the case may be. In a perfect world, do they want Bellinger back? I’m sure they do. But if they don’t get him back, does that mean they’re not going to be competitive? I I can’t see that happening. Two pack for sure coming back. We’ll take more phone calls as well leading you to Don Han and Rosenberg. The K show rolls on right here on ESPN New York. 1877 Cars for Kids. K A R S Cars for Kids. 1877 Cars for Kids. 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So I had luck against me. Hopefully it’s turning with the one and one from last week. Uh I told you two non-escriptive games. Sometimes you could get bargains on the nondescriptive games. Sometimes people want to bet the games that are high profile. That’s not me. My first pick, it’s the Browns against the Titans. It can’t get worse than that. The dregs of the NFL, but I’m going to dive in and uh make a pick on this. The Browns are four-point favorites over the Titans. It’s in Cleveland. The weather is supposed to be brutal. I think Miles Garrett is going to have a big day. He’ll be all over the quarterback uh for Tennessee. So, I think the combination of the cold weather and Miles Garrett and the fact that the Titans in their 11 losses, right, the Titans, 10 of the 11 losses have been by six points or more. So, I’ll give the four points and hope that Shador Sanders is able to direct the offense to a couple of scorers and the Titans are kept off the board. So, that’s my first pick in Cleveland. Give me the Browns. I’ll give the four points to the Titans. The second game, it’s the Rams eight point favorites over the Cardinals. This game will be in Arizona. Uh the Cardinals, um they’ve played okay. They they they came within a four-point spread last week, so much closer than you thought it would be. But the Rams are coming off a really dispiriting loss. Uh and since midocctober, thanks to the New York Post on this, five of the six wins by the Rams have been 14 points or more. So you’d look at the eight points here and say, “Well, that’s a pretty zoptic number, and it is.” But this is a team, the Cardinals, that when when they lose, they usually lose by a lot of late. again, five of their six um um five of their six losses have been by a lot since mid October. So, I’m going to take the Rams. I’ll give the eight points over the Cardinals. Again, that game is in Phoenix. My two pack, I’ll take the Browns giving four over the Titans. I’ll take the Rams giving eight over the Cardinals. The Jets three-point underdogs um to the Dolphins. Uh the Jets, by the way, interesting stat. I didn’t even realize it. Could have made some money on this. The Jets are eight-4 against the spread this year. That’s the best against the spread for any team in the AFC. And you might have heard Iris say it earlier. Um Justin Fields, according to Richini, reported knee soreness on Wednesday. He’s been ruled out for Sunday according to Aaron Glenn. So the rookie Brady Cook will be QB2. And according to Rich, uh Aaron Glenn on Cook said, quote, “He’s going to be a quarterback in this league. I can’t tell you when, but he’ll be a quarterback in this league. Will he play on Sunday? We shall see. The Dolphins have been playing much better of late. We’ll see how the Jets do. So, the Jets three-point underdogs uh to uh the Dolphins. And the Jets, let’s see if they um can put up another win and aggravate their fans who want them to continue to lose. Let’s go back to the phones. Let’s go to Steve in Pearl River. Steve, hi, Michael. Hi, Steve. So people have been calling the the the people are calling with all these of these proposals and these trades and most of these the proposals they add payroll. It’s like they’re tonedeaf. All right? They’re not. It’s like they don’t hear what management, ownership, what what’s being said by the Yankees for better or for for worse. So you what all and the young players that the Yankees have are under control for an extended period of time. And the it’s like they’re likely not going to be traded because like I just said all these everything I’m hearing it’s like these people are tonedeaf. It adds payroll. one way or the other. I’m not saying and I don’t know if the Yankees are aren’t going to do it, but via trade, I mean, I don’t know what you think about that, but I I I’m not seeing that as something highly likely. I think, Steve, what it comes down to, fans don’t have to deal with the realities of of the market. So, you know, it’s like it’s like they’re going down the aisle uh at Nean Marcus and they want the most expensive things. I can’t blame fans. They want they want the best players. They want the best player at every single position. So, we’ve had fans call in and well, I want Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker. Um Tim Britain of The Athletic is uh estimating that Tucker’s contract is going to be $450 million. They’re not going to do that. Not when Aaron Judge, who’s underpaid now and makes40 million a year and signed a $360 million contract and as good a player and he’s younger than Aaron as Kyle Tucker is, he’s not Aaron Judge. So, I mean, there has to be some there has to be some uh rational thought applied here. You’ve got a really good closer who did a really good job and proved that he could pitch in big games and pitch in New York and David Bednar who’s going to make about $4 or5 million this year and people want them to go out and spend 20 million a year for five years on Edwin Diaz. I don’t even know if the Mets will do that. So you could dream big and then if the Yankees don’t do what you want them to do, you could say, “Okay, they’re cheap.” Listen, I’m not going to convince you otherwise and the Yankees aren’t going to convince you otherwise. And I think the stark contrast now is that there’s somebody across town that looks like he doesn’t care if he loses money because he has lost money. Now, will he have a a come to Jesus moment? Was last year the come to Jesus moment where he had a $340 million payroll, Steve Cohen, and they still didn’t make the playoffs. They lost out to the Reds for the final wildcard spot. Maybe he will or maybe he’ll spend out of his mind again. Who knows? But the Yankees are going to do it in a way that they’ve always done it. They’re going to try to be smart about it and if if Hal Steinbrer wants to payroll as he said it would be ideal if it’s under 300 then that’s what they’ll do and they’ll put together a good team. But you know they got to get Bette. They got to get Diaz. They got to get Tucker and and Bellinger. You’re not going to do that. Why don’t you throw in Fer Valdez too? Throw in the pitcher from Japan and my as well. Just drive the payroll up to 500 million. That’s what people want. But that’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. So, you could dream as big as you want and you could get as angry as you want if it doesn’t turn out the way you dream, but that’s not going to happen. It just won’t. It won’t. They They had a really good team last year. They were unbelievable offensively. And even without Bellinger, they still have a really good offensive team. Do I want Bellinger back? Of course I do. I think they do as well, but there becomes an economic reality to things as well. You can’t get everything you want. That’s the way it is in life and that’s the way it is in baseball. And those that say, “Well, the Yankees have $700 million in in revenue. Uh they should they should drive the payroll of 500 million.” They’re not going to do that and they shouldn’t do that. And when Steinberger says, you know, you don’t need a $300 million payroll to win the World Series, I think he’s right. And I know that every Yankee fan, they’re going to bring up what they spend on the chicken bucket, a Yankee Stadium. I get it. You guys, you put a lot into being a fan, and I’m not I’m not disparaging that. It’s impressive. But I think the Yankees give you a a really good team every single year. And I don’t think this year is going to be any different. Might not be what you’re dreaming. Might not be your your fantasy for a roster, but it’s going to be a good team. and it’s gonna compete for the top of the American League East with the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, the Rays, and the Orioles. That’s just the facts. It’s always been that way. It’s always going to continue to be that way. They’re never going to come into a season where they’re going to have a really lousy team. Might not be the team you dream of, but it’s going to be a good team. All right, so the Jets and the Dolphins, that’s this Sunday. Uh, we got the Veterans Committee, for lack of a better phrase, voting whether or not Don Mattingley gets in. That’ll be on Sunday. We’ll have so much to talk about on Monday at 1:00. Have a great weekend, everybody. Coming up, Don Han and Rosenberg. And in the words of Billy Joel, life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again. See everybody have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Talk to you Monday at 1. FanDuel Friday is turning it up with NBA Happy Hour every Friday from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Eastern. FanDuel is dropping limited time specials to get you in the zone.

Michael discusses the Jets and Dolphins matchup this week and gives his insight on how the Jets will look, then gives updates for the Yankees and the rest of the MLB during the offseason, then ends the show giving his picks for Week 14 in the NFL.

Weekday Lineup:
DiPietro & Rothenberg — 6a-10a
Bart & Carlin — 10a-1p
The Michael Kay Show — 1p-3p
Don, Hahn, & Rosenberg — 3p-7p

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