Hour 2: Fernando Mendoza’s 1st Impressions, plus ESPN’s Jeff Passan Talks MLB Season’s First Month

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1:28Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You know, some people that need the money probably gonna sell tickets, but don't do it. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Here's Golden Tempo! Golden Tempo! Earlier on the show, NBA champion guard Jeff Teague. Coming up, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, actor Laz Alonzo. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:09Rich Eisen:Ah, yes. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We just had Vincent Goodwill on the program. Hour number three, we return to the world of the boys. We had Chase Crawford last week. The Deep. Hour number three, we've got Mother's Milk on the program. Laz Alonzo is on the program. And right now joining us to kick off our number two is our favorite, with whom to talk about our love of baseball, the lead man in that sport from ESPN. Our friend Jeff Passan returns to the program. Good to see you, Jeff. How are you, brother? I'm afraid that M.M. is going to die, and I do not want to see that happen.

2:48I love that show. M.M., Mother's Milk.

2:52Rich Eisen:No, I know that. I'm very, very well aware. You are not referring to like Mark McGuire. I understand. I get it. I understand. But yeah, me too. I can't get enough of that program, Jeff. I love it. It is. It is such a gnarly show in like multiple ways, like gnarly, like in 1980s, like, you know, that's like that's gnarly. But also, like, it is the grossest show and it's hilarious and it's fantastic and it tells good stories. I adore that show. So please tell Azalonzo. Thank you for me. I will do that, and I will do my best to try and get him to tell me what it's like to, how do I put this, be an actor in a fight scene like he was at the beginning of this season against a certain superpower.

3:38Rich Eisen:Let's just leave it at that. Well, he was fighting a corked bat, I think, to use the analogy. Wow. I'm just trying to keep it baseball. Man. All right. That's hilarious. Jeff Passan, the story of the first month of the Major League Baseball season is what? Who's going to challenge the Dodgers? And it's not like a ton of teams stepped up to the plate. But I think we can look at the Atlanta Braves now and say that this is a team, especially considering all the pitching injuries that they've had, that they've gone out there and done what they've done. They've got the best record in MLB right now.

4:15The offense looks like we expected it to, frankly, for the last couple of years when they sort of floundered about. And the New York Yankees, their pitching is awesome. And it's without Garrett Cole. And it's without Carlos Verdun as well. So the fact that the Yankees have that and that they have essentially replaced Juan Soto with Ben Rice. Now, I'm not saying that Ben Rice is going to have a Juan Soto-like career, but he's sure playing like him this season. taking walks, hitting home runs, has been a linchpin in that lineup. And whether he's in front of or behind Aaron Judge, it's that comfort that he brings, knowing that Judge doesn't have to carry the load entirely by himself.

5:00Rich Eisen:I did mention that to my youngest son. We were watching the Yankee game this weekend, Jeff. Ben Rice's numbers popped up. I'm like, those look just like Soto's numbers. And I understand it's just one month of the season. And I don't know, Brian Cashman, the grocery shopper, and roster builder, if you will, in New York, seems to have a different way about him now to essentially tell Anthony Volpe, you're done with your rehab, but you're staying down in the minors because Caballero is playing too well. And I'm just wondering if there's a different way that the Yankees are running their business right now.

5:32Rich Eisen:Do you think, Jeff? I think the Yankees understand that when you are the New York Yankees, Rich, and you haven't had a World Series championship since 2009, you have to act with urgency you have to act with seriousness you have to take advantage of the year that cam schlittler looks like he's going to give you the year that max freed looks like he's going to give you this starting pitching which you know from the injuries that have occurred already can disappear at any time and i'd be remiss if i didn't mention will warren too and ryan weathers that's the thing about the yankees they are coming at you with arms with power stuff and with command as well and that's the scary part in this era where there are more walks this year rich than we've seen in generations yankees pitchers are throwing strikes and is there stuff that they yeah they need trent richard to hit a little bit and you know third base uh is still an open question for them but when you look at the landscape of the american League right now.

6:37Oh my goodness. The only teams that are over 500 at this point, two in the Central and Detroit and Cleveland that are one game over. The A's atop the American League West, two games over. And then the Tampa Bay Rays at 21 and 12, who have far exceeded expectations. And I imagine there's going to be some regression considering they only have a positive seven run differential at this point. So it looks like the Yankees lead to win. Now, Detroit's going to get better. You know, I still believe in Seattle, even though, you know, they got embarrassed by Kansas City over the weekend. Like there are teams that could be in the mix, but the Yankees are the distinct AL favorites right now.

7:21Maybe we're in that position.

7:22Rich Eisen:Well, the Yankees and the Rays are the only teams in Major League Base and the American League that are three games over 500. And as of right now, every team in the NL Central is three games over 500. That seems to be a vastly improved division. But you still think it's the Dodgers league to take at this point in time, Jeff? Yeah, because the Dodgers are not the whole version of themselves right now. Missing Mookie Betts, missing Edwin Diaz, missing Blake Snell. So you've got a Hall of Famer, a top five closer in baseball and a two time Cy Young award winner. I mean, that's a lot to have on the shelf.

8:02But this is this is how the Dodgers operate. They know that they are going to make the playoffs. They know that they have enough talent and that they have enough depth that come October, they're going to be there. So they almost plan for October at this point. Edwin Diaz needs to sit down for a few months and heal up from the chips that were taken from his elbow. Take all the time you need. And it's a luxury. That, more than anything, is the luxury that the Dodgers have. Their payroll gives them the ability to make mistakes and to hoard depth. And they know that injuries are going to happen. So, okay, you know, we lose Blake Snell out of the rotation.

8:46Let's just throw in Justin Robleski and he's going to put up a sub two ERA. Like that's that's the world that the Dodgers live in. So, yeah, I do think they are the team to beat still. But with Atlanta and New York, particularly in the Chicago Cubs have been playing inspired baseball as well. Those seem like the teams that are likeliest to challenge them.

9:09Rich Eisen:why did the Red Sox can Cora Jeff and obviously we saw the Phillies follow suit and the Mets are still hanging on with their manager right now but let's let's just start with that with the Red Sox why did that happen Jeff I think it was a couple of things I think number one there were philosophical differences between Alex Cora the manager and Craig Breslow the chief baseball officer and And similar philosophical differences existed when Chaim Bloom was there with the Red Sox as well. And when it came to the power struggle, Alex Cora won that one. This time around, I think that Alex Cora was very protective of his coaching staff.

9:50And the Red Sox front office did not like the way that hitting philosophies were being implemented at the big league level. And they had wanted change even in the offseason potentially. But the bad start that Boston had, I think, was the pretext that was needed to make these changes. And you can make an argument, and I think it's a very fair argument, Rich, that the way that baseball teams are run these days, you need to have a straight line from the manager's office up to the front office and from the front office down to the manager's office. And the lines of communication need to be clear and the philosophies need to be aligned.

10:31And, you know, we saw this a decade ago, plus now, when A.J. Hinch got hired by Josh Burns without any managerial experience to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks. And they used the phrase that got laughed at at the time, organizational advocacy. But the principles of it actually make sense, that if you have all these plans in place, you need management to be aligned on the implementation of them and in the goals that they're going after. And in Boston, that simply wasn't there. OK, so what's the Mets plan here? What do you think? Oh, boy. I mean, it hurts with Francisco Lindor on the shelf. It hurts with Jorge Polanco not playing to what his contract is and with Bo Bichette not playing to what his contract is.

11:24And we can go on and on about the overhaul of the Mets and what it was intended to do versus what actually has come to fruition. This seems like a team right now, Rich, without an identity. And I understand identities develop over time and they tend to develop a lot more quickly when you're actually winning baseball games. And so I do think this Mets team is still talented, but between the injuries and the bad start and just the vibes there, it's not a team that seems like it's on track to be able to turn things around. And it's a shame because it's been a long time since the New York Mets have won a World Series, 40 years.

12:10When Steve Cohen came in as owner right after COVID, he said the plan is to win a World Series within five years. That did not happen. What direction are the New York Mets going in and what does it look like? Because they almost feel as if they're stuck between two positions right now. In baseball, you tend to commit. Either you commit to the rebuild or you commit to going all in. And trying to facilitate those two together can be a tricky thing. There are some teams that integrate players really well. The Dodgers do a good job with their young players. You see it with Dalton rushing this year.

12:43The Brewers do a great job of both building and winning at the same time. But that's not something that the Mets have been very adept at and something that is going to be imperative if they want to get out of this morass that they're stuck in.

12:59Rich Eisen:Well, their nine-game road swing just started decently just down the road from here, Jeff Passon, with a two-out-of-three series win over the Angels. They now go to Colorado, which swept them in their house just a week ago before visiting Arizona. And then six big ones at home, three against Detroit. And then the mother load that could potentially tip a scale here. The beginning of the subway series with the Yankees coming in. And if the Yankees play in that three-game series, anything similar to what they've done right now, and the Mets haven't turned it around, what are you hearing? What do you think?

13:35Well, David Cerns came out and gave a public vote of confidence to Carlos Mendoza, the manager. But just because you're getting a vote of confidence now doesn't immunize you from losing your job. If the Mets continue to lose, Carlos Mendoza will be fired like that. That's just the reality of the situation. And it's nothing against Carlos Mendoza or the job he's doing. It's just the expectation in New York. And fans have grown tired of this team already, understandably so. But it's not just this year. This goes back to last season when in June, Rich, the Mets were 45 and 24. They had the best record in all of Major League Baseball at that point.

14:17And so to see them collapse the way that they have over the last, I mean, we're going on almost five months at this point of bad baseball by this team. And I know there are guys who are gone. Pete Alonzo's gone. Jeff McNeil's gone. There are others who are gone, Brandon Nimmo, and some are succeeding elsewhere, some not so much. But this new incarnation of the Mets has not found its stride yet. And I don't think that Steve Cohen ultimately is going to be the sort of owner who's going to sit around and be patient while investing$400 million into a team that can't win baseball games.

14:53Rich Eisen:All right, Jeff Passon, before I let you go, let's talk ABS one month in. Success? What do you think? I love it. I do too. And I don't think I'm the only one. No, I do too. It's just, it does two things. Number one, it solves the issue of bad calls from umpires. And number two, it does so in a way that actually is kind of entertaining. and and to i i mean to to integrate those two together like that and get both tangible value and entertainment value on top of that it's a neat trick by major league baseball and listen there are a lot of people and i understand why they think this rich there are a lot of people who think that this is just the first version of it and ultimately we're going to end up with abs on all pitches and it's going to be a standardized strike zone and that's that no miss calls no blown calls nothing here's the thing when you do that you end up taking away exactly what you're seeing on the screen right now which is that little moment and it doesn't take very long of watching that ball and the trail behind it and hoping that it's going to end up in a spot where you see a little sliver of pink on the screen there indicating a strike hey man you're bringing up the perfect point jeff like again you're the entertainment aspect of it they could immediately just show it on the screen of of a static dot right instead it's like let's turn to see if they're right you know what's behind door number two is it a strike or is it a ball there is an entertainment value of it and i'm wondering the umpires like that do they like the entertainment value of it where some players are now taking off their gear after tapping the helmet some At some point, you're going to see somebody just make some sort of, you know, sort of like back flip type move, you know, with that with with their with their helmet tap.

16:50Rich Eisen:And I'm just waiting for an umpire. Just go. Just going to like roll it up. Yeah. Seriously, like like Enrico Palazzo, you know, like maybe spin around and tap your head. You know, like that's common, Jeff. It's going to happen. You know, someone doing the splits and pop it up into a tap. I like that. Yeah. But why not? How do umpires feel? I mean, not great. You know, essentially, like, when any of us makes a mistake, me, you, anyone who's watching right now, when we make a mistake, we want to go and hide. And their mistakes are on something that is literally called a jumbotron. They're there for entire stadiums to go and see.

17:31So, yeah, it doesn't feel good. But I will say this. MLB, I think, has done a decent job of giving umpires the ability to get in-game feedback. I don't know if you knew this, but umpires have the two-way microphone, and they can talk to the ABS operator and be told that, hey, you're calling strikes a little bit off the plate today. Bring it in a little bit. And that real-time feedback, I think, has helped. And it's great. Like, I understand that hitters want a consistent zone, but I think more than anything, they just want the correct calls because they have their idea of what a strike is too.

18:06And as close as umpires can come to replicating that, I think the better the game is.

18:10Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, we've seen it all so far, I think. But you can correct me on it. Like what hasn't happened with ABS yet? I mean, we saw Rob Refsnyder get called out on strike three. Wait a minute, tap the helmet. He's not struck out. And then he hits a go-ahead homer. Right, we've seen that. And then yesterday, we saw Jonah Heim with a runner on first to have a ball get away from him that was called a ball, even though it was a strike. But he had to retrieve the baseball first to make sure the runner doesn't advance from first. And then the umpire says, no, you may not challenge that yet because it's too far away from the actual pitch landing at home plate.

18:48Rich Eisen:And, you know, Haim had a right to say, what am I supposed to do? Tap the helmet, let the guy go to second? You know, like, so we've seen some, you know, bonehead calls and we've seen some righted calls. What have we missed? What hasn't happened yet with ABS, do you think, that you're expecting to see? You know, there's a question of when a runner is going, for example. Like, does he get put back at first base? If, let's say, there are three balls and he's running and a pitch is called a ball and it gets challenged, Well, he was running to steal, so if he had second base swiped, should he be on there?

19:35And generally the way that they're handling it is that they're going to send the runner back to first base. I imagine there are plenty of other scenarios. It's baseball rich, right? You know, there is always something if you watch a game that you probably haven't seen before. And with a system that's new like this, that's bound to come up. I can only hope it doesn't come up in the postseason. and change the course of the game? Because that's the whole point of this system. It's the idea that the game is played by players, so let's let the player's action and not the adjudicator's action really influence what the outcome is.

20:12Rich Eisen:Yeah, what about a check swing? And it's called a ball, and now you're tapping your helmet, it's a strike, something like that. I do like it, though. I do like it. And certainly, too, the reverse happens also where, you know, a batter taps the helmet and the ball's right in the strike zone. So an umpire could basically say, like, what's your malfunction, right? I think, you know, we also saw Laz Diaz emote ball, too, and somebody thought it was strike two, and they challenged an actual strike. You know what I mean? Like, or a ball that was way out of the strike zone. I do dig it, Jeff. I do like it a lot.

20:53Rich Eisen:Thanks for the call. Thanks for the Zoom, as always, buddy. Appreciate it. Rich, being on here is a pleasure and getting to wear the Pemberkill baseball gear on national television. What do you got? What is this? What am I seeing? What is it? This is my son's baseball team. Oh, nice. And he, yeah, set the program record for career RBIs over the weekend. So good work, Jack Pass, and on a grand slam, no less. Okay. Okay. I like it. Lefty, righty, what is Jack? What's his name? Right-handed hitting center fielder. And even made a diving catch, and not just like a dove to look good, like actually laid out.

21:38And as he's in the air, I'm thinking to myself, that's not my son. There is no way.

21:46Rich Eisen:None whatsoever. Passants can come up with web gems just like anybody else. Thanks for the time, Jeff. You're the best. pleasure is always fine rich ladies and gentlemen jeff passan here on the rich eyes and show rocking jack passan's gear that's the way to work it right there 844-204-rich is the number to dial running a small business means every hire matters a bad hire well that costs time and money but the right one that helps your business the challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent.

22:25Rich Eisen:With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. I guess it's a perfect time to say we're going to check in on the latest from Fernando Mendoza. Speaking of LinkedIn. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen show on a May Monday.

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24:59Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Oh, as one big happy simulcast together. Fernando Mendoza, too good to be true, man. Too good to be true. So far. So far. so far. Top 10 storyline entering the National Football League season is when is this kid going to start? Don't know where it's going to be yet. A lot of time between now and my annual summertime, late summertime training camp preseason edition of top 10 storylines, my power ranking storylines before I power rank teams. I'll tell you right now on that list, everybody's healthy. When is this kid going to start? When do the Raiders decide he is ready?