Hour 2: Johnny Flores, Senior MLB Editor The Athletic

0:00Johnny Flores:We are live from Fetty's house. Guests are gathering around the TV, even with a big storm outside. Are we worried about the fee? Nope, they have Xfinity Wi-Fi. Get reliable fiber-powered gig Wi-Fi with Peacock included to stream the beautiful game this summer.

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0:30Johnny Flores:Fourth of July savings are happening now at the Home Depot with select appliances starting at$398. Plus, get free delivery on appliance purchases of$398 or more, no membership required. Upgrade your kitchen with a modern and sleek GE profile refrigerator featuring hands-free autofill for the perfect pour every time. And make laundry day easier with two-in-one washer-dryer combo innovation that completes laundry in about 90 minutes. Shop top brand appliances now at the Home Depot. Offer valid June 17th to July at the U.S. only C-Store Online for details. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody.

1:04Johnny Flores:Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Oh my God, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Dan Schwartzman. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant. He's a poet. Dan Schwartzman.

1:45Johnny Flores:Oh my gosh. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Dan Schwartzman.

1:59Johnny Flores:Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show. ESPN Radio, ESPN app, and Sirius XM channel. You can get Dan Schwartzman in on this Wednesday. All of a sudden tomorrow as well for Rich. It's a couple days off. Rich Eisen Show presented by Progressive Insurance. Hit us up on the hotline. 888-ESPN, 888-729-3776. MLB last night, the good, the bad, the ugly. Yankees striking out 17 times for the second game in a row. Otani hits his 300th career home run. didn't let that 299 linger too long. Ryan O 'Hare, three homers, 10 ribbies, and a Pirates win. And Tyler Tolbert ties a Major League record, hits in 12 straight plate appearances.

2:40Johnny Flores:I don't think anybody out there on any of these polymarkets thought that Tyler Tolbert would be the answer of who would be the next to tie the record for hits in 12 straight plate appearances. But he is, congratulations to Tyler Tolbert of the Royals. He is the answer to that question that people are probably dying to find out who it would be but i want to get back to otani here what we're watching because you can sit here and say it's been a down offensive year for otani and that's because the standards we have placed on otani offensively are ridiculous and rightfully so guy can't pitch because he had tommy john and goes i think i'm gonna do 50 50 this year and the dude actually does it right it's insane he actually does 50 50 and then he follows it up by 50 some odd homers in less stolen bases whatever the guy is the greatest we've ever seen because he can do whatever he wants like you know those uh remember the the late chuck norris he had those great memes about chuck norris like death fears chuck norris things like that when it comes to baseball and otani that's exactly what it is like otani can do whatever he wants baseball fears otani like he is at this point bigger than the game because of the fact he is the greatest.

3:51Johnny Flores:And a down year for Otani offensively right now is what? 294, 20 homers, 55 ribbies. By the way, he's hitting a leadoff, let's not forget. He's a leadoff hitter. And then throw him on the mound. He's got nine wins, a sub-two ERA, a sub-one whip. The only thing keeping him off the statistical leaderboard is the fact he hasn't pitched enough innings. You've got to pitch one inning for every game your team has played, and that is what qualifies you. and he's not reached that yet and may not, by the way. So when you have, like, Carl Schwarber with 31 home runs, and he's had a phenomenal season, and Schwarber is an unbelievable home run hitter, and I love these conversations people have about, well, who's the MVP, blah, blah, blah.

4:35Johnny Flores:You can have a legit discussion in the American League as to who the true MVP is. Is it Bobby Witt Jr.? Judges out of that conversation. Is it Jordan Alvarez with Houston? I mean, there's a bunch of good names that you can throw into a conversation in the American League as to who is the legit MVP. But right now in the National League, is there really a conversation? Are we looking at Schwarber's home runs versus Otani's entire work of art, right? Like, forget the hitting, throw in the pitching, and clearly far in the way, he's probably the unanimous MVP again. I think to a point we manufacture a conversation just to have it because there's no conversation to be had.

5:18Johnny Flores:there's literally no conversation right now to be had as to who is the MVP in the National League. It is a foregone conclusion. The only thing that can stop Otani from winning another unanimous MVP, which would be, what, number five in six years, would be injuries. Can Shohei Otani stay healthy for the remaining 70 games of the year? And that's the only thing that would stop him from being MVP. You know, Aaron Judge was having a Judge-esque season, maybe a couple of too many strikeouts, and the average was a little down. But when he went down with the injury at 17 homers and was number two in baseball, I think, for home runs behind Schwarber.

5:58Johnny Flores:So injuries kind of ended Judge's quest for another MVP. And that's the only thing that would stop Otani. And my colleague across the glass, James Steele, brought up Barry Bonds. and Barry Bonds has the most MVPs in history. What, seven MVPs he won? I think it was like seven or something, something crazy like that, right? Six, seven, what was it? Yeah, seven. Seven, okay. I had to count real quick. I'm bad at counting. Seven, yeah. That's why we're in radio, my friend. We're not here to count. But seven MVPs. Otani is already number two with four. And Otani probably wins a fifth. I don't know what Otani does behind closed doors.

6:40Johnny Flores:I don't believe he's out there shooting stuff into his body that would be considered illegal to the game, the way Barry Bonds obviously was, to a point, chemically enhanced, let's put it that way, like the rest of baseball was back then. But Otani's going to win probably his fifth MVP this year, and really the only thing that's going to stop him from continuously winning MVPs is going to be age. Because there's nobody in this league, right? Because if Otani has, as James, you put it, a down year, he brings it back up because he's actually pitching better this year than he's ever pitched that's the crazy thing he's not going to win Cy Young most likely but you throw in Cy Young numbers and really good offensive numbers you mix that all together in the mixing pot guess what you have yourself unanimous MVP because he does it better than anybody else you've had novelty acts before right Dwight Gooden back in the day was considered a good hitting pitcher CeCe Sabathia was considered a good hitting pitcher.

7:40Johnny Flores:You had some guys who could throw hard, right? Oh, this guy, you know, Rick Ankeel, this and that. But there's nobody who's been a legit ace on the mound and an ace at the plate the way that Otani is. So Otani hits his 300th home run yesterday. And the question now becomes, what's Otani's future, right? He's got years remaining on that massive contract. he is not going to be able to do this forever but here's what Shohei Ohtani can do now that you can dh in the national league he can always move to the bullpen and be a closer like Ohtani doesn't have to give you 150 160 180 innings pitched a year right he justifies his massive contract by his offense only but when there comes a point where he is not going to be able to physically keep doing what he's doing now put him in the bullpen otani's got this stuff to be a closer he's got the mentality the makeup to be a closer he doesn't have to completely stop pitching now buster only who is obviously one of the the greatest out there when it comes to being a baseball insider for espn bbtn podcast host hammer and emmett but buster only actually addressed this issue when it came to Otani and what his future holds.

8:59Johnny Flores:Take a listen to Olney talking about the fact that he can't play two ways his entire career. Here's Buster Olney. What he told reporters after the game was that he dealt with this sort of feeling earlier in the season and Dave Roberts and Otani both downplayed it. They said, look, it's not a long-term thing. It's just something that they're managing. But I would say this, he's had a series of these things this year right it was earlier this season when he had some left knee soreness that of course for a right-handed pitcher is the land knee and you know that backed him off a little bit he's had some blister issues and i think all of it is just a reminder that doing this two-way thing is really difficult and now as he gets older he's 32 years old he's got to sort through these things they have to make choices there's constant communication between shohei and the dodgers athletic training staff and they're getting feedback from him so they're working it out but i really truly don't believe that this is going to be something he can continue to very late in his career because it's just too hard that's buster only espn baseball insider on the bbtn podcast hosted by hammer and emmett now he's correct it's it puts incredible wear and tear on your body to try to be a two-way player the way that otani is but here's the thing though otani is the one that is dictating when he's ready okay if otani shows up at the ballpark on a day where he is not feeling well enough to pitch he's not going to pitch he will dictate that he's not going to pitch and the team will listen to him and allow him to make those decisions and rightfully so no one knows his body better than that actual person otani understands his body better than anybody else But the problem is athletes have this block where they don't want to be honest with themselves.

10:51Johnny Flores:Athletes will try to play through injury, downplay the severity of it or the pain of it, because they don't want to sit. They're very competitive people by nature. I've worked with, I've known professional athletes, and they have this competitive edge that we just don't have. like i've worked with athletes and we outside of work have gone and played billiards or whatever it is and it's not fun for me because they need to win and if i happen to win we'll have to play again until they win so i just let them win a lot of times because i don't have the patience to play two straight games of pool i don't so go ahead win i don't really care i'm not a competitive guy it's beer league pool at this point right but to them it's like life or death i have to win so it comes down to where for a guy like otani being a world-class athlete his entire life he was a baseball protege at a very young age in japan is he going to be honest with himself knowing what the consequences of what he says is if otani is honest with himself in a you know in two years or three years and says guys i can't do it anymore i can't be a starting pitcher every six days and I can't be a full-time DH slash outfielder, whatever he wants to play first base.

12:09Johnny Flores:Is he going to be honest with himself and say that knowing that that's going to take him off the mound as a starter? Or is he going to try to keep doing this as long as he feels he can do it, which in essence could actually ruin him because it could lead to different injuries, long-term injuries, diminishing injuries where he's never going to be the same player due to an injury? Is he going to be honest with himself and take himself off the mound? Now, the great thing about a guy like Shohei Otani is whatever he decides to do, if he just ends up being a DH for the last three, four years of his career, he is a Hall of Fame hitter.

12:46Johnny Flores:If he says, screw it, I just want to be a relief pitcher and I don't want to hit anymore, he'll be an all-star relief pitcher as he's an all-star starter. Doesn't matter because he's great at everything. The The guy just, you know, when God was going to build a baseball player, he built Shohei Ohtani. Okay, that's what he did. The body type, the athleticism, the twitch, you know, his twitch muscles are just more fine-tuned than the regular human being. Whatever you want to say, he is the ultimate perfect baseball player. He was created in a laboratory. He's like the Terminator of baseball. so my whole point is when you break it down and showy otani's there and yes we know he's the greatest and he's going to win a couple more mvps there's no question about it will he be honest with himself and take him off the take himself off the mound rather than the dodgers having to tell him he's off the mound which might kind of develop into bad blood between otani and the team that could definitely be an issue but there's nothing like it we've ever seen and I'm 47 years old and in my lifetime I got to see Michael Jordan play in person I got to see LeBron James play in person I've got to see some of the NFL greats play in person I saw Tom Brady play in person these are things you tell the grandkids about one day I got to see this person, I got to see that person I got to see Otani when he was with the Angels.

14:18Johnny Flores:I was out in California for work, and we went to Chavez Ravine one day, saw the Dodgers play, and we went to the Big A, and we saw the Angels play, and Otani was playing, and he hit a home run. So I can actually say to my grandkids one day when I'm old and gray, I got to see Shohei Otani in person, and he hit a home run because that's how legendary he is. my point is make sure because he's what 31 years old he's obviously getting older he's not getting any younger he's actually just turned 32 a couple of days ago july 5th happy birthday shohei but he's 32 make sure if you're a baseball fan you find a way to go watch shohei otani play in person because then you can one day say to your kids or grandkids hey i got to see the greatest player in the history of a sport, play in person.

15:09Johnny Flores:Because that is exactly what you're witnessing. When I get a chance, and I live on the East Coast, and the worst thing about West Coast baseball is start times are 10.05 or 10.35, right, or 10.30. And sometimes I have to be up early for it, whatever it might be. There's not always the opportunity to watch. But if I have the opportunity to watch a Dodger game, I hate to say it, I'm not watching Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts, great players like that. But I'm not watching the starting rotation that the Dodgers have. I'm watching one guy specifically. I'm watching for Shohei Otani. I used to watch for Ichiro.

15:42Johnny Flores:I would stay up, watch a Mariners game because I wanted to see Ichiro play. Now I'll stay up to watch a Dodgers game because it's the Dodgers, and I want to see Shohei Otani to say that I have witnessed Otani in person. All right, more baseball talk, the second half of this. Look, the All-Star break is pretty much upon us. Don't forget that the first half in terms of the number of games has come and gone. 81 games is a halfway point. But there's a lot to get into with baseball. Johnny Flores, senior MLB editor at The Athletic, he is going to join us next to go over a little baseball stories out there.

16:17Johnny Flores:Big day, good, the bad, and the ugly last night. Dan Schwartzman on a Wednesday in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, and SiriusXM Channel 80. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A.

16:55Johnny Flores:Member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Fast Fund's terms apply at SoFi.com slash DebtPlay. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in. gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses it's all-in-one remote friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay hire onboard and support your team from anywhere automatic payroll tax filing simple direct deposits health benefits commuter benefits workers comp 401k you name it gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget and it's all built to save you time with built-in automated tools for offer letters onboarding docs direct deposit and more.

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18:51Johnny Flores:Make sure you hire right the first time at LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Get started by posting a free job at LinkedIn.com slash Eisen. Dan Schwartz been in for Rich Eisen on this Wednesday. Beautiful July day here in at least the Northeast. Rich Eisen's show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, and Sirius XM Channel 80. Baseball season, we are past that halfway point term of number of games. The All-Star break is coming up. a lot of good a lot of ugly too in this first half and a lot of question marks as to where some big names may go as the trade market continues to develop johnny flores senior mlb editor at the athletic joining us and johnny we are nearing the all-star game break and that kind of makes us reflect back to the first half of the season i'm going to kind of put you on the spot here and i enjoy doing this because i know you love baseball but what's something that stood out to you in a positive manner in this first half and what's been kind of a disappointing slash negative for you in this first half?

19:52Dan Schartzman:Positive definitely has to be the Chicago White Sox coming back from multiple hundred lost seasons to be the leaders in the AL Central. It's what an incredible season they've had. Pitching, hitting, and they signed Muniteka in the offseason out of nippon professional baseball japan's equivalent to mlb he went on a tear before hurting his hamstring uh 20 plus home runs um miguel vargas who's their all-star this year he's been great after getting traded from the dodgers it's just been a really fun team to watch um they also have a wizard in the form of mike macell uh who's casting spells mid-game so So if you've not watched the White Sox, please do.

20:41Johnny Flores:What's been kind of a big negative or disappointment for you?

20:45Dan Schartzman:You know, I think I got to go with the crowd here and say the New York Mets. There's just so much potential on that roster, and to see them just kind of slip out of the gate and continue to slip, it's just been really something really disappointing to see. uh roster construction did not end up the way um mike stearns had hoped or david stearns excuse me had hoped uh just lots of different injuries um some trades didn't work out in their favor like going for freddie peralta from the brewers um i think last night was kind of emblematic of all these problems you know they lose 12 16 uh against the royals um they begin the game with the Little League home run that the bat is going to Cooperstown, but they still ended up losing the game.

21:35Dan Schartzman:So that just tells you how bad things are in Queens.

21:39Johnny Flores:Johnny, Mendoza got fired, and probably rightfully so. The team seemed to have stopped playing any sort of fundamental baseball for him. But every move that was made in the offseason, I believe there's like nine moves that Stearns made as GM, and not a single one has panned out. I understand teams want stability, and Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets, kind of alluded to that when he kept Stearns and talked about it but when the roster is lacking of talent and there's overpriced players that are kind of taking up slots here and you don't have a ton that you can sell even though you're going to be a seller at the trade deadline how does he keep his job and should he get should he have kept his job at this point

22:16Dan Schartzman:well that's a really great question I I think it's fair to to stick or stick with him through the season I think his ideas like on paper are good right you know they obviously didn't see a future with Pete Alonzo at first base, given his defense. They didn't believe that his back could age well into his 30s. Whether that ends up happening is up to fate itself. But they said, OK, well, let's get Polanco here. Let's trade for Luis Robert, who's been an oft-injured player for the White Sox and someone that didn't really fulfill his potential. But it wasn't too long ago that he was winning a silver slugger in 2023.

22:53Dan Schartzman:three so you know it's these big kind of big brain moves that when they hit you know this you know he looks like a genius and when they fail like they did this year obviously there's calls for his head but i think i think in a vacuum you know these are the type of moves that you know savvy gms make uh to improve the fringes of the roster and see you know what how they can get better um without you know devoting money just to just one player and how they can get better all around Obviously, it didn't work out, and perhaps there is an argument that, you know, if they just stuck with Pete Alonzo, if they would have just left Brandon Nimmo on the roster, if they would have just stuck with Jeff McNeil, they'd be in a better spot.

23:34Dan Schartzman:But I think that, like I said, in a vacuum, I think those are, you know, really unique moves, and they just obviously haven't panned out, and now you look at the trade deadline, and yeah, they are lining up potentially to be major sellers.

23:48Johnny Flores:chatting with johnny flores senior mlb editor at the athletic here on the rich eisen show dan schwartzman in for rich on this wednesday on espn radio espn app and sirius xm channel 80 johnny let's go across the river to the yankees and they're in the midst of a slump but you know what the last three or four years they seem to always have this type of slump that last three weeks or so then they snap out of it and make the playoffs but you know this is a roster that also seems to be a bit thin Aaron Judge goes down and you know outside of Ben Rice they're not getting a ton of production from frankly anybody offensively Goldschmidt had a couple of nice weeks but overall they just haven't hit much starting pitching has been pretty good for the most part bullpen's been awful Cashman's been there 30 plus years he's actually never worked for another team than the Yankees don't you have to look at that team the construction of this roster as flawed flawed as it is and say to yourself it's a roster issue more so than in say X's and O's issues with Boone night in and night out?

24:47Dan Schartzman:I think that's fair. I think definitely there is some roster issues. I mean, obviously, catcher has been an issue for them for some time. Third base, they really haven't had anybody reliable. Last year, they swung a trade for Ryan McMahon, hoping that away from Coors, he could do better and go back to that level that he had several years ago. But that obviously hasn't been the case. um bullpen you know i'd say they made some major swings and it just you know that's just kind of the nature of bullpens in general like i mean i'm sure if you told someone you know way back when camilo deval was leading the league in saves for the giants that you know he'd be you know one of the worst relievers in the league people would uh find it pretty hard to believe um the roster is what it is um i think that they definitely have a lane to improve at the deadline um which you know The Yankees are always active in July.

25:43Dan Schartzman:Well, now August because of the later deadline. But they're always active under Cashman. Yeah, it really is one of those things that, you know, when Aaron Judge goes down, it really shows the holes in the lineup because there is a home run driven team. And if you're missing the guy that matches the most home runs and is the biggest threat at the plate, then everyone else kind of just falters behind him.

26:06Johnny Flores:You know, Johnny, I want to kind of move on from the Yankees and get to MLB as a whole here, and people talk about the American League, and there is a legit conversation as to who really is the MVP. It's a fun conversation through the first half. The National League, though, Schwarber's hitting a bunch of home runs, but Otani may be having a quote-unquote down your offensively, even though he's on pace with 35 homers and 100 ribbies as a leadoff hitter, but he's been pitching exceptionally well. Is this even a conversation at this point, or is Otani so far ahead of the game? We're not talking polymarkets here, but is Otani so far ahead of the game right now for that NL MVP race?

26:39Dan Schartzman:um i don't necessarily think so i think pico armstrong had a really strong june he's up to i think 5.5 uh f4 on the season so wins above replacement otani's crossed the sixth threshold so obviously otani is going to generate uh war at a pretty high pace just because it's two-way status but pico armstrong has really come out the gate this year showing obviously his really good defense but also with the bat he's walking more this year um striking out at the same rate but walking more uh he's already up to 19 home runs he hit 31 last year he's got the speed um so i think that there's definitely a legitimate case um to argue for someone other than otani but you know if he continues to pitch you know the way he's done and he can do the back continues i just it's really hard to see how someone can um pass him um but if there was ever a good chance i think this is the year for the NL.

27:34Johnny Flores:American League right now you have three players who have been exceptional Bobby Witt Jr. you have Jordan Alvarez Jr. Caminero's had an incredible last month or so what name am I missing in terms of potentially getting into that conversation as right now the best in the American League?

27:51Dan Schartzman:I think Kevin McGonigal uh Tigers rookie uh he has been very very good he's going to be in Philadelphia for the All-Star game. He's obviously, you know, it's really just like the hit tool that he has, his ability to get on base, walking at a higher rate than he is striking out, which is, you know, obviously, you know, massive, let alone from a rookie. I think he's someone that, you know, with the late season push coming out of that All-Star break could insert himself into the race. And all of a sudden you're looking at, you know, Bobby Wood Jr., Jordan Alvarez and Kevin McGonigal three-way head to see who would be the AL MVP this year in a non-judge year since he's been hurt.