What's Wrong With The New York Mets & Yankees?

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0:35Stone baked pizza and air fry, both built right in your oven. That's the game time MVP combo. So when you're hosting before kickoff, Frigidaire helps you cover every craving. Available at the Home Depot, how doers get more done. Only when using stone baked pizza mode, cook time requires preheat and reheat, and may vary based on ingredients. Hey Chicago! Class it up with Crocs. You know back to school is coming in fast. So why wait to find your new fave footwear? Step into a local Crocs store and step into your new look. Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up.

1:14It shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest Crocs store today. I'm living my best life. Yeah, yeah. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host Brian Weber. Yeah, big shoes to fill. Eisen's a legend. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Rich Eisen Show. Do you know who I am? I'm a guy on television. I have my own show. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. Welcome to the program. We are live on this Independence Day, and it's always a blast to contribute to one of the most impactful shows in all of sports media.

2:02Brian Weber with you. It is a holiday tradition unlike any other. If it's a day in which 99 % of the United States population is off, I am coming to you from our Regal Studios in Southern California. you fill it in for rich and i savor each and every opportunity and because i know you have your calendar in front of you whip out your pen write down brian weber in for rich on labor day because we love to keep the momentum going each and every holiday we have a ton to get to but the goal is to be interactive i give out the phone number for a reason i'm going to explain my philosophy about phone calls momentarily, but the number should be ingrained in your brain by now.

2:50844-204-7424, the number to call. In all candor, your best opportunity to get involved is through social media. Hit me up on X. It is B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs. I always try to design the show with the goal of maximizing your chances to have your opinions be heard. No guests in the first hour of the program. In fact, we will not have a guest join us unless you pick up the phone. I'll consider you an impromptu guest. Until midway through the second hour of the program, just two guests in all, when we get to hour number two, in addition to the NBA thoughts, I'm going to pass along momentarily.

3:33We will give you the takeaways and the ramifications of what has happened so far and what I think has been deemed through lazy analysis as a midweek in NBA free agency. But if you really have been paying attention, there's been a lot of substance going on. We'll get analysis when we're joined by James Jackson of The Athletic. I am older than my enthusiastic delivery would suggest. I still talk baseball, especially on July 4th. And I'll get help in the final hour of the program when we check in with James' colleague from The Athletic. He covers MLB. Levi Weaver will be our guest. This is the football show of record.

4:17Rich is the face of NFL Network. And I understand the smartest business decision in sports content is to go all in on the NFL. But it is July 4th. and beyond my lean towards a little bit of baseball and what's going on in the NBA with the potential for something historic to happen this weekend. Ooh, that is a good tease. You've got to hang with me for at least another 30 seconds. I'm aware that an American hero is returning to the spotlight today and has nothing to do with football. In fact, as I look through what's coming up, I will not get to the NFL until the very final content block. So you're going to stay with me every step of the way.

5:01But nothing says the United States of America on its birthday like gluttony and eating a ton of bad food. And who does it better than the immortal Joey Chestnut? So if I get distracted and I try not to multitask, when I have a chance to fill in on the simulcast, you will see how much paper that is written out in just horrible penmanship that I cannot even read is in front of me. But we do have a television on. And when Joey Chestnut makes his triumphant return to Coney Island, I will keep you updated. And I'll do the Mike Francesa. I can't do play by play and I'm not going to go. He's up to 20.

5:46He's up to 25. But the record was set a handful of years ago. 76 dogs remember the buns. Not only is that calorically important, but it's part of the process. Chestnut excluded last year, creating a national nightmare because he had the audacity to endorse vegan dogs. Thankfully, wisdom has prevailed. Joey Chestnut will be shining once more and I'll use that as a catalyst to take you inside the dark and frightening world of competitive eating and if you have any idea who I am who am I why am I here I'm Brian Weber in for rich phone number is 844-204-7424 I'll check out your interaction on social media as we get deeper into the program if it's good if you're not bashing me too much.

6:39I'll read it on the air. It's B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs. Baseball coming up in just over 15 minutes. What is going on with the Yankees? Like Rich, I'm a former New Yorker. I do my best to over enunciate to bury the remnants of that East Coast accent, but the sky is falling across the five boroughs. All the more pronounced because it's the Yankees and the Mets kicking off the latest edition of the Subway Series today at Citi Field. We'll try to ascertain, is this just a blip for the Bronx Bombers, or do they have real flaws? And as much as I want to lean into coming up with reasons why the Mets aren't that good, remember, they're way over.500.

7:27I think their primary dilemma is the Phillies have a better roster, baseball coming up. I mentioned that it is a popular consensus of opinion this week that NBA free agency has been killed. It's not like the good old days of, for example, Kevin Durant holding court in the Hamptons and summoning teams to come see him like he's Michael Corleone and Lake Tahoe and Godfather 2. Or my favorite anecdote of all time as a veteran of working this week, I have utilized NBA free agency to feed the content beast repeatedly. Let me take it back to DeAndre Jordan. Remember what happened with him? The verbal commit to the Dallas Mavericks.

8:15Then all of his teammates from the Clippers descend upon Texas. They lock the door at his house. They won't let him leave until he decides to change his mind. and you have reports of Mark Cuban driving around neighborhoods looking for DeAndre. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. But NBA owners who are not connected with the big markets don't care about what drives the news cycle. They care about parity. They want to have competitive balance. Hey, here's your NFL connection. They're trying to rip off the NFL. Because if we're going to be totally up front, beyond gambling, which is always driven football, and even more so now as it becomes much more permissible state by state, the NFL is built on hope.

9:03I'm back with you Monday through Thursday next week. I have not mapped out each and every content blog, but I would imagine at some point if I'm looking for a way to talk about teams in the NFL who will be vastly improved, I'll bring up the fact that something like 19 the last 20 years, somebody's gone from worst to first. It's all about parity in the NFL. NBA vastly different. No sport has leaned into dynasties more than professional hoops. Over the course of 70 years of NBA action, it is fantastic. If you think about the majority of championships, better than half of them have been won by seven franchises.

9:45That's it. So as ownership looked around and said, why if I am in pick a small market, Sacramento, Why, if I am not one of the big boys, one of the franchises with glittering brand equity, why am I working as a de facto feeder system so I can cultivate talent and then have it stolen by a big market team? So the entire point of the new collective bargaining agreement, I know this is tedious, I'm trying to do it quickly, and the goal is to be as holiday, lighthearted, and push some levity in there as we can. and you can help by hitting me up on social media, B.W. Weber, Weber with two Bs. But when the new CBA kicked in, the goal was to make it as hard as possible for players to leave and raise their incentives for them to stay.

10:42And that's why we don't have the same frenetic pace of action and all of the big names on the move. and I'll think back to a year ago. And last year actually had a couple names we knew, but it felt like, at least from a standpoint as a guest host, I got to talk about Paul George going to Philadelphia for three days. Now I don't have to. It's my decision what to map out in terms of a content strategy. But Paul George and Klay Thompson were the bright, shiny objects in motion a year ago. Kevin Durant, remember, is part of a trade, not a true free agent. If we're just talking about raw free agents, the list coming in was not going to do much to move the needle.

11:32Brooke Lopez, D 'Angelo Russell, and I might have had some fun, maybe, when I was here during the NBA playoffs, saying we better enjoy every step of the way of the postseason because who's really going to care about the future of Miles Turner Now, how could I have known that the Bucks would pull off the most creative move in terms of bookkeeping and NBA accounting we've ever seen? At the same time, how would you like to be Damian Lillard right now? I realize getting$113 million, however you were handed that dough and however many years it takes to receive that payment spread out over five years.

12:17That's got to feel pretty good when you look at your bank account. But this is a man with a Hall of Fame resume who was picked up in a move to appease Giannis a couple years ago, pops his Achilles in the postseason, and gets kicked to the curb as Milwaukee is doing everything they can and just now emptying the bucket to try to make Giannis smile, try to make Giannis happy. try to make Giannis be more inclined to stay. You have to, again, give them props for playing 12-dimensional chess and how they were able to structure the deal to make room for Miles Turner. Now, when you throw in what they're paying, Miles, plus what they're paying deemed to go away, it's something like better than$50 million a season.

13:12It makes absolutely no sense, But this is not about rationality or logic. This is about emotion. This is signaling to Giannis, we're doing all we can. Because in the history of the NBA, there is no comparison for what the Bucs came up with. It is truly unprecedented, not only to write a check of that magnitude, but to do it to a star like Damian Lillard, who I know is in his mid-30s, And who knows when we're going to see him again. Yes, there have been radical advances in the surgical techniques for Achilles injuries. But let's just say best case, maybe if he's available towards the end of regular season, he can sign with a team, try to boost their playoff run.

14:00But in all likelihood, no Dame next year, no Tyrese Halliburton, no Jason Tatum, because it's been a crisis of Achilles injuries across the NBA. I'm Brian Weber. Feeling healthy on this holiday. In for Rich. 844-204-7424 is the number to call. Or let's crank up the interaction on the X platform. That is B.W. Weber. We'll get to the baseball. Yankees and Mets now coming up in less than 15 minutes. After that, as a veteran of July 4th, it is ingrained deep into my memory banks. And if you care at all about my background, the way I was a dookie hauser of broadcasting now 35 years ago, my early 20s, was pre-search engines.

14:43I knew a lot about sports history. So if you say July 4th to me, I say, hey, tough guy, who was born on July 4th? Good Tom Cruise movie. We're not doing Mount Rushmore's today. Al Davis and George Steinbrenner, born on the 4th of July. Who is the worst? We'll go from those icons to the dregs. Who's the worst current owner in all of sports? That's coming up in 30 minutes. In terms of the NBA, if we're talking about terrible owners, I could make the easy segue into what are the Knicks doing? Meddling James Dolan has done it again. But I am not going to crush the hire of Mike Brown. And I'll save those thoughts for when we bring in our first guest coming up in an hour.

15:27Talking NBA with James Jackson of The Athletic. I think Mike Brown is directly comparable to Tom Thibodeau. Now, Thibodeau gets all the raves for his defensive ingenuity, but I will defend the Knicks from this standpoint. I have no problem with firing Tom Thibodeau because we've seen it before. He'll take a franchise so far, but he's not going to take the next step and get to the NBA Finals. Plus, you would think at some point after all of the wear and tear that his starting five went through in Minnesota, Same story in Chicago. Ask Derek Rose what it's like to play for Tom Thibodeau. That he would at least be open-minded to coming up with some sort of different rotation for his players.

16:15But find somebody in life who loves something as much as Tom Thibodeau loves running his starting five into the ground. So at a minimum, Mike Brown is going to play his bench. And that's one of the assets the Knicks have. because as we think about the implosion of the Eastern Conference driven by the Celtics crumbling right before our very eyes, and I may or may not have said around this time last year because I was in for Rich on July 4th, I may have told you the Celtics were a dynasty in the making. Now, I'm not going to bat 1 ,000. And because I'm talking baseball, three out of 10 will get me into the Hall of Fame.

16:56And nobody could have foreseen the Tatum injury, But it is interesting as we think about ownership, the folks writing the checks matter. New ownership coming in, paying$6.1 billion for the Celtics. And they don't want, as I'll connect this to the CBA and why you might think as a casual fan, not much happened this week. They don't want to stay in that repeater luxury tax, which you're paying something like$3 for every dollar you spend. And here's the most tedious thing you keep hearing. if you get into that dreaded second apron, you can't do anything. It's not about willing to suspend. The handcuffs are thrown on you from the league in terms of making trades.

17:39So it's a good thing Boston has an intellectual savant from a basketball standpoint and Brad Stevens because he had no choice other than to start blowing up the team. Exit Holiday. Exit Porzingis. And, man, the what-if conversation about Kristaps Porzingis. What if he could stay healthy? But you are. What do you consistently do? And even losing Luke Cornett. That's a nice pickup by San Antonio, which gets us to the Western Conference. I could do four hours. Maybe I'll come back for a bonus hour. We'll go to richeisen.com. I'm Brian Weber, in for Rich. The good news is you only have to deal with me for two hours and 45 minutes now.

18:24Bad news is I'm back Monday through Thursday next week, but we're going to have a good time. And I want to make sure I effectively articulate how much it means to me that I have the confidence of Rich because his name is on the marquee and he owns the program. So thank you to Rich. Thank you to the great Jerry Subowitz to have faith in me and pick up the phone when the holidays roll around. These are my holidays. It's Christmas in July, and I save her every chance to get into the chair. But if you're of the mindset, nothing has happened of real substance in NBA free agency, let me try to just give you an overview of moves that you might think are marginal, but when you put them all together, could actually impact the balance of power in the West.

19:13I'm not talking East too much because I think it's really straightforward. Cleveland won 64 games for a reason, done in by injuries, and the most tenacious team we've seen in years in the Indiana Pacers. If Cleveland stays healthy, and that's something we can't presume, but if you think about the supporting cast around Donovan Mitchell, they'll be the best team in the East, followed by the Knicks. I'm way high on the Pistons because I watched each and every game of that first-round series between the Pistons and the Knicks. Arguably, Detroit should have won the series. If you keep thinking about the East, Orlando's been on the rise.

19:53I like the Desmond Bain pickup. And unfortunately for Milwaukee, even with the bold, ambitious move to get Miles Turner, and that gets you, I think, some appeasement for Giannis, what does that get you in the East? I think there's still a playing team because tell me this on social media, B.W. Webber, Webber with two Bs, who is their point guard going to be? As for the West, think about all of the talent that has coalesced there behind a young, deep, and well-run OKC franchise that has draft capital for years, the second youngest team in the shot clock era to win an NBA title, But they're going to get pushed, I think, most notably by Houston.

20:42Denver also making good moves that you might go, what does that really mean? Yes, picking up Tim Hardaway Jr. And bringing back Bruce Brown matter. The headliner, Cam Johnson, an upgrade with his versatility over Michael Porter Jr. But if we're just slotting the top of the West, I only gave you three teams. And I give myself props. I have not talked about the Lakers for 20 minutes. Well, I can't work for a national TV network because that's the handbook when you walk through the door. I will get to some Laker talk because I've been teasing this subtly and now I'll pay it off. Houston picking up Durant was the ideal acquisition because if you think about what did them in against the Warriors beyond Steph Curry being healthy, unlike the case against the T-Wolves, they just couldn't buy a bucket.

21:38In two of those games, they couldn't get to 90 points. So you put in, even at this stage of his career, instant offense, a reliable hooper in Durant who's going to get you 25 points a game, even though he's not ever been totally the same since his Achilles injury. And most important, they did not part ways with their key young players. There's a reason why they were willing to say goodbye to Jalen Green because he's already on his second contract, and they don't view him as one of their top three young guys that they believe will be the way to elevate from what was a dynamic year this year. A lot of people forget Houston was the two seed in the regular season.

22:23I understand the West was so jam-packed, and Laker fans kept telling me, hey, we had a great run. We, I love that. We had a great run. We were the three seed. And then all I had to do was pull up the standings and remind them something like a game and a half separated the three seed from the eight seed. So sometimes your record does not reflect truly who you are. But if you're a Rocket fan, you got to be delighted that you didn't have to say goodbye to Thompson or Shang-Goon. And they kept moving forward once we got the free agency. Remember, the Durant trade dropped a few hours before Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

23:02It doesn't seem like that monumental of a move to pick up Clint Capella, but that is important depth in the paint. And the Lakers, if I can bash them on the fly, got nothing after trading for Dorian Finney-Smith, and that's one more asset for Houston. And here is the question. It's taken me a long time to get here because I don't fully believe it's going to happen, but I want it to be true, especially since I'm working Monday through Thursday next week. You might have seen, unless you actually enjoy spending time with your family during a long holiday week, this report was broken by The Athletic and other platforms now are validating it.

23:40And I'll just give you the quick chronology. Trades in the NBA cannot become official until Sunday, July 6th. So while we know the general parameters of how Durant is going to Houston, currently a two-team deal between the Suns and Rockets, according to The Athletic, this thing could go thermonuclear and become a historic seven-team deal. Because reportedly, the Warriors, the Nets, the Timberwolves, the Hawks, and the Lakers are all in conversation. and coming up when I get back to the NBA to start the next hour of the program I'm going to run through some of the wildest scenarios that actually could emphasis could happen if you believe LeBron wants out now if he wanted out he should have opted in he could have been a free agent but LeBron loves the attention all you people bashing SGA for being a free throw merchant How about LeBron being an attention merchant?

24:48Oh, and he wanted the$50 million as well. But if LeBron now, because he opted in, truly, as his agent Rich Paul articulated in a bizarre statement, has a championship goal in mind, well, what if he winds up playing for the Warriors? What if Jimmy Butler heads to Phoenix? Man, I should be a podcaster. with these kind of sizzling hot takes, but there's some substance there, and we will flesh it out coming up in the second hour of the program. I'm Brian Weber, not treating this like a holiday. Hopefully you can tell I'm bringing my fastball. Clayton Kershaw doesn't have a fastball anymore, but he still was able to get to 3 ,000 strikeouts.

25:32We'll put it in context coming up in the next hour of the program. Hit me up on the X platform, BW Weber. Weber with two Bs straight ahead. As promised, we'll get to the baseball. New York, New York with the Subway Series about to get underway at Citi Field. What's wrong with both the Mets and more to the point, the Yankees? That is on the way. I'm Brian Weber.

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26:32Taking a quick break to tell you how Saturday's game time can get a little messy. Your crew just came over to watch. snacks on the table, drinks in hand, and somebody celebrating like they just won the whole season and beyond. And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit. Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where Behr Ultra Interior Paint comes in. It adds an extra durable, stain-blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass.

27:06Plus, that easy clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer. So before the next kickoff, give your space game ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bear Ultra, only at the Home Depot. Buy five quarts of Mobile One full synthetic motor oil and receive two times O rewards points. Plus, get a$10 gift card and receive a 2311 die cast after rebate. Terms and conditions apply. Get details at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Baseball's on the agenda. We'll spotlight the Yankees and the Mets heading into the Subway Series in a moment, but I'm not just an auctioneer. I'm not just rattling out the phone number for the sake of Radio 4matics.

27:47I do it for a reason. 844-204-7424 is the number to call because if we have compelling folks who have something to say, I'll put you on the air and let's make that happen. Let's speak it into existence. Here is Mitch in New Jersey. Hey, Mitch, you're on with Brian Weber in for Rich. How are you? Good, Brian. How you doing? Happy 4th to you, everybody out there. Everyone's doing well. What's on your mind? Yeah, I hope these moves by Milwaukee. I hope that's enough to keep Giannis in Milwaukee. I mean, Damon, that was a good move, too. I know he doesn't take much. He's not at all. He's a whole famer.

28:29They tried. It wasn't his fault that he got hurt. But hopefully that's enough to keep him in so we don't have to hear him. I'm getting tired of these players that want the cake and everything. Just like, and I think Phoenix, I know, that was a good move by Phoenix too. I think that helped both teams. Now Phoenix has three shooting guards, and they traded for two centers. I think that helps a lot. You can play with three shooting guards. You can run BMC from the Warriors. And one more thing, I also like the Lakers. I thought DeAndre Aitman was enough, but he's going to be another one. A prima donna, he's too much.

29:06He really is too much of all his demands. Anyway, Brian, you have a nice week. Be safe. Thank you, Mitch. I appreciate the phone call. Now, if we're going to throw around terms like prima donna, I don't love diva, but we use in sports talk radio, we have to make sure it actually is fitting. It does, I think, have a real connection to DeAndre Ayton because if you think about the issues that have slowed him down, we overlook the fact that he was the number one overall pick coming out of Arizona seven years ago. Now, we've also seen other top picks not too long ago, like Anthony Bennett, Markel Fultz, Flame Out.