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Tonight, at 6:30 pm, and again at 11 pm, SNY will air The Mets Hot Stove Report hosted by Kevin Burkhardt and featuring Ron Darling, as well as guests David Wright and Jeff Wilpon.
Meanwhile, today, at 3 pm EDT, Darling will be a guest 
on The MetsBlog Podcast, during which we’ll discuss his off-season vision for the Mets, his thoughts on Willie Randolph and Jose Reyes, and how today’s Hot Stove compares to when he played.
During the 13–minute interview on The MetsBlog Podcast, which will air later today, Darling had the following to say, among other things, regarding…
…whether or not free agency, and players swapping from team to team, has altered the level of competition in baseball…
I will say this, the players are as tough, if not tougher, than when we played, but because of this changing around they’ve made the game less tough.
I think the players are bigger and stronger and they’re tough as nails, but what happens is, when you have, before the game, every one is giving that uncomfortable man hug – and I’m trying to rid the world of man hugs, by the way, one hug at a time – that hug that they all share, you know, it’s symbolic of this, it’s symbolic that every one knows each other and that’s great, it’s a nice fraternity, and they’re all making a lot of money, and that’s a great thing, but I think the toughness…that toughness is gone forever – and we can argue all day whether that’s a good thing, but is gone.
…the potential disconnect between an old-school guy like Willie Randolph, and young players from this modern ‘man-hug era.’…
Yeah, that’s a really good question. I’ll say this, never have I met anyone classier than Willie Randolph…It’s not an old-school guy talking, it’s just that, the most important thing, I think, a baseball player, manager, coach, whatever, is you don’t assume anything…make sure you explain it, and I think that’s maybe where Willie came up a little short. Willie was one of the classiest and one of the toughest guys to play the guy, and I think he assumes that sometimes these guys know how to play the game right, and sometimes that doesn’t always happen.
This winter, I’m sure he’s giving a lot of thought about that first conversation he’ll have in spring training…that is going to be one of the great rallying cries, because he’s not ever going to assume anything again, and I’m sure he’ll make sure all of his players know that baseball is a weird game and there’s only way to play it, and that’s the right way. What is that? Well, that’s on each manager and each manager defines that and I’m sure Willie will define that.
…the late-season struggles of Jose Reyes…
This is totally my opinion, and has nothing to do with fact, but the one thing I would look at is that Rick Down was let go at the break…he and Reyes seemed to hit it off…He and Jose had, whatever that is, they were able to connect and work.
Another thing is, I think at one point the manager got angry at him and rightfully so and he’s a young man. A lot of times, what happens to young people is, when they’re called on the carpet, is that there is a moping point of time…
Lastly, I think, and I’ll probably have this argument with the powers that be in Spring Training, but, I don’t ever envision him stealing more than 50 or 60 bases, I think that’s a max for him. I say that, because I played with Rickey Henderson, who could steal more than that, but Rickey had a different body – he was built like a full back and he could take the pounding…Just piling up stolen bases, for Jose, I would not want to see that. He is only gonna get stronger, and I’d like to see him ease that burden of stealing, not increase it…Those 10 to15 extra bases are gonna wear on a guy who’s not built like Henderson is, like a full back.
Don’t forget, tonight, at 6:30 pm, and again at 11 pm, SNY will air The Mets Hot Stove Report hosted by Kevin Burkhardt, featuring Darling, as well as David Wright and Jeff Wilpon.
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Please ask him some challenging questions. I think that Darling is capable of being honest.
For example, I’d like his opinion on how good he actually expects the following pitchers to be in the next couple of years:
Pelfrey
Humber
Perez
Heilman
I would also like to know whether he thinks Heilman is capable of becoming a decent (3rd or 4th) starter, and whether he thinks El Duque could be effective in the bullpen.
oops, never mind, didn’t realize the interview already occurred
another wimpy softball interview. avoid talking about arod and taking risks at all costs!
who cares what ron darling has to say about arod?
Why do we care about what Darling says about A-Rod. I actually thought there was some good stuff here and its the first person I’ve seen connect Down’s dismissal with Reyes’ dropoff.
Agree completely! Other than Omar, the Wilpons or anyone else who is in a position to make personel decisions, I really don’t care what anyone else has to say on A-Rod.
I don’t care what David Wright thinks. I don’t care what Ron Darling thinks. I don’t care what Jon Heyman thinks. I don’t care about the SPECULATION. I only want facts.
I fail to see how Ron Darling talking about how he would or would not like to see A-Rod play for the Mets is interesting.
Agreed. I tried to post a legthy criticism of Matt’s interviews and posts as being self serving and soft but it was conviently blocked and never made it on the site. I believe he is afraid that if he asks tough questions or challenges the Mets in his posts he may ruffle feathers thus jeopardizing the chances of future interviews and damaging his relationships with the Mets. Tell it like it is Matt.
While criticizing Matt I want to be fair and point out how grateful I am to have this site to keep up with Met news and share feelings about the team. I am sure everyone feels the same. So while I may not agree with his approach at interviewing or his take on certain issues I am still appreciativce of the fact that we have this venue he provides us.
Of course, because we need to know what everybody in the world thinks about his Highness. Should we call my parents, ask them what they think about A-Rod, too? I’ll make sure to call my mailman, too.
My point exactly…who cares what these random people *think.*
if you don’t like the show change the channel. why are people compelled to criticize this site. Matt is not Omar Minaya or Mike Francesa. They don’t care whether you live or die. He apparently does.
I like “the show” as you call it. I just said I appreciate Matt giving us this site to debate our viewpoints but cant I disagree with him on certain things? When you run a blog you are open to criticism. Sorry it is the way it goes.
What would asking Ron Darling about Arod do? Matt asked Ron questions about the Mets (the thing he knows the most about) and Ron gave very insightful answers, stuff you simply will not find elsewhere. Who cares what Ron thinks about Arod, because it would simply just be speculation. Why is everyone so freakin’ obsessed with the rumor mill surrounding Arod, get over it, a team will sign him, we’ll find out how that goes eventually, what exactly is Ron Darling going to add? “Oh, I think we should sign him, he’s a great player” or “i think the Mets should pass, he’d mess up the chemistry..blah blah blah”. Are these the canned speculative answers you want to hear or do you want to hear Ron give insightful meaning answers to questions that have meaning? Get over Arod and the celebrity style gossip mill he lives in. It’s absolute BS to bash Matt for getting Ron to give him great answers, despite them not involving Arod.
Darling is so sharp man, I wish he was our manager!
Darling as manager? Slow down there. No experience running a clubhouse, and not ever a coach. He is a bright analyst but a manager? No thanks. Willie will be fine. He needs the talent to succeed, especially upgrades at starting pitching, and the bullpen. That is why we collasped. The bullpen fell apart and Omar is to blame for that. Mota was a horrible signing. Willie can only work with what is given to him. Omar needs to step up and come through this offseason or he will prove he is completly overated as a GM.
This is an awesome sneak preview. The stuff he says is so rich… I can’t wait for the whole thing. Great job of whetting our appetites!
I completely agree with Darling’s belief that Reyes would be better off limiting his stealing because of the toll it takes on his body. Reyes should forget about records. Just do his 40-50 steals a year, and less in a few years, and that’ll be fine. He gets thrown out too much anyway.
reyes should run less. he was thrown out a lot this year just trying to pile up numbers. he should steal within the context of the game.
and he heeds to lose that awful lefty batting stance. it is a popup stance. He needs to stand up more, stride less and swing with less effort.
And Omar—Willie–whoever–please don’t try to make a Lou Brock into a Juan Pierre!!!!!!!
I would be interested in his perspective about the Met’s younger pitchers.
Especially moving heilmann to the rotatin, which IMO is a good idea.
And he does have more than 2 pitches. He just doesn’t use them in his role now (common for a RP).
He was a starter in college and the minors, so he had at least a 3rd pitch at some point. Just need to dust it off and get the feel back.
Might not be Santana, but he certainly should be able to put up better numbers than Silva, or Livan. Probably just as good as Blanton.
If nothing else, , Blanton isn’t going to be better than AH by enough to make up for also losing Milledge and Heilmann!
you are aware that Heilman WAS a SP for us and he DIDN’T put up numbers that were better than Silva or Livan
I don’t know if it’s fair to assume that Heilman’s past performance as a starter would be similar to what he would do now. My recollection is that he was never given that many starts, and in any event, he was fairly young then.
On the other hand, I also think Heilman’s best days as a reliever are behind him. He seemed to peak in that regard two years ago.
Even dismissing that logic, why are you robbing Peter to pay Paul. There is no reason to think as a starter Heilman would give you anything better than Pelfrey or Humber, so if you’re going to cheap out on the pitching front and not make a trade or overpay on the FA market, you might as well use the guys you have already groomed to be starters rather than create another hole for yourself in the bullpen.
Actually, my real view about Heilman is that he should be traded. Personally, I do doubt that he would be a solid starter (even though I don’t believe he’s been given a real chance). And I suspect that other teams might over-value how effective he really is as a reliever.
Regarding Peter and Paul, my point was, if you trade heilmann, you open up that same hole in the pen. But, if you add Milledge to the trade, you open up two holes.
So, if you get Blanton back, you lose a RP + RF. But, you could move heilmann to the rotation instead, only opening up the hole in the pen.
I agree that it makes more sense to use Pelfrey, but I was responding to the idea of trading Heilmann and Milledge for Blanton (or a Blanton equivelant average at best SP).
This all comes down to how good Blanton actually is.
I’m sure you have no problem opening up holes if it means getting a legit #1 or even #2 starter. But if he’s like a #4 starter, then I agree it’s not worth weakening the team at other spots.
He didn’t exactly have a ton of starts, and at least 1 was really good! he probably didn’t get as many starts as bannister.
besides, if you go back 4 years, a guy like Silva or Blanton was probably getting smacked around too.
All solid points, stickguy. People love to get down on Heilman for some reason. I don’t think they realize that as a reliever he doesn’t get a chance to work on that 3rd pitch (slider or curve, presumably). Heilman threw a 1-hitter a couple years ago if I recall, then when he came back next start against the same team and got smacked around, everyone threw him under the bus and said he was no good. I still think he should be given a shot as a starter, not because we owe it to him, but because we need to look everyhwere for starters.
I guarantee Heilman has a better 3rd pitch than Pelfrey does (his fastball is better, as is his change-up). Stick Pelf and Humber in the pen. Make them earn their starting slots. Give Heilman a chance to earn it in ST, and then let him have 3-4 starts in the regular season. It’s stupid not to.
don’t know if any of you are aware of this, but the panel on sny will be answering some email questions. If you go to the sny site, you can submit your question there for tonight’s show. I don’t know how many questions will be answered or how truthful wilpon, wright, darling will be-but it’s definitely worth a try. i already submitted my question and I would absolutely love to see it answered(but i doubt it, lol)
Well, let’s see, Jeff will be there so how about:
Dear Jeff:
Are you and Omar serious about A-Rod? If so, are you going to come close to his asking price? If so, are you going to have enough moolah left to go full throttle after Johan? If so, are you prepared to become the Evil Empire II? Is that how you really want to be perceived?
I would be happier if you forget about overpaying A-Rod and concentrate on pitching — not just Johan but others as well.
And please, please, just eat Mota’s contract. Doing so will be money better spent than spending it on A-Rod.
Sincerely,
VCarver
To be fair when considering A-Rod, I think they’re more concerned with how they’ll look on the field, not quite as much off of it, unless you’re talking clubhouse.
Not that I’m exactly jumping for joy at the possibility of A-Rod, since IMHO I feel that he’s not a fit for this club whatsoever.
Amen on that whole Mota thing… that’d be wonderful.
nicely put. btw, shouldn’t omar have been on the 1st episode and not baby boy wilpon?
You might have a better idea about them being serious on A Rod tomorrow, since that is the first day they can actually offer a contract.
I personnally find it odd that they can negotiate with a FA, but can’t exchange $ amounts. How exactly do yo udo that? Just wink wink, nudge nudge?
I guess they just use their stooges in the media to get the word out.
While I might support an A-Rod signing if he were the one to move positions, I have to say I full agree, eating Moto’s contract will be money well spent.
Wow, you guys criticizing Matt are hardly jealous. Next time you are going to criticize the guy, post your CV (resume for most of you knuckleheads) revealing your advanced journalism degrees. I think it is a testament to Matt’s perserverance in this Blog endeavor that he is getting the DWs and Darlings of the Met world to give him some time.
Look in a mirror.
Those criticizing come after Matt stricly as fans and don’t understand the nuance that goes into his craft. Especially for a podcast, you need to ask the right set of questions to get the conversation flowing without having the train get off the tracks and become a wreck. Plus he’s trying to write article that metsblog unique with a different atmosphere from the mainstream press. Darling has given scores of interviews since he joined SNY, so Cerrone has to conduct one that compels people to read metsblog’s version of it. Recycling the same old hackneyed ruminations does nothing for the credibility of this site. High profile personalities will just view this as another fanboy site and won’t grant Matt future interviews.
The other thing is if everyone wants to know what Darling thinks of Pelfery, et al., why don’t they watch a telecast where Darling spends inning after inning saying he thinks these kids have ggod stuf but have to learn how to pitch.
What is this obsession with evil empire II?????? First of all, there already is an Evil Empire 2, and they are in boston……Secondly, do you think Yanks fans hated winning all those champ’ships being the evil empire? What bout Rod Sex fans now? What about Miami Hurricanes Fans over the last 25 years? What about UNC or Duke b-ball fans? Cowboys? Yes they are hated, considered evil empires, but they win adn their fans are more than happy with that…..RELAX on the evil empire nonsense……
Mets and Boston have roughly the same Luxury Tax Payroll this year. So how come Boston is the Evil Empire II and the Mets are not? That doesn’t make sense. Or if the Mets are, what will they become if and when they sign both A-Rod and Santana? Uber Evil Empire?
And who cares about Yank fans? I am a Mets fan.
Do the Hurrican’s spend 65% more than their closest competitor? UNC? Duke? Cowboys? If not, then your point is invalid.