OverDrive - Gibbons on the MLB trade deadline perspective, the coaching approach and the team's moves

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

Mets Bench Coach John Gibbons joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines from the MLB trade deadline, the experience in being part of a notable deadline, the Blue Jays' significant moves in 2015, how players can mesh into their new teams and more.

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Boy, how are you guys? We're doing well. How do you operate on a day like today? A lot of activity in baseball. Your Mets have been very active. How do you set up shop and try to figure out exactly what's going on? Well, I tell you know, it's a fun day for, you know, the fans and shoot the players and the coaches. You know, there's a little apprehension on some players that think they may get traded and all that.

But I think it's a great day for baseball because, you know, the teams that are in it, or at least field are in it, you know, they all know what they need and it's whether they can pull it off or not. And this is, you know, this is the time of year that I think the general managers, you know, they earn their keep, you know, what they do with the teams. And we're pretty active down here. You know, we needed to do some of our bullpen to strengthen that a little bit. And, you know, of course, we also picked up an old nemesis of your guys. from Baltimore, you know, to help us out in the outfield. So good day, or at least good week for the Mets the last few days. Absolutely.

Yeah, but you get to certain points in the season. It can become like a little bit mundane, but the trade deadline comes and goes. And if your team makes some significant moves, like what's the feeling in the clubhouse around that? Is there a little bit of like a reinvigoration? Is there a little juice within the coach's office? Like what, what's the feeling like on a day like, let's say tomorrow when everyone regroups and they're back?

at it or even tonight. Oh, it's huge. You know, you know, when I was up there in Toronto, you know, I can remember, you know, everybody remembers the big 2015 when Anthopoulos, you know, went wild and it turned out to be a great thing for the team. But the year before, when we didn't do anything, you know, Alex had no money to play with, so we couldn't make any moves. And we're in a prime spot, just, I think, a game out of the wild card.

And there was like, it was like everybody's going to, what happened, you know, and I I can remember Batista and Jansen, our closer, did interviews afterwards. We're down in Houston, and we're kind of, you know, complaining a little bit. Well, we didn't do this. We didn't do that. And, you know, we disappeared, you know. So psychologically, you know, it affected us. And plus, we weren't strong enough.

The following year, when he made all those deals, you know, he saved some money and was able to, you know, the price to Lewitsky, all that. You guys know, you guys know, it was a total opposite, you know. I mean, there was enthusiasm. You could tell guys, you know, we're excited. and it did wonders for our team. So, you know, it, you know, every team's obviously different, you know, what they can do financially and this and that. But, you know, the good ones, the guys that are in it to win,

I'm talking about primarily front offices, and they go to work, man, and they do everything they can to help their team. Hey, Gibby, when you're part of the staff, whether you're the manager or the bench coach, like, what's the sort of flow of information like? Is your front office keeping you up to date on what they're doing, or are you finding out about these trades kind of the same way the fans are? No, you know, the front office, you know, is pretty tight, obviously, with the manager, you know, and they keep him abreast.

And, you know, we may be talking, he may run some things by us, but because I can remember my time in Toronto, you know, Anthopoulos, well, of course, he's pretty open anyway, but, you know, he's constantly keeping us informed or at least a manager. At that time, it was me. But, yeah, so we kind of, we're all inquisitive, we're going, what's going to happen or what's going to happen? So we hit the manager up for Mendoza here, you know, any word, any word. Sometimes he has a little, you know, rumor.

Sometimes he doesn't. But it all depends on how they operate, you know. You know, of course, New York here's a big media market, just like Toronto is. And you try to be tight-lipped, you know, so things don't necessarily get out there too soon. But it's an exciting day because now we're going to tomorrow. You know, hey, we address what we need to address. Now let's make a run at this thing and see what happens. With John Gibbons.

And, yeah, I'm always curious about that conversation of the new guys where, you know, it's New York. The Mets are a really good team, a big team. You know, the Yankees are active. New York's buzzing right now. And you've got new guys coming in and they're going from teams that weren't going anywhere who now to a team that has World Series aspirations. Like if you're talking to the new guys,

and I guess you can use your experience in Toronto in a very similar light, what kind of message would you give to new players in order for them to maybe keep their emotions in check and don't try to be something you're not? Yeah, I mean, that's big, because naturally, you know, guys are going to come in and try to justify a trade and play really well. And you guys see it all the time, too, when you sign a free agent,

sometimes it takes time for those guys to get settled in because that's a big part of it. You know, you want to feel welcome. You want to produce right away. So you've got to try to, you know, relax them and say, hey, just do what you do, you know. But we've got a pretty damn good team here. You don't need to carry the team by any means. Just do your job. And some will take to it.

Some will fit right in. Some will struggle. You know, it just depends on how you're wired, I think, a lot of it. But it's a big day for those guys. You know, they're getting, and everybody thinks, well, it's easy. You know, it's a big league baseball. You go here, there, it's no big deal. But, you know, they uprooting a lot of them, their families,

and now they've got to find a new place to live. So it's not always the smoothest thing. But any time you go to a chance to a team that has a chance to do something, I think it's pretty big, you know. So that outweighs all the negatives. Hey, Ghibie, you're talking about the media market there in New York and comparing it to Toronto. Maybe you could elaborate on that.

Like, how would you sort of compare and contrast the atmosphere and the environment around the Mets to what we have here in Toronto? You know, it's very similar. You know, Toronto's got a big, big media, too. You guys know that. You guys are a big part of that, right? So the numbers that used to come around our place is very similar to what they have here. You know, here I think the difference is you've got two teams in town, you know, and there's always the Mets and Yankees is always competing, you know, for the media, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the. Backpage, whatever you want to call it.

And there's always that competition, you know, year after year. But there's a lot, the focus is there, you know. I think the beauty of Toronto is, you know, you've got one team in the whole country, you know. And so when things are going good, it's really good. When things are going bad, it's not so good, right? But it's a lot of similarities. I don't think people realize how big the media is up in Toronto. You know, guys have never been there, played there.

So a lot of similarities And when things are good You get treated very well When things go bad You know it's not always good But that's the way it's supposed to be Gibby we've been talking about this trade deadline And kind of evaluating a lot of the top teams

And like there's a lot of really good teams right now But there's no team I guess if you look at the standings That just kind of indicates We are head and shoulders above everyone else Like is that something that you guys talk about And keep in mind And we're you know

had top of mind when you were going through your discussions on trade deadline? Well, you know, it's funny. We were talking the other day, you know, you look at the, you know, we got up here, the Mets here, we got up to a great start, you know, we couldn't lose early on, and we weren't even playing our best baseball. And then we hit the skids, and then we regrouped. And then we, you know, you look around the whole league, a lot of really good teams are just about everybody, you know, they can be playing great.

Next thing you know, they're on a 7-8 game losing streak, you know. And then, you know, we were talking about, you know, you guys up there, the Blue Jays, and how, you know, just kind of a so-so start, and then caught fire. You're the hottest team of baseball. And then, you know, the tigers couldn't do anything wrong, right? They were the greatest things, you know, they were the 84 tigers all of a sudden again. And then they dropped, I don't know, 11 out of 12 or something like that. You guys went in there.

You might have swept them. So it's kind of one of those crazy years that, you know, you think somebody's wrong along. Next thing, you know, they dropped six, seven, eight games a row, It's hard to explain But it's one of those kind of years So I think it's really up for grabs You know, in both leagues And that's why I think

You know, every team was so active You know, at least today anyway And because there's a lot of teams that can win And that's the beauty of the wild card You know, when they put that in place It gives a lot of teams hope And I think it's been wonderful for the game And their fan bases, you know?

Yep, absolutely. There's a lot of teams going to hovering around 500s, Man, we can get on a heater. You have 50 games left. Get hot, get in. Anything can happen. Yeah, you guys are up there. That's right.

Yeah, you guys are leading your division. You know, you guys can win that thing. That's right. Maybe you'll be a Mets Blue Jays World Series. You never know. I love that idea. I love that idea, hey? Oh, yeah.

You'll set us up in Queens, right? We can get right up there, man. You've got to hook us up, give you. If that happens, we've got to establish out right here right now. I will definitely do it. Okay. I will definitely do everything I can. I love it.

All right. We'll leave it there. We'll see you in the World Series. Thanks, Givie. All right, boys. Enjoyed it. There he is, John Gibbons. The biggest songs in the world.

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