OverDrive - OverDrive - July 31, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Frank Corrado and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! The Athletic Senior Baseball Writer Keith Law joins to discuss the biggest moves around the MLB trade deadline, the Blue Jays' grade and Shane Bieber's fit on the mound in Toronto. New York Mets Bench Coach John Gibbons joins to discuss the coaching view of the MLB trade deadline, the movement across the league and the difference the markets in New York and Toronto and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

From tariffs to trade deals, the markets are changing. Is your portfolio ready for what comes next? For all your questions, you need a money guy. Kelvin, the money guy, will help you develop a financial plan that includes the right levels of diversity. The best way to navigate uncertain times. With strategic advice from Kelvin, you can not only protect your investments, you can grow them. Don't wait. Call 416-457 plan or visit ask kelvin.cai.a.

Getting them ready for back to school comes with a lot of questions like How many binders will they need? Should I buy an alarm for their alarm? And where can I get budget-friendly phone plans for my whole family? That one's easy. With Bell, the more phone lines you get,

the more you save. Switch to Canada's fastest 5G plus network today. For details and more great offers, visit a Bell store or bell.ca slash promotions. Bell, back to school just got better. Final hour overdrive continues. TSN 1050 on the TSN app. Your home smart speaker up on TSN2.

Brian Hayes, Frankie Corrado, Dave Festrug of the Toronto Star. Technically, we've hit the deadline here for Major League Baseball, but we all know that deals always come in after the fact and come across the wire late and they sit in a queue and someone at the league office has to accept it. What hell is that guy doing anyway? It's Duky. Dugie's the guy who accepts it.

Yeah, it probably is someone like Dugge. It's the Duggy equivalent of Major League Baseball. Yes. Who has to, like, he'll leave you on red for a while, then finally we'll respond with a thumbs up. That means the deal has been allowed. I told you, right? That I got traded at the trade deadline.

And when the penguins called me, it was like hours after the trade because they couldn't make contact with you or else it could be considered tampering. And there was such a log jam at the Central Registry. By the time they got to it, it was like 6 p.m. so yeah it's we gotta update these things doogie doesn't work overly fast i love how doogie had to get in our ears before we came on and say it's officially the deadline yeah thank you for that it's officially hit the deadline thank you doogie awesome contribution yeah i love it get this

guy down to central uh what's it called central registry which is also a completely unnecessary name for it like you know it just tries to make it sound like so much cool and then it has to be. Central Registry where we register all trades. It does sound quite cool. The department. It's a department. It's the Parks Department of Major League Baseball and major sports. A department.

Got to have departments. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. Like, in baseball, there's no real cap compliance. In the NHL, you got to have, you know, you understand it. You got to do the capologist thing where you're going to make sure these trades actually pass the cap compliance. issue, right? And the teams help you with that. Yeah. Like, the teams get notified

if they're getting close to the cap. Like, there's certain communications from the league. Right. They just don't let you run rogue. Well, and there can be trades that get ugly where some guy got dealt, and it turns out he actually has a no trade clause. Was that Daddanov? Yeah, Daddanov. Yeah. Daddanov. Going to

Ottawa, yeah. Whatever. Yeah. Yeah, and he's like, actually, guys, and they're like, oh, we thought it expired. No, it didn't. I have a full no trade, or whatever it was. Did they give up the pick this year, or is they doing it next year? I think they're still, they got to do it next year. I think it's next year because they're still holding on hope that Betman's going to say forget about it.

Just take your pick back. Right? Because I think that was a big part of the new ownership plea was, listen, we're going to step in. We're going to infuse a lot of money and energy into the market, probably build a new, you know, rank down at LeBretton Flats. We're going to pay a million, a billion dollars to take this team. Just give us our pickback.

Just give us our pickback. Like the previous administration, previous ownership, just leave us alone. And Jerry has basically said no. Yeah, thanks for coming out. Michael Anauer, not going to happen. Although I think he'll probably wilt at some point. He did that, remember, with the Kovochuk penalty against the devils, I don't think he gave them their pick back necessarily, but he gave them a pick in the first round.

Like, he gave him the 33rd pick or whatever was. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I remember that the Kovalchuk penalty was my draft year. So there was one less draft pick that year, and you can imagine it's like, a guy who was not guaranteed to get drafted. I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. There's one less pick this year. That is not great, but.

Okay, Ken Rosenthal tweeting out, the Blue Jays are acquiring Luis Varland from the Twins. All right. So, you know, this is what we said. The Twins are basically saying, if you call us with any offer, we'll fire up the registry. Right.

The Twins' home office is basically the registry right now, because they've traded Joe Ryan, they traded Duran last night. They've traded Correa down to Houston. So, you know, again, like we said, there are deals that are continuing to come in. We don't know exactly what's going the other way.

But the Yankees got another big reliever out of San Fran, the Doval. Camillo Doeval. Yankees, man, the Yankees have loaded up their bullpen. They have. And at the same time, though, you can't fault the Js for just sitting there and watching

and be an idol. they've done some things, right? Like, they were as active as they probably could have been. The Yankees are always going to be the Yankees. Like, they're just, they operate at a different wavelength. The Red Sox have been active, but, like, at least the Js didn't just sit there and say, now we're just going to do it with who we got. They've made some additions.

And that, I think, is all you can ask for. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's it. Like, I'm looking at Varland stats right now. He's pitched in 49 innings this year. He's got a 202 ERA. Like his numbers are pretty good

A 110 whip And you know He's got a really good Strikeout to walk rate right now Okay All right You got turn your mic on there They got Ty France from the twins as well

Who's a Who's an infielder Okay Who's played Played quite a bit this season All right so there you go Utility guy Barlin comes in

He's a right-handed reliever That again is healthy and pitching And his numbers are really strong this year Yeah So I think we have who's going the other way, right? It's... Alan Rodden.

Alan Roden, who had been pulled out of the lineup by the Bisons the last couple of days. And Kendris Roja, left-handed pitcher, going the other way. We'll see if there's more involved in that deal. And if the least... Erap the Jays are doing any more

between now and whenever the central registry is willing to pump it through. So there's another reliever, which is good. That makes you feel good. Yeah. Yeah, again, his numbers are pretty good. We'll catch up with Keith Launa Mom. Get his take on what he thinks of

Lewis Varland Lou Varland If you went into today with certain boxes that needed to be checked for the Jays I think they've done a good job of checking them all off

right like you have a guy who can be a starter in the rotation if everything goes well like serious upside could be your your ace type guy you get a reliever and you know I don't think

adding more offense was necessarily on the docket today so you have to be happy like everything had a purpose with what the Jays have done. Yeah, and Varlane's the St. Paul guys, so he's, he's like born and raised in Minnie. So this will be a big adjustment for him. But yeah, Varlane and France on their way to Toronto. So if that's it, you got Beaver, you got Varlane, you got Dominguez in terms of arms,

and you bring in France as like a utility guy who can move around your lineup a little bit. You're as senior writer for the athletic Keith Law joining us. How you doing, Keith? good, how are you? We're doing very well. I guess this is one we're going to throw at you. I don't know if you're aware of this deal yet, but Varlane and France coming over from the Twins

and Alan Rodin and Kendris Roja going the other way to Minnesota. What do you make of that move for the Blue Jays? It's pretty steep price to pay. No, I was not aware of that, actually. I've been doing to catch up in terms of the deal for that thing. I guess a little bit before that one came down the pipe. Yeah, I'm surprised they gave up on Rodden that quickly. they're pretty high on him last off

season, grow up. I mean, obviously, because there's a high risk by the nature, but we haven't seen a lot of really strong prospects in terms. We've seen a lot of minor leaders made, but not a lot of good prospects. So there's two pretty good prospects to give up for role players.

Well, in terms of the bigger picture, you know, I guess the big move, the move of substance today was them acquiring Shane Bieber, who's coming off Tommy John, but we're well aware of his resume and his stuff when he's healthy. what do you make of that approach by Ross Atkinson company going out and getting Shane Bieber? You know, I wonder to what extent.

I mean, I think it's a long time, right? But there's no comforting dealing with Cleveland, right? It's really a thing for this front office. You know, it's a big bet on Bieber being what he once was. And I just don't think we know. I think it's too soon to know at this point. He's looked fine in his rehab outings. I will say as fastball

he's playing as well as it used to. Biders been pretty good. Obviously, he's, you know, it's their rehab out. He's not necessarily trying to get every litter out. He's working on very limited bridge town, so it is not the ideal way to judge or to scout a player. And I do think there's something to be taken

from the fact that that slider is an outfit to them. Where, you know, just the fact that a lot of guys will tell you after they have elbow surgery, the breaking stuff, just throwing the braking stuff doesn't feel the same and they don't come in these guys. There's plenty of examples of guys that have really good curveballs.

They go under the knife. They come out and the curveball's not the same. The fact that the slider and his kind of has some downward curveball-like break to if he's so there is a positive. I would just, you know, I heard you guys say maybe he's a potential ace for them. I really would come to breaks on that because he is just coming back him and do. You can have a checkback. He's going to be on a limited workload.

You hope that's eventually what he returns to. But in the short term, I'm not expecting the only way as much. So in this deal that just happened, Keith, and the Jays acquire the centerpiece of the deal is Louis Varlane, who has electric stuff out of the bullpen, throws 99 plus. What do you make of his potential to fill out the Blue Jays bullpen? He was a good late-game release option.

The twins messed around forever, wasted a lot of time trying to make them started. There's no chance he could do that. He had a right-handed pitcher who's had a terrible trouble, at least when he was a starter, just getting lefties out, keeping him on the bottom. He just generally had a problem keeping guys in the ballpark that has been

better if he moved to the bullpen. I think that he can be kind of your I say high legend. I don't really care as much about he's a closure. He's a setup man. He's someone you can bring in in a tight game in the later in the end. No, no, later. It means, yeah, it doesn't matter what it means, it is.

And one thing I do like about it, and you mention the power stuff, it's absolutely true. But we don't strike out as many guys. You do expect for a guy throwing 100. The thing that impresses me is you don't walk that. We have just drifted into this era where we want pitch shapes, we want guys with electric stuff. And I mean, I like those guys, too. They miss that, and if it doesn't make contacts, nothing really bad can happen. But I also appreciate the fact there's a place for a guy in the later in the name,

who doesn't walk anyone who avoids the free passes and he asks a lot of managers so I tell you that's the thing they want the most later in doing so I do appreciate that he doesn't I think he helps them my initial reaction was they're paying a lot in terms of prospects

for a guy who is going to throw 20 minutes for them the rest of the suit when the dust settles and all the deals finally trickle out how does the landscape of the AL East change based on today's moves for the Yankees the Js and the Red Sox Yeah, it's funny.

My editor was joking. Did the Yankees have any players before today? I mean, they just keep acquiring guys. And they managed to do it without giving up all over the job. They didn't give up anybody. I don't think they have anybody as good as Rojas or Robbins, actually, just kind of mentally trying to run through all the players the Yankees traded away. I mean, the Yankees did a good job.

They marketed their guys, and I think they cashed in on them. Of course, the Yankees, it's going to matter of the most is what they got out of our indulgence this year. It's nothing the Yankees. he's did today, it's going to be as important as does Aaron Judge return sooner rather than later, and he's seen 100% when he comes back. I know there were rumors of the Red Sox possibly adding another starting picture later today. I don't know if any of that actually happened with the deadline. So waiting to see a stop Turcles through. I would say that these G's should feel comfortable about their ability to stay ahead of the Red Sox the rest of the

way. Obviously, the Orioles are getting worse, which can only help you in terms of the wild card race and you know that you play the way or the last year season. JJ fans should be glad their team did something. I feel like the complaint I heard from Vijay's fans since the Atkins Shapiro group took over was that they don't do enough and they did and that they hugged their prospects too much. Well, they didn't.

This year they traded away, they traded Calcina, they traded Rogan, they traded Rojas. They may have traded as much prospect guess as anyone looks at the Padres but they don't count because that's just what they do every year. So, you know, if you're a Lerjay fan, playing for years has been there they're not addressing

enough. Well, they certainly work it out. Yeah, well, and if you include Sir Anthony Dominguez, who they picked up a couple of days ago, that appears to be their trade deadline. Dominguez, Bieber, Varlane, France, and they got a four

game lead on the Yankees, five on the Red Sox. Do you think what they have in the way they're playing is enough for you to believe that they're going to end up winning the ALES this year? I would still pick the Yankees. again, with the caveat that we don't know what judge is going to give them, he's obligated to play great.

I think those played kind of above expectations for the last few months or so. Reinforcing that roster is absolutely the right approach. You're in first place. You are certainly in full positions to get a playoff spot. I think we've got to approach the trade-bed in that way. It's like they identified their biggest area of heed. Maybe it's a bullpen more than anything else. White-handed release.

If they get a good start, even abbreviated starts out of show, Dean Bieber, that's probably going to end up being the most significant acquisition that they made. I would say overall, I'm just really glad to see that they are going to it, and that they're not hugging your prospects, even though, like they said, individually, I think so some of those trades might have been expensive on the prospect side. I would rather see teams in playoff position, go for it, versus standing packs. How do you make sense of what they're doing down in San Diego, Keith, with A.J. Preller, just making all these deals and just moving out all these prospects again and again. And is there any sort of method to the madness that you can make out? No, I think there is the most win now team in baseball.

And part of me respectful, even though they gave up Leo degrees in a trade, their number one prospect in a trade earlier today, who's the best prospect by far to get traded at the deadline. I don't think they got anywhere near enough in return for them. They got Mason Miller, who's a believer in the leaders are, don't throw that much for you, and they're volatile, and Miller's that injury with it. To that said, Treller is very clearly saying,

no, I want to win now. I like collecting all these prospects. We can go get more. We don't have a lot of chances left with this major league four to get back to the playoffs. They were really close to the World Series last year. They were very much looking to get a couple times.

We can go from close and fall in the floor. So I respect the philosophy that says prospects are here for us to trade, try to make the big league roster better. I think a quarter of their entire draft class from last year is already gone. Just in today's trade, I'm five of the 20 are out of the organization. Crazy. There's still deals trickling in.

It's going to be an active night, active stretch run. You'll be all over like always. Thank you, Keith. Appreciate it. Yep, my pleasure. Keith Law from the Athletic. At a festival or something. I don't know where the hell Keith was.

It puts their hearts. Yeah, that's what it sounded like. Someone's going up on stage. But listen, the Jays, you know, they took an interesting route here. Like the Beaver deal is the one of significance here. And I think understandably so, Keith Law is saying, you know, be careful with exactly what you think is going to come of this. But as I said earlier, it's a high risk, higher reward trade,

where if by October he's pitching, like gives you A-level stuff, even if it's for three, four innings, fine. That's worth it. I'll take that over a fourth or fifth starter that's just plugging a rotation spot and probably won't even make the playoff roster. You know, as for the bullpen arms, they throw heat, right? Like that's what these guys do. They throw 97, 98, 99.

Is it a Grand Slam trade deadline? Probably not. You know, were the Yankees more active and probably even better in terms of their approach to the trade deadline? Yeah. But the Jays are ahead of them in the standings right now. And you know what else this kind of signifies for the Jays? It's a little bit of the best of both worlds, where we have faith in the guys that got us to this point.

And when we eventually get to where we want to go, and that's playing October baseball, we have the reinforcements we need. Like we have a higher ceiling now to achieve more because of what we did here. It's not, like, Shane Bieber's not the help right now, but there's a lot of faith that this team can get to a position where having a guy like Shane Bieber is eventually going to matter for them.

Well, that's a great point, Frankie. I think that's very true. Best case scenario to Hayes' point is you got a guy who rekindles this Cy Young stuff, and there's a lot of scenarios that are below that one that could still be really favorable for the Blue Jays. But I'll say this, like, when they were on the heater before they had the disappointing

pre-trade deadline experience in Baltimore, what was a lot of the talk? It was, you don't want to mess up the chemistry, with this group because there's something special going on here, right? Yeah. Kind of a magical feeling with this clubhouse. They haven't done that with any of these moves. They haven't, they haven't, you know,

the add to the bullpen is not going to change anything. No. Shipping O, Will Wagner is not going to change anything. Yeah. You know, and you really haven't, now you can say, well, you didn't bring in another significant bat, which is fair, but that might have messed up the chemistry, you know, like that, like, that might have said to somebody

that was contributing that your rule isn't as a, important anymore. And right now for good or for bad, that hasn't happened. Yeah. And there were really only like one or two true like power bats available that were going to like change the kind of tides

of a lineup. Right. And I don't think they were, you know, in a position to pay those prices. So yeah, you're right. I mean, in terms of this culture that they've built how much you want to put into that, how much it's worth down the stretch, we'll find out. But they have not rocked

the boat on that front. And in terms of their top prospects, like Nima is still here, Yasevich is still here, Teetamon's still here. You know, Rojas was a pretty highly touted prospect. And they just traded him to Minnesota. Top five. So there's a guy and that's the thing, like Keith law is a prospect

guy. Like that's what Keith does. Keith is big into the draft, big into the systems, big into the farm. So, you know, guys like that will lean more conservatively, like, you know, the 20 year old, yeah, he can't give that guy up. The 21 year old. I think the Js are in a position where they had to bring in live arms.

They had to bring in guys. They had to, they had to give this team a boost. And I think they've done that to an extent. Yeah, but they're also, they're not to, they could have been way more active. They could have gotten better, but they didn't. But they didn't just stand pat. No. And they're also not operating like the Padres do. And this front office was never going to operate that way. We know that from the moment they got here. They very much value having prospects. And yet, they get to keep their top guys. they make some additions to the clubhouse and some things that can make them a better team

and you still keep in mind that this is the group that got you here like they've gotten you to this point so they do get a chance to continue rolling with it and the Jays are going to be successful they're always all these teams any sport they're going to be successful because the core guys are the best guys and that's no different with baseball, basketball, hockey, anything else.

Exactly. Just like Keith was saying nothing the Yankees could do today is going to be more important than what happens with Aaron Judge. Yep. Is he healthy? Is he going to be able to mash like he matches and play the outfield so they don't have to put John Carlos Stanton in the outfield? And that's the most important thing for the Yankees. Just to your point, Frankie, as the guys who are hot, stay hot for the Blue Jays. And that's, it's as simple as that.

Bichette, hit with runners in scoring position. Laddie, if you're not going to hit home runs, make sure you're having meaningful at bats and you're getting walks and you're getting on base. Like, all those things still matter. They still have to play great fundamental baseball at the core level. And you get your Joey Lopofito's pitching in with two, three hits at a time. Like that stuff has made a big difference this year. It certainly has.

Yeah. And look, I like this, like Lewis Varland, I think, you know, Keith Law's estimation of this guy, throws 100 or thereabouts. Yeah. Average is 98 fast. It doesn't walk people. Yeah. It doesn't walk people. That's hard to argue with.

Yeah. And they got them under control, which you know Atkins and Shapiro are going to like. Through 2030. Yeah, pre-arb until 27 and free agent, 2031. 31? Okay. So, you know, again, relatively young guy, like Law said, I guess they were hoping to transition him into a starter.

He's not going to be in Toronto. He's going to be a bullpen guy. But that's, again, a big part of what playoff baseball is about. Like, you've got to go to the bullpen and that guy's got to come in and overpower people, overpower lineups. And Varland can throw smoke. Dominguez can throw smoke. Hoffman can

and has And you wonder if does Varlens supplant Does Varlens supplant Hoffman eventually? Possibly. As the closer. Possibly as the highest leverage arm

you know that they have. At least it's a possible option. Yeah. No, it's a good. I think that acquisition again, yes, you paid a price clearly, but that's something that had to happen.

They felt they needed that. Yeah. And that's what we've been saying all day. Like you've got to go, you've got to keep bolstering your roster. You have to. You need multiple.

bullpen arms. They found two. They found a starter when Beber is available that has true upside. Okay. Let's see what you got now. Yeah, they got two and the Yankees got three. The arms race kept going, right? Like the Yankees kept acquiring

people, the Red Sox made significant moves. So all of a sudden it was like, if you were going to sit there and watch those guys get better, then you're putting a lot of faith in who you already have and essentially falling behind and give the guys making the decisions credit because they didn't They didn't do that. They didn't fall into that and they were proactive and they made the moves that are necessary to keep them, you know, in the same ballpark as those two teams in this arms race. Big time. All right. John Gibbons coming up more of, you know, more resetting what has happened here in Major League Baseball and particularly with the Jays, the American League East and the American League. Our best bets later in the hour, we get the Hall of Fame game tonight. Lions Chargers. Whoa. I love the over tonight. That'll be a part of our best bets. Overdrive continues. TSN 1015.

if the end on TSN2. From tariffs to trade deals, the markets are changing. Is your portfolio ready for what comes next? For all your questions, you need a money guy. Kelvin, the money guy, will help you develop a financial plan that includes the right levels of diversity. The best way to navigate uncertain times. With strategic advice from Kelvin,

you can not only protect your investments, you can grow them. Don't wait. Call 416-457 plan or visit Ask Kelvin. all right so we believe the blue jays are done and this is basically what's come in and what's gone out shame beaver ser anthony dominguez louis varland tie france balenzuela who's a dept catcher double a triple a catcher likely won't play for the jays call stephen out kendris roha out John Watts Brown out Will Wagner out Alan Rodin out so Rodin has played a little bit Wagner's played a little bit the other guys are further you know deeper down in your system

and Bieber when healthy will pitch Dominguez is already pitching Varland's going to step in and pitch France is a utility guy so you've added four guys to your roster and you haven't really taken anyone out that you thought was going to be here on a permanent basis and you know I think If you look at it in a vacuum, I think the Jays have done a pretty good job here. They've added a couple of bullpen arms. And I like the gamble on Beaver. We've been talking about it for two and a half hours.

I like it. I think it's worth a shot. And the upside is you could get stuff that is better than what you currently have. So I'm fine with that. And when you compare it to the Yankees and maybe even the Red Sox who made some moves down the stretch, like just onto the wire, Seattle, Texas is pretty active. Houston, pretty good trade deadline. I don't think they're nearly,

they're not close to the top in terms of the best trade deadline in the American League, but also not the worst. You also don't have to win the deadline. You don't have to win the deadline. Right. It's July 31st.

You don't have to win the offseason. You don't have to win the deadline. You just have to make moves that in the short and long term make you a better team. And can we say that the Blue Jays have done that? I think they've bolstered the bullpen in the short term and in the long term,

they have another quality arm that if he can get up to speed is going to give them a lot of quality in minutes and innings that matter. The front office obviously believes this team has the chops to get there and allow that to happen. Yeah. Yeah. Like the Yankees have gotten substantially

better. If judges at 100 percent, they've added, you know, multiple pieces to the left side of their infield, which they had to. Like a plus defensive guys, they hit for power clearly. They've got a one, two, three in the bullpen in particular that is the strongest in the American League of.

So they're good. Yes. You know, they're in a pretty good place right now. But they've also been reeling recently and judge is not at 100%. And like everyone else, you've got to find your role. You've got to fit in. The Yankees seemingly do a better job than anyone else. For a guy show up, they put the pinstripes on and they turn into studs.

Like that just seems like the way the Yankees always work. They find a guy whose numbers stink wherever else he was. And then he shows up and he turns into like an all-star level production. they do have a tendency to do that. But, yeah, the Yankees, to their credit, they bolstered their lineup. Like, they got a lot of flexibility there now. Yeah, they were serious about improving, right?

They embarrassed themselves getting absolutely, you know, dummied by the Blue Jays up here in a couple of series. They're booting the ball around. It was an error fest. So from Ryan McMahon earlier this week, and then Jose Caballero, huge, huge acquisitions on the left side of the infield, as you point out. And then, like, the thing that worries you, I think, is they were very serious about their bullpen.

And the Jays did a good job. You know, Varland is going to help. Dominguez is going to help. But. They went out and got Bedner. They got Weaver. They got Williams. Bedner was the number one reliever on the market, right?

Yeah. And they got them. And the Yankees acquired. And they also got Jake Burden and Camillo Deval. Yeah. Both of whom can really contribute to, it looks like. Yeah. Bedner, Weaver, Willer.

Williams, that's your kind of one, two, three in the bullpen, that's pretty good. Did you guys see the video of Caballero getting traded mid-game and having to go to the other dugout? It's crazy. That is one of the craziest things, man. They're in a rain delay. They're actually playing the game. And he's hugging his teammates and doing

everything. I've got to go throw on a different uniform now. I was talking about the Danny Jansen game last year. Remember where it got rained out? He was playing for the Jays. Then later in the year, they made up the game and he had been traded to the Red Sox. That's right. He plays for both teams in the same registered game it's crazy amazing um all right so here's one of our favorites you know him from the

he was he was running the operation down in new york a couple days ago when the right met's manager was getting tossed here he is uh met's bench coach former jays manager john gibbens how you doing gibby boys how are you guys we're doing well how do you operate on a day like today a lot of activity of baseball your met's have been very active uh how do you set up shop and try to figure out exactly what's going on well i tell you know, it's a, you know, it's a fun day for, you know, the fans and shoot the players and the coaches, you know, plus 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, pull it off or not. And this is, you know, this is a time of year that I think the general managers, you know, they earn their keep, you know, what they do with teams. And we were pretty active down here. You know, we needed to do something with our bullpen to strengthen that a little bit. And, you know, of course, we also picked up an old nemesis of your guys, Mullins 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'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, when I was up there in Toronto, you know, I can remember, you remember, 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 can remember Batista and Jantz and 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 prize to Lewitsky, all that.

You guys know the story. It was the 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? 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 the manager. And 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, of course, New York here's a big, 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 to 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've seen 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, 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. 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, you know, 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, Ghibi, you're talking about the medium 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 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 back page, 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.

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 were, 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, 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 rolling along. Next thing, you know, they dropped six, seven, eight games in a row, and 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 Every team was so active At least today anyway 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 500 Saying we can get on a heater You have 50 games left, get hot, get in Anything can happen Yeah, you guys 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, Kibby. If that happens, we've got to establish that 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 down. We'll see you in the World Series. Thanks, Gibby. All right, boys. Enjoyed it. There is, John Gibbons.

I don't think Gibby's really cruising around, you know, Manhattan much, or I don't see, you know, Gibby necessarily being a Fifth Avenue type guy. I'm more of a Queens guy. Like he hangs out in Queens, goes to the city field, hangs out, and just does his thing. Yeah, exactly. I don't know, man. He likes his steakhouses, though. That's true.

And New York's got some beauties. They sure are, man. He likes, he's probably going Peter Lugers. He's like an old school steakhouse guy. That's in Brooklyn, I think. Is it in Brooklyn? I believe it is. Hipster Brooklyn.

Yeah. It is. Hibby's not a hipster Brooklyn guy. I don't see him being hipster. I don't see, I don't see Gibby growing a mustache and putting on a top hat to go grab a steak. No,

he's going to a classy steak joint. Yeah. He's got some. Would you say a mustache and a top hat? Is that what hipsters wear now? Yeah, I feel like hipsters have like weird short shorts, high socks,

like skater shoes. Yeah. And like a weird hat that's too big for their heads and like a thin mustache. Yeah. And lots of tats. Yeah. Back tattoos that possibly have been covered up. Possibly yet.

Well, we'll be one day. Not quite yet. Not quite yet. Yeah, I don't know if Givie's necessarily doing that, but anything is possible. Anything is possible. Jay's Mets. Overdrive down in. In New York, that'd be phenomenal.

Get me back to New York. I've been to New York in a while. I've got to get back down there. Walking by, spitting on the set. Oh, they would hate us down there, too. Hate it. Just hate us. It would be an incredible atmosphere.

Doing a Toronto show outside of City Field in the World Series. Is it in Queens? I don't even know. It is. It is. It's in the middle of a parking lot. There's not much of that. There's nothing out there.

It's just like it's right by where the U.S. Open is. Yeah. Beautiful stadium. Great stadium. Yeah. Really good one. Yeah, it's weird. Like, the Yankees are in the Bronx and.

The Mets are in Queens, but give you'll set you up. Maybe he'll set a song. Absolutely. All right. Best Betts powered by Fanduel coming up. We'll recap what's been a very, very active and busy afternoon for the Js and basically every other contending team in baseball. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN2.

From tariffs to trade deals, the markets are changing. Is your portfolio ready for what comes next? For all your questions, you need a money guy. Calvin the money guy will help you. you develop a financial plan that includes the right levels of diversity. The best way to navigate uncertain times. With strategic advice from Kelvin, you can not only protect your investments,

you can grow them. Don't wait. Call 416-457 plan or visit ask kelvin.cai. All right, best bets powered by Fandoah. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay and seconds on the Fanduil sports book. Yeah, we have NFL football tonight. We have CFL football tonight as well. Ottawa hosting tonight

that means we're going to have football like every Thursday for the next six months. It's a beautiful how happy are you? I am very happy and I am going to hammer the over tonight. Totals are always low especially early in training camp. Totals 33 and a half

2117 tonight yeah 2117 give me that 23 23 13 I can see it give me the over I'm on the over tonight. Chargers, Lions. I think both teams are going to run the ball.

I think they're both going to punch in multiple touchdown. Good, I'm going to roll with you. I'm on the over tonight. Just like yesterday. Yes. And we lost. That's fine. Shohei jammed us.

Yeah, he jammed us big time in the first inning. Yeah. I thought that was a lock, six up, six down. Show Hey, O'Honey. Can't ever rely on that guy. No. Just can't rely on Shohei. What a bust.

Yeah, I'm on the over tonight. 33 and a half. That's the total on Fanduel. Best bet's powered by. Fandwell. Same game parlays. This NFL season now include passing touchdowns and receptions on the Fandwell Sportsbook. Yeah, please play responsibly 19 plus

physically located in Ontario. It is a beautiful thing that the NFL is playing games again. It happens quickly. Like now we're past the MLB trade deadline, which takes up so much oxygen really throughout the whole month. There's so much focus on it, and it's happened. And

the Js made multiple moves today. But now it's the stretch run. Now you've got two months left until you're into the playoffs. You've got the NFL that's cooking. You're almost into a point of the CFL season where they always say, you know, Labor Day is when the season really begins. That's a month away. Yeah.

Labor Day's September 1st this year, I believe. That's right. Yeah. So it's a month tomorrow. It's quick. Out of five, what's your grading on today's trade deadline for the J's? Out of five. I'll say 3.5 out of five.

I think that's appropriate. Pretty good. It wasn't a home run. It wasn't five out of five. They didn't go all in. It was not an atrocity. It's not like they sat there and said, we're not going to give up prospects,

we're not going to give up anything, and we're just going to roll the dice and see how it goes. They did stop. Yeah. They did, you know, one move that is quite significant. Shane Bieber. Yeah. Presuming health.

Yes. And some other things that will certainly help them, but I think 3.5 is very appropriate. Listen, Louis Varland, who they picked up from the twins, 49 innings pitch this year. He's got a 202 ERA, 47 strikeouts. So, goes heat. Yeah, he throws heat, strikes out a lot of guys,

doesn't give up much. Farland comes in, Dominguez comes in, and Beaver will see him in probably two or three weeks and see what he's got. And then Ty France is the only bat they get. Was an All-Star a few years ago. Not playing up to those capabilities lately. Had 20 home runs that they get his height.

I'm fine with that. I'm fine with them not you know, going to get in Stephen Kwan or something like that. I'm fine with the roster that they have. They have flexibility. They've hit for power. You know, they're, they are manufacturing runs.

Like they've done a really good job of that the last month and a half. It's, it's always about the They got a lot of bodies. They got a lot of guys that they already have. The bar show's coming back. Exactly. At some point Varshow's coming back. I don't think you can count on Santander, but they could come back. You never know. Yeah, it's possible. I mean, but I

think like three and a half is a decent grade. I mean, I think it might be a little lower than that only because the Yankees did so much and so well. Yankees have a bullpen that is very formidable. That's what they have. Now, again, Garrett Cole's

not coming back this year. They got freed. They got Rodon. They got to figure out, you know, who's going to be their third starter there that they can really commit to and really believe in. But you've got a great bullpen there. If Judge returns to health, then is that 100%. There's no one better, clearly. but he's got to prove himself in the playoffs

to Juan Soto's not there anymore. That's right. Right? So, yeah, I mean, the Yankees are always going to scare you because they got that aura of being the Yankees. But I think the Js can compete with them. I think the Jays are still better than the Red Sox. Red Sox made some pretty good acquisitions.

Yeah. But, you know, it's all these teams, it's not just the Yankees. Houston got better. Yeah. Seattle got better. The Rangers got better. The Red Sox got better. They all got better.

The race. The race got better. Yeah. So everyone got better. The Jay's got better. Maybe not as much as two or three of the other teams that they're competing with. But I think they're kind of middle of the pack in terms of the moves that they made. The Jays are going to have this series now against Kansas City.

And you like to throw a tweet out just to kind of update the status of where things are at. I think your next tweet is going to be Jays are still rolling. Yeah, you're feeling positive about this weekend? That's going to be your next tweet. Jays are still rolling. additions helped good times in Jay's Land. Do you think it goes the other way? No, I think they stack up pretty well against Kansas City, clearly.

And then you go to Colorado. Yeah, let's see Louis Varland get in this tomorrow night. Let's get Dominguez into some action tomorrow night. The HACD temperature check is coming in a couple days. It's coming very soon. I think Varland could be the guy that raises the ceiling on the way we feel about this deal. Yes. Or this deadline.

Right. His stats would indicate that what he's capable. of throwing. If he makes you feel better about Hoffman's spot in the pecking order, if he becomes a guy you can really rely on. And you don't have to rely on Hoffman as much. Well, and that's why, again, Bieber's the ultimate wild car.

Let's say it's September 15th and this guy's, he can get you 85 pitches in a game and it's like really quality stuff. You're going to look back on this differently. You're right. Now, if he's re-re, you know, some react to taste something, and he's

not here. And Easton Lucas is pitching a big game on September 15th. We'll look back on this differently. But that's the beauty of the trade deadline. A lot of games left. The beauty of rolling the dice, man. That's right. All right, boys, good seeing you guys. Thanks for doing this. Frankie Carrado, Dave Festchuk. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today.

TV radio podcast web. We appreciate that. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at Catch Hazy B's bold predictions tonight on SportsCenter. Overdrive will be back at 4 p.m. tomorrow. We'll chat then. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now learn the details of how they came to be.

Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating, weekly deep dive, stream encore, the stories behind the songs you love, on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.