The Herd with Colin Cowherd - BEST OF THE HERD – LeBron James & The Decision 2.0, Colin Was Right About Josh Allen, Derek Jeter: ABS Making Baseball Better

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

Colin Cowherd discusses LeBron James continuing to assess which team he’ll sign with in free agency for his 24th NBA season. Colin believes he will end up back with the Cavaliers but explains why that is not the best landing spot for the 4-time champion. Colin also talks about a survey featuring league executives, coaches and scouts ranking Josh Allen ahead of Patrick Mahomes as the best QB in the NFL right now and why Colin has been right about Allen for years. Plus, Hall of Famer Derek Jeter joins the show to talk about the Yankees contending in the AL despite injuries to Aaron Judge & why ABS has improved baseball. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Monday, man, there's a lot to talk about. Alexi Lollas, Derek Jeter, stop on by. We are live. In Chicago, it's the herd. Wherever you may be in, however you may be listening. Thanks for Megan asked part of your day, that stupid stomach virus I had. Out of here.

He's brushed it aside. Steaking a martini later, feel like a million bucks. So let me tell you the thing where fans can be hypocrites. It's the dumbest argument in the world. If you took a job at Nvidia, would your buddies, your wife, your friend say, what a ring chaser. That's the easy way out.

In every profession in America, Otani goes to the Dodgers. He selects the Dodgers. He's not called a ring chaser. If you're a high school football five-star recruit, you decide, I want to go to Ohio State instead of Purdue. We celebrate it. NIL.

Kid goes, I want to go play for Michigan and Dusty May. We celebrate it. But in professional basketball, it's the only part of America. If you join a better option, what a ring chaser. LeBron James reportedly is going to make a decision in 48 hours where he's going. He should go to Philadelphia. He should go to Philadelphia. It's a best team by far, best chance to win a championship.

Who cares what bots say? on the internet. Chase Philadelphia. The problem is he doesn't have great connection to the city of Philadelphia. It doesn't know a lot of guys in the roster, but it's by far and away the best situation. I'd go in one second. Dude, it's Navidia. Go ahead and work at Bob's local computer store in Cleveland. The Cavaliers aren't the best fit. It's the Lakers with better rim protection. Hardin and Donovan Mitchell don't play defense and need the ball. That's Austin Reeves and Luca. And by the way, LeBron's last several years in Los Angeles. For the record, when he chose the Lakers, it was the opposite of ring chasing.

The four previous years, the Lakers, who had one of the poorest ownership groups in the NBA, had the worst record in the NBA and the worst point differential. He went the opposite. How did it work out? In the end, frustrated. Nobody could stay healthy. Luca couldn't stay healthy. AD couldn't stay healthy.

Austin Reeves in the playoffs couldn't stay healthy. Average bench. So what did it get him? A COVID ring. In Miami, he got to four straight finals. Oh, ring chasing. Yeah, he wanted to play and work with good coworkers. I don't even get ring chasing.

What does that mean? Every other person on the planet. When I had opportunities to leave in my entire career, I've never once said, I want to go work with lesser management. You know what I'd like is bad teammates that need the ball and don't play defense? That's what I'd like to do. the whole fear about Philadelphia from the Rich Paul group is, and they're already sending messages,

it would be viewed as ring chasing. No, it would be viewed as meeting contemporaries that have put the commitment in you have. By the way, the Lakers in Cleveland, it's the same team with rim protection. The last several years in L.A., Austin Reeves and Luca and Anthony Davis, they can't stay healthy.

If you go play for Philadelphia, Tyrese has led the NBA in minutes played the last two years. durable, reliable, ascending, committed, impeccable shape. Jalen Brown's in great shape. Edgecombe's a dog, man, he is fantastic.

Yeah, M. Bede, M. B's not necessarily healthy. Some of that's his body breaking down. But the idea of the Golden State, Golden State's nostalgia. I understand. But if you make the playoffs with the Warriors, the starting five's average age is going to be 37 years old. Give me a break. That's not viable.

And again, Cleveland, chemistry issues, too many guys that need the basketball, too many guys outside of Allen and mobility that don't want to play defense. They got swept by the Knicks and three of the games were embarrassing. They quit. That's not the best place to go. Going to the Warriors will have a lot of nostalgia, but it'll be like a boys trip in your 50s to Vegas. The first night, you stay out a little late and the rest of the vacation is just recovery. and Cleveland's like moving back in with your parents. It's cool for about a night, but man, does that get old?

Philadelphia is easily the best choice. But there's this whole thing. We punish pro basketball players in ring chasing. We don't punish stockbrokers that go to the better firm or lawyers that go to the better firm or a surgeon that goes to a better, more capitalized, more supportive hospital. We don't even, we don't bang on high school or college kids who join a big, We don't crush soccer players because they want to play for Real Madrid or Manchester United. We don't criticize Otani going to the Dodgers so we can have better players hitting in front and behind him in the lineup.

There's something about pro basketball players. Oh, ring chasing. You want to join that circus in Cleveland? You've already bailed on them twice. You want to go to the old warriors? I admit, that would be fun. I would love to watch Draymond and staff and the brink. I'd love to watch it.

I'm a sucker for that. That's like watching that Shawshank Redemption for the 13th time or Oceans 11. Like, I'd watch it. I'd watch it. Rich Paul on the notion, and I've been, you know, the word is LeBron's making a decision in two days here, 48 hours. I think one of the reasons he's waiting, I really believe this, is LeBron knows Philadelphia is the best choice, but he didn't have a real visceral, emotional connection there. But LeBron's smart.

He knows the best choice. And I don't think he loves, you know, the ring chasing stuff. Rich Paul discussed that. The team he chooses, I don't know yet. There's a seriousness that comes with this. There's a competitiveness that comes. We know how hard it is to win championships. No roster, no organization is guaranteed to win a championship.

But you do want to be competitive. You do want to have an opportunity to come late April and early May to compete at a high level and give yourself the best chance of winning. He's not chasing the ring. You hear these things like, why do you have to chase? He got four. There's nothing to chase. He's not chasing the ghosts or anything like that.

But when you've worked as hard to position yourself the way you have and you can actually decide what you want to do, who wouldn't take advantage of that? Exactly. Go take a job at invidia. Go from the angels to the Dodgers. Choose the Yankees. Choose the easiest route. Choose Ohio State. choose, you know, Michigan State basketball over a directional school.

Get the better coach. Get the better facilities. I don't get the ring chasing. I don't know why we punish just pro basketball players. We don't punish anybody else in the world for taking a better job with a better company, with better management, better momentum. All right. So we're down to the final four teams in the World Cup.

It's big brands and big stars. You got Mbapapai, Maul, Messi, and Kane. and it's been really fun to watch. In my opinion, the two most difficult sports clubs to join in the world are Augusta National and elite World Cup level soccer franchises. The Spains, the England's, the Brazil's and the Argentinas. I mean, Gary Player, a three-time Masters champ was denied playing. recently his grandson.

He wanted to play with his grandkids at Augusta. They turned him now. Bill Gates in the 90s was the richest man in the world. Before we even talked about the richest man in the world, he couldn't get it in the 90s. He's a member now. They'd probably like to get rid of him. Money can buy you a lot of things. In baseball, the Dodgers money payroll, plus the brilliant deferred payment plan

has put them a leg ahead of the sport. In college sports, Michigan basketball, Indiana, football, you can buy championships. Pay for the coach, pay for the players. In the NFL, you can buy immediate success, if not a Super Bowl. Hire a Harbaugh, that usually helps. But you cannot do it in international soccer. England makes a fortune.

England, endless, bottomless pit of revenue for soccer. One World Cup. One World Cup. And I think that's tough for Americans to swallow. But I was thinking about this yesterday. a big walk, trying to get rid of this stomach crap, which I finally did. And I was thinking about how it's almost like technology. Like in the 70s and 80s, Japan was a mile ahead of us in personal computers, in semiconductors. And I mean a mile ahead of us. Felt like we never catch up. And then now,

China now is ahead of us in EVs. I mean, robotics. They're a mile ahead of us in robotics, electronic vehicles, the 5G network stuff, which I don't know much about, but they're ahead of us there. So even when you have money in international soccer like Brazil or England, you can go decades of having a World Cup drought, even though, and the reason is because soccer is so important, it is so important for revenue, viability, relevance, and for the culture of countries. It's just like technology. Technology is so important to everybody on the face of the the planet is that sometimes we lead, but not for very long. We have big gaps.

We have droughts. We've had them in personal computers and semiconductors and 5G and electronic vehicles. Nobody leads everything forever. When's the last time we had back-to-back World Cup champions? It's been forever. Brazil, remember several years ago when they hosted the World Cup? They lost a home game 7 to 1 to Germany. Brazil has got the most titles ever.

So international soccer and Augusta are the whole. hardest clubs to get into. And it does remind me a little bit of technology where you don't lead everything forever. You can lead and suddenly a trail. But there's so much relevant, so much money, so much of every country's futurist high to it. AI is now the big race. You hope you win. Even if America wins the initial surge into AI. Will we lead five years later? Will we lead 20 years later? It's too important for countries not to pour all their resources into. it. This is not hockey or like a baseball. This is global soccer. And we are just fine. It's not that we lost. It's the way we lost. We're going to be okay. Here's John Strong last week.

We were always going to face this sort of bleak moment of retrospection. And like we said, it's amplified by the manner in which they lost to Belgium. If you compare it to where we were eight years ago, if you compare this team to what it was a year ago. It's in a great spot. going forward. But yeah, it's really, really hard to crack into that top 10 globally. Few nations bust into the top 10. It's not like college football where Indiana can buy their way into a national title. And I'm not being disrespectful to Indiana. Just the dynamics are different. Yeah, Augusta, international soccer. Money has a ceiling. And for Americans, we don't like to hear that. All right, WNBA steps in it again. NFL executives, scouts,

Coaches survey on the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. Very interesting. Victor Wembenyama, taking a cue from Tom Brady and Jalen Brunson, gets the big picture of sports going forward. All that coming up. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, 45 minutes from now. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

Hey, it's Ben, host of the 5th. hour with Ben Mallor would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, Wolf forades, I'll Believe in Anything, and tattoos all the things she said, and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream Encore on IHeart Radio, Crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered sentences and paragraphs about

Enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? Why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself. I'm Rebecca Nagel. Gohine, Dawadol, Jalike Yatliqa, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big Chiefs fans?

Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Michael Rappaport, and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast, is unlike anyone you've ever heard. We're a variety show. And if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture, and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid, Jafar Jackson, is as good as Rami Malik as Freddie Mercury.

And it's as good as Timothy Shammalae as... Bob Dylan, and I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out, I don't know if it's five, six for best actor. 150% this kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am Rap Report on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my love. Starting your day can be tough. You wake up, maybe hit snooze,

and then scroll on your phone for a while, checking your emails, all before even giving yourself the chance to really open your eyes and breathe. And I want to help you break that cycle. My name is Ryan Weiss, and for the past 15 years, I've been an emotional intelligence coach

and spiritual guide, and I'm here to share with you my new podcast, Waking Up with Ryan. Waking Up with Ryan is a daily audio video podcast to interrupt the inertia of your fear, your ego, and judgment. Here to help you connect with yourself before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm, a moment of reflection and meditation, a moment that's just for you.

Listen to Waking Up with Ryan on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Glorious day. Never rains in Chicago. Sunny again. Six, seven straight days. I think I'll go out to my Apple Orchard after the show. Take a big bite of the life.

What a city. What a weekend. Survey from ESPN, they went to NFL coaches, executives, general managers, and scouts. And they asked them, who are the 10 best quarterback? in the league. And so, you know, to a lot of predictable people, Josh Allen above Mahomes, we've been on that for several years now. Burrow doesn't make the playoffs anymore. He's at four. Dak Prescott has one playoff whenever at six. Oh, I like to see Jared Gough and Caleb Williams in there, but where, uh, where's Sam Darnold? And that's what's really interesting.

even the GMs in this league don't know what the hell to do with Sam Donald. Back-to-back 14-win seasons, totally different players, offensive linemen, coordinators, coaches, back-to-back 14 wins and a Super Bowl. Since 2022, that's four years ago, he has the highest win percentage of any quarterback in the league. More than Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, he's 32 and 9. Four coaches, four coordinators, 14. teams, four rosters, four owners, 32 and 9, almost 100 passer rating. All started once he was benched in Carolina, got the job back, went four and two.

Christian McCaffrey, one of the great players in league history, was there in Carolina and talked about when Darnold first arrived the Panthers. When I first met him in Carolina, from the jump, I was like, this guy's a dude. and the more and more you see him at practice that you see the throws make you understand why he's a top pick in the draft and then you're around them more and you're like this is one of the best players I've been around period and it's because of how talented his arm is

he's way more athletic than people give him credit for and he's really good at taking what's given to him and doing his job Christian McCaffrey's like that's one of the best football players that've been around Carolina's had some good ones McCaffrey's been around some good ones in San Francisco, like six Hall of Famers with the Niners. Yeah, Darnal's one of the best football players I've been around. So when he came out of college, I said there's a little Brett Fav and a little Andrew Luck.

He can be reckless. Arm, athleticism, toughness, leadership, guys A++. I loved him out of college. I admit in Carolina when he got benched, I was like, I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. I see like a little Andrew Luck and a little bit of Brett Fav and people, oh, that's ridiculous. Well, how many Super Bowls does Fav have total?

Oh, one. How many is Andrew Luck have? None. Sorry, this is football. It's not baseball. We don't care about your batting average. The bottom line is, executives don't know what to do. And I'll give you an example.

I say this all the time. It's not just what happens when you enter a company. What happens to the one you leave? The Minnesota Vikings, when Sam Donald left, same coach, same coordinators, same left tackle, same receivers. won five fewer games, missed the playoffs. With Sam, they had their greatest year in 26 years. I mean, that included like Randy Moss years, right? He leaves Minnesota.

Their bottom field for their division. They don't feel like they're nearly as good now as Detroit, Green Bayer, Chicago. They would with Darnel. He goes to Seattle. They hadn't won a playoff game in six years. They hadn't made the playoffs in back-to-back years. They win the Super Bowl. And simultaneously, let go of their star receiver D.K. Matcalf did not better.

Did not matter. J.S.N. became a one with Sam Darnold. Right? Like, so I'm watching Minnesota, before he gets there, meh, gets there, wow, leaves there. Mare. I'm watching Seattle. Ma'a gets there, wins the Super Bowl. What's the thread line? What do we have in common here? So, you know, people love Joe Burrell, and they should. Joe Burrell's amazing. He's number four in the list.

Donald's not on it. People love Burrell. And the reason they love Burrell the most is he had a two-year period where he won 22 games and got to a Super Bowl. Donald's in a two-year period where he's won 28 games and won a Super Bowl. And he's not on the list. They don't know what to do. People don't know what to do.

Herbert's never won a playoff game. Back has won. Burl can't stay healthy. Can't make the playoffs. Again, images are powerful. Those first images are incredibly powerful. You see it with Jalen Hertz. He comes on to the scene.

He gets to a Super Bowl. All the dad is telling you, he struggles to throw the ball over the middle of the field. Greg CoSell's been telling us for two years. He can't see it. But years ago, he had a perfect team. He had a stacked roster. You have a great running back.

And that's the reality. The league's executives, Do not know what to do with Sam Darnold. Four teams, four years, 32 and nine. That's more impressive. Right? The old Bill Parcells, parcells, whatever team he went to, he won. Whatever the environment won.

Whatever, you could put Bill Parcells anywhere. Rebuilding jobs. He won. Didn't have to win Super Bowls. He won. I love this so much. Where is he? Where is Donald?

Let me get my... Bifocals, my binoculars. Where is? They can't find them on the list. One guy's four. One guy's not on the list. I'm just saying it feels like it's closer to me. I mean, Burroughs more expensive.

Darnold's healthier. I mean, deep ball arm. I'd take Darnold. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Listen. And you're there. The world's biggest stage. And breathtaking triumph.

In 2026 FIFA World Cup. The knockout stage. Every match, every moment. Listen on TSN Radio. Join the globe. On the road to the July 19th final. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stream it all live on TSN Radio.

Available on IHeart Radio. The declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered sentences, paragraphs about enlightenment ideals does also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? Why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself. I'm Rebecca Nagel.

to like I yetli Gaila, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big chiefs fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Michael Rappaport, and my podcast, the I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast, is unlike anyone you've ever heard. Or a variety show, If you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture, and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid, Jafar Jackson, is as good as Rami Malik as Freddie Mercury, and it's as good as Timothy Shamaulay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out, I don't know if it's five, six for best actors.

150% this kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am Rap Report on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I Am Rapaport Podcast. Hi, my love. Starting your day can be tough. You wake up, maybe hit snooze, and then scroll on your phone for a while, checking your emails all before. even giving yourself the chance to really open your eyes and breathe. And I want to help you break that cycle.

My name is Ryan Weiss, and for the past 15 years, I've been an emotional intelligence coach and spiritual guide, and I'm here to share with you my new podcast, Waking Up with Ryan. Waking Up with Ryan is a daily audio video podcast to interrupt the inertia of your fear, your ego, and judgment. Here to help you connect with your soul. before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm,

a moment of reflection and meditation, a moment that's just for you. Listen to Waking Up with Ryan on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. It's hour two and a Monday. It is an absolute pleasure to have you in. A lot of choices out there. We got a great week.

We got a great week. Alexi Lawless in five minutes. Eric Jeter stopping by home run derby tonight. All-Star festivities in the All-Star game tomorrow. So much fun. Well, we'll ask. Mbolo is Switzerland flopped. J-MAC says, just ignore it, let him play.

It had been a point of emphasis for the referees of the World Cup, the flopping thing, hurrying up play. They've been speeding up, you know, those kind of dead ball situations. They've been doing a very good job of that. So it's just, I understand both. sides, but like, you know, they've been saying no flopping. We're going to be tough on flopping. It just was not the great, is it on the athlete to be smarter than that in that moment? Now, we talk about it all the time in the NBA during the finals. They don't call anything.

You get to a Super Bowl. They don't want to call a big pass interference in the fourth quarter. They just get out of the way, let the players win. There's certainly that argument. Alexei Lawless in five minutes will have that. Colin right, Colin wrong in a Monday, and here we go. Where Colin was right? I've said for years, March madness, doesn't. matter. People love favorites. The World Cup, the top four rank FIFA teams are still alive. And the ratings are once again illustrating America loves favorites and America loves brands and stars. Cape Verde was a wonderful story. And even better story is France and England and Spain and Argentina is still around. Underdogs tug at our heart, maybe because most of us are underdogs in life.

but in the end, the big brands and the big stars are why this is smashing previous World Cup records. Where Colin was wrong. Listen, I've been a huge supporter of Christian Pulisic. I think as our most skilled player in the history of the United States soccer. I have said I think he's internationally special. But he's got one goal in two World Cups. And in the nine World Cup games, he could be a part of four of them. He has missed entirely or left early with an injury.

Availability is part of greatness. You've got to be available. Messi is small. He seemingly never misses games, certainly at the World Cup. And I think it also looked like against Belgium that Pulisic was timid. Stars at the World Cup have to be the opposite of that. Where Colin was right. NFL executives came out with a top 10 quarterback ranking based on executives, scouts, coaches, all this stuff.

Mahomes was number two to Josh Allen. This is what we've been on for two years. Mahomes has the better infrastructure, the better owner, had the better coach, a very good general manager. Alan's the better talent. His force, his mobility, his mobility, his best football player and the best quarterback in the NFL. Where Colin was wrong.

I thought we could beat and be highly competitive against. Belgium and we were not. Our goalkeeping, always a concern plus our backline was inferior. Two minutes into this contest, two minutes into this match, it was very clear. We could not maintain possession. We were cautious. It was humbling. And I got to take a gigantic L on that. Where Colin was right. Been saying for years, Mike Tomlin's a good coach, but he's part of the problem. And a study came out last week. done in Pittsburgh. 78% of Steeler fans said

Mike Tomlin and the lack of a quarterback plan is the issue. I got to give Steeler fans credit for this because we've been saying this for years and you can never tell from the internet or people that respond to something you say but it's always you're too tough on the Steelers.

No, when you asked real Steelers anonymous study, what's the problem? And I like Mike Tomlin. But even Pat Riley said years ago, you got about 10 years for a team or a franchise, you become noise. People tune you out. Tomlin was part of the issue. Where Colin was wrong. I love the number five pick in the NBA draft.

Keatn Wagner of Illinois. Wagler is an interesting guard, kind of a late bloomer. I thought he was the steal of the first 10 picks. He struggled. Second game, he shot 37% against Utah. first game minus 23 against Sacramento worse for the team. Now, now, it's Summer League. I think he still needs to fill out.

You know, he was not a five-star, AJ DeBonsa, Darren Peterson recruit. He wasn't. He was like a three-star guy that was completely overlooked. So he just physically needs to get stronger and get into an NBA wait room for two or three years. But I thought he was one of the steals of the draft at five. and first couple of games, not pretty at all for the clips.

Where Colin was right? Back to that NFL top 10 quarterback list. You know who's not on it? Little Jalen Hertz, an injury prone Brock Purdy. Jason, are you watching? First of all, size matters at the position. Russell Wilson convinced a lot of people it doesn't because he was great for a decade as a small quarterback. And the other thing is, you've got to be healthy.

Rock Purdy's heard too much. You got to be available. And finally, where Colin was right. Oh, we're at the all-star break in baseball. This is interesting. Oh, the Rays lead a division. The Brewers Small Market, Small Payroll, Lead a Division. The Small Payroll, Chicago White Sox lead a division.

The Mets Stink, biggest payroll. Of the top 10 payrolls, only two teams lead their division. Again, nobody is denying that the Dodgers have pulled away from the sport, but that's not just payroll. That's the brilliance of their front office and ownership to defer payments. And it should be noted even with that All-Star team in L.A., they were pushed to a game seven against the Blue Jays and needed about six miracles to happen to beat Toronto. Money matters. There's probably a baseline of payroll that matters. matters. Cleveland, though, is succeeding. Tampa's succeeding. Milwaukee's succeeding. White Sox payrolls

tiny. They're crushing this year. Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Do you know the only player to win an all-star game MVP and a World Series MVP in the same season? It's our guest of the many remarkable numbers of his career. Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter, now with Fox Sports, is joining us in the herd. We're lucky to get him. I got a couple questions for you. First of all I told you this last time I saw you. The craziest number of your career isn't all the gold gloves and the World Series stuff. It's that you hit 481 in the All-Star game, which is like a beer league number. That's insane. A lot of good fortune. Hold on a minute. Before we get

started. I just want to remind you. Well, first of all, you just said smart people make mistakes. Last time I was on your show, you asked me about facing Nolan Ryan. So let's just hope you got your fact straight this time. But the All-Star game, hey, let me tell you what, there's a lot of luck that's in there, but nothing better than playing in the All-Star game. And obviously, I was fortunate to have some success. But you just enjoy. This is a celebration of the game, celebration of the sport. It's a great atmosphere here. What baseball's done over these few days, moving the draft here, just a celebration of the game. So I absolutely love being here. So I got to ask you, Jacob Mizorowski is not playing. He's banged up for Milwaukee. He threw 105.5. Now, I know you never

stepped into the batters box and were overwhelmed by a pitcher, but 105, I mean, 96 is heat. 105 is cartoonish. Take me back to your career. Were there pitchers, Derek, that you really, even in the on-deck circle, you'd face them before. But you do feel like, man, I'm going to get one good pitch here. I got to get around on it. I mean, I don't know who it would be in their prime, but did you ever face somebody that threw so hard that even you would get in that box and know, man, I have got to be zoned in on every pitch?

Yeah, I think, you know, when you start talking about guys like Randy Johnson, six foot eight, I mean, he's halfway to home plate when he releases the ball. So I don't really know how hard Randy was throwing. But you've got to get the first. foot down, man. Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, when you're facing the elite pitchers, you literally have one pitch to do any, have any kind of success. So, yeah, I mean, 105, it's hard to imagine. You know, I don't know how they're recording the miles per hour nowadays, but yeah, I mean, that's, that's something that, you know, you don't have much time,

obviously, when you're facing anyone, but 105, you look for one pitch and hopefully you get it. Okay, you're 98 Yankees won 114 games, and then you flew through the playoffs. You were 11 and 2. See, I know my home. I got my homework here. I got all these numbers in my head. Don't pat yourself on the back until we finish. Go ahead.

So, that's the, you know, in terms of, you know, numbers, that's the best team ever. This Dodger team is stacked. They just got swept by the debacks. So when you're on a great team, you're going to overwhelm a lot of people. that starting pitching on the Yankees. When you are on a team like the Dodgers or your Yankees, Dodgers just back-to-back World Series, apathy. It's a long season.

You're going to here. Here's another road trip to Minnesota. Here's another road. Go back to that season with you. Was there ever a moment where you went into a series thinking, I got to get myself up? We just swept those guys the last time we planned. Can there be apathy that settles in during the long, regular season?

I tell you what, you're talking about 1998 specifically. that group there had we had just lost in 1997 so we were hungry to get back to the world series so in that particular season we didn't really have to sit down and rally the troops i mean we were out to win every single day i've never been a part of a group that had that mindset going into every single day and you know we struggled a little bit i mean half jokingly but we struggled towards the end of the year i mean we could have literally won about 130 135 games that year that's how dominant we were but when you're talking about the and a team that's going for their third straight world series. Look, the regular season is, it's a marathon. And there are times throughout the course of the year, you've got to try to block out just getting to the postseason, because you know everyone knows that's when the season starts. You look at the Dodgers now, they have such a big lead.

So it is hard. It gets more difficult getting up for every game and every series, but they've done it as good as anyone. You know, I've defended baseball. I keep saying the race lead the American. American League East. They're a small market. The White Sox small payroll have been great this year. Milwaukee for several years, smaller payroll, been very viable. The Mets stink. So my take is money matters, but it's just like in our life. Money matters, but what do you do with it? Do you spend it?

Do you invest? You're smiling there. The Mets do kind of stink. I know you're a broadcaster now, but it's not great, Derek. But the point is, I think we talk too much about money in baseball. The Dodgers really, honestly, needed two or three miracles to win game seven. I mean, Toronto outplayed him and out hit him in the series. I think we talk too much about payroll disparity. Does it matter? Are we, is it overstated? Well, you know, look, I don't think it's overstated.

I do believe if you are spending money and you have a high payroll, for the most part, it assures that you're going to be competitive and you're going to be in a playoff race. Yeah, there's instances where you have guys or teams that spend a lot of money that just have one of those years. But I think it assures that you're going to be in the pennant race. What it does not assure you is that you're going to win a championship. It is hard to win a championship. You have to go through several rounds of the playoffs. And when you get, I used to say it during my career, the hottest team, I mean, the best teams make it to the postseason. The hottest team wins.

You have to get hot at the right time. And yes, you need a lot of breaks too. I mean, but there's a reason why the Dodgers year in and year out have that chance to win a championship, and it's because their owner spends money. You know, I always thought part of the greatness of Joe Tori is that he was a players manager, but I always compared him to the stepdad or dad you never wanted to disappoint, is that so much of his greatness was the ability to connect star players and the pressure you go through in New York. So the culture that Tori created was as important as the great players like yourself.

And I want to talk about the Mets. It's not a talent. I mean, Lindor has been hurt. I know I'll beat up on them. I'm taking shots. I shouldn't. But it does feel like there's a cultural thing missing. It's not money.

They want to win. They've had smart people there. There's something in the soup, in the juice or something. What is it that they have this kind of talent and they struggle? You know, I'm not exactly sure about that. I mean, the Mets were just in the NLCS a couple years ago. So it's not like they've fallen off a cliff for the last 20 years. They've been very, very competitive.

This particular year, I mean, it's mind-boggling. I mean, they've gone out, they've spent money. It just seems like a lot of times when one person struggles, everyone struggles. When one person gets hot, everyone gets hot. And it seems like, you know, the Mets, they've changed a little bit of their culture there. You know, you got rid of Alonzo and Nimmo and, you know, they brought some new guys in. Sometimes it takes a little time for guys to adjust. but I don't know enough about the inner workings of the New York Mets to comment on it,

but it is a bit surprising because I know there is a lot of high optimism going into spring training. People thought the Mets were going to be in it to challenge the Dodgers and get to the World Series, but it just hasn't gone that direction. So when an Aaron judge gets banged up, Ben Rice steps up and puts up huge numbers, the Dartmouth kid. You know, I remember watching Ben Rice. are we surprised or was this understood in the Yankees ecosystem that Ben Rice was going to end up being this?

I don't know. You never want to put ceilings on guys when they're playing and when they're coming up. But I think, you know, the adjustments that he's been able to make this year and the production that he's had offensively, I think it's probably caught a few people off guard. But he's in the conversation for most valuable player in the American League up into this point. And what he's been able to do, even when Aaron's been out, has been pretty impressive. I mean, yeah, he went through a little time where he struggled, but that happens to every player over 162 games. But he's fun to watch.

He continues to get better and better. And, you know, the thing I like to watch is he's having fun. He's got a smile on his face. He's enjoying himself. He hit another triple. I think it was yesterday. But he's a big reason why the Yankees, yeah, I know they were scuffling a little bit, but he's a big reason why I still believe the Yankees are the favorite in the American League.

Okay, this ABS system, I have said for years now, Rob Manfred can take some crap on this stuff, Derek, but he has made four or five adjustments. They've all worked. They're all great. I thought the ABS would get a little bit of pushback, and it would be what it's done. It's unveiled the truth.

And, you know, it also shows me how well the batters know the plate. It's remarkable how often they do this, and within an inch in their right. if you would have had this, would you have used it a lot, or did you always feel like, yeah, the humps are pretty good, they know what they're doing.

It's interesting. I, you know, when I was playing, I felt as though I knew the outside corner as well as anyone. The inside corner would confuse me a little bit because sometimes I'd lean out there. But I think, you know, there's times throughout the season when you're seeing the ball well,

extremely well, and you know what a strike is, and there's other times when you're scuffling a little bit, you have no idea. So we've seen guys challenge pitches and pitches have been right down the middle. You've also seen guys that have been successful like by an eighth of an inch. So I love it. I think the fans love it. I think it makes, you know, it's sort of bringing that type of tennis atmosphere into the game where they showed on the scoreboard. So like you said, there's been some changes in the game that I think the fans really appreciate. And look, if it's going to bring more fans to the sport, then I'm all for it. But ABS has been a huge success.

Yeah, I went to a Cubs game not long ago, and I got to tell you, the fans are into it. It's like an added L. It's a little bit of a game show within the game, and fans think it's great. It also shows you who knows the strike zone. It absolutely does. Okay, that's pretty good today. I got to admit it, Derek. You were.

You're at 470 in the All-Star game. That's pretty strong. I've got to be honest with you. I appreciate it. But 480 is what you said. Did you say 480? Hold on. Oh, 481.

Yeah, so you screwed it up. There you go. You spoke too soon. There you go. great job Colin you know the outside part of the plate and your all-star number excellent work good seeing you buddy you too see you soon all right the great der geeter stopped by the show today um isn't that ridiculous he was 13 for 27 and the and that's facing by the way aces that you don't face normally you're getting you're getting randy johnson stuff you watch randy johnson highlights

you never face these guys that's in the insane number. I have like a list of his career stats. I mean, he's like six most hits all time. I mean, they're all great. 4-81. All-Star game average. And a lot of times the all-star game, if I recall, a lot of times you'd play in stadiums, you know, it's Derek Jeter's, one of the first guys up, Lidoff got, you're getting shadows. That first at batting the All-Star game early, you may have shadows in the stadium. You're not seeing it. Bring in my A game today. All right. Unbelievable. I got a buddy giving me crap about Jeter.

He's got a good memory for certain things. I don't love all the memories, but it was very good memory in Chicago. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.