BREAKING: Ja Morant Traded & The Mets' Next Manager Debate!

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Anyway, here's Gregor in Huntington on the fan. Greg, how are you, pal?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:06)
Hey, Craig. Hey, CMAC, how are you guys doing today? What's up, buddy?

**Craig Carton** (0:08)
How are you? Great.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:09)
Listen, I think, number one, I'm a huge Yankee fan. Call me a show, call me whatever you want, but I enjoy the Mets. I enjoy your banter.
Having Wally on the show today and you guys already dug into it was the very best thing. I think, without a doubt, you make this man the manager now. You get rid of Andy, whatever his name is, put him in there and then you test the whole team. You turn around and you say, you're going to take this guy, you bring back the Mets fans, they come running. They will run through 10,000 people come just to see Backman for the first time. I agree, by the way.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:45)
Three or four wins. We're talking about how to sell tickets.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:49)
They're coming back 15,000 at a time. I'm dead sure. Well, look, here's the thing.

**Craig Carton** (0:55)
I agree. It's not going to be this year, but I would think because there's going to be a lot of candidates mentioned. They already have been mentioned. Guys like Alex Cora, maybe even Rob Thompson, who had success in Philadelphia before Don replaced them.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:06)
I think Albert Pujols.

**Craig Carton** (1:07)
He put his hat in the ring, right?

**Chris McMonigle** (1:09)
Ross, the former manager of the Cubs.

**Craig Carton** (1:12)
He's the ESPN guy, right?

**Chris McMonigle** (1:13)
Yep. I think that's legitimate. I think, though, he did a decent enough job with the Cubs, played Major League Baseball. I honestly think, considering Albert Pujols is an icon, he just coached in the World Baseball Classic. He managed in the World Baseball Classic. I mean, credibility through the roof, a connection to the Latin players. I think that Carlos Beltrán is obviously another guy we've heard a lot about.
If Albert Pujols really wants the job, I would think he'd have a really good chance to get it.

**Craig Carton** (1:45)
I mean, hard to argue against a guy that played at the level he played, but I mean...

**Chris McMonigle** (1:51)
You very rarely see superstars. You want to talk about a guy who doesn't need it. I mean, Albert Pujols doesn't need it.

**Craig Carton** (1:56)
He doesn't need it, and he's never done it.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:58)
And he's never done it, other than the World Baseball Classic.

**Craig Carton** (2:00)
Which doesn't count. It's an All-Star game. I mean, it doesn't count.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:05)
Well, no. It's a little different than an All-Star game.

**Craig Carton** (2:06)
But it's essentially an All-Star game. It's an All-Star tournament. It's great. I loved it. Don't get me wrong. I love it.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:13)
No, I'm not saying it necessarily qualifies you to be a manager.

**Craig Carton** (2:15)
Didn't he interview for the Angels job a year ago?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:18)
Yeah, there was some thought...

**Craig Carton** (2:19)
So the Angels didn't hire a guy they know well. Why would we hire the guy?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:23)
I think there were some issues, and that's why their current manager got a one-year deal. There's some thoughts that that could be in the making.

**Craig Carton** (2:30)
Steroid issues? What do you mean, like, issues with the guy they hired?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:33)
No, issues with him and the timing of it, and maybe some... The money they were willing to invest in him. I don't know, there was some... I can't remember the exact story, but they ended up hiring...
That guy. The former manager... The former catcher for... Who's the manager of the Angels right now? Kurt Suzuki.
He's on a one-year contract, which is unheard of as a manager. So there was a lot of speculation that it was a manager and waiting until the timing was right with Pujols. But now Pujols has kind of thrown his hat in the ring for the Mets. I think it's an interesting candidate. I think Carlos Beltrán is a very interesting candidate. I would think Ross is an interesting candidate. But who knows where they're going to go? They've already said Green's not going to be the manager.

**Craig Carton** (3:10)
There's one guy that gets the job and makes the fan base happy. It's Wally Backman.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:13)
Well...

**Craig Carton** (3:14)
It is. That's the guy. You think the fan base is going to be like, Yeah, we got Pujols?

**Chris McMonigle** (3:19)
I think so, yeah.

**Craig Carton** (3:20)
I don't. He's never managed before.