Follow The Money | July 24, 2026 | Hour 3

**Matt Ehalt** (0:05)
This is Follow The Money with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN.

**Pauly Howard** (0:11)
A lot of baseball games starting in about half an hour, one day game, Rockies surprising the Brewers 4-2 in the top of the seventh. Be good to catch up with Matt Ehalt with the New York Post, talk a variety of topics, and he's got a strong case for the Red Sox to keep rolling. Matt Ehalt joins us on the Progressive Guest Line. You can follow him on X at Matt Ehalt, E-H-A-L-T.
Well, your reaction to LeBron going to Philly, and now they have the same odds to win the title as the Knicks at 9-1, win total 51 and a half. What did you think of the surprising news today, sir?

**Matt Ehalt** (0:48)
Well, I'll admit that I thought it was going to be Cleveland or Miami. I mean, that's the way that all the tea leaves have been reading, but to your point on the odds, I mean, it just seems an overreaction. This Philly team, for as much talent as they have, it's going to take so much time for these guys to figure out how to gel together. I mean, you know, people have made the point that Jalen Brown didn't like being Robin to Tatum's Batmale. What's he going to be now? He's going to be the third, the fourth option there.
And just the thing with Philly, it feels like the same thing as last year. For as great as the talent is, can you tell me, come second round, whenever that is, next May, May 14th, 3 p.m. Sunday, Knicks, Sixers at the Garden, Game 1
Jalen Beade is going to be healthy and able to move out there. And I just, I just don't understand believing that Jalen Beade, when you have the Knicks there at the same odds, who just showed what they can do. And realistically, the only team that's beaten the Knicks is the Pacers in the playoff the last few years. And you're trusting that Embead is going to be healthy. It just feels, I just feels a complete overreaction.

**Pauly Howard** (1:54)
That's a great case Strong. And to your point, there's no way Embead is going to last four rounds if that's the case. 57 games in the last two years, Matt.

**Matt Ehalt** (2:06)
Yeah, I mean, again, like if you want to tell me one through five, one through six right now, you think that maybe the Sixers have a better five than the Knicks, sure, maybe it's the best five in the Eastern Conference, but we saw this year, you need to be able to have depth. And again, when you're top player, when you don't know if he can be healthy enough to be out there, you know, the Sixers just do not have the necessary depth. And again, like, it's just, it's hard to think that you're going to trust that team, which is going to have to learn on the fly. And there's going to be a lot of egos on that team. I mean, Maxie is sensational. Brown is very good. Maxie LeBron is still sensational at his age. Edgecombe is, you know, developing into a great talent. So I mean, their talent from one to five, and then, you know, they got the Alabama kid this year, they draft, they have Simmons. They do have some players, but again, like so much of their ceiling is tied to one guy who just can't stay healthy. And like nine to one, that seems way too rich for my liking.

**John Jastremski** (3:04)
All right, Easy, let's do some baseball here. You've been all over the Red Sox over the last couple of weeks. They were dead to rights. They fired Alex Cora.
The Yankees woke him up with that four game sweep, and then they go and rattle off, what was it? 14 in a row, 15 in a row, who's keeping score? But that ended with the doubleheader they had against the Orioles. Now, full disclosure, Maddie Boy, Pauly and I had bet in Toronto tonight. We like Toronto, we're savage on the mound. The Blue Jays have played the Red Sox pretty darn well at Fenway Park over the last couple of years. But I'm seeing the Red Sox at the moment, nine to one to win the American League. Is that a bet you'd be willing to make?

**Matt Ehalt** (3:44)
Yeah, I mean, when it comes down to it, the reason that I think I like the Red Sox, and this is more of a thing of evaluating them against the other teams that are within the league, right? So let's start with in the American League. Obviously, the Yankees are the favorite right now. My problem with the Yankees is can you tell me that come October 4th, Aaron Judge is gonna be healthy and he's gonna be effective? You're getting mixed signals on his health. You're getting, he's progressing but he's not doing things. The other element here is John Carlos Stanton. Who knows if he plays again? There is nothing concrete about this guy and as you've seen when he tries running. This Yankee lineup cannot win playoff series, multiple. Maybe they could beat the Royals in the first round like that year. I'm kidding. The Royals won't be in the playoffs, but you know what I mean? They could beat the White Sox or the Guardians. They're probably not beating the Rays or the Red Sox. You then look at the Rays, and my problem with them is, okay, so they're next. I mean, they got 550 odds.