Mets Fans ERUPT Over David Stearns! Craig Carton Says the Season Is ON THE BRINK

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Here's Mike and Clifton Park on the fan. Mike, what's going on, buddy?

**Mike** (0:04)
Hey, guys, great show. So listen, I have a tip for Steve Cohen.

**Craig Carton** (0:12)
Sure.

**Mike** (0:12)
And the tip is, do not allow David Stearns to reach the trade deadline. He's made a mess of our team here, and you can't trust him, and he kept a bunch of players last year that weren't good pitching and hitting that are still on this team, and they are a mess, and David Stearns, he had good intentions.

**Craig Carton** (0:35)
Can I ask you a quick question? And I'm going to micromanage my comment against you, so I'm just acknowledging that in advance, so you could certainly push back on that.
Was it David Stearns' fault today that Mendoza left Nolan McLean after hitting two batters in the same inning, and giving up four really hard hit balls in the rest of the inning, and blows a three-run lead and winds up giving up six runs in one inning? Or is that the manager's fault for not having anybody in the bullpen ready to go?

**Mike** (1:06)
Well, let me... You're going on one assumption that's false. Do you want to know what it is?

**Craig Carton** (1:10)
Sure.

**Mike** (1:12)
That I watched the freaking game. I'm not watching the game. I'm a net fan.

**Craig Carton** (1:16)
Well played, sir.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:17)
Well played.

**Craig Carton** (1:18)
I have to. It's my job. But I totally respect what you're saying.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:22)
I'm sorry.

**Craig Carton** (1:22)
And by the way, there's also nobody there. Like this is a game that...

**Chris McMonigle** (1:27)
The Norwegian soccer team fans are there.

**Craig Carton** (1:29)
They're the only people there.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:31)
And they're having a blast. They're having a great time.

**Craig Carton** (1:35)
Europeans are on a party better than we do.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:36)
They're partying in the stands while they... And I'm sorry, I'm totally...
This is on Nolan McLean, man. He has got to be better. These guys have to step up. It's the first game of a doubleheader. The bullpen is the bullpen. You have to figure out a way to get through the six. They gave him a three-run lead. He instantly gives it back. Then he has a disaster standing. He gives up a three-run shot to Swansby Swanson.
What the hell is going on with this kid? This is supposed to be one of the best young pitchers in baseball. He's not been the same. I don't care how much his ball moves. He has no way. He has no control over it. That's a game you have to win, man. This season is on the brink right now.
I know that we can talk about the season's over. They're fighting for their lives. They're just getting Lindor back. You need this win. They give you a 3-0 lead. You spit it back immediately. Then you give up another bomb of a home run. He's trying to get his best and really only freaking starting pitcher through the game, so that he can save his bullpen for the second game of this doubleheader, and the kid can't get it done. This is on Nolan McLean. He has not been good enough. Fair enough, and it's more on Stearns. I hate to keep thinking about breaking up the team. Oh, this core. This core wasn't good enough. What did they ever win? Who did they replace them with?
This team is embarrassingly bad. I just saw a story that they're expecting Polanco back before the All-Star break. Great! Jorge Polanco, who was going to be the first baseman to replace Pete Alonso, who's on a tear by the way, has hit, I don't know, ten home runs in his last nineteen games.
I mean, it's so bad what he did to this team. It is so bad what this team is right now. I mean, and everything, some of the things aren't their fault. Like you expected Bo Bichette to be a good player this year. I don't think anybody expected when they signed Bo Bichette to see him be this awful. But he's just, last night's the perfect epitome of who he is this year. He's in a big moment earlier in the game with runners on and a chance to get back into the game. I think they're down 5-2 at that point. Yeah, right. They're down 5-2 at the point. I think base is loaded, a second and third. And he swings through a slider and spins into the ground like a Babe Ruth, spins into the ground and falls down and strikes out. And then late in the game, it's a three-run homerun when they're down 9-3. Who gives a damn about that homerun? He has been awful for them. And even the good moments, like even when we were talking about what a year Soto's having, that's kind of been unfortunately for Soto too. It's these solo runs that are somewhat meaningless. He hasn't had an impact as much as he should have. But those are the positives. The positives are they're great players aren't as good as they should be. And the negatives are they are falling apart. Their rotations are a disaster. I mean it is one of the worst.