Mets Fans Melting Down Over Steve Phillips and Why 2026 Might Be Yankees or Bust

Evan & Tiki

Audacy

Sports

4.2 • 988 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The show continues the “success or bust” debate for New York teams, but it quickly turns into a Mets fan therapy session when the topic shifts to Steve Phillips. After Phillips questions the Mets offseason and pushes back on the idea that they are “most improved,” fans come after him personally and the hosts are fed up with it. If you want to disagree with his take, fine. But trashing him like he has no credibility at all? That’s where the hypocrisy gets called out. From there, the Mets conversation gets real practical. A caller asks the big question: what’s the actual plan with Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio now that the roster has gotten crowded? The discussion dives into how the at-bats will get distributed, who might be DH-heavy early, how spring injuries can change roles, and why the Mets are clearly prioritizing immediate competitiveness instead of running an all-prospect experiment. Another caller frames the Mets problem differently: it’s not just “make the playoffs,” it’s who you keep running into once you get there, especially with the Dodgers looming as the sport’s current monster. The response is simple: first you have to become a consistent playoff team, then you can worry about repeatedly colliding with the same buzzsaw. The segment closes with a Jets fan admitting he does not even know what to root for anymore, and a Yankees fan laying out the urgency. Between an aging core, a shrinking window, and looming labor uncertainty, 2026 starts to feel like the year where “World Series or bust” stops sounding dramatic and starts sounding logical.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A quick thing about the Mets that is sort of bothering me and confusing me. I am a diehard Mets fan, right? Of course you are. Okay. I want to be positive. I don't think I'm necessarily a positive fan or a negative fan. I try to call it like it is, but I've noticed something over the last 12 hours that I need to address. Steve Phillips, the former general manager of the New York Mets, has been critical of the Mets off season.
0:24.0	Okay?
0:24.5	He has been.
0:25.5	In fact, if you haven't heard of me...
0:27.3	I have not.
0:28.0	Oh, I'd like...
0:28.7	I have a clip.
0:29.5	Oh, please.
0:29.8	Here's just a quick sample of Steve Phillips with fair criticisms of the New York Mets offseason.
0:35.4	Our Jason Stark had interviewed 36 executives and 32 of them thought the Mets were one of the New York Mets off season. Carl Jason Stark had interviewed 36 executives,
0:39.1	and 32 of them thought the Mets were one of the most improved teams.
0:42.6	I put them on my least improved list.
0:45.9	I think they lost a lot in Pete Alonzo.
0:49.0	The Mets are one of the most confusing teams for me,
0:51.4	yet David Stearns is often the smartest guy in every room that he's in.
0:56.0	And I don't want to doubt them in him, but I don't look at them the same way as everybody
1:01.0	else does right now. He doesn't believe in that. That sounds like he has a, I don't know,
1:06.2	a hard one for David Stearns. Really? Because he said the smartest guy in the room thing? Yeah.
1:10.4	I mean, when you say that about someone, you're basically saying, I've had interactions with him, and you can't tell him anything. He thinks he's the smartest guy, no matter who he's talking to. Now, what I would say to that is maybe you're right. That sounds like something personal between him and David Stearns. Very possible. What I find interesting is that line that Steve Phillips issued has been issued by a lot of
1:31.1	med fans.
1:31.8	A lot of med fans.
1:32.6	I think I've said it at some point here on the radio.
	...

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