Sal and Evan were teamed up on Thursday with Craig taking the day off, and the two started their show off with a bang, posing a big question as pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Does the MLB regular season even matter anymore, especially to the New York teams?
"I could argue that last night's basketball games…I could argue those games had more significance than any regular season game the Mets or Yankees play in a year in which they have a 99 percent chance to make the playoffs," Evan said. "We all used to go nuts about maintenance days. Shouldn't Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander have maintenance days? Shouldn't Gerrit Cole, to a lesser degree, have maintenance days?
"Obviously if the Yankees are sitting five games under .500 in July, the regular season games start to matter more. If the Mets are underachieving, all of a sudden you look at these regular season games as mattering more. As we get ready for Opening day…I'm excited, but the realization is that we're going into a regular season that's very similar to the NBA and NHL. That's the world we're living in."
Sal couldn't disagree, especially considering how the MLB playoffs unfolded last season, in its first year of the expanded postseason.
"I think the Phillies proved that it really doesn't. You could just get in, and as long as you have everything lined up, you're good to go," Sal said. "If Scherzer misses a month of Verlander misses several weeks, does it matter as long as they're ready to for October? The answer is no, it doesn't."
The NBA has largely been criticized for regular seasons not meaning much, and the league has responded by trying to limit load management, and floating the idea of a midseason tournament. But Evan says baseball could be trending in a similar direction as well, even beyond the current Yankees and Mets teams that are considered a lock for the playoffs.
"I definitely think the expectations both teams are facing are a huge part of this, but the other part is just baseball," Evan said. "Six teams make the postseason, eight in the NBA. We ain't that far off.
"I used to have this romantic feel about winning a division. Why should I still feel that?"
That is where Sal and Evan begin to differ.
"Baseball divisions still mean something. You do benefit because of it." Sal said. "Did it benefit the Yankees? It did."
"Did it benefit the Cardinals last year?" Evan replied. "It does to a degree, but maybe not enough to make 162 games what it used to be."
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