Rice on the Mics
Welcome to "Rice on the Mics", where sports talk comes with no script, no filter, and just the right amount of chaos. Hosted by Ian Rice, this is the spot for real fans who love the game but aren’t afraid to call out the bad takes, blown calls, and overpaid benchwarmers. Whether it's a legendary performance, a brutal choke job, or your fantasy team crashing and burning, we’re here to break it down like it’s last call at the bar. No corporate PR spin, no forced debates—just unfiltered sports talk with passion, personality, and maybe a little trash talk along the way. If you’re looking for stats read off a teleprompter, you’re in the wrong place. But if you want bold opinions, real conversations, and the kind of debates that might get a drink thrown at you, pull up a mic and let’s go.
Rice on the Mics
Don't Panic! (Okay, Panic a Little)
Justin Fields suffers a dislocated toe at Jets practice, creating momentary panic before the team confirms it's just a day-to-day injury based on pain tolerance.
• Micah Parsons expressing frustration with Cowboys over contract situation while other edge rushers get paid
• Terry McLaurin skipping conditioning tests, risking fines to pressure Washington for a new deal
• Caleb Williams and Chicago Bears setting ambitious goals including 70% completion rate
• Marcus Smart joining Lakers on two-year deal after difficult seasons in Memphis and Washington
• Chris Paul returning to Clippers at age 40, potentially in backup role
• Yankees struggling with defensive woes, committing four errors in one game against Toronto
• Mets honoring David Wright with jersey retirement ceremony before sweeping Angels series
• MLB trade deadline approaching with Diamondbacks, Pirates, and Red Sox potentially dealing key players
• Bryce Harper hitting 350th career home run as youngest active player to reach milestone
• Jacob deGrom's remarkable stat of allowing one run or fewer in 53% of career starts
Remember to follow us on Instagram @RiceOnTheRadio and check out our weekly polls every Wednesday for the Midweek Mic Check.
I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. All engines running. Welcome in, welcome back and good lord.
Speaker 1:Jet fans, are we okay today? Have we caught our breath yet? Did we make it through that mild panic attack this morning, waking up to some news of our potential franchise quarterback, justin Fields, getting carted off practice field in two snaps? Two snaps Definitely not the coffee that I was looking for this morning. God, jet fans just haven't had an easy ride lately. Hell, even more like the last couple decades. If we're being honest, I mean at this point panic attacks are pretty much just baked into the Jets' pre case. If we're being honest, I mean at this point, panic attacks are pretty much just baked into the jets pre-season conditioning program. But let's breathe easy. Just a dislocated toe day-to-day timeline pain threshold thing. He'll be back at him before you know it. But man, if this is any foreshadowing of how the season might play out, gonna want to keep those tums handy boys. Looks to be a bumpy ride ahead.
Speaker 1:And speaking of bumpy rides, this episode has more speed bumps than a gated community. I got Micah Parsons, side Eye and Jerry Jones over some contract stuff. Shohei is hitting home runs at a pace that's making the greats of the game blush, and some stats that'll make you rewind. Just to make sure that you heard me right A base of NFL holdouts, sprinkle in some NBA moves, a dash of some MLB milestones. You take all those ingredients and throw them all on the MLB Trade Deadline hot stove.
Speaker 1:We're cooking up a pretty great meal here, so stick around, buckle up and settle in. I'm your host, ian Rice. You're tuned in to Rice on the Mics. Let's get it going. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
Speaker 1:So, jet fans, how'd you start your day? Coffee, maybe, some eggs, maybe your favorite episode of rice on the mics? Well, how about a dislocated toe scare? Yep, just your average thursday morning in the roller coaster that we call jets fandom. The news broke about justin fields getting carted off and suddenly every green and white bleeding heart in jersey dropped faster than zach wilson's approval rating. There is good news though no fractures, just a dislocation, and not on his big toe, which is important to notate. Head coach aaron glenn played it cool, which is a rare thing for this organization said uh quote, we got tyra taylor. We're all good sure that's, uh, that's. And all Coach. Nothing says winning season like banking on Tyrod in 2025, right, yikes. But look, it should be just like a pain tolerance thing. It should be. You know He'll be able to play through it. He'll be available week one, he'll be fine. Hopefully he doesn't nag throughout the season and, jazz fans, we can continue to hold on to whatever hope we have left when it comes to this frustrating and miserable franchise. But we love him. We root for the green and white.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, in Jerry world Cowboy superstar Micah Parsons is the latest on the list of frustrated edge rushers. So stop me. If you've heard this before. A Dallas player stop. And Jerry Jones, stop. Or having public contract stare downs stop. And throwing jabs at each other through the media stop.
Speaker 1:Jerry was quoted as saying that the negotiations were simple, which makes you wonder if Jerry even knows what simple actually means anymore. And Parsons, to his credit, was quick to point out his edge-rushing pals of TJ Watt, miles Garrett, max Crosby, and how they all got paid the bag and now he's holding the tackling dummies. And how they all got paid the bag and now he's holding the tackling dummies. I said last episode, if you listened, that TJ Watt owes Miles Garrett a really nice Rolex for resetting the market when he got paid. Well, tj Watt just reset the market again and now Micah might have to owe him a Bentley instead of a Rolex. Here Micah is, quote, holding in at camp and nursing some back tightness, which is pretty much a fancy way of saying call me when the check clears. Okay. And while we're on money drama, same division, same problems.
Speaker 1:I guess commanders, fans, cover your ears now because Terry McCorn has decided to skip his conditioning tests and is risking 50k in fines per day just to pressure Washington to get the bag. And as a Jets fan, I am smelling some Hassan Reddick stench from last year. I mean, look to be fair, the guy has averaged over a thousand yards for like nearly half a decade and with a young, young, blossoming, talented quarterback, this seems to be the guy that you might want to keep around, the one like veteran guy that you would want to pay here. But GM Adam Peters is quoted as saying that they're having conversations, whatever the hell that means. So if you're reading between the lines at home, you kind of get the lines at home. You kind of get the sense that Washington is going to stretch this thing out so long that even Congress would get annoyed. They don't want to pay Terry, but they definitely should.
Speaker 1:Over in Chicago, everybody's new favorite quarterback head coach bromance fun thing has officially began to blossom. Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are saying all the right things to the media. Let's complete 70% of passes. Let's be the first Bears QB to ever hit 4,000 yards, which is kind of wild to think. That Cutler never hit that mark, but he didn't. He did it in Denver but not with Chicago. That Cutler never hit that mark, but he didn't. He did it in Denver, but not with Chicago.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, every Chicago fan over the age of 30 is thinking we've seen this movie before. Right, winning the press conference but coming up short during game time. But still, you got to appreciate Ben Johnson stepping into his new role, taking control. Hell, he even assigned some summer homework to his second-year quarterback, was quoted to study the playbook 30 minutes a day. No matter what. Listen, if your franchise quarterback that you're tying your head coaching stake to can't handle 30 minutes of reading, you might have drafted Johnny Manziel, brady and Peyton are rolling their eyes at that statement. Chicago, I'm not shitting on you either. I personally think that you got your guy in Caleb. He is super talented, but also let's just hope he's more worried about his reads than what nail color to paint on game day. Again, staying in the same division, we'll go right down the road.
Speaker 1:In Green Bay, tackle Zach Tom gets paid big Four years $88 million and gets the largest signing bonus for an O-lineman ever $30 million. Woo. So Green Bay with one lineman, paid Packers GM Brian Guttenhurstst Gutenkunst, that's what it is say that three times fast. Still hasn't returned. Uh, ellen Jenkins tax, which is another key piece on that line.
Speaker 1:Jenkins has skipped the offseason workouts and he is demanding a rework on his deal, despite still having two years left on it. Look, I know it's a business and I know the player always needs to take care of himself first, but I'm sorry I'm siding with the GM here. You signed a contract, man. You have to play under that contract. I'm sorry that the value went up or that you outperformed your value, but like that's how things go sometimes. Hell, I'm even willing to work with you when it's the last year of your deal and you're a pivotal part in our system. But two years left, come on, man, and you know, and as we all know, stiffen your team on mandatory workouts. That's a great way to speed up negotiations, right? Bold move there, cotton. Let's see if it pays off. I mean, jesus Christ, now, fantasy managers, I want you to listen closely and write this down, if you have to.
Speaker 1:Okay, cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr has gained about 11 to 15 pounds this offseason. He's crushing big breakfasts. He's hitting new PRs in the gym. Apparently he's bulked all the way up to 222. Great numbers. By the way, he came into the league at 6'3", 205. And he looked a little skinny. He did. He looked a little, you know, long arms, whatever, kind of like a newborn deer, a little lanky right. This extra weight, even if it comes at the sacrifice of like a little bit of speed, he is going to be able to bully corners consistently and he's going to high point the ball that, let's be honest, kylo Murray can't see over the line. He's just chucking it up most of the time.
Speaker 1:Marvin Harris' red zone presence is going to be a real problem this season, and he's always had that playmaker ability too. If he gets open, he gets away from you. He's gone. So now add some strength to his already stuffed bag of tricks. This makes his arsenal even deeper, and I'm really excited to see how he performs in his sophomore season. Hell, even his teammate, trey McBride, who is no small man in his own right, joked that he's been lifting on the other side of the gym just to avoid Marvin because he doesn't want to get embarrassed by him. Look long and short. If you draft Harrison this year, just remember to eat your Wheaties before you click that spin button. He's going to have a dominant year. I promise you that. All right, pretty much all that's left now is just some housekeeping on some smaller headlines that you might have missed in the shuffle. So let's just hit them real quick, right, get them. While we're going.
Speaker 1:Jamal Adams is doing his best to keep his career going and inks a deal in Vegas reuniting him with Pete Carroll. Sauce felt it was necessary to get on the mic and defend his record-setting deal, despite last year's dip. In his play he said quote no matter what I do, they're going to make a huge deal out of it. I can miss a tackle there's a lot of people that miss tackles but I just understand that it's going to be about me because I'm me. So people are going to blow things out of proportion.
Speaker 1:Sauce, look honestly, sauce, I'm rooting for you. I, I, I love the Sunday sauce Italian. I'm, you know. I love having you on my team. I'm glad to extend you. I don't care that you're the highest paid corner, even with a div, I don't care about any of that. I'm happy to have you on my team.
Speaker 1:But do me a favor, man, let your play do the talking. Don't worry about what anybody's talking about. Don't worry about what the media is talking about. Just fucking go out there. Let your play do the talking. Be Revis. Nobody really heard from Revis until it was time for a contract extension, because nobody threw at Revis. Be that guy. Learn from Aaron Glenn and just be invisible on game day as a cornerback. That's the best thing that you want, anyway. Lastly, david Montgomery declared that it's a year of reckoning in Detroit, which that sounds intimidating at all, until you remember that it's still the Lions and they're still relying on Jared Goff, and their O-line took some huge hits this year and their defense has always hurt for some reason. So, yeah, just keep biting those kneecaps, I suppose, and we'll see how things shake out.
Speaker 1:This is only the first week of camp and we got hit with headlines galore, but until they put the pads on. Unfortunately, that's all. Any of this is Just some hot takes and headlines. So, jet fans, breathe easy. You survived another practice, but unfortunately there is still going to be another one tomorrow and I will continue to keep my eyes peeled, my ears set to the ground and go through every article with a nice fine-tooth comb to find all the bullshit and sort it out. But until things start to get hot and heavy, it's kind of just another NFL summer for now. So stay tuned.
Speaker 1:We're going to slip into a little couple small NBA offseason stories worth noting. You know we've got to cover everything around here, and then we're going to really dive into the MLB hot stove, and the tea that's brewing is hot. So you're going to want to hear all that. So keep it right. Here you are listening to Rice on the Mics, all right, shifting gears to the NBA. And look, it's late July folks. So the NBA news cycle right now it's looking drier than Ben Simmons' jump shot, but we do have a couple little tidbits to chew on. So we'll make this quick, we'll make this painless, let's take our medicine and on the side we'll we'll pray to the fantasy football gods to win our leagues this year.
Speaker 1:Okay, marcus smart has found himself a new home with the Lakers Two years, 11 million but, most importantly, a fresh start on a winning program. And yes, apparently, apparently Luka did call Marcus personally to say please come, save our defense. So, lakers fans, congratulations. You don't have a rim protector, but you got yourself an elite perimeter defender, a natural leader behind LeBron and can maybe teach Luka how to have some of that and, honestly, just an overall great locker room glue guy. Celtics fans just look away and just pretend that this part of his career didn't happen. Okay, I know it hurt to trade him away, but that same year you turned around and won a title. So there's gonna be no sympathy for me on that one. Just, I know it's hard to root for the Lakers, especially as a Celtic, but just be happy for your former beloved player and just be happy that he landed somewhere half decent, because old things said the last couple years for him have been rough.
Speaker 1:Smart missed the playoffs the last two years and he got boned both times. He got stuck in Memphis from the Celtics trade and that was the year that John Morant was filing for his gun license. I think they finished like 12th in the West that year and then this past year he gets traded to Washington mid-season while Memphis goes on to make the playoffs, and he had to sit in Washington and watch that dumpster fire. So really, he's probably forgotten what June basketball even feels like at this point. But I will tell you one thing He'll remember quick enough. When it comes to Luka LeBron and those Lakers, this is probably LeBron's last year in the league. You don't think he's going to do everything in his power to go all the way or at least try to be in the Western Conference Finals. You're crazy. So it's going to be real interesting and real fun to watch Marcus Smart play basketball in LA. And speaking of LA, speaking of reunions, did anybody have this on their bingo card? Unions, did anybody have this on their bingo card?
Speaker 1:Chris Paul, at the ripe old age of 40, is going, going back back to Cali, cali. He's going back to the Clippers, 21 years in the league and he's returned to a franchise that he once dragged into relevance. Clippers president Lawrence Frank was quoted as saying that CP3 is excited about his backup role, that he'll be playing backup role, right, I'm sure. Excited about that, right? Well, look, we'll see how long Chris Paul enjoys watching James Harden dribble the ball for 22 seconds. Uh, I'll set the overrun right about late November On that one. And it doesn't stop there, though it does not stop there. The Clippers are stacking all the veterans. They're grabbing every infinity stone they can Bradley Beal, john Collins, brooke Lopez and now Chris Paul.
Speaker 1:Honestly, looking at the roster, I feel like I'm looking at an old timers day promotion. Plenty of big names. Yes, at the roster, I feel like I'm looking at an old-timers day promotion. Plenty of big names. Yes, plenty of talent. Maybe. I mean, look, I'll. Honestly, all of them are about three seasons removed from their prime health. But hey, look, la wants to keep hard and fresh. So, paul's insurance against injury. I guess, though I'm not really sure that a 40-year-old Chris Paul is exactly what you would call injury insurance. But nostalgia also sells tickets, and I am sure that there are plenty of fans that cannot wait to dust off that number three Chris Paul jersey from deep in their closet, something they thought they would never wear again.
Speaker 1:Now to a wild betting scandal that keeps resurfacing and no, I am not talking about your asshole buddy that keeps losing his three teamers because of some random rule that he didn't know what was going on or he swore he clicked. The other team, terry roszier, got mixed up in a bizarre story last year involving 30 bets from a sharp in 46 minutes. Someone in Biloxi, mississippi of all places, went all in on Terry having an off night and then just so happens that Rozier promptly exited after about 10 minutes of playing with a foot injury. So right, all the bets got cashed. But if you remember, if you remember the story from a little while ago that Caesars initially refused to pay and they said that there was definitely rigging going on or there was suspicion of rigging, so they were holding out, the better. Eventually got the 13K from all the bets. And Rozier hasn't really faced any official accusations.
Speaker 1:But look, if it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's hard not to call whatever happened here not a duck. And the NBA is still claiming that nothing shady went down, aside from, I guess, rozier making someone in Mississippi a shit ton richer by not playing basketball. Look, I, betting scandals are not fun. It's fun to gamble within reason, but betting scandals they're not great, unless you're the one holding those tickets. Right, but all of the leagues, not just the NBA. All of the leagues have gotten into bed with the bookies now, and player props will always be the number one source of collusion. You know it's hard to rig your game but it's easy to. Oh, over-und, under 15 and a half, yeah, miss those last couple free throws, right, and that's kind of the price you pay.
Speaker 1:But it's on the commissioners of their league leagues to keep the integrity and, honestly, it's on the players to also hold a code of ethics and respect for the game that they play and love so much. Honestly, no matter how you slice it, it's, it's a tough subject, but one that I'm sure we have not seen the last of. But all right, I told you, the nba this week is, uh, it's thinner than kevin durant's hairline. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was, that was mean, that was mean, but also true. So, katie, if you're listening, you're not but don't come after me on twitter. Well, actually, you know what? Maybe, maybe, do, do, come after me on twitter. There's no such thing as bad press, right? Anyway, keep an eye out, because I am sure soon enough someone will tweet something or some star will ask for a trade and we'll be right back in business on the NBA drama. Until then, hang tight and stay tuned. We're about to get into some baseball. Talk about some trade deadline drama and a couple stats that you are going to be hard-pressed to believe. Batting third in our order today. That's right Time for some baseball.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, this week has been filled with tons of moving parts, so buckle up. We're going to start off in New York because of course we have to. I make the rules here and you know what the locals need to hear, what I have to say about them. So let's get right into it with the Yankees and we're going to skip over the Atlanta series. Coming out of the break, to be honest, boone reset the rotation and kind of got all his ducks in a row, because the Toronto series was the one that was circled on the calendar and bright red sharpie. This was the get your shit together series. This was supposed to be the series that the Yanks could take back some ground in the AL East after getting embarrassed on Canada Day in Toronto just a couple of weeks ago. So, hmm, how did it go, boys?
Speaker 1:Well, game one pretty much set the tone for the rest of the week. Carlos Rodon wasn't great, but you know what was worse than Carlos Rodon, the Yankees' defense, and that was the theme that would carry through the whole week. You had two costly throwing errors from Peraza and Volpe which opened up the floodgates and, by the way, volpe now tied Major League lead in errors with that one and it only continued to get worse through the whole series. Not exactly what you signed up for this season from your gold glove, young shortstop huh. And speaking of themes, for the Yankees this offense is predicated on home runs or bust. Giancarlo Stanton, your favorite, the king of the meaningless home run, hits a solo shot and that was it. Congratulations, just one run.
Speaker 1:Yankees lose game one 4-1. Okay, you lose ground there. Now they bounce back in game two and again, surprise, surprise, guess how they won the home run. Jazz Cody and Ben Rice shout out Rice on the mics. Jazz cody and ben rice shout out rice on the mics. All go deep with rice's clutch ninth inning shot, bailing them out of another ugly defensive game. More errors from volpe, who, at this point I mean honestly, you might as well just consider burning your glove, like just, you got to do something else. But the yanks, they survived. Five, four, okay, so you get that game back, fine, and then now you're thinking you're going in, you got your ace on the hill, you got Max Freed.
Speaker 1:Game three Nope, same story. Four errors. You heard me Four errors in one game. Freed throws a ball away, and you could tell that he just didn't have his best stuff because, like the blister problem he's had on his finger and that stems back from when I used to watch him in Atlanta Volpe again, and even Ben Rice booted one too. So Toronto wins 8-4.
Speaker 1:After the Yankees clawed their way back from like a 4-1 deficit to tie it 4-4, I went to the bathroom. I come back it's 8-4. I go what happened? Look, I'm not even a Yankee fan. I'm not a Yankee fan by any stretch of the imagination. Well, except maybe this weekend when they uh, they have a three game set with the Phillies, but that's a different story for a different time.
Speaker 1:What I am, though, is I'm a baseball fan, and the product that the Yankees are running out there on the field every night is one. One it's just bad baseball, and two it's boring baseball. They don't play the game right and they boot things, they don't move runners over, and then, every now and then, they run into a home run, and it's cool to watch judge hit, but, like otherwise, what are they doing? And honestly they're wasting the last couple prime years of Judge's career. I mean Game 3. Hits his 37th homer and it literally means nothing. This team can't field ground balls. And now it's spreading to the outfield too, because that misplayed five ball by Cody was ugly man, I get losing it in the lights and whatever, but oh God, that was terrible. So the Yankees end up dropping two or three, they lose even more ground in the division and now they trail Toronto by four games. Home runs are nothing, a little league defense and pitching woes are starting to bubble up. That is not exactly the recipe For October baseball. In fact, it's actually a quick way to get bounced in the first round by accident. And now everybody's standing around trying to figure out who to blame. Jeez, all right, all right. Enough Yankee frustration because let's take the seven train, we'll pivot to Queens, and the Mets actually gave us a little something to smile about this week, surprisingly enough.
Speaker 1:First things first. Saturday, beautiful, special day in Queens. David Wright gets his number five jersey officially retired number up in the rafters. And folks, let me tell you right now, there was not a dry eye in Citi Field. Wright's speech had everyone feeling it. The guy carried this franchise and he stood tall through some of the most brutal years. Trust me, I watched him and he wore this uniform with pure class. You saw fans of all ages be openly emotional because that's their captain, that's their guy. It was God. I'm so happy for him. I'm so proud that he was my guy on my team. He was one of the last true good guys in baseball honestly, whose career was robbed of him from injuries, finally gets his moment. So just before I dive into the Mets here, I give you a salute, captain Wright. Thank you for your service.
Speaker 1:And now, unfortunately, the Mets did end up dropping that game to the Reds 5-2. Because you know, that's classic Mets 101. Honoring a franchise icon, it rains during his speech and then they end up losing the game. Like, of course, that's the Mets. I will say there was some late drama in it. That would have been it like just one of the all-time, all-time great games. Soto, I am not kidding you, he missed a home run to walk it off. He missed that foul pole by maybe three feet. But the more important story from that is that they had their chance, and the same story that's been plaguing them all year showed up again. They ended up stranding 11 runners on base and they had the 2-0 lead early and they blew that too. So whatever. But then you know, look when things took a turn. The Mets salvaged the final game against Cincinnati and then they used that momentum and they rolled it right into the series with the Angels against Cincinnati. And then they used that momentum and they rolled it right into the series with the Angels and some promising stuff.
Speaker 1:The young guns were fully flexing their muscles this week. Brett Beatty is making me eat my words of being a quadruple-A player and he's hitting bombs. He's got great defense. And Francisco Alvarez, who returned from his triple-A exile he looks like he got bit by a radioactive. Mike Piazza, the man hit 10 home runs in three weeks down in AAA. What did they fix? I don't know, but he brought it up with him. He ropes a double and then he rips another huge home run. In fact, the Mets rallied back from big deficits in back-to-back games, breaking out the brooms and winning all three games against LA for the sweep that this team needed to carry.
Speaker 1:Some momentum here the pitching showed up too. Minaya's back looking strong in his city field return. Diaz blew the save earlier and then locked another save down now and even had Ryan Stanek step in to close when Diaz needed a break. So everything seems to be clicking. Oh, and not to mention, francisco Lindor finally broke out of his disastrous 0-for-30 slump. I mean 0-for-30, that is a great way to fuck your average up for the year. He was probably praying to every baseball deity known to man that each at bat he would just find the right one, and hopefully it worked and it did. I mean, he finally got that RBI single and he ended up going two for three on the day. He's not the only one either. Big Meat Pete, the polar bear. He's chasing history too. His homer in the last game of the series puts him four away from tiring Darryl Strawberry's franchise record for most home runs. So it's definitely a storyline to watch going down the stretch and, above anything else, the Mets have some genuine stuff to cheer for.
Speaker 1:Okay, now that I'm done getting on the local teams and letting them have it a little bit and praising, but also ripping into them, we caught our breath, but we are only coming up for a quick gasp of air, because now it is time to dive headfirst into the madness that is coming up this week, and that is the MLB trade deadline. This is the best time of the year. The rumors are swirling, teams are getting anxious, some big names could potentially be on the move, and Jeff Passon can't tweet fast enough for me, okay. First things first. The D-backs are out and they are ready to sell. Josh Naylor has already been moved to Seattle, which now gets them down to their other big three names, which is Zach Gallin, merrill Kelly and, most notable, auneo Suarez, who, who quietly or maybe not so quietly actually has 35 home runs on the year. The Yankees are in on him. Big. The Cubs would love to have him. Mariners just picked up Josh Naylor, so they're probably out on him. The Shrews could want him. Even the Reds, I think, are knocking on the door. Arizona's got a whole party in their backyard. We'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1:And the Pirates the best, worst team in baseball are getting calls for O'Neal Cruz. Because why wouldn't they? Guy's got 16 homers and 33 stolen bases that rare combo of like electric speed. He's got massive home run power. Showed that off in the home run, derby. Oh, and, by the way, he's got a howitzer of an arm in center field. Contenders are drooling for him. The only problem is the cost would be so high it would be really hard to see a team coming up with a package for him. And you know the Pirates. They claim that they're just listening. They're just listening and whatever. Look, everybody's just listening, until some team gets antsy and they throw it all on the table. So it's a possibility. You can see O'Neal Cruz moved. I feel bad for Paul Skeens because he don't get no run support anyway. So now you take O'Neal out of that lineup. But that's neither here nor there.
Speaker 1:Boston don't know what they're doing either. Boston might be buyers, but they won like 11 in a row but they might be sellers because they don't really know where they're going with their future. The one thing I do know that Boston knows is if they do sell, they absolutely have to get a big return, considering that they didn't get shit back for Mookie. They didn't get shit back for Mookie, they didn't get shit back for Bogarts and they didn't get anything back for Devers. So the only name that's really been floating around for Boston is Jaron Duran.
Speaker 1:And you know the Padres, the Phillies, the Royals, you know the usual suspects they're all kind of interested. I don't know about the Royals, but I guess they want to try and bolster it. I mean him and bobby witt together would be great. I kind of wish my mess with the other hat in the ring for jared durant too. But again, that's gonna be a big package and they know the mets have a great farm system. So the speed of the phillies. The phillies have been active already. They signed david robertson, that dinosaur, to help their bullpen. But they're still trying to snag like another high level arm and a lot of the names getting floated around. It's like Emmanuel Class A or Johan Duran, but I know the Mets are looking at both of them too. So we might get into a bidding war with the Phillies here.
Speaker 1:Speaking of the Mets, the Padres, they might actually deal, deal and cease too. Mets, yankees, cubs I mean they're all lurking around and they would love to add another arm. They might actually deal and cease too. Mets, yankees, cubs I mean they're all lurking around and they would love to add another arm. And the GM loves to be aggressive. I mean they're five out from the division and I think they're the third wild card or maybe the second wild card, but like, if they can move them, get the right guys. They don't never say never man, they don't care. So mark your calendars, boys and girls. The deadline, chaos is right upon us and next week's episode we'll have it all covered because the fallout will be done. We'll see where the chips fall and whose team got better and whose team got worse.
Speaker 1:Lastly, before we wrap some baseball up here, I have two quick shout-outs to end the segment. That are just two stats that are one is like the most baseball stat ever and the one is the most insane stat ever. So Bryce Harper launched his 350th career home run this week. That makes him the 105th player to do it, but it also makes him the youngest active player to hit that milestone. And I mean he did it in Bryce fashion too. He had a fucking 440 moon shot. But the weird fact with that is Judge, who also hit that milestone, like last week. Judge has done it in fewer seasons than Bryce, but he's also older than Bryce. So this will be Harper's 15th year. He came up when he was like 19 or 20. And this will be Judge's 10th year, and Judge is like 33 or something like that. Time flies. Let's start there. But like, how weird is that? That Harper's the youngest and he's been in the league longer. I mean it goes to show how much of a power hitter that Judge is and how good Judge actually is. But I don't know, I just thought that was weird and a good little tidbit and then this is the one that's going to really, really, you know, blow your mind if you know baseball.
Speaker 1:Jacob DeGrom, my guy, my man. He's had a stat that got floated around on Twitter this week and it's actually insane that it's true. So after last week's start, he has now officially only allowed one run or fewer in 126 of his starts out of 238 career starts. So out of 126 starts I'm sorry, out of 238 career starts, 126 of them, he's only allowed one run or fewer. Think about how ridiculous it it is. That's 53 percent of his games that he's only allowed one or fewer runs. That stat, right, there is enough to put him in the hall of fame, build him a plaque and put a meds hat on it. That's an insane stat. At 53 percent of your career starts, you've only given up one or fewer runs. I mean, if that's not an elite pitcher, then I don't know who is. I know, you know no one will ever touch 300 wins again. You know I know all that, but, like Jesus man, that's insane.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, that was baseball. We covered it all, from literally level fielding from the Yankees to the Mets honoring one of their all-time greats, and all the trade deadline chaos that you can handle. That's it. You're caught up this week, folks. So let's wrap this baby up and send you on your way, and that's going to be the show, folks. If you made it this far, you've officially survived another sports roller coaster with yours truly. From jets induced panic attacks to yankee throwing errors giving us all gray hairs, we made it through it in one piece, as always.
Speaker 1:I genuinely appreciate every single one of you that tunes in, because without you, I'm just a guy yelling about sports into a microphone by himself, which, to be honest, I'd probably be doing anyway, but it's way better with a little bit of company. Make sure you're following the instagram, the Instagram at Rice on the Radio. Join the community, hit me up, slide in the DMs with a hot take, or even send me a good meme I'm a sucker for a good meme and check out the polls every Wednesday Midweek mic check. Let your voice be heard. Tap in, trust me. We got a lot of fun going on over there.
Speaker 1:You don't want to miss out, as next week well, buckle up. We're gonna have all the trade deadline fallout, nfl camps will be heating up and I'm sure there'll be some injuries, and I'll have even more fantasy football teasers to get you ready for that huge hour-long fantasy episode that I got cooking in the books. My notepad is filling up with content for it already definitely got to tune in if you plan on dominating your league this year. But hey, that's enough out of me for this week. Okay, like always, I'll leave you with this Spread good energy in this world and make sure you tell someone you love them. I'm Ian Rice. This has been Rice on the Mics, and I'll catch you right here next week. Stay golden.