Friday Four-Pack 2.28.25
Patriots fail their NFLPA report card. An expert guest on the Red Sox top prospect. New Dream Team documentary is just meh. Big January numbers for The Sports Hub.
So this has been a big story in Boston this week.
The NFLPA's annual player survey reports were unveiled Wednesday. Teams were graded based on player satisfaction in several specific categories. Among those were treatment of families (Pats got a C+), travel accommodations (Pats received an F), weight rooms (F), training staff (C+), and ownership (D, see above).
No Wi-Fi on the team plane, “dingy carpets” and a lack of good equipment in the weight room were among the players’ comments to the NFLPA through the survey.
Bob Kraft and Co. have been ripped locally for the poor grades which, when tallied up, land the Pats 31st of 32 NFL teams overall. It’s particularly embarrassing considering the team was ranked 29th of 32 teams last year, and ranked as low as 24th in 2023. Ownership has seen these player comments and made claims they would get better, and in two years, they have actually dropped seven spots. The team and Kraft deserve all the crap they’ve taken on the radio and Internet the last 48 hours here in Boston.
All that said, I’m here to tell you - the loyal MutStack reader and hopefully by now subscriber - this is a good thing if you’re a Patriots fan. Because nothing can quite motivate a person to change their ways like some good old-fashioned embarrassment.
Maybe it’s your parents seeing your terrible report card. Or a picture of yourself that shows clearly, yes, you have put on some weight. Those instances, while also humbling, can serve as strong motivation for change. This report should serve well to force Kraft into asking himself (along with his son Jonathan) some tough questions about how they’re running their team.
The organization made a big deal last off-season about how different things would be now that mean ole’ Bill Belichick was out of the building. Well, he left, and your players thought LESS of the work you’re doing as an owner—that’s a wake up call.
In the same period, Kraft has once again been passed over for nomination into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, an honor he desperately craves…and certainly deserves. No matter how remote it sounds, part of him has to believe that a big turn-around in his team’s rating in next year’s NFLPA survey might help his chances of being inducted into Canton. ESPN detailed last September just how hard the team and their staff had lobbied for Kraft with Hall of Fame voters - he’d likely try anything to help his cause: even if that means forking over the cash for Wi-Fi on the team plane.
But won’t this hurt their chances with free agents? I mean, those grades are pretty shitty?
If the Patriots offer the most money, Free Agent X won’t even consider those grades, especially with Kraft and Mike Vrabel promising change.
NFL teams were informed Thursday that the 2025 salary cap has been set at a record $279.2 million per team. I’d argue the timing of this NFLPA report card is helpful there too, as Kraft will want to show fans he’s committed to winning by opening his wallet this offseason.
Tom Brady left New England, won a Super Bowl in Tampa, and is considered the best quarterback of all-time.
Bill Belichick was fired, became a media darling, and is being lauded for taking on the rebuild in Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, Kraft’s team was so bad last season they got flexed out of high-profile primetime games. His hand-picked choice to succeed Belichick was such a disaster he had to fire him after just one season. He got passed over for the Hall of Fame, AGAIN. And now for a second straight year, his players say he’s one of the worst owners in the NFL.
Short term? The report card is a bad look for the team and Kraft. But long term, it should be a positive for fans looking for their team to once again be Super Bowl contenders.
Meanwhile, an expert weighs in on the Red Sox top prospect. A sports documentary that fails to deliver. And sports media notes that highlight a huge January for one Boston sports station.
All ahead in today’s Four-Pack.
On an expert take on the Red Sox top prospect(s)…
From the always entertaining MutStack comments section—
Fans who (rightfully) haven’t paid much if any attention to the Red Sox are going to be surprised to see them suddenly flush with young talent. Mut, for next week can you talk about this and specifically Roman Anthony baseball’s #1 overall prospect who could arrive in late spring and is only 20 years of age? - Ryan Stack
That’s a great idea Ryan, but like you, I have not been locked into the Red Sox minor league system.
Thankfully, Carlos Collazo has been. Carlos is a national writer at Baseball America (specializing on the draft) and the author of his own newsletter here on Substack, Fringe Average.
Carlos was nice enough to take some time to help answer Ryan’s questions about Roman Anthony and a few other big names that have helped the Sox become the #1-ranked minor league system in MLB.
Mut: He's the #2 overall prospect in Baseball America's Top 100 - but he's behind a pitcher, so I’ll call 20-year-old outfielder Roman Anthony the #1 positional prospect in baseball. What stands out in his play as you've watched him rise through the Sox system?
Carlos: The first time I watched Roman Anthony was back when he was an underclassman in high school going into his senior season. In that game he struck out three times and looked lost at the plate before hitting a towering home run in his final plate appearance that I still remember to this day. Back then he was boom or bust. Big power, but lots of swing and miss. So the most impressive thing to me about Anthony is how he's been able to develop himself into a hitter who not only has tons of power, but a well-rounded offensive player who can make a ton of contact and also has a great understanding of the strike zone. He's far exceeded my offensive expectations for him at the time of the 2022 draft and those of basically the entire industry as well. Getting him 79th overall and signing him for $2.5 million is a massive steal. The way we describe him as a hitter in our draft report vs. our most recent report as the No. 2 prospect in the game is entirely different. And that's a credit to both him and Boston's player development.
Mut: How does he compare to other recent 1-2 prospects like Bobby Witt Jr. or Corbin Carroll? And a best guess as to when Sox fans see him at Fenway?
Carlos: I don't think he compares super well to elite No. 1 hitting prospects we've had in recent years like Ronald Acuna Jr. or that trio of Bobby Witt Jr./Julio Rodriguez/Adley Rutschman. I think across the board at BA we view him in a different tier of top prospect that is probably closer to the Corbin Carroll range you mentioned, but that's still a perennial All-Star sort of player if not a franchise player. I'd be surprised if he doesn't make his debut at some point in 2025, though his path to playing time is less clear to me than Kristian Campbell's.
Mut: You wrote on your Substack you remain higher than many on Marcelo Mayer…what do you like about his game?
Carlos: I like everything about Marcelo's game. He has less prospect hype individually than Anthony and Campbell, but he has the best defensive profile of the three and I'm pretty excited about his pure hitting ability, power and defensive ability as well. Each time he's been healthy and on the field he's performed at a great level. He understands the zone, makes a lot of contact and can hit for power. He doesn't have great speed but does enough in other areas that I don't really mind it. I'd take him over Campbell, personally.
Mut: Jeff Passan wrote this week, "Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer into the best position-playing-prospect trio in a generation.." more hyperbole or reality?
Carlos: It will be difficult for this group of Red Sox prospects to top what the trio of Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley have done in Atlanta. That said, it does seem pretty rare for a single team to have three prospects ranked inside the top 15 of our Top 100. We've had a few notable duos in recent years: Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter; James Wood and Dylan Crews; Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday. Getting that third player seems like a real separator. In 1993, the Blue Jays had three inside the top 10 (Alex Gonzalez, Carlos Delgado, Jose Silva) but one was a pitcher. So I am not sure it is hyperbole if you are talking about prospect status specifically. The odds all three pan out and hit their high-end upsides are quite low, just given the nature of prospects though. So just keep that in mind if you're a Red Sox fan.
Thanks to Carlos for the insight. You can hear more about what he thinks about the loaded Red Sox farm system in this episode of his Future Projection Podcast.
It’s been a rough stretch for Red Sox fans. But between the riches at the minor-league level, the ‘Big 3’ that Carlos talks about, the Alex Bregman addition and Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation…you’re not wrong if you’re optimistic about the direction of the franchise heading into the 2025 season.
Even if ownership and top team executives remain largely unlikeable.
On the new HBO documentary We Beat the Dream Team…
I really wanted to love it.
I mean, it’s hard not to enjoy any Dream Team related content. The 2012 documentary narrated by Ed Burns was excellent. That same year, you had Jack McCallum’s first-class book on the Dream Team and their impact. Of course, collecting those McDonald’s Dream Team Cups was a huge part of my 12-year-old summer. And I’d be rich, if my mother had not thrown them all away.
Can you imagine what seven Chris Mullin cups would be worth in 2025!?!
So yeah, when We Beat the Dream Team showed up on HBO/Max whatever-the-hell-their-calling-it-now, I assumed it would be great.
Spoiler - it was not.
The film’s premise is to tell the story of the 1992 United States Select Team—a group of college players put together to practice with the original Dream Team in San Diego before the 1992 Summer Olympics. Led by Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Bobby Hurley and Eric Montross, the long-standing account was that this team of college All-Stars beat the Dream Team in a scrimmage.
Hill does a good job as the narrator of the 80-minute film—and yes it does tell the story of the Select Team and that scrimmage—but as it turns out…it wasn’t some great story: at least as it was portrayed to this viewer.
Note - some spoilers ahead just in case you want to be 100% surprised when/if you decide to watch.
There’s a long build up with the basic background of the Dream Team and the Select Team. Players from that Select Team - Hill, Hurley, Webber, and Jamal Mashburn among others - were interviewed as part of the film and provide commentary about what the experience meant to them. The Dream Team players - Larry Bird, Magic, Jordan, etc - it seems like TNT Sports and HBO (they produced the film) decided to use old clips of those guys talking about the team and the scrimmage in question. When the Dream Team players speak on film, it seems like recycled material.
The actual film from the scrimmage itself is not great. There’s not some epic moment where the Dream Team fights back or the Select Team goes on a wild run. The highlights are fun to watch - in particular Hurley and Hill carving up the Dream Team defense - but nothing special.
The best part of the documentary is probably the next day’s scrimmage, the day after the Select Team won, when Bird puts on a show in a game the Dream Team would win by 70.
The film’s twist comes with Hill confronting Mike Krzyzewski about his comments back in 2012, when he said Team USA head coach Chuck Daly “threw the game,” as a way to show his guys that they were in fact, not invincible. The film does a good job of backing that up, showing Magic and Jordan on the bench for much of the scrimmage that the Select Team “won.”1
The old college highlights are some fun nostalgia - as are the clips of Daly coaching his team. But I found myself scrolling X.com during much of the final 40 minutes. I don’t recall looking at my phone once during Come Home Monkey Boy, which we reviewed here last week. I can honestly say that was a better sports documentary.
If that’s how we’re supposed to judge the entertainment of things we watch in 2025 - by how much you find yourself scrolling your phone while watching something - then We Beat the Dream Team would get low marks from me.
I’ll grade it out as a C or C+ at best. And I’d tell you you’re better off watching the 2012 doc - or even the Last Dance episode on the Dream Team - than investing an hour and 20 minutes into his new one.
If you watched it and you disagree, comments are open for your own review.
On the stupidity of the Patriots winning in Week 18…
Every 2025 Draft article has a note like this…
“Talking to people around the league, there’s a general feeling that the upcoming draft is more meat and potatoes than filet mignon. In other words, solid players, but a lack of top-end talent.
"There are four, maybe five, blue-chip players," one NFL general manager said. "After that, it's 40 guys with a late-first-round or second-round grade."
Sources feel that the 2025 NFL Draft does not have many elite prospects that are true top-10 picks in any draft class.
Sitting at No. 4, the Patriots are at the mercy of the three teams in front of them as it relates to who they can draft. Of course, all of this could have been avoided if you lost the last game of the season.
Because Mayo was fired so quickly, and the media moved on to Vrabel, I don’t feel satisfied by the reporting around that awful win over the Bills.
Is it true that Mayo never talked to ownership about how to approach the game?
Did ownership care if the team won or lost?
Was Kraft pushing for a win to end the year on a high note? Did Mayo push back?
Did anyone in the organization suggest they try and lose the game?
And if not, why?
And don’t tell me Bill Belichick never lost a game on purpose. Did you see how badly Matt Cassel overthrew Bam Childress on that two-point attempt in 2006? That missed throw secured the team a 28-26 loss to the Dolphins and set them up to face the Jags - not the Steelers - in a Wild Card game the next week.
If the Patriots play to lose vs. Buffalo, you have the No. 1 pick in a draft where there are just a few elite players. You get the player you want, or a HAUL from some team in a trade. There are reports Friday that the Titans will be able to move back a few spots from No. 1 in a trade with Giants, get the player they want at No. 3, PLUS draft picks. That should have been the Patriots.
Clearly, I’m still not over it. And I want more concrete answers for how the team botched that situation so badly.
On your sports media and sports betting notebook…
➡️ While we do a breakdown every quarter of the Boston Sports Radio ratings in this newsletter, we spend very little time analyzing weekly and monthly ratings for Boston’s two sports stations. However, the numbers made available to MutStack.com for January 2025 are worth noting for a few reasons.
From January 9 through February 5, 98.5 The Sports Hub was No. 1 in the market among Men 25- 54 with a 17.6 rating. That’s an almost 2-point increase from their Fall Book rating (15.8). WEEI came in second at 6.2, matching their overall rating for the Fall. The Sports Hub was No. 1 across the board, doubling, tripling, and quadrupling WEEI in specific day parts. It was almost a quintupling afternoon drive.
But morning and midday saw “wow” numbers for the month. Toucher and Hardy scored a 23.2, while Zolak and Bertand registered a 22.1 - a huge number for midday.
The month was dominated by Jerod Mayo’s firing and the Mike Vrabel’s eventual hiring. As a few smart people pointed out, part of the Zolak and Bertand bump might be attributed to the Patriots holding the Vrabel press conference at noon on Monday, January 13. But it’s clear that as people we’re looking for talk on the new Patriots coach, direction, etc — they turned to 98.5 The Sports Hub first.
One positive for WEEI is Jones and Keefe continuing to see better numbers in the midday, as their 7.8 for January was good for No. 2 behind (well behind) Zolak and Bertand. They might have also benefitted from the timing of the initial Vrabel press conference.
We’ll get a lot more information - including a larger sample for WEEI Afternoons with Andy Hart, Fizty and Part-Time Ted Johnson on April 23, when the full Winter 2025 numbers are released.
➡️ While it’s no surprise that DraftKings and FanDuel have a massive stranglehold on the mobile sports market in the US, the above graphic is a reminder that about 90% (95%?) of you betting on sports are just using that one sports book app that you like and not shopping for the best price. A friendly reminder that this is a sure way to be a losing sports bettor in the long run. Please, shop for the best price.
➡️ If you’re looking for the early leader for most forced sports talk radio rant of 2025, Tony Massarotti has you covered with this inane yelling about this one scouting report he found on the aforementioned Roman Anthony. This sounds and looks like a parody of someone playing the role of a sports radio guy.
➡️ I am not surprised that Jordan Schultz confronted Ian Rapoport after Rap Sheet took a pro-NFL side in discrediting the Schultz report that Tom Brady had met with Matt Stafford. There are many local NFL reporters - including here in New England - who will rip Rapoport for being an NFL mouthpiece, but will do it off-the-record. Schultz just chose to do it in a Starbucks, face-to-face with Rap Sheet. Good for him.
➡️ Big weekend for Kirk Minihane Show fans as Laconia, NH is the site of the first live show of 2025. Kirk and his producers put a lot of time and effort into making these live shows a great experience for the fans and I’m sure this weekend will be no different. Try and behave yourselves, Minifans.
And with that, we have for sure said it all.
Back tomorrow to talk about three Kentucky Derby preps scheduled for Saturday.
Good luck with all your bets this weekend. And thanks for reading.
And if you like today’s Four-Pack, hopefully you’ll share with others who might enjoy reading about McDonald’s Dream Team cups, among other topics.
Not sure if this was the film’s goal, but I walked away thinking 100% Daly threw the game and the goal was Dream Team motivation.
Good stuff Mut. I didn't know this dream team doc existed and I have Max and watch sports. Bad too little marketing I guess.
It’s sad to see how far the Krafts have fallen.