It would have been great to have been a fly on the wall in the war room for the Mets’ 2019 Draft. In the first three rounds, they took two guys who ended up signing for significantly more money that their slot level or pool allotment for those picks. In order to do that, they [...]
The Mets addressed their bullpen in a big way, adding 6'8 Dellin Betances on a one-year deal with a player option for 2021. Betances issued a statement on the signing, one that included this nice graph: "I love New York. I grew up in Manhattan. Went to high school in Brooklyn. Played minor league ball [...]
For many of us, it’s frustrating how managers in the 21st Century have been essentially neutered by the front office. Sure, it makes sense that the front office has more say than it did, say, in the 1960s. But many of us feel that the pendulum has swung too far. Be that as it may, [...]
After a one-year respite, the Mets’ holiday curse was back in full swing last year. Santa Nimmo got hurt and missed a big chunk of the year. And elves Cano, Diaz and Oswalt had seasons that we’d all like to forget, too. This year only two people are tempting fate, which is better than four. [...]
Prior to the start of the 2019 season, my opinion was that signing Wilson Ramos was the best move of the offseason for Brodie Van Wagenen. It seemed much better than paying the freight for J.T. Realmuto in trade or for Yasmani Grandal in cash. By mid May, I was seriously questioning my judgment. But [...]
The Omar Minaya Mets were heavy on stars but not so hot on depth. This stars and scrubs mixture worked pretty good when Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado were playing in 155 games a year. But it wasn't so hot once those guys got injured. The 2019 Mets looked to spread the wealth around a [...]
The Mets made a bunch of moves in the offseason prior to 2019 that gave them some offensive depth. That, along with the positional versatility of several players, allowed them to weather injuries better than they had in recent memory. This current offseason, while it lacks the big moves of last year, is doing the [...]
Sources indicate that the Mets have signed Rick Porcello to a 1/$10 million deal. While the Mets were linked to Porcello earlier in the offseason, it seemed that yesterday’s signing of Michael Wacha closed this particular door. Now we’re left wondering if this means that Wacha will be in the bullpen or if it means [...]
News has it that the Mets are finalizing a contract with Michael Wacha that will pay him $3 million, with the chance to earn up to $7 million more with incentives. Given the constraints of the Mets’ likely budget, it’s hard to imagine them getting a better deal than they did here. Over the past [...]
Last year, as justification of not pursuing either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said, “I don’t know how many teams have two $30-million players.” In 2020 there are at least three. We have the defending World Series champion Nationals (Scherzer $35.9 and Strasburg ($35) and the 107-win Astros (Greinke $35 and [...]
Shortly after he was hired, a photo was taken of Brodie Van Wagenen sitting on a couch with then-manager Mickey Callaway. This was obviously a staged photo, one with Van Wagenen seemingly speaking or just having made a point. Meanwhile, Callaway is on the other end of the couch, dressed nowhere near as nice as [...]
The Mets addressed their need for a true center fielder by acquiring Jake Marisnick from the Astros for two minor leaguers. Marisnick had a very good year in 2017, when he posted an .815 OPS over 259 PA. Other than that season, it’s been an offensive profile similar to Juan Lagares, with an OPS+ right [...]