Checking to see if Wilson Ramos improved defensively in the second half

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 [...]

Mets opt for depth over stars with Porcello and Wacha moves

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 [...]

Mets flirt with luxury tax line with Rick Porcello signing

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 [...]

Mets look to rectify 2012 Draft mistake with proposed Michael Wacha signing

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 [...]

Wednesday catch-all thread (12/11/19)

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 [...]

Power and control, featuring Cohen and Van Wagenen

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 [...]

Notes: Mets add Marisnick, lose Wheeler and what happens to SNY?

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 [...]

Mets float the idea of attaching salary dump to a pre-arb player

Everyone wants to see the Mets make moves in the offseason, preferably big moves that add high-price talent to the roster. But there are a couple of problems with this mindset. First, the payroll counting estimated arbitration salaries is already higher than it’s ever been in team history. Cot’s estimates Opening Day payroll at $174.4 [...]

The one-year anniversary of the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade

This time last year the buzz was all about the reported trade between the Mets and Mariners, one that wouldn’t be official until December 3. If you just woke up from a year-long coma, the Mets sent Gerson Bautista, Jay Bruce, Justin Dunn, Jarred Kelenic and Anthony Swarzak to the Mariners for Robinson Cano, Edwin [...]

On the readers’ choice for a healthy Yoenis Cespedes

A few days ago, the site featured a poll asking readers, in a dream scenario, to pick one thing to happen for the 2020 Mets. The choices were to trade for Mookie Betts, get a full season from Yoenis Cespedes, sign Gerrit Cole, sign Anthony Rendon, or other. Here are the current results of the [...]