Keith Law, prospect guru of ESPN, released his rankings of all 30 MLB farm systems yesterday, with the Mets system coming in sixth. Only the Astros, Twins, Pirates, Cubs and Red Sox ranked higher. The pitching depth that the Mets have been able to add coupled with the hauls from the R.A. Dickey and Marlon [...]
In general there are three kinds of teams – Those with a few talented players, and no depth – these teams are generally bad; those with no standout players, but lots of depth – these teams are good, but not championship level; and those with a few talented players, and lots of depth – these [...]
When the Mets signed John Lannan to a minor-league deal, it was likely to bring him in to compete for the fifth starter role in spring training. The signing is exciting because it represents something more than just another option for fifth starter: It represents the move forward for the organization. In the first three [...]
The Queens Baseball Convention will he held today at McFadden's Citi Field location starting at noon. The day is jam packed with activities, so make sure you come on out if you're in the area. I will be at Podcast Alley pretty much all day talking with all kinds of people, so if you are [...]
John Sickels of Minor League Ball released yesterday his Top 20 Mets Prospects list, found here. There are few surprises up top, though he seems to be more bullish on Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Cecchini than some. Perhaps the most controversial ranking on the list is Steven Matz at number 14, who Sickels ranks as [...]
Now that all the anger and frustration stemming from last Tuesday’s Baseball Hall of Fame vote has died down somewhat, it’s time for one last article until we pack the topic of Cooperstown away for the next six months. The purpose of this article, as the title suggests, is not for me to express my [...]
The Baseball Hall of Fame voting was revealed at 2 p.m. today, and Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas all earned the requisite 75% of votes to be enshrined. All three were in their first year on the ballot. Maddux earned 97.2% of votes, Glavine 91.9% and Thomas 83.7%. Glavine will go into the [...]
Chris Young and Curtis Granderson strike out a lot. Some worry about the number of strikeouts that they bring to the lineup. This worry is natural – for years strikeouts have been had the reputation of being the worst way to make an out. Bill James observed some time ago that the currency of the [...]
Murray Chass may have retired from the New York Times in 2008, but that hasn’t stopped him from sharing his baseball opinions with people through his blog. In a post on Thursday, he implored Baseball Hall of Fame voters to not reward managers of players who used performance enhancing drugs like Joe Torre and Tony [...]
Usually I wait a while before I do this, but, what the heck: Player A career: .249/.340/.446, .197 ISO, 12.1 BB%, 18.4 K%, .344 wOBA, 117 wRC+ Player B career: .246/.342/.424, .178 ISO, 11.3 BB%, 23.5 K%, .336 wOBA, 115 wRC+ Player A is ex-Met Howard Johnson, Player B, as the title of this article [...]
One early spring night in 1976, Bill James, a night security guard at the Stokley-Van Camp pork and beans cannery in Lawrence, Kan., sat reading the copy of Street and Smith’s Baseball Yearbook. Beside him sat several other preseason baseball publications which he had bought – called annuals. “Reading through them I realized, ‘These are [...]
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that the Mets have agreed to terms on a contract with free agent starting pitcher Bartolo Colon. The contract is said to be for two years and $20 million. Last season, the 40-year-old Colon went 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA and a 1.166 WHIP for the Oakland Athletics, [...]