Incoming ownership faces a string of critical roster decisions beginning immediately, with Steve Cohen having virtually no time to get a handle envisioning what has to get done before he even walks in the door. So, in light of recent articles on the topic, let’s dig in and see my vision for the team next [...]
No, that was not a typo. And of course, it is not going to happen, but it should. One problem with poorly constructed teams is the notion of players being stuck in positions that are not suitable for their skills set, a topic that has been covered here, even recently, in an article by Chris [...]
With Spring Training 2.0 now underway at CitiField, the sense that actual baseball being played in 2020 is palpable. No doubt, misgivings about putting people together in the midst of a spiraling pandemic still run deep, especially with Mike Trout, the game’s best player, seriously questioning his participation – and for good reason. Nevertheless, baseball [...]
No matter what your preferred model was for predicting the outcome of the National League East this year, what seemed clear is that most really envisioned a dogfight between the Mets, Braves, and defending World Series champions Nationals. With a new skipper and reigning Cy Young and Rookie of the Year winners, there was plenty [...]
In the absence of baseball, survival strategies for managing the pandemic reign supreme. As a scientist, it is hard to imagine the pathway for getting teams in isolation enough to play anytime soon. Rather than making another rear-looking assessment of past incarnations of Mets or thinking about some pathway to a 2020 season, here is [...]
As the likelihood of actual games being played for the 2020 season diminishes daily, it’s natural to think about past games and players. Working from my home office surrounded by memorabilia and the fact that MLB network television is playing game repeats from the past added to this reflectivity, and especially who my favorite Mets [...]
Almost nothing brings a smile to winter-weary baseball fans than the reporting of pitchers and catchers to camp, followed by position players, then the first crack of the bat for a Spring Training game. We know it’s almost really here, actual baseball cannot be far off. And nothing accompanies actual visual contact of the team [...]
With the arrival of February, the unmistakable feel of baseball surrounds us. Hey, at least the “Disastros” kept us all talking baseball through the winter along with a pretty energetic Hot Stove season, which was thankfully dominated by a lot of free agent moves and trades. Brodie Van Wagenen certainly had the Mets involved in [...]
A number of seasons back, in the heyday of the Alderson regime, I coined a phrase, “rebuilding for it,” which expressed concern of what the tepid Mets ownership and front office moves were in terms of building a perpetual winner. The idea of this mashing of thoughts stemmed from the annual off-season big words of [...]
The historic rookie season of Pete Alonso almost seemed to have no limits. The decision to bring Alonso to Queens after Spring Training was perhaps the best single move made by the front office this past season. Let’s see, he broke the Mets rookie and single-season home run records, was selected to the All Star [...]
Heading into 2020, we are all aware of the list of items that have to be addressed by the front office and ownership in the off season, including more offense, much better defense, roster balance (everything from speed to players out of position), and the bullpen. Given the historically bad performances of Edwin Diaz and [...]