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 [...]
Now that Zack Wheeler has departed Flushing for a lucrative contract with Philadelphia, the Mets have an opening in their starting rotation. Back in November GM Brodie Van Wagenen was quoted as saying relievers Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo could be in the starting rotation for 2020. Let’s take a look at the case for [...]
There has been considerable talk this season and offseason about the idea that there are too many minor league levels and that baseball might consider getting rid of some of them. Juggling the names, I have to admit that the number of short season leagues seems a bit high and the number of players a [...]
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 [...]
Yes, this appears to be a mildly ridiculous question, but there is some veracity to it being considered. Winning multiple Cy Young Awards is not a Hall of Fame prerequisite. Neither is winning back to back Cy Young Awards. However, winning two does help the argument. The history of the Cy Young is full of [...]
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 [...]
According to Joel Sherman, the Mets are transferring majority ownership from Sterling Partners (Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon, Saul Katz) to a minority share owner, Steve Cohen. Who?? Cohen is a hedge fund investor with a Forbes estimated worth of $13.6 Billion. Oh, that Steve Cohen!!! If the sale is approved by the remaining investors of [...]
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 Mets won 86 games last season, a solid total and one that leaves the fans optimistic for even better things in 2020. You have to go back 43 years to find the last - and only other - time that the Mets won exactly 86 games, back to the Bicentennial year of 1976. The [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]