So the MLB General Managers’ Meetings are happening this week in Carlsbad, California. Various front office and agent types are bobbing in and out of each others’ lives, trying to lay the groundwork for some future cooperation. It’s a nice little prelude to the big Winter Meetings to be held in Las Vegas – that [...]
The [former-agent-as-General-Manager] situation looks better in other sports, particularly in the NBA, where agents have gone on to be successful GMs, including Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors. One of the things that Myers has done successfully in Oakland is to install an organization-wide culture of togetherness. And if there’s any MLB team that [...]
It’s playoff time again. If you’re a Mets fan, you may not have noticed. Since 1962, this is the 46th postseason without the Mets in it, so you could be forgiven if it had slipped your mind. In case you have missed it, the combatants this year are putting on a fabulous show. The Los [...]
Think about it for a second. You’re a young player. You were born in the 1990’s. Your dream your entire life has been to make the major leagues. From when you’re a kid, you watch your favorite team on TV most every night. Your dad or your mom or your favorite uncle takes you to [...]
If this weekend is any kind of harbinger of anything, 2019 is going to fun on most days, frustrating on others. On the day the fans gave Jose Reyes a mini-me version of David Wright's sendoff, Noah Syndergaard changed his geeky nickname today from "Thor," to "Th0r." He completely shut down Miami with a five-hit [...]
As this is being typed, the Mets have a five-run lead on the Washington Nationals. They built it on the strength of five extra-base hits, none of them homers. Michael Conforto has hit his first triple of the year and Daniel Zamora has just escaped a bases-loaded jam. This is coming to you in progress, [...]
NOTE: Today's posting has to be in the form of a Quick Hitter: I'm in the midst of a move and they're coming to take my computer away in a matter of minutes. Thanks for your understanding. Once the Mets finally got to play last night -- five-and-a-half hours after they were supposed to -- [...]
Dominic Smith hit a heroic late-inning home run. Rhys Hoskins hit an even more heroic, later one to give the Phillies the first game of this series. The Mets took an early lead when Jay Bruce peppered Aaron Nola's first pitch of the second inning over the right centerfield wall. That didn't last long. Jorge [...]
Well, all good things must come to an end. So it was with Jason Vargas's recent "hot streak," which crumbled over his ears in the course of three-and-a-third innings. To be fair, though, this wasn't anybody's best night. The Mets actually had a decent lead at the start. Todd Frazier led off the second with [...]
The great Baltimore manager Earl Weaver once famously said "The secret to baseball is simple: starting pitching and three-run homers." The Mets employed that philosophy to a T on Labor Day, 2018. Jacob deGrom opened this series in Los Angeles historically, but inauspiciously. With one out in the bottom of the first, ol' pal Justin [...]
Yesterday afternoon, the Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 10-3, salvaging the last of a three-game series. The win was their fifteenth in the month of August and clinched a .500 month for them; they hadn’t had a month of break-even-or-better baseball since April. April. April, when they opened the season 17-9…and needed an 11-1 opening [...]
The Mets completed their Dog Days slog of 21 games in 20 days the way they began it: with a win. Two four-run innings put a hurt on the Chicago Cubs in this one. Jason Vargas took on Alec Mills in an afternoon affair, upon completion of last night's suspended game. Vargas was the beneficiary [...]