It is a positive sign of the sophistication of the modern baseball fan that players are being evaluated these days on their total contributions rather than just their triple slash lines (batting average/home runs/RBIs). Jason Heyward just received a huge contract with the Cubs because rather than being an offensive giant he has a complete [...]
The Mets’ offseason appears to be done now with the signing of Alejandro De Aza to be a platoon center fielder. It seems eminently fair to say that the fan base is less than thrilled with this signing in particular and the offseason in general. As for me, this move is fine in isolation, much [...]
There are those that seriously thought that the Mets might sign Yoenis Cespedes this off season. Silly silly people. Cespedes is looking for six years and perhaps $150 million. There never was a shot in h-e-double hockey sticks that the Wilpons would go for that. Realists set their sights on Gerardo Parra, Will Venable, or [...]
The Mets have filled many holes on their roster this offseason. Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker will take over the middle of the infield, Jerry Blevins has been brought back to help the bullpen, and the Mets are still in search of a centerfielder who will platoon with Juan Lagares. With some new faces being [...]
The Mets playing baseball into November has made it a weird offseason. Combined with it being 70 degrees outside and it certainly seems too early for Christmas. Yet the kids were in a Christmas play, I saw “It’s a Wonderful Life” on the big screen and nearly every radio station is playing Christmas music. Add [...]
#2 Dominic Smith, 1B Biography: Born June 15, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, the Mets drafted Smith out of Junipero Serra High School with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft. Under Sandy Alderson, the Mets wanted to stock their minor league system with position players that were known to hit, and that [...]
One of the outfielders the Mets have had their eye on is Denard Span a good fielding left handed hitter with fine lead off skills. When healthy he can be an above average igniter. The problem is that he has an injury history and 2015, a year in which he just managed 246 at bats, [...]
Following the winter meetings, the Mets have addressed almost all of their glaring holes in the field, the bullpen, and the rotation. One remaining identified hole on the bench for a fourth outfielder is being explored now with very unexciting names like Ryan Raburn and Alejandro De Aza being mentioned in rumors. Either of those [...]
#5 Amed Rosario, SS Biography: Born on November 20, 1995 in Santo Domingo Centro, Dominican Republic, Rosario joined the Mets organization as a 17-year-old shortstop as an international free agent for $1.75 million. It seemed to be perfect timing for the Mets to sign a young, promising shortstop, as Jose Reyes left the organization to [...]
Last year at this time, it was all the rage. Early in the 2014 Winter Meetings, the Mets signed Michael Cuddyer and the media loved it. A veteran hitter, former batting champ and mentor to David Wright in his youth, Cuddyer was seen as the piece that would get the Mets to at least .500 [...]
In this age of free agency major league baseball teams do not return the same group of 25 players from year to year. There is always some turnover. In many cases there is a major upheaval and influx of new players. In some cases there are not as many new faces but new roles thrust [...]
The Mets as expected brought back reliever Jerry Blevins, signing him to a one-year, $4 million deal. Blevins was extremely effective for the Mets last year, as he retired all 15 batters he faced, 14 of them lefty swingers. Of course, no one is going to go an entire year with a .000 BABIP nor [...]