The New York Mets overall had a disappointing 2023 season. One of the few brights spots in that season was rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez. In his first full season in the major leagues, Alvarez showed glimpses of why he was the Mets No. 1 prospect, heading into 2023. Offensively, he showed his power in big [...]
After turning down his $6.75 million player option after being unable to secure a multi-year deal, Adam Ottavino rejoins the Mets on a 1/$4.5 million deal. His option contained deferred money, so he may not be as bad off as it appears on first glance. But it works out well for the Mets, who bring [...]
The New York Mets have made moves in the offseason, to improve their starting rotation. They should now shift their attention to strengthening their bullpen, which was a struggle for all of 2023. Even though it was mainly due to the absence of closer Edwin Diaz and that he will be back this season, they [...]
Art Shamsky played Major League Baseball from 1965 through 1972. He played predominantly for the Cincinnati Reds (1965-1967) and the New York Mets (1968-1971). He once hit four home runs in consecutive at-bats, tying a Major League record. He is the only such player, however, to hit the first three of those home runs in [...]
The following quote by Max Scherzer comes from a Ken Rosenthal piece in The Athletic, published Aug. 1, 2023, after Scherzer’s trade to the Rangers. Scherzer said: “I talked to Billy (Eppler),” Scherzer told The Athletic. “I was like, ‘OK, are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is [...]
Yesterday, the New York Mets announced the dates that they will retire Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry’s numbers this upcoming season. The date for Gooden’s number is April 14, and for Strawberry, it’s June 1. Both are well deserving. They were two of the Mets’ biggest and brightest stars in the 1980s decade, providing lots [...]
Growing up, the NL always beat the AL in the All-Star game. It was something that started before me and continued on for many years. The announcers always brought up the record; they just never said the reason why. And it was because the NL embraced integration both quicker and better than the AL did. [...]
With the 2024 acquisitions of Harrison Bader, Diego Castillo and Sean Manaea, the Mets will have to remove a player from the 40-man roster. This isn’t a huge problem, as there are eight or more players that could be cut without losing too much sleep. But previously it was an open question if David Stearns [...]
The New York Mets made a move on Sunday morning, to improve their starting rotation. It was not highly touted starting pitchers in Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery. Instead, it was another lefty starter in Sean Manaea. The Mets signed the southpaw to a two-year, $28 million contract. The deal includes an opt-out after the [...]
Harrison Bader’s one-year deal adds $10.5 million to both the Opening Day payroll and – more importantly – to the 40-man Competitive Balance Tax payroll. It’s difficult to establish what the latter sits at now, with the unknown of arbitration salaries. Cot’s estimates it to be $306.4 million, while Spotrac has it at $293.2 million. [...]
The New York Mets first acquisition of 2024 was another one to add depth. They signed outfielder Harrison Bader to a one-year, $10.5 million contract. Bader will provide more depth in the outfield and can play center field. His strengths are his defense and speed. Bader has played most of his games at center field [...]
According to Baseball-Reference, 170 free agents have signed here in the 2023-24 offseason. It feels like most of them have been low-level moves. No doubt that’s driven by the fact that only half of the top 10 free agents on FanGraphs’ top 50 list have signed a deal so far. And it’s not just the [...]