In 2012 and 2013 the Mets watched the rest of baseball spend money and bring in quality baseball players to improve their teams while they made do with Scott Hairston and Marlon Byrd. Then comes 2014… 2014 was to be the Met’s year. This would be the year where ownership would not be able to [...]
In general there are three kinds of teams – Those with a few talented players, and no depth – these teams are generally bad; those with no standout players, but lots of depth – these teams are good, but not championship level; and those with a few talented players, and lots of depth – these [...]
If you ask people about Jonathon Niese and his 2013 season, the most likely answer you’ll get is that he pitched well after he returned from his shoulder injury but that his year was disappointing overall. This doesn’t give Niese enough credit for the year he turned in, which pretty much fits his career as [...]
Sandy Alderson has been cryptic this offseason in regard to what he is going to do about the shortstop position. On the one hand, he hinted at signing Stephen Drew when he stated that he would be open to signing any free-agent on the market. However, he also said he believed that Ruben Tejada could [...]
Note: This is a continuing short series comparing (at a high level) where the Mets roster stood last year at this time and where it stands heading into Spring Training 2014. We're quickly approaching the reporting date for pitchers and catchers and the start of baseball for 2014. The off-season may not have gone as [...]
#11 – Noah Syndergaard MLB.com agrees with pretty much everyone, that Syndergaard will debut in 2014. His fastball is what gets the highest marks, which isn’t surprising but it will be his curveball (which they rank 60 out of 80) that will define his success. I’m of the opinion this pitch will be the difference [...]
1991 SCORE DOC GOODEN Pictured is a 1991 Score Doc Gooden “The Franchise” card. It is card number 866 and part of the regular set. The back of the card features a couple of quotes about Gooden by then Cubs General Manager Jim Frey including, “...he can change the mood of the team all by [...]
There was a lot of talk in 2013, both in our articles and in the Game Chatters, about the relative strength and weaknesses of the Mets’ drafting in the recent past, specifically the results of the drafts by Omar Minaya and Sandy Alderson. It’s too soon to pass final judgment on Alderson’s drafts and some [...]
Ike Davis is still a New York Met. Despite months of dangling the inconsistent slugger the past two months, Sandy Alderson has failed to find any takers for Davis. Reports have had teams like Milwaukee and Baltimore inquiring the Mets for a deal, but nothing ever materialized. Lucas Duda, in the meantime, has been getting [...]
Statistical analysts have been saying for years now that stolen bases are not only overvalued, but that caught stealing is a tremendous loss of value. The logic behind that statement seems pretty solid. A team only gets 27 outs to score runs, and getting caught stealing takes one of those precious few outs away. Additionally, [...]
Your intrepid columnist is usually pretty bad at predictions. Oh, not a Mike Francesa-level of ridicularity, but the mark is usually missed. If the Mets’ first baseman is projected to hit 35 home runs, he will invariably hit eight. If a star pitcher looks like a lock to win four games, he will break the [...]
The New York Mets have had the most active offseason since Sandy Alderson took over as general manager. They have made big-ticket signings to go along with the minor moves that had been characteristic of the majority of the team’s transactions over the past several offseasons. Although this part of the baseball season is not [...]