One of the most beautiful things about the business side of baseball is that there is no salary cap, and save for some revenue sharing, is a good example of free-market capitalism at work. The purpose of this article is neither to sing the praises of nor denounce free-market capitalism – politics and sports go [...]
The Mets' minor league system has seen a tremendous upswing in quality during the years Sandy Alderson and his front office have been in charge. It's been a remarkable turn, really. ESPN's Keith Law, a prospect pundit some Mets fans believe is generally negative toward all things Mets, recently rated the team's system as sixth [...]
The Mets are making strides towards opening day. Spring Training has begun, and players are down in Port Saint Lucie working out. In less than a week, Spring Training games begin. With the start of Spring Training comes conjecture. The media follow everyone on the team, asking questions in hopes of creating interesting stories. A [...]
In his short major league career, Jenrry Mejia has generated a 61.3% ground ball rate. With league average at 44.6%, Mejia’s ability to facilitate contact on the ground speaks to the movement he inflicts on a baseball. Very few pitchers have pitched seasons with a GB% at above Mejia’s 61.3% in the past 12 years, [...]
You may have heard that Seattle is willing to move Nick Franklin as Brad Miller seems to have won the hearts and minds of Seattle fans. If you have not, I’m telling you. Earlier in the offseason I talked about how Franklin could be an ideal fit for the Mets. You can read that post: [...]
I picked up a complete set of the New York Daily News 1969 Mets portraits at auction a few weeks ago. These “Portraits of the Stars” were published by the newspaper to celebrate the team’s championship. The portraits were drawn by cartoonist, Bruce Stark and are printed on oversized parchment paper. The portraits contain a [...]
The Mets identified shortstop as a part of their wish list leading into the offseason. While there have been perceptible additions to the outfield and the pitching staff (Curtis Granderson, Chris Young, Bartolo Colon, John Lannan, Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde), shortstop has remained status quo. Part of that is due to the fact that [...]
Over the course of a 162-game season, fans develop a familiarity with players more than any other sport. Mets fans have seen homegrown talent grow into solid players, vanish back into the minor leagues, or get designated for assignment. The outside acquisitions over the past few years have been hit or miss, but the perception [...]
Last year Mets catchers put up a combined .654 OPS, 33 points below the average mark for National League backstops. Of the four catchers to see action for the club last year, Travis d’Arnaud had the lowest OPS with a .542 mark in 111 PA. Yet because of his minor league pedigree, many fans expect [...]
Despite an acronym that sounds like it fits more appropriately in a phonetic acting class warm up than a baseball discussion, baseball reference has given us a fascinating value for players if they played on a team with league average players all around him: waaWL%, or Win-Loss percentage with average team. Another way to look [...]
At the age of 26 (27 on March 22), Ike Davis is a bust. Once a fixture at first base and a rising star for the New York Mets, Davis’ star crashed back to Earth. Rumors of trades and cuts have lingered all winter, so much so that even the player is surprised to be [...]
Introduction to the 2014 Amateur Player Draft and Three Players the Mets Might Look to Draft Relevant details: Date: June 5th-7th, 2014 Location: MLB Studio 42, Secaucus, New Jersey Media: MLB Network will cover the draft Mets select: #10, miss a second round pick for signing Curtis Granderson, pick regularly between the Blue Jays and [...]