Inside the Mets Opening Day numbers

“You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen.” – Joe DiMaggio Although it is taking place in 2015 one day after Easter, Opening Day is a [...]

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Mets’ top Grapefruit League record means promising 2015 campaign

We have heard that Spring Training does not matter all the time throughout the exhibition season. Some players have tremendous springs, which does not lead to success in the regular season, and some players have awful springs, yet have success during the season. However this Spring Training, the Mets played fairly well down the stretch, [...]

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Predictions for the 2015 Mets

Each year with the predictions column I start by going back to the previous year’s piece. It pains me to say this but last year’s predictions were just plain horrible. Only two of them turned out right and both of those were “negative” ones. Sure there were three or four that came close to being [...]

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Mets being selectively aggressive with top prospects

The St. Lucie Mets recently announced their 2015 roster, and it is chock-full of exciting prospects. First-rounders outfielder Michael Conforto (2014) and first baseman Dominic Smith (2013) headline a group a position prospects that also includes budding prospect darling shortstop Amed Rosario and third baseman Jhoan Urena, who is gaining some recognition as well. Outfielders [...]

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Reinventing the Mets: 1976 to 1979

This is the conclusion to a series of posts postulating what could have been for the Mets, dating back to the 1962 expansion draft. Some of the players mentioned in these posts played for the Mets, some didn’t. In the end, these posts have been an exercise in logical fantasy to see what differences there [...]

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Michael Conforto’s assignment, Kirk Nieuwenhuis’ last 10, Zack Thornton’s misfortune

Really smart people go into an experiment with no pre-conceived ideas and simply go where the evidence takes them. Opinionated people go into experiments with an outcome already in mind. My opinion was that a first-round draft pick from a four-year college should start his first full professional season in either Hi-A or (preferably) Double-A. [...]

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The Juan Lagares Extension: Trend Or Outlier?

On the eve of the 2015 regular season, the Mets announced that they have signed Gold Glove centerfielder Juan Lagares to a four-year, $23 million contract extension. This move has been hailed far and wide as one of the more intelligent maneuvers the Mets have made over the past several years, buying up all his [...]

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Is the Mets ‘spending spree’ for real?

The Mets budget has been inflated within the past 72 hours, but it's still more akin to a week-old helium balloon than Harold the Baseball Player. Yes, Fred Wilpon was sighted blowing the dust off of his checkbook and cracking it open for the first time since signing John Mayberry, Jr. back in December. He [...]

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Jon Niese’s shoulder and five other things that need to stay intact

As we've learned from the meaningless games of spring training, this Mets team has the potential to fill the stadium with meaningful games in September. This is not a rebuilding team like the Braves or Diamondbacks and it is certainly not a floundering team (Rockies), nor a middling one (Brewers), nor an aging one (Phillies). [...]

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A fond farewell to Matt den Dekker

People always lament the trading away of Tom Seaver or Nolan Ryan. To me, trading Duffy Dyer for Gene Clines ranks right up there, too. It's tough when one of your favorite players gets dealt away. Recently that disappointment hit home for me again, as the Mets dealt Matt den Dekker for something slightly more [...]

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