Many expected Noah Syndergaard to make his MLB debut in 2014. But he didn’t have a particularly impressive season in Triple-A and the Mets opted not to give him a promotion. He started back in the minors at the beginning of 2015 but made his debut on May 12 after going 3-0 with a 2.12 [...]
If we knew at the conclusion of the World Series that ownership was going to allow Sandy Alderson $140 million or so to spend on payroll for 2016, the views of his offseason moves would have been a little different. Is it really that big of a deal if he spent $18.5/$25 million for Asdrubal [...]
Just shy of the trade deadline last year, amidst offensive struggles that led to comparisons to the historically bad 1962 team, the Mets called up their top outfield prospect Michael Conforto. It was an attempt to resuscitate a lineup decimated by injuries and plagued by poor performance, but it seemed to be a move they [...]
Recently, Name pointed out how similar the deals that Antonio Bastardo and Tyler Clippard signed this offseason were. Bastardo is coming off a great year where he was the fifth option in the Pirates' pen. Clippard started off as a closer and was brought to New York to be a setup man. He performed well [...]
This is a bigger question than you may realize. For a playoff contending team, the primary setup man is a key cog in the team’s success. Many close games are won and lost in the pivotal 8th inning. If Addison Reed is up to the task, the Mets will have a strong and deep bullpen [...]
After years of watching Daniel Murphy at 2B, Mets fans will have to get used to someone else manning second base in 2016. The club brought in Neil Walker to fill the bill. And while the fans won’t have immediate familiarity with Walker, they will still find his game similar to what they’re used to. [...]
The perception among many is that Terry Collins prefers to play his veterans as much as possible. However, we don’t know if that’s because of a veteran fetish or if in the past five years he’s had so much uncertainty throughout the lineup that anyone who was healthy and halfway good, and yes, of course, [...]
1970 TOPPS THE CLEON JONES STORY (BOOKLET No. 19) If you liked the little cartoon they’d have on the back of cards, you’ll love this insert. This 24-booklet set had some of the top stars and some guys they had enough information on to fill up six inside pages of details. Jay Johnstone, Walt Williams [...]
Ask a committed Mets fan what his fondest hopes are for his team in 2016 and he (or she) will likely say: all the starting pitchers stay healthy as do David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud. In addition to that they would want to see the team knock off the Nationals again for the National League [...]
Or are you a Conforto or Granderson backer?
This is a terrific piece on the state of MLB race relations in 1960. Among many things, it includes the difference between what we now refer to as African-Americans and Black Latinos. http://www.si.com/vault/1960/03/21/583790/the-private-world-of-the-negro-ballplayer