After a one-year respite, the Mets’ holiday curse was back in full swing last year. Santa Nimmo got hurt and missed a big chunk of the year. And elves Cano, Diaz and Oswalt had seasons that we’d all like to forget, too. This year only two people are tempting fate, which is better than four. Santa Nimmo was back for his third go-round and he was joined by Elf Davis.
Thankfully, this Mets360 holiday tradition column comes with no such bad juju. Here, we give the players what they really need, things that millionaires just can’t go out and buy for themselves. This is the 10th time this piece has been run on this site, which means we’ve been around for a while now. With the power of the keyboard, here are my gifts to Mets players.
Pete Alonso – A 2B with range so he doesn’t feel the need to venture 20 feet away from the bag to field a grounder.
Robinson Cano – A first half where some hits fall in, unlike what happened to him in 2019.
Michael Conforto – A year without expectations of a monster season.
Yoenis Cespedes – A healthy lower half of his body.
J.D. Davis – The knowledge that 50 starts on a playoff team is better than 150 starts on a fourth-place team.
Jacob deGrom – Run support like he received in 2017.
Edwin Diaz – His slider from 2018.
Jeurys Familia – A walk rate half of what it was last season.
Robert Gsellman – After three straight years with a below-average strand rate, he could use a 75+ LOB%.
Jed Lowrie – Starts all over the infield, including a significant amount at 2B.
Seth Lugo – Health so the Mets can pitch him in back-to-back games on a regular basis.
Jake Marisnick – Plenty of chances to enter the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth or ninth innings.
Steven Matz – The consistency that’s eluded him throughout his MLB career.
Jeff McNeil – A season where he looks to hit for power like he did the last two months of the 2019 season. Sure, his AVG dropped 50 points but his production jumped 35 points of OPS. That’s a great tradeoff.
Tomas Nido – To be behind the plate for 25 or more starts with the team’s SP2.
Brandon Nimmo – To have his name in the leadoff spot of the lineup for 150 games.
Rick Porcello – Early in his career he was a terrific groundball pitcher, with four straight seasons with a GB% in the 50s. Let’s give him the return of his sinker.
Wilson Ramos – The return of accurate throws to second base when the other team attempts a stolen base. No more bounced throws.
Amed Rosario – Improvement in his performance against RHP.
Dominic Smith – For his positive attitude to remain even as his playing time craters.
Marcus Stroman – A full season like his last four games with the Mets, where he allowed just 1 HR in 24 IP and had a 1.083 WHIP.
Noah Syndergaard – For the Mets to realize it’s silly to insist that Ramos catch him instead of Nido.
Michael Wacha – To reach the incentive clauses in his contract, whether they come as a starter or a reliever.
*****
Carlos Beltran – For the investigation into Houston for sign stealing back in 2017 to result in several punishments for others but that he is found innocent.
Brodie Van Wagenen – The ability to walk away from a “splash” deal before the season starts.
*****
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the readers here at Mets360! I’m very happy that you come to our site on a daily basis. And I’d like to give an extra special thanks to loyal readers Mike Walczak, Eraff, Jose, TJ, Metsense, Bob P, footballhead, Pete, Dan Capwell, Terry, Name, Pete from NJ, NYM6986, NY NIC, Boomboom, JimO, Steve S., David Klein, Steevy and anyone I may unintentionally be forgetting. Your contributions add to the site and make us all better writers. And finally, thanks to all of the writers at the site. May you have a wondrous holiday season.
Tickled to see my name among the thanked.
Thank you. This is definitely one of my online homes and I’m grateful to be a part of the community.
Brian as always thank you for your kind words and wonderful insight here. I look forward to seeing a new post in my mailbox from Mets 360. Though we may not always agree, we are all Mets fans here. Thank you and Mets 360 writers for the time and efforts they put into their posts. Thank you to the posters who continue to keep us involved and aware of all the different perspectives we each have. Wishing you and the entire Met 360 family a joyous holiday and good health. And to my fellow die hard Met fan Gus the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter with each passing day
Thanks Pete, I hope that can be throughout all the facets of my life! Merry Christmas and all the best to you and your family!
Best Mets site there is Brian. Keep up the great work. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
It’s strange but all those Christmas presents are plausible and not far fetched fantasies.
The presents made be smile like I was seven years old waiting for Santa.
Brian,
Great list…not much more to add, except –
for the Wilpons, a quick, smooth, and uneventful ownership transition.
Thanks for all the efforts and great reading. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
Merry Christmas everyone–may we get a decent reliever in our stockings!
Thanks Brian and all of the writers on this site. I love it.
My wish is for Steve Cohen to infuse some cash as soon as possible.
Thank you Brian and all the Mets360 fans for giving us all a place to go to vent and debate intelligently about our team. Merry and happy to all.
Had a dream the Mets wound up with Betts and Arenado. I don’t recall Steve Cohen coming down the chimney though.
Agreed. I hate other sites that say your stupid for your opinionand trump’s fault and threds go forever. Love this site because its Mets fans talking about Mets. Thank you all and happy holidays.
Merry Christmas Brian .Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the Mets360 crew.