The good fortune and speed bumps for Jerry Koosman

Almost every life is defined by a break (could be a good one or a bad one) and Jerry Koosman’s is no different. What makes him stand out is the multiple breaks he received on his way to the majors. And then perhaps as payment, a few bad breaks that perhaps kept him from reaching [...]

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Mets 2024 projections: Luis Severino

We heard right away once the offseason started that the Mets were interested in Luis Severino. And he was the first major player they signed under David Stearns. None of us were really sure how the offseason was going to play out. But if we put more weight on the Severino deal at the time, [...]

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Jose Quintana is the biggest key in the Mets’ rotation

The New York Mets already received some bad news last week when their ace pitcher Kodai Senga suffered an injury on his shoulder and will be sidelined for several weeks. He will certainly miss Opening Day and probably won’t be back until May. With the Mets not seeking outside help in the pitching market as [...]

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Adrian Houser and the quest to reduce loud contact

In 2021, Adrian Houser had a 4.31 xFIP, while in 2023 he had a 4.30 mark in the same category. But he didn’t achieve those nearly identical marks in nearly the same way. As you know, FIP looks to strip away luck by concentrating on what’s in a pitcher’s control – BB, Ks and HR. [...]

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Let’s stop pretending that what the Mets need is another depth pitcher

There was an Andy Martino article at SNY today talking about how the Mets are still in the market for a starting pitcher after missing out on Julio Teheran, who instead signed with the Orioles. At one point in time, Teheran was a pretty good pitcher. But, c’mon, that was years ago. His addition to [...]

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Mets Minors: Preseason Part II, those ranked 11-30

Continuing the Top 50 rankings we reach the section where there is quite a lot more disagreement, and not only because of the international signees. You will notice far more “Bold” predictions in this group and a lot less consensus. There are likely three to five people on this list who I rate as having [...]

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The impact of Kodai Senga’s loss

The Mets offense has a very good core, with top players at multiple positions. Filling a few holes with good hitters (and fielders) meant the Mets would still be in contention for an 85-88 win season with the expected pitching staff. Then last week Kodai Senga came up with a shoulder capsule injury that is [...]

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Redoing the Mets’ 2023-24 offseason, while maintaining future payroll flexibility

Now that Grapefruit League games have started, it seems unlikely that the Mets will make a move to add to the 2024 Opening Day roster. Sure, J.D. Martinez is still out there and the loss of Kodai Senga might make a SP more attractive. But David Stearns doesn’t seem inclined to spend any more on [...]

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Do the 2024 Mets have an identity?

A lot of digital ink has been dedicated to assessing the expected performance of the 2024 Mets, and the general consensus is unsurprisingly to anticipate a middling season with perhaps a sniff at a Wild Card spot. That doesn’t sound very exciting, of course, but as Mets fans we’re used to hanging our hat on [...]

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Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi hope that rotation spot isn’t gifted to Tylor Megill

So, Kodai Senga will open the year on the IL, making this the fifth straight year that the Mets will begin the year with one of their five starting pitchers sidelined. Last year it was Jose Quintana and Justin Verlander. In 2022 it was Jacob deGrom. In 2021, it was Carlos Carrasco. And in 2020 [...]

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Mets 2024 projections: Francisco Lindor

A lot of us thought that the Mets overpaid to get Francisco Lindor, sending out a non-insignificant package of players to acquire him and then extending him to a 10/$341 contract before he hit free agency, in a season where there were multiple top-shelf shortstops available. But Lindor has been tremendous as a Met. In [...]

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