The Plate Weekly Recap - Mets Sign Two More Free Agents

New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was busy with the free agent search and signed two more free agents that can help in 2019. They are infielder Jed Lowrie and left-handed reliever Luis Avilan. The Mets signed Lowrie, a switch-hitter to a two-year, twenty million contract. He put up good offensive numbers and was an All-Star for the Oakland Athletics who hit .267 with a .353 on-base percentage and a career-high 23 home runs and 99 RBI in 596 at-bats last season. He is durable and has made 265 starts at second base during the last two seasons. He is versatile and can play basically all infield positions. Luis Avilan, played with the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies last season. He went 2-1 with a 3.77 earned run average in 70 appearances for both teams combined. One of Van Wagenen’s priorities during the Winter was to search for a quality left-handed relief pitcher and Avilan is that type of pitcher because, he was very tough on left-handed hitters who hit only .220 against him. I’m surprised that the Phillies did not re-sign him.

In other baseball news, the two most elite free agents may be close to signing with new teams. The Chicago White Sox put a seven-year $200 million contract offer on the table for Manny Machado. The Philadelphia Philles appear to be the favorites to sign Bryce Harper after a long meeting with him during the weekend in Nevada, however no offer was made. So, it looks like Harper might not be returning to the Washington Nationals who made an offer to Harper over a month ago, but removed their offer off of the table and have not tried to make another offer since. I thought the Nationals would increase their offer just a bit, because if they lose him it will be difficult to replace his potent bat.

Former New York Yankee pitcher and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre who was also a former pitching coach with the Mets passed away Sunday in Seattle after a long battle with cancer. He was 77. He was the ace of the Yankees pitching staff during the later sixties and early seventies. He was an All-Star five times and won twenty games three times and had forty career shutouts. He was the pitching coach on the Mets 1986 world championship team. He was also the Yankees pitching coach on the Joe Torre world championship teams. He was a big asset to the Yankees in 1964 when he went 9-3 with a 2.06 ERA in twelve starts down the stretch that enabled the Yankees to win the pennant. He started three games in the World Series against Bob Gibson and won one game, but the Yankees lost the World Series to the St Louis Cardinals in seven games.