John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 12/30/2019

In the Puerto Rican Winter League last night:

Tomas Nido DH’d for the Criollos de Caguas and went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk in a 3-2 Criollos loss (box). In 8 games this winter, Tomas is 7 for 28 for a .250 Avg, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 5 Ks. 

In that same game, former 2019 Mets pitcher Ryan O'Rourke pitched 4.2 innings giving up 2 runs, 3 hits and 5 walks, 2 Ks, for Cangrejeros de Santurce.

No current Mets played last night in the Dominican but here are some notable ex-Mets that played:

Jordany Valdespin went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.

Carlos Gomez went 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. 

Continuing with the end of the year/end of decade list trend –

The NY Post listed the top 10 games of the decade.  #3: Mets-Dodgers NLDS Game 5; #8: Wilmer Flores walk-off vs. Nats; #9: Mets-Royals World Series Game 5.

Rising Apple had the 5 greatest trades for starting pitching in Mets history. Honorable Mention: Ron Darling; #5 Noah Syndergaard; #4 Sid Fernandez[JV1] ; #3 Johan Santana; #2 David Cone; #1 Al Leiter.

Mets 360 posted their list of top 50 2020 Mets Prospects.  As always, well worth the read from Mets 360. 

MLB.com says the Mets Bullpen is projected to be NLs Best.

Rising Apple says Matt Blackham can be a useful part of the Mets 2020 bullpen. They point out that Matt Blackham “…combined to go 8-2 with a 2.60 ERA with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse in 2019. In his 55.1 innings, he struck out 70 batters for a rate of 11.4 per nine.”

The Empire Writes Back says Seth Lugo’s role is in limbo.

Reflections on NY Baseball thinks hopes that Pete Alonso does not become the next Matt Harvey. 

MLB Trade Rumors discussed how NL Teams have addressed their weakest positions of 2019.  For the Mets it was Center Field which they note they have somewhat by acquiring Jake Marisnick and having a healthy Brandon Nimmo.

Metsmerized says Starling Marte is not worth it for Mets at this point.  ‘At the end of the day though, it’s not worth taking the gamble on the outfielder. The reason being is that it’s likely going to cost a package of prospects, or an MLB player, such as Brandon Nimmo, whose name has been frequently connected to the Pirates.”

Metsmerized also said how the Mets can top off their offseason. They suggest “bringing in another catcher to pair with the defensively weak Wilson Ramos…bring in another reliever. A couple guys I think they should consider are Craig Stammen and Steve Cishek.

Empire Sports Media project’s the Mets lineup and compares it with the rest of the NL East.  

MLB.com rated the 5 most improved farm systems: 1. Miami; 2. Arizona; 3. Seattle; 4. Baltimore; 5. San Francisco. Regarding Seattle: "The blockbuster deal that sent Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz to New York for former Mets first-rounders Jarred Kelenic (2018) and Justin Dunn (2016) last offseason laid the groundwork for what would be an all-around breakout year for Seattle’s farm system."

Mack’s Mets blast from the past comes from December 2010: Mack looked at the 2008 Draft, Ike Davis and Choo Choo Coleman. 

UltimateMets has this date in Mets History:

Born on this date:

• Kevin Long (1966)
• Ralph Milliard (1973)

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 

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