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1/20/20

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/20/2020


No games in the Dominican and in Puerto Rico yesterday.  The Baseball Hall of Fame vote will be announced later today.  Here are today’s links:

Lots of readers have been asking if Edwin Diaz will be pitching this winter in the Puerto Rican League.  Per Mets.com, Edwin was in the news regarding how he has been helping the with Puerto Rico relief efforts.

Great game yesterday in Kansas City as Patrick Mahomes, son of Mets Pitcher Patrick Mahomes, led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.  Per SNY.TV, Mike Piazza sent congratulations on Twitter. 

SNY.TV reported that Dusty Baker has not heard from the Mets or Red Sox and is focused on the Astros, he said Sunday evening while updating his managerial pursuit with reporters in Houston, including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. "Like I said, I'm busy, I haven't heard from anybody and first come, first serve and everybody likes to feel that they're wanted," Baker said. "I talked to Mr. (Astros owner Jim) Crane and he made me feel I had a chance if I wanted it."


Per MLB Trade Rumors: “The Red Sox have considered Mets’ bench coach Hensley Meulens for the position, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’s unclear if the sides have yet arranged for a formal interview. As Heyman points out, Meulens might find himself in consideration for the top job in New York as well.”

The NY Post’s Mike Puma said that Robinson Cano could influence the Mets manager search. “Robinson Cano is officially the team’s second baseman, but, according to people familiar with the dynamic, he’s also on some level a consultant to the general manager whose views are considered when something as important as a managerial search arises.”


Brian Joura of Mets 360 thinks the Mets’ second managerial hiring process this offseason will be different than the first. Brian notes that: “After hiring Beltran in early November, news broke right before Christmas that the Wilpons were in advanced negotiations to sell majority interest in the team to billionaire Steve Cohen. Now, the sale is not complete…But it’s hard to imagine that any big move isn’t at least discussed with Cohen before it happens.”

Mike Phillips of the Sports Daily thinks the Mets should hire an experienced manager. “Van Wagenen will likely pick another first time candidate so that he can remain a collaborative part of game day situations, such as lineup construction and bullpen management. That would be a mistake, and going with a veteran skipper should take precedence after the Beltran situation has made the Mets look very shaky once again.”






MLB.com had the latest Rumors about Mookie Betts: “ESPN's Buster Olney reports…any deal for Betts must include David Price, with the acquiring team taking on most or all of the $96 million still owed to the left-hander over the next three seasons. And that's not all. The Red Sox also are asking for two high-end prospects.





Alabama Baseball had a “Where are they now” column on Dave Magadan. “Currently Magadan is about to begin his second year as the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies.”









No Games yesterday in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.  The Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico will resume today while the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano will resume Tuesday.


UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:
Born on this date:
Died on this date:
Transactions:
New York Mets signed free agent Karim Garcia of the New York Yankees on January 20, 2004.

New York Mets signed free agent Jose Parra on January 20, 2004.

New York Mets signed free agent Tom Martin on January 20, 2009.

New York Mets signed free agent Cory Sullivan of the Colorado Rockies on January 20, 2009.

Houston Astros signed Cory Sullivan of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 20, 2010.

New York Mets signed free agent Scott Hairston of the San Diego Padres on January 20, 2011.

New York Mets signed free agent Rafael Montero on January 20, 2011.

Oakland Athletics signed Alejandro De Aza of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 20, 2017.


Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

11 comments:

  1. I sure hope the Mets don't win 86.5 games. Try for 87 at least!

    Edwin Diaz seemed very confident of a big bounce back. And it is good seeing him help in PR after the earthquakes - just stay safe and healthy.

    Prospects 1500 had Tyler Megill as a tier 5 prospect, meaning his chances of being a future big leaguer were slim, but then wrote him up saying he was intriguing and might pitch for the Mets this year. Inconsistent, for sure. Words speak louder than rankings. I agree with the words and think Megaton Megill will surprise a lot of folks in 2020.

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  2. Boy, I sure miss some of the guys that used to comment here.

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  3. I hope you are right Tom. I plan to see Tylor pitch this "summer" up here in Binghamton. I will let you know how he looks.

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  4. That .5 win stuff freaked me out as well Tom.

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  5. Stray Commentary

    1. I never got why Tyler Bashlor couldn't stick on the Mets for long. He had "the look" and he had the fastball. But maybe (just guessing here) he needed something more. Like maybe more break action on his fastball, or perhaps better location ability. Not sure. It could also just be something like setting up that fastball using another above average pitch at a speed ten mph slower, and knowing when to do so in the count.

    2. On Carlos Beltran. This sign stealing thing was not by coincidence nor accident. It was premeditated and contrived with the understanding and knowledge that there were risks to be taken if caught doing so. Baseball's "brown chair" so to speak.

    Carlos isn't in mid-school, nor a child when most of us tend to do something foolishly wrong intentionally trying to see if we can get away with it. In this case, it shows an adult weakness in character, a lack or respect for the game and its many rules.

    There is no escaping the utter lack of adult judgement regarding this, and I (for one) don't care who all else was involved in this "cheating scheme" because in this specific case, Carlos Beltran is self-admittedly guilty. I do not think that Carlos Beltran should ever be associated with MLB again. His actions were no more right than Pete Rose's or Joe Jackson, and it soils the game substantially so.

    The game has to be bigger than any one of its players, managers, or owners. Has to be, or all is lost.

    3. Which leads me to the obvious, Luis Rojas.

    Let's get this stupid child-like cheating nonsense behind us now, before it endlessly dominates national news like "the Impeachment" and "Harry and Meagan".

    4. LGM!

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  6. Sneaker

    Two Units

    C Myers Leonard (trade) and Mitchell Robinson
    PF Randle and Morris
    SF Brazdeikis and Wooten
    PG Ntilikina and Payton
    SG Barrett and Dotson

    Two units as such. The better will br which ever one best matches the opposing team that night. They both play as a unit, with the better getting more game tine that night.

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  7. Anonymous, I will just address your point on Bashlor.

    He has gotten away with shaky control in the minors due to his live fastball.

    The majors hitters expose weaknesses. His fastball is not explosive enough to prevent him from being 0-6, 5.33 in his Mets career. A playoff team can get capsized trying to figure out guys like this. He'd probably be better off refining his MLB skills in Baltimore or Detroit, where winning is not really an expectation. IMO, we can't afford his losing tendencies here.

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  8. Points well taken Tom.

    Perhaps another side on Mets reliever Tyler Bashlor.

    Where are the Mets MiLB pitching coaches with this guy? Couldn't they have done something to guide Tyler more and prepare him for here?

    Relief pitching used to be the guys who were not good enough to start, and also guys who threw really really hard, but had no real other pitch to show with their arsenal. Old school true, but that is the way it was.

    No more.

    To me, Tyler lacked a more dominant second pitch. True on the location of his fastball, but maybe he needed to relax just a tad bit more on the mound in order to make it optimal. Not sure. Tyler is an intimidating presence on the mound, has that "glaring edge" thing back to the batter. But I did notice he may be a little tight out there as well. It may be rushing him too much.

    If Tyler had another dominant pitch, hit his spots with the fastball, and it had some downward cutting action, I think Tyler Bashlor would be King of the Bullpen.

    Just my take, because I hate seeing good talent go to waste. I also seriously wish that Tug was still alive, because I think they'd understand each other's intensity thing and Tug would help him with his approach.

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  9. The Word

    The Starling Marte trade sniffing thing is unfortunately on again. My take is simply this one, if homerun hitting Yoenis Cespedes can be made 100% or close by ST, then I'll take my chances on Yoenis over Marte.

    Why?

    This team has all the tablesetters already, three. But no team can ever have enough homerun guys. Not ever, never, and Yoenis is definitely that.

    Add Yoenis to Alonso, JD Davis, Nimmo, Conforto, and Ramos and then you get eggroll. I like eggrolls. A lot. And I put JD on third from day one ST and McNeil on second in a platoon with Robbie Cano there. Then use Jeff to sub-in for each of the three outfield positions one game for player rest. This McNeil has got to play!

    Plus, Marte has been banged up as well of recent. Not even Pensacola's Doc Andrews could fix this guy. Word is he ain't got no legs left, I tell ya'!

    Banged up so much, that his Pirates team would not even divulge most recent his injuries. Why mi amigo, por que, por que I tell ya'?

    So, for these reasons, I pass on on Marte and stick with Big Yo'.

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  10. I like where the Mets are right now still. They are not overdoing things like usual, going around and collecting old parts so to speak. They are committing themselves to their young core, the one that after the first half of landing their walking legs, had a very impressive second half, indeed.

    The Mets offensive core is sound and young.

    They have six professional starters.

    And to my eyes, I like the two units of relievers maybe this way:

    Unit 1

    Wilson, Lugo, Diaz

    Unit 2

    Brach, Peterson/K. Smith pick one lefty, and Betances

    With fan favorite Jeurys Familia becoming the seventh and all-purpose reliever who integrates into both of the two three-man units when and where needed to.

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