1/7/20

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/7/2020


Winter ball updates below and the Mets announced the hiring of two new minor league managers.

From SNY.TV: Mets hire St. John's head coach Ed Blankmeyer to manage Brooklyn Cyclones. “The 65-year-old Blankmeyer had been the head coach of St. John's for the last 24 seasons, and had an all-time record of 829-500-4, leading St. John's to 23 winning seasons in the 24 years he spent at the helm. Ninety-one of the players who have been coached by Blankmeyer with the Red Storm have gone on to get drafted or be signed to professional contracts.”

Mack’s Mets will have more on this later today.  First, some more links on the move:


Per Amazing Avenue: Blankmeyer has some rather big shoes to fill, as he will be replacing Mets legend Edgardo Alfonzo, who served as the Brooklyn manager from 2017-2019. Alfonzo led the club to a New York-Penn League championship in 2019, but Brodie Van Wagenen and company surprisingly did not renew his contract in the aftermath, as they preferred to bring in their own person for the role. Blankmeyer is evidently the person they have settled upon.


As Mack’s Mets had yesterday, The Binghamton Rumble Ponies named Lorenzo Bundy as their new manager.  Lorenzo Bundy will be joined by pitching coach Jonathan Hurst, hitting coach Tony Jaramillo, bench coach Luis Rivera, athletic trainer Kiyoshi Tada, and performance coach Tanner Miracle.


SNY.TV had three moves that should be on Brodie Van Wagenen’s agenda: Trade for Starling Marte; Trade Jed Lowrie; Find a catcher to pair with Wilson Ramos.

John Harper of SNY.TV said that “Where the Mets rank among NL East contenders depends on where Josh Donaldson signs. “As such speculation is growing, at least among baseball people I (John Harper) spoke to on Monday, that Donaldson is mostly likely to return to the Braves, the team he helped win 97 games last season. ‘I think what they're probably weighing is the cost of signing Donaldson vs. the cost of trading for (Kris) Bryant," an exec from a National League team said. ‘Donaldson will cost them more than they want to pay for a guy who's 34, but he won't cost them prospects.’”

Speaking of Kris Bryant, Clutch Points.com says that “Cubs’ asking price for Kris Bryant is a ‘joke’”. “The Cubs’ asking price for Bryant is a joke,” a former GM said. “They want nearly ready major league talent at the level of a Gleyber Torres type or close and there is no chance a team is going to give them a package of those caliber of players. “I like Bryant but he is not a Top 30 player in baseball in my opinion. He is mediocre at best as a defender at third base. His swing has changed dramatically since 2016 and I question if he is truly 100% healthy.”

More about where the Mets rank, MLB.com had early 2020 Power Rankings: 1. Yankees, 2. Dodgers, 3. Astros…The Mets?  #18 behind the White Sox (17), Red Sox (16), Reds (13), D-Backs (11), Phillies (10), Nationals (7) and Braves (6).  Thanks to Tom for the Link.  I told Tom at least the Mets were not #21 in a group text.  Reese chimed in, at least they were not #31!



Mets.com looked at how the Mets’ Opening Day Roster is shaping up.

Reflections On Baseball noted that maybe Jeff McNeil is not so untouchable.  He says he does not make productive outs and “JeffMcNeil hits only .254 with two outs and runners in scoring position. When the Mets are ahead, he hits eleven home runs driving in 36. But with the Mets behind, McNeil registers only five home runs and 23 RBI.”  Sorry, I disagree on this – he is untouchable.




Rising Apple said the Mets should sign Cuban star Oscar Colas. The two way star throws 95 MPH as a lefty pitcher and “He looks to be a solid hitter based on his 2019 slash line of .300/.353/.511/.864 with 12 home runs and 48 runs batted in over 295 plate appearances. Colas has been honing his skills in Japanese minor leagues since 2017, playing for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the Japanese Western League and also had a cup of coffee in the Japanese Pacific League.”


Cooperstown Cred says the Hall of Fame doors are closed to Billy Wagner.  “By basic run prevention, base-runner prevention, or strikeout metrics, Wagner was one of the most effective pitchers in the history of baseball. However, his accomplishments span only 903 career MLB innings pitched, which would make him the first pitcher ever inducted into the Hall having pitched less than 1,000.”





The NY Post looked at where the Mets off season could go from here.  Kevin Davidoff looked at the “Reasons for Hope”: the Dellin Betances signing, the “Reasons for Concern”: Losing Zack Wheeler and Possible remaining moves: Starling Marte, Jed Lowrie, and Dom Smith.


No games last night in the Puerto Rican Winter League.  In the Dominican League, here are some notable ex-Mets that saw action:


Carlos Gomez played center field and went 0 for 4, with a strikeout.

Matt Pobereyko pitched 2.1 scoreless innings with 2 hits and 2 strikeouts. 

Dario Alvarez went two thirds of an inning giving up one hit and striking out one. 

2019 Syracuse Mets Pitcher Arquimedes Caminero went 1.1 scoreless innings giving up one hit and recorded one strikeout.

In the other game, the Toros Del Este beat the Tigres del Licey 6-0 (box).

Jordany Valdespin played went 0-4 with a run scored.


UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:

Born on this date:
Transactions:
Houston Astros signed Kevin Bass of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 7, 1993.

New York Mets signed free agent Marlon Anderson on January 7, 2005.

Los Angeles Dodgers signed Val Pascucci of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 7, 2009.

Tampa Bay Rays signed Chris Carter of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 7, 2011.

Atlanta Braves signed Alex Torres of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 7, 2016.

New York Mets released David Wright on January 7, 2019.


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

8 comments:

bill metsiac said...

It seems that current Mets haven't played in a while in any of the Winter Leagues.

Are there any still on any rosters there?

John From Albany said...

Bill, I have not seen any on the active Rosters. They are still listed on the overall team rosters though. I look every day. When they start popping up I will let everyone know.

Ernest Dove said...

Tomas Nido is officially done in winter ball. Hes super excited about 2020 and expects to surprise people offensively

John From Albany said...

Thanks Ernest. I was happy Tomas got some at bats this winter. I am on team Nido. I think he will do well next year. Hopefully it will be on the Mets.

Tom Brennan said...

Billy Wagner belongs in the Hall of Fame. C'mon, man.

Tomas Nido will have to show me in 2020 that his bat can play as a # 2 catcher, which is a long way from where his bat was in 2019. Catchers get hurt - if he has to step in, he better be able to hit .230. I doubt that he can.

Pobereyko seems to be having a good off season, good for him.

Blankmeyer - don't know him, but we'll see - his credentials seem good.

How can anyone not flat-out love the Squirrel? The Squirrel is GREAT!

I wonder who in MLB is most comparable to Oscar Colas?

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Tom. There, it is unanimous.

Who am I talking about?

Brandon Nimmo and Matt Blackham. I respect their talent and wonder why so many doubt them.

Some fans would rather see brittle older players brought in for center field. I won't name who I mean, but everyone already knows who. The last thing the NYM need (right now) is another older brittle guy like Jay Bruce was in the Mets outfield, kind of slugging around the base paths riding on a bum tire. I'd like to think that somehow we are by all that now. GM Brodie is really doing things right.

Brandon Nimmo is the best leadoff man that this team has had in awhile, that I can remember. And he is young enough and new enough to MLB for me to think that he has not even peaked yet skill wise. Plus, he hustles all the time and has solid skills (speed and plate eye) already. I'd bet both ends of his game will probably uptick in 2020, by looks of things. I will not be at all surprised really to see this come to fruition.

Whereas Matt Blackham probably has the best stat sheet of all the MiLB relievers, bar none. I don't understand why he has not been up yet, to be honest here. This could be his year! LGM!!



Anonymous said...

On the Squirrel

Jeff McNeil was nothing short of sensational first half. Then he got injured in the field and it slowed him down a bit. Plus, the other MLB teams had a first half to try and get a handle on how to pitch him. With the injury thing, I think it was harder to make his adjustment to this fact as he would have without that injury.

But the Squirrel first half was amazing beyond words. He literally could hit the ball anywhere that he wanted to. I have not seen that before, to his level of doing so. Rod Carew maybe comes to mind, but who else really was that amazingly effective?

The Mets were so exceedingly wise to hang onto these younger players (McNeil, Alonso, Nimmo, JD Davis, Michael Conforto, and Dominic Smith) all of which showed so much promise.

Call me whatever, but I cannot recall (ever) a better core nucleus of players on the NYM that were so young and exciting to watch play. As one, these players cover all the bases with their individual talent, and amazingly somehow (in this day and age especially) they get along with one another without a single drop of jealousy or antagonism. Their NYM team chemistry propels them (each one) to not only be the very best that they can be, but also bind as winners.

I for one am so very proud of them all. These guys get it!


Anonymous said...

Sneak In (Shhh!)

Jonas Valanciunas, the center from Memphis.

This is precisely the type of guy the NYK need.

Karl-Anthony Towns has had two leg injuries of recent and may be the same going forward.

Get Jonas, and start the drive for a Playoff spot now, may be wise a suggestion.