John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 3/24/2020

Good morning.  Lots to get to...Let’s hit the Links.

Leen Amin Elite Sports NY: Citi Field may be used as COVID-19 testing site. “The Mets have given New York City’s Office of Emergency Management permission to use Citi Field’s parking lots as a COVID-19 testing site. However, it’s still unknown if or when this will happen.”

SNY.TV: Mets pitcher and native New Yorker Marcus Stroman helping with coronavirus response. Native New Yorker and Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman is utilizing his HDMH (Height Doesn't Measure Heart) Foundation to help with the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic. “Millions of New Yorkers rely on food banks each year. As the COVID-19 health crisis continues to unfold, that number will grow, especially as millions of at risk children across the nation lose the healthy meals they depend on due to schools closing nationwide, reads the call-to-action on the HDMH website.”

Elite Sports NY had this quote from Marcus: “Obviously, this opportunity is something that arose from a pandemic that nobody expected. So any way that I can help and give back, especially at a time like this, is always something that I’m looking to do,” Stroman said.

Justin Toscano at LOHUD.com: 'It's a pandemic, man': How three NY Mets minor leaguers are handling baseball's delay.  Justin talked to Jake Mangum, Antoine Duplantis, and Luke Ritter.

Mets.com: Mets Top prospect Ronny Mauricio earns high school diploma.

CBS Sports: Computer says the Mets are dramatically overvalued in the latest NL championship odds.   “New York has one of the best pitchers in baseball in Jacob deGrom, who has won the NL Cy Young Award the last two seasons, and a budding star in first baseman Pete Alonso…But the team also has a plethora of question marks, beginning with a manager (Luis Rojas) who has no major-league experience in the role...Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is 34 years old and has appeared in only 38 games over the last two years due to injuries…37-year-old second baseman Robinson Cano is coming off a year in which he recorded only 39 RBIs in 107 games…Closer Edwin Diaz notched just 26 saves while blowing seven opportunities…Dellin Betances joins the bullpen following a season in which he made one appearance for the New York Yankees thanks to shoulder and Achilles injuries.”

Deesha Thosar NY Daily News: The 5 most rewatchable Mets classics of the last 20 years. 2015 NLDS GAME 5 — Oct. 15, 2015; 2006 NLCS GAME 7 — Oct. 19, 2006; JOHAN SANTANA’S NO HITTER — June 1, 2012; PETE ALONSO HITS HOME RUN NO. 53 — Sept. 28, 2019; MIKE PIAZZA’S HOME RUN AFTER 9/11 — Sept. 21, 2001.

Elite Sports NY: The New York Mets’ greatest forgotten players: 1B John Olerud. Mack didn’t forget him.

Faith and Fear in Flushing talked about the new 2020 Mets Baseball cards in The (Very) Little Things.

Speaking of Baseball Cards, Borosny looked at the 1981 Topps Skip Lockwood and A Pack to be Named Later looked at the 2020 Donruss Baseball Hobby Packs, Noah Syndergaard included.

MLB.com: 6 pitchers who might have deserved better in '19. Mets’ Edwin Diaz and Noah Syndergaard are both included.  No defense will not help.

Chris Dial Mets 360.com: How the Mets can mitigate their defensive issues.  Some of his suggestions: “Jeff McNeil could be the everyday second baseman and add 10 runs or more to the defensive ledger and allow the Mets to shift J.D. Davis to third base, where he is “only” slightly below average, but in the average neighborhood.  Stability for both would also likely improve their performances slightly.”  Chris also suggests signing Yasiel Puig.

Speaking of Puig, Fox Sports: Yasiel Puig would make the Mets a contender — Frank Thomas explains.

Mets.com: 9 rising stars who should be household names.  #5) Jeff McNeil: He’s penciled in to be the Mets' regular third baseman after making 123 starts at five positions in his first full season. He exceeded every expectation with an All-Star season that included 38 doubles, 23 homers and a .916 OPS.

Empire Sports Media: New York Mets’ spring training standouts: Jacob deGrom.

Metsmerized Online interviewed Mets Reliever, Paul Sewald.

Tim Boyle Rising Apple: Mets lack of outfield prospects near MLB-ready is quite alarming.

Tim Boyle Rising Apple: Mets outfielder Jake Marisnick is a different kind of everyday player.  “Whether you want to refer to Jake Marisnick as a fourth or fifth outfielder is up to you. He’s no starter in Major League Baseball. However, he can be an incredibly useful piece, especially on a roster with little speed and below-average defense.”

Bob Nightengale USA TODAY: At Arizona State, a dream season shattered and uncertainty for potential No. 1 MLB pick Spencer Torkelson.  Bob talks to Arizona State Coach Tracy Smith about the lost college season and the effect of not having a baseball draft on players.

CBS Sports: Pirates players buy 400 pizzas for Pittsburgh hospital workers during coronavirus pandemic.

Yahoo Sports: Joe Girardi sends Phillies fans a message, shares how he's passing the time. "I know you're sad, I'm sad too," Girardi said in a video message tweeted by the Phillies. "I miss this great game of baseball. But this is a time that we can pull together, that we can protect our families, that we can love our families, we can do things together. One of the things we love to do is play cards. We play this game Garbage. I play against my daughter Lena, I play against my wife Kim."

Yahoo Sports: Five forgotten things about SF Giants Angel Pagan's 2013 inside-the-park walk-off homer against the Colorado Rockies.

Mike Oz Yahoo Sports: Astros lawyers fire back at fans suing team over sign-stealing scandal. The Houston legal team responded to its first lawsuit last week, according to Daniel Kaplan at The Athletic: “There is, however, no legal standing for season-ticket holders like the Plaintiff to recover damages for their disappointment over the Astros performance for any of the seasons that may have been implicated in the controversy. As many courts have held, a ticket holder has only the right to enter a venue and to have a seat for the ticketed game, and cannot complain afterwards that the game should have been played differently.”

NBC Sports: In court filings, Astros claim they sincerely apologized for cheating.

NY Post: MLB umpire Joe West says Paul Lo Duca is ignoring his defamation suit. West sued the former New York Mets catcher five months ago for allegedly falsely claiming on his podcast that West was bribed with a classic car by Lo Duca’s teammate Billy Wagner.

Medium.com: Hack Wilson: The Sudden Downfall and Death of a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Yesterday at Mack’s Mets:

Reese Kaplan -- Awaiting Baseball in Virus Lockdown.

Mack – GOAT #49: 2B Jeff Kent.

Guest Post: Hobie - Doubleheaders of the 3rd kind.

Mack’s Blast From The Past comes from 3-24-12 – The Keepers - SP - Chris Hilliard.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

• Jesus Alou (1942)
• Garry Templeton (1956)
• Jose Valverde (1978)
• Jhoander Saez (1998)

Transactions:

New York Mets traded Derrell Griffith to the Houston Astros for Sandy Alomar on March 24, 1967.

New York Mets traded Bud Harrelson to the Philadelphia Phillies for Fred Andrews on March 24, 1978.

New York Mets traded Lou Collier to the Montreal Expos for Jason Bay and Jim Serrano on March 24, 2002.

New York Mets released Chris Schwinden on March 24, 2014.

National Pastime.com:

1961	The NY State Senate approves $55 million in funding to build a new stadium in Flushing Meadows Park for the new National League's expansion team. Until the Queens' ballpark is completed, which will become known as Shea Stadium, the Mets will play in the Polo Grounds during the first two years of their existence.

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

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