9/15/20

John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 9/15/2020


Good Morning. Happy Birthday to John Pacella. Steve Cohen reaches agreement to buy the Mets and the Mets have 13 games to try to make the expanded playoffs.


Mets Links:

NY Post: Steve Cohen finalizes record deal to purchase Mets. “Now it is up to the 29 other major league owners to decide whether Steve Cohen will be the next owner of the Mets… Multiple sources say the deal does not include the Mets television network, SNY.  There was speculation that Cohen might try to include the network in late negotiations, but that appears to not have occurred.”


NY Post: Rob Manfred sees great potential in Mets sale to Steve Cohen. “’I think that a change in ownership at the Mets is an opportunity to make that franchise as strong as it can possibly be, and I think over the long haul it’ll be something that will be good for the game,’ commissioner Rob Manfred said during an online event hosted by the Hofstra University’s business school.”

Mike Vaccaro NY Post: Mets fans’ love affair with Steve Cohen goes beyond his $14 billion. “Nobody likes being a kid brother in sports. The Mets have been the kid brother for more than a generation, and acted the part. Not anymore. Not with Cohen. And that is what enlivens Mets fans’ spirit now.”

Newsday: Mercifully for Mets fans, the Wilpon Era is ending as Steve Cohen agrees to buy club. “But there is no excuse for three postseason appearances in 17 years, especially for a franchise that has access to the revenue streams that are available in New York, that has as dementedly loyal a fan base as you will find in any sport, and that during its run added a money-printing TV network in SNY and a brand-new ballpark in Citi Field.”

Greg Prince Faith and Fear in Flushing: New Year’s Steve.  “Cohen is a lifelong Mets fan who has resources like your or I have pocket lint. He saw the Mets at the Polo Grounds. He grew up down the LIRR tracks from Shea Stadium. He’s maintained a piece of the Mets at Citi Field. He’s not known to have fetishized Ebbets Field.”

Bradford William Davis NY Daily News: Steve Cohen barely needs to do anything at all to be a massive upgrade over the Wilpons. “But the case for Cohen, and for hope, is almost perfectly analogous to the actual roster languishing in fourth place not from a lack of overall talent, but a few singularly glaring, easily patched holes.”

Mets Daddy: Bye Jeff Wilpon. “Back when Nelson Doubleday was on his way out, he had said of Jeff Wilpon, ‘Jeff Wilpon said he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year. Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail.’”

North Jersey.com: Who is Steve Cohen? 3 things to know about the NY Mets new majority owner. “1 - Cohen actually almost purchased the Mets sooner in 2020. However, the deal fell through in the late stages. 2 - Insider trading. Cohen ran SAC Capital…he was forced to shut that down after the firm pleaded guilty to insider trading charges that cost Cohen $1.8 billion in penalties. 3 - A class of his own. Cohen's net worth is an estimated $14.6 billion, per Forbes. Cohen would become the richest MLB owner, by far.”

Forbes.com: As Steve Cohen Reaches Deal To Purchase The Mets, Will He Be A Savior Or A Curse? “The big question is whether Cohen will be approved by the league’s owners. On the plus side, Cohen provides deep pockets and would ensure that a cornerstone club in the country’s largest market doesn’t fall into the same mess that caused the Dodgers (under Frank McCourt) and the Texas Rangers (Tom Hicks) to file for bankruptcy protection. The fear, of course, stems from Cohen’s old run-in with the SEC.”

Newsday: Timeline of Wilpon family's ownership of Mets. It all started - Jan. 24, 1980: Doubleday & Co. purchases controlling interest in the Mets from the Charles Payson family for $21.1 million. Minority partner Fred Wilpon’s share is a reported to be 5 percent.


SNY.tv: Mets' Andres Gimenez excelling, Brandon Nimmo struggling badly in fresh 2020 defensive metrics. Andres Gimenez has been a revelation at shortstop, second base, and third base, where he has flashed a combination of plus range, a strong arm, soft hands, and great instincts…Brandon Nimmo has always been miscast as a center fielder…This season has been a different story, with Nimmo ranking dead-last in qualified center fielders -- with an OAA of -3.  Part of Nimmo's issue this season has been taking bad routes, especially when going back on fly balls, and the Mets are going to need to seriously consider not having him in center much in 2021.

NY Post: 5 pressing Mets questions amid grim playoff hopes. Injuries, Starting Pitching, Bullpen were some of the questions raised.  “Fangraphs gave the Mets a 26.9 percent chance as of Monday afternoon, a number that seemed somewhat high given the upcoming schedule….Phillies, Braves, Rays [final 4 against the Nationals].”




Mike Phillips The Sports Daily: The New York Mets' path to the playoffs. “The Mets have to 10-3”; “Take advantage of a tired Phillies Team”; Play the best players”; Luis Rojas needs to Manage with a greater sense of urgency.”

MLB Links:

MLB.com: Marlins ride momentum, chemistry to victory. Pablo Lopez López hurled seven sharp innings, allowing one run with six strikeouts. Marlins 6 Phillies 2 (Box Score).  


MLB.com: O's pound Braves with season-high 14 runs.  “In fact, according to Stats by STATS, the Orioles are the first team in AL history to score one run or fewer in four straight games, then score 14-plus in their next game”. Orioles 14 Braves 1 (Box Score).

Game 1 Mariners 6 A’s 5 (Box Score). Game 2 A’s 9 Mariners 0 (Box Score).

MLB.com: Padres on Dodgers' heels with 8th straight W. “San Diego opened its biggest series in a decade with an emphatic over Dodgers 7-2 victory, its eighth straight, trimming L.A.'s division lead to 1 1/2 games.” (Box Score).






Born on this date:
Transactions:
New York Mets traded Shane Young and Jeff Richardson to the California Angels for 
John Candelaria on September 15, 1987.



1963
Inspired by their fans, the Mets hold the first of many Banner Days. The Polo Grounds event allows the 'New Breed' to display their creative ideas with signs, including some with a negative tone, with a parade on the field between games of a doubleheader against the Colt .45s.
1969
Cardinal hurler Steve Carlton fans nineteen batters, including three in the final frame, to establish a new major league mark for strikeouts for a nine-inning game. Lefty's performance is spoiled when Ron Swoboda's pair of two-run homers proves to be the difference in the Redbirds' 4-3 loss to the Mets at Busch Stadium.

1975
Mike Vail ties the National League rookie record as the outfielder hits in his twenty-third consecutive game. The Mets' late-season call up's streak matches the 1948 freshman performances of Richie Ashburn (1948, Phillies) and Alvin Dark (1948, Braves).


1987 - Mets 1B Keith Hernandez collects his 2,000th ML hit as New York pounds Chicago 12 - 4. Earlier in the day the 2nd-place Mets obtained pitcher John Candelaria from the Angels for a pair of minor leaguers.

1994 - The Mets are informed that P Dwight Gooden is in violation of his aftercare program for substance abuse.

1997: The Mets, 1 - 0 winners yesterday on a home run by diminutive Luis Lopez, use the long ball today to tie the Phils. New York collects four home runs in the 7th and 8th to tie at 6 apiece, then stitch six straight singles in the 10th to score 5 and win, 10 - 5. In the nitecap, the Mets lose, 2 - 1 to Darrin Winston, a 31-year-old rookie released by the Mets in the spring.

2014: The Mets' Jacob deGrom ties a major league record when he strikes out the first eight batters he faces before his opponent on the mound for the MarlinsJarred Cosart, singles to right. DeGrom ties the record set by Jim Deshaies in 1986. He strikes out 13 in 7 innings but ends up with a no-decision as the Marlins win, 6 - 5.





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

7 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Lots of 14-1 games these days. Funny how a team can score 0 one day, 29 the next, and lose 14-1 a week later.

John Pacella - another guy I don't remember. LOL. He pitched in the days when the Mets were drawing 2000 to games, they could have used cardboard cutouts then. Happy birthday.

Cohen brings a fresh face and a fresh wallet.

Still in the race? SMH

Unknown said...

John Pacella. Remember the cap count. How many times during a game his cap came flying off as he delivered a pitch.

Ah yes. Those days of high school and general admission seats.

Bob W

John From Albany said...

Back in those days you could sit behind the Mets dugout for just $1.50 - as long as the ushers didn't catch you.

Anonymous said...

What the Terminator (Arnold) might say here now to all of us...

"You fags keep whining like little babies with a two-day old wet diaper between your legs. Your NY Mets team is way better than what they are showing now because the starter replacement arms, following all four starter injuries, have not yet performed up to their own capabilities. It's nothing really more than that. Now go whine yourselves to sleep and wait for the 2021 Mets season to begin like good little boys."

Anonymous said...

I agree with the "Terminator" actually.

Steve Cohen is a career NY Mets fan. He obviously knows business, what it takes to hit on all cylinders. Give the man his space.

You don't trash an entire company to save that company's cafeteria. Mr. Cohen will not only want a smooth transition here, but a very successful transition. He will. In other words, you don't step backwards four steps to move ahead two.

There is ample positional defense and hitting players here now. Between Ramos and Chirinos, someone can limp out there to play catcher until Tomas Nido gets whole again. In the Mets 58 year history, what maybe they had three really good hitting catchers? Maybe just the two actually, Carter and Piazza, now that I think about it some more. Defensive catcher ability here being much better than the hitting aspect normally.

It's really just that one more perfect starter added into this mix already here, then this should all click like a Swiss Watch. You get this one starter off season, and have maybe one more kid starter (like say a Tom Szapucki) ready for 2021 ST. Kismets.

"So do not throw away the baby with the bath water" may be very sound advice here now. This team has everything else but that one more stud starter it needs for 2021. Make it so.

Anonymous said...

The one starter down for this 2020 season, was actually Zach. But I do think too that bringing in Porcello and Wacha should have been enough, even with Noah and Marcus out injured.

But it was not obviously.



Anonymous said...

You have to understand that Zach Wheeler is simply the better pitcher of these three others brought in. Marcus Stroman was not ever really a NYM's type 1-3 starter, his whole image was not that. He simply does not have that kind of strikeout ability to be a 1-3 here.