John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 11/22/2020

 

Good Morning.  Happy Birthday Sandy Alderson, Rich Chiles, Gene Walter, and Jay Payton.  Madden recalls Seaver’s 300^th and Robel Garcia homers in the Dominican.

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Winter Baseball, Asian Baseball, and This Day in Mets History.

Mets Links:

Tim Healey Newsday: J.T. Realmuto is the free agent the Mets should sign. “His hip is back to normal, a source said. The strain that limited him for much of September no longer is an issue, and he has been doing his regular offseason workouts. J.T. Realmuto will turn 30 in March, but his uncommon degree of athleticism offers reason to believe that his 30s will treat him more kindly than they do his peers… In two seasons with the Phillies, he hit .273 with a .333 OBP and .492 slugging percentage — tops among catchers… Career stats (7 years): Batting average:278 HRs 95 RBIs 358 Slugging average: .455”

Dalton Allison Mets360 looks at how each of the 3 big free agents, George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer, would do at Citi Field.  About J.T. Realmuto he says: “All of the home runs Realmuto hit last season would have been home runs at Citi Field, which should alleviate concerns that his numbers were inflated because he played at Citizens Bank Park”.

MLB.com: How Realmuto might perform as he ages. “They look at how quite a number of catchers performed late in their careers including these deals: 2011: Victor Martinez gets 4/$50M from Tigers; 2014: Brian McCann gets 5/$85M from Yankees; 2015: Russell Martin gets 5/$82M from Blue Jays… How did those work out? Mostly well.”

MLB Trade Rumors: Mets’ Amed Rosario “Likely” To Play Multiple Positions In 2021. “His agent Ulises Cabrera…’as far as we are concerned, Amed Rosario is the starting shortstop of the New York Mets, and he’s working out and preparing as such.’  As such, Rosario isn’t planning to start working out at other positions either in his personal offseason work or in a more organized environment like winter ball.”

Joel Sherman NY Post: Mets’ roster conundrums will provide early test for Steve Cohen. Joel looks at “one heading into 2021 (who is playing shortstop), one heading into the 2021-22 offseason (Michael Conforto’s free agency) and one heading into the 2022-23 offseason (Jacob deGrom’s opt out).”

Bill Madden NY Daily News: An inside account of the day Tom Seaver returns to New York with the White Sox and wins No. 300. “Seaver threw his 142nd and final pitch of the game: a fastball close in on [Don] Baylor’s hands. Baylor swung and lofted a high fly to medium left field. White Sox left fielder Reid Nichols moved in a couple of steps, then drifted back the same distance to camp under the ball and make the catch. It was over. Tom Seaver had just become the seventeenth pitcher in baseball history to win three hundred games.”

RisingApple: New York Mets top 10 prospects heading into 2021. 10. Thomas Szapucki, LHP; 9. Isaiah Greene, OF; 8. Josh Wolf, RHP; 7. Mark Vientos, 3B; 6. J.T. Ginn, RHP; 5. Pete Crow Armstrong, OF; 4. Brett Baty, 3B; 3. Matthew Allan, RHP; 2. Ronny Mauricio, SS; 1. Francisco Alvarez, C.  

Mike’s Mets talks about the slow off season so far in “The Waiting Game”.

Tim Ryder Metsmerized Online: Hunter Renfroe Would Make a Solid Depth Addition for Mets. “Renfroe’s habit of absolutely crushing left-handed pitching (.258/.339/.573, 36 HR in 495 career PA vs. LHP) and penchant for pinch-hitting (.293/.383/.707. 5 HR, 47 career PA) makes him a strong candidate to settle into a bench role.”

Thomas Hall Metsmerized Online: Jeff McNeil Should Return To Second Base Next Season. Among other things Tom notes – “Considering Jeff McNeil isn’t afraid to surrender his body to make a highlight-reel catch in the outfield, which didn’t work out for him in 2020 as it caused him to battle through a knee injury, returning to the infield should help him stay on the field and in the lineup moving forward.”

George Thomas Seaver. #LGM #MetsRewind pic.twitter.com/uodiFDp5f6

— Mets Rewind (@metsrewind) November 22, 2020

Ron Swoboda on Nolan Ryan #MetsRewind #LGM #Mets pic.twitter.com/xBDn4WTHPU

— Mets Rewind (@metsrewind) November 22, 2020

ICYMI Yesterday At Mack’s Mets:

Reese Kaplan -- What Will History Say About Brodie?

John from Albany - Mets Add Players to AAA Roster not 40 Man MLB.

METS SIGN RHP SAM McWILLIAMS.

Mack – Scouting Report - RHP - Eric Hammond.

Mack - Scouting Report - RHP - Gavin Williams.

MLB Links:

MLB.com: Ace switching places? A big trade is possible. Rangers righty Lynn entering final season of three-year deal. “In two years for the Rangers, Lynn is: First in the Majors in innings (292 1/3); Fifth in Wins Above Replacement (8.3, FanGraphs version); 16th in strikeout rate (27.5%); Fifth in fastball swing-and-miss (30.3%).”

MLB.com: Is this former lights-out reliever worth a shot? Lefty Brad Hand was elite in 2020, but are there warning signs moving forward? “Hand’s fastball used to sit comfortably in the 93-94 mph range, but that velocity dipped down to 91.4 mph in 2020… Hand has thrown more innings since ‘16 than any other closer (320).”

And it's not that hard to see signs of concern with Hand. Look at that velo drop both on fastball and slider, and look at how he's stopped getting grounders. I'm not all that bullish on his future. But ... pic.twitter.com/DDRnbaImwf

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) November 16, 2020

MLB Trade Rumors: Cubs Sign Five Players To Minor-League Deals.

USA Today: Pete Rose: Betting on baseball was 'the only mistake I've ever made in my life'.

Yahoo Sports: You're the GM: Should Dodgers pursue Trevor Bauer to solidify dominance after winning World Series?

Winter Baseball:

Only one game in the Dominican as two were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Recently acquired Met Robel Garcia with a 2 run home run as the Aguilas Cibaenas  beat the Leones del Escogido 2-0 (Box Score). Robel is now hitting .188 this Wnter.

Robel García la puso amarilliiiita 🦅@aguilascibaenas ganan ahora 2-0.

Gracias a @AFPSiembra #CopaBHDLeon pic.twitter.com/wfODqcX0KD

— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) November 21, 2020

Here is yesterday’s full Dominican Scoreboard.

Venados de Mazatlan 6 Los Caneros de los Mochis 5 (Box Score).  Juan Uriarte 0 for 4 Juan is now hitting .246 this Winter.

Here is the full Mexican Pacific League Scoreboard from yesterday.

Asian Baseball:

The Best of 7 Korean Baseball Series is tied 2-2.  Series will pick up again Monday Morning at 4:30 AM Eastern. 

Here is KBO’s Scoreboard.   

In the Japan Series: SoftBank Hawks 5 Yomiuri Giants 1 (Box Score).  SoftBank leads the series 1-0.

Game two is being played this morning (Box Score).

Here is the NPB Scoreboard.            

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

• Sandy Alderson (1947)
• Rich Chiles (1949)
• Lee Guetterman (1958)
• Gene Walter (1960)
• Jay Payton (1972)
• Ricky Ledee (1973)

Transactions:
Baltimore Orioles signed Sid Fernandez of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 22, 1993.

New York Mets signed free agent Mike Remlinger on November 22, 1993.

San Diego Padres claimed Jason Middlebrook of the New York Mets on waivers on November 22, 2000.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed Jason Roach of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 22, 2004.

Colorado Rockies signed LaTroy Hawkins of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 22, 2013.

Centerfield Maz: Steve Henderson: Late Seventies Mets Outfielder & Key Player In the Tom Seaver Trade (1977-1980).

Centerfield Maz: Cal Koonce: 1969 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1967-1970).

Centerfield Maz: Jay Hook: The Pitcher Who Won the First Game In Mets History (1962-1964).

National Pastime.com:

1968	Johnny Bench, who kept his freshman status by missing the final three games of the 1967 season due to a hand injury, is named the National League's Rookie of the Year by the narrowest of margins. The 20 year-old Reds' catcher edges Mets' southpaw Jerry Koosman for the award when Chicago American veteran scribe Jim Enright splits his choice because he "couldn't vote for one and ignore the other."
1977	Expo outfielder Andre Dawson (.282, 19, 65) wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award by a single vote over the Mets' Steve Henderson (.297, 12, 65). New York obtained Henderson in the Seaver trade with the Reds.

 

Baseball Reference:

2010: The New York Mets announce the hiring of Terry Collins as their new manager, replacing Jerry Manuel. Collins last managed in the major leagues with the Anaheim Angels from 1997 to 1999. He has since spent time in Japan and China and last season was the Mets' minor league field coordinator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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