11/23/20

John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 11/23/2020

 



Good Morning.  Happy Birthday Tom Hall, and Justin Turner. Steve Cohen continues to rule Twitter and Chris Flexen is back on the mound this AM In Korea.


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


Mets Links:


Steve Cohen announces on Twitter that he will be interviewed on SNY.TV Wednesday night at 7PM. 




Reflections On Baseball: Steve Cohen Has A Sense Of Humor That’ll Make The Mets Fun Again.


Jim Callis MLB.com: Here are 10 intriguing 40-man roster adds. While no Minor League Mets were included on the 40 Man Mets MLB roster this past Friday, Jim notes the Mets acquisition of Sam McWilliams who he notes - McWilliams was one of the hottest Minor League free agents this offseason and signed a $750,000 big league contract with the Mets despite logging an 8.18 ERA in Triple-A a year ago. He can reach the upper 90s with his fastball and generates high spin rates on his slider, but he also has averaged just 7.0 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter in the Minors.


NY Post: Mets could use Robinson Cano savings on Michael Conforto. “Conforto finished seventh among NL hitters with a .322 average and sixth with a .412 on-base percentage in 2020, when he earned $8 million and played in 54 games.”


Bob Klapisch NJ.com: Bring back the Yankees-Mets rivalry! Donnie Baseball vs Keith, ’98 vs ’86, YES vs SNY, Cole vs.deGrom. He looks back at those debates over the years and includes the quote from Darryl Strawberry that he thinks the ’86 Mets’ Pitching would have carried them over the ’98 Yankees in a 7 game series.


Brian Joura Mets360: Justin Wilson, Chasen Shreve and Mets’ lefty relievers with and without the 3-batter rule. As always, Brian does a great job comparing the Mets Lefty Bullpen over the last two years including this: “..in 2019 the Mets used seven lefty relievers and they combined to allow 38 ER in 84 IP for a 4.07 ERA. In 2020, the Mets used four lefty relievers and they combined to allow 23 ER in 53.2 IP for a 3.86 ERA.”


Empire Sports Media: New York Mets Player Evaluations: Pitcher Justin Wilson. “Wilson’s cutter was a major weapon in 2019 (.197 AVG., .246 SLG.), but it was hit for a .364 average in 2020. The difference was a small, but key, one where Wilson was throwing them low but more were in the middle of the plate.”


Metsmerized Online: 2020 Mets Report Card: Andrés Giménez. Primary Stats: .263/.333/.398, 49 G, 132 PA, 3 HR, 12 RBIs, 8 SB, 22 R, 28 K, 8 BB.


Call to the Pen: Another extension for Jacob deGrom does not make sense yet. “…he is under team control through 2022 at minimum, when he could trigger an opt-out clause…Jacob deGrom would be 35 years old once his opt-out would trigger…it may be unlikely that he would receive more than his $32.5 million salary for 2023, or the team option for the same amount in 2024.”


Bill James Online: Who Is The World's No. 1 Starting Pitcher? The top 4 are ranked like this: 1. Gerrit Cole; 2. Jacob deGrom; 3. Shane Bieber; 4. Trevor Bauer.


Talkin Mets with Mike Silva; Robbie Cano, Don't Ya Know? Mike Silva discusses the impact of Robinson Cano’s suspension for PED’s and his Hall-of-Fame legacy.


Rising Apple: Mets have no need to take chances on rebound candidates next year.


Rising Apple: Best reason to sign DJ LeMahieu is to steal him from the Yankees.


Mets You Tube Channel: Catching Up with Mike Baxter.




ICYMI Yesterday At Mack’s Mets:


Mack – Weekly Draft Notes.


Mack - 2021 Top Draft Targets - Josh Hartle, Robby Martin, Gage Jump, Clayton Beeter, Max Marusak.


Mack - Scouting Report - 1B - Josh Heath.


Mack – Scouting Report - 1B - Daylan Pena.


MLB Links:


MLB.com: A perfect offseason move for every team. For the Mets - Mets: Sign Trevor Bauer: This is probably the most obvious fit on the board, particularly now that Bauer has shown he enjoys messing with the Yankees. The Mets look like they’re going big this offseason. You can’t go much bigger than this.


MLB.com: These are the Top 100 Plays of 2020. In the 21-30 category was the play I picked as the #1 Mets Defensive Play of the year – Michael Conforto’s incredible catch in the 6th inning, two outs, bases loaded, saving 3 runs and the game on September 9, 2020.



MLB.com: Pros and cons for the big 3 FA shortstops. What teams are evaluating with Didi, Semien, Simmons.


MLB.com: Do Phils need this reliever more than J.T.? Liam Hendriks has transformed himself into one of the very best relievers in baseball the past two years, featuring a 1.79 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, a 13.1 K/9 rate and 39 saves in 99 appearances across 2019-20.


Winter Baseball:


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


Leones del Escogido 4 Aguilas Cibaenas 3.  Robel Garcia was once again at 2B for Aquilas. He did not drive in any of the runs.


In the Mexican Pacific League:


Venados de Mazatlan 5 Los Caneros de los Mochis 1 (Box Score).  Juan Uriarte 0 for 3 Juan is now hitting .233 this Winter. Great to see him getting regular playing time after battling injuries in 2019.


Here is the full Mexican Pacific League Scoreboard from yesterday.


Asian Baseball:


Chris Flexen is on the mound for the Doosan Bears in Game 5 of the best of 7 KBO Championship Series (Box Score). Aaron Altherr, is playing for the NC Dinos.  Series is tied 2 games each.  



Here is KBO’s Scoreboard.   


In the Japan Series: SoftBank Hawks 13 Yomiuri Giants 2 (Box Score).  SoftBank leads the series 2-0.


Game 3 is tomorrow.


Here is the NPB Scoreboard.            


Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:


Born on this date:



Transactions:


New York Mets purchased Warren Spahn from the Milwaukee Braves on November 23, 1964.

Baltimore Orioles signed Frank Seminara of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 23, 1994.

Oakland Athletics signed Jeff Tam of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 23, 1999.

St. Louis Cardinals signed Raul Valdes of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 23, 2010.


Centerfield Maz: Don Hahn: 1973 N.L. Champion Mets Centerfielder (1971-1974).


Centerfield Maz: Late Seventies Mets Pitcher: Jackson Todd (1977).


Centerfield Maz: Randy Niemann: The Forgotten 1986 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1985-1986) & Coach (2009 -2010).


National Pastime.com:


1964

The Mets purchase Future Hall of Fame southpaw Warren Spahn from the Braves. In addition to serving on the club's coaching staff, the crafty southpaw will post a 4-12 record in twenty appearances.

 


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4 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

I was born in November, so I don't know if that proves or disproves the theory.

Flexen has allowed one run in the first 6 innings on an Altherr RBI.

If Bauer is trully the 4th best starter in baseball, the Mets need Trevor Bauer.

November 23, 2020 at 6:28 AM
John From Albany said...

Tom - I like Taijaun Walker as well. He pitched great for Toronto last year, 2-1, 1.37 ERA after going 2-2 with 4.00 ERA in Seattle.

November 23, 2020 at 6:40 AM
John From Albany said...

Flexen's final line today 6 innings 5 hits 3 runs 5 Ks. Looks like NC is going to take this game as tgey lead 5-0

November 23, 2020 at 7:20 AM
Tom Brennan said...

Taijuan could be another pitcher to consider, for sure.

Is this Flexen's last outing, or might he get to pitch in a final game too? He has performed very well.

This article says Korean ball is between AA and AAA level https://www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/news/the-a-b-cs-of-the-kbo-a-primer-on-baseball-in-south-korea. I would think that Flexen might be good for 4.00 - 4.50 in the majors, based on his last 3 months' performance. Teams need pitchers - maybe he could get a good deal.

Just listened to AstraZenica CEO - he was asked when based on vaccines, the US might have herd immunity - he said May to July. That means it is likely to impact the 2021 season as well. The solution would seem to be to have players in a bubble from Feb-Jun. If the rate pf spread is as high, or higher, than it is now, they ought to delay spring training to April.

November 23, 2020 at 7:46 AM

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