2/15/21

John From Albany - Mets News and Breakfast Links 2/15/2021

 



Good Morning.  Happy Birthday today to Brooklyn Cyclones 2nd Baseman Luke Ritter.  Mets sign two minor league relief pitchers, Yankees and Mets both talking to Justin Wilson, and Brandon Nimmo helps feed the hungry.

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As we had yesterday on Mack’s Mets: The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed LHP Mike Montgomery and RHP Tommy Hunter to minor league contracts and invited both to Major League Spring Training. 

Syracuse.com: New York Mets add 2 pitchers to possible Syracuse roster mix.

Deesha Thosar NY Daily News: 5 burning questions for the Mets as spring training gets underway in Port St. Lucie: Contract extensions for Lindor and Conforto? How will all the new pitchers fare in the spotlight?  Will the Steve Cohen Effect translate to wins? How will the Mets manage without the DH? Another COVID-19 season… are the Mets better prepared?

SNY.TV: Former Mets reliever Jared Hughes announces retirement after 10 seasons in MLB.

Metsmerized Online: Five Mets Non-Roster Invitees to Keep Tabs on This Spring. Oscar De La Cruz; Ryley Gilliam, Jerad Eickhoff; Mallex Smith; and Tylor Megill of whom they state: “Standing at an imposing 6’7″…The combination of his large frame, delivery, high spin fastball and hard slider would make him an absolute threat as a reliever and if that’s the route the Mets decide to go, they could have something really fun on their hands.”









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Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com: 

Born on this date:

Died on this date:

Transactions:
San Diego Padres signed Bobby Jones of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2001.

Detroit Tigers signed Vic Darensbourg of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2005.

New York Mets signed free agent Brady Clark on February 15, 2008.

New York Mets signed free agent Jason Isringhausen on February 15, 2011.

Cleveland Indians signed Aaron Harang of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2014.

From National Pastime.com:

1961

Donald M. Grant, chairman and a minority owner of the Mets, offers Branch Rickey a contract to become the general manager of the new National League expansion team. After the former GM of the Browns, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Pirates turns down the job, George Weiss, who filled the same role with the Yankees from 1947 to 1960, accepts the position.

2001

After turning down the Mets' offer of salary arbitration that at the very least would have been worth $2 to $3 million, Bobby Jones signs a one-year free-agent deal with the Padres for only $625,000. The 31 year-old right-hander, 11-6 last year with New York, will lose 19 games for the Padres this season.

 

2016

"Baseball is known as our national pastime, but the game has deep roots and a rich history here in New York State. From the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in storied Cooperstown to the Mets and Yankees — the pinnacles of Major League Baseball, to our recently crowned Little League World Series champions from Maine-Endwell, New York State is clearly the epicenter of baseball greatness. It is time that we formally recognize baseball as our official state sport." - JAMES SEWARD, New York state senator.

New York State Sen. James Seward (R-Milford), thanks to a suggestion from a group of fourth-graders at Cooperstown Elementary School, announces he has introduced legislation (S.4288) to designate baseball as New York’s official state sport. In a press release, Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson says he "enthusiastically supports” the proposed bill, citing Cooperstown serves as the spiritual home of baseball.

Baseball Reference:

2011 - The Mets bring back a figure from the past, signing reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal coupled with an invitation to spring training. Isringhausen is attempting a comeback from Tommy John surgery at age 38. He was part of the Mets' vaunted "Big Three" in the mid-1990s along with Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson: the minor league standouts were supposed to anchor the Mets' pitching staff for the next decade, but all three fell victim to arm injuries, and none of them had much success in the Big Apple.

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14 comments:

TexasGusCC said...

I didn’t know a player can refuse arbitration. I have never heard of that happening... can you imagine if Syndergaard could have told the Mets, “no thank you” after three years?

Tom Brennan said...

.392/.426/.706 for Cortes in 56 Australian plate appearances has to cause management to sit up and take notice.

Nimmo - no surprise he'd be feeding the hungry.

Justin Wilson - I am very curious why the Mets did not sign him sooner - he was above average the past 2 seasons. Now watch the Yanks snatch him.

Tylor Megill comment - maybe he can be a power reliever this year - Jeurys Familia once made that switch very successfully. When I watched a little of him on MILB.com in 2019, I liked the heat on his FB and I liked his slider. We'll see.

I love Stroman's confidence.

Is there nothing Jeff McNeil cannot do? Maybe he could beat Tom Brady, too.

John From Albany said...

Gus,

Are you referring to the Bobby Jones story above? In the days before they had Qualifying Offers, teams would offer free agents arbitration. I think they had until January or so before the player had to accept it.

In the real early days of Free Agency, any player could play out their option without the 6 year obligation. Two big young stars that I remember opted for Free Agency that would not be able to today - Lyman Bostick and Wayne Garland. Unfortunately, both deals did not work out for different reasons.

John From Albany said...

Tom -

Not sold on Tylor McGill as a relief pitcher based on the time I saw him in relief for the Cyclones - granted that was very early in his career. His body sure seems to lend itself for relieving.

bill metsiac said...

I'm not really familiar with Montgomery and Hunter. How do they stack up to fill Lugo's shoes?

John From Albany said...

Bill - In short, I don't think they stack up at all to fill Seth Lugo's position. Montgomery had a 1-2 year run as a quality Lefty Relief pitcher to help the Cubs win the WS in 2016 (he got the last out in the 2016 WS) and Tommy Hunter has had enough success to keep him in the Majors over 12 years. I think they are both headed to Syracuse in case additional pitchers are needed in Flushing. But hey, you never know.

Remember1969 said...

Hunter could be a good find and fill the void from Lugo very nicely.

There is a bigger game of numbers tho with a couple guys already on the 40 man that don't have any options left. Perhaps it is Kilome that will step up big?

Remember1969 said...

I am anxious to see what Cortes can do back here in the States. With a natural progression, he should start the year in Binghamton. Hope we get to get into the stadium.

bill metsiac said...

Can Cortes play CF, or just corners?

Remember1969 said...

Interesting thought, Bill, but it appears that his CF experience is 2 games in college. Most of his minor league time has been spent at 2nd base. His outfield time was mostly in left field in college.

bill metsiac said...

Maybe he can get reps at CF upstate to see if he might be useful there in '22 and beyond.

Meanwhile, the MnL camps don't open this year until ML ST is done. But I can't find any info on MnL regular season OD. Will it be around May 1, with a reduced schedule? Or will they continue through September?

Anyone have info on the plan?

John From Albany said...

Minor League season has been pushed back and the schedule has not been announced. Just guessing, but I think they will be able start AAA first as most of the Syracuse squad will be at the regular Spring Training. By the time AAA starts, we should have a good idea on when the other leagues will open.

John From Albany said...

About Cortes, only saw him play 2B not in the OF. He did not seem like he had the speed or range for CF. I was surprised they had him in RF in Australia. I would think that he was better suited for LF.

Overall, I think 2B is his better path to the majors as a high avg - high RBI guy that hits doubles

Remember1969 said...

Maybe I was dreaming and have no idea where I read these, but I thought I saw someplace that the AAA teams will open spring coinciding with the majors timing, and they will start their seasons on time. The AA and below teams will begin spring training after MLB and AAA are gone. Anybody else see that?

Also, I thought I saw something reference a May 24 opening for the lower levels. I just looked at the Rumble Ponies website and there is no info at all, but it seems like late May might be reasonable. I should pay more attention to stuff like this when I read it.