Remember1969: Who Won? The ultimate posting of the series - `1962

Mets Trades through the years:  Who won?

First Comments:   The last articles of the series.   I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.   It has been both sentimental and educational for me.   I have learned a lot just by my habit of linking all players to their Baseball Reference pages.  That has led to a lot of hours of going into different rabbit holes and finding interesting stories.  Many times I have actually looked at Wikipedia pages of the players.   

Now for the trades:  October 1961 through November 1962

Notes:  This first trade in history is one of the most interesting.   It was listed on the sheet as: 

(1)  New York Mets traded Gus Bell to the Milwaukee Braves for Frank Thomas  (Nov 28, 1961)

But to be more accurate, it should be written like: 

(1)  Milwaukee Braves traded Frank Thomas and a player to be named later for a player to be named later and cash.    

It is unclear when the (or how much) cash changed  hands, but the remainder of the trade was Gus Bell going to the Braves and Rick Herrscher coming to the Mets on May 21, 1962.   As Hobie accurately noted  in the comment on Tuesday, both Bell and Thomas were in the Mets first-ever open day line-up, even if they were traded for each other.    I wonder if there might have been a different PTBNL if Bell hadn't gone 15 for 101 (.149) with a .198 slugging percentage in his 30 games with the Mets.   He went on to have four times the hits in just over twice the at-bats with the Braves that year.  

The rest of the list: 

(2)  New York Mets traded Lee Walls to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Charlie Neal and Willard Hunter  (Dec 15, 1961)

 (3)  New York Mets traded Bobby Gene Smith to the Chicago Cubs for Sammy Taylor   (Apr 26, 1962)

 (4)  New York Mets traded Don Zimmer to the Cincinnati Reds for Bob Miller and Cliff Cook  (May 6, 1962)

 (5)  New York Mets traded Jim Marshall to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Vinegar Bend Mizell  (May 6, 1962)

 (6)  New York Mets traded Hobie Landrith to the Baltimore Orioles for Marv Throneberry   (May 9, 1962)

Trivia:   Lee Walls (trade 2) was drafted from the Phillies in the expansion draft and never played for the Mets.  He was however, linked as he had been part of a trade two years earlier for Frank Thomas.   

If you think Bell got off to a bad start with the Mets, "Popeye" Zimmer was worse:  4 for 52 for a BA of .077 and slugging of .096.   He did draw three walks to raise the OBP up to .127.   

The players in trades 4 and 5 both went on to become major league managers.  

You don't get names like those in trades 3 and 5 any more .. Bobby Gene and Vinegar Bend are handles of the past.   

The Bob Miller obtained for Zimmer in trade 3 was a different Bob Miller than the one drafted in the expansion draft that was discussed in the trade article the other day.    Both Bob Millers pitched in 1962.   

A couple interesting reads are the Wikipedia pages for the other Bob Miller (the one that pitched until 1974) and also for Vinegar Bend Mizell.     Vinegar Bend's actual first name was Wilmer, becoming the first Wilmer to play for the Mets, long before the more famous Wilmer "I don't want to be traded" Flores. 

As far as the Who Won question for 1962, the Mets won hands down.  By my count they were 3 - 0 - 3 with trades 1, 2, and 6 being the definite winners.  The others were all inconcequential.   Throneberry became a legend, although not many back-up catchers can boast the .811 OPS that Landrith produced in his small sample size time with the Mets.  (23 games and just 45 at bats).

Final Thoughts:   It's been fun for the last couple months.  I hope to do a wrap-up article early next week with some final trade trivia, then move on to other topics. 

Tom Brennan - TWENTY Reasons Not to be Hopeful About Robby Cano

A Picture of Cano, in His Prime Years Long Ago 

I know - I retired from the site.  

Just the other day, in fact.  

But Mack asked me to come back - so I will come back - for this one article here.  

As I departed, I said I'd perhaps write occasionally, if something really hit me.  

This one thought did strike me - I expect my articles to remain rare, but here goes:

TWENTY REASONS TO NOT BE HOPEFUL ABOUT ROBBY CANO

Cano will turn 40 shortly after the 2022 season ends. So he is 39 1/2 as we speak.  

He's just 3 for 16 this spring, after a brief, decent, but powerless winter ball season. 

With that as a predicate, here's 20 timely, unhopeful reasons about Cano in 2022:

1) Gil Hodges had 22 at bats at age 39, then retired.

2) Mickey Mantle retired before turning 37.

3) Joe DiMaggio - ditto

4) Tommie Agee retired before turning 32.

5) Edgardo Alfonso retired before turning 33.

6) Cleon Jones retired before turning 34.

7) Felix Millan - ditto.

8) Lenny Dykstra - ditto.

9) Ho Jo retired before turning 35.

10) Lee Mazzillli - ditto.

11) David Wright retired before turning 36.

12) Jose Reyes - ditto.

13) Bud Harrelson retired before turning 37.

14) Carlos Delgado - ditto.

15) Keith Hernandez - ditto.

16) John Olerud's career ended 2 months after he turned 37.

17) Darryl Strawberry retired before turning 38.

18) Gary Carter retired before turning 39.

19) Carlos Beltran at approximately Cano's age finished up his long career with a lackluster .231/.283/.383 season.

20) Rusty Staub was a Mets pinch hitter extraordinaire at ages 39-41, but totaled only 266 PAs in those 3 years.  Truly a part timer.

Twenty of the most prominent NY (and mostly Mets) players in memory - almost all were defeated by Father Time before the current age of Robby Cano.  

There were just two who continued to play, but were shells of their former selves at (and beyond) Cano's current age.

Based on those 20 reasons and the almost certain lack of future Cano consumption of performance enhancers, I see Robby Cano in 2022 (at best) as a mediocre hitting, diminished power, diminished speed, diminished fielding player - unless he can do something the above 20 were almost entirely unable to do.

The kind of player that teams intent to winning it all don't - CAN'T - play.

We've all said it many times....It's a young man's game.....

Colin Holderman knows that.  The righty reliever is bringing HIGH HEAT this spring, apparently even touching 100 with one pitch, and he has fanned 9 batters in a mere 4 innings, and sports a 0.00 ERA.  Nice.  No, not nice.  AWESOME.  

Ought to be showing up in Queens in the near future.   He's been oft-injured, but this year, 2022, is gonna be his year.  

Who would have guessed?  He was drafted in 2016, and in 2018 and the next 5 years, has just 146 innings as a pro, just 54 games on the mound, just 119 Ks, a 3.95 ERA.   But....when you're ready, you're ready.  He seems almost ready.

Paul Articulates – Patience is a virtue

Steve Cohen becomes the owner of the Mets and immediately begins building a team for success.  Mets fans everywhere who have suffered through almost two decades of Wilpon ownership are giddy with delight.  Less than a year and a half later, just like the kid in the back seat at the beginning of a long vacation car ride, you can already hear, “Are we winning yet?”

We all know (in an academic sense) that it takes a while to build a winning program.  It doesn’t happen overnight.   Yet somehow, the emotional little kid in our head can’t wait that long.  We want to win right now.  It takes patience; a lot of patience.  Baseball is a patient game, even with a pitch clock.  There are 20 or so games in spring training, 162 in the regular season, and hopefully more in the playoffs.

The Mets are showing all the signs of building a winner – strong front office hires, investments in analytics and training facilities, a proven manager, and some big talent acquisitions.  It takes a while for all this to gel.  Player development takes years, even with some good guys in the pipeline (except J.T. Ginn, who got away) and good coaches in place.

Yet we hear folks on a daily basis bemoaning everything that doesn’t go just right.  Francisco Lindor heard more criticism in 2021 than he had in his entire career as he stumbled with a team on his shoulders.   Pete Alonso didn’t hit 53 home runs last year – we want Freeman!  Jeff McNeil didn’t hit .300 last year – trade him!  Enough!

Before going on, I have to admit that I am also guilty of impatience.  I’m watching spring training games and already cringing when someone doesn’t get to a ball in the hole, or doesn’t advance a runner with less than two outs.  I have to remind myself that it is only spring training, and these guys are working on fine tuning their reaction time and their muscle memory.

So here is some patient advice for myself and all those reading:

• Buck Showalter is going to make some incorrect decisions early in the year.  Don’t sweat it – he is the best guy for the job, but he has to learn the team first.  Even when he does, there will be good decisions that don’t yield the expected result.  Even the best hitters make an out 70% of the time.  Give Buck your full support all year, and then evaluate how it went.
• The whole saga of Lindor’s big contract, the fans over-reacting to his slow start, and the thumbs-down controversy showed the human side of baseball.  Extremely talented people that make extreme amounts of money are still human beings.  It affects your head when tens of thousands of people are booing your lack of success even though you are trying very (too) hard.  Home teams have an advantage over visitors because the roar of the crowd pumps up the players – so don’t turn an advantage into a disadvantage by getting on players for lack of success.  Save the boos for lack of effort.
• Streaks are common in baseball.  When a player is riding a hot streak, boost it with your cheers.  When a player is languishing in a slump, let Buck figure out how to manage it – don’t publicly call for a trade.
• Sometimes luck trumps skill.  We’re good, but we’re going to lose some games.  Don’t expect a 22-0 record by the end of April; be happy if we have won more than 11.  The team is built to contend over the long haul, and should get better over time as they learn to play together.  Mid-season trade deadline acquisitions can eliminate weaknesses.

Next week it begins.  I know I have been advocating patience in this article, but I can’t wait.  Let’s play ball, and Let’s Go Mets!

Reese Kaplan -- Baseball Paychecks Arrive For Fewer Years Than Expected

One of the things many of us have learned during this pandemic is how much we define our own self-worth through our performance at our jobs.  Everywhere you turn you see help wanted signs on nearly every business's premises, yet fewer and fewer people are prepared to return to life as it once was.  While for a great many of us it has imposed some hard and long thinking about switching careers, changing companies or even retiring altogether, the same situation often comes to ballplayers whether they want to accept it or not.

We've all become accustomed to the conventional athletic career in baseball that seems to range from the early 20s to the late 30s depending on health and ability.  On the front end, we often wonder why players are held back and not allowed to ascend to the Major League show.  On the back end we remember fondly what players did when they were in their prime, but the frays are starting to show in their overall abilities, yet they've grown accustomed to the much higher-than-average lifestyle they earned when they were indeed among the upper echelon of the game.  

There are rare folks like Julio Franco who seemed simply to defy the aging process.  When he became a member of the Mets he was already 47 years of age yet produced to the tune of a .273 batting average with 2 HRs and 26 RBIs in about 1/4 of the time as a regular player.  Performance like that is rare indeed.  You can count on one hand the number of baseball senior citizens who got better or at least remained viable with age.  You could make a case that Bartolo Colon is another one.  

Then there are players who excelled earlier in their careers but injuries curtailed their longevity in the game.  Mets fans, of course, know well what it's like to bring up an All Star like David Wright and have him hang it up when he likely would have played another five or more years.  For pitchers that end seems to come much more frequently as arm, elbow and shoulder injuries often do not allow the player to come back at the same level enjoyed in the past.

It is that earlier success that wreaks havoc with a player's ability to earn and his new employer's willingness to pay.  Take the St. Louis Cardinals, for example, who launched Albert Pujols' career just past the turn of the century when as a 21 year old he handily won the NL Rookie of the Year award by hitting .329 with 37 HRs and 130 RBIs in 2001.  He went on to earn some megabucks in his career, topping out at $30 million for his 2021 season for the Angels.  For what is likely his final year in the majors he has returned to the Cardinals at age 42 for a modest $2.5 million for the year 2022.  The batting average and power have dwindled with age, but a guy with 679 HRs, 2150 RBIs and a career .297 batting average should be making a reservation for Cooperstown five years after he retires.  

It's these kinds of career situations that make the current one for 29 year old Michael Conforto so hard to understand.  Yes, he was pretty awful in 2021, but then again so were most of the Mets hitters.  He has missed a lot of time due to injury during most of the seasons he's been in the majors.  Still, he's been a productive player when available, though that 2017 All Star appearance is hitting its five-year anniversary this season.  He needs to swallow hard and take a discounted deal to prove that 2021 was a fluke, much like Nelson Cruz did for a year in Baltimore which resulted in the next eight years easily eclipsing the $10 million per season mark.  

Remember1969: Who Won? Deals through history - 1963 and 1964

 

Mets Trades through the years:  Who won?

Entering the last week of March and opening day 2022 right around the corner seems like a good place to wrap up this series.   This post will cover 1963 and 1964 and Thursday's finale will cover the first six trades in Mets history for the 1962 season.  

November 1963 through October 1964

 

Notes:   Roger Craig finished his Mets to year career with a 15-46 record and a 4.14 ERA.   I wonder what kind of a record a 4.14 ERA would have gotten him had he pitched for the '62-'63 Yankees?   He finished his career with a 12-14 record after this trade.   

(1)  New York Mets traded Roger Craig to the St. Louis Cardinals for George Altman and Bill Wakefield  (Nov 04, 1963)

 (2)  New York Mets traded Chico Fernandez and Bobby Catton to the Chicago White Sox for Charley Smith  (Apr 23, 1964)

(3)  New York Mets traded Jay Hook and Adrian Garrett to the Milwaukee Braves for Roy McMillan  (May 8, 1964)

(4)  New York Mets traded Frank Thomas to the Philadelphia Phillies for Gary Kroll and Wayne Graham  (Aug 07, 1964)

(5)  New York Mets traded Frank Lary to the Milwaukee Braves for Dennis Ribant  (Aug 08, 1964)

Trivia:   It's amazing what a 29-62 career record will do for a guy's WAR.  You'd think that anybody that stuck around the bigs long enough to accrue 91 decisions should have a positive WAR, but Jay Hook could quite muster it, finishing with -0.9 WAR for his efforts. 

Who knew that Wayne Garrett had a big brother that also played in the organization?   Adrian never made the big club with the Mets, but later played with a couple teams hitting only .185.  

Roy McMillan had a pretty good career, but like a lot of other players the Mets have obtained through the years, they hooked him for the last couple years when he was well into his 30s.  He did have a decent year as the starting shortstop in 1965 in his 35 year old season. 

Frank Lary had a very fine 11 years with the Tigers with almost 30 career WAR before coming to the Mets at the tail end of his run.  

Frank Thomas was one of the better hitters of the early Mets and was the answer to Mets trivia question "Who was the first player the Mets obtained in a trade?"

November 1962 through October 1963

Notes:  Bob Miller is one of the most common baseball names.  This guy's career spanned 17 years with two service terms with the Mets.   They traded him after he finished 1-12 in 1962 (who didn't?) as a 23 year old.    He finished up his career 12 years later improving his Mets record to 3-14 going 2-2 in 58 games in 1974.  

Mantilla had one of the better Mets seasons in 1962 as the regular second baseman.  It makes sense that they'd trade him after a .729 OPS year.   In the next three years in Boston, he improved to .843.   The guy could hit.    Stallard was 16-37 in his two years with the Mets, Green gave them 15 hits total and Moran produced a .195 batting average over 135 games played in 1963 and 64.   Not a great trade. 

The 1963 list: 

(1)  New York Mets traded Bob Miller to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tim Harkness and Larry Burright  (Dec 01, 1962)

(2)  New York Mets traded Felix Mantilla to the Boston Red Sox for Tracy Stallard, Pumpsie Green and Al Moran  (Dec 11, 1962)

(3)  New York Mets traded Larry Foss to the Milwaukee Braves for Chico Fernandez  (May 08, 1963)

(4)  New York Mets traded Charlie Neal and Sammy Taylor to the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Gonder  (Jul 01, 1963)

(5)  New York Mets traded Jacke Davis to the St. Louis Cardinals for Duke Carmel  (Jul 29, 1963)

(6)  New York Mets traded Ken MacKenzie to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ed Bauta  (Aug 5, 1963)

Trivia:   There actually should be a seventh trade listed in 1963 as I was looking at the page for Jacke Davis just to see how he was obtained by the Mets and it simply indicates 'Sent  from the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets in an unknown transaction sometime in May 1963, actual date unknown'.  He never played for the Mets.   

Mack - Random Thoughts - Francisco Alvarez, Tylor Megill, The Pen, Sunday's 1-2 Punch

Good morning. 

Yes, I remain retired (long term readers know this is my third retirement); however, with Tom’s retirement (come baaaaaaaack Tom) I thought I would write my thoughts down on a random basis. May be weekly, Maybe longer. Who knows from this mashugana.

 

1. I re-watched that Frankie Alvarez bomb last Thursday around ten times. Wow. That’s what I’m talking about! Me? I would start him off in Syracuse and see how he handled these, mostly, seasoned starters, If that goes well, I would trade our current starter before the trade deadline and platoon Alvarez with Tomas Nido for the rest of this season. Alvarez is our future starter behind the plate and looks, right now, that he will be an all-star there going into the next decade.

 

2. Regarding Tylor Megill, I think he has already proven to be an SP5 candidate last year. I like his approach to the game. And, I think, going forward this season, I think he should be slotted in as SP4 behind the Big 3. Cookie looks cooked and Peterson just can’t seem to keep that slider sliding. I would make Megill SP4, followed by Walker.

 

3. A lot of Mets fans think their team needs to sign another bat, especially in the outfield. I don’t share that opinion… if… and it’s a big if… Brandon Nimmo stays healthy this season. I said on Twitter that I think the Mets should extend Nimmo and one of my followers answered with “only if he plays 100+ games this year”. And who said I had dumb followers. A stupid rumor went around Twiiter written by some troll that Michael Conforto was signing a 2-yr. deal with the Mets. Fugettaboutit. The trio of Nimmo-Cahna-Marte will be the starting lineup going forward.

 

4. What I do feel is a position that doesn’t have enough talent going forward is the pen. There just are just too many untested and questions filled pitchers out there. Frankly, I can’t think of one name out there that doesn’t have a slow, lonely, country song attached to it. The Mets starters are not known for going past six innings too often and I fear too many close ones will be lost by failed relievers this season.

5. So, how did you like that Jake-Max duo this past Sunday? Make you wonder why the Mets couldn't sign another top starter and let these two generate 30+ wins this way all season. Sure would lengthen their careers? Well, we know that's not going to happen because that could mean taking on another 20-35mil a year in salary and it would generate too many penalties. Do you know who creates these penalties? Right, the players and owners during the negotiations for their new deal together. And do you know how many people it takes to tango? Right again. Let's remember, it's the OWNERS that pay the players and if this game is getting out of financial control, they have themselves to blame.

 

6, This is a short post. Just wanted to jot something down to help here. 

 

I’ll be back soon.

Reese Kaplan -- The Rumor Mill is Churning Out Mets Pablum...

Sometimes people seem to live and die by the power of the rumor mill.  Whether it's musicians, actors, politicians, business executive or athletes, the fact is that a hot rumor is like adrenaline for both the barfly and the legitimate media.  Come on...we all have to confess having fallen prey to the tiniest tidbits of so-called legitimate data to go dancing down the aisles (or ready to head for the pitchforks and torches).  

This weekend was no different.  There were two Mets-related bits that crept up in the media coverage that caused just this kind of fervor both good and bad.  The first one concerned the Mets front office finally making gestures towards solid free agent lefty reliever Tony Watson.  At this stage of his career, Watson is likely looking at the $1.5 million or so annual paycheck.  All he's done to deserve it is bank a career-long ERA of 2.90.  Yeah, I think a lefty reliever who has that big a track record of success would slot in nicely in Queens.  I've advocated him in the past and given how close the season is to starting (less than 2 weeks away), the fact he's still available suggests people are either scared off by his age or his subpar 2021 performance.  For the Mets, he'd be the veteran lefty to help since the others in-house -- Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio -- have combined for only about half as many games as the former Pirate, Dodger and Giant who is still seeking a new job. 

The stranger one from a well known Internet troll suggested that the Mets are working towards a two-year contract with the unwanted Michael Conforto who has had no suitors coming off his disastrous 2021 season.  He turned down the QO at the behest of his greedy agent and now finds the 2022 season about to begin with his entrance to the ballpark requiring a ticket just like the rest of us.  Apparently the purported offer is for $20 million combined for two seasons.  The $10 million annual salary is less than he earned for 2021.  The deal allegedly includes an opt-out after 2022 which he would surely exercise if he rebounded productively.  The price seems laughingly low but probably fair given the late state of the preseason and his long history of injuries plus last year's offensive results.  Personally I don't see how he really fits into the mix as Mark Canha would become a very expensive 4th outfielder, plus it would take AB opportunities away from the far less expensive Dom Smith and J.D. Davis.  

For the Mets, there's still roster work to be done.  No one is completely satisfied with the potential holes in the productivity that can be expected from the catcher position, the second base position, the DH position and even Mark Canha.  No one is completely sold on Starling Marte's sudden recovery but his track record suggests it was just an unfortunately timed injury and not something chronic (though we have all seen misdiagnosed and mistreated oblique injuries linger for months at a time).  

Pitching, of course, remains the primary concern for most people.  Carlos Carrasco in his first preseason game did nothing to dissuade folks from their hammers and nails in his playing day coffin given how badly he delivered last year.  Taijuan Walker finally made it to the mound and was good in his brief two-inning stint.  A few spare parts like Tylor Megill and David Peterson have flashed some good moments as well.  

The bullpen, however, is still very much a work in progress.  After Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Miguel Castro and Trevor May it's a mystery who's going to make up the innings eaten by Aaron Loup, Jeurys Familia, Robert Gsellman and others.  I can only hope for the best from Adam Ottavino, but his last better-than-average seasons were in 2018 and 2019 playing for the Rockies and the Yankees.  His problem has always been the base on balls and for his career while he averages 10.4 strikeouts per 9 IP, he also gives away 4.1 walks over the same interval.  Drew Smith is a welcome return but he's only been in 66 games for his entire career which has been marred by injury.  Shreve and Claudio have been decent for middle relievers but no one is approaching what Loup delivered in 2021. 

It's a long season that includes 162 games.  Between streaks, slumps and injuries no one knows exactly what will happen, but here's hoping the front office is paying attention this time.

OPEN THREAD - Michael Conforto

 

There is a new Twitter rumor being floated yesterday that the Mets are working on a 2-year, $20mil ($10mil per season) deal, with an opt out after one,  with Michael Conforto.

Thoughts?

Is this kind of opt out even possible?

Mike's Mets - Early Thoughts from Spring Training

 

By Mike Steffanos

The Mets will have some tough decisions to make this spring, particularly in the outfield and who will be the bullpen lefty.

As the New York Mets continue to prepare for the season, Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer have both given fans reasons to feel good about the top of the team's rotation. On Monday, Max Scherzer debuted first, pitching against the Marlins in their ballpark. Scherzer clearly had been doing the work during the protracted lockout. He went 5 innings against Miami, throwing 72 pitches. Scherzer wants to be prepared to throw 100 pitches when the regular season gets underway in a couple of weeks. The Mets hitters gave Max the "deGrom treatment," failing to score a run for him. Scherzer took the loss despite allowing only a solitary run.

Jacob deGrom had a more conventional first time out when he took the mound against the Houston Astros in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday. deGrom went 2 innings, tossing 30 pitches. Other than allowing a double to Lewis Brinson to lead off the second, deGrom was dominating. Jacob is obviously not targeting 100 pitches for his regular-season debut, and that's fine. I don't believe most Mets fans will hold it against their ace if he opts to ease into the season. We just want to see Jake still pitching in October.

What was most hopeful in that regard was deGrom's willingness to take a little off his fastball. This is reportedly Jacob's plan for the season, to hold back on throwing at maximum velocity on every pitch. deGrom was quoted by Pat Ragazzo on Sports Illustrated's website:

"That's kind of going back to trying to be smooth, not trying to throw as hard as I can and work down the slope so I am happy with how that went today. I am sure there will be times when I throw as hard as I can. When I am really in sync and smooth it feels like it comes out better than when I actually try to throw really hard."

Being smooth and not utilizing max effort all of the time would seem to be an excellent way for deGrom to avoid repeating last season's repeated trips to the injured list. Having a full-time DH in the National League will also help. At least one of Jacob's injuries last season was reported to have occurred when he was hitting. The chances of the Mets to break through and be the legitimate playoff team they failed to be last season increase exponentially for every inning Jacob deGrom can toss for them in 2022. A replay of last year would be a disaster. There's a long way to go here, but this is at least a promising start.

Carlos Carrasco and Chris Bassitt were supposed to pitch against the Marlins in Thursday's spring training game. However, the weather forecast wasn't the greatest for the 6 pm start, so the Mets decided to let both pitchers get their work in a minor league intrasquad game earlier that day. Bassitt was dominating while Carrasco struggled. Then, in today's game, Taijuan Walker pitched a couple of scoreless innings in his spring debut.

We'll avoid the temptation to read too much into pitchers' results this early. The main thing is that all of the Mets starters are healthy and getting ready for the season. The addition of Chris Bassit to the rotation moves Carrasco and Walker back to the fourth and fifth spots, which really takes the pressure off of both pitchers as they prepare for the campaign ahead.

To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.

Paul Articulates – Big Money Ball

Mets fans across the board have enthusiastically cheered Steve Cohen as he spends big bucks to attract some of the best talent available in free agency to build a winning team.  For those that have looked closer, he has also spent quite a bit on building up the rest of the operation with investments in state-of-the-art facilities for pitcher development and significant expansion of the analytics department.  Those on the outside may be resentful or envious of his ability to spend on making the best team – including creation of the “Cohen tax” moniker on the highest tier of the luxury tax on club payroll.

Personally, I admire what he is doing.  He has combined the talent of a successful businessman with the passion of a serious Mets fan and is now taking it to the next level.  We understand the fans’ perspective – but let’s think about the business side.  In October 2020, Steve Cohen bought the Mets for roughly $2.4B.  That is a pretty sizable investment.  To achieve a return on that big investment, you must grow revenue and build value.  Thriftiness is not a virtue in that scenario, so Mr. C is doing the right thing by spending big – growing a sustainable winning team with big names and a solid player development process.  

Forbes Magazine just released its latest evaluation of MLB teams, titled “The Business of Baseball”.  In that release, they valued the Mets’ franchise at $2.65B – already an 8% increase in the club since it was purchased.  That is good, but it could have been better.  The cross-town Yankees increased their value by 14%.  Additionally, the Mets had a $96M operating loss.  The remedy for an operating loss is to put butts in seats and to sell merchandise.   A winning team and big stars like deGrom, Scherzer, and Lindoor will achieve that objective.  A winning team year after year will build the value like you see with the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox franchises who topped the list.

When Steve Cohen was asked about whether he would spend above the new luxury tax fourth tier threshold of $290M, he said, “We may have to”.  That would imply an 80% tax on every dollar committed to salaries on the Mets’ 40-man roster above $290M – in addition to the 62.5% tax being paid on the money between $270M and $290M.  Some folks can’t imagine how or why one would spend that kind of money, but let’s simplify the math to show how our owner is thinking.  Imagine the scenario where we have to bring in players that will be paid $295M in salary for 2022.  That means that in addition to the $295M in salaries, the Mets would have to pay the league luxury tax amounts of $26.9M.

20% of the amount between first threshold $230M and second threshold $250M = $4M

32% of the amount between second threshold $250M and third threshold $270M= $6.4M

62.5% of the amount between third threshold $270M and fourth threshold $290M = $12.5M

80% of the amount above the fourth threshold $290M = $4M

So if the Mets can achieve the kind of revenue as the Yankees ($482M vs $302M in 2021), they will return $180M per year for that $26.9M luxury tax.  That is not all - if the franchise valuation went up 14% instead of 8% next year, wealth grows another $159M.  That is a 1160% ROI in a single year, and it compounds year after year.  

So the moral of this story is that Steve Cohen spends to win and wins by spending.  Mets fans benefit with much better teams that can compete with the best in baseball year after year.  What a great outcome for a fan base that has suffered through mediocrity for 60 years.

Reese Kaplan -- Opening Day is Less Than 2 Weeks Away...

So the 2022 baseball season is almost upon us with the abbreviated Spring Training due to close in a few weeks with the new Opening Day scheduled for Thursday, April 7th.  It's been pretty clear since the game returned that not enough time has been done to prepare for the upcoming season, but the powers that be also understand the handicap of a shortened preseason.  The rosters expand from 26 to 28 players for the balance of the month of April.  The rationale for doing so makes sense given the short stints pitchers will handle early in the season.  It also means that fringe players and roster cuts that teams previously would execute in other years will not happen until the month of May.  There are no restrictions on the number of pitchers a team may carry.  

For the Mets this Spring Training has been most welcome to the fans but it's very clear that like many other clubs they really are not ready to begin normal quality baseball when the season's start is less than 2 weeks away.  Thus far the top three starting pitchers -- Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt -- all look ready to challenge in-their-mid-season-prime hitters but the 4th and 5th starters remain questionable.  Carlos Carrasco was lit up in an intrasquad game on Thursday and Taijuan Walker is still making a slow recovery from his off-season surgical correction.

On the offensive side of the game the only glaring issue for the team and the fans is newcomer Starling Marte's oblique injury which has kept him from swinging a bat during the exhibition games.  He did bunt and run in a minor league contest, but they don't want to risk further aggravating his oblique by letting him use full power behind the rotation of his abdomen.  

Right now the club is a little crowded with some roster decisions to be made.  No one knows if the newly crowned DH will be veteran Robinson Cano who may or may not perform like he did in 2020 if he's following the league's rules about PEDs.  The alternatives have been slugging prodigiously this Spring.  Dom Smith and J.D. Davis are certainly showing that youth and power can contribute effectively in a bat-only role.  That's a decision for Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler to make.  

If you chat with fans, many of them lament the club's unwillingness to add another hitter after the lockout ended.  Some had their hearts set on Kris Bryant.  Others wanted Kyle Schwarber.  A few yearned for Nick Castellanos.  The only bats the Mets added were fringe players on minor league contracts like Travis Jankowski and Cuban refugee Karell Paz.  That's not quite the same caliber of talent.  

Others bemoaned the Mets unwillingness or inability to land additional relief pitchers.  You all know the names of who is still out there unsigned.  The inertia from the front office seems puzzling, to say the least.  The trade market is a possibility as well, but there have been no rumors of the Mets going down this path since the recent addition of Bassitt to the starting rotation.  Having lost Aaron Loup, Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances, Robert Gsellman and others, the club has only responded with 36-year-old journeyman Adam Ottavino and minor league free agent Chasen Shreve.  It certainly seems that this year's pen is due to be inferior to the lackluster one from 2021.  

Maybe it's too early to be this concerned about the roster membership.  However, Opening Day is coming on a bullet train and thus far the Mets seem to have left themselves with unloaded weapons.  The Phillies got better.  The Braves are the division champions.  The Nationals treaded water.  Perhaps they are better than the Marlins.  It's not the kind of 2022 "the championship is ours" kind of enthusiasm and security people were hoping to enjoy.  

Remember1969: Who Won? Deals of History 1965- 1966

 

Mets Trades through the years:  Who won?

November 1965 through October 1966

 Notes:  Ken Boyer was the biggest name on this list, but obtaining Jerry Grote was the biggest success.   Other than that, I got nothin'.   This is not my era and I don't know these guys and got crunched for time to do much research.    Post your comments and any stories you may have about them.

(1)  New York Mets traded Tom Parsons to the Houston Astros for Jerry Grote  (Oct 19, 1965)

(2)  New York Mets traded Al Jackson and Charley Smith to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ken Boyer  (Oct 20, 1965)

(3)  New York Mets traded Joe Christopher to the Boston Red Sox for Ed Bressoud  (Nov 30, 1965)

(4)  New York Mets traded Gary Kroll to the Houston Astros for John Weekly  (jan 06, 1966)

(5)  New York Mets traded Bobby Klaus, Wayne Graham and Jimmie Schaffer to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Stuart  (Feb 22, 1966)

Trivia:  Even in 1966, the Mets didn't seem to care a lot about defense.  Dick Stuart was known as one of the worst fielders ever - Dr. Strangeglove or The Man with the Iron Glove were a couple of his nicknames.     55 years later . . 

November 1964 through October 1965

(1)  New York Mets traded Dick Smith to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Larry Miller  (Oct 15, 1964)

(2)  New York Mets traded Elio Chacon and Tracy Stallard to the St. Louis Cardinals for Johnny Lewis and Gordie Richardson  (Dec 08, 1964)

(3)  New York Mets traded George Altman to the Chicago Cubs for Billy Cowan  (Jan 15, 1965)

(4)  New York Mets traded Frank Lary to the Chicago White Sox for Jimmie Schaffer  (Jul 08, 1965)

(5)  New York Mets traded Jesse Gonder to the Milwaukee Braves for Gary Kolb  (Jul 21, 1965)

(6)  New York Mets traded Billy Cowan to the Milwaukee Braves for Lou Klimchock and Ernie Bowman  (Aug 05, 1965)

Reese Kaplan -- The 2022 Mets Roster Appears to be Taking Shape

One of the side effects of the abbreviated Spring Training for the 2022 season is that we miss out on the game day performances of players hoping to make the squad as expulsion to the minor league camp (or from the team entirely) are happening very, very early.

This week the Mets have already dispatched several notable players from the major league camp, including well known names like Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Khalil Lee and Nick Plummer.  The first two were pretty much expected as they have not yet ascended far enough up the ladder to the show, but Lee and Plummer theoretically were vying for the 4th/5th outfielder slots on the Mets.  

It was surprising to see them pushed aside so quickly, but it's somewhat understandable given the brief timetable that the club needs to see the work done by the folks who are pretty much guaranteed a trip up to Queens.  

Some of the others cut like Patrick Mazeika, Thomas Szapucki and Jordan Yamamoto were not expected to be a part of the opening day roster.  They are recovering from injury or simply in need of more innings of preparatory work.  

Jose Butto has a pretty impressive minor league record, but he's only had a part-season at AA, so he needs to show he can handle AAA hitters effectively before becoming a part of the big league rotation or bullpen.  Travis Blankenhorn was another early cut but there doesn't appear to be a way for him to shoehorn himself onto the roster unless the Mets are planning to break up the logjam of bench players.  

The one name not yet pushed aside is third baseman/outfielder Brett Baty.  The 22 year old is likely to begin his 2022 season in Binghamton before a promotion up to Syracuse.  In roughly the equivalent of one full year of baseball aggregating his minor league stops, Baty is hitting .271 with 19 HRs and 89 RBIs.  

Those numbers are indeed impressive, but the one thing that jumps out from his stat sheet is an unenviable 163 strikeouts.  

That number is high for a pure power hitter and very high for a player more categorized as a contact guy.  

While other clubs are fortifying their rosters via free agent signings and trades, the Mets have been very quiet in this regard since the major league signing of Adam Ottavino and the minor league signing of Chasen Shreve.  

The trade for Chris Bassitt is a good one, but Mets fans were agog with enthusiasm when they saw the early action securing Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha.  However, since that pre-lockout flurry the club has been pretty quiet and have even announced that they are uninterested in adding any more offense.  The conclusion reached by most reading that statement is that other pitchers are a possibility, but there are no solid rumors to evaluate. 

Right now there's still nowhere for J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith to play, as Robinson Cano has been handed the DH role on a PED-free silver platter.  Jeff McNeil is apparently the disgruntled second base partner for Francisco Lindor and the only prospective roster changes will occur if Starling Marte, Carlos Carrasco or Taijuan Walker need some IL time to recover before hitting the field in cold April weather.  

Until those decisions are made, the club is pretty much set at every roster position.  Arguments continue to be made about improving the bullpen, but nothing has been said that they will take steps in that direction.  Right now it appears that the addition of Bassitt makes Carrasco and Walker numbers 4 and 5 in whichever sequence you like.  That means prospective starters like Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Trevor Williams may be instead vying for bullpen opportunities up north.