I'll skip to the conclusion. 102-60.
I LIKE this team, and I am EXCITED about this team, as spring training is arriving once more.
Take off your frayed analyst cap and be a KID again. I like and am excited here. Very much.
The Mets have freshened the product line.
Frankly, even if Dom Smith rebounds and has a big year, even if MC Hammer Conforto does too, it's NICE to see new faces.
Also, if, say, the Mets had brought back Conforto and/or Smith, and they failed again, why risk lots of barking fans?
New faces, new adventures. No old Mets baggage.
We already saw the Jake Show from 2014-22. Brilliant stuff, too much time when Jakey Breaky was not ready to pitch, never quite enough wins, always the quiet professional. Old produce, in need of freshening up. Let Texas fans have stress reactions, we had plenty.
Me? I am happy to see a new old face in Justin Verlander. New Senga, too. Did I forget new Quintana? No, I did not.
Fresh faces. Fresh STAR faces.
Tommy Pham? Why not? A fresh face, a clean slate.
Vogelbach (still a pretty fresh face) being his co-DH, hopefully carrying one or two bags of potatoes less weight in his mid section in 2023 to make him more effective.
We thankfully kept our super productive core - Pete, Jeff, Lindor, Nimmo, Marte, Diaz, and Max.
The Magnificent Seven. Not getting one bit tired of those studs.
Add to the exciting mix the fresh new blood of Messrs. Alvarez and Baty. It is always exciting when the sum of their two overall baseball rankings (# 1 and # 19) averages 10. A ten-rank on average for 2 prospects is WAY up there - when is the last time that happened for the Mets? Exciting.
And Alvarez as a CATCHER? From a fine article by Matt Kelly (MLB):
"That bat might not be his best tool. You read that correctly. While scouts are obviously high on Álvarez’s hitting, they’re just as bullish on his throwing arm behind the plate -- another famous weakness for Mets catching before McCann’s arrival last season. Álvarez’s 60-grade arm (on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale) is actually his best rated tool, per MLB Pipeline."
- “It’s definitely elite,” Tommy Joseph, the former Minor League catcher, Phillies first baseman and now hitting coach for St. Lucie told MLB.com in May. “He's thrown out base stealers that easily should have been safe because of pitches or the elements, and he's gunned them down. He’s a fun guy to watch throw, that's for sure.”
The Mets even have a wild card (no pun intended) in Bryce Monster de Oca, a/k/a BMDO. A monster he is, and yes sirree, I expect him to be looming larger than life in Queens in 2023.
Besides the team's offensive stars, Messrs. Canha and Escobar remain solid pros - one more season of each as they saunter thru their 30s is OK with me. People down on Escobar forget he had a .503 slugging % in the second half of the season - that .503 over a whole NL season would have had him in a tie for 8th best in the NL in slug %. And 15 game winner Carlos Carrasco, let's not forget him, too - a pro. I'd say one more strong year left in the tank. Just remember, you win games when a guy pitches very well - in his wins, he was 15-0, 2.16. In hi losses, 0-7, 12.71. I'll take 15 great ones and 7 ugly ones from him this year, too.
Behind the dish, no more McCann Misery Malaise as, in Omar Narvaez, we get a fresh face and new lefty hitting catcher instead, to swing at that somewhat-shortened right field fence, and we still have Tomas (who needs a second name? Tomas is as recognizable as Prince or Lebron, if you ask me), who seems to get an smidge or two better each year.
Two fine veteran ex-Yankee pen arms in Ottavino and Robertson, the latter being a new Mets face in 2023.
Drew Smith is ready to make us forget Seth Lugo, and who doesn't want a guy named Joey Lucchesi on your team, half of whose fans are from the fuggedabotit borough? And add fresh face John Curtiss in bounce-back mode, along with several other fresh pen faces. Feeling good about this Diaz-led pen.
The dazzling glove work of Louie the G Man, too, who also gives you at bats like you used to appreciate from fellow little man Wally Backman. His face may not be new, but the plays he makes will have you saying, "THAT'S a new one."
Still, too, consider the possibility of thunderous rookie excitement during parts of 2023 and into 2024 from rising power hitters Vientos and Mauricio.
You can even get excited about a real loser - as some recent pictures seem to indicate, Daniel Vogelbach has lost a few sacks of potatoes. Lean and mean in 2023? That would be exciting. And might help him secure a lucrative deal down the road.
Speaking of weight...
Forget how we weigh in against the competition. Analysts do that.
Focus just on the Mets. The highly exciting Mets.
I LIKE and am EXCITED by this team, with its many fresh new faces.
Are you excited too? You better be, or I'm reporting you to Uncle Steve.
12 comments:
They’re keeping the runner at 2nd base in extra innings rules. Why not? Less Union wages as you avoid overtime for 17 inning games…three relievers’ arms don’t fall off from pitching in 17 inning games…and Mets’ batters get hit with fewer pitches. Who cares if it is artificial?
Am I excited? No, or not yet…. Don’t know yet which one. The Correa, misfire was a bit of a buzzkill, as was keeping Ruf and getting Pham. I understand that it’s not easy finding players willing to sit the bench, but I just didn’t want Pham. He can’t even play center field. Losing DeGrom sucked too, but stuff happens.
But, did I like Senga, Verlander, and hearing Baty working with Tulowitski. I did like Quintana, Ottavino, and Diaz. Nimmo was nice, but too long, and Robertson is too hated to be liked.
Will I watch? Sure! Am I excited? Not yet.
Dove man says all that matters is that they are a playoff team. Get in, go from there.
Sort of.
That's the best I get about this team in the last couple of decades.
As long as you keep signing players 30+ years of age... especially pitchers... you are going to have mid season injuries.
The secret in this team is, if injuries do happen across the board, will the prospects, plus Peterson and Mcgill step in and pick up the slack.
Biggest rush: to see Senga the first time he pitches
Biggest letdown: the lack of an improved DH situation
Relax, Gus. We haven't lost a game since October---FOUR MONTHS!
Tom is only predicting 1 more W than last year (what a difference that woulda made in '22), but the Mets record in '86 is my target.
And upstate fans should be thrilled, too. If they start the season with Baty, Alvarez, Vientos and Mauricio in their line-up, and a rotation headed by Peterson, Megill and Lucchesi, I see muchos Ws in their future.
This is a time of year to be super-optimistic, Gus. Let’s hold the downers off for now.
They seem to be loaded but it’s a long season and they’re an old team. Injuries happen. That being said 100+ wins and a wire to wire season is a possibility. I think rbis.
Gee whiz,Tex, biggest payroll in baseball and you’re still not happy? Cohens money is the ace up their sleeve along with Baty and Alvarez.
I am excited enough for both me and Gus…as long as Edwin stays healthy. Gus is cautiously almost somewhat excited :)
Did we forget Big Man Brooks? (Not Robinson, Raley). He had one truly outstanding season after a career of mediocrity. Was it a late turning point or just an oddball occurrence?
Sustained success Raley occurs.
LOL, “almost somewhat excited”?????? Thank you Tom, I needed that after a long frustrating day at work! I build up to opening day slowly…
Gus, slow and steady wins the race.
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