Daniel
Wexler @WexlerRules
Bummer. C
Yovanny Rodriguez placed on the 60 day IL
Opening
Day 2025: Inside Juan Soto's new chapter with Mets
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44385785/mlb-opening-day-2025-juan-soto-new-york-mets-arrival-new-era
More than
17,500 players have stepped into a major league batter's box. Soto's suggestion
that he wanted to stand atop that list took hubris, but Cohen gleaned something
else from Soto's words. He saw a kindred spirit, a perfect embodiment of what
he wanted his Mets to be. The franchise had spent most of its 64-year existence
bumbling along, while the New York Yankees, for whom Soto played in 2024, won
championship after championship.
Now, Cohen believes the Mets have finally
replaced decades of amateur-hour mismanagement with a functional group of
leaders -- and created a franchise that any free agent would choose over the 29
other clubs. Particularly a 26-year-old in search of his forever home.
Cohen sat
at the head of the outdoor table, flanked by Soto to his left and the Mets' new
president of baseball operations, David Stearns, to his right. Soto's agent,
Scott Boras, sat next to him and across from Alex Cohen, Steve's wife. Her
father, 93-year-old Ralph Garcia, a Mets fan for decades, showed up to the
meeting, as did Cohen's son, Josh.
The attendees reinforced a point Cohen
wanted to emphasize: The Mets might function around the principles embodied by
Cohen's hedge funds, but at its heart, theirs is a family business. For hours
they talked, enjoying Dominican food, making sure that this seemingly perfect
match of team and player was as substantive in person as it was in the computer
models that suggested Cohen spend more money to secure Soto's services than had
ever been guaranteed to a professional athlete.
For the
entirety of Cohen's adult life, he had assessed the value of financial products
and leveraged them to inconceivable riches. This deal was value
anthropomorphized, an opportunity for something bigger, lasting, life-changing
-- delivering a moment decades in the making for Ralph and the other Mets
die-hards and all of Queens. And Cohen intended to finish the meeting with a
flourish. He told the group to follow him to the theater room downstairs.
Mets’
Citi Field wins Best Baseball Stadium Food award, partners with Allagash
Brewing for 2025 season
https://qns.com/2025/03/mets-citi-field-best-food-award-allagash-brewing/?s=03
As the
New York Mets enter the 2025 season with aspirations of building a dynasty on
the field, the organization has already accomplished it in the kitchen. For the
third consecutive year, Citi Field has been named the winner of USA Today’s
10Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest for Best Baseball Stadium Food.
The
ballpark was nominated by a panel of experts relevant to the process, including
editors from USA Today and 10Best.com, relevant expert contributors and other
sources for Gannett properties. Winners from the pool of nominees were voted
online by the public.
| Mets News and Links, metsnewslinks.com, Mets Prospects, Syracuse Mets, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Brooklyn Cyclone, St. Lucie Mets. |
Syracuse
Mets placed 1B JT Schwartz on the 7-day injured
list.
Syracuse
Mets transferred RHP José Ureña to the
Development List.
Syracuse
Mets placed 1B Jared Young on the 7-day injured
list.
Syracuse
Mets placed RHP Yacksel RÃos on the 7-day
injured list.
Syracuse
Mets placed RHP Oliver Ortega on the 7-day
injured list.
Syracuse
Mets placed CF Drew Gilbert on the 7-day injured
list.
Syracuse
Mets placed CF Rafael Ortega on the 7-day
injured list.
RHP Brian Metoyer assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies
from Syracuse Mets.
OF Rowdey Jordan assigned to Syracuse Mets from
Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
RHP Jordan Geber assigned to Syracuse Mets from Binghamton
Rumble Ponies.
LF Travis Swaggerty assigned to Syracuse Mets from
Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
SS Wyatt Young assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies from
Syracuse Mets.
OF Omar De Los Santos assigned to Syracuse Mets from
Brooklyn Cyclones.
Syracuse
Mets transferred RHP Ty Adcock to the
Development List.
Syracuse
Mets activated LHP Génesis Cabrera.
Asked in
the late 1950`s, Ty Cobb was asked what he would hit if he played today?
Ty Cobb
replied "about .275."
When the
interviewer expressed shock, Cobb added, "I am almost 70 years old".
Ty Cobb
9 MLB
storylines to watch for this season
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/9-mlb-storylines-watch-season-ahead-opening-dayThe New
York Mets added Juan Soto after a surprise run
to the NLCS. Will it push them over the top to make a run?
The Mets
lost to the Dodgers in six games in the NLCS last season, then gave the most
lucrative contract in professional sports history to the top free agent on the
market.
Soto
signed a 15-year, $765 million contract after a career season with the Yankees,
which he helped propel to the World Series.
The Mets
hope Soto can do the same for them. The star right fielder joins a lineup that
features shortstop Francisco Lindor, first
baseman Pete Alonso, third baseman Mark Vientos and left fielder Brandon
Nimmo atop the order.
The Mets
have already been dealth two injuries to their starting lineup. Starting
catcher Francisco Alvarez (fractured hamate bone
in left hand) will miss six to eight weeks, and second baseman Jeff McNeil sustained a low-grade right oblique
strain. McNeil will miss opening day and should return by mid-April.
With
McNeil and Alvarez missing time, the burden will fall to Soto and crew to pick
up the slack.
The Mets'
starting rotation also dealt with injuries during spring training.
Free
agent acquisition Frankie Montas sustained a
high-grade right lat strain and was shut down from throwing for 6–8 weeks in
mid-February.
Sean Manaea, who re-signed with the team for three years and $75 million contract,
sustained a right oblique strain and is expected to return at some point in
April.
With the
injuries to Montas and Manaea, the Mets starting rotation entering the season
does not look as deep as it did at the beginning of spring training. These are
the five starters the Mets are rolling out for their first five games:
Clay Holmes
Tylor Megill
Griffin Canning
David Peterson
Kodai Senga
After
signing with the Mets in the offseason, Holmes is transitioning back to being a
starter after being the Yankees’ closer for three seasons. He will get the
opening day nod.
Senga
would have likely been the opening day starter, but he pitched in just one
regular-season game last year due to injury, and the Mets are being cautious
with him entering the season. Last season, Senga dealt with shoulder, triceps
and calf injuries.
With a
starting rotation hampered by injuries, the Mets are going to rely on the
offense and bullpen to get them through the beginning of the season.
The Mets
hope the addition of Soto and others is enough to help them overcome early
injuries and make another run in October.
Inside
the pitch design process that fuels the Mets’ rotation
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6233066/2025/03/27/mets-rotation-clay-holmes-repertoire/
Step 2:
Design around your strength
In adding
those three new offerings, Clay Holmes had to be
firm with one thing: “In order to throw my sinker really good, my release is a
certain way. You don’t really want to change that,” he said. “You have to
understand what’s in the realm of possibility.”
So when
Holmes was tinkering, he made sure the ball was still coming out of the same
release point — and that the new pitches didn’t detract from the mainstays.
“If I go
chase the best four-seamer I want to throw, I can probably throw a better
four-seam, but that may take away from some things I already do,” he said.
“It’s really understanding that you do these things really well, and this is
how you do them. Without changing that very much, how can we maximize the
movement on another pitch?”
MLB in
2025: The numbers that define baseball, from 1.96 to 41 to 1.44 billion
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6234375/2025/03/27/mlb-2025-season-numbers-facts/
The Magic
Number: 1.44 billion
WHAT IT
MEANS: Did you know that this will be Steve Cohen’s
fifth season as the gazillionaire owner of the Mets? Boy, time flies when there
are no Wilpons to occupy it, right?
Have you
ever tallied up Cohen’s combined payrolls for those five seasons? I have. It
comes to $1.44 billion, according to Spotrac (including this year’s projected
$312 million payroll).
The good
news is, he’s at least gotten two playoff appearances and one trip to the NLCS
out of it. The bad news is, he has outspent the Rays by over a billion dollars
in that span. (Their combined payrolls in the same period: “only” $405
million.)
So which
of those two teams has won the most games in that time frame? Hint: Not the
team laying out $1.44 billion.
Rays —
365 wins
Mets —
342 wins
Baseball!
Eno
Sarris’ updated MLB starting pitcher rankings for the 2025 season
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6211367/2025/03/21/sarris-mlb-starting-pitcher-rankings-fantasy-baseball/
(PC - Ernest Dove)#82 David
Peterson
94 Stuff+
3.83
ppERA
Owner of
a good slider and four other mediocre pitches, David Peterson doesn't have
great command, velocity or even ground-ball rates. He's still a lefty, and he
still throws in Queens, and both of those things can help soften the blow of
some of these shortcomings. And having a slider is better than not having
anything!
Peterson hasn't topped 121 innings in a major-league season, but the
rotation is wide open for him right now, and if he does put some bulk on it,
he'll have surprising value at the end of the season. Even with a high-threes
ERA, a below-average strikeout rate and a poor WHIP.
Seven New
York Mets minor league arms to watch in 2025
https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/seven-new-york-mets-minor-league-arms-to-watch-in-2025
5. Jonathan Santucci, LHP [No. 13 ranked prospect]Jonathan
Santucci was drafted by the Mets at No. 46 overall in the second-round of last
year's MLB Draft out of Duke University. The 22-year-old left-hander's stuff
has been described by team officials as "absolutely disgusting."
Santucci's fastball sits at 95-96 mph; he also has a hard slider and curveball
that he can spot up. His changeup is a great pitch that he can utilize to get
righties out.
Just
Baseball - New York Mets Top 15 Prospects
https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/new-york-mets-top-15-prospects/?s=03
Other
Names to Consider
Eli Serrano – OF – (Low-A): A fourth round pick by the Mets in the 2024 Draft out of
NC State, the Mets snagged Serrano as a draft-eligible sophomore despite him
putting up rather pedestrian numbers, betting on his fascinating upside.
As a
6-foot-6 left-handed hitter who currently is hit-over-power, Serrano is a
unique archetype. He produced an in-zone contact rate north of 90% in 2024
while making the move from first base to the outfield where he held his own.
The Mets
are hoping Serrano can add more strength to his very slender frame, which
paired with his surprisingly solid bat-to-ball, could turn him into an exciting
corner bat.
Medium -
The Really Big 2025 Mets Prospects Ranking
https://medium.com/@mdonodeo8/the-really-big-2025-mets-prospects-ranking-5c0fbaaa49f0
18) Marco Vargas
Vargas
was a big riser in the complex league in 2023 when he got dealt to the Mets at
the deadline (in what was one of the savvier moves in the very mixed bag of
Billy Eopler’s résumé), but injuries have sidelined him for most of his
potential playing time since then.
This means the profile is pretty similar to
what it was when he was dealt, but as someone entering his age-20 season in
low-A instead of being two years younger than the average age of the level. He
makes a boatload of contact in the zone, over 90%, and draws a lot of walks due
to his elite chase rate, although he does get passive at the plate.
Power is a
bit of a concern, as his 104 max EV is below average, but he did hit the ball
in his hardest range enough to have a FSL-average EV90 of 101.7. Visually he’s
not the most projectable, although there are likely some gains coming, and he
hits the ball on the sweet spot enough to imagine something resembling usable
power down the line in most scenarios, even if it’s not a big part of his game.
He’s a likely second baseman long term, but should be fine there and could
offer some positional versatility. 2024 was a bit of a lost year, but
health-permitting he seems on track to a major league role, and one with some
upside if he can regain the helium he experienced in 2023.
