IN FOCUS - Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Corner Outfielders of 2025, Future DSL Mets, Ted Williams< Desi Druschel, Randy Guzman, Bryce Jenkins

 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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New York Mets

While they ultimately fell a few million short, Steve Cohen and David Stearns were very invested in Yamamoto entering the 2023-24 offseason. Both men went to Japan to scout and meet Yamamoto in person during the NPB season. They established relationships with those close to him, including his agency, and none of it meant a damn in the end.

"I think the whole organization tried our hardest, and someone was going to win and someone was going to lose and that is the way it goes," Cohen told the New York Post after Yamamoto signed in LA. "I feel good about our efforts and I left it all on the field. Life goes on."

The Mets finished fourth in the NL East the previous season despite their $346 million payroll. While New York had to feel good about its farm system at the time, the rotation was a sore spot then and remains so to this day. If a few million was what came in the way of Yamamoto becoming the next Mets ace, it looks awfully silly given they signed Juan Soto to a $765 million deal the following winter.

 

Just Baseball’s Top Corner Outfielders of 2025

 

Mets Prospect Group                     @bkfan09

Euniel de La Cruz is a very good get for the Mets , rumored to be getting a bonus in the $3M+ ish range

 

MPG EXCLUSIVE -  Just A Little Preview .. And As Always This Is All Subject To Change.

 

Jim Koenigsberger                          @Jimfrombaseball        

"Ted Williams was now using all his considerable flying skill to nurse his badly damaged F9F Panther toward an emergency landing.

Shrapnel had knocked out the fighter’s hydraulics, meaning Williams could not lower the Panther’s landing gear or flaps.

Burning fuel streamed from the jet’s punctured tanks, threatening to turn the aircraft into a ball of fire at any moment.

Advised to eject from his severely damages F9F Panther, Ted Williams stayed with the airplane making a belly landing at a forward airfield.

With the alternate field in view Williams made a straight-in approach, holding the crippled Panther just off the runway to bleed off airspeed.

When he judged the jet was about to stall, he set it down as gingerly as possible. Yet as soon as the fighter’s belly touched the unforgiving concrete, a sheet of fire erupted from the damaged tanks.

Flames billowed out behind the plane as it slid down the runway, finally coming to a grinding halt some 2,000 feet from its touchdown point.

Ejecting the canopy from the cockpit, Ted Williams tumbled to the ground and ran to safety.

It was by far the most dramatic home run the ballplayer turned combat aviator ever made.

Ted Williams emerged unscathed from the spectacular belly landing, but his Panther was a write-off.

Back in the air the next day, Williams completed 39 combat missions in Korea before the armistice was signed on July 27.

Jeff Passan                                          @JeffPassan

Pitching coach Desi Druschel is returning to the New York Yankees after spending one season with the New York Mets, sources tell ESPN. Druschel, a veteran coach who received permission to talk with other teams, will rejoin the Yankees as an assistant to pitching coach Matt Blake

 

Mets Prospect Group                    @bkfan09

MPG EXCLUSIVE - Hearing  Recently signed IFA Pitching Prospect Randy Guzman has been up to 95 Mph at the Mets Academy

 

Bryce Jenkins

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Before the TJS injury, Jenkins operated with a sinker and a four-seam fastball, both of which averaged around 92 mph. He had two distinct breaking balls that generated better than 2900 rpm routinely, including the slider, which topped out at 3020 RPMs with St. Lucie. But the pitches were similar speeds and sometimes bled into one another.

After the injury, he’s tweaked things a bit. He topped out at 95.4 mph with his heater in the Florida State League in late August. He’s continued to differentiate between the two breakers, and while the slider may not be getting the elite spin rate it used to (around 2770 rpm in the AFL), he’s learning to rely on it with increased frequency in his relief role.

Now it’s just about reining all that in.