3) Jeff
McNeil
Some people just don’t like Jeff McNeil because of the
way he presents himself. Hotheaded during his calm moments, his temper is
off-putting. Crab legs are treated more nicely at a buffet than the way he does
his bat and helmet when something doesn’t go his way.
As a player, McNeil proved himself to be incredibly
useful yet again this season. What would the Mets have done in center field if
not for him? His 28 starts at the position helped give them a more capable
starting lineup at a time when he was hitting well. It’s a shame he had to end
his regular season in such a rotten slump.
McNeil finished the year hitting .243/.335/.411. He was
absent during the biggest parts of the season with a defensive guffaw in center
field against the Philadelphia Phillies costing them a game. With several
chances to change how fans felt on Sunday, McNeil went 0 for 4 with a pair of
strikeouts.
It seems like every offseason includes the idea of
trading McNeil. After his extension he signed following a batting title in
2022, McNeil has been less his usual self. Once capable of hitting .300 with no
problem, we’re now requesting a .250 batting average from him to reach the bare
minimum.
If there’s a trade to shake up the lineup this offseason,
it would probably have McNeil and his almost $16 million with a team option
going elsewhere. Nothing seems certain, but with so many other veterans locked
up to contracts the way they are and young players coming up at the positions
McNeil plays, this feels like a stronger possibility. For those who’ve turned
on McNeil, save the champagne bottle for the MLB Winter Meetings.
Codify @CodifyBaseball
In Sandy Koufax's last
two regular seasons, he made 82 starts, averaged 8 innings per start, and had a
1.89 ERA in those starts.
Jim
Koenigsberger @Jimfrombaseball
"In the Savannah clubhouse they had partitioned off
a space for Curt Flood. It was outside. It
was with a dirt floor. And it was made out of corrugated tin, like a little
shed.
During a doubleheader, you wore the same uniform, and then the clubhouse guy
started screaming and yelling, 'This
n***** put his clothes in here. My God!'
And the clubhouse guy took a long stick with a nail on
the end of it, plucked Curt's clothes out of the pile of dirty, sweaty uniforms
and dumped them into a paper bag.
Then he called a colored taxi company, told him to take
the clothes to the colored cleaners, while Curt sat there, naked."
Judy
Pace Flood, wife of Curt Flood
"Was there bigotry toward black players in those
days?
Absolutely.
Cardinals Mgr. Solly Hemus said that Bob Gibson would never be a good major league pitcher, because
he threw all his pitches the same speed."
Tim
McCarver
14
Players Elect Free Agency
Catchers
Jason Delay (Braves)
José Herrera (Diamondbacks)
Infielders
Jacob Amaya (White Sox)
Trenton Brooks (Padres)
Zack Short (Astros)
Outfielder
Sam Hilliard (Rockies)
Pitchers
Luarbert Árias (Marlins)
Luis Castillo (Orioles)
Mike Clevinger (White Sox)
Chris Devenski (Mets)
Joe Jacques (Mariners)
Tyson Miller (Cubs)
José Quijada (Angels)
Jake Woodford (Diamondbacks)
Check out the freshly updated Top 100 Prospects list
https://www.mlb.com/news/updated-top-100-prospects-list-for-october-2025?partnerID=web_article-share
Top 15
1. Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pirates (previous: No. 1)
2. Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers (previous: No. 2)
3. Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics (previous: No. 3)
4. Jesús Made, SS/2B, Brewers (previous: No. 5)
5. JJ Wetherholt, SS/2B/3B, Cardinals (previous: No. 6)
6. Sebastian Walcott, SS/3B, Rangers (previous: No. 4)
7. Samuel Basallo, C/1B, Orioles (previous: No. 8)
8. Max Clark, OF, Tigers (previous: No. 9)
9. Colt Emerson, SS/3B, Mariners (previous: No. 11)
10. Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins (previous: No. 14)
11. Nolan McLean, RHP, Mets
(previous: No. 36)
12. Bryce Eldridge, 1B, Giants (previous: No. 13)
13. Josue De Paula, OF, Dodgers (previous: No. 12)
14. Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates (previous: No. 7)
15. Eli Willits, SS, Nationals (previous: No. 18)
Jim
Koenigsberger @Jimfrombaseball
While Joe DiMaggio served
in the military his parents, Giuseppe and Rosalia, were classified as “enemy
aliens” by the US Government since they had been born in Italy.
They had to carry ID with them at all times, could not
leave a 5 mile radius of their San Francisco home without written Government
permission. Giuseppe, who earned his living as a fisherman, could not enter San
Francisco Bay and his fishing boat was confiscated by the government.
"I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,
the old man said.
They say his father was a fisherman.
Maybe he was as poor as we are and would
understand."
"The Old Man and the Sea"
Ernest
Hemingway
Ryan Helsley explains what went wrong during
disastrous Mets tenure
"I didn’t think it was going to be as hard a
transition as it was," Helsley admitted, as Will Sammon of The Athletic
shared on Friday. "I think it’s only human nature to want to show your
value, probably press a little too hard, too much, maybe overthink things or
overwork things instead of being the same guy I had been the last four
years."
…
"I made a couple of mechanical changes, posture
changes with my hands, so that’s a big adjustment after pitching the same way
for the majority of my career," Helsley explained. "But I think it’ll
benefit me in the long run to be there and not have to worry about possibly
tipping again."
…
"Hopefully they see me as a backend guy,"
Helsley added. "I feel like I’ve shown I can do that in my career over the
last four seasons. I think the last month or so that I’ve struggled here, a lot
of things can be attributed to it. And even the game’s greatest players go
through it. In free agency, teams are more willing to pay you on 'stuff.' There
are more things teams can quantify nowadays than ERA."
Tangotiger
@tangotiger
In 2025, Juan Soto had
1913 called pitches
By rules in effect through to 2025, that means Soto had
1913 unique strike zones, none of which were actually defined, before or after
the pitch (though they can be reasonably estimated)
In 2026: Soto will have one zone, pre-defined
Yardbarker
“Cody Bellinger has a
left heel injury. He says it’s not a big deal. The Yankees say it’s not a big
deal. I watched Cody Bellinger move around yesterday — he was not moving
great,” he said.
“This is not a forgiving turf. He’s got to play two games
on here. And on defense, in particular, cutting balls off, we see Bellinger is
an attack dog on defense. He’s part of a more athletic Yankee group on offense…
If Bellinger is compromised, it takes away a real defensive, base-running,
overall element from the Yankees. It’s something to watch early in this series”.
10 comments:
Posting YANKEE. info?
Squirrels are squirrels…don’t expect them to be King Charles.
Koufax in this day and age would have thrown 40% less innings. And lasted years longer.
Helsley can return, in my book.
I know that everyone wants McNeil gone, but the Mets have three guys that they need to get off the field and DH’ing as much as possible if they want to improve their defense, Pete (assuming he returns), Soto, and Nimmo. McNeil, is still an above average MLB hitter at .746 OPS, and far better vs. RHP, and while he doesn’t have great range anymore at 2B, is easily a defensive upgrade at all three of those positions. Rather than eat money and trade him for pennies in the dollar, I’d keep him.
Love to keep Jeff as a super utility guy.
Agreed. Sign a 2B with real range (which will help cover for both Pete next to him or Soto behind him when they’re on the field) and use him at their spots (and occasionally Nimmo’s) where he’ll be better defensively than any of them, vs. RHP.
Future Met Yankee
2026 is a bridge year
McNeil is a perfect bridge player
Only sign a 2B if you package Williams
Agreed. My first choice for a 2b would be Williams (assuming the org believes in his defense) with Acuña starting the season there if Williams needs a bit more AAA time. I wouldn’t plan on keeping Acuña there all season though, so I would look to acquire a 2B from outside if they don’t believe that Jett will be ready by mid-year, at the latest, or that he’ll prove to be a defensive upgrade.
Jeff McNeil exhibited wha t few others did - a little passion and a distaste for failure. I think the fans need to see that these guys hate losing as much as we hate watching them lose. Composure is great until it looks like indifference. Keep McNeil.
In addition, he willingly plays wherever is needed & bats wherever is needed. No need to “talk” to him about moving from 2nd to third in the batting order, etc.
He is worth it - not the problem
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