MACK - RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

Good morning

 

I had this whole post completed yesterday before the whole Mets Twitter went nuts with the news that the Mets obtained the Yankees talented closer:

                    Thomas Nestico            @TJStats

                    Devin Williams (signed by NYM) is a dynamic reliever with one of the        best pitches in baseball with his aptly named "airbender" changeup. While his ERA didn't look appealing in 2025, his underlying metrics indicate he is still an elite pitcher

This is a major get for New York!

A few thoughts here…

1.     Terms are:  a $15mil salary across three years, a $6mil bonus spread over the contract terms, and a $5mil annual deferral that creates a present value of $15mil.

2.     By my estimates, this raises the current Mets 40-man salary total to $261,684,398, which will take any chance of operating 2026 below the penalty phase of the luxury tax out of the picture.

3.     Two things will develop here… one, Edwin Diaz will also sign with the Mets (creating the best 1-2 punch in the later innings of the game, or Williams will simply become the Mets closer for the next three seasons.

4.     Minor leagues like Dylan Ross and Ryan Lambert now have zero chance of becoming the next Mets closer, which places them as possible pieces of a trade package to get this team the SP1 they desperately need to compete this next season.

5.     It makes it perfectly clear to me that that Mets are far from done from building a whole different team this upcoming season.

Do I like it?  Yes, I do. I have skated around saying this in the past, but the 2025 version of this team was simply over-confident when things were going well and developed an almost prima donna attitude to their approach at both playing this game and playing it together with their teammates. Then things went dark and they began to turn on each other instead of coming together as… well, a team. Cohen & Co. are not going to let this happen forward and my guess is you  will be thrilled when this season starts the names of the players are on the back of their uniforms.

 

I watched Ernest Dove's last podcast on YouTube and I couldn't help but get excited about what I was listening to. For so many reasons.  One, I loved seeing that the Mets limited this pitching camp to a select group of pitchers they feel have the potential of someday pitching in the majors.  Next, I was thrilled to see that the pitchers chosen are the same ones I identify as the cream of the affiliates.  And lastly, I loved hearing that they are all now considered 100% healthy. I was especially worried about the status of Zach Thornton,  but, according to the Dove-mon, Zach is Bach, misspelled purposely. 

The potential of any Mets starters that finished in A+ Brooklyn last season seem doomed to return there in the spring.

Let’s do the “numbers”:

Starting with the parent club.

Baring a trade or FA signing, my guess is Nolan McLean, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, and Sean Manaea will be the opening day rotation.

Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat will further hone their craft alongside Christian Scott, who is healthy but needs to build up both game time IPs and arm strength. Jack Wenninger will join them after a dominating AA season.

From here, is a nightmare trying to figure out the fifth Syracuse and the front five in Binghamton. 

Candidates are: R.J. Gordon, Jonathan Pintaro, Joander Suarez, Will Watson, Zach Thornton, Jonathan Santucci, Noah Hall, Joel Diaz, Brandan Girton, and Irv Cota.

10 pitchers… six slots… meaning, some will be sent back to Brooklyn, be converted to the pen, or become pieces in a future trade or two.

As for Franklin Gomez, David Hurtado, Jose Chirinos, Calvin Zeigler and Jonathan Jiminez… they might as well renew their lease on their current Brooklyn digs.