Mack's Mets

1/30/20

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/30/2020

Lots going on with the Mets and the MLB’s plan to contract Minor League Teams.

Mack’s Mets Reese Kaplan will have more on the Minor League contraction proposal later this morning.

MiLB sent a letter to MLB on Wednesday and MLB responded.

We linked yesterday the Boston Globe article on the House of Representatives Resolution imploring Major League Baseball to abandon its proposal to strip major league affiliations from 42 minor league teams across the country.

In addition, Mets Minors noted: “Representative Anthony Brindisi, who represents the Binghamton area, joined the Resolution, and said, ‘Minor league baseball and the communities that support it are part of the fabric of America and its favorite pastime. I joined my colleagues, from both parties, to call on Major League Baseball to work with Minor League Baseball and preserve affordable, family friendly fun.’”

Per Yahoo Sports: Minor League Baseball accuses MLB of making misleading statements.

1/29/20

JON MATLACK, RON DARLING AND EDGARDO ALFONZO TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE METS HALL OF FAME THIS SUMMER

JON MATLACK, RON DARLING AND EDGARDO ALFONZO TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE METS HALL OF FAME THIS SUMMER

AL JACKSON TO RECEIVE THE METS HOF ACHEVEMENT AWARD

FLUSHING, N.Y., January 28, 2020 – The New York Mets today announced that LHP Jon Matlack, RHP Ron Darling and infielder Edgardo Alfonzo will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 17 prior to the 1:10 p.m. game vs. the Pirates at Citi Field. The three new additions will bring the total membership of the Mets Hall of Fame to 30. Al Jackson will be posthumously honored with the Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award for contributions to the organization.

“On behalf of ownership, I was thrilled to wholeheartedly approve the Hall of Fame Committee’s recommendation for Jon Matlack, Ron Darling and Edgardo Alfonzo into the 2020 class,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. “This group combines Mets eras from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. Matlack was a fierce lefty who was a rock in the rotation and helped the 1973 Mets to the NL pennant. Ron’s steady brilliance was capped with the ’86 world championship. He allowed just three earned runs in 17.2 innings during the World Series vs. Boston. Fonzie is always someone Mets fans wanted at the plate with the game on the line. He thrived in those situations. His monster years in 1999 and 2000 were a huge reason for our success.”

Matlack was the 1972 Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-Star with the Mets. He ranks in the top 10 in franchise history in wins, complete games, ERA, strikeouts, shutouts and innings. Matlack won two games and had a 1.40 ERA in four starts during the 1973 postseason. He won double-digit games five straight years, led the NL in shutouts in 1974 and 1976 and was the co-MVP of the 1975 All-Star Game.

“I was honored when I got the call from Jeff [Wilpon],” said Matlack. “I was astounded when he called and I am so grateful for the honor. My time in New York was special to me and I am thrilled to be remembered with all of the great players, especially the pitchers, this organization has been blessed to have. Congrats to my fellow inductees Ron Darling and Edgardo Alfonzo. I’m glad that Al Jackson is being recognized as well for what he gave to the organization.”

Darling was one of the backbones of the Mets pitching rotation in the 1980s. He ranks fourth in team history in wins with 99. Darling is also in the top 10 in club history in complete games, innings, strikeouts and shutouts. A member of the 1986 World Champions, he won Game 4 of the World Series in Boston to even the series. Darling was an All-Star in 1985 and earned a Gold Glove Award in 1989. He has been a member of SNY’s broadcast team since its inception in 2006.

“I’m humbled and honored to be part of the Mets Hall of Fame Class of 2020,” said Darling. “Congratulations to the other honorees, especially Al Jackson who was my mentor in the minor leagues. Al changed the path of my professional baseball career and for that, I will be forever grateful. I want to thank the New York Mets organization for this honor and allowing me to be a part of the orange and blue for all these years. This year will be my 25th year, in some capacity, as part of the Mets family. I want to thank all of my teammates, managers and coaches, but most importantly the diehard Mets fans who have made a Hawaiian-born, Massachusetts-raised ballplayer and broadcaster, feel like a true New Yorker.”

Alfonzo was one of the most clutch performers in Mets history. He ranks first in team postseason history in hits, runs and RBI. Alfonzo homered in the one-game playoff in 1999 at Cincinnati and then slugged two homers, including a grand slam, in Game 1 of the NLDS at Arizona. He ranks in the Top 10 in franchise history in hits, runs, doubles, RBI, OBP, total bases and batting average. Alfonzo won a Silver Slugger Award in 1999 and was an All-Star in 2000.

“Getting into the Mets Hall of Fame is a dream come true for me,” said Alfonzo. “The Mets have had so many great players in their history and I’m so proud to receive this honor. This is something I never thought would be possible when I started out. I was never much for individual goals, I just wanted to help us win. For me to get inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on the 20^th anniversary of our NL championship is a special thrill. I would like to congratulate Ron and Jon on their inductions. I’m really glad that Al Jackson is getting honored. He was our pitching coach for two years and was one of my favorites.”

Jackson, an original Met who spent 50 years in a New York Mets uniform, passed away on August 19, 2019. He pitched for the Mets from 1962-1969 and later became a major league coach, minor league pitching coordinator and a front office advisor for the club. The other Hall of Fame Achievement Award recipients are: front office executive Bob Mandt (2010), head groundskeeper Pete Flynn (2012) and scout Harry Minor (2013).

“Al was one of the Mets longest-tenured uniform members,” said Wilpon. “You can’t measure the impact he had on players as a major league and minor league coach. His laugh is greatly missed. We are honored to bestow this award to his family.”

The 30 Hall of Fame members in order of the year they were inducted are: Joan Payson (1981); Casey Stengel (1981); Gil Hodges (1982); George M. Weiss (1982); Johnny Murphy (1983); William A. Shea (1983); Ralph Kiner (1984); Bob Murphy (1984); Lindsey Nelson (1984); Bud Harrelson (1986); Rusty Staub (1986); Tom Seaver (1988); Jerry Koosman (1989); Ed Kranepool (1990); Cleon Jones (1991); Jerry Grote (1992); Tug McGraw (1993); Mookie Wilson (1996); Keith Hernandez (1997); Gary Carter (2001); Tommie Agee (2002); Frank Cashen (2010); Dwight Gooden (2010); Davey Johnson (2010), Darryl Strawberry (2010), John Franco (2012), Mike Piazza (2013), Jon Matlack (2020), Ron Darling (2020) and Edgardo Alfonzo (2020).

Tom Brennan - HOW TO USE ROBBIE CANO IN 2020

The trade of Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn to acquire Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz may end up being best characterized as:

"You broke it, you own it."

But now we "own" Robbie Cano; what is the right way to use him going into 2020?

I thought I'd consider a few things about Mr. "Don't You Know" in making that determination:

Career-wise, having played so many games in the House that George Built, one would have thought Cano would have had vastly better home than road splits, given the Yankee Stadium porch.

Wrong. Very Wrong.

In his career, this is what he's done, home and away:

HOME:

.299/.350/.492

ROAD:

.305/.355/.489

Pretty remarkably close, virtually a dead heat, especially when you consider the dramatically divergent Yankee home/road splits of Aaron Judge:

.315/.433/.647 home, and just .233/.355/.472 road.

Huge difference.

Moving on, we still have to figure out with Cano in 2020:

"How to do it?"

Well, here's another way to look at Cano, for those of you who feel he is too old to be any good.

Who feel he ought to be benched.

Who feel he ought to be banished.

He missed half of 2018 with Seattle due to certain...ahem...issues, and was badly impacted by some HBPs to the hand area in the first half of 2019.

So, out of curiosity, what would his 2018 and 2nd half (healthy) 2019 numbers look like, if combined?

122 G, 513 PAs, 458 ABs, 136 H (.297), 33 doubles, 19 HRs, 71 R, 71 RBI, 43 BB.

Would you take that production for 2020 for Cano if he played 122 games?

I would!

OK, if he is to be kept out of 40 games (a good idea to give him breaks and keep him healthy as he gets older), which 40?

Ans.: I would vote to sit him against all lefties when possible.

Not that he is a bad career hitter against lefties. He is just a better hitter against righties, by a decent margin:

Lefties, career: .281/.332/.428

Righties, career: .313/.363/.522

Now, career-wise, he has had 34% of his plate appearances against lefties, 66% against righties.

66% of 162 games = 107 games; to that 107 games, add in oh, let's say 15 pinch hit games, and voila, you are at 122 games. How did I do that??

Anyway, anyhow, that's how I would be thinking of using him:

107 starts against righties, and otherwise use him to pinch hit as appropriate.

Maybe, just maybe, his 2020 stats would look familiar, like this:

122 G, 513 PAs, 458 ABs, 136 H (.297), 33 doubles, 19 HRs, 71 R, 71 RBI, 43 BB.

How about you, Mr. and Mrs. Manager?

How would you use Mr. Cano in 2020?

I could wait to ask you next October, but then hindsight would be 2020, wouldn't it?

Reese Kaplan -- Does Luis Rojas Have Enough to Win?

Where do you expect the Mets to finish in 2020? To some, the club is incomplete without improving the defense, the bullpen and the bench. To others the club is just fine building on what they accomplished in 2019. To a larger majority, however, the club is full of unknowns, including the health of various players, the inexperience of another unknown manager and upcoming changes in ownership that may or may not propel them into a new direction led not by the Wilpons but by Steve Cohen.

Let’s look at the good stuff first. When your core includes Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, JD Davis, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Wilson Ramos, the starting rotation and hopefully what’s an improved bullpen, yeah, that’s a contending ballclub. If you get anything like you’d expected out of Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances then you are very much going to find yourself in the thick of things come September. Add in ANY contributions at all from Yoenis Cespedes and Jed Lowrie and you could be looking at doing something in October other than packing for a long winter.

Can the club be improved? Absolutely! There was precious little done during the off-season between the managerial snafu. Yes, they signed a solid if unhealthy relief pitcher in Dellin Betances. They are hopefully getting back some of their injured players for solid contributions. The expensive Juan Lagares was replaced by a similar and less expensive Jake Marisnick who hopefully knows how to hit without tips from the Astros’ video system. Todd Frazier and Zack Wheeler walked out the door. Some cried some tears for Wheeler (at least until they saw what the Phillies wound up paying to secure his services). Many were hoping the Mets would acquire more solid and healthy talents or parlay some of their excess into meaningful pieces for now or in the near future.

Right now it seems the club is a little overfilled with outfielders and infielders, a bit thin on catching and very tentative in the bullpen given what 2019 demonstrated in the box score. They are banking on an elder statesman at 2B to rebound as he showed capable in September. They don’t know what to make of Cespedes and Lowrie. They don’t know where the ABs will originate for JD Davis and Dom Smith. No one is even sure what position Jeff McNeil and his hopefully healed hand will be playing.

No one should be envying Luis Rojas for his newly crowned job as manager of the Mets. He knows a great many of the younger ballplayers having managed them in the lower minors. On the other hand, will veterans like Cano, Cespedes and Lowrie take orders from someone their same age? Will he be able to juggle effective bats with suspect gloves into the lineup on a regular basis? Will he advocate the front office instead parlay the solid wood for some superior leather? Or will he assume his power and intellect will be enough given what he has at his disposal?

Right now people are chomping at the bit for actual baseballs to be thrown, hit and fielded as if games were at stake. Is what they have enough to win? Probably, yes. Could it be improved? Probably, yes as well. Will it be improved? That’s the biggest mystery of them all and the fodder for many adult-beverage infused debates with fellow fans.

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/29/2020

Phil Regan’s team wins a championship in the Dominican, Dusty Baker is the new manager in Houston, the DH may be coming to the National League, and three great all time Mets are headed to the Mets Hall of Fame.

Per SNY.TV: Ron Darling, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Jon Matlack will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 17, the team announced Tuesday. In addition, Al Jackson, who passed away in August, will be honored with the Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award.

Mike Puma of the NY Post reported that “Edgardo Alfonzo was thinking promotion just as Mets fired him”. Alfonzo said he never received a real explanation for his ouster from general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. “I talked to Jeff and he knows me,” Alfonzo said. “I am always going to be a Met. I like the Mets and I understand this is a business situation, but I am here and I really appreciate it and hopefully one day we can do some stuff together.”

Brian Joura of Mets 360 had a 2020 projection for Noah Syndergaard. Brian predicts: IP – 190.2 IP; ERA – 2.93; K’s – 197; BB – 42; HR – 15.

213 Miles from Shea continued to look at how Baseball America’s 2019 Top 30 Mets Prospect did last year with #28 Junior Santos. “You can’t teach height and he has good stuff. He just needs to work on controlling it, which makes sense. Santos will probably play in Brooklyn next year, maybe Kingsport again (I’ll be surprised if he gets bumped up to a full-season league at the onset). I also expect that by the end of next season, a lot more of us will be talking about him.”

Amazing Avenue continued their top 25 Mets 2020 Prospects with #3 Matthew Allan.

Andres Chavez of Empire Sports Media wrote about: Tomas Nido and the importance of defensive-minded backup catchers. “Pitchers love a catcher with which they can establish a good communication. They also benefit from a “stolen” strike here or there thanks to good pitch framing. The ability to call a game is more important than it is perceived. Nido beats Ramos in all of those, and that itself buys him some playing time.”

Michael Meyer of Metsmerized online interviewed Mets Catching Prospect Patrick Mazeika. Patrick talked about working on his defensive skills, being more balanced swinging the bat, David Peterson‘s slider.

Empire Sports Media thinks the DH to the National League would benefit the Mets. “The Mets could solve their Jeff McNeil problem with this new rule by making him their everyday second baseman and batting Cano, who is under contract though 2023, at DH most games.”

SNY.TV’s Danny Abriano thinks the DH benefits the Mets by opening up Third Base for SS prospect Ronny Mauricio.

SNY.TV’s Danny Abriano also looked at who would have made great DH’s in Mets history if the NL adopted the DH back in 1973. For example, Dave Kingman, Rusty Staub, Todd Hundley, Eddie Murray, Mo Vaughn, Mike Piazza, David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes.

Bleacher Report thinks “Mookie Betts Trade Rumors: Red Sox 'More Serious Than Ever' in Talks for Star OF.” “Per MLB Network's Jon Heyman, there's a sense that the Red Sox are ‘more serious than ever’ about a trade, and rival teams ‘are starting to think’ the 2018 American League MVP will be dealt. Heyman noted there's no indication which team is the most likely destination.”

Per the Boston Globe: US Representative Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), along with three others, introduced a resolution to the House of Representatives Tuesday morning imploring Major League Baseball to abandon its proposal to strip major league affiliations from 42 minor league teams across the country.

Regarding Robot Umps this spring training the Joy Of Sox reported: “The umpires' union clarified that automated balls-and-strikes software (or an electronic strike zone) would be used behind the scenes during nine spring training games. The on-field umpires will make all rulings during the games as usual.”

Per Inside Hook.com: “Report: ESPN to Remove Jessica Mendoza From “Sunday Night Baseball”.”

Per 12 up.com: Reds Signing Nicholas Castellanos Could Increase Likelihood of Francisco Lindor Trade.

The Mets were not the only ones with a Fan Fest this past weekend. The Braves held one as well and per AJC.com: “Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna spoke with the media at Chop Fest on Saturday at Truist Park.”

12 up.com also had: “Yankees Signing Red Sox Fan Favorite Brock Holt Would Be Ideal End to the Perfect Offseason.”

Per SNY.TV: Yankees reportedly agree to minor-league deal with former Mets catcher Josh Thole.

Per MLB Trade Rumors:

Astros Expected To Hire Dusty Baker as their new manager.

Royals, Greg Holland Agree To Minor League Deal.

Red Sox Reportedly Interested in Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay for manager.

Orioles To Sign veteran lefty Wade LeBlanc to a minor league contract.

Red Sox Re-Sign Mitch Moreland.

Cubs sign Steven Souza Jr.

Winter Ball:

Congratulations to Phil Regan’s Toros Del Este as they beat the Tigres del Licey 7-1 (box). The Toros Del Este wins the best of 9 game series 5-3 to become Campeones Nationales.

The league champion now goes on to the Caribbean Series.

Tim Peterson gave up the only runs for the Toros going just a third of an inning allowing a run on 2 hits and a walk with one strikeout. (On September 30, 2019 Tim was granted Free Agency.)

Jordany Valdespin went 0 for 4, with a walk and run scored.

Historical Links:

Mack’s Blast From the Past comes from January 29, 2012: Mack looked at players in the upcoming 2012 June Draft, namely Marcus Stroman.

UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:

Born on this date:

Sergio Ferrer (1951)
Kevin Roberson (1968)

Transactions:
New York Mets signed free agent Shane Spencer on January 29, 2004.

New York Mets signed free agent Scott Atchison of the Boston Red Sox on January 29, 2013.

Want more? Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news.

Want something else tracked here each day? Please leave a comment below.

1/28/20

Tony Plate The Mets Name Rojas Manager

The Mets chose Luis Rojas to be their next manager and signed him to a multi-year deal. Since he was their Quality Control coach the players know him very well.

Perhaps the Met owners saw value in choosing an internal candidate, because they are well-versed in their process and dynamics.

With spring training a few weeks away, Brodie Van Wagenen does not think he will make a splash type of trade, because he doesn’t want to disrupt the current chemistry of the team, however If another team approaches him with an offer and he feels that he has a chance to upgrade the team he will look into it.

The Mets have high expectations going into the season. You have to ponder if they are done making moves now. In my opinion they have more work to do with the roster such as trying to unload the contract of Jed Lowrie.

In order to do this, they would have to attach a prospect to entice another team to be interested.

When you have a situation like this you have to act fast; however, the Mets aren’t in a hurry, which is different.

The Yankees have the same situation with JA Happ and want to unload his contract and they aren’t in a hurry to do so either which bewilders me. They should have unloaded his contract before they signed Gerrit Cole.

The basketball world was devastated and saddened on Sunday when Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a helicopter crash. Kobe was a legend and was one of the greatest basketball players of all-time.

He was fourth on the all-time scoring list, an 18 time All-Star and a five-time NBA champion. He always would rise to the occasion during the fourth quarter of both the regular season and the post-season and played the game like there was no tomorrow.

Bryant scored 61 points at Madison Square Garden on February 2, 2009, including a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line, which set the record for MSG at the time.

He also scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006 to register the second-highest scoring output in league history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962

2009	The Mets avoid salary arbitration with John Maine (10-8, 4.18) when both sides agree to a $2.6 million, one-year deal. The 25 year-old right-handed starter, who missed the last five weeks of the season due to an injury to his pitching shoulder, is expected to play a significant role this year in the team's pitching rotation.

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