John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/3/2020

With the Holidays past, baseball got back to the Hot Stove business Thursday.

Biggest Mets news was the Press conference to introduce Dellin Betances.

Here’s video of Dellin and Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen discussing the signing.

Some press conference quotes from Brodie Van Wagenen:

From the NY Post - In regards to the Yoenis Cespedes deal allowing the Mets to acquire Betances: “The specifics of Cespedes’ resolution didn’t necessarily drive this decision,” “It was more the desire to get this player.”  

From the NY Post regarding Dellin’s health: “We believe that a healthy and dominant Dellin, combined with Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson and Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach, Robert Gsellman, this collective group has the potential to be one of the best bullpens in baseball.”

From Newsday: “I’ve talked many times this season and in the past that our goal is to increase the floor of our projected window,” Van Wagenen said. “This signing is different. This signing was intended to blow the cover off of our ceiling.”

From Dellin Betances:

From the NY Post regarding his health: “I feel good at this point,” Betances said. “I’ll be ready to go in spring training.” He added: “I’ll be 100 percent.”

From Newsday: “He grew up playing on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, went to school in Brooklyn, played for the Staten Island Yankees and broke into the major leagues in the Bronx. ‘And now I stand here, having the chance to wear this Mets uniform and play in Queens,’ he said. ‘New York is in my blood.’”

In that same article Newsday reported “Edwin Diaz has tweaked his mechanics and the team’s new pitching coach, Jeremy Hefner, went to Puerto Rico to work with him.”

SNY.TV had Brodie’s three reasons why the Mets can expect an Edwin Diaz bounceback: "First and foremost, he's healthy," Van Wagenen said. "Secondly, even in his difficult time last year he still struck out 99 batters over the course of the year. And then we know the work he's putting into his training, from a nutrition standpoint, strength and conditioning as well as nuts and bolts mechanics. I think once we hired Jeremy Hefner, Jeremy got to Puerto Rico, sat down with Edwin and we've got a good communication already set up."

Metsmerized says that “Hope Emerges With Addition of Dellin Betances”.

Mets 360 looked at the Minor League Park factors for the Mets affiliates.  Looking at a Baseball America story they note: “Still, when we say that Brooklyn and Columbia are pitcher-friendly, you can now see how much that is true. And the hitting environment in Kingsport is certainly a favorable one. The Florida State League is a pitcher’s league but St. Luice is one of the better hitting parks in the loop.”

Reflections on Baseball asked Why can’t Matt Harvey become the next Jason Isringhausen?

Metsblog said with a “big trade” still possible, here are 5 players the Mets should pursue:  They discuss “Cubs 3B Kris Bryant, Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado, Pirates OF Starling Marte and SP Chris Archer, Red Sox OF Mookie Betts and Indians SS Francisco Lindor.”

Rising Apple detailed 3 Mets minor leaguers fighting for a roster spot this spring training: Ali Sanchez, Daniel Zamora, and Luis Guillorme.

Rising Apple also had three good January predictions for the Mets: Sign a veteran starting pitcher to a minor league deal, make an unexpected trade, and don’t unload a bad contract.

Amazing Avenue continued to run down the top 25 Mets Prospects with number 23 – Ali Sanchez and number 22 - Stanley Consuegra.

MLB.com had the prospects set to break out for all 30 teams: For the Mets it was catcher Francisco Alvarez. “Alvarez’s $2.7 million bonus in July 2018 was one of the top totals handed out during the 2018-19 international period, and it wasn’t long thereafter that he began to receive rave reviews from those inside the organization. The Mets challenged Alvarez last summer in his pro debut, assigning him straight to the Rookie Gulf Coast League before a quick promotion to the Appalachian League, and the then-17-year-old backstop responded by slashing .312/.407/.510 with seven homers in 42 games between the two stops. The Venezuela native is already perhaps the best pure hitter in New York’s system, with defensive chops behind the plate that could make him an impactful two-way catcher.”

CBSsports.com had a similar story and also picked Mets Catcher Francisco Alvarez as a “rising prospect” but they were not as glowing saying: “Francisco Alvarez won't turn 18 until mid-November, but improved his stock by hitting .282/.377/.443 with five home runs in the Appalachian League. Alvarez has to work on the nuance aspects of catching -- to be expected given his age -- yet he has an above-average arm and has plenty of time to potentially mature into at least a backup-caliber catcher.”  

Per MLB Trade Rumors: The Angels signed Jason Castro to a one year $6.85 million deal.

Also per MLB Trade Rumors: The National sign Will Harris.

No games last night in the Puerto Rican Winter League last night and no current Mets played last night in the Dominican.  Here are some notable ex-Mets that played last night:

The Tigres del Licey beat the Leones del Escogido 10-4 (box).  In that game -

Former Binghamton Mets and Las Vegas 51 Cesar Puello went 1 for 4 with double and 2 strikeouts.

Former Binghamton Rumble Ponies Joey Terdoslavich went 0 for 3 with an RBI 3 walks, 1 strikeout and a run scored.

2019 Syracuse Met Arismendy Alcantara went 0 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts scoring one run.  Arismendy recently signed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

Gerson Bautista pitched just a third of an inning and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, just one of the runs was earned.

In the other game Toros Del Este beat Aguilas Cibaenas 4-0 (box). 

Juan Lagares played center field and went 0 for 3 with strikeout and a walk.

Carlos Gomez played right field and went 1 for 3. 

Matt Pobereyko pitched a scoreless inning, no hits, walks or strikeouts. 

Ramon E. Ramirez also pitched a scoreless inning with no hits, walks or strikeouts. 

Mack’s Blast from the past comes from January 2012:  Mack talked about Keepers #11-20.  Names include Cesar Puello , Wilmer Flores, and Jack Leathersich. 

UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:

Born on this date:

• John Sullivan (1941)
• Jim Dwyer (1950)
• Luis Rivera (1964)
• Mark Dewey (1965)
• Jender De Jesus (1998)
• Christofer Dominguez (2000)

Transactions:

New York Mets released Bobby Bonilla on January 3, 2000.

Houston Astros signed Jim Mann of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 3, 2001.

Texas Rangers signed John Thomson of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 3, 2003.

New York Yankees signed Pedro Feliciano of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 3, 2011.

New York Mets signed free agent Taylor Buchholz of the Toronto Blue Jays on January 3, 2011.

New York Mets signed free agent Chris Capuano of the Milwaukee Braves on January 3, 2011.

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

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