Happy Birthday today to Brooklyn Cyclones 2nd
Baseman Luke
Ritter, Bartolo
Colon will join Rajai Davis
in the Mexican league, and Alex
Rodriquez may try to buy the Mets.
Per
the NY Post: Alex Rodriguez emerges as potential Mets buyer. “No chance
A-Rod pulls that off, especially with Steve Cohen still out there playing
safety on this thing,” said one banker familiar with Cohen and the deal. “This
auction will not get close to $3 billion, and it will be lucky to get over $2
billion. Steve knows that, he’s talking to people and he’s waiting for the
Wilpons to come back begging for $2.6 billion and no five-year window.”
Per
The Sports Daily: He and J. Lo really could make it happen, as she’s a part
owner of the Miami Dolphins, so it wouldn’t be all that much of a stretch…Still,
it looks more like A-Rod is just posturing here.
From
sun-sentinel.com: “Could Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter
face off as owners?”
From
CBSSports.com: “David Samson says he (Alex Rodriguez) won't be able to do
it…‘A-Rod can put in a sum of money, but he will never be able to be control person,’
Samson said. ‘To be a control person in Major League Baseball for a franchise
that is $2.6 billion, he'll have to put in a minimum of $400-500 million of his
own money.’”
At
SNY.TV John Harper talked to scouts about Edwin Diaz. One scout said: 'They'll win 90-95 games easy
if Diaz figures it out again'. The article had scouts making the point that it
was more about Diaz gaining his confidence than tweaking his mechanics.
From
Deesha Thosar in the NY Daily News: “Zack
Wheeler, Brodie Van Wagenen trade punches over right-hander’s Mets
departure…One day after Wheeler claimed he didn’t hear from the Mets…Van
Wagenen fired back "…coaches helped him parlay his two great half-seasons
over the last five years into $118 million.”
SNY.TV
had Luis Rojas talking about Outfield depth. “The Mets currently have five
outfielders on their roster: Yoenis Cespedes, Michael
Conforto, Jake Marisnick, Jeff McNeil,
and Brandon Nimmo.”
This
is pretty cool – video of a Kevin Smith bullpen session from Rene Rivera’s
perpective.
From Fan Fest, video of new Mets pitchers being interviewed:
Michael
Wacha, Rick
Porcello, Dellin
Betances.
SNY.TV
had this video: “Mets' J.D. Davis
'ashamed' to be a part of Astros sign-stealing: 'It's terrible for baseball'”
SNY.TV
also had this video: “Mets' Jake
Marisnick remorseful for role in Astros scandal: 'I'm a person in there
that could've spoken up'”
12UP.com
had Rob Manfred saying: “Let me say this,” Manfred told the New York Daily
News. “It is important for me to have the Astros players and the entire
organization make sure the fans of Houston and the fans all over the country
know that they did something wrong and they apologize for it.”
Also per 12UP.com: Southern California Little Leagues Ban Use of 'Astros' as Team Name Amid Sign-Stealing Scandal.
Also per 12UP.com: Southern California Little Leagues Ban Use of 'Astros' as Team Name Amid Sign-Stealing Scandal.
Joel
Sherman in the NY Post said: “Cheating Astros don’t deserve any vigilante
justice.”
Per
Mike Puma in the NY Post: “Mets’ Robert
Gsellman seeking bounce-back year now that he’s healthy.”
Also
this video from SNY.TV: “Tim
Tebow gets in on drills at Mets spring training.”
Brian Joura of Mets
360.com had: The Yoenis
Cespedes-J.D. Davis LF dilemma for the Mets. Brain wondered about what the Mets would
decide given the recent injuries of Cespedes and JD Davis being able to repeat
his 2019 performance.
213
Miles from Shea had a get to know Non-Roster invitee David
Peterson. “Peterson will most likely open the season in Syracuse. He’s a
deep back up plan right now for Queens. But if the Mets end up Mets-ing up the
rotation in someway, then Peterson could get the call to Queens this year. He’s
a pitcher I expect we’ll see a lot of in Spring Training.”
Matt
Musico of Metsmerized.com had Three Keys For Jacob DeGrom in Pursuing
Another Cy Young. Matt had the three
area Jacob needed to continue to do well in: Take Charge of At-Bats, Tough With
Runners on Base, Cranking Up the Slider and Changeup Usage.
One thing Jake and Mets pitchers need to do a better job of
holding runners on base. As
I said here: I went and looked at who the bases were stolen against. Noah Syndergaard – 42; Jacob deGrom – 24;
Jason Vargas – 9; Steven Matz – 9; Marcus Stroman – 3…Zack Wheeler – 6!
Steve
Contursi in Reflections on Baseball asked: Matt Harvey:
Not even an invite to Spring Training – How can that be?
Steve
also had in Reflections on Baseball: “Luis Rojas understands the difference
between pontificating and teaching”
Elite
Sports NY looked at top depth options this spring training: Kyle Newman
suggested the Mets look at Collin
McHugh, Brock Holt
and others.
Tim
Boyle of Rising Apple asked: Mets Extension Candidate Noah
Syndergaard: Is Thor sticking around?
Marlin
Maniac.com previewing teams the other teams in the Marlins division talked
about the Mets going over the team’s roster. About Wilson
Ramos they said: “Former long-time Nationals veteran Ramos is coming off
his most-utilized season. He appeared in a career-high 141 contests, and
slashed .288/.351/.416 with 14 long-balls and 73 RBI. A two-time former All
Star, he grades out as a below-average fielding catcher, with a single-season
-13 DRS in 2019. He’s not an elite CS-threat either, with a 15 percent rate
last year.”
Last
Word on Baseball previewed the 2020 Braves: About the lineup they said – “newly
signed Marcell
Ozuna. Considering that Ozuna will bat cleanup behind Acuna, Albies,
and Freeman,
he should have an abundance of chances to hit with runners on base.”
Per
the morning call: “Andy MacPhail says Phillies expect to pay luxury tax
this season.”
12UP.com had three teams that should take a flyer on Russell Martin: The Pirates, Rays, Red Sox.
12UP.com had three teams that should take a flyer on Russell Martin: The Pirates, Rays, Red Sox.
12Up.com
says: “The Cubs' Front Office is Truly Lost if They're Actually Considering
Trading for Nolan Arenado.”
One more from 12UP.com: VIDEO: Michigan's Jimmy Obertop Tossed for Swiping Home Plate Dirt With Bat in All-Time Ump Show Moment. “The MLB season hasn't even started yet, and we have our worst ump show of 2020. Shockingly enough, this is NOT Angel Hernandez. In Michigan's game against Vanderbilt on Friday night, shown here on MLB Network, Wolverines slugger Jimmy Obertop was tossed for swiping his bat near home plate. To make matters worse, his back was turned, as Obertop didn't even have the opportunity to explain himself.”
One more from 12UP.com: VIDEO: Michigan's Jimmy Obertop Tossed for Swiping Home Plate Dirt With Bat in All-Time Ump Show Moment. “The MLB season hasn't even started yet, and we have our worst ump show of 2020. Shockingly enough, this is NOT Angel Hernandez. In Michigan's game against Vanderbilt on Friday night, shown here on MLB Network, Wolverines slugger Jimmy Obertop was tossed for swiping his bat near home plate. To make matters worse, his back was turned, as Obertop didn't even have the opportunity to explain himself.”
Fangraphs
had part 3 of their 3 part series on minor league contraction issue. In this part they looked at teams to be
contracted league by league. About the
Binghamton Rumble Ponies they said: “Binghamton looks to be the victim of the
Mets wishing to own their Double-A club by elevating the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Binghamton is in the middle-north of the league geographically, and although it
isn’t particularly close to any other team, the club just received more than $5
million in public funds for stadium renovations.”
In case you missed it, here was Fangraph’s
part 2 of the series and part
1.
Per
AP News: MLB raises salaries for minor leaguers in 2021. Two years after
successfully lobbying Congress to exempt minor leaguers from federal minimum
wage laws, MLB opted to give those players a wage increase between 38% and 72%.
Per
Yahoo Sports: “Raising minor league pay is a start, but wins MLB little
goodwill… And so, unfortunately for Major League Baseball, by raising minor
league salaries today, mostly what they’ve done is draw attention to how little
they paid and still pay their minor league players.”
Last
Word on Baseball discussed: Major League Baseball: The Forgettable
Offseason.
Fangraphs
said: “Some of the new Roster rules are garbage.”
Axios.com
said: “The MLB's problems extend far beyond Houston's cheating scandal.”
They listed all of the current problems from juiced balls to minor league
contraction with this conclusion: “This is going to be a pivotal decade for
baseball, and it's hard to imagine the 2020s getting off to a worse start.”
Mack’s
Blast From the Past comes from February 15, 2013 – Mack discussed his
approach to the draft suggesting the Mets take the same approach as the Boston
Red Sox. Instead of trying to save money
in the early rounds, take better players in the early rounds and players under
slot in the later rounds. I think that’s
what they did with the 2019 draft.
One of the players that rejected the Mets contract offer
that draft, Teddy Stankiewicz, per
trifectanetworksports, just signed with Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League.
That
same article had that Jenrry
Mejia signed a deal with Algodoneros Union Laguna in the Mexican League.
Born on this date:
- Chuck Estrada (1938)
- Barry Jones (1963)
- Luke Ritter (1997)
Died
on this date:
- Joe Frazier (2011)
Transactions:
San Diego Padres signed Bobby Jones of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2001.
San Diego Padres signed Bobby Jones of the New York Mets as a free agent on February 15, 2001.
Detroit Tigers signed Vic
Darensbourg of the New York Mets as a free agent
on February 15, 2005.
New
York Mets signed free agent Brady
Clark on February 15, 2008.
New
York Mets signed free agent Jason
Isringhausen on February 15, 2011.
Cleveland
Indians signed Aaron
Harang of the New York Mets as a free agent on
February 15, 2014.
1961
|
Donald M. Grant, chairman and a minority owner of the
Mets, offers Branch Rickey a contract to become the general manager of the
new National League expansion team. After the former GM of the Browns,
Cardinals, Dodgers, and Pirates turns down the job, George Weiss, who filled
the same role with the Yankees from 1947 to 1960, accepts the position.
|
2001
|
After turning down the Mets' offer of salary arbitration
that at the very least would have been worth $2 to $3 million, Bobby Jones
signs a one-year free-agent deal with the Padres for only $625,000. The 31
year-old right-hander, 11-6 last year with New York, will lose 19 games for
the Padres this season.
|
2016
|
"Baseball is known as our national
pastime, but the game has deep roots and a rich history here in New York
State. From the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in storied
Cooperstown to the Mets and Yankees — the pinnacles of Major League Baseball,
to our recently crowned Little League World Series champions from
Maine-Endwell, New York State is clearly the epicenter of baseball greatness.
It is time that we formally recognize baseball as our official state
sport." - JAMES SEWARD, New York state senator.
New York State Sen. James Seward (R-Milford), thanks to a suggestion from
a group of fourth-graders at Cooperstown Elementary School, announces he has
introduced legislation (S.4288) to
designate baseball as New York’s official state sport. In a press release,
Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson says he "enthusiastically supports”
the proposed bill, citing Cooperstown serves as the spiritual home of
baseball.
|
Want more?
Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news.
Want something else tracked here each day?
Please leave a comment below.
7 comments:
Jake and Thor should cozy up to Marcus Stroman and figure out how to prevent steals like Stroman does. Especially Thor would be much better for it. Turn those 42 steals into 24 this year and that would be big stride.
Hypothetical question : Unlikely as it may seem, what if Yo is right about himself? What if he actually does play 140+ games, with 40+ HR and 100+ RBI?
Do we offer a new contract, just give a QO, or simply let him walk?
I'm inclined to go the QO route, but if he really wants to stay and asks for a reasonable 2-year deal, I wouldn't reject it out of hand.
What say you guys?
Bill, I cross that line when we get there for Cespedes. I was just really impressed with the grueling workouts and agility drills he was recently filmed doing. Actually playing is less grueling than what he was doing. Bodes well.
Tom and Bill, I agree with both of you. Wait and see what happens, then unless it is a one year deal, go the DQ route. Of course, yhe DH could be coming to the NL - so, he could be an opton.
What does Dairy Queen have to do with this? 😉
Bill - instead of Dairy Queen, how about Mississippi Queen, if you know what I mean
Sorry, I don't. 😞
Post a Comment