12/31/20

John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 12/31/2020

 



Good Morning. Happy Birthday Rick Aguilera, Kevin Kaczmarski and Will Toffey. Mets get a new first base coach, reports say it’s Mets vs. Blue Jays for George Springer who wants $150M plus and David Rodriquez now hitting .408 in Winter Ball.

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Winter Baseball, and This Day in Mets History.

Mets Links:

Deesha Thosar NY Daily News: Race for George Springer tightens to two teams, including Mets. Steve Cohen’s Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays are the final clubs competing to land the high-priced outfielder, a source told the Daily News. Springer, 31, is expected to sign with either team in January. He figures to pick up a long-term contract worth well over $100 million.

Andy Martino SNY.TV: Here’s the actual situation with the Mets and George Springer. ”The rumored deal between Springer and the Mets that popped up in several places over the holiday was five years, $125 million. In reality, Springer is expected to sign for much more than that. Two league sources said that he was still asking for well over $150 million. The Mets might be willing to approach $150 million for Springer, but the sides haven’t found sufficient common ground to even get near a deal.”




Mike’s Mets says “It’s Still Early”: “Despite the flurry of activity over the last few days, particularly from San Diego, it's still really early in the hot stove season. Hardly any player of consequence has signed.”

MLB.com: Mets name Tony Tarasco to coaching staff. Tony Tarasco will be the first base coach for 2021. Tarasco will also oversee New York’s outfielders and baserunning. Tony DeFrancesco, who was the Mets first base coach in 2020, will move to the role of Senior Advisor, Player Development and Scouting.


Greg Prince Faith and Fear in Flushing looked back at the players and people we lost this year in Through the Years (Especially This One).

Mets Junkies: Trevor Bauer: Average Pitcher, Major Headache.

amny.com: With money Trevor Bauer apparently wants, Mets could check off multiple boxes instead.




Empire Sports Media: Miguel Castro has the tools to become an impact reliever. “2020 brought an interesting development for the Mets’ hard-throwing righty. Yes, the sample size is small, but in 24.2 innings, he upped his K/9 to 13.86, enough to rank in the 90th percentile in K%.”

Thomas Hall Metsmerized Online: Mets Should Turn Focus to Marwin Gonzalez.

Tim Ryder Metsmerized Online: J.D. Davis Has Plenty to Prove in 2021. “Over 56 games in a COVID-shortened 2020 (229 PA), J.D. Davis hit .247/.371/.389 with six homers, 117 wRC+, and a 24.5% strikeout rate (up from 21.4 percent in 2019).”



ICYMI Yesterday at Mack’s Mets:

Mack’s Reese Kaplan -- The Waiting Game Is Mighty Stressful for Mets Fans.

Mack’s Scouting Report - OF - Donta Williams.

Mack’s Scouting Report: Scouting Report - OF - Jay Allen.

MLB Links:

MLB.com: Incredible 2020 stats -- 1 for each team. For the Mets - Mets: Amed Rosario did something on Aug. 28 at Yankee Stadium that we hadn’t seen since the 1800s. He hit a walk-off home run for the Mets -- a road team.

MLB.com: Ranking the Top 25 rookies of 2020. At #20 - Andres Gimenez, SS, Mets. .263/.333/.398, 49 G, 3 HR, 22 R, 12 RBIs. Kyle Lewis, OF, Mariners had the #1 rank, .262/.364/.437, 58 G, 11 HR, 37 R, 28 RBIs.

MLB.com: Here's why each of Padres' 3 aces is elite. The article contains this: “Top starting pitching trios entering 2021 - 1) Nationals -- Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin: 11.7 projected WAR; 2) Padres -- Yu Darvish, Dinelson Lamet, Blake Snell: 11.3 projected WAR; 3) Mets -- Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard: 10.8 projected WAR.”


MLB.com: The amazing do-it-all career of Bill Pecota. Baseball's Forrest Gump. “After being traded to the Mets the next season, Pecota became the very first Mets position player to pitch. It would take seven years before Matt Franco became the next.”

AP Sports: The name game: A few athletes primed for breakouts in '21. In Baseball it is  Ke’Bryan Hayes, third baseman, Pittsburgh Pirates…son of longtime major leaguer Charlie Hayes. In the AL, there’s Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena.

AP Sports: Hoyer insists Cubs plan to compete after dealing Darvish.

MLB.com: Hoyer: Contreras trade rumor is 'fictional'.

MLB Trade Rumors: Hoyer: Finances “Not The Focus” Of Darvish Trade.

MLB Trade Rumors: Eric Thames To Sign With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants.

Forbes.com: How Can Baseball Players Be Better Compensated? Fay Vincent Has An Idea “What has to happen is the union has to be willing to talk to owners about allowing players to own part of the team,” said Vincent. “No players own any piece of any team. The union has achieved all its objectives, but it hasn’t converted ordinary income into capital gains.”




Winter Baseball:

No Games Wednesday in the Dominican Republic.  They resume play on Saturday.

Prospects Live: Best and Worst of LIDOM Week 6: Worst - Utility infielder Robel Garcia reached base just two times in eleven plate appearances, and also struck out 11 times. He hasn’t produced as much as he’d hoped for — he’s fighting for a roster spot with the Mets.

In Puerto Rico yesterday:

Indios de Mayaguez 6 Criollos de Caguas 3 (Box Score). Both Johneshwy Fargas for Los Criollos and T.J. Rivera for Los Indios had the day off.   

In Venezuela:

Bravos de Margarita 8 Tiburones de La Guaira 0  (Box Score). David Rodriguez DH 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored, .408 average.

Here is the full scoreboard from Venezuela.

In the Mexican Pacific League:

Venados de Mazatlan 3 Caneros de los Mochis 2 (Box Score). Juan Uriarte C 0 for 2, .230 batting average.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

Died on this date:

Transactions:

Los Angeles Dodgers signed Claudio Vargas of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 31, 2008.

Centerfield Maz: Rick Aguilera: 1986 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1985-1989).

Breakfast Links One year ago today - 12/31/2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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7 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Not to poop on David Rodriguez's parade, but those teams in his league are averaging 5.14 runs per game allowed. His whole team (partly, of course, due to him) is hitting .315.

So the pitching is I am guessing about AA caliber - maybe. But he has been on an absolute tear lately.

Springer and Bauer will be big bucks, even this year. Do the Mets bite?

December 31, 2020 at 6:21 AM
John From Albany said...

Tom - you make a good point about the overall pitching in that league. His team scored 26 runs on Tuesday - 8 yesterday. On the flip side Jaison Vilera in 7 relief appearances - 8.1 innings has a 3.24 ERA - which really is a result of one bad outing. He has mostly had scoreless appearances. I think David's team will make it to the Caribbean Series. I think the pitching there will be better and we will see how he does. He will most likely start the year in Syracuse and split time with Sanchez and Mazeika while also playing 1B and DH. Mazeika will also play 1B and DH. The depth is important should injuries occur in the Majors. Who knows, in 2022, maybe we will see Francisco Alvarez in AAA.

December 31, 2020 at 6:32 AM
Tom Brennan said...

But .408 is impressive, John, and you wonder if that .408 might translate into even .240 on the big league level. If so, he has a shot at # 2.

December 31, 2020 at 7:39 AM
John From Albany said...

And as we saw in Spring Training last year, he is very good at throwing out runners. Lifetime he has thrown out 39% of attempted base runners. He has only caught 7 games this winter - throwing out 3 of the 5 attempts for a 60% ratio.

December 31, 2020 at 8:46 AM
Unknown said...

Tony Tarasco for coach? Wasn't it him and Mark Corey who were smoking weed in a hotel parking lot at a Corona hotel? Corey wound up in the hospital with seizures or something.

Bob W

December 31, 2020 at 8:49 AM
John From Albany said...

Right you are Bob -

From the NY Post: https://nypost.com/2002/06/29/drug-talk-sends-mets-into-shell/

"Tarasco admitted to police he and Corey were smoking weed moments before Corey went into semi-conscious convulsions, sources said. The police immediately questioned Tarasco about where he bought the illegal drug, and Tarasco could not account for it."

Later that year there was controversy with Grant Roberts and weed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/21/sports/baseball-mets-deny-team-is-plagued-by-marijuana-use.html

December 31, 2020 at 9:15 AM
bill metsiac said...

If the Mets switched from Pot to Cocaine and other drugs, would that help?

Hey, it worked in 1986, didn't it?

December 31, 2020 at 9:36 AM

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