Good Morning. Happy Birthday today to Brooklyn Cyclones 2nd Baseman Luke Ritter. Mets sign two minor league relief pitchers, Yankees and Mets both talking to Justin Wilson, and Brandon Nimmo helps feed the hungry.
Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, and This Day in Mets History.
As
we had yesterday on Mack’s Mets: The New York Mets today announced that the
club has signed LHP Mike
Montgomery and RHP Tommy
Hunter to minor league contracts and invited both to Major League Spring
Training.
Syracuse.com:
New York Mets add 2 pitchers to possible Syracuse roster mix.
Deesha
Thosar NY Daily News: 5 burning questions for the Mets as spring training
gets underway in Port St. Lucie: Contract extensions for Lindor
and Conforto?
How will all the new pitchers fare in the spotlight? Will the Steve Cohen Effect translate to
wins? How will the Mets manage without the DH? Another COVID-19 season… are the
Mets better prepared?
SNY.TV:
Former Mets reliever Jared Hughes announces retirement after 10 seasons in MLB.
Metsmerized
Online: Five Mets Non-Roster Invitees to Keep Tabs on This Spring. Oscar
De La Cruz; Ryley Gilliam, Jerad
Eickhoff; Mallex
Smith; and Tylor Megill of whom they state: “Standing at an
imposing 6’7″…The combination of his large frame, delivery, high spin fastball
and hard slider would make him an absolute threat as a reliever and if that’s
the route the Mets decide to go, they could have something really fun on their
hands.”
Good evening and, channeling Ralph Kiner, to all of the valentines out there, Happy Birthday. Here's the latest on a couple of #Mets bullpen additions as well as Justin Wilson's free agency: https://t.co/kXkwRC1nCJ #Yankees
— Ken Davidoff (@KenDavidoff) February 14, 2021
The #Mets Foundation donated $15,000 to @tcfoodbank to purchase food that #Mets President Sandy Alderson and Brandon Nimmo helped distribute to families in need at Clover Park. pic.twitter.com/oFwUwcrpdQ
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 14, 2021
“You don’t have to be 6’5” to go out there and be a dominant pitcher. Height doesn’t measure heart...” - @STR0@Mets | #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/R3hOWxbXDJ
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 15, 2021
Jeff McNeil, who is a ridiculously good golfer, casually dropped in an interview with a Mets PR staffer that he "shot a few 67s" this offseason. pic.twitter.com/JiiXa3IfQ8
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 14, 2021
How big of a blow is the loss of Seth Lugo to the Mets' bullpen? How much more pressure is on Edwin Diaz now?@AnthonyMcCarron and @john_jastremski join @CWilliamson44 to discuss 👇 pic.twitter.com/ThNqmGT9XI
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 14, 2021
No competition: deGrom at head of class https://t.co/LnfnBKqkjn via @mlb
— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) February 14, 2021
The United States has had one president named Joe. The New York Mets have had 18 ballplayers named Joe. This Presidents Day weekend learn a little more about all of them. https://t.co/RcTbxoQIbJ pic.twitter.com/MOJ7KahXV6
— Greg Prince (@greg_prince) February 14, 2021
Carlos Cortes has taken out the 2020/21 Sydney Blue Sox batting avg award! Congratulations Carlos! #RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/uQWR6xYovv
— Sydney Blue Sox (@SydneyBlueSox) February 14, 2021
MLB
and SportSpyder NL East and MLB Links:
MLB.com:
MLB Trade Rumors:
Yahoo Sports:
ESPN:
FOX Sports:
CBS Sports:
SportsSpyder:
Today
in Mets History Per
Ultimatemets.com:
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.
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. |
2011 - The Mets bring
back a figure from the past, signing reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal
coupled with an invitation to spring training. Isringhausen is attempting a
comeback from Tommy John surgery at age 38. He was part
of the Mets' vaunted "Big Three" in the mid-1990s along
with Bill Pulsipher and Paul
Wilson: the minor league standouts were supposed to anchor the Mets'
pitching staff for the next decade, but all three fell victim to arm injuries,
and none of them had much success in the Big Apple.
Want more? Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news.
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Please leave a comment below.
I didn’t know a player can refuse arbitration. I have never heard of that happening... can you imagine if Syndergaard could have told the Mets, “no thank you” after three years?
ReplyDelete.392/.426/.706 for Cortes in 56 Australian plate appearances has to cause management to sit up and take notice.
ReplyDeleteNimmo - no surprise he'd be feeding the hungry.
Justin Wilson - I am very curious why the Mets did not sign him sooner - he was above average the past 2 seasons. Now watch the Yanks snatch him.
Tylor Megill comment - maybe he can be a power reliever this year - Jeurys Familia once made that switch very successfully. When I watched a little of him on MILB.com in 2019, I liked the heat on his FB and I liked his slider. We'll see.
I love Stroman's confidence.
Is there nothing Jeff McNeil cannot do? Maybe he could beat Tom Brady, too.
Gus,
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to the Bobby Jones story above? In the days before they had Qualifying Offers, teams would offer free agents arbitration. I think they had until January or so before the player had to accept it.
In the real early days of Free Agency, any player could play out their option without the 6 year obligation. Two big young stars that I remember opted for Free Agency that would not be able to today - Lyman Bostick and Wayne Garland. Unfortunately, both deals did not work out for different reasons.
Tom -
ReplyDeleteNot sold on Tylor McGill as a relief pitcher based on the time I saw him in relief for the Cyclones - granted that was very early in his career. His body sure seems to lend itself for relieving.
I'm not really familiar with Montgomery and Hunter. How do they stack up to fill Lugo's shoes?
ReplyDeleteBill - In short, I don't think they stack up at all to fill Seth Lugo's position. Montgomery had a 1-2 year run as a quality Lefty Relief pitcher to help the Cubs win the WS in 2016 (he got the last out in the 2016 WS) and Tommy Hunter has had enough success to keep him in the Majors over 12 years. I think they are both headed to Syracuse in case additional pitchers are needed in Flushing. But hey, you never know.
ReplyDeleteHunter could be a good find and fill the void from Lugo very nicely.
ReplyDeleteThere is a bigger game of numbers tho with a couple guys already on the 40 man that don't have any options left. Perhaps it is Kilome that will step up big?
I am anxious to see what Cortes can do back here in the States. With a natural progression, he should start the year in Binghamton. Hope we get to get into the stadium.
ReplyDeleteCan Cortes play CF, or just corners?
ReplyDeleteInteresting thought, Bill, but it appears that his CF experience is 2 games in college. Most of his minor league time has been spent at 2nd base. His outfield time was mostly in left field in college.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he can get reps at CF upstate to see if he might be useful there in '22 and beyond.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the MnL camps don't open this year until ML ST is done. But I can't find any info on MnL regular season OD. Will it be around May 1, with a reduced schedule? Or will they continue through September?
Anyone have info on the plan?
Minor League season has been pushed back and the schedule has not been announced. Just guessing, but I think they will be able start AAA first as most of the Syracuse squad will be at the regular Spring Training. By the time AAA starts, we should have a good idea on when the other leagues will open.
ReplyDeleteAbout Cortes, only saw him play 2B not in the OF. He did not seem like he had the speed or range for CF. I was surprised they had him in RF in Australia. I would think that he was better suited for LF.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think 2B is his better path to the majors as a high avg - high RBI guy that hits doubles
Maybe I was dreaming and have no idea where I read these, but I thought I saw someplace that the AAA teams will open spring coinciding with the majors timing, and they will start their seasons on time. The AA and below teams will begin spring training after MLB and AAA are gone. Anybody else see that?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought I saw something reference a May 24 opening for the lower levels. I just looked at the Rumble Ponies website and there is no info at all, but it seems like late May might be reasonable. I should pay more attention to stuff like this when I read it.