Elmer says, "Sufferin' Succotash, if the Mets are gonna have a real shot in 2025, they need Soto."
So let me bring up a few things with Alonso vs. Soto:
First, Alonso is 4 years older than Soto.
Second, Pete has hit about .227 in 2023-24 combined.
Soto hits like crazy and gets on base almost like Bonds.
Third? Runners in scoring position.
Pete? .211 in 116 times up, just 3 HRs and just 31 RBIs. (95 at bats)
Soto? In 91 times up, walked/HBP 20 times. In the other 71 times up he is hitting .400 with FIFTY RBI’S!
In a binary choice situation, the choice is clear…
SOTO SOTO SOTO.
My brother Steve endorses this message. He's wanted Soto since 2019.
Get Soto this offseason, win the battle of NY. Case closed.
Team budget would mean "Sayonara, Pete."
METS BEAT YANKS, 3-2
The Mets tied it mid-game at 1-1, and Nimmo barely missed a grand slam that would have broke it open. But Jeff McNeil the HR hitter nailed a 2 run shot, his 8th, to secure the Mets win. Diekman shook off his recent woes to secure a clutch 9th inning save, including a caught looking on Aaron Judge.
The Mets finally get Jackie Bradley Junior:
The Mets sometimes avoid bad moves. A few years back, lots of Mets fans wanted JBJ, since LBJ was no longer available.
The Brewers grabbed him back then instead for big bucks. He unfortunately for them hit like Keon Broxton.
This year, he played for the LI Ducks and slashed a menacing .400/.476/.727 in 40 games. Which by no means infers he can hit MLB pitching.
SNY noted that the 34-year-old was in the middle of a 28-game hitting streak, during which Bradley was hitting .471 with a .537 OBP.
The glove whiz just signed with AAA Syracuse. On the cheap, no doubt.
Whaddya think?
SCOTT NOT
Christian Scott is not…healthy….and is not…pitching.
A sprained UCL. Good grief.
No career wins from the early season phenom.
BATY SNAPS OUT OF IT
2 HRs, 2 doubles for Syracuse last night. Call him up. Hand DJ Stewart a suitcase.
Eric Orze, meanwhile, was excellent in 2 perfect relief innings. 3 Ks, 18 of 22 pitches for strikes. Has to be back soon, if he keeps that up.
Drew Gilbert 1 for 5 in his AAA return.
With Jackie B joining Syracuse and Gilbert arriving, the Syracuse outfield seems to be awfully crowded.
I would demote Rhylan Thomas to AA to ensure he plays daily, and demote .181 Consuegra or release .201 Jaylen Palmer to make room. His 260 Ks in 170 games in 2023-24 makes him a very unlikely future major leaguer.
Alternative:
Release Yolmer Sanchez and leave Thomas in AAA. Sanchez is hitting just .218, BUT .433 in 10 games in July. He was hitting .180 at the end of June. Decent MLB career, but he is 32.
Nick Morabito 2 hits, a walk, and another steal for Brooklyn in a 3-1 win.
What might a full season for the recently turned 21 year old righty hitting Nick look like?
Well in 2023 and 2024, 523 at bats, .308, 20 doubles, 6 triples, 5 HRs, 91 runs, 60 of 74 in steals, 78 walks vs. 119 Ks.
Looks pretty good to me. And remember, he plays in the Brooklyn hell hole where, in 90 PAs this year, he is hitting .241 with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs, which depresses his season numbers. Away from Sing Sing, and in the sweet air of the road, he is hitting a far superior .302/.385/.396 in the SAL in 166 PAs. I'd get his speedy butt to Binghamton ASAP.
CAN WE ROTATE DIVISIONS?
It seems like every year, the Braves, or the Phillies, or (some years back) the Nats would be scorching and almost impossible to catch.
But almost every year, there are one or more divisions where the Mets' outlook would be extraordinarily different.
The Mets trail the Phillies (who are 27 games over .500) by 11.5 games. The Phillies have assumed the Braves' recent annual mantle of "top 2 win-loss record in baseball." The Phillies actually have the best record in the majors right now.
If the Mets, however, were in the AL West, they'd be in first place by a half game.
Put my Mets team in the AL West, or Al Central, or NL Central, any year and the Mets would be in the playoffs a whole lot more. Geography is meaningless. Rotate.
BEFORE AND AFTER
Shintaro Fujinami debuted straight from Japan last year. It was ugly.
He had an 8.57 ERA with Oakland and 4.85 ERA with Baltimore, so in 79 innings, that added up to a 7.18 ERA.
David Stearns liked his fastball and signed him despite of that.
Fuji got delayed getting to spring training. He should have delayed more.
He pitched briefly and very badly and got sent down,
In spring and minors ball through early May, his pitching was a car wreck.
Combined, 10.1 IP, 11 hits, 18 walks, 21 runs, 13 Ks.
He probably hit a few batters too, for good measure.
He got shut down for injury(?) reasons, and since he began his rehab in late June, he has thrown 6 IP, allowed just 1 hit, 1 run, 4 walks (3 in his lone wild outing out of his 5 or 6) and racked up 5 Ks.
I had wondered if the Mets might call him up soon.
The answer has to be "only if exceedingly desperate" after going back over that March through May horror show record of his.
However, if he can continue his recent run of success, perhaps another 6 innings of 1 hit, one run ball with strong control, a call to the Mets could happen in a day and age where pitchers get hurt every 5 minutes, give or take.
Have a blessed day. Keep your broom handy.
17 comments:
I sometimes wonder why Mets fans root for their team to barely make the playoffs
Love JBJ. There's an interview I did with him when he was at USC on this site
DFA Steward and bring him up
No to Alonso, and maybe to Soto. I’m not sold on spending $500MM on one player. I’d rather go full kids next year and be ready to rock in 2026.
I want to catch the Phillies!
Gus, we'll see Soto at season's end and go from there. He is some unique player. And still so young.
Mack, JBJ I'd want to see hit in Syracuse a bit, to see if he is even capable of .200 in the majors. At .200, he'd be a real upgrade over "our local DJ". It need not be long. Give us a decent week in AAA.
My concern is, was he seeing 88-91 in Ducks land, whereas he will see on average 93-96 in the majors - can he handle the higher velocity?
If the Phillies "phade" like the Cubs in 1969, it can be done. But the pen has to be shored up to have any chance there. Edwin makes me nervous. His almost blowing that 3 run lead against the Marlins the other day, if he is just an average closer, we're not catching the Phillies.
I hope he isn't handed a 1 run lead in the 9th tonight. In 2022, I would have thought, "BRING IT ON", but now, I'd probably shut the TV off and come back later to see what happened.
Mets have already used 32 pitchers with 40% of the season left.
How strange is this game of baseball that the Mets have 2 new 30 year old lefties whose name is Young (Danny and Alex)?
Soto is a game changer period and I can't see SC not going all in on him. He's Barry Bonds w/o the steroids and he's only 26 AND sticking it to the Evil Empire is the cherry on top. DS will earn his money this week so David remember were counting you big time. I wonder if just DFAed from LA Paxton would be a good add.
Everyone would love to have Soto, just as you would love to have Harper, Trout, Ohtani, or other top performers. The problem is that it will cost so much money that the rest of the roster sufferes. Yes, Pete will be expensive, but not nearly as expensive as a 25 year old free agent that can hit, field, and run.
As for the log jam of outfielders in the high minors, that provides some trade collateral. I would not release any of them until I saw what a trade could bring.
The fact that the Mets won't owe Verlander $17.5 million next year is a huge plus. The $65 million the Mets are paying for JV, Scherzer and McCann this year goes to zero in 2024. Let's say Pete settles for $25 million multi-year for 2025 etc., and he goes away. That is $80 million gone. Soto is viable $$-wise, and is in his prime. And should be so for 5-6 years more, at a minimum.
He makes the Mets line up very formidable. Start 2025 with Baty at 3rd, Vientos at first, until Clifford is ready.
Gary, remarkable Paxton is 8-2, but he’s been very hittable lately. I imagine DS and other GMs are looking at this.
We can do better than JBJ. Bring us Cortes.
I’d love to have Soto if Cohen can swing (and if Soto would accept) an Ohtani-like deal where much of the money comes later and doesn’t count against payroll. I’m less enthused by $50mm+ of payroll each season going to one player.
If you get Soto, (and even if you don’t) you’ve gotta let Alonso walk. But with Vientos’ emergence and Nimmo, Lindor, and Alvarez, you probably think about a more aggressive 2025 approach by re-signing Bader, keeping McNeil (who’s looked like a different hitter starting actually a couple of weeks per-ASB when he started stinging the ball), look to Marte as a part-time DH, hope that out of Williams, Gilbert, Mauricio, and Baty you get at least one to stick out of ST (adjust defense accordingly, with an eye towards Clifford manning 1B by ‘26) and invest this offseason (rather than the following year) in high end pitching.
If you don’t get Soto on those terms, you’re probably looking at another season chasing a WC, and spending in ‘26 when the kids are more dependable.
Adam, I prefer the Soto scenario.
Scratch that Fujinama optimism. Today, in 2/3 of an inning, walked 4, fanned one, and a sac fly. 30 pitches and just 12 for strikes. He did hit 99.6 on one pitch. But 70% of pitches being balls is a joke.
Vasil mediocre for 4 innings, 3 runs in 4 innings, with strikeouts of just 2 of 21 AAA batters. All 3 runs in the first, for you "put him in the bullpen" proponents.
He seems less than Corey Oswalt (remember him?) to me.
Hold me to this, fellas:
Fujinami faced 5 guys today, who he walked, walked, struck out, walked, walked, then a sac fly. 30 pitches, 12 strikes. Oca came in later and threw 33 pitches, 12 strikes. Combined 2 innings, 2 Ks, SEVEN WALKS and a hit batsmen. Good grief.
I am done with both. I plan to write no more about either of them until 1) they are released or 2) either gets promoted to the NY Mets.
Vientos has 2.1 WAR in just 56 games. Excellent.
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