JARED YOUNG, THE CHEAP, ONE YEAR GUY
Baseball has increasingly tied up enormous amounts of dollars in high profile candidates.
One such rich fellow is Vladimir Guerrero Jr, whom the Mets courted but who ultimately signed an VERY LONG extension with Toronto.
What an extension. 14 years, $500 million through 2039.
Well, VG II did have 48 HRs, 111 RBIs, and .311 at age 22 in 2021.
But what has he done in this 2026 season, so very early on in that multi-generational-length contract, thru September 23?
141 games, 9 HRs, 56 RBIs. .263/.336/.359. In 596 plate appearances.
No sweat, Blue Jays, there are only 13 years left after this year.
He will do SO much better at age 40.
Now, let’s take another current player you may know, for comparison.
Let’s boost this player’s stats up to Vlad’s 596 PAs, for an apples-to-apples comparison:
16 HRs, 68 RBIs, .263/.330/.429. Numbers Vladi surely wished he had.
Who is this 2nd player?
Jared Young.
Salary? One year, $1.15 million.
How would you as the Blue Jays owner feel to have Vlad under contract for well over a decade longer, after putting up numbers this year that he basically could have gotten out of Jared Young or Brett Baty.
Mets’ fans moan all too much at times about Juan Soto and his long deal.
And he has 27 HRs in 453 PAs.
Mets fans would be all over Vlad this year. Screaming bloody murder.
THE NEXT TIME GRUMPY FOLKS WANT TO TRASH JONAH TONG:
Consider the great and mighty Paul Skenes.
This season, a very mortal 10-11, 3.82 ERA.
Even great talents, you see, can scuffle. So…
Give Jonah Tong a real chance.
If Tong pitches well, but gives up a 3 run homer, remember:
1) that it was just one pitch, and 2) these are the best hitters in the world.
Heck, Bert Blyleven gave up 430 HRs, in a less power-laden baseball era.
HOF Tom Glavine, his first 2 years? 9-21, 4.80. Mets fans would scalp him.
And…let’s not forget…
Four expensive Mets guys (2 now gone) did this in 2026:
- Kodai Senga as a Mets starter this year? 0-7, 9.66.
- David Peterson as a Mets starter this year? 1-6, 7.71.
- Freddie Peralta as a Mets starter this year? 5-9, 4.99.
- Sean Manaea as a Mets starter this year? 5-6, 4.51.
That’s 11-28 with an ERA well north of 5.00 for the fraud-some four.
Fraud? Yes. They pitched like frauds.
So…back to Tong…
Like Skenes, he too has a 3.82 ERA, in his 31 MLB innings this year.
With a strong 1.24 WHIP.
SO…
Ease up on Tong, “for Tong’s sake”.
(I’ve expunged “for Pete’s sake” from my vocabulary, so this is now its replacement. Mack hates when I bring up any Pete stuff).
Or just criticize Tong all the way out of town, so he can be a star starter somewhere else.
Tong kicked the crap out of the Nationals on Saturday after I pre-written this article, proving my point.
5 IP, 1 run, 9 Ks. “Yeah, but…” No yeah but’s. How about OH YEAH!
NO LOCAL CHAMPIONS?
AU CONTRAIRE
I hate to break it to you, but the Mets’ ENTIRE ORGANIZATION had zero playoff games in 2026.
Eight teams, zero playoff games.
The LI Ducks however won their independent league championship this year.
Islip NY’s finest.
In a much finer ballpark than that hitters’ neutron bomb dump in Brooklyn.
5 comments:
Facing the blade: Tidwell has been recommended for surgery, the Giants announced.
UCL surgery, that is.
Tong has allowed just 2 HRs in 32 MLB innings this year.
Manaea allowed 23 in 145 innings.
I prefer Tong.
Why did Vlad go SO mediocre this year at age 27? Couldn’t adjust to no Bo Bichette? Vlad only had 84 RBIs in 156 games in 2025. Maybe he needs to go on a crash diet?
Andy Green on Tong (source: SNY): Andy Green was asked where Jonah Tong fits with the Mets next year:
"Been forthright with him - what does an organization desperately need to win a World Series? You need guys that are 6 and 7 starters that start the year in AAA that can come up and dominate. You don't win a World Series with only five starters. As an organization, you go out and you try to expand the group of starters you have, which pushes down people that feel like they've earned it.
“In that case, his desires don't perfectly align with what our desires would be because he wants to be here. His job is to make it so freaking obvious to us that he deserves to be here that we can't make those type of decisions when he competes in spring training.
“He has a full understanding of what that landscape looks like, a full understanding of what makes sense for us, and the resolve to go prove that he belongs here. We'll get a look at that today, we'll get a look at that in spring next year. Long-term, huge believer in Jonah. The context doesn't always align for the player and what they want at that given point in time.
“He's going to be huge for us going forward."
I THINK SO, TOO.
Post a Comment