Good Morning. Happy Birthday Joe
Christopher, J.C.
Martin, and Ron
Taylor. Mets get James
McCann and a new GM, and Steve
and Alex Cohen meet Mets Fans at Citi Field.
Section Links: Mets Links, MLB
Links, Winter Baseball, and This Day in Mets
History.
Mets Links:
As
we had yesterday on Mack’s Mets, Mets Sign Catcher James McCann.
Deesha
Thosar NY Daily News:
Steve Cohen’s club has agreed to a four-year deal with James McCann, according
to multiple reports. The deal is expected to be worth just over $40 million and
is pending a physical. The Mets have not yet made the signing official.
Newsday: “McCann’s track record of success
is brief. Entering his age-31 season, he has one good full season on his resume….2019,
when he was an All-Star with the White Sox…He had a hot first half, hitting
.316 with a .371 OBP and .502 slugging percentage. In the second half, though,
he struggled with a .226/.281/.413 slash line…In the pandemic-shortened 2020
season, he was good again — .289/.360/.536 — while sharing time with Yasmani
Grandal.”
Brian Joura Mets360: “The big improvement with McCann
offensively the past two years was his performance against RHP, particularly in
slugging. In 361 PA the past two seasons against righties, McCann has a
.262/.310/.449. From 2014-18 versus RHP, McCann had a .357 SLG in 1,013 Abs.”
Mike
Puma NY Post:
“Over the past two seasons, McCann was plus-nine in defensive runs saved,
according to fangraphs. In his previous two seasons he was minus-nine. McCann
also has a strong throwing arm and nailed 21-of-45 runners (46.6 percent)
attempting to steal against him the past two seasons.”
Metstradamus
had this quote from a “Chicago sports expert: Big fan. Has some pop in his bat.
Great behind the plate, great clubhouse guy. They tried to move Grandal to
catching Giolito beginning of this season, it didn’t
work and McCann went back to catch him again..and things clicked, a couple
starts later and Giolito got his no-no.”
Faith
and Fear in Flushing:
“McCann isn’t here to make us forget Piazza (fat chance). He’s here to make our
pitchers comfortable and us confident. He’s here to get to more balls in the
dirt than landed in Wilson Ramos’s sadly flailing grasp. He’s also here to
continue riding the defensive and offensive trajectories that transformed him
from somebody the Tigers didn’t see the need to keep a couple of years ago to
the most attractive free agent catcher this winter this side of J.T. Realmuto.”
Yahoo
Sports: Angels narrowly lose to Mets in trying to sign catcher James McCann. ”The Angels made a push to match
the offer but maxed out at a three-year commitment, according to a person with
knowledge who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.”
Mike’s
Mets: The Mets Get Their Catcher.
“As for me, I like the move — as long as it is followed by the Mets doing
everything possible to sign George Springer and/or Trevor Bauer. Hot stove
moves aren't made in a vacuum. Choosing McCann over Realmuto only makes sense
because it allows the Mets to add more players, and at least one of them needs
to be a real impact player like Springer. As long as that happens, I'm all in.”
Joel
Sherman NY Post:
“I still assume the Mets will sign one of the big free agents, probably George
Springer, maybe Trevor
Bauer, before this offseason is over. But
what if May and McCann are not an appetizer, but a strategy? What if the Mets
decided, in Year 1 of the Steve Cohen regime, the best way to not only contend
instantly, but also to set themselves up long term, is to use the new owner’s
deep pockets to build the roster and payroll with high-end depth?”
Also
as we had yesterday at Mack’s Mets: Mets hiring former Diamondbacks exec Jared
Porter as general manager.
NY
Post: Mets hiring Jared Porter as next general manager: ‘Very aggressive’. “Porter, 41, spent the past four
seasons with the Diamondbacks after working under Theo Epstein with the Red Sox
and Cubs, where he was part of three World Series winners”
Justin
Toscano NorthJersey.com: 3 things to know about new general manager Jared
Porter.
“He was a GM candidate elsewhere:; He's played a part in four World Series - three
in Boston, the other in Chicago; Two-sport athlete – Baseball and Hockey.”
Ken
Davidoff NY Post: Mets’ new GM Jared Porter has some Sandy Alderson in him. “The anonymous talent evaluator
said that Porter — in, say, meetings to prepare for the amateur draft — didn’t
speak for the sake of hearing his own voice: “He didn’t get involved a lot.
When he did get involved, I knew he had done his research and had something to
say. Sounds like Alderson.”
SNY.TV:
5 things on the to-do list for new Mets GM Jared Porter, including “extending Michael
Conforto. Figure out the situation with the
star free agents (and lower tier ones); Talk Noah
Syndergaard about an extension of his own; Round
out the coaching staff; Fill out the front office and other key positions;”
SNY.TV:
Steve Cohen shows his appreciation to the Mets' faithful: 'Our fans are the
best fans in baseball'.
Cohen and his wife, Alex, helped distribute bobbleheads outside Citi Field.
NY
Daily News: Mets fan favorite Lee Mazzilli happy to relive his days as a
speedskating champ.
SNY.TV:
Trevor Bauer ranks Mets' fan base as second most aggressive recruiters: 'The
fanbase is super passionate... super excited, super energized'.
MLB Links:
Bill
Madden NY Daily News: Making the Hall of Fame case for (Omar Vizquel & Jeff
Kent) and against (Dick Allen).
“The problem was, Allen simply didn’t have enough of those Hall of Fame seasons
and that’s why he was relegated to the Veterans Committee as a borderline Hall
of Fame candidate. He played more than 125 games in only seven of his 15
seasons and didn’t have 2,000 hits (1,848), which has traditionally been the
Hall of Fame bench mark for non-catchers.”
Yahoo
Sports: Country star Charley Pride — part owner of the Rangers and Negro
American League player — dead at 86.
Yahoo
Sports: Will MLB's season start on April 1 as scheduled? Well, COVID-19 is
making it complicated.
MLB
Trade Rumors: Red Sox Interested In Sugano, Odorizzi, Hill.
Yahoo
Sports: Privilege of Play: Black communities need investment, true allyship if
baseball wants to address decline.
Winter Baseball:
In the Dominican Republic:
Los Toros Del Este 5 Gigantes del
Cibao 1 (Box
Score).
Bruce
Maxwell 1 for 4 with 1 K, .114 Batting
Average this winter; Hunter
Strickland, 1 scoreless inning, no hits, no
walks, 1 K, 0.00 ERA so far this winter.
Here
is the rest of the Dominican Scoreboard.
In
Puerto Rico the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente:
Criollos de Caguas 7 Atenienses de
Manati 5 (Box
Score).
Johneshwy
Fargas 0 for 4 with a Walk, now hitting .421
this winter.
Indios de Mayaguez 7 RA12 1 (Box
Score). T.J.
Rivera 1B, 1 for 3, 1 double, 2 runs
scored, 1 RBI, 2 walks, .400 Batting Average.
In Venezuela:
Bravos de Margarita 18 Navegantes
del Magallanes 6 (Box
Score).
David
Rodriguez caught and went 2 for 4, scored 2
runs, 1 RBI, 1 Walk.
Tigres de Aragua 14 Caribes de
Anzoategui 4 (Box
Score). Yeizo
Campos 1
inning, 1 run on a HR – only hit allowed, 2 Ks, no walks, 9.00 ERA this winter.
Here
is the full Scoreboard from Venezuela.
Charros de Jalisco 12 Los Caneros de
los Mochis 3 (Box
Score)
Juan
Uriarte 0 for 2 with a walk and a run
scored; .209 Batting Average this winter.
Here
is the full Mexican Pacific League Scoreboard from yesterday.
Today
in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:
Born on
this date:
Transactions:
New
York Mets signed
free agent Kelvin Torve of the Minnesota Twins on December 13, 1989.
New
York Mets traded Chuck Carr to the St. Louis Cardinals for Clyde Keller on December 13, 1991.
New
York Mets signed
free agent Rodney McCray of the Chicago White Sox on December 13, 1991.
New
York Mets released Kelvin Torve on December 13, 1991.
Mets
drafted Kelly Stinnett from the Cleveland Indians on December 13, 1993.
Mets
drafted Charlie Greene from the San Diego Padres on December 13, 1993.
New
York Mets signed
free agent Ryan McGuire of the Montreal Expos on December 13, 1999.
Atlanta Braves signed Kurt Abbott of the New York Mets as
a free agent on December 13, 2000.
New
York Mets signed
free agent Dave Weathers of the Chicago Cubs on December 13, 2001.
New
York Mets signed
free agent Roger Cedeno of the Detroit Tigers on December 13, 2001.
Mets
drafted Henry Owens from the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 13, 2004.
San Francisco Giants signed Andres Torres of the New York Mets as
a free agent on December 13, 2012.
Centerfield
Maz: J.C.
Martin: 1969 World Champion Mets Back Up Catcher & His Amazing World Series
Game Winning Bunt (1968-1969).
Centerfield Maz: Joe Christopher: Mid
Sixties Mets Outfielder (1963-1965).
Centerfield Maz: Ron Taylor: 1969
World Champion Mets Closer Turned Medical Doctor (1967-1971).
Baseball
Reference:
1998: The Mets sign free agent OF Rickey Henderson.
2001: The Mets sign OF Roger Cedeno to a 4-year, $18
million contract and P David Weathers to a 3-year pact worth $9.4 million.
Breakfast
Links One year ago today - 12/12/2019
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