Paul Articulates - The honor of Francisco Lindor

On Monday, Francisco Lindor was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award, Major League Baseball’s highest off-field honor, which recognizes the philanthropic efforts of a single MLB player each year.  That is a remarkable achievement for a remarkable man.

Lindor was one of the first big acquisitions of the Steve Cohen era, coming to the team in a trade with Cleveland prior to the 2021 season.  At the time, it seemed like the Mets paid a high price, giving up Ahmed Rosario and Andres Gimenez plus a couple minor leaguers.  Lindor later signed a a ten year, $350M deal with the team.  Both Rosario and Gimenez have had reasonable major league careers, but neither became a star.  Lindor, after a rough start, has been worth every penny of that deal in my opinion.

As a ballplayer, Lindor has delivered 30.8 fWAR since he came to the Mets which ranks him first in that period, well ahead of Brandon Nimmo's 23.1 total.  Lindor has been a defensive standout, an on-the-field leader, and has been in the top 5 for OPS on the team every season except 2022.  

It is tough to ask for more out of a player, though New York fans always want more.  This year's Roberto Clemente award is definitely more.  With all of the money earned by players in this era, there is a certain obligation to give back.  Most players do, but as recognized this week, Francisco Lindor does the most.

Here is a link to the article published by MLB.com that announced the award.  We should be proud to have such an inspirational player on the Mets.

Paul Articulates - Choose your investment wisely

During each off-season, we all speculate about how the team should spend money to acquire players that would fill the perceived holes from the prior season.  It is so easy to do, because we are not spending our own personal money, we are figuratively spending the owner's money.

There are ways that we spend our own money, including tickets, memorabilia, subscriptions, and jerseys.  So let's have some fun today and talk about a pretty common investment made by many dedicated baseball fans - the purchase of a favorite player's jersey.

Making the decision to purchase a jersey is harder today than it was years ago.  Teams are constantly shuffling rosters to optimize their build, and even top players are fair game for trades or free agent acquisitions.  The cost of jerseys is also at an all-time high, running from $100-$200 for most selections.  One would hope that when you open the wallet to buy that fan gear that it would be something you can use for many seasons.  That is not a sure bet with today's roster volatility.

The last one I purchased was a Jeff McNeil #6.  I figured it was a safe bet, since he was a valuable contributor to the team, and could play enough roles that the team would want to keep him.  Well, that was partially true - they kept him for a while, but he gave his number to Starling Marte, so I was very quickly in possession of a historical artifact.

It is time now to shop for another, and maybe I will get a good price if there is an oversupply during a lock-out.  But what should I choose?

One approach is to select the jersey worn by a Soto or Lindor.  Neither is going anywhere soon, and neither is likely to offer their number to someone else.

Another approach is to choose an upcoming star like McLean, Benge, or Ewing. But a great season as a rookie does not guarantee long-lasting success.  Think about those baby Mets that all seemed to be sure things - now they are frequently included in those speculative articles about trades with other teams.

I could go old school with a former Mets' hero like Hernandez, Piazza, or Beltran and not have to worry about obsolescence.  But I already have a David Wright #5, so I think I have the past covered.

This leads us to the fun question of the day - what Met player's jersey would you purchase today?

Paul Articulates – Will the Mets go Long?

There are rumors from multiple sources that the New York Mets are interviewing former hitting coach Kevin Long for a position within the team.  The Mets current hitting coach, Troy Snitker is not rumored to be leaving, but the director of hitting Jeff Albert is not returning.

Kevin Long was the Mets’ hitting coach from the 2015 season through the 2017 season, and in my book he was one of the best hitting coaches this team has had.  When he left, the Mets hitting seemed to drop while the Nationals who hired Long began to improve.  

Long was recently the hitting coach with the Phillies, who we know could slug with the best teams.  

Take a look at the graph below which shows team performance in four different categories across the seasons with Kevin Long as hitting coach.  Each team that hired him had a positive trend in performance once he was onboard.

Does Kevin Long become the solution to the long-anemic Mets’ offense?  That is a difficult question to answer.  In 2015 when Long seemed to be working wonders with a Mets’ offense that propelled them to a World Series berth, the science of hitting was very much different than it is today.  

The team’s current struggles seem to reflect the inability to wrap their heads around how to use the new technology and maybe Long could bring some new perspective.  He seems to have evolved with the game because everywhere he goes, hitters improve.  

With the technology, budget, and staff that is available in the Cohen era, it would be easy to project that Long could do tremendous things.

Paul Articulates – Is he repairable, or is it “Senga later”?

Kodai Senga has been with the Mets since his highly publicized signing in December, 2022.  In that time, he has been hero, ace, goat, and disappointment.  His health and his stamina have played a big role in the transitions from bad to good and good to bad.  

There is no dismissing a 12-7 record with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts that he had in 2023 in his first year as a Met – he proved that he could pitch at a very high level in MLB.  He also pitched to a winning record (7-6) with a 3.02 ERA in 2025 even though he missed four weeks to a hamstring injury.

The problem with Senga has not been his healthy and confident days with the club – it has been the alter ego with nagging injuries and issues with control like the 0-9 season with a 7.34 ERA that he had last year that causes most fans to dismiss him.

Many great pitchers have had throw-away seasons, only to renew their prowess with some mechanical changes or changes to their approach to hitters.   The big question is, will Senga be one of those, or has he hit that final wall at 33 years of age?

The New York Mets owe Senga $25M next season – that much is guaranteed by contract and they will pay him with or without his services.  But if his poor performance in 2026 is unrecoverable, the question is whether the Mets should keep him on the roster or release him and eat the money?

The positive side would take hope from his success as a closer during Devin Williams’ absence in September.  Kodai recorded 8 saves in 9 opportunities with much improved pitching stats when he was only throwing an inning.  The positive side would also point to his healthy ERAs in every season other than 2026.

The negative side would dismiss him as a pitcher without the stamina to close day after day or to return to the starting rotation as he desires.  The negative side would see him as a blocker to the talents like Jonathan Santucci or Dylan Ross that are preparing to make the jump to a major league role.

One could take a “wait and see” approach to see how spring training pans out, but we all know that spring training performance does not accurately predict a player’s regular season success.  

In my opinion, the decision needs to be made during the off-season.  The Mets have seen everything they are going to see.  They know the inside story on his health issues and his above-average need for extra rest.  They have seen the metrics on his velocity and ball movement and how he responds to the new wave of coaching by analytics.  

They have also seen how quickly his body can recover from all the annoying aches and pains that occur during a professional baseball season.  I believe that they have everything they need to project whether he will be a major benefit to the team next season.

If they believe he will be healthy and productive, he will be on the 40-man roster before the first day of spring training and if he is on that roster he will be on the active roster on the first day of the 2027 regular season barring a new major injury.

If he is on the active roster to start 2027, will he be the closer?  I don’t believe so – the Mets need a horse for a closer who can overpower an opponent in the ninth inning of three consecutive games.  By the way, Devin Williams is not that either.  They need to shop.

Back to Senga – do you believe that he will be there when the season opens, or will he be gone early in the off-season to leave room on the 40 to protect some of the rule 5 eligible talent in our system?

Paul Articulates - Think it through

Freddy Peralta pitched six innings of shutout ball on Tuesday night, giving up only four hits and striking out six with a fastball that topped out at 99.4 mph.  If that invokes feelings of pain for you, you are not alone.  Peralta’s mysterious performance drop while with the Mets is still very much unexplained.  The Milwaukee all-star who tanked for the Mets this year at 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA, a 1.48 WHIP, and a significantly reduced fastball velocity was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the deadline because he showed no potential to help the club.  Once in Tampa, he did a complete turnabout, pitching to a 3.25 ERA and going 5-2 in 10 starts.

Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., Ryan Helsely, Cedric Mullins, Gregory Soto; the list of good players that significantly underperformed in Queens goes on and on as you look back over the years.  Each one invokes a painful memory of crushed expectations and a team left pondering how to patch all of the holes.

Of course, we immediately blame the General Manager for the decision to bring these players to New York, but we can all acknowledge that the names were all once associated with success.  In the case of Luis Robert Jr, it doesn’t take perfect hindsight to realize that the guy had injury problems all during his career, so it was easy to project more.  But with a Peralta, there is not a smoking gun.  People are still asking Freddy and all the coaches that surround him what has changed.  There are really no good answers.

On Monday I wrote about my favorite subject, the mental aspect of this game.  It holds true here as well.  There is something about coming to THIS city and playing for THIS team that cripples confidence in many players.  Is it the weight of the heavy expectations among Mets fans to finally reach the ultimate prize of a world series victory?  Is it the combined stress in a locker room filled with players facing the same oversized objective?  

Whatever it is, the ownership needs to recognize that there is a quality within a player that must be present before that player is added to this team.  Statistical dominance is not enough.  Fan accolades, seasonal awards, championship rings, none of them are enough.  All the successes of the past can be obliterated by a different environment and a different form of situational pressure.  Mental toughness matters, and I am talking about  95th percentile mental toughness, not the league average.

A look at the current Mets roster reveals some players that seem to have it.  

Carson Benge began the year under the spotlight of being a highly touted prospect and hit .192 in April.  That is the pinnacle of adversity.  He responded by surging to the point that he is a serious candidate for rookie of the year based upon a .313/.394/.479 September.  

AJ Ewing came to the team without the same high expectations, performed so well that he quickly found himself in the same crosshairs of media attention, slumped, and then recovered with a .309/.380/.481 September of his own.  Both of these players were relentless in the field as well as at the plate.  

Francisco Lindor overcame huge fan backlash after his slow start and infamous “thumbs down” incident by becoming a steadying roster influence and a clutch hitter in games that mattered.  

Juan Soto seems completely unfazed by media attention, fan reaction, or negative team momentum.  He just gets up and rakes.

Somewhere in the mental makeup of these players is the quality that the Mets need in all nine positions of the lineup and five slots in the rotation.  They don’t all have to hit .300 or clock radar gun speeds of 100mph.  They just need the ability to summon the will and the clarity of mind to perform when the going gets tough.  They need to play for the love of the game and the thrill of the competition.  Maybe the scouts and the front office execs are not close enough to observe what this looks like.  Maybe they should hire Keith Hernandez, Al Leiter, or Mike Piazza to screen potential acquisitions – they had this quality so one would think they could recognize it in another player.

When the front office decides to trade or DFA a player, they need to know if they are giving up someone that “has it” even if their numbers are down, or someone that “doesn’t have it” regardless of their numbers.  Mets fans love to lament the trade that gave away PCA, but a similar trade sent away Jared Kelenic who had similar hype and he turned out to be an entirely different value.  I expect that the difference lies within the helmet, not anywhere else.

I will be watching closely as the re-opening of trade season (end of WS) and free agent signing window (5 days after end of WS) arrive to see what the Mets have in mind.  Think it through, guys.  The fan base is getting restless.

Paul Articulates – The most important quality needed on the Mets’ roster

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a Hall of Fame awards banquet for my old high school.  Along with a bunch of old-timers giving speeches thanking their coaches, families, and teammates, there was a young woman in her 20’s that was being recognized for her prowess in high school athletics.  Her speech inspired me and made me reflect on how we look at ourselves and our teams.

Amidst a very modest acknowledgement of her accomplishments, she reminded all of us that she failed more than she succeeded as she competed.  To her, as hard as it was to accept in the moment, failure was just part of the process of striving for her goals.  In words that showed great wisdom beyond her years, she said, “Failure is just a data point – it is not an identity.”

The best players in sport have that sort of mentality where they are able to overcome failure and learn from it to make themselves better.  Those who lack the requisite mental toughness are sometimes so humbled by failure that they lose the confidence to excel.  This is the “state of mind” I have often referred to that characterizes players in slumps but if it is not conquered, it becomes part of their identity – the inability to perform in the big moment.

In professional sports, the players not only have to deal with the mental burden of their own failures, but they also have to deal with the reaction of the fans.  Fan criticism is a force multiplier of the mental demons that haunt a player’s psyche when the going gets tough.  We in the media have the unfortunate power to focus that negative fan energy into a searing laser beam of doubt.  We should be very careful how we use it.

As this applies to the current roster of the New York Mets, it reminds us why some players with great credentials in smaller markets can fail on the bigger stage.  Why did Freddy Peralta excel in Milwaukee, fail in New York, and then regain his swagger in Tampa?  Why did Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette struggle so mightily early in their New York careers?  Why do so many former Mets find greater success on other teams?  

I can’t say that mental toughness is the only reason because there are many variables.  I do believe it is very plausible that an athlete’s ability to use failure as a tool to improve is the most significant “intangible” factor in determining their eventual level of success.  The front office needs to understand this quality and develop a way to screen for it as they consider the next moves required to build a sustainable championship contender.

Paul Articulates - What is your take?

Every year as the season is completed and a new one looms, there is much speculation on what can be done to improve the weaknesses that prohibited the prior team from winning it all.  As the off-season evolves into the spring training season, the players begin showing their improvements and speculation turns to who will fill out the roster.  By the end of the spring, the predictions begin and we all weigh in on the projected destiny of the club.

2026 was the fiftieth year that we (at least those of us old enough to experience the ’86 series) have lamented that we just didn’t have enough to get it done.  Now we tentatively move into 2027, the season that might be cut short by CBA negotiations.  Inevitably, there will be some kind of agreement because neither the owners nor the players can afford to let an entire season pass by without a ticket being sold.  Let’s assume that a shortened season is the outcome.

The open question today is, “What will it take for the Mets to compete for a short season championship”?

Before answering, consider some facts:

• The current teams playing in the 2026 playoffs are winning with the long ball.  All teams with the lowest HR totals have been eliminated except for the Cleveland Guardians who are hanging on by a thread.

• Run prevention got teams to the playoffs.  Seven of the top eight teams ranked by ERA made the playoffs.  That same ranking applied for runs allowed, so unearned runs did not impact the playoff teams.

• Batting average was not a reliable indicator for playoff teams.  Of the top eight team batting averages, four (Rockies, Pirates, Marlins, and Royals) did not make the post-season.

• Speed also did not drive the season outcome.  Washington had the most stolen bases and both the Marlins and the Pirates were in the top eight.

So now let’s hear from you:

Can the Mets compete for a title without a top power hitter or do they have to spend big to acquire one?

Can the Mets turn the tables on “run prevention” by bolstering their pitching with a marquee starter and closer?

Does a short season favor pitching rich teams by creating less wear and tear?

Paul Articulates - an error in judgement

Baseball players are as different and unique as human beings.  As we have seen from so many controversies in the news, the attempts to generalize or stereotype groups of people into a singular trait most often go horribly wrong.

This is also true for baseball players.  In characterizing prospects, we often use the five tools (hit for average, hit with power, field, arm, speed) to rate their potential.  It is very rare that a player scores high in all areas.  We all accept that most players will have a weakness in one or some of those areas.  

The same logic applies to positions on the diamond.  A player can be a tremendous outfielder but may not have the instincts or the quickness to play a middle infield position.  A strong-armed shortstop may not have the control to be a successful pitcher.  Most of us accept that reality as well.

Somehow, this logic does not seem to be accepted when people discuss the position of first baseman.  I am frustrated (call it my pet peeve) when the speculation begins that a power hitting prospect should be moved to first base because we desperately need a first baseman.  It seems that there are certain positions in baseball that are mischaracterized as easy to play, so just about anyone can play there.  Left field, third base, and first base come to mind.  I disagree strongly.

First base is a position that requires some basic skills to be competent: field ground balls, catch balls thrown to you.  Easy, right?  Not so fast.  To excel at first base and to make a difference in your team’s success rate requires much higher skill in more complex areas.

Scooping balls in the dirt and handling throws in the basepath are ways that a very good first baseman makes the rest of the infield better.  The ability to range both left and right on hard hit balls is critical to scoring well on the Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) metric.  Few do this well, and this was the category that put Pete Alonso in a lower tier of defensive abilities that later led to the “run prevention” fiasco that put a different uniform on his back.  

There is also a more subtle but very important skill that differentiates the best first basemen, which is their ability to integrate with second basemen and pitchers on balls hit between them.  Only the best and most experienced have the judgement to let a ball in the hole get fielded by the second baseman or a dribbler get fielded by the pitcher that yields an out instead of a blooper clip.  

Then there is the 3-6-3 double play, and if you have Keith Hernandez level skill the 3-5-4 double play.  Finally, to be among the best first basemen in the league, you need to have the “hit for average” and “hit with power” tools.

Hopefully you understand my reasoning that first base is not a position that “anyone” can play while attaining team excellence.  You also probably understand now why it is frustrating to me when people speculate that some player that has the two hit tools should become the next first baseman.  This type of speculation doesn’t just come from the guy next to you on the train that has never played baseball at an elite level.  

David Stearns was guilty of that in deciding that Jorge Polanco could be our next first baseman.  Polanco was a decent middle infielder in his youth that had been “retired” to the DH spot by the Seattle Mariners at the age of 32.  Before coming to the Mets, Polanco had played one single at-bat at the first base position in his career.

Polanco certainly had the range at one point in his career, having played 501 games at short and another 430 games at second, but from 2023 on he played very little up the middle indicating diminishing capability.  

He had the ability to hit (.259 lifetime batting average) and hit with power (156 career HR), and recently batted .265 with a .495 slugging percentage so those tools were still relevant.  Learning those other skills that differentiate first basemen on the fly was not a realistic expectation.  

This is not about Polanco vs Alonso.  This is about the bad assumption that anyone can play first.  Here are a few more:

Mark Vientos had the power bat but had already demonstrated a lack of range and fielding excellence at third base.  Yet he was “tried” at first base at the major league level after only accumulating 73 games of experience over 3 years at first in the minors.

Many have speculated that Jacob Reimer, and now Billy Amick could be the first basement of the future even though they have had little to no exposure at the position.

Brett Baty has probably done the best in the “try him there” carousel this year.  Baty did fairly well there, but he has also demonstrated that he is one of those rare baseball players that can play capably at most positions in the field.  He is more of the mold of Jeff McNeil or Luis Guillorme that just has the fielding prowess to play anywhere.  But with any of these guys, you get competence, not excellence at the extra positions.  If the Mets want to outperform other teams, they need excellence at first base.

Jared Young showed some strong capability at first this year also, but he is not in the category of “converts”, as he had accumulated 329 games at first base in the minors and another 17 at first base in the majors prior to this season.

The Mets need to have a specific focus on recruiting and training an exceptional first baseman.  They also need to be looking for one with those skills now on the free agent market.  Good is not going to cut it.  Very good is what we had with Alonso and have not replicated.  Excellent is very hard to get and is very expensive in free agency.

Currently in the system the Mets don’t have many candidates.  Probably the best was JT Schwartz, who had the exceptional fielding at first base that Stearns covets.  But Schwartz only could hit for average early in his career and when they tried to develop a power tool, it regressed his hitting completely and he has now been released.  Others like Ryan Clifford and Corey Collins and Nick Larusso and Trace Willhoite are not demonstrating the full range of tools.

The first base position continues to be a hole in the Mets’ progress towards a championship team.  In my opinion, this should not be taken lightly by assuming that someone can just “learn the position”.  It needs to be addressed by a multi-pronged strategy that includes:

• Development from within.  First, drafting first basement that have learned the necessary skills and had the reps in college and just need to enhance their tools.  It also means identifying candidates early in the development cycle for transformation to the position but realizing that it will take years and 100 games to gain the necessary proficiency.

• Acquisition of prospects that have already shown proficiency in this path.  This would be a great shortcut to success but assumes that the right candidates are available and can be obtained without sacrificing too much capital.

• Acquisition of a top tier MLB first baseman if possible.  This is unlikely, as teams that have excellent first basemen are few and far between.  Nick Kurtz would be great, but at what price?  Fortunately, if the Mets can implement the prior parts of the strategy, this is only a short-term bridge and older players (e.g. Christian Walker) become part of the universe of candidates.  

There is a lot to do to elevate this team to elite level, but aside from pitching, the first base position should be a top priority for the Mets.

Paul Articulates – setting up the off-season

You may be watching the MLB  playoffs, or you may be taking a break from it all after a rough season.  Either way, if you are a true Mets fan, you are already thinking about what comes next.

As you can see by the “Important dates” listing in the side column of our site, there are some pretty big things coming up for the front office.  This would include key decisions on who would receive Qualifying Offers, what potential trades can be negotiated, and where to pick up club options that are available.  You are also anxiously awaiting the decisions of those who have player options.

This post aims to arm you with some important data to consider as these pivotal decisions come down.

The Calander:  MLB’s activity timeline is always tied to the end of the World Series.  On the fifth day after the World Series ends, personnel actions open up: Trades can formally be enacted, free agents are allowed to sign with other teams, and Qualifying Offers (QOs) must be finalized.  The series will end some time between October 29th and November 2nd depending upon how many games are required.  This pegs those key personnel dates between November 3rd (early series completion) and November 7th (late series completion).  

In addition to the post-series activities, players that have received QOs are given until November 18th to decide whether to accept or reject.  Another significant date is December 1st, when the collective bargaining agreement expires.  If there is no agreement before then, expect all baseball activity to halt until there is resolution.

The Payroll: The current 28-man active roster for the Mets contains a lot more youth than prior rosters, with many players under team control or arbitration eligible players.  Only eight players remain with long term contracts in place that commit salary and one of them, Bo Bichette, has the ability to opt out of the remaining two years on his deal.  These eight (assuming Bo stays) commit the team to $217.35M which is far below last year’s roughly $350M in salary obligation.  

A caveat here is that Jorge Polanco, who is under contract to receive $23M next year, is on the IL but barring a trade or release will be on the active roster in 2027.

Another caveat is that the 12 players making league minimum (assumed to be $1M next year but subject to the CBA negotiations) will add $12M to the bottom line and the eleven arbitration eligible players will add more. 

Here are the current commitments:

This table can be expanded to include the full 28-man roster by including estimates of $1M salaries for those earning MLB minimum salary and estimates from Sportrac of post-arbitration salaries for the rest.  I started to do that, but realized that it was futile because all of the “fill in the blanks” information is deeply dependent upon what is agreed upon in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement whenever that is finalized.  Instead, here is a table of the arbitration eligible players over the next two seasons from the current team:

All the other players are controllable for the next few years.

Although these names are from the 40-man roster, we are primarily focused on the active roster (26 players for most of the season, 28 players in September).  

If you keep all of the players from these two tables, there are only three slots remaining for free agent acquisitions or minor league call-ups.  Clearly there will have to be some movement, and several articles within the last week have already discussed those potential choices.

Time to put your GM hat on and start envisioning the 2027 roster.  Good luck!

Paul Articulates – The 2026 season - a blessing in disguise

The New York Mets’ season is finally over, ending months of disappointment.  So many things went wrong right out of the gate that it became a lost season quicker than any other season in recent memory.  You have read (here and everywhere else) all about the failings, the mistakes, and even some bad luck.  But with some reflection on everything that occurred, I found that many good things happened to this team this year.  

Let me expound:

1) First on everyone’s list and recognized in several posts here at Mack’s Mets was the play of the young Mets.  Benge, Ewing, McLean, Thornton, and the return of Christian Scott built hope for the future.  All of them performed very well and pushed through periods of adversity to become even better players.  This is fairly unique, because if you look at the careers of many rookies (including the full cast of baby Mets from a few years ago), they plateau after brief flashes of success.  The five mentioned above have not plateaued – they have continued to climb.  For example, both Benge and Ewing have OPS over .800 in the last 30 days.

2) Jared Young surprised many with his steady play this season.  Expected to be just a bench depth player, he became the one to plug the hole created at first base when no one else could step up to fill Pete’s shoes.  Young will never be Alonso, but of all the “maybe” players out of spring training, he had the greatest rise in performance.

3) We all held our breath when the Mets traded away most of the bullpen at the deadline.  When Devin Williams went down soon afterwards, most of us believed that the team would never win a close game again.  Out of the ashes rose a handful of young relievers that outperformed expectations and shone light on the team’s future.  Daniel Duarte, Cionel Perez, Jonathan Pintaro, Austin Warren, and the returning Dedniel Nunez provided exceptional relief performances over the last two months.  Other than Nunez, who had shown promise before he was injured, none of these guys were expected to be anything other than temporary fill.  Now they are expected to make next year’s team.  Later, the team promoted Nate Lavender.  He may have surpassed them all, pitching to a 1.66 ERA and 0.74 WHIP over 21 appearances.

4) My last point, and this may be the most important one, is the intangible piece that I see building.  When David Stearns blew up the team during the offseason, it was due to an internal analysis that indicated  the team didn’t have “what it takes” to win a championship.  Say all you want about Stearns’ choices in what followed, but the analysis was probably accurate.  The harder part was to build a team that did have “what it takes”.  I now see several very critical aspects that have come together:

• The team acquired Juan Soto in 2025 to anchor the team around one of the best players in baseball.  Soto is truly at another level with a bat in his hands when you watch him recognize pitches and work an at-bat.  He is almost slump resistant with his quick swing and eye for the ball.  However, he is not the personality that rallies a team to higher performance – he focuses on his game and provides consistent (elite) performance. Francisco Lindor has always been a leader on this team, but when Soto arrived, there was an uncomfortable standoff between the two.  This appears to have been resolved, and the team now seems to have two comfortable superstars coexisting in the spotlight.

• Lindor’s leadership style is to keep everything under control.  He has been a calming influence since Javy Baez left. His steady way of going about his business every day helps the team grind through a long season.  But as we have seen from the team-wide slumps in the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026, the team also needs energy.  Enter Benge and Ewing, the “psychopath brothers”, who lifted the entire team with their relentless energy and all-out play on the field.  The team now has the emotional content to go on big streaks and the stable focus to work through adversity.

• The starting pitching was nothing short of a disaster in early 2026, and then at the deadline the relief corps was devastated by trades.   I can’t say the Mets were fortunate, but I can say that they took advantage of the situation by providing opportunities to some that would not have had the chance.  The failures of Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea created the window for Zac Thornton to move up, which I don’t believe would have happened otherwise.  Christian Scott came back as a full-up starter instead of being slowly incorporated by an overcautious staff.  He delivered 110 innings of solid pitching that cemented his spot on the rotation for years to come.  The deadline trades created opportunities for guys like Austin Warren and Nate Lavender to pitch regularly and they seized the chance to prove their worthiness.  Pitching, which has always been a hallmark of the Mets, is once again becoming a strength.

Let’s tie this all together.  A horrid start to the season by a rebuilt roster killed the playoff hopes early.  But in the wake of that disaster, the Mets were able to create opportunities for many internal candidates to prove their readiness long before the conservative front office would have allowed.  There is now a fresh, young delegation on this team that is MLB ready and under team control for years.  They are strengthened by veteran stars like Lindor, Soto, and Bichette.  The Mets still need more pieces to become championship contenders – one or two strong starters (Clay Holmes, come home!) and a power bat (the Alonso deal was still a huge mistake).  But the putt is so much shorter now than I envisioned earlier this summer.

There is renewed hope in Queens.  Let’s go Mets!

Paul Articulates – The Alvarez Enigma

Francisco Alvarez is out of control. Again.

The former top prospect with undeniable power and a strong arm has now been in the major leagues for four full seasons plus his abbreviated call-up year.  He has also been back in the minor leagues for many injury rehabilitation trips and other remedial tune-ups.

He is that "can’t miss" prospect that always seems to miss.  Why?  He cannot control his passion to make the big play.  Huge swings and misses on balls that he could have driven into the opposite field gap.  Wild throws on the 1-in-100 chance that he can gun down a runner.  This is all hero behavior in a game that much more often rewards patience. 

We have seen him come back from rehab assignments with a fresh new outlook – better appearances at the plate with more selectivity on pitches to swing at; better blocking of pitches in the dirt.  We have also seen that control reversed as soon as success starts creeping in.  

It seems that each big home run is followed by several at bats where he takes mighty swings at balls that cannot be reached.  One caught stealing is followed by unwarranted pick-off throws that eventually find their way into the outfield.  Pitchers exploit his inability to lay off the high fastball above the strike zone and sliders that begin as strikes and dive out of the zone.

The Mets are faced with a tough dilemma: stick with the guy that has immense talent, or part with the guy who has repeatedly shown that he does not have the emotional maturity to harness that talent.  

In his best days, he looks like the player that was projected to be a star catcher for many years to come.  One could use examples of his great games to argue that with a little maturity and the right coaching, he can fulfill the past projections and become a threat in the middle of the lineup and a reliable backstop on defense.

In his worst days, like yesterday’s loss to the Nationals, he hurts the team with poor at-bats in critical situations and costs the team runs with defensive miscues.  One could use the recurring regressions to argue that he should be packaged in a trade and replaced by a steadier influence behind the plate like Luis Torrens.

Either way, Francisco Alvarez will find a way to haunt the Mets.

The Mets’ farm system has shown some very good depth recently, with several promising pitchers like Scott, McLean, Thornton, and Tong coming up.  Their middle-infield depth has soared in the post-trade deadline months.  Similarly, they have developed some very high quality outfield talent like Benge, Ewing, and Morabito.  But the catching progression leaves much to be desired, so there is no heir apparent to Alvarez in the pipeline.  

Yes, we have seen some positive steps by Kevin Parada recently and there have been flashes of brilliance by Chris Suero, but neither seems MLB ready right now.  Hayden Senger is a top notch defensive catcher but despite a better year in 2026 is still not a bat that the team is looking for.  You have to go all the way down to St. Lucie before finding a star-caliber catching prospect in Yovanny Rodriguez but he has years of development in front of him.  There is not an in-house solution for next year.

So the choices are not clear, but the Mets have several months to think about the high stakes risk-reward trade-off with their catching position.

Paul Articulates – Predicting future moves for the Mets

There is no shortage of critics of the way the New York Mets performed this year, and most of them focus their ire on the team’s President of Baseball Operations David Stearns.  Stearns really heard it from the home crowd during last week’s series with the Baltimore Orioles and their star Pete Alonso.

But despite those feelings, it is very clear that owner Steve Cohen has not abandoned his faith in Stearns and is determined to give it another go in 2027.  Cohen is a pretty smart man who has excelled in a financial world where few find his level of success, so his decision making ability is very sound.  We’re going to trust that ability and assume that Stearns is capable of making the calls on building a successful Mets franchise for next season.  So the natural question becomes, what is he going to do?  Here are my predictions:

1) Stearns will not stand pat on the team’s starting pitching.  Despite the very positive developments of young starters Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton and some pretty good pitching depth behind them, Stearns is going to look for a top notch starting pitcher.  He knows that pitching rosters can be volatile because of injuries and overuse, so having three strong starters plus guys like Tong, Santucci, and Wenninger in the wings is not enough.  Expect him to make a splash with a top name this off-season.

2) Stearns has predictably operated a revolving door on the relief pitching roster.  He knows, as we all do that there are very few relievers that sustain a high level of performance year after year.  Yesterday’s stars (remember Edwin Diaz) are today’s busts.  So Stearns will supplement some of the rostered relievers (Nunez, Duarte, Lavender, and Warren) with some new blood fresh off the free agent market.  That doesn’t mean that established players like Kodai Senga and a returning Reed Garrett won’t have jobs, but they will earn them in spring training.

3) With four sound outfielders on the roster in Soto, Benge, Ewing, and Morabito, don’t look for any big outfield names to get introduced at a winter podium for the Mets.  Stearns will, as always, bring in a few veteran free agent outfielders on one-year, $1M deals and let them compete for a spot.

4) Emboldened by the decisions to advance Carson Benge to the opening day roster and promote AJ Ewing in mid-May, Stearns will take a much more aggressive stance in adding a young middle infielder.  He has plenty of choices in the loaded minor league system, but my bet is that Jefferson Rojas or Emilien Pitre get lots of spring playing time with the big club with a shot at the opening day roster.  If Bo Bichette opts out, start thinking more than one getting a shot.  It won’t be Maurico or Baty – it will come from the new young crop of talent.

5) Stearns throws an olive branch to the Mets’ faithful and acquires a legitimate full time first baseman.  Sorry Jared Young, you had a terrific run in 2026 and established yourself as worthy of a MLB roster spot, but the Mets are going big on a power-hitting 1B even if it costs them some serious trade collateral.  Just as the trade deadline went, there are very few names that would be protected from a trade that would attain a headline name like Josh Naylor.  Even bolder, he may move a controllable player like Francisco Alvarez plus a minor leaguer for another controllable player like Nick Kurtz or Spencer Torkelson.

Paul Articulates – Let’s celebrate the players of the year

On Sunday, the Mets named their award winners for the minor leagues.  They were two names you have heard fairly often on this site, and we expect much more next year.

Mitch Voit, an infielder for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, was named minor league Player of the Year for the Mets.  Voit, who split the year between High A Brooklyn (76 games) and AA Binghamton (29 games), really took off when he hit the AA level.  He slashed .347/.430/.517 for the Ponies, delivering 41 hits in just 118 at-bats.  Voit was drafted in the first round of the 2025 draft (1-38) out of Michigan University.  He went right to St. Lucie after the draft, getting in 22 games before the ’25 season ended.  

Then, in the spring of this year he was assigned to Brooklyn where he posted a .745 OPS prior to his promotion to Binghamton.  His OPS leapt to .947 there, and he was named Eastern League Player of the Week on two consecutive weeks back in August.  Voit is a middle infielder in the midst of a very crowded group of talented middle infielders that are currently in the Mets’ development system.  He has made the most of his opportunities, and deserves the recognition.

Jonathan Santucci, a pitcher for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, was named minor league Pitcher of the Year for the Mets.  Santucci is a left-hander that was drafted in 2024 (2-46) out of Duke.  He saw action in both Brooklyn and Binghamton in the 2025 season, and began this season in AA Binghamton where he posted a 3.57 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP in 19 starts.  

In late July, Santucci moved up to AAA Syracuse where he started 8 more games.  He struck out 43 batters in only 34 innings for the S-Mets, but his ERA increased to 5.24 in the hitter friendly International League.  According to Baseball Savant, Santucci earns a grade of 60 on his slider, 55 on his fastball, and a 50 overall.  He has shown very good control of his pitches (he also throws a curve and a changeup), walking half as many batters as he strikes out.

Both players are still young and developing, so we have great expectations for their future.

Paul Articulates – A season summary on the AA Rumble Ponies

The 2026 Eastern League season ended yesterday for the Rumble Ponies in an un-ceremonial fashion.  They were rained out and the game will not be made up.  This concluded their season with a 61-76 record.

The season was marked by twists and turns as roster volatility (which is typical at this level) caused many different variations in the lineup.  

Let’s look at how much the lineups changed.

On day 1, the Ponies fielded a team that included AJ Ewing, who ended up spending most of the season in MLB.  It also included JT Schwartz, Matt Rudick, and Wyatt Young, who have since been released.  Others spent a majority of the season in Binghamton with occasional trips up and down, like Eli Serrano, Kevin Parada, Marco Vargas, Bryce Conley, and Calos Guzman.

On day 137, the Ponies started guys like Mitch Voit, Jacob Reimer, Chris Suero, John Bay, and Eddison Paulino.

As in any minor league season, the emphasis is on development, and when it is going well there are promotional opportunities, and when it is not, there are less pleasant remedies.

On the positive side, some players made their push to the upside:

1) AJ Ewing played 18 games in AA, batting .349 with a 1.052 OPS.  He was promoted to Syracuse (AAA) where he spent another dozen games hitting .326 with a .827 OPS.  He then moved to Queens where he spent the rest of the season establishing himself as part of the future for the New York Mets.

2) Zac Thornton started game four for the Binghamton team, and now he has shocked just about everyone (except himself) with how well he has performed against MLB hitters.  Thornton was always recognized as a guy with potential, but he burst on the scene with the big club in early May and currently holds a 3.44 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.

3) Nick Lorusso began the season in Binghamton without any billing as a top prospect.  Sometimes you have to see to believe, and after 84 games in AA with 19 HR and 55 RBI, the Mets brass believed, and promoted him to Syracuse.  His slugging dipped a little there, but I am still high on the kid from my hometown of Monroe, CT.

4) Jeffrey Yan began the season as a AA reliever, and eventually found his way to Citi Field to the delight of Mets fans (but no one following the opposing teams).  His final leap landed back in Syracuse, but he has the potential to return to Flushing if he masters his control.

Also on the positive side, many of the new acquisitions at the trade deadline made their debut on the Binghamton roster, and have been very helpful to the development system:

1) Number one Mets prospect Jefferson Rojas has shown some positional versatility in the infield, a great eye, and disciplined bat control at the plate. Since arriving, he has posted a slash line of .280/.336/.593 with 29 RBI in 29 games.

2) Emilien Pitre took off like a rocket.  He spent 10 full games in Binghamton before being promoted to Syracuse. A .375 batting average will do that.  Since being in Syracuse he has been a little cooler, but a .279 average and .380 OPS in AAA when you started in high A ball is quite an accomplishment.  Look for much more from Pitre.

3) Billy Amick found his power this year.  Between the AA teams in Wichita (Twins) and Binghamton, he hit 30 HR and drove in 94 runs in 98 games.  Then he was promoted to Syracuse where he hit another 8 dingers in 19 games.  Although his swing still needs refinement to avoid being exploited by the most talented of MLB pitchers, Amick seems like a strong candidate to spend spring training with the big club showing what he can do.

4) Big Gabe Davis came to Binghamton via the White Sox trade, and established his imposing presence with the Rumble Ponies.  Davis was good for a 1-1 record, a 2.53 ERA, and 24 strikeouts in 21 innings.  More to come from this prospect.

5) Gary Gill Hill pitched his high school ball in Somers, NY which made his Binghamton starts feel like home.  Gill Hill struck out 28 and walked only 5 batters in 26 innings with the Ponies, ending up with a 2-0 record.  That looked so good that the Mets promoted him to finish the year in Syracuse.

With the help of those five players and a few other rising stars like Marco Vargas and Mitch Voit, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies went on a late-season run and almost won the second half, which would have returned them to the Eastern League playoffs.  Unfortunately, the hill was just slightly too high to climb, and the team will have to watch from the sidelines.  

There was a lot of exciting talent passing through town this year, and there is no reason to expect less next year.  Stay tuned!

Paul Articulates – Revenge on the fish

I wrote this very late last night, as I had to wait a long time to see if 15 runs were enough to win a ball game.  It was, by one run, and the Mets finally got a measure of revenge against the Miami Marlins.  

If you are a Mets fan, then you have nightmares about the 2007 season when a very strong Mets team blew a seven game lead with 17 to play with an 8-1 loss to the Marlins in game 162.  You also remember the déjà vu moment on the final game of the 2008 season, when the Marlins once again beat the Mets to knock them out of the playoffs.  To add insult to injury, that was the team’s final game in Shea Stadium.  

One would hope that those bad memories were buried with the remains of the stadium in the Citi Field parking lot, but it happened again just last year.  A Mets team that was the best in baseball in mid-June completed their slow-motion collapse by once again losing to Miami on the final day of the season.  In none of those seasons were the Marlins a contender.  They were just hungry spoilers.

So this year, with the Marlins clinging to playoff hopes and badly needing wins to make up ground on the Padres and Pirates, the Mets came into town and swept the series.  Although it was not the final nail in Miami’s coffin, it left them 6.5 games out with 15 to play and three teams to pass.  Sayonara, fish.  We owed you.

I must say that the Marlins put up a better fight as the team that needed to win.  They came back from an 8-0 deficit, then scored six more over the last three innings in an attempt to salvage a win.  Unfortunately for them, the guys in the New York uniforms are scoring runs like never before, totaling 60 runs in their last 7 games.  I guess it helps to play loose, because this team had not shown improvement over the first three quarters of the season.

Despite the poor season, I continue to enjoy watching the young players on the Mets develop.  Carson Benge almost made the highlight reel by going high over the fence to chase a home run – he was just inches from catching a ball that was well beyond most right fielders’ reach.  AJ Ewing has shown incredible resiliency by overcoming a late-season slump with a huge series in Miami.  Both of these guys play their hearts out every game regardless of the standings.  

Now the team heads back to New York to play their brothers from another borough.  Let’s see if they can spoil some Yankee plans, too.

Paul Articulates – Windows ‘26

If you have used a computer long enough, you probably remember all the versions of Windows that you had to re-learn because Microsoft thought that the last version wasn’t good enough.  Things that you had committed to habit suddenly disappeared into menus that were difficult to find, new features were added that you didn’t understand why we needed them, and the old way of doing things was obsoleted with each version.

Baseball (and particularly your New York Mets) kind of mimics that behavior.  The last version of the team wasn’t good enough, so the GM changes everything and for months the team can’t figure out how to score or prevent runs enough to win.  Right about now, some of the players that couldn’t do anything earlier are doing it now, but the results are not much better.  Too little, too late.

Enough of the metaphors.  My main reason for naming this post “Windows ‘26” is that I wanted to discuss the evolution of Mets player personnel.  Every athlete goes through an evolution from learning the game to improving their game to refining the improvements to eventually losing some of the muscle twitch and muscle memory that goes with peak performance.  So, in a way, every athlete has a performance window that opens, exposing them to their highest level of potential competition, and then that window closes with age leading to their demotion and retirement from the sport.  No two windows are the same, but the signs are recognizable.  

Let’s talk about some of the Mets players in terms of their windows.

Windows opening:

Nolan McLean: Last year as a sensational rookie, McLean was called up and performed admirably.  He was an early favorite to win rookie of the year but suffered a few set-backs early with bad innings.  Now in his “refining” stage, he has overcome the obstacles and seems to be entering a high performance window that will see him starting ballgames for years and possibly gaining post-season awards for exceptional pitching.

Carson Benge: In April, many thought that the window had opened too early and he wasn’t ready for the cold blast of winter wind facing him at Citi Field.  But Carson has put those concerns to rest, batting over .300 in three of the four full months not named “April” this season.  His window continues to open wider as his steady and sometimes spectacular defense matches his excellent offensive performance.

AJ Ewing: No one expected Ewing’s window to open so soon.  He showed major league readiness after only a few games at AAA this year and has continued to learn and improve on the field as a starter for the Mets.  Like Benge, he has had some setbacks as pitchers figure out vulnerabilities, but he continues to improve and looks like a long term starter for this team.

Zac Thornton: Much like Ewing, Thornton burst upon the scene as an early call-up and has impressed since his debut.  He has shown  great promise as a lefty starter and appears to be undaunted by the great MLB hitters he faces.  He is not yet in his prime, so consider his window to only be partially open.

Windows Closing:

Marcus Semien: He was a three-time all-star, a gold glove winner, a silver slugger recipient, and a threat to every opposing ballclub.  Now on the trailing end of a 7-year, $175M contract, Semien has lost a step or two.  He has spent the last three years hitting far below his career average.  His productivity is lagging enough to make fans wonder who is going to take his place at second base, and the suddenly healthy list of minor league middle infield prospects is coming on strong.

Mark Vientos: The 2024 season seemed to be the unleashing of his power potential, and many thought he had finally arrived.  However, two very weak seasons later Vientos is platooning as a right-handed DH and occasional first baseman.  His window is rapidly closing, at least in New York.

Brett Baty: Brett’s story is similar to Mark’s although he never had the breakout season.  Baty has been a little more valuable, with defensive skills at several positions to give him more lineup opportunities.  However, with a .225 batting average (.650 OPS) this year and a career .230 batting average (.662 OPS) he is not making a compelling case for extending his window beyond the team control period. 

Sean Manaea: Sean has gone through some very unusual ups and downs as he (and Mets coaches) tinkers with his delivery.  He was mediocre, then he became a star, then he lost it, then it looked like he regained it, and now he looks very much like a 34-year old pitcher with declining skills.   I think that his window closes after his last year (2027) of the current 3-year contract.

Windows concerns: 

Francisco Lindor: The last two versions of the Mets were built around Lindor.  He has been a leader on the field, and outstanding defensive shortstop, and a solid hitter who has shown both power and clutch hitting at times.  This year some cracks have been forming.  He has had some very odd mental lapses and has just physically botched some plays that are so unlike him.  His batting average (.228) and OPS (.734) are at their lowest point since his very difficult first year in NY.  At 32 and with four more full seasons under his current contract one would hope he has much more gas in the tank.  It is just hard to explain his off-days this year.

Francisco Alvarez: Once a can’t miss prospect who was labelled the Mets catcher of the future, Alvarez has had enough ups and downs to make the fans sea sick.  He is currently being out-played on both sides of the ball by his back-up Luis Torrens.  How long will the Mets keep Alvarez’ window open as the primary catcher?

Windows on the lower floors:

This is a sad but very real part of baseball.  Many players compete in the minor leagues trying to fulfil their dreams of playing in the show.  Many players never make it there, and eventually their window closes and they are released.  Some get another chance with a different organization, some continue striving in independent ball, and some eventually take on a different career.  I feel for those guys, especially when they get smacked by the business side of baseball which can be cruel.  There are too many to list by name, but every one of them has a story and had a dream that ended. 

Paul Articulates – Major and Minor points

Many thoughts have crossed my mind this week as I look across the Mets’ system.  Rather than write around a central theme as I usually do, I decided to just share my thoughts.  

On Tuesday evening, I stopped by the ballpark to watch a Rumble Ponies (AA) game and a few things stood out.

• The game was started by Gary Gill Hill, who was acquired in the trade for Freddy Peralta.  Mets fans may lament the fact that Peralta has re-discovered the art of pitching in someone else’s system, but don’t dismiss the trade quite yet.  Gill Hill is a guy with a plan.  He understands every pitch he can throw and why/when he needs to throw it.  If you look at pure statistics for Tuesday’s game, he does not stand out – 8 hits and 2 earned runs over four innings does not make the highlight reel.  But the eye test showed something much different.  All those hits were soft contact.  From my memory, only one batter really found the ball with the barrel, and that was a deep fly out to center.  Gill Hill is a PITCHER, and he has achieved that at a very young age where most power guys only learn to pitch when they lose the velocity.

• Jefferson Rojas is a number one prospect for a reason.  Yes he has good stats, but once again, the eye sees more.  Rojas hits the ball hard every time up.  He has a very controlled swing, so he is not coming out of his shoes, but he finds the middle of the ball more than anyone else in the lineup.  His hits are hard, his outs are hard, and his strikeouts are few (18.4% K rate).

• Mitch Voit seems to be cast from the same mold as Rojas.  Hard hits come off his bat with regularity, even when they are “at-em”.  Like Rojas, he does not whiff much (23.2% K rate) and he murders the baseball (.368 average, 1.032 OPS) when he hits it.

• Chris Suero does it all.  He catches as a primary field position, but don’t be surprised to find him in center field.  Catchers are slow?  Not this one – he had two stolen bases Tuesday – great jumps, good speed.  And don’t try to run on him – zero stolen bases, one CS Tuesday and it was just a typical day.  He has hit in the clutch with regularity this season so he is one of the guys that you want to see at the plate in a high leverage situation.

On Wednesday evening, I stayed home and watched the big club.  

• Nick Morabito finally broke through with a banner game.  Two hits, three RBI, and a diving catch that Benge and Ewing would be proud of.  With the three of them in the outfield, very few baseballs will find grass in Mets games.  We still haven’t had a good sample of Nick’s speed yet and I can’t wait to see him frustrate opposing batteries. This could be one very dynamic outfield.

• There was a time (a few years ago) when we all talked regularly about Nate Lavender.  He was really going to be something.  Then he got hurt and spend almost two seasons out of view.  Many forgot him.  Not anymore.  Lavender has 14 K and zero ER in 12 2/3 innings with the big club since being called up.  He has a 0.55 WHIP so far and is quickly earning the trust of Andy Green.

• Marcus Semien has two more contract years with the Mets.  Despite all the young talent on the roster today, Semien continues to play every day.  The Mets are hoping he can prove trade value.  I hope he bats 1.000 with a 1.500 OPS for the rest of the season so that wish will come true.

• The Mets are 40-43 (.482) with Luis Torrens in the lineup this year.  The Mets are 38-60 (.388) with Francisco Alvarez in the lineup this year.  Just saying.

The AA season ends Sunday.  The AAA season ends September 20th.  The Mets MLB season ends September 27th.  Mack’s Mets never ends – we will keep giving you content throughout the year.  Count on it.