Remember1969: Who Won? Deals of History - 1967

 

Mets Trades through the years:  Who won?

November 1966 through October 1967

We are back to a single year with thirteen trades between fall 1966 and fall 1967. 

Notes:   We are now pre-dating my Mets fandom as I started following the team in 1969.   There are a lot of players on this list that I never heard of, and some for very good reason - they never played in the majors.   

The first trade is interesting in that I believe it is the only time in Mets history that they traded the same two players together that they received together in an earlier trade.    New York obtained Klimchock and Bowman together in a July 1965 trade with the Braves.   I had never heard of either of them until this week when I was putting the list together.   

(1)  New York Mets traded Lou Klimchock and Ernie Bowman to the Cleveland Indians for Floyd Weaver  (Oct 12, 1966)

(2)  New York Mets traded Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tommy Davis and Derrell Griffith.  (Nov 29, 1966)

(3)  New York Mets traded Dennis Ribant and Gary Kolb to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Don Cardwell and Don Bosch  (Dec 06, 1966)

(4)  New York Mets traded Derrell Griffith to the Houston Astros for Sandy Alomar  (Mar 24, 1967)

(5)  New York Mets traded Ed Bressoud and Danny Napoleon to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jerry Buchek, Art Mahaffey and Tony Martinez  (Apr 01, 1967)

 

(6)  New York Mets traded Larry Elliot to the Kansas City Athletics for Ed Charles  (May 10, 1967)

 

(7)  New York Mets traded Jack Hamilton to the California Angels for Nick Willhite  (Jun 10, 1967)

 

(8)  New York Mets traded John Stephenson and Rob Gardner to the Chicago Cubs for BobHendley  (Jun 12, 1967)

 

(9)  New York Mets traded Al Yates to the Boston Red Sox for Dennis Bennett  (Jun 24, 1967)

 

(10)  New York Mets traded Chuck Hiller to the Philadelphia Phillies for Phil Linz  (Jul 11, 1967)

 

(11)  New York Mets traded Jack Lamabe to the St. Louis Cardinals for Al Jackson (Jul 16, 1967)

 

(12)  New York Mets traded Ken Boyer and Sandy Alomar to the Chicago White Sox for J.C. Martin and Bill Southworth  (Jul 22, 1967)

 

(13)  New York Mets traded Hawk Taylor to the California Angels for Don Wallace  (Jul 24, 1967)

Trivia:   Sandy Alomar went on to a 15 year career, but the when the Mets traded for him he was a 23 year old infielder that couldn't hit.   His Mets career ended with a robust hitting line of 0 for 22 with a run scored (and no walks).   Yup, 22 plate appearances and a .000 OPS or -100 OPS+.      His run scored was after he was inserted as a pinch runner.  

Lou Klimchock somehow played in 12 different years in the Major Leagues and completed his career with a -2.6 WAR.     That must be hard to do, although it was probably easier in the sixties. 

I first learned that Jack Lamade and Hawk Taylor were baseball players recently while sorting through some newly acquired 1968 baseball cards.    Neither was on the Mets for their '68 card and because the names were unusual I remembered them when I was typing up this segment.   There might be more in the early Mets years that I learn about from baseball cards.   

Ron Hunt was known for getting hit by pitch.  He was hit 41 times while he played with the Mets, but he didn't really play in traffic until he got to Montreal.   With the Expos, he was plunked 110 time in his 4 years there, including 50 in 1971.    Hunt ended up with more Hit By Pitch than doubles in his career, and accumulated 32.7 WAR doing it.  

It turns out Don Cardwell had a better career than I ever knew.   I knew he was part of the 1969 staff, but he had quite a long career and ended with 16.7 WAR.   He led the NL in games started with 38 in 1961 for the Cubs.  

Ed Charles went out the right way - not many players retire a World Champions, but Charles' last career at-bat was in the 1969 World Series. 

Rob Gardner was one of out 'local' guys, from Binghamton, NY.   There have only been a few players from this upstate area to play in the majors and Gardner was the first one I remember when I started following the game in 1969.    

Seems like Bill Southworth is a good place to end this today.  Southworth accumulated +0.2 WAR in his career consisting of 7 at bats and 2 hits, including a homer.    All of his MLB at bats were before he turned 19 years old.  

  

Tom Brennan - It's Been a Fun Run - Thank You All

Pastor Darryl and a certain amateur writer you may know - two powerful lefties LOL

All of us old time Mets fans remember the greats and not-so-greats.

Willie Mays?  Tom Seaver?  Mickey Mantle?  Ron Swoboda?  Jesse Orosco?  

The Straw Man-turned-powerful-evangelist....and...

So, so many more.

ALL gave us wonderful moments, memorable moments.

Writing for Macks Mets for nearly a decade has been memorable for me.  In writing, I tried to find solutions, even if at times for problems no one else cared much about.  I tried to bring insight, bring levity, bring a young kid's "fan point of view", and joy to all of you who chose to read the articles, and better yet, to those who commented on them.

My favorite part of Macks Mets was interacting with Gus and Bill and Gary and Hobie and Viper and Alex and Eddie and so many others.  After all, you all probably know more about the Mets and baseball than I do.  And you also almost undoubtedly went to, and watched, a lot more Mets games and SNY highlights than I have in recent years.

And of course, I enjoyed the interactions amongst our own writers.

We certainly didn't always see eye to eye.  

And we each wrote in our own inimitable styles:

Mack and Reese being the site's two foundational and prolific writers, both of whose bodies of work I have greatly appreciated, and many other outstanding writers along the way like Remember 1969, Paul Articulates, the one and only David Rubin (the world's biggest Tom Seaver fan), Ernest Dove, Chris Soto, Ray Savage, John, and many others. 

I always enjoyed writing about guppies, subs and scrubs, the foolish Wilpons, Mets Killers, Sugar, Megill, the fragile Fab Five, how players just somehow got worse when they joined the Mets and better when they left, the ridiculous hitter-unfriendly environs, how the Mets couldn't score much at home but no one cared enough to truly fix it - and of course, Jeff McNeil and Tim Tebow.  And so many others.

I advocated for expanded rosters, more minor league pay, sensible rules in baseball, avoidance of budget-crushing long term contracts to short term players, etc.  I moaned often about the lack of home-grown Mets' offensive Hall of Famers and the Mets' paltry club offensive records (thank you, Pete Alonso, for busting the skimpy 41 HRs in a season team record by a resounding 12 long balls).

I'd write articles about what I felt prospects needed to correct, like I really knew, in hopes I could help in some minor way to fix a few of them so they could achieve their dream.  I wrote of guys who were AAA pitchers but for some unknown reason didn't want the big leagues quite badly enough to try out the knuckleball, which only made RA Dickey a multimillionaire and Cy Young winner.

Recently, I think the combination of the pandemic, players and owners who are a little too fussy for their expensive britches, and my own getting older and wanting to make up for some lost time doing other things than write about baseball suddenly caught up to me - I woke up one recent day and just felt like I'd written enough about baseball for the time being.  I am an extremely fast writer, but even so, it took a lot of time over the years that sometimes left me wondering what else I should be doing with my time left on this fine (and sometimes troubled) planet.

Maybe spend more quiet time with the Lover of My Soul, and perhaps focus more on getting back to performing at church events again.  

I regret not a second of the opportunity I have had to share some of it with you.  

Maybe if the site continues on, you'll hear back from me on some of your posts.  

God bless you, folks.  You've blessed me, and I hope I've blessed you.

And thanks, most of all, to Mack, who gave me the opportunity to see that I could write "stuff".  "What do I write about, Mack?"  "Whatever you want - as long as it is Mets." 

All health and happiness to you all.  A wise man once said, "Count it all joy."  

It's been a joy.

In the "new say never" category, though, I can never say (while the site remains open) that I won't ever drop another article out there.  But right now, as I told Shohei Ohtani, this is "sayonara."

Mike's Mets - How Much Is Enough?

 

By Mike Steffanos

The Mets did so much to improve this off-season. Is it terribly greedy to wish they had done just a little more?

We're just over two weeks away from the New York Mets' season opener in Washington on April 7. With only 3 exhibition games under their belts, the Mets really don't have much time to prepare for games that count. The offense hasn't looked very good in the early going, beyond a flurry of home runs in the first game.

I watched the Cardinals game on Sunday, and the Mets hitters just looked overmatched against the likes of Miles Mikolas, Drew VerHagen, and Nick Wittgren. I kept telling myself, "relax, it's early, and the pitchers are always ahead of the hitter," but it still made me uneasy to watch Mets hitters dominated by a bunch of palookas. I know that's a bit silly, but the offense was so bad last season that it felt like the worst sort of déjà-vu. Then the next day, the B-team manages two whole hits against the Marlins. Welcome to the Mets, Max Scherzer.

So yeah, I know I'm overreacting, but I have to admit that I'm not wholly sold on the 2022 Mets offense. I like the additions of Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar, but the lineup still feels a bit short to me. It looks like the Mets are counting on good seasons from Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis, and Robinson Cano — at least most of them. If it works, the Mets have a pretty deep, versatile lineup. If it doesn't, we could see a replay of last year.

Now I really don't see it going that badly, but I worry about the outfield depth for the reasons I stated in my post "A Very Early Look at Mets Position Players." I love Brandon Nimmo, but he's missed a ton of games due to injury in his MLB career. Going by their track records, Starling Marte and Mark Canha will likely play in about 120 games each this season. Dom Smith, J.D. Davis, and Jeff McNeil can all fill in, but only McNeil can offer decent defense. And really, they're all backups for left field. None of those guys is really a fit for the challenging right field at Citi Field.

There will inevitably be some injuries. I worry that we will see a guy like Travis Jankowski get too much playing time in the outfield. Jankowski is a great athlete. He can flash the leather and steal bases, but with a bat in his hand, he's a 90-pound weakling. His lifetime slash line is .239/.322/.318 over 7 MLB seasons, good for an OPS+ of 77. Weak-hitting Albert Almora has a higher lifetime OPS+ (81).

The Mets honestly don't need to re-sign Michael Conforto. Neither side seems interested in a reunion. But I still would like them to find a fourth outfielder who can hit and play RF. I could see a solid player get 200-300 ABs as a backup, maybe more.

What seems more likely as things currently stand is that Dom Smith and even J. D. Davis see some time in the outfield in 2022. Maybe you can justify that if they both produce offensively. If they don't, it doesn't make any sense. I'm rooting for both players. I like them personally. But if they don't produce above-average offense, they don't belong on a team trying to win in a tough division.

To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.

Reese Kaplan -- Just Say "No!" to a Conforto Reunion

A lot of words are being written, spoken and tweeted about the prospect of bringing back Michael Conforto to the New York Mets.  Part of it has to do with the current state of injury to Starling Marte whose centerfield duties will likely be temporarily handled by the much improved defensive abilities shown last year by Brandon Nimmo.  That change opens up a corner outfield position that requires offensive production (if not baserunning speed) to replace what will not be provided by Marte while his oblique-related injury heals. 

The other issue that comes up again and again by both fans and media is the fact that the Mets are letting a homegrown talent walk away.  This loss is highlighted by past free agent losses like Daniel Murphy, Jose Reyes and others who found new homes and demonstrated their productivity elsewhere.  Everyone seems to want to discover why is it that Mets would develop a talent like Conforto and then seemingly turn a cold shoulder to embracing him long term to enjoy what he’s capable of doing with the bat and in the field. 

I’ve often drawn the analogy of little-regarded former Met Kevin McReynolds when discussing the talents of Michael Conforto.  For his career, McReynolds spent the better part of five seasons with the Mets after arriving from the San Diego Padres as part of an eight-player deal that sent a number of Mets prospects to the west coast, including former top pick Shawn Abner and Stanley Jefferson, along with pitchers Kevin Armstrong and Kevin Brown.  None of these four amounted to much of anything and if the trade ended there then the Mets would be hailed for having stolen a guy who hit 26 HRs and drove in 96 runs for the Padres during the Mets magical ride to the championship in 1986.  Unfortunately the 5th player the Mets gave up was an erratic but capable infielder/outfielder who hit .275 with 12 HRs and 45 RBIs over part seasons in New York in 1984 and 1986.  That player was Kevin Mitchell who went on to win an MVP with the Giants in 1989 when he hit .291 with 47 HRs and 125 RBIs.  Yeah, McReynolds never quite measured up to that!

However, over his 12-year career Kevin McReynolds was a very productive hitter who earned 30.1 WAR (an average of 2.5 per season).  Thus far Michael Conforto in his seven years in the majors has earned 15.7 WAR (an average of 2.24 per year).  McReynolds was a solid defender in left field and Conforto has turned himself into a credible right fielder.  At his maximum McReynolds earned $3.66 million and from reports Conforto is looking to earn about seven times that amount.  Frankly he is not worth it.  If 1 WAR is worth approximately $8.75 million then Conforto with a bounceback season is worth $19.6 million per year.  With Mark Canha, Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis and a reenergized Dominic Smith already on the roster it would seem to be a poor allocation of Steve Cohen’s resources. 

My feeling is that the Mets would be much better served securing the services of more high quality pitching, particularly in the bullpen.  Adam Ottavino is an OK addition, but what happens if after 2022 Edwin Diaz chooses to test free agency?  Who closes for the Mets then — Drew Smith?   It might be much more prudent to put any extra dollars into a stellar quality relief pitcher to supplement the crew currently on the roster and to hedge your bets against a Diaz departure. Tony Watson still needs a contract and would be a more valuable addition to the Mets than would Michael Conforto (and a lot less money). 

 

Remember 1969: Who Won? Deals of History - 1968 through 1971

 

Mets Trades through the years:  Who won?

 Today's segment will include four years spanning their first World Championship with two years following it and two years preceding it.   There were only 13 trades in those 4 years.   By contrast, there were `13 in 1967 by itself.    They will all be included in Thursday's piece. 

                                  November 1970 through October 1971

Notes:  None of these three trades were particularly notewothy except that trading Swoboda was painful for us that learned the Mets in 1969.   Swoboda and Hahn each stuck around the majors for 4 or 5 years after the trade, but both were about replacement level players at that time. 

(1)  New York Mets traded Ron Herbel to the Atlanta Braves for Bob Aspromonte  (Dec 01, 1970)

 (2)  New York Mets traded Bill Denehy and Dean Chance to the Detroit Tigers for Jerry Robertson  (Mar 30, 1971)

 (3)  New York Mets traded Ron Swoboda and Rich Hacker to the Montreal Expos for Don Hahn  (Mar 31, 1971)

Trivia:    None of these three trades were particularly notewothy except that trading Swoboda was painful for us that learned the Mets in 1969.   Swoboda and Hahn each stuck around the majors for 4 or 5 years after the trade, but both were about replacement level players at that time. 

Wasn't it Ron Herbel that had that massive stuffed bear on the bench with him in his days in San Francisco?  I might be wrong about that.     Herbel was obtained on Sept 1, 1970 (see below) and pitched in 12 games for the Mets with a 1.38 ERA before being traded after the season. 

Ron Herbal is actually the answer to a hitting trivia question.   He has the lowest batting average of any player in history with at least 100 at bats.    Over the first 109 at bats of his career, he had 1 hit, an average of .009.   He then went 5 for 97 to finish his career with a robust .029 average.   Nobody else did it any worse.  

The Bill Denehy trade of March 1971 was the second time in about 3 and a half years that the Mets traded him.   The other one was the better trade  . .keep reading. 

November 1969 through October 1970

Notes:  Trade 1 of the '69 - '70 offseason is generally regarded as the second worse trade the Mets have ever made.

Trade 2 certainly did not make up for Trade 1, but it turned out pretty well for the Mets as Sadecki was a southpaw workhorse for the next five years, starting in 161 games over that time with an ERA of just over 3.3.    

(1)  New York Mets traded Amos Otis and Bob Johnson to the Kansas City Royals for Joe Foy  (Dec 03, 1969)

(2)  New York Mets traded Jim Gosger and Bob Heise to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Sadecki and Dave Marshall  (Dec 12, 1969)

(3)  New York Mets traded J. C. Martin to the Chicago Cubs for Randy Bobb   (Mar 29, 1970)

(4)  New York Mets traded  Rod Gaspar to the San Diego Padres for Ron Herbel  (Sep 1, 1970)

Trivia:   Otis and Johnson together scored almost 50 WAR after this trade and Foy's career was seemingly derailed by 'coming home' to his hometown of New York City.   Apparently some drug use that he picked up from his hometown 'friends' did him in.     Foy was actually quite a productive hitter in his day, and even with the Mets in 1970 put up a .373 OBP (a quiet .373 OBP).  

Trade 3 was one light hitting back-up catcher for another who never actually played with the Mets.  

Nov 1968 through October 1969

 Notes:   Trades 1 and 2 this year were pretty nondescript, but Trade was arguably in the top 5 of all trades made in Mets history.   If a mid-season trade is defined for 'did the player greatly contribute to getting the team over the top that year' the answer is inequivocably 'Yes'.   Donn Clendenon was a major difference maker in the 1969 championship.   He also had a fine year in 1970.   Steve Renko went on to accumulate 23+ WAR in a solid pitching career.  

(1)  New York Mets traded Jack DiLauro to the Detroit Tigers for Hector Valle  (Dec 03, 1968)

(2)  New York Mets traded Greg Goossen to the Seattle Pilots for Jim Gosger  (Feb 05, 1969)

(3)  New York Mets traded Kevin Collins, Steve Renko, Jay Carden and Dave Colon to the Montreal Expos for Donn Clendenon  (Jun 15, 1969)

November 1967 through October 1968

 Notes:   All three of these trades were key to "one year later".     This was the more productive Denehy trades.   

(1)  New York Mets traded Bob Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds for Art Shamsky  (Nov 08, 1967)

(2)  New York Mets traded Bill Denehy to the Washington Senators for Gil Hodges  (Nov 27, 1967)

(3)  New York Mets traded Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne and Buddy Booker to the Chicago White Sox for Tommie Agee and Al Weis  (Dec 15, 1967)

Trivia:   The back of the 1968 Tommy Davis baseball card says "A real coup for the White Sox was their acquisition of All-Star Tommy Davis last winter".    Hmm.  He played for the Sox for just one year with a .633 OPS and then went on to bounce around the league with 7 additional teams over the next 8 years.    Agee was a vital piece of the 1969 Mets and Weis was a steady defender who hit just enough to keep playing time as a platoon partner with Ken Boswell.

Tom Brennan - Embarrassing Hall of Fame Crosstown Comparison

A Met fan's greatest Mets Hall of Famer 

All of us Mets fans know the embarrassment of Yankee fans who remind us of all their World Series banners compared to our two lonely banners.  Considering those a

re 53 years and 36 years old, respectively, they are a bit tattered and worn.

No matter that many of those Yankee banners were first hoisted before those Bronx Blabberers were born.  Lots since 1962 is what hurts more, if you are a Metsie.

Likewise, comparing Hall of Fame totals between the two teams is utterly embarrassing.

The Mets have had no Hall of Famer who started as a Met and played their entire career as a Met.  None. Zilch. Nada.

The Yanks have plenty of those.  Even some recent ones.

The Mets have had 17 players and managers inducted into the Hall of Fame.  

Of those, only two started their careers as Mets!!!!  

As in...Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan.

And only 3 played a substantial portion of their careers with the Mets: Seaver, and two imports - Mike Piazza and Gary Carter.

The Yankees' HOF list totals 53 players.  

While quite a few of the 53 in recent decades had relatively short stints with the Yankees, the Yankees list has many players whose entire career was in pinstripes or who played the bulk of their careers - the real Hall of Fame portion of it - as Yankees, such as the great Bambino...Mickey...Whitey...Lou...Joe D...  Jeter.

Our Mets have a lot of HOF catching up to do.  Right now, it is the Hall of Shame in comparison to their crosstown peers.

Heck, I'd settle for some near-Hall of Famers.  I can only think of David Wright and Jerry Koosman in that category.  Darryl and Dwight started great, then good night.

The Yankees have had plenty of not-quite-HOF-but-danged-good-dudes, such as recent guys like C Jorge Posada, who recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and 1,065 runs batted in during his career, and CF Bernie Williams, who had 287 HRs, 1,257 RBIs and a .297 average with 4 Gold Gloves.  

Both had more HRs and RBIs than any Met ever (although Darryl Strawberry, as both a Met and ex-Met, compiled more (335) career HRs).

Stuff like this may not bother most people.  Does it bother you?

It bothers me.  

And my brother Steve brings the Mets-pale-in-comparison stuff up to me from time to time, and says two things: 

1) it's a friggin' joke, and 

2) why, older brother Tom, did you ever talk me into becoming a Mets fan?

So, my advice to Steve Cohen is this: 

Spend whatever you have to, in order to build a dynamo 2022 team, but keep our young minors guys (whoops - JT Ginn is gone) - you never know if these prospects may become potential Hall of Fame prospects in due time.  The legacy of this franchise needs that enhancement, even if it takes a few decades to get homegrown guys elected and inducted.

Build a team, yes.  Build a legacy, too.  And I don't mean a Subaru.  Whooptie-do!

METS MINOR LEAGUERS ON MONDAY:

Mets started a mostly AAA line up Monday, and got shut out on 2 hits. 12 Ks.  No wonder they traded for bats.  

I tout the kiddie hitters, then they flail and I wail.

Colin Holderman, though. has tossed 2 innings and fanned 5.  Orze nice in relief.  I like both.

Both are turning heads. 

And...

Scherzer goes 5, like old time baseballers used to.

Lastly...saw this on Facebook today, and found it fascinating:

March 17, 1918: A young Babe Ruth, still primarily a pitcher, slugs a pair of home runs during a spring training game at Whittington Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The second long ball is thought to be the first 500-plus foot blast in baseball history. The Herculean shot—hit off Brooklyn Robins hurler Norman Plitt—soared far over the fence in deep right-center, coming to rest in the middle of an inhabited pond at the Arkansas Alligator Farm. The Boston Globe reported that "the intrusion" caused quite a "commotion among the Gators.” The epic drive was later measured at 573 feet—the distance from home plate to the pond's center.

Amazingly, Ruth replicated the feat a week later, on March 24, in another spring exhibition versus Brooklyn. In its coverage of the proceedings, The Boston Post wrote: "Before the echo of the crash had died away the horsehide had dropped somewhere in the vicinity of South Hot Springs. . . . The sphere cleared the fence [400 feet away] by about 200 feet and dropped in the pond beside the Alligator Farm, while the spectators yelled with amazement." Edward Martin, writing for The Boston Globe, opined: "Every ball player in the park said [it] was the longest drive they had ever seen. . . . Had Ruth made the drive in Boston, it might have cleared the bleachers in right-center."

"I've never in all my time seen a man use the bat as does the slugging Boston hurler," gushed St. Louis Browns manager Fielder Jones, who had witnessed several of Ruth's colossal clouts. Former Red Sox catcher Les Nunamaker offered similar praise: "He has no weakness . . . and can hit anything coming in the direction of the plate. If a hurler is foolish enough to give him a high one on the inside, it is all off. He will knock it out of the grounds. It is the general belief of the players in camp that Ruth is the best sticker in the league. . . . He just handles that old bat as if it were a toothpick."

Babe's heroics carried over into the regular season. Appearing in 95 games, the 23-year-old hit .300 with 26 doubles and a league leading 11 home runs—his first of 12 long ball crowns. (Though his 1918 power output seems paltry by modern standards, consider that the junior circuit's single-season record holder at the time was Socks Seybold, who hit 16 big flies in 1902.) On the mound, Ruth went 13-7 with a 2.22 ERA in 166 ⅓ innings pitched (2-0, 1.06 ERA in the World Series). However, it was the big lefty's mighty war club that captured the public's imagination.

On November 26, 1918, The Associated Press wrote:

"There were many stars in last year's baseball firmament, but there was only one Babe Ruth. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Jim Vaughan, Benny Kauff, and other stars received their usual amount of interest, but the fan always returned to the question: 

Did Babe Ruth make a home run today?"    

Mike's Mets - The Ballad of Robbie Cano

 

By Mike Steffanos

Robinson Cano's life is a fascinating moral story. For the 2022 Mets, the big question is, can he still hit?

As the New York Mets prepare for the season to get underway, one of the big questions lingering over the club is whether 39-year-old Robinson Cano can contribute anything of value coming back from a 1-year steroid suspension. There are still two years remaining on Cano's contract. While Seattle will be kicking in $4 million per season, the Mets are on the hook for $20 million this year and next. It's quite unlikely that Robinson Cano will play at the superstar level that would justify that kind of money, but that's really not the point. However you might feel personally about the man, there's no doubt that the most desirable outcome for the Mets would be for Cano to hit well enough to provide value as a part-time DH.

There have been some items in the local media about the morality of fans continuing to root for the twice-caught steroid cheater. For myself, I don't consider it to be all that big of a dilemma. I have rooted for the New York Mets for over 50 years, and have long come to accept the fundamental truth that the players who wear the orange and blue are — just like every other inhabitant of this planet — imperfect people. When I was young, these men were my heroes. But I grew out of the need to idolize ballplayers without losing my love for the Mets and baseball. Frankly, that feels much healthier than blindly believing that my guys are better than the other guys. I'll leave that silliness to St. Louis Cardinals fans. Nobody does it better.

In an article in the New York Post, Joel Sherman talks about how Cano's teammates and manager have accepted Robinson Cano back into the fold with open arms. Sherman suggests that there is some hypocrisy in the way that the Mets organization and Mets fans will react to Cano:

... by far the most fascinating benefit for Cano is that the Mets have wrapped him in their blue and orange embrace. Buck Showalter already is talking up Cano as a leader. His teammates are not giving him the cold shoulder, instead staying on script about second chances (or third) and forgiveness and everyone makes mistakes.

"What are we supposed to do?," Showalter said. "We’re not planning to beat up on him every day. I mean, what's the return there? He's wearing our colors."

Exactly. This is the polarizing world we live in — politically and in sports. What colors are you wearing? My guy is right, your guy is wrong — before I even know the subject. And even after, the only prism that matters is not morality or right or wrong. Just what colors are you wearing?

I understand what Sherman was saying here. There is a pervasive attitude in sports that your steroid cheater is a far worse person than my steroid cheater. But I don't believe that most Mets fans embrace Robbinson Cano's return to the team. We're just accepting it as a necessary evil.

For myself, that doesn't mean that I'm not prepared to cheer for Cano if he performs well. He's a New York Met, and when a Met does something positive in a game, I'm happy. As for the morality of it all, I look at it this way: Robinson Cano has received a stiff penalty from MLB and paid his price. As for the chance he might be tempted to use steroids again, it's up to MLB to test and catch cheaters. As a fan, I can only trust them to use state-of-the-art testing to stay ahead of ballplayers who attempt to cheat the system. If Cano elects to cheat and gets caught again, he's facing a lifetime suspension. If that happens, good riddance to the man.

To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.

Tom Brennan - A Replay of My First Mack's Mets Article

THIS WAS MY 1ST ARTICLE WRITTEN FOR THIS SITE, NEARLY A DECADE AGO.  

THOUGHT I'D SHARE IT TO YOU READERS, SO YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH I'VE GROWN (OR REGRESSED - LOL)

KIDDING ASIDE, IT WAS FUNNY THAT RIGHT FROM ARTICLE # 1, I WAS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO FIX THE METS AND MAKE THEM BETTER.

I'VE SHARED MANY IDEAS - WHETHER THEY EVER CHANGED ANTHING, WHO KNOWS?

Hi folks, Mack graciously asked me to write the Sunday Morning Report.  Doing it should be a blast.

As a little background, I grew up in a family of 8 kids, almost entirely Met fans.  I rooted for Maris over Mantle in 1961, and got that right thru blind luck.  My father, a lifelong Yankee fan, suggested I root for the new club in town in 1962, and so my Met fanship started.  Pops was a huge sports fan, so besides the Yankees, he equally enjoyed watching Kiner, Murphy and Nelson with me when we could get the TV picture to stop rolling.  Good times.

I'm an analytical type and gravitate to, and am fascinated by, players' stats. I love seeing guys break of a mold, a la Eric Campbell when he started to become an on base machine the middle of last year.  I love guys like Leathersich and Akeel, who put up crazy strikeout #'s evens as they look to whittle the imperfections out of their repertoires.

As Met fans, while we get lucky enough to occasionally get an offensive gift drop in our lap (Piazza from LAD, Hernandez and Carter 30 - yes, 30 - years ago), we usually have been subjected to frankly offensive offenses over the years. 

So in the past few years, I try to look for bandaids as I glance through guys' stats to see who is accelerating and who is floundering in the Met Kingdom at large.  Who can help us win 11 out of 20 instead of 9 out of 20.  I like to challenge the status quo on guys who are here.

The upper Met minors may be lacking young, hot offensive prospects.  The lower minors may largely lack offensive future major league stars.   But a lot of guys are truly doing well and throwing their hats in the ring as future major league players. 

Any of you who read my daily blog posts on minor league guys know that I like to look for incremental improvements to an offense that has been horrific from the 6th thru the 9th spots.  On a team that abhors intelligent spending, you look for what help you can.  Hence, I pushed for Campbell to be promoted, as a low K and high on base guy.  

And while Andrew Brown has had a few cups of coffee, I'm firmly convinced he'd be an upgrade over Chris Young.   My brother Steve is my reality check: "Brown's just AAA, pitchers at the Mets' level will figure him out."  Steve's pretty smart, but I  still would love to see Brownie get a shot again...I find a .750 slugging % Migh-ty Compelling.

I pushed for Flores to play SS; he may be the second coming of Iron Hands Chuck Hiller (or maybe not), but he is an offensive upgrade at SS on a team starving for offense.   You advocate for what you can until ownership changes its approach. Seems Tejada (as of this writing, a few days before you read it) is showing a pulse - competition is good!

Lucas Duda has always been an intriguing puzzle to me, a guy who hit over .300 in July 2011, and in August 2011, and in Sept 2011, who I believe got derailed by an over-emphasis on "working the pitcher".  One size does not fit all, and it is not what he should do.  We need him to pound long balls, not try for walks and strike out too much doing it.  

Can he create a formidable career by being more aggressive in favorable counts, instead of floundering once he gets into pitchers' counts?  Steve says: "Get rid of him." He gets to the point! But time will tell, and I'd love to discuss being more aggressive with Duda myself.

I will zero in on one here.  Is Duda fixable, or is he not?  Maybe he explodes at the plate between when I write this and when you read it, and the fix already happened.  Feel free to embarrass me like that, Lucas.

But – I decided to look at the stats to see if I could play Doctor for Slugger Duda.   Here’s what I saw – see what you think.  

When Duda hits the ball with zero strikes (working with #'s as of late May, before the Philly 5 game series), he was 12 for 26 with 5 HRs and 10 RBIs.  When he hits on an 0-0 count or when he is ahead in a count, he is 20 for 65, with 7 HRs and 16 RBIs.  When he makes out with at least 2 strikes on him, he is an anemic 10 for 79, with 1 HR and 5 RBIs.  After the count hits 1-2, he is 3 for 36 with no RBIs.  I ain’t no doctor, but what all of that tells me is that Duda is the wrong Dude to take a patient approach at the plate.  

It tells me he should be ready to hack at ANY good pitch in a hitter’s count, and look to avoid getting behind in the count like the plague.

Interestingly, when I looked about 5 days prior, Duda was just 5 for 12 when he finished his at bat on an 0-0 count (first pitch) – an extraordinarily low percentage of at bats completed on the first pitch, a sign of hitting passivity.  I posted that observation.  Now he is 7 for 17, quite a change in a few days.  Makes you wonder if he and other Met players read Mack's posts.

I decided to compare Duda to the gold standard, Miguel Cabrera, to see what differences in these sorts of stats there are.  And to see if it could add to what Duda might want to consider, in terms of changing his approach.

Cabrera end his at bats on first pitch 33 times, a significantly higher rate than Duda – a sign he is more aggressive from pitch #1.  And Cabrera is 14 for 33 in those at bats, which gooses the batting average quite nicely, thank you.

On at bats when the pitcher has gotten him to 2 strikes, Cabrera is (as one would expect) better than Lucas.  However, Miggie only gets into counts with 2 strikes in 41% of his at bats (Duda 49%).  Interestingly, the Mighty Cabrera is better than Lucas with 2 strikes, but still quite anemic (87 at bats, .218, 2 HR, 7 RBI).  It is clear – 2 strike counts are a must to avoid, to quote the Kinks.

So besides the obvious talent differential (not an insult to Lucas – Miguel is the gold standard), it is clear that even Miguel is weak in 2 strike situations….so Lucas should not be working the count, as the Mets have encouraged him to, he should be trying to avoid pitchers’ counts at all costs.  

Solution?  Be much more aggressive on decent pitches in hitters’ counts.  Expected result?  Higher average, more power, a few less walks.  Good for Lucas, good for fans.  Hope he reads this.  That’s my take.  I don’t accept medical insurance.

One last note on working the pitcher.  Some guys can do it well and help the team win, others not so well.  One guys can wear closed shoes in the summer comfortably, another guy’s feet will be on fire.  People are different, the philosophy has to really take into account each player’s abilities to accomplish a task.  So don’t make everyone do it.  Hit more.  Win more.

Whaddya think? Anyway, thanks for having me.  Go Mets.

Reese Kaplan -- More Spring Training Observations (Good & Bad)

With real preseason games now having started against real Major League Baseball teams in Florida (and Arizona for folks who follow those desert-based ballclubs), it's finally beginning to feel real that baseball is back.  Having watched some intrasquad games on the Internet proved once and for all that the Mets have a long ways to go.  The pitching after Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer is still a bit in flux as the hitters were teeing off on some of the rest with a lot of long balls flying over the fence.

Part of me said that the offensive display should feel like good news since there was a certain amount of anxiety concerning the ability for the Mets to produce runs.  This early indication is that the offense can indeed produce when required to do so but there's a huge caveat.  They were, for the most part, slugging impressively only when the opposing pitching was second and third tier.  Granted, Jacob deGrom is arguably one of the top 2-3 pitchers in all of baseball but against him they looked like a bunch of sandlot rejects, not professional hitters.  

A few things popped to mind while seeing the club play in live action.  J.D. Davis appeared to have slimmed down during this off-season.  I never thought weight was a problem for him, but a better physique might make bending for ground balls more possible.  

Watching Eduardo Escobar called to mind Jonathan Villar.  He was taking his time in the box, making the Mets pitcher in the intrasquad game work hard against him.  He hit a few loud foul balls before working out a long and well deserved walk.  I remembered times when Villar would do similarly, although Villar had more baserunning speed when he got to first base via walk or hit.  It's kind of understandable why they wanted the slugging Escobar here, but at this point it's still not clear what they will do with incumbent J.D. Davis with Cano slated as the primary option at DH.  

The stories broke this past week about Dom Smith having played with a partially torn labrum which could account for his big downturn in offense after solid efforts in 2019 and 2020.  Over that period he hit .299 with 21 HRs and 67 RBIs in less than 400 ABs.  He certainly teed off on Max Scherzer with a pair of home runs.  The same question arises about where and when he'll play if Cano gets the majority of the time as the left handed half at DH.  

What is interesting during Spring Training is to watch the progression of the outfielders looking to get a seat on the Major League bench.  Khalil Lee most definitely has the speed to be a major threat on the bases and handles the outfield well in any of the three positions.  His power is late in developing but is a welcome addition.  Anyone who can steal 53 bases and hit in the mid-teens with the number of home runs may have potential for success in the big league.

In a way, the more interesting and unknown one to watch was former St. Louis Cardinal Nick Plummer to whom the Mets gave a major league contract and 40-man roster spot after the Redbirds cut him loose.  Last season he hit .280 with 15 HRs and 54 RBIs in just 386 ABs.  That output suggests a power output north of 20 per year.  Surprisingly, he also stole 13 bases.  He was a first round draft pick who had injury problems requiring multiple surgeries early in his career and the Cardinals ran out of patience.  In 2021 he certainly demonstrated why he was regarded so highly.  

The scary part of Spring Training right now is pitching.  Normally the guys on the mound arrive earlier than the hitters and are noticeably ahead of them in preparation.  This year it's not that kind of schedule and the majority of the pitchers are working their way into game shape.  One hopes that things improve with the limited time available, but the Mets are in no different situation than any other team.  Consequently it might not be as bad as it seems.

Let's Go Mets!