10/2/20

John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 10/2/2020

 

Good Morning. Happy Birthday Kevin Kobel and Scott Schoeneweis.  Francisco Alvarez to play in Australia, Playoff highlights, and Steve Cohen looks to beef up the Mets Analytical Department.


Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, and This Day in Mets History.


Mets Links:


amNY: Source: Analytics overhaul among Steve Cohen’s top priority upon Mets takeover. “The lack of an analytics department has withheld the Mets from gauging an in-depth understanding of the game with advanced statistics that can help scouting identify the kind of player the ballclub needs — whether that’s through the draft or the free-agent and trade market.” 


Rising Apple: Three moves we should expect to see the Steve Cohen regime make. 1. Sign a Player to a record deal. 2. Swipe a Yankees Free Agent. (They suggest Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, or DJ LeMahieu) 3. Keep/Bring back familiar and beloved Mets faces (Michael Conforto for example).


Empire Sports Media: Should the New York Mets pursue Trevor Bauer this offseason?


Andy Martino SNY.TV: Pat Roessler, Billy Owens, Bobby Heck could have roles with Mets. “Nationals assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, Oakland assistant general manager Billy Owens, and Tampa Bay special assistant Bobby Heck.”


SNY.TV: Analyzing what was broken for 2020 Mets and fixing it for 2021: The starting rotation. The Mets have serious work to do when it comes to the rotation, and the help probably isn't coming from within. 


Mike Phillips The Sports Daily: New York Mets 2020 Season in Review: Starting Pitching.


Amazing Avenue: 2020 Mets takeaways: The rotation. Jacob deGrom was elite. The rest of the rotation, not so much.


Brian Joura Mets360: Final report card for the 2020 Mets.  An F for BVW.


Metsmerized Online: What Went Wrong With the 2020 Mets?


Metsmerized Online: Mixed Bag From Jeurys Familia in 2020.


Amazing Avenue: Mets fans’ confidence on the grow. That might have something to do with the Wilpons’ departure.


Metsmerized Online: Saluting the 1973 Mets.




MLB Links:






MLB.com: A's advance, win 1st playoff series since '06. A’s 6 White Sox 4 (Box Score).





Yahoo Sports: Before they save baseball, the unapologetically fun Padres had to save their season.


MLB.com: Tatis' monumental bat flip fires up Friars. Padres 11 Cardinals 9 (Box Score). Series tied 1-1.




MLB.com: Braves blank Reds again to reach NLDS. Anderson sets marks in playoff debut; Atlanta snaps 10-series skid. 


MLB.com: Ozuna hits homer, snaps 'selfie' on way to 1st. Braves 5 Reds 0 (Box Score). Braves win series 2-0.




MLB.com: Kershaw's playoff gem: 'Fun night for me'. Dodgers 3 – Brewers 0 (Box Score). Dodgers win series 2-0.


ESPN.com: Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander has Tommy John surgery.


MLB Trade Rumors: Starling Marte Fractures Left Pinkie.


CBS Sports: Francisco Lindor says Cleveland can afford to keep him: 'It's a billion-dollar team'.


NY Post: Mic’d up A’s player drops F-bomb in heat of elimination game.


Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

Died on this date:

Transactions:
New York Mets traded Paul Siebert to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Coluccio on October 2, 1978.


Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: 1969 NLCS Preview.


Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History (1999): Rick Reed's Shut Out Guarantee's The Mets of A Wild Card Tie.


National Pastime.com:

1961

Two days before the start of the World Series between the Reds and Yankees, the expansion Mets introduced Casey Stengel as the franchise’s first manager. The introduction takes place at the Savoy Hilton in the same room where the Bronx Bombers held a press conference at the end of last season to announce the 70 year-old Old Professor's ‘mandatory retirement.’ During his three-plus years in the Amazins' dugout, he will compile a poor 175-404 (.302) record, but will serve as the face of the new franchise, making the team lovable losers with a loyal fan base.

 

1965

In the nightcap of a twin bill on the next-to-last day of the season, Mets rookie Rob Gardner, making his fifth career start, and Phillies veteran Chris Short match zeros, both going 15 frames in a game that ends in a scoreless tie after 18 innings at Shea Stadium. The 20 year-old southpaw, who eventually develops arm problems, compiles a 4-10 record along with an ERA of 4.79 during his two years with New York and wins just 14 games with six major league teams over eight seasons.

1972

Bill Stoneman throws the second of his two no-hitters when he holds the Mets hitless in the Expos' 7-0 victory at Jarry Park. The Montreal All-Star right-hander, who also accomplished the feat in 1969 against the Phillies in Philadelphia in his fifth major league start, becomes the first major league pitcher to toss a no-hitter in Canada.

 

1985

Mets sophomore Dwight Gooden pitches a 5-2 complete-game victory over the Cardinals and will become the seventh pitcher in baseball history to finish the season leading both leagues in wins (24), ERA (1.53), and strikeouts (268). Doc joins Walter Johnson (Senators - 1913), Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies - 1915, 1917), Dazzy Vance (Dodgers - 1924), Lefty Grove (A's -1930, 1931), Hal Newhouser (Tigers - 1945), and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers - 1963, 1965, 1966) in winning the major league pitching triple crown, but he will not follow the six legends into the Hall of Fame.

1986

Dwight Gooden, facing his last batter of the season, registers his 200th strikeout of the season when Luis Rivera looks at a third strike for the final out in the eighth inning of the Mets' 8-2 victory over Montreal at Olympic Stadium. The Mets' phenom becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to reach the coveted plateau in each of his first three seasons.

 

1988

During the season finale, Mets manager Davey Johnson receives an enthusiastic standing ovation from the Flushing Faithful when he comes to the mound to make a pitching change at Shea Stadium. With today’s 7-5 win over the Cardinals, his NL Eastern Division champs secure their 100th victory of the season.

 

1999

Rick Reed strikes out 12 batters without issuing a walk, hurling a complete game three-hitter in the Mets' 7-0 victory over Pittsburgh at Shea Stadium. The win puts New York into a tie for the NL Wild Card with the Reds with one game left in the season.

2004

The Expos, an expansion team in 1969, win their last game representing the city of Montreal, beating the Mets at Shea Stadium, 6-3. The franchise, which is moving to Washington, DC to become the Nationals next season, compiled a 2755-2943 (.484) record, appearing in one postseason during their 35-year tenure in the Canadian city.

 

2005

During the seventh inning of the final game of the season, the Mets halt play for eight minutes as the Shea Stadium crowd pays tribute to Mike Piazza, their 37 year-old All-Star catcher, who will not be with the team next season. The centerfield scoreboard features a video montage highlighting many of the backstop's magic moments in a New York uniform.

 

 

 

2012

"I will never be a Hall of Famer and will never lead the league in strikeouts,"- R.A. Dickey, the opening lines of his autobiography.

In his last appearance of the season, Mets' 20-game winner R.A. Dickey whiffs eight Miami batters to end the campaign with 230 strikeouts, the most in the National League. The 37 year-old knuckleballer did not foresee the possibility of this occurrence when he wrote the opening lines of Wherever I Wind Up, his autobiography released in March, unaware that he would accomplish the feat in the near future.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baseball Reference:

2012: Seven years after being beaned on the first pitch he saw in his only career plate appearance, derailing a promising career, Adam Greenberg gets a chance to bat again in the major leagues. The Miami Marlins send him up to pinch-hit in the 6th inning against the Mets' R.A. Dickey. He strikes out on three pitches from the knuckleballer, but the crowd cheers wildly as his story of perseverance has made him a hero to many.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10/1/20

Mets360 - Final report card for the 2020 Mets

 

By Brian Joura October 1, 2020

Here are the final grades for the 2020 Mets. To qualify for a grade, you needed to amass either 100 PA or 19 IP. A failure to reach those totals results in either an incomplete (Luis Guillorme) or F (Paul Sewald). The grades are a combination of role on the club, preseason expectations and actual production. This makes it possible to get a Grade A as a middle reliever, even if no one actually did. On to the grades!

Pete Alonso – It wasn’t a particularly good year for MLB first basemen. Only six 1B qualified for the leaderboards and had a wRC+ of 125 or more and Alonso wasn’t one of them. Last year there were 10. Alonso showed signs of breaking out down the stretch and if it was a 162-game season, perhaps he would have finished with numbers closer to the ones he put up in his rookie season. But it wasn’t and he didn’t. Grade: C-

Robinson Cano – The veteran enjoyed his best year since 2013 thanks to above average marks in ISO (.228) and BABIP (.319). And range aside, his defense was pretty solid, too. It’s a huge question mark if he could have kept it up over a full season but that’s not what 2020 required. Grade: A-

Michael Conforto – After back-to-back seasons with wRC+ numbers in the 120s, Conforto put up a 157 mark this year. Only a killjoy would point out his .412 BABIP, the fact that he struck out in 41.3% of his PA in his last 10 games and that he ended the season on the IL. But much like with Cano, this grade is based on what did happen, not what might have happened in a full season or what might happen in 2021. Grade: A

J.D. Davis – As expected, Davis saw a significant drop in his BABIP, a fall of 37 points. But it was also a 78-point drop in ISO that helped define his season. He was still decent as a hitter but his defense, which seemed promising when he first switched back to the infield, was what really ended up making him a below-average player. Grade: D+

Continue reading by clicking here. 


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Tom Brennan - TAKING DEVIL’S ADVOCATE POSITION FOR METS MANAGEMENT IN 2020


If you took a Real Clear Baseball poll of Mets fans, you’d probably find that 92% hate the Wilpons, 3% would be neutral about them, 2% would like them, and 3% would say “What is a Wilpon?”  Margin for error in the poll?  

Of course, there is no margin for error - just ask Jake.


The latter 3% are big fans, though, of the movie Clueless.


Brodie would likely not poll much better.


But I’ve been assigned as public defender for this sorry lot, so let me take a devil’s advocate position for a second.  


At least for 2020.  


Other attorneys are handling cases for prior seasons.


Look at me - I'm defending those Wilpons and Brodie.


Here goes:


The owners and BVW do not swing the bats, pitch the balls, or field, either.  


That said:


Any team will have players hurt and with off years. The Mets sure had plenty in 2020. Big time.


First, Thor needed TJS, killing his 2019 before it started.


Then, "Mark Me Absent" Marcus Stroman got hurt shortly before opening day, and then bailed on 2020 without an inning thrown.  


Matz's ERA in his mediocre 2019 was 4.21. How could Brodie know it would be 9.76 this season? With 14 HRs in 31 IP.  Heck, at that pace, if he threw 250 innings, he'd have surrendered 113 homers.  By comparison, in 1992, Greg Maddux threw 268 innings and allowed 7 homers. 


Those 3 rotation starters (Projected pre-season SP-2,3,4) totaled 124 innings, with 100 (yes ,100) runs allowed, and went a mind-blowing 2-16 in 25 starts.


You plan ahead as GM.  They all do.


But no one could have expected that.


Moving on:


Betances gets 3 extra months to get ready, due to COVID, still pitches lousy, and gets reinjured, too.


Alonso regressed much more than one might have expected, his last boomer week notwithstanding.

  

J.D. Davis regressed, too. 


Amed Rosario did, too. 


Wilson Ramos did, too. 


Not off seasons for those 4.  Way off seasons.


You don’t expect too much from utility players, but you don’t expect Sanchez, Dozier, and Hamilton to be so awful: 


As in 4 for 46, one RBI awful. 


And...you don't expect back end utility pitchers like Kilome to be so bad, too.


You don’t acquire Wacha and Porcello, assuming at least one will be decent, knowing you're gambling a bit, and all you get is 2-11, 6.00 from them over 19 starts.


You don't expect a Gsellman to do his best Matz imitation and go from 4.66 in 2019 to 9.64 in 2020.


Heck, 13 of your 23 pitchers had ERAs north of 5.00.


You read all that and it sounds like a 20-40 W/L record. 


At best.


If those guys weren't collectively so hurt/horrendous, they might have even challenged for the division.


The defense rests. The Wilpons plead for mercy.


Brodie pleads to not be fired.


The jury retreats to determine a verdict.


Will the verdict be third degree stupidity?


Or just a big dose of unavoidably bad performances?


You’re the jury chairman...what is your verdict?





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John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 10/1/2020

 


Good Morning. Happy Birthday Buzz Capra, Pete Falcone, and Jeff Reardon.  Also Born Today Bob Myrick, and Chuck Hiller. Epic 1-0 13 inning Braves-Red Wild Card game and the Yankees, Astros, and Rays all advance.

     

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Minor League Links, and This Day in Mets History.


Mets Links:


Mike Puma NY Post: Should Mets keep Van Wagenen? Examining his hits, misses and one ‘ridiculous’ move. “’The thing was basically Stroman for Wheeler and I think that’s ridiculous,’ the rival executive said. ‘I think they overrated Stroman a little bit.’”   


SNY.TV: 5 biggest items on Mets' offseason to-do list, including extending Michael Conforto and finding a center fielder. George Springer, Trevor Bauer, and J.T. Realmuto could be among New York's free agent targets.


NJ.com: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred defends Fred Wilpon following Mets sale to Steve Cohen.


Rising Apple: Mets wasted another year of excellence from Jacob deGrom.


Rising Apple: Mets Rookies: Where they rank among the National League’s best. Writer Allen Settle ranks David Peterson #9 and Andres Gimenez #5 out of the top 10 Rookies in the NL.


Mike Phillips The Sports Daily: New York Mets 2020 Season in Review: Offense. Mike gave the DH an A+, 2B an A, and the Outfield an A.


Amazing Avenue: 2020 Mets takeaways: The outfield. A crowded outfield picture that somehow still has a big hole in the middle.


Metsmerized Online: Five Mets Storylines To Watch This Offseason. Steve Cohen, BVW?, Starting Pitching, Free Agents and COVID-19 in 2021 make up the list.


Metsmerized Online: Is It Time To Move on From J.D. Davis?

 

MLB Links:




MLB.com: Freeman's walk-off ends Game 1 duel in 13th. Braves 1 Reds 0 (Box Score). Braves lead series 1-0.




MLB.com: Vets power Marlins to 1st playoff W since '03. Marlins 5 Cubs 1 (Box Score). Marlins lead series 1-0.





MLB.com: Wild, unforgettable win sends Yanks to ALDS. Yankees 10 Indians 9 (Box Score). Yankees win series 2-0.



MLB.com: Astros sweep: 'We deserve a lot of respect'. Astros 3 Twins 1 (Box Score). Astros win series 2-0.


MLB.com: A's early outburst holds up to force Game 3. A’s 5 White Sox 3 (Box Score). Series tied 1 game each.



MLB.com: With sweep of Jays, Rays returning to ALDS. Rays 8 Blue Jays 2 (Box Score). Rays win series 2-0.




MLB.com: Cards pounce with 4-run 1st, hold off Padres. Cardinals 7 Padres 4 (Box Score).


MLB.com: Eyeing future, LA and Buehler cautious in win. “Dealing with a finger blister that clearly is an issue, Buehler still struck out eight in only four innings.” Dodgers 4 Brewers 2 (Box Score). Dodgers lead series 1-0.




NY Post: MLB to allow fans to attend NLCS, World Series games. Major League Baseball is set to allow a “limited number” of fans for the NLCS and World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the league announced Wednesday. Approximately 11,500 tickets will be made available for each game, with 10,550 fans in the stands and 950 in suites.


Tim Brown Yahoo Sports: Strikeout, homer, what else? Postseason baseball enlivened by moments that go off script.


AP News: Marlins’ Marte hopes to play with broken hand.


Minor League Links:


Quad City Times: Majors let the clock run out on minor-league deal. “Major League Baseball has started to exert more control over the minors, formally announcing Tuesday that the 10-team Appalachian League would shift from being a professional rookie-level league to becoming a summer wood-bat league for top-level freshman and sophomore college prospects.”



Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

Transactions:
New York Mets released Jim Gosger on October 1, 1974.

New York Mets released Bob Miller on October 1, 1974.

New York Mets released Jon Adkins on October 1, 2007.

Lino Urdaneta granted free agency on October 1, 2007.


Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (9/29/1981) Pete Falcone HRs, Drives in Three Runs & Tosses A Shut Out.


Centerfield Maz: Pete Falcone: Brooklyn Born Italian / American Mets Pitcher (1979-1982).


Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History: (1973) Mets Clinch NL Eastern Divison.


Centerfield Maz: Buzz Capra: 1973 N.L. Champion Mets Pitcher (1971-1973).


Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History (10/1/1969) The Mets 100th Win of the Season.


National Pastime.com:

1973

A day after the regular season ends, the Mets, in front of only 1,913 fans at a cold and damp Wrigley Field, beat the Cubs, 6-4 in the first game of a scheduled make-up doubleheader, with the nightcap, an unnecessary contest for the final standings, officially canceled due to wet grounds. The Amazins', who spent two months in the cellar before winning 23 of their remaining 32 games, clinch the NL East with their 82nd victory, the lowest number of wins ever recorded to capture a title.

1974

Tom Seaver, whiffing 14 batters, becomes the first hurler in National League history to strike out 200 or more batters for seven consecutive seasons. 'Tom Terrific's' complete-game effort in his last start of the year isn't good enough to win when the Mets bow to Jim Lonborg and Phillies, 2-1.

 

1982

Terry Leach, who goes the distance for New York, and Phillies right-hander John Denny each hurl one-hit shutout ball for nine innings in a game where the Mets score the only run, thanks to a walk, a single and a sac fly in the top of the tenth frame. The Veteran Stadium 1-0 victory marks the 13th one-hitter in franchise history and the first of which goes overtime.





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Baseball Reference:

2017: The final day of the regular season is pro forma, as all postseason slots and seedings have already been determined, although the Phillies' 11 - 0 win over the Mets marks the final game for both managers, Pete Mackanin and Terry Collins. For Mackanin, it is a bittersweet finish, as he managed to lead the Phils to just one game below .500 in the second half after a terrible first half, while Collins, the oldest manager in the majors this year, steps down at the end of the longest tenure in team history at seven years and two years after a trip to the World Series in 2015.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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