There’s been a lot of debate over MLB’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement involving whether or not it is more beneficial to small markets or bigger markets. One of the focal points of this debate has centered on the amateur draft and the fact that set limits have been imposed on organizations who were willing to go “over slot” and pay above what a particular draft slot’s inherent value might be, but the changes to the [...]

Team News and Notes Atlanta Braves (17-9) Justin Upton launched his major league leading 12th home run of the season this week. He hit just 17 a year ago, and is currently on pace to shatter his career high of 31 back in 2011. The same can’t be said for his brother B.J. Upton, who has just three home runs, and is hitting a paltry .143 on the season. Freddie Freeman has not made much [...]

In last weekend’s edition of 3&3, I cautioned to watch out for a Dodger’s team that was struggling. That warning should have been extended to this weekend’s series with the Phillies as well. Against two teams that have been struggling, our Mets finished 1-5. Looks like our team is fast becoming a cure to another team’s slump. 3 UP Kyle’s Complete Game: We don’t like giving and “Ups” to the opposition, especially the Phillies, but [...]

Starting Lineup Ruben Tejada – SS Daniel Murphy – 2B David Wright – 3B John Buck – C Lucas Duda – LF Marlon Byrd – RF Ike Davis – 1B Juan Lagares – CF Jonathon Niese – LHP Game Notes John Buck’s eight April homers tied the club record for a catcher in the month (Mike Piazza in 2001, Todd Hundley in 1996), and are one shy of the team record shared by Carlos Delgado [...]

Shaun Marcum didn’t exactly light up the radar guns in his first start back in Saturday’s 9-4 loss to the Phillies. He struggled with his command and quite frankly, judging I’d say he was lucky the Phillies only tagged him for three runs and not more in his four innings of work. I don’t believe anyone expected him to show up and deliver an “A” game, but with a fastball that ranged around 80-84 mph [...]

Starting Lineup Mike Baxter RF Ruben Tejada SS Daniel Murphy 2B David Wright 3B Lucas Duda LF John Buck C Ike Davis 1B Jordany Valdespin CF Shaun Marcum RHP Game Notes Josh Edgin, 26, was demoted to Double-A Binghamton to make room for today’s starter Shaun marcum. He has struggled this season with a 9.64 ERA and lefties were hitting .350 (7-for-20) against him. The Mets dropped below .500 for the first time this season [...]

Starting Lineup Mike Baxter – RF Ruben Tejada – SS Daniel Murphy – 2B David Wright – 3B Lucas Duda – LF John Buck – C Ike Davis – 1B Jordany Valdespin – CF Dillon Gee – RHP Game Notes The Mets have scored 110 runs in their first 20 games (5.5 runs per game). The 110 runs are the fourth-most the Mets have scored after 20 games in any season. New York is scoring 5.5 runs per [...]

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, team officials are saying that lefthanded starter Jon Niese reported no issues and is set to return to the rotation on Sunday against the Phillies. “A little swollen, but it feels good,” Niese describe the injury Thursday morning. Manager Terry Collins said they didn’t want Niese to break his routine, and he remains on target to make his next scheduled start. Niese left Tuesday night’s game against the [...]

Team News and Notes Atlanta Braves (13-5) After starting the season 12-1, the Braves have dropped four of their last five games, including three in a row to the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Monday, the Braves joined the Mets as the next team to have their games in Colorado postponed due to snow, and will play a doubleheader on Tuesday. Freddie Freeman returns to the lineup after missing time with an oblique injury. Jason Heyward was hitting just [...]

Baseball is a game of adjustments. The Mets under Dave Hudgens’ tutelage have adopted a doctrine of selectivity that emphasizes seeing lots of pitches, running up pitch-counts, zoning in on your pitch, and ultimately getting on base one way or another. There has been a lot of discussion on MMO about whether this approach is effective. The consensus, bolstered by a pile of data, seems to be that it is. Teams that take lots of [...]