If you checked out on the Mets after they ended their season with a clunker against the Miami Marlins, who could blame you? When your team goes from having the best record in baseball at the end of May to missing the playoffs entirely, you deserve a break. However, if you chose not to obsess over the roster these last 6 months, you did miss out on the most turbulent offseason in franchise history, a rollercoaster that many fans are still processing.

It started with the Mets jettisoning their core: franchise cornerstone Brandon Nimmo was sent to Texas; Mets home run champion Pete Alonso got paid in Baltimore; and fan favorite Jeff McNeil got shuttled off to the A’s (who might somehow be good this year.) And to top all that off, Edwin Diaz decided to be a Dodger, which was a complete surprise to nearly everyone, including Steve Cohen, who seemed shocked at the snub.

This was only act 1 though. Act 2 was largely an exercise in Metsian anguish where Mets fans did what they do best: stress. Then came act 3 where David Stearns basically went on a bender for a couple of weeks and plugged all the holes with some fantastic players.

When the Mets open the regular season on Thursday against the Pirates (who also might be good this year), there will be quite a few unfamiliar faces. This snapshot should have you ready to Meet The Mets on opening day!

The Big Fish: Bo Bichette

You might have caught one of his most recent at bats where he hit a 3-run homerun off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series. However, as Toronto flies under the radar somewhat, you may not realize that he’s one of the best hitters in baseball. Bichette is a 3-time all-star who’s gotten down ballot MVP votes in 4 of his 6 major league seasons while holding down shortstop for the Jays. He’s only entering his age 28 season and may get better yet while learning third base on the fly. This is exactly the kind of impact player top contenders’ sign. I say here that his WAR will be higher than Alonso’s this year.

The Ace: Freddy Peralta

There’s always a bigger fish and it’s possible Freddy Peralta is just that. Peralta is one of the best pitchers in baseball having gone 17-6 last year with a 2.70 era and 204 strikeouts. This is the kind of guy you want on the bump for a big game, and he genuinely seems thrilled to be here. Former Mets prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat headed to Milwaukee in this trade where the Mets also received…

The Dark Horse: Tobias Myers

It was easy to get excited about Peralta, but when you looked at the other guy the Mets got in the trade; you had to hand it to David Stearns for extracting maximum value in return. In parts of two seasons in Milwaukee, Myers has a 3.15 ERA mostly as a starter. He also shut the Mets down in game 3 of the 2024 wild card series. He’s slated to be a part of the bullpen, but don’t be surprised if he makes his share of starts and is a key part of the roster.

The Rookie: Carson Benge

Carson Benge will be starting in right field on opening day and after a meteoric rise, he’s earned it. After jumping three levels in the minors last year, David Stearns was emphatic in his belief that Benge could crack the roster to start the season. All Benge did in Spring Training was hit to the tune of a .987 OPS and made a bunch of nifty catches. You’re going to love this toolsy 23-year-old.

Luis Robert Jr.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The Reclamation Project: Luis Robert Jr.

Dude became the White Sox full-time center fielder in 2023, hit 37 bombs, and grooved to an .857 OPS. Then along with the White Sox, he fell off a cliff in 2024 and 2025. He has been injury prone which hasn’t helped, but at his worst, he’s a real upgrade from Tyrone Taylor. At best, he is a 5-tool player and one of the best center fielders in the game. He is still young enough to be that player for years to come.

The Aging Veteran: Marcus Semien

Not so long ago, Semian was a perennial MVP candidate who helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series. He won his third gold glove playing second base for the Rangers last year, but his offense has really fallen off since that 2023 championship. If he doesn’t hit, his job could be in jeopardy by mid-season with Ronny Mauricio getting reps in AAA and the Mets in must-win mode.

The Leverage Guy: Luke Weaver

A starter earlier in his career, Luke Weaver has become one of the best set-up men in baseball and was lights out the last two years for the Yankees with a WHIP under 1 for that period. Like most relievers he’s had his ups and downs, but he should be a reliable cog in a bullpen that never seems to have enough of them.

The Puzzle Piece: Jorge Polanco

Polanco was signed soon after the Polar Bear headed south, and it was a bit of a headscratcher. Supposedly signed to play first base, it’s more likely he will get the lion’s share of his at bats at DH. While he lacks Alonso’s slug, he is a somewhat similar hitter having hit .260 with 26 home runs last season, in line with his career numbers.

The Closer: Devin Williams

After a great start to his career in Milwaukee (how many Brewers are on this team?) Devin spent last season with the Bronx Bombers where he got off to a rough start before more or less returning to form. He is one of the best closers in the game, but he also has the job of replacing Edwin Diaz. The pressure is on.

This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Steve Lastoe. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com.

The post Fan Shot: Meet The Mets, The 2026 Edition appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Let me start by clarifying what I mean by “Team of the Decade.” This is not going to be the best Mets team of the last ten years, nor will it be a listing of the best players from the last ten years. The rules here are simple: build a team of 10 – one for each position player, plus a starter and a reliever – where you can only choose one player from each of the past 10 seasons.

A couple of caveats here: first is that I’ve removed from consideration the Small Sample Size COVID Season (SSSCS) of 2020. There’s way too much noise in there and it’s too difficult to make sense of what was actually a good season and what was just a hot streak. Second, there’s no DH position. Because it’s still a relatively new position on NL clubs, the options are too limited.

That leaves us with our 10 slots coming from the 2025-2021 and 2019-2015 seasons.

First thing I did was check to see team leaders per year. I wanted to see if there were any individual seasons that stood out as far and away better than anyone else’s and therefore couldn’t be ignored. My initial takeaway was to be surprised that, by WAR, Lindor was just behind Soto in 2025. My second takeaway was “HOLY CRAP…how did those 2015 and 2016 teams make the playoffs??” I always think of Asdrubal Cabrera for two things: his walk-off vs. the Phillies with the best/worst bat flip ever, and for taking OTHER players’ helmets off after THEY hit home runs. Turns out he was also the most valuable (by WAR) batter on the 2016 wild card winning squad, who knew?

But I digress. There were three outliers who had seasons that just blew everyone else’s away, and those are 2024 Lindor at SS, 2019 Pete at 1B and 2018 deGrom at SP.

After his underwhelming first season in Flushing, Lindor steadily climbed back to elite in 22 and 23. But he reached his peak as the most valuable position player in the NL in 2024, losing the MVP award to full-time DH Ohtani in still the highest Mets finish since Straw was robbed in 1988 (side note: Gibson wasn’t even the MVP of his own team that year, but that’s another argument for another day). It doesn’t hurt Lindor’s case when you remember that Lindor he was batting under .200 as late as May 21st of that season AND he missed 11 games in September and was STILL just a steal away from 30-30 at a premium position. Thing is, he could take this spot for just three of his swings that season: top 9 game 161, grand slam game 4 vs Philly and top 1 game 2 NLCS vs the Dodgers.

Pete’s 53 homers in 2019 were both a rookie record and the only time a Met has ever led all of MLB in homers. Considering he’s up against a couple of Lucas Duda seasons and a few years of Wilmer Flores and James Loney (yup, 2016 team leader in games played at 1B), this was another no-brainer. As a bonus bit of info, with all the guff he’s getting as a fielder, he was actually one run ABOVE average in defensive runs saved in 2019 (for context, he was rated nine runs below average for this past season.

Going into this thought exercise, I predicted that choosing between deGrom’s two Cy Young seasons was going to be tough. But as good as Jake was in 2019, the previous season was clearly better. He had more Ks and a lower ERA and WHIP in more innings pitched. He had a higher WAR and led the league in ERA+ and FIP. Dude only went 10-9 and still got 29 of 30 first-place Cy votes. I think it’s safe to say that we have our starter and we feel good about it.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Great! 3 down, 7 to go. Where to next?

We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the biggest free agent signing in Mets history. We still have more than a decade before we will know how this all ends, but the early results are prettay prettayyy good. Still not even in his age 27 season, Juan Soto just had his SIXTH top 10 MVP finish. In what was considered a down year for him, he still managed to lead the NL in walks and OBP, tie for the league lead in steals (wha?) and set a career high in homers. As amazing as this sounds following a nearly 40-40 season, I feel like if I ever look to build this team again there will be even better Soto years to choose from.

The Mets have only had 2 players win a batting crown (and both sat out the final game of the season to make sure they didn’t drop in the rankings, the less we talk about this the better). The first was Jose Reyes in 2011, and the second was our Team of the Decade, starting 2B Jeff McNeil from 2022. This was a 101-win team with 5 players receiving MVP votes, but McNeil led them in WAR. He wasn’t exclusively a 2B, but that’s where he played the most games, so he’s taking that spot.

There’s no way this team can be complete without an appearance from Yoenis. His 2015 stretch puts him into the conversation for the greatest trade deadline acquisition in history. What was surprising was that his 2016 follow-up wasn’t too shabby, either. He slowed towards the end and was overmatched by Bumgarner’s high heat in the WC loss, but still finished the season with over 30 homers, an all-star appearance, a silver slugger, and a few down-ballot MVP votes.

So far, I’m feeling pretty good about this team with three positions to go. We are now looking for a catcher, third baseman and center fielder with the years 2023, 2021 and 2017 to choose from. These are an ugly bunch of seasons where the Mets didn’t manage to break 80 wins, so it’s a safe assumption that they didn’t have historic performances. But maybe we can find some diamonds in the rough?

Luckily, we have support from the team’s longest-tenured player (editor’s note: this piece was submitted before the trade), Brandon Nimmo. Their first round pick in 2011, Nimmo had a slow start to his career before a breakout 2018 campaign where he set career highs in OBP and total bases – thanks in no small part to leading the league in times being hit by a pitch. A solid SSSCS was sandwiched between two injury-plagued years in 19 and 21, so there was concern that he couldn’t stay on the field until he started a very impressive current run of 4 straight years with 150+ games played. 2022 was his best year in terms of WAR, but someone really needs to explain that stat to me because in 2023 he had more hits, more homers and a higher OPS. It was also his last year playing primarily center, so that’s where he slots for us.

Down to two positions/years.

Mets catchers have been a long line of disappointments since Paul Lo Duca’s all-star 2006 season. Prime seasons from Gary Carter, Mike Piazza and that one 41-homer campaign from Todd Hundley spoiled us (I didn’t say anything about Mackey Sasser, did you say anything about Mackey Sasser?). We thought we had our new savior at the position when the Mets traded reigning Cy Young Winner R.A. Dickey for, among others, Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud. At the time of the trade, Baseball America had d’Arnaud as the #17 overall prospect in the league and the prime piece for the Mets. When he clanged one off the apple in 2015, I had dreams of a bright future. He never did put it all together. Even his one Silver Slugger year with the Braves is due to an insanely out-of-nowhere BABIP tha’ts more than .100 better than any other season of his career. Luckily for our team, his 2017 was a perfectly respectable one with 16 homers, a .735 OPS and 1.4 WAR.

Which leaves 2021 and third base. Quick trivia question: who played the most games at third base for the Mets in 2021? If you guessed Eduardo Escobar or J.D. Davis….you’re wrong. The correct answer is Jonathan Villar of the Villar-Pillars. And he was….not terrible! 18 homers, 14 steals and a .738 OPS in 142 games. Hey, it could’ve been worse.

That makes our Mets Team of the Decade:

Batting 1st: 2024 Lindor at SS

Batting 2nd: 2025 Soto at RF

Batting 3rd: 2016 Cespedes at LF

Batting 4th: 2019 Pete at 1B

Batting 5th: 2022 McNeil at 2B

Batting 6th: 2023 Nimmo at CF

Batting 7th: 2017 d’Arnaud at C

Batting 8th: 2021 Villar at 3B

SP: 2018 deGrom

Closer: 2015 Familia

Think you can make a better team? Be my guest.

This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Brian Wertkin. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com.

The post Fan Shot: Mets Team of the Decade appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

If the news is to be believed, this may truly be the end of the Pete Alonso era in Queens. I am still holding out hope that they will bring him back on a two or three-year deal because, well, he’s Pete! He holds the rookie home run record. He’s OUR lovable goofball who really really likes ripping his teammates’ jerseys off after a walk-off. He did this!

My feeling is that he is the best remaining free agent out there and installing him at first in 2025 would not preclude the Mets from going after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for 2026 and beyond. Is it such an awful thought to switch Pete to full-time DH in his age-31 and 32 seasons?

Truth is, I’m not going to believe he’s gone until it’s official.

So, while his potential/impending departure is the impetus for this column, it’s not a requiem for his Mets career. That still may be to come, but that day isn’t here…yet.

Photo by Roberto Carlo

If Pete does leave, the parallels to Darryl Strawberry will be strong, both in terms of productivity and fan emotion. But as mad and sad as Mets fans were in 1990 when Straw signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and as painful as it is to admit it, the move wound up being a good thing for the team. Darryl had a pretty decent 1991 season with a .852 OPS and ninth-place MVP finish. But, he wouldn’t make another All-Star team the rest of his career and accrued negative WAR over the next eight (full and partial) seasons. Sure, watching him win two rings with the Yankees was…let’s go with disagreeable… but Straw leaving when he did was fortuitous timing.

I want Pete back. I want that to be clear. Uncle Stevie has billions and it’s not my money and I want not-my-money to go into Pete’s pocket.

AND!

I think that Pete’s best days, like Darryl in ’90, are behind him.

But who knows? Pete could sign with the Reds and hit 45 homers per year in their band-box stadium (just an FYI that Cincinnati didn’t have a first baseman with a positive WAR last year, and the ball flies out of that park) over the next three years. And THAT would hurt. A lot. If that’s the case, we will always think that Pete left “too early” instead of at “just the right time.” I truly hope that in 15 years we aren’t watching Pete’s induction ceremony in Cooperstown with a giant “C” on his cap. But if that is the case, he’ll be the starting first baseman on the (trademark pending) Nolan Ryan All-Stars.

Ryan was with the Mets for five seasons in which he went 29-38 with an ERA over 3.50 and a decent K/9 but terrible K/BB that was under 1.5. I think we all know what happened on his next three teams over 22 seasons. But in case you didn’t know, dude had the lowest WHIP and led the league in K/9 at the age of 44! He is the captain and talisman of the team of one-time Mets who did their best work after leaving.

What does the rest of that team look like?

Before we begin, two very simple rules: 1) the player must have played Major League games for the Mets before blossoming elsewhere. Yes, the Mets gave up on Scott Kazmir way too early for WAY too little. Yes, I get night sweats thinking about Kumar Rocker becoming an ace for Texas. Neither of them are eligible. 2) Preston Wilson will not be on this team. I am not going to look him up on Baseball Reference, I am not going to see how many All-Star teams he made, and I am not going to check if he got votes for league awards. He was traded for Mike Piazza and that trade was an unqualified win for the Mets, so he’s out.

Onward we go.

Starting Pitcher

Obviously, Ryan. Not much more needs to be said about him. So instead, let’s look at what the Mets got back for the all-time strikeout king. The Mets traded Ryan, plus two other guys, for Jim Fregosi, who had just seen a run of eight-straight seasons in which he was an All-Star and received MVP votes end. In 1970, Fregosi’s OPS was .812 with 22 home runs from the shortstop position. In 1970! But in ’71, his OPS was down to .643 and in the 146 games he played for the Mets, he managed to hit just five homers while the OPS stayed in the .640s. All I can say is “woof.”

WAR with Mets: 3.0

WAR after leaving Mets: 80.6

Relief Pitcher

Relievers, in general, are the most volatile. One year you’re Jeurys Familia, “nastiest pitcher in the world” and the next you’re Jeurys Familia, untrustworthy pariah. So it’s not a surprise there is a battle here for the closer role. You’ve got Heath Bell, Jeff Reardon and Jason Isringhausen all racking up All-Star appearances, Cy Young votes and even some down-ballot MVPs with non-Mets teams. Bell had three dominant years and then fell off a cliff, but those ’07 and ’08 collapses really could’ve used him in the bullpen.

Isringhausen probably stings the most because a) his pedigree as part of Generation K and b) that Oakland immediately moved him to the bullpen after acquiring him at the deadline and he was an All-Star the very next year. But Reardon has them beat both in terms of the duration and height of success. He didn’t come out of nowhere, as he finished No. 6 in Rookie of the Year voting while with the Mets, and I’m sure they thought they were getting value back in Ellis Valentine, a previous All-Star and Gold Glover who was only 26-years-old. However, Reardon really took off for Montreal and stayed consistent with both Minnesota and Boston, posting 11-consecutive seasons of 20+ saves, making four All-Star teams and receiving both MVP and Cy Young votes in multiple seasons.

WAR with Mets: 2.9

WAR after leaving Mets: 16.1

Catcher

When the Mets traded reigning Cy Young champ R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, Noah Syndergaard was not the lynchpin of the return. It was Travis d’Arnaud, who was among the top prospects in the game at the time. The Mets gave him every chance and he never put it together. He’d have a big hit here and there, but he couldn’t stay healthy and he COULD NOT throw out a base stealer to save his life. His success in Atlanta – including a Silver Slugger Award (2020), an All-Star appearance (2022) and some clutch hits against the Mets – has been frustrating because he was so uninspiring while in the orange and blue. The sting is worse because of the fact that he has done all this for the Atlanta Braves of all teams. The overall numbers aren’t stellar, but the emotional impact is strong.

WAR with Mets: 1.9

WAR after leaving Mets: 6.5 (and counting)

First Base

Turns out that, should Pete leave, he won’t have to do much to gain a spot on this team, and that is for three basic reasons: One is that the Mets’ history at first base is mostly with players that aren’t household names outside of the fan base with names like Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and John Milner appearing in the top-10 for games played. The other is that the good players they have had such as Ed Kranepool, Keith Hernandez and Carlos Delgado left when their careers were pretty much over. The last reason is because this position is filled with arrived-too-late All-Stars like Mo Vaughn, Eddie Murray, Adrian Gonzalez, Gil Hodges and (almost) Andres Galarraga.

I’d like to put John Olerud in this spot because of how much those 2000-2002 teams needed him. But his best years so clearly came before he was in New York and while he was with the club. Where does that leave us? Well, welcome to the team Mike (double checks spelling) Jorgensen. Mike was up-and-down with the Mets in 1968, 1970 and 1971 – oh so close to a ring, Mike – before getting traded for Rusty Staub. In his 5 1/2 seasons with the Expos, he was fairly productive with a Gold Glove and a very strong .931 OPS in 1974. He came back to the Mets for their ignominious early ’80s seasons before going over to the St. Louis Cardinals and getting to play in the 85 World Series. Good for you señor Jorgensen!

WAR with Mets (the first time): -0.6

WAR after leaving Mets: 9.6

Second Base

Here’s a no-brainer nearly on par with Ryan. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you MVP winner, four-time Silver Slugger, five-time All-Star and all-time leader in homers by a second baseman Jeff Kent. My biggest issue with Kent has always been the trades that both brought him AND sent him away. He was the return the Mets got for sending away David Cone – who would likely be in the starting rotation for this very team pitching behind Ryan – and then they got back Carlos Baerga when they traded Kent away right as he was starting to look like a real player with a 20-homer season in 95.  At the end of the day, trading Cone for the least productive years of Kent’s career and some putrid years of Baerga is vomit-inducing.

WAR with Mets: 8.4

WAR after leaving Mets: 47.0

Shortstop

I’m going to cheat a little bit here. My gut instinct was that Kevin Elster was going to be an obvious choice as someone who left too soon. I remembered his 1996 season with the Texas Rangers when he hit 24 homers and assumed the rest of his career played out similarly. Not so fast! Turns out that year was an EXTREME outlier. He only had two other double-digit homer seasons – one with the Mets in 1989 – and his WAR with New York is more than double what it was once he left. So my cheat is to go with Melvin Mora, who was mainly a shortstop with the Mets but then made his name in Baltimore at third base. I’ve written before about the pain of watching him turn into a three-time All-Star and cornerstone player for the 2000s Baltimore Orioles because it was a panic move to trade him when they did. The Mets really needed that bat in 2001.

WAR with Mets: 0.3

WAR after leaving Mets: 27.9

Third Base

Like d’Arnaud, we have another (technically) still-active player at the hot corner with Justin Turner. In the early ‘10s, Turner was the kind of player on the Mets that I couldn’t stand. A guy with no power (eight homers across three seasons) who always found himself in the lineup because of positional versatility. He was a utility-man and he was 28-years-old, so how the heck does he become a multiple-time All-Star with two top-10 MVP seasons? It makes NO sense. I was HAPPY when the Mets didn’t resign him after the 2013 season. Oh, I guess I’m the ***hole.

WAR with Mets: 0.7

WAR after leaving Mets: 37.8 (and counting if anyone picks him up)

Outfielder No. 1

The fact that the Mets traded Lenny Dykstra in the middle of his age-26 season AND Roger McDowell to a division rival for Juan Samuel is truly mind-boggling. Lenny was a fan favorite in Queens who immediately made an impact with the Philadelphia Phillies. In his first full season with them in 1990, he was an All-Star and finished top-10 in MVP voting. Then, in 1993, he led them to the World Series while leading the league in runs, hits and walks (twice as many free passes as strikeouts), stole 37 bases and finished runner-up in MVP to some guy named Barry Bonds. Maybe Vince Coleman doesn’t throw firecrackers at fans if they still have Lenny around to play center.

WAR with Mets: 16.5
WAR after leaving Mets: 25.9

Outfielder No. 2

Signing Juan Soto this offseason is the most excited I’ve been about an offseason move since the Johan Santana trade. Yes, that includes the Francisco Lindor deal. Philip Humber was the biggest piece to go back to Minnesota, but he was a bust despite his what-the-hell perfect game (that was not a swing). Carlos Gomez was the other part of that trade, and while he didn’t do much for the Twins, he had a pretty good few years in Milwaukee. Perhaps his best value to the Mets, though, was the nixed trade in 2015, which led them to swing for Yoenis Céspedes!

WAR with Mets: 0.1

WAR after leaving Mets: 24.3

Outfielder No. 3

The Mets have famously never had a player win MVP (Lindor/Soto 2025 FTW!). Two members of this team, though, have won an MVP AND done it while playing for the San Francisco Giants. Most recently was Kent and before that was Kevin Mitchell. Mitchell, in a part-time role for the ’86 champs, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. His biggest moments, without a doubt, were a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th and scoring the tying run on Bob Stanley’s wild pitch in Game 6. The Mets went on to trade him after that year for established star Kevin McReynolds. To be fair, McReynolds played pretty well for the Mets from 1987 to 1991. Unfortunately, Mitchell played better. He won the 1989 MVP after bashing 47 homers and got more MVP votes in 1990. He wasn’t done yet, however, as he had a revival in 1994, finishing ninth in MVP voting after hitting 30 homers in the strike-shortened season for Cincinnati.

WAR with Mets: 2.3

WAR after leaving Mets: 26.8 (despite -1.3 WAR over his final 3 seasons)

SP: Nolan Ryan

C: Travis d’Arnaud

1B: Mike Jorgensen

2B: Jeff Kent

SS: Melvin Mora

3B: Justin Turner

OF1: Lenny Dykstra

OF2: Carlos Gomez

OF3: Kevin Mitchell

Closer: Jeff Reardon

I hope it’s not too painful to see that lineup. The Mets have signed some real disasters in their time, so I’m a little relieved, honestly, that it isn’t worse.

Now the only question is whether Pete will one day be there, or will he be more like Darryl and Jose Reyes, two homegrown All-Stars that couldn’t replicate their success elsewhere? Or is he gonna sign a short-term deal and stay in Queens? We shall see.

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Brian Wertkin. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: The Nolan Ryan All-Stars appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Like many Met fans, I have been thinking nonstop about how I would construct the 2025 World Series-winning Mets. I did say I was biased, right? Back to my introduction. We’ve all wanted to play GM and put ourselves at the helm, so I figured why not put pen to paper on my version of what I think could play out this offseason? Some may agree, and many more will disagree, but that’s what makes the offseason fun.

Creating a Potent Lineup

Sign Juan Soto: A domino creating a 10-year win-now window. It is no secret that the Mets have had their eye on Juan Soto since he was mashing for the Nationals. Now the time has come, go all in on Soto. He is potentially the most exciting offensive player to hit the free agent market since….Bryce Harper? Looking ahead at future free agency classes, there are good but not generational talents available. Creating a lineup that starts with Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Mark Vientos will make the Mets a scary proposition for opposing pitchers for years to come. 

Let Pete Alonso Go (Maybe): Okay, maybe it’s not that simple. It all comes down to value. Pete Alonso has been a mainstay in the Mets lineup for the last six years. ROY, constant home runs, and homegrown… how could you let this guy go? It would not be so easy for the fans to see Pete in another team’s uniform. My grandma, 86 years young, has claimed she will not root for the Mets if they don’t re-sign Pete (this is the same woman who called the former Brooklyn Dodgers owner when there were rumors of trading Jackie Robinson). We know that isn’t true (hopefully), but I feel the sentiment could be true for Met fans, especially after this past playoff run. The true test for Stearns and the front office is how much they value a negative defensive first baseman who as of next year is on the wrong side of 30.

I would pencil Pete in for 30+ home runs over the next few years, but when does he turn into an everyday DH? My take is if you can sign Pete to a 5-140m deal, I would do it. Make him the highest-paid first baseman on an AAV basis, but don’t hurt your future in the process. Pete can break the Mets home run record, win a World Series in Queens, and have his number retired in Citi. If the price moves higher, I think the Mets need to consider other options, such as Christian Walker. You wouldn’t be tied down long-term, he has 30+ home runs a year potential and provides a perfect end gap to up-and-coming power prospects who slot in at first base. If the price for Walker becomes too steep, the Mets should consider moving Mark Vientos to 1B and replacing him with a better glove at third base.  

Trade Starling Marte: It is no secret that Starling Marte has been underwhelming defensively in the outfield. His -8 OAA in RF ranked second to last in all of MLB, and the kicker is that he only played 94 games in the 2024 regular season. With the prospects of signing Juan Soto, who is a negative-5 OAA on his own (how he is up for gold glove is crazy), you simply can’t construct an outfield with Soto and Marte regularly playing the corners. Better yet, it is not in David Stearn’s DNA to do so. The Mets should look to trade Marte for a decent reliever (hello, Mariners). They would need to eat a bit of cash to make it happen, but in the end, unloading him gives the team more flexibility going into next season. After the most recent trade to acquire Jose Siri, the Mets locked up their 2025 centerfield situation with two plus-range outfielders to hopefully cover for Mr. Juan Soto. I liked this move because Siri is cheap enough to have a reduced role if Drew Gilbert forces his way on the roster with a strong spring training or AAA start. 

Jose Iglesias?: This is hard. He was one of the sparks that turned around the Mets season. The team rallied around (a Latin pop star) a career .283 hitter. His defensive metrics don’t paint the picture that he is sure-handed in the infield, but he passes my eye test. I think if the price is right, you consider re-signing him for the purpose of clubhouse comradery and infield security blanket. My only hesitation is the Mets have Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuña, and Jett Williams biting at the opportunity to do what Vientos did in 2024. The final choice is that I would prefer to give a younger guy a chance. This will also serve as the chance for prospects to showcase their ability to play for the club. Only a year ago, the Mets signed J.D. Martinez to a one-year deal, pushing Vientos off the roster. I don’t think the Mets go down that road again. It would be best if you let young talent flourish and this open spot allows the chance for a hot spring training prospect to make the big-league team for opening day. 

DH?: DH has been a question mark for the Mets ever since the NL adopted the full-time hitting position. I don’t believe the Mets will want to commit to a long-term multiyear solution for a position not playing the field. Realistically, Mark Vientos should slot in here, but he has earned the right to play the field every day. I ideally would like to re-sign a Jesse Winker-type player who also gives outfield insurance for any injuries. He could hopefully share time with Ronny Mauricio here. Then again, it’s too early to pencil a guy in for a consistent role coming off a torn ACL. 

Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Upside Pitching Arms

Unpopular Opinion….Pay Blake Snell and not Corbin Burnes. I know what you are thinking: this guy has only pitched more than 140 innings twice in his nine-year career. My counter is that he has won two Cy Youngs and simply shoves when he’s on. The lack of innings doesn’t scare me, knowing baseball continues to move to a six-man rotation. You need to have a guy you want to give the ball to in the playoffs. Time and time again you see playoff teams focusing on their top three starting arms to carry them throughout the whole playoffs. Look at Marcus Stroman for the Yankees, he is middle market arm who is being paid $18.33 million to not throw a pitch in the playoffs. You need to bite the bullet on a top arm, and I think Snell gives the Mets the opportunity to use Steve Cohen’s financial flexibility to their benefit while not making a long-term investment in a Corbin Burnes-type player (look how well those long-term pitching contracts pay off of). Pay Snell for four years and $150 million with a player option if he reaches an inning count – bringing it to five years and $185 million.. You can overpay here knowing Senga’s cheap for the next few years. 

Sign one of Sean Manaea or Luis Severino: My preference would be Manaea, but it will be interesting to see how much its value has increased over the past few months. Middle of the season you may have thought 3 years for 60 million would get it done…. Not anymore. The Mets need to be smart in this situation, and I would choose either one, whichever presents the best value. If Severino takes a short-term deal, I would pass on Manaea’s long-term contract. We will see how his own attached QO plays out in the market. 

Sign a Project Starter: I thought about trading a few prospects for a solid pitcher on the trade market (like a Garrett Crochet), but I would rather let the farm continue to develop young talent and if needed (if the Mets are in playoff position) trade a few away at the deadline to fill potential holes. That being said, I think Stearns (as I would) goes shopping down the bounce-back candidate aisle. I think Walker Buehler type, but as I write this, Walker Buehler might have earned himself a few more dollars this offseason. Maybe Andrew Heaney or Alex Cobb? One-year deal here. 

Build a solid bullpen: You may be thinking, no s**t, Sherlock. Here is one of the reasons Steve Cohen brought in David Stearns. He has been masterful of identifying arm talent that can be used in high-leverage positions. We just saw the Dodgers showcase how important it is to have not only trustable arms but also a good number of them waiting to be used. I would shy away from expensive closer types (cough cough Tanner Scott) on the market. I would rather gather a collection of multiple trusted high-leverage arms than focus on one shutdown setup/closer (caveat relievers who can throw strikes dependably, please). 

Photo Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images

How does this team turn out?

Lineup

1. SS – Francisco Lindor
2. RF – Juan Soto
3. 3B – Mark Vientos
4. LF – Nimmo 
5. 1B – Christian Walker 
6. 2B – Jeff McNeil
7. CF- Tyrone Taylor/Jose Siri
8. C – Francisco Alvarez
9. DH/ Utility – One of Mauricio or Acuna with Winker (I would lean playing the younger players if push comes to shove)

Starters 

1. Blake Snell
2. Kodai Senga
3. Sean Manaea or Luis Severino
4. David Peterson (he’s earned his spot)
5. Project Starter (Andrew Heaney/Alex Cobb/Walker Buehler)
6. Megill, Blackburn, Jose Butto, or Prospect (Sproat, Tidwell, Hamel)

Payroll Situation *Contract Predictions from MLB Trade Rumors*

Starting at around $160 million with currently 

Subtract 10m by trading Starling Marte (9.5 million on hook for 2024)

Juan Soto (13-600) 46.15m a year

Blake Snell (5-160) 32m a year 

Sean Manaea (3-60) 20m a year

Project starter 12.5m 

Jesse Winker (1-7.5m) 

20m for bullpen

= 288.15 million

The Steve Cohen tax hits at 301 million. Ideally, they stay below this figure but then again, it’s not my money! The Mets still have plenty of holes on this roster. They could probably use another starting pitcher, but I chose to play the long game. Preserve the prospects we have and allow ourselves to reset the tax for future years. 

That being said…. What do you think the Mets should do? What do you agree with or disagree with? 

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Brian Mengler. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: An Ideal Offseason Plan for the Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

At some point in your life as a masochist (or Mets fan, as the kids say), you begin to realize your normal level of suffering just will not cut it anymore. The blown leads, the questionable roster management, and the inability to hit with men on base just became a regular Tuesday night. You start to think, Satish (your name is Satish too in this scenario, so bear with me), how can I spice it up?

Well, luckily for me, Major League Baseball had the answer. They decided to schedule our lovely Mets to play a two-game series across the pond in London, England. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Mets take a loss in a completely new time zone and continent! This was objectively the change that I needed, so when the opportunity arose, I took a shot and put the trip together.

Quips aside, the idea of traveling all the way to England to watch the Mets sounded exactly like something a Mets fan should be doing, and it was worth the effort. A friend of mine, Rob, was kind enough to secure the tickets for the actual game, so the plan came together.

MLB did a good job setting up the hype for the series from the start by hosting three days of parties that bled into the games. The games were played on Saturday and Sunday, but a main area in Trafalgar Square was transformed into a zone for MLB fans to gather.

They laid out “Mets” and “Phillies” zones, but they were mainly just common areas for bars and food options. Batting cages scattered the area and Topps provided an exhibit where they would print you on a baseball card. Both of these were free-of-charge. MLB brought in a custom “home-run taxi” branded with the Mets and Phillies logos as well. If you happen to be a collector of the cups from the games, the London series provided a nice one and a collection of pins.

Friday night, MLB set up a type of home run derby for a grey-haired shell of a man named Chase Utley and local hero (former Long Island Duck) Daniel Murphy to face off. Team Daniel Murphy, powered by the emotional support of David Wright, Mike Piazza, and Mookie Wilson, scored a victory for the good guys. One of my companions managed to get Mike Piazza to sign his beer cup, too. Dare I say it might have been the closest you could get to these legends for the price of zero dollars—and there was no shortage of a turnout.

It was at this moment that I realized that, to their credit, Philadelphia fans travel. In many spaces throughout the weekend, the Mets fans were a little outnumbered. That being said, it was a feel-good moment to start the weekend for the Metropolitans, and they were off to drop a game on Saturday.

Each game had a pre-game situation set up at a bar called All My Friends. It led to some great verbal situations when I had to tell people I was leaving all my friends to attend the game, but I digress. Steve Cohen stopped by on Saturday, but I missed that part while I was deciding on what beer to get. I really, honestly, truly, wish I was kidding. I only managed to see him depart. I did manage to come down in time to be hit in the face with a blue and orange smoke bomb, though.

Heading toward the London Stadium, where West Ham United typically plays, the surrounding areas were set up with activities outside of your traditional merch stalls and vendors. There were batting cages for the kids, photo opportunities, and a few family-style activities here and there.

Luis Torrens' game-ending double play in London earns him the @Chevrolet Electric Play of the Week! 😤 pic.twitter.com/aAZNeBRqGd

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2024

The Saturday night game itself was fun if you could put aside the Mets taking the loss. Clearly, the number of Americans outnumbered the locals, but the stadium was converted to seat about 55,000 people and easily cleared 50,000. There were quite a few people there who were just looking to learn and did not have a team allegiance, so they were ecstatic to root for action on either side.

The concessions were a lot of fun, too, where former MMO writer Christina Montana decided to try and shove a two-foot-long hot dog in my mouth. Other concession options included some pastrami sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, local alcohol choices like Pimms, and two-pint-sized baseball bats that you  could get if you purchased two drinks. As a newfound appreciation of Pimms and lemonade, I quickly learned you could buy an entire pitcher of the stuff and just walk around with it. It took me an overseas trip, but finally, my plight as a Mets fan was finally being appreciated.

The similarities between baseball and cricket run pretty deep, so for a lot of locals with questions, it was fun to see the amount of interest they had in learning baseball. I had a healthy amount of conversations with locals attending who were curious about the rules, and it felt nice to see the love of the game growing for those who made it out.

On Sunday, I decided to watch the game from Trafalgar Square and had a taste of some of the food they were offering there. I just wanted to take it in as an observer, do a little people-watching, and take in the environment. If you spent any time at the events or the game itself, you could tell that MLB is taking this World Tour experience seriously and really trying to grow the game this way. I have always been the first to criticize Rob Manfred for just about everything, but MLB deserves a full vote of confidence and appreciation for this.

Part of the reason games like cricket and soccer/football have become so successful is the global impact—and meanwhile, baseball fans get subjected to a joke about the fact that we have a yearly World Series that basically includes North America only. The World Baseball Classic was a major step in the right direction for the growth of the game, and the World Tour games have become a true icing on the cake. It was my first time in London, and it all left a positive taste in my mouth. I enjoyed the experience so much that I would fully consider going out to a game in another country that involved teams that were not the Mets, solely for the experience.

Kudos, MLB.

The post Reliving The London Series: A Mets Fan’s Perspective appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Baseball’s starting pitchers are throwing harder and getting injured at a higher rate than ever before. Starting pitcher innings and pitch counts are decreasing year after year. Something needs to change in baseball around the starting pitcher, and one possibility is the idea of a six-man rotation.

We already see six-man rotations in Japan, and we saw it in MLB with the Angels last season to help accommodate two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. We’ve even seen it with the Mets last season in a hybrid model to accommodate Kodai Senga, who was coming over from Japan and was more accustomed to that extra day of rest. But even with Senga expected to miss the first few weeks/months of the season, does it still make sense for the Mets to try a six-man rotation?

When David Stearns appeared on the spring training broadcast with Gary and Ron this weekend, he mentioned that he wants the Mets to be ahead of baseball trends rather than chasing trends from the past five to ten years. A six-man rotation could be an opportunity for the Mets to be ahead of one of those trends.

To see if this idea is worthwhile, let’s look at starting pitching ERAs throughout baseball the past few seasons. This chart below shows that we have now had four consecutive seasons where 5 days rest is producing better results than 4 days rest. Four straight years of at least a 0.10 difference in ERA is no fluke, and I would expect this to only get more drastic going forward based on recent increases in pitching injuries/fatigue.

To break this down further, using the average from the last three years (starting with the post-COVID season), the ERA for 4 days rest is 4.28 compared to 4.09 for 5 days rest. Taking these numbers, if we added a sixth starter with a 5.00 ERA (a conservative number) to the 5-day rest/6-man rotation, their total ERA would be 4.24, which is still better than the 4.28 from the 4-day rest/5-man rotation. So, using league averages, the Mets (or any team) would just need replacement-level production from their 6th starter for this to be worthwhile. And this does not even factor in the potential benefits of reducing injuries and keeping the rotation fresher throughout the length of the season.

The Mets have countless candidates who can be added as a sixth starter and give them a sub-5.00 ERA. Joey Lucchesi, Tylor Megill and Jose Butto all had ERAs below five last season (Megill’s being the highest at 4.70), and if none of these candidates perform, well, they also have Dominic Hamel, Mike Vasil and Christian Scott in Triple-A, who are all close to being Major League ready. Any of these starters will likely be good enough to give the Mets an advantage if they switch to a 6-man rotation based on these league-wide averages.

Let’s look at 4 days vs 5 days rest for the top six Mets rotation candidates, including Senga. These results are more mixed than the league averages, mostly due to Sean Manaea’s reverse rest splits. However, Manaea’s splits are particularly strange because although he’s worse on 5 days rest than 4 days rest, he has actually performed well on 6+ days rest with a 3.61 ERA, similar to his 4-day rest numbers. Given the inconsistencies, this seems like a fluke due to a smaller sample size, but even if he struggles in a six-man rotation, he can also be moved to the bullpen as he was last season with San Francisco, or the Mets can return to the hybrid model and use him every fifth day.

When Kodai Senga returns, a full-blown six-man rotation seems like the best option for the Mets, but even before his return, a six-man rotation could be viable. Going to a six-man rotation would allow the Mets’ older/recently injured starters to get some extra rest and potentially keep them healthier/more effective late in the season. It would also give an opportunity to young players as the Mets look to evaluate their rotation needs for next season as well.

The Mets are projected to be a borderline playoff team, likely looking just outside of the playoff picture as currently constructed. They need to be creative in order to maximize the value of their roster, and a six-man rotation would potentially give them leverage over the rest of the league, and it would give some younger players a chance to prove themselves and earn a spot in the rotation next season. If David Stearns wants the Mets to be ahead on league trends, then a season-long six-man rotation may be one way to do so.

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Tom Sokol. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: Mets Should Still Consider 6-Man Rotation appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Ever notice how when we are looking at a new GM or manager, free agent, or a potential trade for a veteran player, the question is always raised “can he handle New York? The media, the fans, the pressure?”

This question, mind you, is asked quite seriously about middle-aged, successful industry veterans. Yet when we have a 22-year-old prospect bam into the pressure cooker with no sympathy, Keith and Ron fill those long hours dissecting every hitch and glitch of his game to millions every day. Struggle at the plate for his first month, back to Binghamton. Struggle at third, maybe he needs to be a DH or first baseman or benched for a while. Blocked by a 10-year contract at shortstop..hey! let’s make him a second baseman or outfielder. Yeah, he has Gold Glove potential at short, where he has played exclusively since he was eight years old, but he is athletic. Surely, he can learn at the major league level.

It is a mantra in MLB circles…hoard your youth, build through the farm, and develop young talent. Patiently nurture them as they mature at the major league level and at minimal salaries to allow new veteran contracts within the payroll.

But in this new Cohen paradigm…why? Does any of that apply to the new Cohen Mets? Will the Cohen Mets ever be hampered by payroll concerns? And with the expectations Cohen has set, is a high-pressure Queens team a patient, nurturing environment for rookies?

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Could it be that Cohen’s Queens in 2024 is the utterly “wrongest” place to break in a rookie in MLB history? And could it be that asset value is being frittered away as the trade aura of these blue chips fades under the pressure of a sea of digital criticism? As an example, I give you Brett Baty…the number one third base prospect in the minors by people who rank such things. Now…I personally only saw him play five innings of Double-A ball before a rainout. He hit two two-run homers. I had high hopes. Now I pick up the papers (or whatever the modern equivalent is) and see we are in the market for veteran third basemen…hey, maybe 40-year-old Justin Turner can still play some there, huh?

Follow the Money

Firstt off, through history, why was there always the focus in baseball on homegrown youth? Nothing but dollars. I think it is merely a relic from the days of cheap, complete control, and that has gone from forever to six years to what is effect is three, with first-year star arbs (guys that have accrued three years of service time) exercising leverage into long term deals, with teams reluctant to take it through to an often fractious hearing. Second arb stars range up from there, just one example: Max Fried actually lost his arbitration hearing for his 2023 salary and still got a $13.5 million contract. That would be the highest 2023 contract on a number of teams in 2023, including Tampa, Pittsburgh and Oakland.

What does this mean for the Mets? Opportunity. Small market teams are forced to trade talent away earlier than ever. The As, Orioles, Royals and Pirates, combined, had three players making more than $8 million last year. The stars that were traded away five years ago at age 28 are now becoming overpriced at age 25 for these small market teams, who are available to enter their prime. Juan Soto, about as promising a Hall of Famer as you will see through age 24, has been traded twice in 16 months.

Am I missing something? Is there some other benefit now to the Mets committing to the homegrown stars route? A tangible romance with fans? That doesn’t hold up when you look at many of the beloved stars in Mets history. Mike Piazza, Tommie Agee, Jerry Grote, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, John Franco, Ron Darling, Edgardo Alfonzo, Howard Johnson, and Al; Leiter came in by trades, and that is half the players in the Mets Hall of Fame. Doc and Straw? Yeah, how did New York treat them? Two ROYs were gone from Queens by age 29, dogged by Manhattan nightlife, self-medication, and vicious backpage headlines.

Tanks For The Memories (sorry about that)

The strategy of the twenty-teens was the tank and draft, which Houston and the Cubs notably rode to championships in their window. And the Braves got on the last tank train and built their current young core.

But read the room. Read the new guy. Even if the old draft rules were in effect, is Steve Cohen going to live through four losing seasons like the Braves? Five like the Cubs? Seven like the Astros, with three 100-loss seasons in a row?

That is all moot, though. Even in the utter “play money” world in Queens today, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that started in 2022 introduced the draft lottery and the draft penalties for high payrolls have gutted that tactic going forward.

Look at recent events. Despite tanking to the 8th worst record in baseball in 2023, the Mets didn’t pull a lucky lottery number to dodge the ten-spot drop and wound up with the 19th pick next July. Not really bad luck…in the 8 holes, they only had a 3.9% chance at the number one pick and a 50-ish percentage chance at the top six to avoid the ten-slot drop mandated by their record-high payroll. And if they had pulled a top-six pick, their penalty would have been pushed to next year, and they would be not only barred from the lottery but unable to pick above 10th. And the future inexorably holds these payroll penalties for the Mets because…Cohen. We are well over the 2024 tax threshold already with arb obligations and have gaping, expensive holes to fill to avoid a fifth place in 2024.

And the draft scenario gets worse. If the Mets had signed Shotani, or still do sign Snell or Bellinger or one of the other top qualified free agents, they would lose their second and fifth picks next July. Should they sign two of them, they also lose their 3rd and 6th pick. The dynamics of free agent qualification means that the best free agents, the young superstars, will largely carry that draft forfeiture baggage into the free agent market. And those guys are the ones Cohen lusts after (bless his heart.) So….let Steve be Steve, and the Mets rebuild through the draft next spring would consist of the 19th pick and their fourth rounder, then seventh rounder, and so on. Not a rebuild draft…one of the worst draft positions in the draft age.

The bottom line is that even without the tanking, penalties from the Mets spending will greatly hamper their ability to hoard top draft talent. So a tank strategy like the Astros, which delivered them three number one overall picks (purchased by those seven losing seasons) is impossible. And anything even near that is impossible.

Okay, But What If?..

Even if we could grab that sort of blue chip prospect bonanza, does that work in today’s New York? Well, what about the kids this year? The Baby Mets: Álvarez, Baty, Vientos, Mauricio. These four were the closest to the show, and up they came in 2023, constituting the only promising new story of the year post-July purge, and the laser focus of the beat reporters and bloggers were on them like paint. How did they do?

To pluck one stat, looking just at offense, they all fell below the league average 100 level in OPS+. Álvarez, entering the clubhouse as the number one prospect in baseball on many rankings, was a respectable 95 in OPS+, but crashed down from his strong start with a wretched .167/.265/.318/.583 in August and September.

Baty, who had been ranked as the top third base prospect in baseball, looked overmatched at third and at the plate, and a week after the tank, he was sent to the minors after an 0-for-18 streak.

Vientos, said to be a bat in search of a glove, was a focus of media attention and pinballed around, given 19 starts at third and seven at first and a bunch of DH starts and bounced back and to the minors and weirdly, huh, didn’t perform well.

Perhaps the most exciting of the four, Ronny Mauricio, debuted with some laser velocity wallbangers. But after his hot first 50 plate appearances, he finished with .189/.246/.283/.529 over his last 50.

(Note: I can hear people saying, “Oh, c’mon, be patient. They are young. Fine…will Cohen be patient?)

In terms of fielding…I hate to even look at fielding stats in such small samples, but Baty, Vientos and Mauricio didn’t exhibit any signs of making a career based on their gloves. Even Álvarez, clearly a budding star with surprising marks in pitch framing, only threw out 12 percent of base stealers, close to last in the majors.

Would the four kids above have performed better debuting in Kansas City, Miami, or Pittsburgh? Teams that would have just put Baty at third, Ronnie at second, and Vientos at DH and played them every day? Who knows?…(but that little voice in your head just said “of course.”) And this dynamic in terms of positions is baked in the cake for the foreseeable future with the Mets. Stars like Lindor and perhaps Pete, will be signed to long 100 million plus contacts, blocking and locking up positions.

Look at shortstops in the Mets system right now. One of the highest trade value positions, and already we have Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña, and Jett Williams moving off those positions where they are at their best and highest values. Colin Houck and Jesus Baez aren’t far behind. The asset value of a plus-glove shortstop who can hit is at the top of the pyramid. That of a guy who is struggling at a new position plunges.

So, what is a strategy that may better fit the richy-rich New York Mets? I’ll get to my ideas in a sequel here.

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Greg Jones. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: Is Queens The Kinda Place To Raise The Kids? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Chicago White Sox haven’t exactly been quiet about the fact that they are “listening to offers” for their ace starting pitcher Dylan Cease. At 28 years old, Cease would look pretty good alongside Kodai Senga atop the Mets’ starting rotation on opening day. 

There have even been multiple reports that the Mets are interested in Cease and that the team is still looking at potential trades to bolster the pitching staff. He will not be eligible for free agency until 2026, and his 2024 salary has been projected to be about $8.8 million.

For his career, Cease has logged five seasons with the White Sox. He has started 123 games and hurled 658 Innings with 565 hits and a K/BB ratio of 792/294. His W-L record stands at 43-35, his ERA is 3.83, and his WHIP is 1.305. What would it take for the Mets to acquire a pitcher of Cease’s caliber?

The price for a pitcher with this profile will be very steep. The Atlanta Braves have been reportedly trying to swing a trade for Cease all winter, and they strongly covet the right-hander, but they have yet to meet Chicago’s asking price. Other teams have also been linked to the pitcher with varying degrees of interest.

Let’s explore a potential trade and think about whether the price for the Mets to acquire Dylan Cease would be worth it. 

Assuming the Mets would offer four premium prospects for Cease, I believe a deal could be achieved for the right package. The question is, what is the right package? 

Here’s what the Mets’ Top 75 Prospects look like, courtesy of MMO’s Michael Mayer: 

https://metsmerizedonline.com/top-75-mets-prospects/

The first slot. Which player are you going to part with in order to get Chicago’s attention?

Steven Wojtowicz-MMO

Luisangel Acuna? Drew Gilbert? Jett Williams? 

I think you have to offer at least one of these players to get Chicago’s interest. Obviously, I would not want to part with any of these guys, but it would be a necessary starting point for any Cease trade to happen. With that in mind, I’m going to offer them Acuña in the first prospect slot. Now, it’s a serious offer. Acuña is a wonderful prospect, but he’s a shortstop, and obviously, the Mets already have one of those. Also, although he’s at the upper end of the minor league ladder, he’s still possibly the furthest away from the big leagues in his development.

Jett Williams has been rocketing through the minors and can play infield or outfield. I think Williams has a good chance to win a batting title before his career is over. And Drew Gilbert, the Mets’ top prospect, according to Mayer, could come on very fast and will be in position down the road to take over for Starling Marte in right field. After that, you are trying to mix and match three more prospects from out of the Mets’ Top 50.

A good pool of players might be: 

Kevin Parada, Ryan Clifford, Colin Houck, Marco Vargas, Mike Vasil, Blade Tidwell, Christian Scott, Tyler Stuart, Jeremiah Jackson, Nick Morabito, Jeremy Rodriguez.

Assuming the Mets would have to include at least one of their best pitching prospects, we could narrow down a potential pool to Vasil, Tidwell, Scott, and Stuart. So, for the second prospect slot, let’s pair Acuña with arguably the top Mets pitching prospect, Christian Scott. Of course, the Mets might substitute Vasil or Tidwell at this point as well, or Chicago might have a preference. Then, dealing from an organizational position of strength, the Mets could include a blue-chip catching prospect like Kevin Parada in the third slot.

So here’s what our package looks like so far:                                                                                            

• Luisangel Acuña SS
• Christian Scott RHP
• Kevin Parada C 

What do you think? Could this package get a deal done for an ace pitcher? 

It’s a fine offer, but I think the Mets would have to sweeten the pot to get this deal done. After all, the Mets could get two seasons out of Cease before he even reaches his 30th birthday.

So we throw in another quality pitching prospect and/or a hitter. I prefer to offer a hitter because the Mets are so painfully thin on organizational pitching. Jeremiah Jackson or Nick Morabito could get the deal done. Depending on what the White Sox are looking for, we could reasonably substitute any of our pool players in slot 4 or even add a 5th player. As long as we don’t include Jett Williams or Drew Gilbert, I think it’s a competitive offer, and the Mets aren’t giving away the farm.

Let’s say the White Sox are okay with Jeremiah Jackson because of his power potential, plus a low-level RHP prospect. Now, the Mets offer for Dylan Cease is: 

 White Sox Get

• Luisangel Acuña SS
• Christian Scott RHP
• Kevin Parada – C
• Jeremiah Jackson UT
• RHP prospect

Mets Get

• Dylan Cease RHP

What do you think, or more importantly, what would the Southsiders think? Would you make this deal? How would you change it? Or would you even bother?

Asking for a friend.

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Petey Pete. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: Should The Mets Trade For An Ace? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Getting ready to walk around the corner to get my wife a coffee (she was working from home), I put on my winter Mets wool hat and left the house.

When the barrister handed me the double skim latte with caramel syrup, he offered condolences. “I see you’re a fellow long-suffering Mets fan.”

I generally try to maintain a certain Zen about my decades-long fandom. In fact, when a new season begins and someone asks me how I think the Mets will do, my standard answer is this: I always begin a season with no expectations. And I’m never disappointed.

But so far in this offseason, I’m sorry to say that disappointment has made an appearance.

In the final day of the baseball’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, the Yankees traded for three-time All-Star outfielder Juan Soto, who is only 25 years old. And not only a very good hitter, but an exciting player, who as another Yankee, George Steinbrenner, said many years ago about another outfielder named Reggie Jackson, he puts fannies in the seats.

The next day, I saw an email from Mets.com with the subject line JUST ANNOUNCED. In all caps and bold.

Before I cold get to the rest of that subject line, I clicked to see how the Mets countered the Yankees Soto deal. Could they have signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the star Japanese pitcher (also just 25). Maybe shocked the world with a crazy trade netting them, say Ronald Acuña Jr.? (Us Mets fans can dream, right?)

Well, not exactly. “The Def Leppard/Journey Stadium Tour with Steve Miller Band is heading to Citi Field next summer on Wednesday, August 7.”

Sure, those bands have had their share of hits—something the Mets offense can always use more of. And if the team ever wanted to replace “Meet the Mets” for some reason, the Def Leppard tune “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” would certainly fit.

Just when I was staring to recover from that “tone-Def” Mets email the day after, came more Mets news. We got an outfielder from San Diego! This same Padres who sent Soto to The Bronx. Could it be the troubled but very talented (and young) Fernando Tatis Jr.?

Nope. The Mets announced they’d signed 7-year minor league veteran Taylor Kohlwey, who went 2 for 13 with five strikeouts in his cup of coffee with the Padres last year.

Well, there’s two months or so before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in mid-February. And it doesn’t matter so much who wins the off-season (although it would be nice if it was the Mets).

So, for now, to avoid disappointment, I’ll just stick with my usual “no expectations” for the 2024 season. But I’ll also be singing along to that Journey anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Just ask Tug McGraw.

The post MMO Fan Shot: Spending Winter Waiting on the Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The startling elimination of top seeds in the division round and the ascension of two wildcards to the World Series have spurred much discussion on the playoff system that was put in last year. I have a suggested new format. So do you. But let’s start out by looking at the goals of a playoff system and the perceived shortcomings in the current system.

In my opinion, the goals of a postseason structure should be:

1. Determine the world champion. Many folks think this is the birthright of the team with the most regular season wins. But until there is a totally balanced schedule, might they just be blessed with a weak division? Might they have benefited from a second-half schedule heavy in tanked teams playing their farmers? Or might that team just have had an unusual dose of old-fashioned luck? Baseball Reference actually has a stat called “Luck” based on the Pythagorean formula, an estimate of what the team’s record *should* have been by runs scored and runs allowed. Developed by Bill James, it has real validity given a big enough sample of a full season. The Mets *should* have been 80-82 in 2023, five games better than their actual 75-87 record. Only two National League teams had worse “luck” in 2023. But that’s a teary bottle of scotch discussion for the hot stove.

Suffice it to say that the combination of the regular season record properly weighted in a tournament against top teams is the best formula.

2. Deliver highly entertaining and dramatic postseason play. This isn’t something easily imposed by regulation, but….how do you have more edge-of-your-seat playoff games? How do you get more “winner take all” games, that Game 7 atmosphere? There was only one this year and only two last year.

3. Keep as many teams as possible in the running for as long as possible, avoiding mid-season tanking, empty stadiums, and a pennant race being decided by whose schedule is heaviest with tanking AAA teams. Keep hope alive.

4. Weight the structure to give higher seeds a true competitive advantage. This both makes the regular season relevant and ensures that the world champ, if a wildcard team, achieved something truly championish.

Perhaps this year was an outlier, with the three highest payroll teams missing even the expanded playoffs, and the American League wild card 5 seed tilting against the National League wild card 6 seed in the World Series. The performance of a baseball team over a regular season marathon is subject to the hands of fate in many ways…some vets get suddenly old, some rookies suddenly bloom, and, of course, injuries can take down your biggest juggernaut teams. A 100-win team whose starting rotation goes down might just get swept out in its first playoff series, you know, like the Dodgers. A slugging team, even one flawed in other areas, always has a slugger’s chance for a deep playoff run. In boxing, it’s called a puncher’s chance. Like Rocky, in, you know, Philadelphia.

So the Cinderella factor is there and always should be; it is good business to keep the most fans excited as long as possible. It sells tickets and Toyotas.

However, if there isn’t a significant advantage to being a higher seed, the unintended consequence could be the opposite, with teams throttling down once they clinch a playoff berth. After all, the 4 seed gets at least two more games than the 2 seed, right?

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The other two quick factors thrown out were the vaunted “bye” becoming referred to as the “playoff layoff”…perhaps a higher seed’s hitters, in particular, don’t benefit from a week off? For example, the Dodgers, with six days off, scored six total runs while getting swept in three by the Diamondbacks.

And the three-game wild card round and days off allowed the wildcard Phillies to start ace Zack Wheeler in Game One of the wild card series and then Game Two of the division series.

So here is my proposal. If the goal is tamping down wild cards, this may seem initially counter-intuitive, but bear with me.

Add another wild card team in each league, the seven seed. But make the path for a wild card champ brutal.

First, the wild card round goes back to one-game sudden deaths, no days off. Nothing is more exciting than a one-game elimination winner-take-all all, ala Game 7s and “the Giants win the pennant!” There were a total of only three winner-take-alls the last two years — this guarantees six minimum.

Wild card Round, commencing one day after the end of the regular season:

Seed 7 at Seed 4
Seed 6 at Seed 5

Next day

Lower Seed at Higher Seed

Next day

Division Series begins with a seven-game series, a fairer way to determine the better team and a further advantage to the high seeds who might pitch their aces twice.

Is this too tough on the wild card teams? Maybe, although the 4 and 5 seeds might simply have two home games back to back. But that Cinderella 7 seed would have to win on the road, travel and win on the road, then travel and start the division series the next day.

Too much? Tough, you should have won your division or seeded higher.

In this format:

• more teams will stay engaged throughout the season, with fuller stadiums and fair competition for a full season. With a seven-seed out there, a tanking team would have to be truly hopeless and put that narrative to their fans.
• yes, there is an extra wild card, but unlike the current format, only ONE wildcard team advances to the Division round, so you are guaranteed a division winner in the Championship Series.
• the division winners avoid that “playoff layoff” with only four days off between the final day of the season and the start of the division series, enough to set their rotation without dulling their batters’ eyes (if that is a thing.)
• it avoids a division winner getting tripped up in a five-game series by a wildcard, only getting 3 or 4 games and two home games out of a division title.
• guaranteeing at least six games, three in each league, of the most exciting spectacle in baseball — the winner-take-all all.

So, that’s my idea.

Now, I had a wrinkle here, but I held it out because it is the most unorthodox, and I don’t want readers to fixate on it. However, I ran it by a sabermetric board and was surprised at the support. The idea is to make the seventh seed the team with the best second-half record and no seeding otherwise. That keeps, seriously, every team in…even if you have an injury-plagued team of kids, hope springs eternal. Even if you object to a team making it into the tournament on half a season, look at the road they face. And, really, is that seventh seed too high a price to eliminate the tanking debacle, where championships are often decided by how slick their GM is at July trades?

A final thought — even with the frantic two-day wild card tourney, three seven-game series may push the schedule into November. My suggestion would be to eliminate that day off between Games 2 and 3, and soften the travel crunch by making every Game 2, probably the least consequential, an old-fashioned afternoon game.

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This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Greg Jones. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to michael.mayer4@gmail.com

The post Fan Shot: My MLB Playoff Format Idea appeared first on Metsmerized Online.