The Mets have acquired center fielder Jose Siri from the Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Eric Orze. Over parts of four seasons (three full) in the majors, he has slashed .210/.266/.408. Siri, 29, is primarily a defensive specialist, ranking in the 99th percentile for OAA with 16. While coming off a down season, he boasts an encouraging barrel rate that ranks in the 94th percentile. In return for Siri, Tampa Bay recieved Orze, a two-time cancer survivor. Orze has limited experience in the big leagues but strong numbers down in the minors.

Brad Rempel – USA TODAY SPORTS

Latest Mets News

Sources told MMO’s Mike Mayer that the Mets Triple-A hitting coach Collin Hetzler is departing the Mets organization for a job with the Red Sox. Hetzler once joined MMO’s weekly show in early 2023 to talk his work and promotion to Syracuse.

The Mets’ bench coach, John Gibbons, praised skipper Carlos Mendoza on a fantastic season. Gibbons called Mendoza a “sharp guy,” mentioning their in-game conversations, while also adding that he often felt like a “sounding board,” or a “security blanket.”

The MLB store in NYC is hosting a Meet & Greet with Mr. and Mrs. Met on November 23!

Latest MLB News

Ken Rosenthal writes in The Athletic that, horrifyingly, when Roki Sasaki signs, many international teenagers could lose life-changing money due to pool limits. Or, as Rosenthal says, players “will be abandoned by the team that signs him.” In a recent article, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America has also touched on this topic. Clubs cannot — which should be obvious (but isn’t always followed) — make secret deals or exceed their bonus pool allotments for him.

In some interesting news, Rosenthal of The Athletic published an article on potential new TV packages. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wants to take control of local TV rights. The new TV plan would not contain blackouts and be a national package.

MLB Pipeline’s X account tweeted the compensation picks teams will receive in the 2025 draft if their free agents who are tied to qualifying offers sign with another team. These picks are awarded as part of the free agent signing process.

Outside of the Reds’ Nick Martinez, all players who received a qualifying offer will decline it, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinstand. The Mets will receive picks after the fourth round if Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea, or Luis Severino depart. Additionally, Newsday’s Tim Healey was first to announce earlier on Tuesday that Severino declined the qualifying offer.

The Rays’ Bobby Kinne is leaving Tampa Bay to join Cleveland’s staff, becoming the Guardians’ new director of baseball operations, reported Rosenthal. Kinne, 29, worked under his role as a pitching strategist for the Rays about a year, but had been with the Rays organization for more than six years.

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays added former Met Jake Mangum to their 40-man roster while designating Richard Lovelady for assignment. Mangum, 28, is getting his first ever call-up after a career year in Triple-A, but it’s at the expense of a lefty reliever in Lovelady, who pitched to a 3.77 ERA over 28 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay.

Managers of the Year have been announced in both leagues: It’s Brewers skipper Pat Murphy in the National League and rookie manager Stephen Vogt in the American League. Click here for the full voting in the NL, and here for the AL.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman revealed that offers were likely not made during meetings with Juan Soto. In other news on the free agent slugger, Heyman tweeted that the Phillies were also planning to meet with Soto. However, it is unknown to what extent their interest goes. The Phillies’ John Middleton has already stated his opinion on things. “Juan Soto wants to be in New York,” Middleton speculated. So perhaps the Phillies’ interest will stay lukewarm, or perhaps not.

Latest on MMO

Andrew Steele-Davis wrote about why signing Soto is a must for the Mets.

Allison Waxman analyzed starting pitchers the Mets could target on short-term deals

On This Date in Mets History

1967: Tom Seaver was named the NL Rookie of the Year. Seaver’s magical rookie season featured a 2.76 ERA in 251 IP, including 18 complete games.

2006: The Mets signed veteran Moisés Alou to a deal worth $7.5 million. Alou finished off his illustrious career as a Met, hitting .342/.391/.507 over his 102 games in Queens.

Born On This Date: Ron Cash (1949), Kevin Lomon (1971), Lino Urdaneta (1979), Amed Rosario (1995).

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Acquire Jose Siri appeared first on Metsmerized.

That said, there is no need to fall into a state of morose.  Baseball continues in Cuba, Australia, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico, with many of the prospects that play in the summer leagues also participating in the winter leagues.  Veterans who have found themselves on the way out may join a team to show that they still have something left and prospects play to enhance some of their tools that are not quite there yet.

Carlos Gonzalez from the Rockies was solid in Venezuela last winter.  He seems to have done pretty well in the major leagues this year.  Stephen Strasburg created quite a buzz in the major leagues but many could have seen him in the Arizona Fall League parks and not fight with the crowds to watch him pitch.  Josh Thole had a nice break out season in Venezuela, hitting .381, and now he is scheduled to be the starting catcher for the Mets in 2011.  You can follow all the Caribbean and AFL action via MLB.com at Arizona Fall League and Caribbean Baseball.

Many of us have been amazed at the blazing fastball of Aroldis Chapman or were impressed with the season that Kendry Morales had in 2008.  Yuniesky Maya will be in the Nationals starting rotation in 2011.  These players just didn’t drop from the sky to play in the major leagues.  They competed in one of the more competitive baseball leagues in the world, the Cuban baseball league.  Pedro Luis Lazo, the winningest pitcher in Cuban baseball is retiring, and many of the current or future stars leave for the United States for the big bucks, but there still is a plethora of talent there.  You can follow Cuban baseball at Baseball De Cuba and Beisbol Cubano.

A new league is starting in Australia and the many Australian prospects that are toiling in the United States minor leagues will be in their homeland enhancing their tools.  Glen Williams and Dave Nillson will be managing two of the six teams there.  You can follow all of the ABL action here.

Another site to keep your eye on to follow the Latin stars of today become the superstars of tomorrow is BaseballLatinAmerica.com.  Perhaps you may learn a bit about the baseball that is played in Brazil.

And finally, it is not the winter league, but the Dominican Prospect league that is developing the baseball stars of tomorrow and you can follow them here: DPLBaseball.com.

There are probably other leagues that track the winter season so if anyone has any links to share, let me know and I will pass them on.  

Bob, My World of Baseball

The post Plenty Of Baseball Is Still On The Way appeared first on Metsmerized.

Fred Wilpon’s comments late last week about Omar Minaya’s status as GM (Is the sun going to rise), and his son Jeff (he’s doing an excellent job), have me very deeply concerned. Has Fred Wilpon even been following this club? Does he even care anymore? Has Fred become the Lorinda DeRoulet of the 2000’s, owning the team, but letting a bunch of buffoons, disguised as baseball executives run the Mets? Even id I was to look at the past four season through blue and orange colored glasses, I still see something deeply disturbing with this ball club.

In 2007 Willie Randolph managed the Mets to the worst collapse in baseball history. In the off season the Mets issued an apology to the fans, but didn’t do much else. When 2008 started, it was obvious that Randolph and the Mets still suffered a hangover from 2007. It wasn’t until June 2008 that Willie was relieved of his duties as Mets manager. But in naming Jerry Manuel has Randolph’s successor, the Mets made an error. Manuel was Randolph’s bench coach. He was just as much as a part of the crash of 2007 as Randolph was. To Jerry;s credit the Mets rallied under him in 2008, and didn’t fall until pitcher’s John Maine and Billy Wagner went on the disabled list. Why in the summer of 2008 Omar didn’t make a move for some pitching is unknown to me.

2009 was on embarrassment or injury after another. The 2009 season was also the year the Mets started their policy of misleading (lying) to the fans. In the first part of the season the Mets suffered a bunch of injuries. Then in June the Mets started telling us how the “stars” will be ready to back right after the All Star Break. That timetable was then pushed back till July 31, then mid-August. Soon it became apparent that some players were going to be shut down for the season. The Mets new state of the art home, CitiField, became home to nothing more than a bunch of AA and AAA players. During the 2009 off season, I had the chance to speak with a lot of partial or season ticket holders who said “enough is enough”. Fans were quickly tiring of ownership’s misleading statements, and the lack of activity by G.M. Omar Minaya.

Here we are now in 2010. The Mets come back from the ASB, and have a 2-7 road trip. Then win a series at CitiField against the Cardinals, but then get embarrassed by the Diamondbacks. The biggest road trip of the season six games against the Braves and Phillies, and the Mets 2-4. But even better in the middle of this road trip, Met owner Fred Wilpon states that GM Omar Minaya will back as sure as the son will rise, and his son Jeffy is doing an excellent job as COO. Really Fred? In what world? Perhaps, in the board room when you guys are reviewing financial statements and the bottom line is healthy. But in terms of winning games, or even showing fans you care, Omar and Jeff are complete and utter failures.

The Mets didn’t make a move this year at the trading deadline. Was anyone surprised? In fact can anyone name ONE major in season trade Omar Minaya has made in his entire tenure as Met GM? One?

How about back in May when the Mets were in Atlanta, by that time most of us knew Jerry would not be able to get the job done. So, Jeff, Omar, and John Ricco fly down to Atlanta to meet with Jerry. After the meeting Jeffy tells reporters, “sorry guys it’s too early to fire anyone. If I was going to fire the manager, I would not have let him start the season.” Okay Jeffy, fair enough. But what about after the 2-7 west coast trip? How the just completed 2-4 road trip? Is it still too early? But in Jeffy’s world daddy’s opinion is the only one that matters, and Jeffy is doing an excellent job.

Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, and Jerry Manuel appear to be so far out of tough with reality that we fans are ready to revolt. The last time the Met fans revolted was in the late 1970’s. There were about 7,000 fans each night at Shea. So far this year the Mets attendance is down more than any other team in majors, at about 6300 fans per game. You can expect those numbers to get worse now that the Mets are out of it. fans want to boycott. One this blog not so long ago, there was a post about boycotting the August 25th game. I’m all in. The only way to bring ownership back to reality is to stay away. Ownership is so far gone, that the only thing they may understand is a “hit” against the bottom line.

Sadly Met fans, it appears that the Bad Old Days are here again. Hopefully, the kids will surprise us, but I’m thinking it will be quite awhile before we see meaningful September baseball at CitiField.

The post A Long Time Fan’s Thoughts appeared first on Metsmerized.

With a series loss to the Phillies and all hopes of a successful season coming to an end, their is still a silver lining.  How is that possible?  Simply put, Jonathon Niese is showing that he will be part of the solution moving forward.  Niese was selected by the NY Mets in round 7 (#209) of the 2005 MLB draft out of Defiance High School in Ohio and at the time MLB.com offered the following analysis on the Mets selection:

Good kid. Has a good idea of what pitching is about. Fast ball sits in upper-80s w/ the usual late movement left-handed pitchers have. Curve ball is his out pitch w/ good downward action and late bite. Circle change is deceptive.”

It was the same draft in which the Mets selected Mike Pelfrey with the 9th overall pick and while Pelfrey has received the most hype of the two, it is Niese who has taken the bigger steps forward in his development this season.  Big Pelf has seemingly turned the corner so many times, but his most recent turn has put the former first rounder at a dead end.  Niese, on the other hand, has put together an impressive rookie campaign:

In very un-Pelfrey like fashion, Jonathon has demonstrated the ability and mental fortitude to bounce back following less than impressive starts, rarely stringing together consecutive poor outings.  In fact, following games in which he has allowed 5 or more earned runs (3 times) he has managed a 1.31 ‘bounce back’ ERA (20 2/3 IP, 3 ER).  There’s nothing overwhelming about Niese’s ‘stuff’, but it’s becoming more and more clear that the kid just knows how to pitch.  This fact has likely never eluded scouts as he was ranked the 6th best prospect in the Mets organization heading into 2010 according to Baseball America:

Its been a long road for Niese and there have been a fair share of obstacles along the way.  The pitcher underwent surgery the day after tearing his hamstring from the bone while covering first base on August 5th of last season.  With questions surrounding his future he put in 6 grueling months of rehab and entered spring training fighting for a rotation spot with Fernando Nieve, Pat Misch, and Nelson Figueroa. Upon returning the rookie spoke about his injury:

“I was really confident with the way I was pitching, and to have something like that happen, it was just a freak accident. But at the same time you’ve just got to put that in the past and lick your wounds and move forward.”

He has since gone from a guy fighting for a rotation spot in the spring to a candidate for Rookie Of The Year and, at times, displayed the promise of a front of the rotation starter.  In fact,  he is currently second among MLB rookies with at least 10 starts in ERA behind only the Cardinals, Jaime Garcia:

In the end Jonathon will need to remain healthy and utterly dominant to make a run at besting Garcia or others (i.e. Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, and Tyler Colvin) for ROY honors and as unlikely as the feat may be, it’s just tough to count the gritty lefty out of anything.  On May 19th he made a brief stint to the DL due to a mild hamstring strain and just 2 games after his return he threw the 34th 1-hitter in Mets history.  Talk about being resilient.  Jay recapped that start in our post-game recap (Z-Cap) saying:

Niese needed 108 pitches to finish his first career complete game, striking out 6 and earning his 3rd win of the year (3-2, 3.61 ERA).  Perhaps the most impressive thing about this kid, who has is now 2-0 since coming off the DL less than a week ago (16 IP, 1 ER, 12K in those efforts), is the fact that he is comfortable attacking hitters.  Despite not being armed with an overpowering fastball, Niese has maintained decent strikeout numbers throughout his young career and while nobody’s going to confuse his 7.1 K/9 ratio in 2010 with Tim Lincecum (10.2 K/9), he won’t soon be mistaken for  Nick Blackburn (2.3 K/9) either.  While it’s only been two starts since his return from the DL, if his last 2 starts are ANY indication of what can be expected down the road, even with inconsistencies along the way, the Mets will be looking at the lefty as their #3 starter post all-star break rather than their end of the rotation anchor.”

It certainly seems as though Niese has settled in as a the team’s #3 starter, but while Jay had hoped it would be behind the likes of Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey, it is Santana and R.A. Dickey who have positioned themselves as the only starters outperforming the rookie left-hander.  Over his last 12 starts Jonathon has allowed 26 ER over 77 2/3 IP (3.01 ERA) and since June 1st his earned run average actually ranks second on the staff:

There are plenty of things to loathe about the Mets season and the team seemingly adds new things to the list almost every night.  Nothing about Jonathon Niese, however, fits that billing.  In a year where much has gone wrong and it’s easy to get lost in the lunacy of all things Jerry Manuel and the front office, one bright spot on the field has been a 23-year old starter who has displayed a sense of resiliency and maturity beyond his years.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is ‘thanks’ Jon Niese.  I’ll avoid saying I’m ‘proud of you’, since I know what kind of ruckus that can cause.  Still, your starts and overall development give us something to look forward to this season and given the team’s recent performance, that’s quite an accomplishment.

For more of my thoughts on the Mets, head to MetsZilla.com

The post Thank You Jonathon Niese appeared first on Metsmerized.

I know that at times my comments and points of view were not exactly agreeable, and sometimes were downright pessimistic, but I know that much of that stems from how passionate I am about the Mets.  I’ve been a fan since the early ’70’s and have lived through many of the ups and downs, which we all know includes lots of downs.

But I’m proud to be a Mets fan and I know we have some of the best, if not the best, fans in baseball.  This has always been a lovable franchise, win or lose, and we’ve had the opportunity to watch many world class players wearing blue and orange, and of course two championships.  We’ve also witnessed some of the greatest moments in sports history following our Mets–in particular in that magical ballpark known as Shea Stadium.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say how pissed off I was Monday night when I heard about Matt Garza’s no-hitter.  First no-no in Rays’ history, blah blah blah.  Really now?  No hitters have also become as common as complete games, but of course, our Mets still do not have one.  We’re fifty years in and still not a single no-no.  Somethings gotta give on that front soon.

With that, I thank you all for reading my work these past 15 months, and I wish Joe and all of you the best of luck.  And oh yeah, Let’s Go Mets!

The post Mets Fans Are The Best Fans appeared first on Metsmerized.

As bad as the Mets can look at times, whether it be their anemic bats or K-Rod imploding or Pelf being lit up, we have to remember they are also capable of winning 10 in a row.  Not only that, but if you’ve followed carefully this season, they seem to have that never-say-die attitude that has been missing in recent years.  In other words, even when the Mets are down 7-1, you don’t feel like they are out of it.

I think if we can salvage some of this trip, we’ll get back home and get back on track. The Braves are playing so well that they may have the division locked up before September, but the wild card is still a very real possibility for this team.  They are 6.5 back of Atlanta but 3.5 behind the Reds for the NL Wild Card.

It sure wouldn’t hurt to acquire a #2 starter, especially before the Phillies do.  But either way I still feel pretty good about this season.  How about you?  Do you still believe?

The post No Panic appeared first on Metsmerized.

Lots of things have to bounce right, but it feels good knowing the Mets have a great shot at the postseason and a more-than-we-thought-before shot at actually reaching the Fall Classic.  Hence my opening line, which is only partially in jest.

It sure would be nice if we added a Roy Oswalt, who would look great as a true #2 starter behind Johan, but this team will probably win 85 to 90 games either way.

Are you optimistic?  Are you pessimistic?  Honestly, since we weren’t picked to win, and since no one expected the Mets to finish about fourth place, all the pressure was off.  And combined with great chemistry, unbelievable pitching and the resurgence of David Wright, it’s made this team a contender again.  So let’s do this thing.  Let’s get into the second half on a roll and make a statement that the Mets are for real, and might just be for real into October.

The post Let’s Do This Thing appeared first on Metsmerized.

It sure has been a while since the Mets were playing for the division lead this late in the season.  And this time it feels different, not only because we’re battling the Braves for supremacy, but because this team was not expected by most people to contend.  I was one of those folks, and even suggested they might be a last place team.  And I have no problem admitting I was wrong and being quite happy about being wrong.  This is a team that has played above its collective head, or at least played up to its potential.  And even when we lose a couple games, we win a few more.  There is just something special about the roster as it’s constructed right now.

There are questions, yes.  Will Mike Pelfrey get it back together after his Monday night implosion?  Will K-Rod also stop imploding?  How will Carlos Beltran be able to contribute after major surgery?  And was Johan’s gem last night the shape of things to come or not? And of course, will Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt be wearing Mets’ blue any time soon?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I sure do like that we’re asking them in mid-July.  Let’s go beat the Reds tonight, and then let’s sweep the Braves and really make a statement heading into the all-star break.

The post Looking Just a Few Days Ahead appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets, who lost 11 of 18 games against Florida last season, are so far 4-8 against them this season, including losses in Puerto Rico the past two nights.  In the standings, the Mets are 1.5 games back of Atlanta and leading the NL wild card race, and they are 6 games ahead of the Marlins, who are 37-40 on the season.  But for some reason, we just don’t match up well against these guys.

There is talent on the Florida roster, but not the kind of talent that should be dominating our Mets.  Cody Ross, who is batting .295 this year, is batting .413 against the Mets with a .652 slugging percentage.  Against the Phillies, Ross is batting .143.  Jorge Cantu, who is hitting a mediocre .265, has feasted on Mets’ pitching for a few years now, and is batting .304 against them this year.  By comparison he’s hitting .219 against the Phillies.  Ricky Nolasco is 7-6 with a 4.84 ERA this season, but 2-0 with a 3.96 against the Mets.

I haven’t exactly dove in to figure the rest of the teams’ stats against the Mets, but it’s not pretty, at least from our side of the ledger.  And this ineptitude against the Marlins can’t keep happening if the Mets want to reach the postseason this year.

The post These Marlins Have Become Our Nemesis appeared first on Metsmerized.

But what I’m getting at is this….we haven’t had injuries to key players like David Wright, Jason Bay, Davis, Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Pedro Feliciano, or K-Rod…or to any of our catchers.  Last year, it was like we were legitimately cursed with the injury bug. So with the core of the Mets in the lineup and on the mound each day and each week, and with the team playing just about as well as it’s capable, second place and 1.5 games out on June 23 doesn’t seem so ridiculous.

And seriously, after last year, we were due for some better luck both with injuries and with the performances of our regulars.  Now, if the tides turn and David Wright rolls his ankle running the bases tonight, I’ll take the heat that’s coming to me.  But I think we’re in for a wild (and hopefully successful) run toward the playoffs this season.

The post I Hate To Bring This Up, But….. appeared first on Metsmerized.