Eppler/Showalter Press Conference

General manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter held a joint press conference Monday regarding the official announcement of the coaching staff from the previous week. After briefly commenting on the coaches, Showalter and Eppler both answered questions about the outlook of the 2022 Mets and what their plan was for the roster once the lockout ended.

“I know we’re good,” Eppler said of the current makeup of the team. However, Eppler admitted, “it can always be better,” noting it’s in his “wiring” to constantly try to improve the team.

On Showalter’s end, he said he has made multiple plans for how to handle the remainder of the offseason and spring training based on how negotiations with the collective bargaining agreement go. Remember: Showalter technically hasn’t been able to meet or talk to any of his players yet as he was hired during the lockout.

Hall of Fame Voting

David Ortiz became the only player inducted to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America this year, notching 77.9 percent of the vote. A player needs 75 percent to be inducted.

Outside of Ortiz, the headline was Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling all not reaching the 75-percent threshold in their final year of eligibility on the ballot. Bonds came the closest at 66 percent.

With those three giant names off the ballot now, the 2023 ballot clears the way for debate among players who cleared 50 percent on the 2022 ballot but haven’t hit 75 percent yet. Those players include:

Also highlighting the 2023 ballot in terms of additions to the voting debate is Carlos Beltrán. I wrote an article about Beltrán’s upcoming candidacy, and we also talked about the whole Hall of Fame process and what Beltrán’s outlook is on the Get Metsmerized podcast.

CBA Update

MLB and the Players’ Association met twice this week–basically double the number of times they had the previous month-and-a-half. If you view even being in the same room as progress, then this was a good week for you. But if you view making actual headway on a deal as progress (which is where we all should be at right now), then the two meetings this week weren’t all that encouraging.

Responding to MLB’s offer, which didn’t really move the needle for the players, from the previous week, the MLBPA didn’t move far off their initial proposal.

The MLBPA dropped their age-based free agency system, but after MLB offered to increase its minimum salary to $615,000 (a small increase), the MLBPA held firm on wanting $775,000. MLB also offered a $10 million bonus pool for pre-arbitration players who perform well (MLB proposed pre-arb players with the Top 30 WAR get to pull from the pool), but the MLBPA wants that pool to be over $100 million.

So while yes, it’s good the sides talked two days in a row, it’s clear the two sides are still far apart on the economic issues, and the economic issues are the issues that drive this whole collective bargaining agreement. Until there’s real progress there, there won’t be real progress on a deal.

What’s Next

Hopefully, more CBA negotiations are next. There are no reports yet of when the two sides are due to meet again.

Mets pitchers and catchers are due to report in two weeks (February 14). That almost definitely won’t happen. And with each week that passes with no deal, it becomes less likely pitchers and catchers report in February at all.

So CBA negotiations are next. They’re the next five things that are happening. Because at this point for the Mets, they’ve caught up with the rest of the league in terms of having a coaching staff. Now we’re all just waiting for a deal.