Good morning, Mets fans!

Derrick S. Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that longtime reliever Andrew Miller has decided to retire from professional baseball. Miller, a veteran of 16 seasons, had previously spent the last three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Last season, he appeared in 40 games with a 4.75 ERA over 36 innings in relief.

Formerly a top prospect, he, along with Cameron Maybin, were part of the massive trade between the Marlins and Tigers that sent Miguel Cabrera to Detroit. After failing to become a starter with the Marlins, Miller made his impact in the big leagues as a high leverage reliever for the Boston, Baltimore, Yankees and Cleveland, where he won ALCS MVP by helping propel his team to an AL pennant. Along with his strong pitching performances, Miller was heavily involved with negotiations for the MLBPA as a union rep during negotiations for the new CBA.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

Buck Showalter extended an olive branch to former Met first baseman and current SNY broadcaster Keith Hernandez, taking him around the field in Port St. Lucie and allowing him to join the team on the field. Andrew Steele-Davis has more on this story.

Brandon Nimmo responds to the NY vaccination mandate repeal that will allow all Mets and Yankees players to play games at home, regardless of vaccination status.

Tim Britton of The Athletic talks with Mets instructor Phil Regan on his experiences with a shortened spring training and Buck Showalter along with how Showalter is different than the rest.

Former Met Tsuyoshi Shinjo, now managing the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese League, requested a name change to “Big Boss.” The league has green lit his decision and will go by that name going forward.

The nephew of former Met Eric Campbell sustained a serious injury and the family has started a GoFundMe to ask for donations to help with medical costs.

Latest MLB News

Ben Cafardo of ESPN tweeted the schedule of the new KayRod alternate broadcast to Sunday Night Baseball for the 2021 season. So far, the Mets appear once on the KayRod cast which will take place on May 1st, when the Philadelphia Phillies visit Citi Field.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk has been traded to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for outfielder Raimel Tapia.

Paul Lukas of UniWatch tweets out a photo comparing the different sizes in advertising patches from the MLB, NBA and NHL. The photo is just an example of what to expect, as advertising on uniforms slowly makes its way to all the major North American sports leagues.

Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that Bryan Shaw has signed a contract to return to the Guardians.

Journalist Yancen Pujols reports that former Met manager and current Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas will serve as the general manager and former outfielder Jose Bautista as the special advisor for baseball and business operations for the Leones del Escogido baseball club of the Dominican League.

The Staten Island FerryHawks have signed former major leaguer Rymer Liriano to a contract. Signed to a minor league deal by the Mets in 2019, Liriano last played in the majors in 2017 for the Chicago White Sox.

Mike Cugno of CBS Miami reports that the Marlins have added LED lights to Marlins Park, making it the first MLB venue in the US to feature color capability.

Latest on MMO

The latest episode of Get Metsmerized is out, as Patrick, Mike and Sal discuss the spring debuts of Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, along with Starling Marte and more!

Gianna Arantes recaps the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Marlins.

Andrew Steele-Davis takes a look at the showings of pitchers Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco during an intrasquad game.

On This Date in Mets History

1999: The Mets signed pitcher Orel Hershiser to round out the rotation. Eleven years earlier, Hershiser won NLCS MVP by tossing 24 innings and an ERA of 1.09 to help the Dodgers take down the Mets, to win the 1988 NL Pennant. As a Met, Hershiser pitched reasonable well with New York, posting a 13-12 record and a 4.58 ERA in 32 games. He would pitch five innings and only give up two hits during game 162 of that season against the Pittsburgh Pirates, keeping the Mets alive in the Wild Card race. The Mets would win that game off a Brad Klontz wild pitch that scored Melvin Mora, to force a game 163.

Birthdays: Tom Glavine (56), Lee Mazzilli (67)

Let’s go Mets!