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Good morning, Mets fans!

On Thursday, the Mets officially announced the hiring of Billy Eppler as the new general manager. Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson will make the announcement of the new hire through Zoom today at 12:30pm EST. Nate Mendelson has more on the Mets and their newly minted general manager.

Ideally, this will be a long-term solution for the Mets that won’t go haywire like so many of their recent hirings seemingly have.

Onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the Mets are interested in bringing back pitcher Steven Matz. The New York native had a breakout season with Toronto after being dealt for Sean Reid-Foley, Josh Winckowski and Yennsy Diaz. Michael Garaffa goes into detail on why the Mets and Matz might be a good match for each other once more.

Latest MLB News

Angels P/DH Shohei Ohtani and Phillies RF Bryce Harper won MVP Awards for their respective leagues. Ohtani took home the hardware through a unanimous vote, while Harper edged out former teammate Juan Soto. Patrick Glynn has more on this story.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the market for Nick Castellanos is heating up as the Giants and Marlins are seen as possible landing spots. Castellanos, a native of Florida, opted out of the final two years of his contract, making him a free agent.

MLB owners received a memo detailing how each organization will be responsible for minor league housing. In September, MLB owners agreed to cover the cost of living expenses for minor leaguers, a huge step for minor leaguers and the MiLB. One of the bigger takeaways is the leases will be covered by the team and not the players.

Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke about a possible lockout and pointing out the difference between an offseason lockout and one that stops games from being played and the timeframe in which something can be negotiated. The current CBA expires on December 1st at 11:59pm E.T.

Apollo Media tweeted out a photo of soon-to-be free agent shortstop Carlos Correa and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch meeting over breakfast, fueling speculation of it’s validity and implication that the star SS could be heading to Detroit. Jeff Passan of ESPN confirmed the meeting happened but quickly shot down any speculation of Correa signing in the Motor City.

Catcher Elias Diaz and the Colorado Rockies agreed to a three-year extension, worth $14.5 million.

For the 2022 season, the Seattle Mariners will start their weeknight games at 6:40 p.m. during the months of April, May and September.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Rays are looking to lock up Wander Franco to a 10-year extension. The deal could possibly go between $150-200 million over ten seasons. In August, Franco reached base in 37 consecutive games, passing Mickey Mantle‘s on base streak for a player 20 years or younger.

Zach Buchanan of The Athletic talks about PitchCom, an electronic device to communicate signs and pitch selections. This device has caught the attention of Major League Baseball in hopes of curbing sign stealing.

Latest on MMO

Dan Quinones gives his report card on INF José Peraza.

Matt Musico says the only answer for the Mets is to start making moves.

Michael Mayer updates us on Mets Prospects in Winter Ball and an update on Robinson Canó

Rich Sparago goes into detail on a possible MLB lockout.

On This Date in Mets History

1979: The Mets’ board of directors announced they would sell the team before the 1980 season.

Let’s go Mets!