Good morning, Mets fans!
Wednesday brought another slate of four Wild Card matchups and made sure there would be no games left to play on Thursday, as all four series ended in two-game sweeps. The Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Philadelphia Phillies all advanced last night, giving themselves off until Saturday by closing out the series early. While it was a day of exciting matchups including an NL East battle, the Mets front office had their eye on one game in particular, Diamondbacks vs. Brewers.
With Arizona going into Milwaukee and taking two straight, not only is the Brewers’ season finished, but manager Craig Counsell‘s time with the Milwaukee team might be over too. Counsell, who has been at the helm since 2015, is now officially a free agent, and the Mets are allowed to talk to him regarding their open manager position.
After announcing David Stearns as the new president of baseball operations, Buck Showalter‘s job security was immediately in question, and a day before Stearns’ introduction, he was gone. Now that Stearns is in charge, the obvious choice for Mets manager would be Counsell, who was the manager during Stearns’ entire duration in Milwaukee. When asked about his future after last night’s game, Craig wouldn’t comment saying “That ain’t for tonight, man.” However, the Mets will certainly look at Counsell for their opening, and Stearns being in New York makes it a significant possibility.
Latest Mets News
MLB finally came to a decision yesterday, as they awarded the Mets a win in their suspended game against the Miami Marlins on September 28th. All stats from the unfinished 9th inning, in which the Marlins scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead, will be erased from the record. The Mets will officially end the 2023 season with a 75-87 record.
An article by Mike Puma of the New York Post detailed how Mets GM Billy Eppler and former manager Buck Showalter “butted heads” on Daniel Vogelbach‘s playing time. A source told Puma that Eppler forced Showalter to play the struggling DH and that the manager had an issue with his limited skill set to begin with.
The voice of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Jacob Wilkins, will be the play-by-play announcer for a series in each round of this year’s postseason. Wilkins began on Tuesday as he was on the call for the Blue Jays vs. Twins matchup and called the series finale Wednesday.
Latest MLB News
San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller addressed the media yesterday in a post-season presser following a disappointing season for his club. Preller answered questions on current manager Bob Melvin‘s job security, to which he responded saying, “Bob is our manager, and he’s going to be our manager going forward.” per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
The other major questions was regarding the team’s plans with Juan Soto, who will be a free agent next off-season, to which Preller replied that the club’s “first path” is to try and work out an extension. However, he noted, “We’ve never been a group that says no to anything. I wouldn’t read into that. That’s just kind of the way we operate.” when asked about a trade possibility, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
More news also came out of San Diego as it was announced that star third baseman Manny Machado underwent elbow surgery on Tuesday. The Padres said that Machado had a successful right elbow extensor tendon repair surgery. The timeline for his recovery is approximately four to six months, as they hope he’ll be ready for opening day in 2024.
Before clinching a spot in the NLDS, the Diamondbacks extended the constructor of the playoff team through 2028. D-Backs general manager Mike Hazen, who was originally under contract through 2025, gets a new five-year deal and keeps him in Arizona, where he has been since 2016. Along with Hazen, Arizona also extended assistant GM’s Amiel Sawdeye and Mike Fitzgerald’s contracts, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
Latest on MMO
Matt Mancuso did a season recap for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies as their title bid fell just short.
Mike Mayer and Sal Manzo talked about David Stearns introduction as a Met on the MMO weekly podcast.
Who will David Stearns pick as his new manager? Ross Bentley looked at the Mets possible options.
On This Day in Mets History
1999: The Mets take the first game of the NLDS against Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks behind a two-home run performance from Edgardo Alfonzo. The two homers, one coming in the first and one in the ninth, contributed to the seven earned runs the Mets put up against the Hall of Fame lefty in his 8 1/3 innings pitched.
2000: Jay Payton sends a go-ahead base hit into centerfield in the tenth inning, giving the Mets a 5-4 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Barry Bonds came to the plate as the winning run, but John Franco would freeze Bonds with a called strike three and even the NLDS up at a game a piece.
Birthdays: Rey Sánchez (56), Brent Gaff (65)
