Good morning, Mets fans! Two weeks to the trade deadline.
Rival executives told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that they believe Francisco Lindor will be traded this winter, but will remain a Met through the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Lindor has five years and $160 million left on his contract after this year, making him tough to deal by the deadline. He also has a full no-trade clause.
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Nightengale also reported that the Mets expressed interest in having Carlos Beltran take over as manager when Carlos Mendoza was fired, but he passed because of his Hall of Fame commitments. Beltran, who will be inducted into Cooperstown on Sunday, is apparently the Mets’ first choice to maange the team in 2027. The Mets have not started a managerial search.
A couple more Nightengale nuggets: The White Sox assigned someone to monitor Clay Holmes. The Phillies are interested in Luke Weaver.
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On a related note, before Sunday’s game, Lindor talked to Chelsea Janes of SNY about being the subject of trade rumors.
“It doesn’t bother me when it’s coming from outside sources,” he told Janes. “When it’s more inside, that would bother me. But that’s not happening. I try to stay away from it. I try not to read it or really talk about it. It’s just unnecessary distraction. But I am human. I have a family and they all talk and they all hear it. But since it’s not happening in here, it’s OK.”
On the field, Lindor went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer, an RBI double and two walks to lead the Mets to a 6-1 win over the Phillies. A.J. Ewing, Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Luis Torrens chipped in with two hits apiece.
Nolan McLean struck out a season-high-tying 10 over six scoreless innings and lowered his ERA to 3.34. Read more on the win in Johnluke Chaparro’s recap here.
The Mets (42-58) will be in Milwaukee Monday, where Freddy Peralta (5-8. 4.66 ERA) will make his first start against the team he won 70 games for over eight seasons. Jacob Misiorowski (10-4, 1.62 ERA) goes for the first-place Brewers. Game time is 7:40 p.m. ET.
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Duane Ward, a key reliever for the Blue Jays when they won back-to-back championships in 1992-1993, died of natural causes at 62, the team announced Sunday. Ward set a franchise record with 45 saves in 1993 and was the winning pitcher that year when Joe Carter hit a World Series-ending walk-off homer in Game 6 against the Phillies. He was a 2020 inductee of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Shohei Ohtani will miss his scheduled start Wednesday due to a left knee issue and it is unclear when he will take the mound again. Manager Dave Roberts said he isn’t sure if the start will be delayed a few days or skipped, but he fully expects Ohtani to pitch again this season. He hasn’t pitched since July 3. Roberts said the knee doesn’t bother Ohtani when he hits.
Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo exited in the second inning Sunday with left shoulder discomfort.
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John Stocum with lots of insight on the poor showings Saturday by Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga.
A recap of Saturday’s minor-league action, which included a Luis Robert Jr. homer that backed a Jonah Tong win for Triple-A Syracuse.
On This Date in Mets History
1985: Darryl Strawberry hits two homers, including a grand slam, and drives in seven runs in a 16-4 win over the Braves. Danny Heep, Howard Johnson and Clint Hurdle also go deep. Dwight Gooden gives up one run over six innings to improve to 14-3 and lower his ERA to 1.67.
1975: Dave Kingman hits two homers, including a go-ahead, two-run shot in eighth of a 10-9 win over the Astros. The Mets rallied from deficits of 7-1 and 9-6.
1971: Ed Kranepool hits career homer No. 70 off the Cubs’ Fergie Jenkins to pass Ron Swoboda for the most home runs in franchise history.
On This Date in 1986 Mets
The Mets scored three runs in the top of the ninth at the Astrodome to tie it, but fall 9-8 in 15 innings when Kevin Bass bounces a grounder for a walk-off fielder’s choice off of Roger McDowell. Nearly three months later, the Mets would score three runs to tie a game in the top of the ninth at the Astrodome again, this time it is Game 6 of the NLCS.
Bass had a chance to be the walk-off hero again, but with the Mets up 7-6 and the tying run on second in the 16th inning, Jesse Orosco strikes him out for the final out of the game and series.
Born on This Date: Ty Kelly (1988), Nelson Doubleday (1933).
