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Good morning, Mets fans!

Latest Mets News

Former Mets reliever Jared Hughes announced his retirement from baseball on Instagram. Hughes said his wife, Kelly, started her own estate planning law practice and he has decided the time is right to “hang up the cleats.” Hughes had 21 strikeouts, a 1.657 WHIP and a 4.84 ERA a season ago.

The Mets announced they have signed left-handed pitcher Mike Montgomery and right-handed pitcher Tommy Hunter to minor league contracts and invited both pitchers to Spring Training.

Mets relief pitcher Stephen Nogosek discussed his off-season training program with the Central Oregon Daily. Nogosek said he has never had this level of training during the offseason and he is looking forward to seeing how the season plays out for himself. The right-hander made his major league debut with the Mets in 2019, appearing in seven games and striking out six batters in 6.2 innings.

Former Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he is optimistic that diversity in baseball will improve, in an article by Bradford William Davis of the New York Daily News. In 1975, MLB was over 18 percent black compared to just 7.8 percent in 2020.

“That baseball pillar has crumbled somewhat,” Manuel said. “But I still think that there’s gonna be a surfing back, if you will, to where baseball comes back to what it was.”

Jeff McNeil has been able to improve his golf game this offseason, including a few rounds with a score of 67.

Francisco Lindor decided to change up his hairstyle to begin his tenure with the Mets.

Latest MLB News

Bob Klapisch detailed how Zoom interviews have changed the way baseball is covered by the media, in an article for NJ.com. One of the biggest difficulties, Klapisch described, is the inability to ask follow-up questions and the fact that all interviews are done with all reporters present.

The Oakland A’s signed pitchers Sergio Romo and Yusmeiro Petit, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Romo had a 4.05 ERA and five saves over 20 innings pitched for the Twins last season. Petit had a 1.66 ERA, 1.108 WHIP and 17 strikeouts over 21.2 innings pitched for the A’s in 2020.

Latest on MMO

Alexis Farinacci detailed the Mets additions of Tommy Hunter and Mike Montgomery.

Rob Piersall lists five Mets non-roster invitees to keep an eye on during spring training.

With James Paxton off the board, Joe D writes the Mets should look to sign Jake Odorizzi or Taijuan Walker if they are still looking to add a starting pitcher.

Introducing MMO Digital

We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our morning briefings, MMO Digital!

As we continue to expand our Mets coverage, this section of the morning briefing will be the place to go to find all of our brand new digital content. This will include two podcasts, and plenty of video content that can be found on our YouTube channel.

The first installment of MMO Digital is Locked On Mets!

Hosted by our own Ryan Finkelstein, Locked On Mets is the only daily podcast covering the New York Mets, as part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

On today’s show, Ryan discusses all of this weekend’s free agent news, as reported Mets targets Jake Arrieta, Justin Turner and James Paxton all signed with other teams, while New York landed Mike Montgomery and Tommy Hunter on minor league deals. He also talks about the state of the Mets bullpen after the news of Seth Lugo’s injury.

On this Date in Mets History

2011: The Mets signed relief pitcher Jason Isringhausen to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, for his second stint in Queens. The right hander had a 4.05 ERA, 1.286 WHIP and 44 strikeouts over 46.2 innings pitched in 2011.

Birthdays: Barry Jones (58) and Chuck Estrada (84).

Let’s go Mets!