Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets fans!

Sandy Alcantara won the NL Cy Young award and Justin Verlander won the AL Cy Young award. Both won the award unanimously, as all 30 BBWAA first-place votes were for the winners of each league.

Verlander is the eleventh pitcher in MLB history to earn three or more Cy Young awards. This season, he posted an 18-4 record with an MLB-leading ERA of 1.75 and an MLB leading WHIP of 0.829. Verlander was also a huge contributor to the Astros’ 2022 World Series title.

Sandy Alcantara had a breakout season in 2022, posting a 2.28 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and a 14-9 record. Additionally, Alcantara led MLB in innings pitched with 228.2. Also, the Miami Marlins announce that Jacob Stallings caught all 228.2 innings thrown by Alcantara, joining T. McCarver/S. Carlton (PHI, ‘77), D. Berryhill/G. Maddux (CHC, ‘93), and R. Chirinos/J. Verlander (HOU, ‘19) as the only battery mates in MLB history to share every pitch in a Cy Young winner’s season.

Now, it is time for the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

Eric Jagers, the Mets’ Director of Pitching Development, announces that the New York Mets are looking to hire affiliate pitching coaches. Click this link to apply.

After spending 15 years in baseball media, Nathan Rode announced on twitter that he is joining the New York Mets as a scout.

TickPick reports that the Subway Series games at Citi Field on July 26 and 27 were the third and fourth most popular games ($226 average purchase price on 7/27 and $218 on 7/26) in terms of average ticket demand and price. The most popular MLB game in 2022 was the field of dreams game between the Cubs and the Reds with an average purchase price of $907.

Latest MLB News

Jon Heyman of the NY Post reported that Nick Martinez signed a new three year, $26 million deal with the San Diego Padres.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández has been traded to the Seattle Mariners from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for RHP Erik Swanson and LHP prospect Adam Macko.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Bryce Harper will undergo UCL surgery next Wednesday, according to Phillies president Dave Dombrowski. It remains unknown whether it will be Tommy John surgery and how long he’ll be sidelined in 2023.

Jon Heyman of the NY Post wrote an article about the Yankees’ increasing interests in four top free agents: Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Brandon Nimmo.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted a list of The World Baseball Classic workout sites this spring in Arizona and Florida

Bob Nightengale of USA Today also reports that The Texas Rangers hired Will Venable, the former Red Sox bench coach, to be Bruce Bochy‘s associate manager. 

Latest on MMO

Ross Bentley covers Edwin Díaz finishing ninth in NL Cy Young voting.

Ross Bentley also writes about Max Scherzer falling in love with the Mets immediately.

Jack Markowski highlighed intriguing players that were DFA’d.

Andrew Steele-Davis talks about the Blue Jays’ interest in Brandon Nimmo.

Ross Bentley wrote an MMO free agent profile on Andrew Benintendi.

Andrew Steele-Davis claims that Justin Verlander wants Max-Scherzer-type money in his new contract.

On This Date in Mets History

1961: The Mets revealed the team’s logo, which looks very similar to the logo today.

Birthdays: Seth Lugo (33), Val Pascucci (44), Jim Mann (48), Eli Marrero (49), Tom Seaver (would’ve been 78 today)