Morning Briefing: Manfred Offers New Pace-of-Play Proposal

Good morning Mets fans!

While Commissioner Rob Manfred can unilaterally implement a pitch clock to help decrease the average time for games, he has offered not to implement one if the players agree to a proposal where they essentially just play faster. If they accept, there will be no pitch clock in 2018 and 2019 provided that the average game time is less than 2 hours and 55 minutes.

Latest Mets News

Mets beat writer Marc Carig is leaving Newsday to join The Athletic New York which is set to launch on February 12. He cites Ken Rosenthal for being a big reason for the switch, but gives his entire reasoning here.

Las Vegas 51’s latest manager Tony DeFrancesco spoke with Betsy Helfand of Las Vegas Review-Journal on his new job.

“I had a lot of success with Oakland and Houston developing (players). (Carlos) Correa, (Jose) Altuve and (George) Springer all came through at some point (and) they all succeeded,” DeFrancesco said in the interview. “I’m hoping this next wave will get the Mets back to the World Series again, and it’s my job to go out there, whether it’s hot or not, and make sure the guys are ready to play every night.”

Dominic Smith uploaded a video to Instagram showing parts of his offseason workouts and conditioning.

Latest MLB News

All 30 MLB teams will have protective netting which extends to the far ends of both dugouts by Opening Day 2018 per MLB Communications.

Mark Appel told Bleacher Report he is taking an “indefinite break” from baseball. The 26-year-old right-handed pitcher had a lot of promise a few years back as he was drafted first overall in 2013.

Pedro Martinez, Lloyd Moseby, and Bill Humber will all be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame on June 16 at the Hall of Fame grounds in St. Marys, Ont.

The Milwaukee Brewers are still seeking starting pitching and have been in contact with the Tampa Bay Rays about Chris Archer according to Rosenthal of The Athletic. However, a deal seems unlikely since the Brewers may not want to cut deep into their farm system after their trade for Christian Yelich.

Latest NL East News

Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about the Atlanta Braves’ admitted concerns over their lack of power.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports took a look at whether the Washington Nationals will be able to take the necessary steps required to acquire J.T. Realmuto from the Miami Marlins.

The Nationals signed Miguel Montero to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. He’ll compete for the Nats’ backup catching job.

Likewise, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Adam Rosales to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

Latest on MMO

Michael Mayer wrote about Kevin Plawecki‘s confidence in the Mets catching duo for this season.

Mayer also wrote about how it’s unlikely that the Mets get either Mike Moustakas or Bartolo Colon this offseason.

Logan Barer noted that the Kansas City Royals could trade second baseman Whit Merrifield since Alcides Escobar, Ryan Goins, and Raul Mondesi Jr. are all in the mix for playing time in the infield.