Photo by Sandy Alderson

Good morning, Mets fans!

Another day, more news about the Mets front office. Sig Mejdal, the sabermetric analyst and assistant manager for the Baltimore Orioles, is no longer a consideration for the Mets front office, sources tell SNY’s Andy Martino. Mejdal is just one of a list of names the Mets considered for the position.

Another name that was considered for the position was Boston Red Sox assistant general manager Raquel Ferreira. According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, Ferreira has opted to not interview for the role after spending several days talking to Mets officials about the position.

Latest Mets News

Kevin Pillar is a free agent. The outfielder played the entire 2021 season for the New York Mets and hit .231 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs. Pillar signed a one year deal with the Amazin’s prior to the season and had both a club and player option for the 2022 season. Pillar had a player option worth $2.9 million that he declined. Then the Mets declined the $6.4 million club option for next season. That meant the Mets had to pay Pillar a buyout, which they did making him a free agent. Pillar’s buyout was $1.4 million.

The Get Metsmerized Podcast is giving away a Jacob deGrom baseball card to a lucky Twitter follower. You must retweet the selected tweet and follow the Get Metsmerized Twitter page.

The Mets had 57 minor league players graduate from the organization’s educational program at the Dominican complex on Thursday.

Latest MLB News

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey announced his retirement on Thursday. The 34-year-old played 12 major league seasons racking up 158 career home runs, 729 RBIs and a career .302 batting average. He also had a career WAR of 44.9. Most importantly though, is that Posey was the team leader of three World Series championship teams in San Francisco and was a career .252 hitter in the post-season.

Current Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner tweeted a video about making his major league debut against the Giants and Posey. In the post, Hefner called Posey a future Hall of Famer, something that many on social media have said about the Leesburg, Georgia native.

Yuli Gurriel‘s $8 million option has been picked up by the Houston Astros, guaranteeing the 37-year old first baseman returns to the defending American League champions. Gurriel was a key part to the Astros offense in 2021, leading the league with a .319 average. He also belted 15 homers and drove in 81 runs. He also hit .311 in the post-season for Houston.

The Cleveland Indians have picked up the $12 million option on the contract of infielder Jose Ramirez. Ramirez was set to become a free agent. The 28-year-old, who has spent his entire career in Cleveland, was an American League All-Star in 2021, making the game for the third time in his career. He hit .266 with 36 homers & 103 RBIs in 2021. Ramirez has another team option on his contract for the 2023 season, worth in the neighborhood of $13 million.

Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner and pitcher Darren O’Day declined their player options on Thursday, making both players free agents. Gardner, the Yankees longest tenured player, played 140 games for the Bombers in 2021 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs. He hit .222 on the season. His option was worth $7.15 million. O’Day pitched in just 12 games for the Yankees in 2021, recording a 3.38 ERA with just 10.2 innings pitched. O’Day also had a club option which the Yankees declined. Both players are now free agents and can sign any team.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Avisail Garcia opted out of his contract on Thursday, making him a free agent. Garcia had arguably the best year of his career in 2021 recording 29 homers and 86 RBIs in 135 games for the Brew Crew. Garcia was due to make $12 million in 2022.

Oakland Athletics reliever Andrew Chafin declined his mutual option for the 2022 season, making him a free agent. Chafin started the year as a member of the Chicago Cubs but was traded at the deadline for a couple of minor leaguers. The lefty threw 68.2 innings in 2021, with a 1.83 ERA.

With free agency starting, The Athletic reporter Keith Law gave his thoughts on the 50 best free agents heading into the off-season. Who ranks No. 1? Find out here.

Will Leach of MLB.com wrote about the seven Major League Baseball teams who need a championship the most. Does your team make the cut?

Latest on MMO

The Mets won’t hire a President of Baseball Operations before the GM Meetings, Matthew Newman has that story which was broke by Tim Healey of Newsday.

Dan Quinones breaks down Francisco Lindor‘s 2021 season and give his report card of the club’s shortstop.

Who hit the five longest home runs for the Mets in 2021? Matt Muscio has the answer.

On This Date in Mets History

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is awarded the Comeback Player of the Year award on this date in 2015. Harvey missed the entire 2014 season after Tommy John surgery and came back in 2015 to win 13 games and pitch to a 2.71 ERA. Harvey also threw 4 games in the post-season and was sensational, helping lead the Mets to a National League title.

Birthdays: Jose Santiago (47), Mike Bishop (1958), Jim Bethke (75)

Let’s go Mets!