Good morning Mets fans! The New York Mets strengthened their outfield defense on Thursday as they acquired OF Jake Marisnick from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor league LHP Blake Taylor and minor league OF Kenedy Corona. Mike Petriello of MLB.com put Marisnick’s defensive prowess into perspective by noting that he is tied for ninth in MLB over the last four years in outfielder Outs Above Average (+39), which is impressive for someone who is not an everyday starting outfielder.
Latest Mets News
Mike Ozanian of Forbes reported that hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen will immediately own over 50% of the team should the proposed deal between him and the Wilpon family go through. With that in mind, Ozanian wrote that Cohen is likely going to be the one calling the shots when he becomes majority owner despite Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon reportedly staying in their current positions of CEO and COO for the next five years.
The Wilpon family’s proposed sale of the Mets to Cohen will not include SNY according to Tim Healey, Neil Best and David Lennon of Newsday. It is possible that the Wilpon family will seek a deal for SNY, but if so, it will be a separate from their current negotiations with Cohen for the team.
The Mets signed OF Jarrett Parker and INF Max Moroff to minor league deals with invites to spring training.
Anthony DiComo wrote an article on potential replacements for RHP Zack Wheeler.
Latest MLB News
The Minnesota Twins re-signed RHP Michael Pineda according to Pierre Noujaim of FOX 9 Minneapolis. Pineda’s deal will be for two years and $20 million according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
The San Diego Padres acquired OF Tommy Pham from the Tampa Bay Rays according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports. The Padres will trade OF Hunter Renfroe and prospects for Pham.
RHP Kyle Gibson‘s contract with the Texas Rangers is finished and official according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Gibson will earn $28 million guaranteed over three years, with the possibility to earn up to $3 million more in incentives.
The New York Yankees have ownership-level approval to offer RHP Gerrit Cole a record-setting deal according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
MLB announced that SK Wyverns’ LHP Gwang-hyun Kim and Doosan Bears’ OF/DH Jae-hwan Kim have been posted for all 30 MLB teams, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency. Teams can negotiate with the two players from Friday at 8:00 a.m. EST until Jan. 5 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Latest NL East News
Washington Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner told NBC Sports Washington’s Donald Dell in an interview that the organization can only really afford to re-sign one of either 3B Anthony Rendon or RHP Stephen Strasburg this offseason.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Matt Musico analyzed what went wrong for RHP Blake Treinen in 2019.
Michael Mayer wrote an “MLB Rumor Roundup”
John Sheridan wrote a profile of Cohen.
Sheridan also wrote about Baseball America’s analysis of the Mets’ 2019 international free agent signings.
This Day in Mets History
1989: The Mets traded LHP Randy Myers and RHP Kip Gross to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for LHP John Franco and minor league OF Don Brown.
2006: The Mets traded RHP Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for RHP Ambiorix Burgos.
Birthdays: RHP Kevin Appier turns 52, OF Terry McDaniel turns 53, 1B Luis Rosado turns 64, SS Tim Foli turns 69, SS Larry Bowa turns 74 and INF Amado Samuel turns 81.
