Good morning Mets fans! The MLB Hot Stove had slowed down as the holidays approached, but now with Christmas a few days behind us, the Hot Stove is starting to rev up again.
Latest Mets News
The Tampa Bay Rays are eyeing a group of complementary right-handed bats which includes Wilmer Flores according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Ken Davidoff of the New York Post did his 12th annual Overrated and Over-hated list. In it he considered Jay Bruce, Yoenis Cespedes, Jeurys Familia, Todd Frazier and Noah Syndergaard as all over-hated, while he considered Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz as overrated.
Additionally, Davidoff said that Sandy Alderson was “Over-scapego(ated),” Wilson Ramos is “just right,” David Wright “Over-waited to make his farewell speech,” Brodie Van Wagenen is “Perhaps over-exhilarated,” and that Mickey Callaway could be “Over-uncoordinated” and/or “Over-inarticulate-d.”
Two Dominican prospects (twin brothers) were scammed by a person who said they represented the Mets and were offering the kids $50,000. Juan Henderson, the Mets director of Latin America Operations, weighed in on the story as shared by Héctor Gómez of Z101 Digital.
Wallace Matthews of the New York Daily News wrote about how captaincy was everything to Wright, but now it’s something that is disappearing throughout the rest of baseball.
Latest MLB News
Nelson Cruz agreed to a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The deal is worth $14 million and includes a $12 million club option with a $300,000 buyout for 2020.
Tommy Pham appeared on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM where he commented on his transition from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Rays in part by saying, “It sucks going from playing in front of a great fan base to a team with really no fan base at all.”
Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post wrote a piece on mental coaches and how they went from being viewed as for the “weak-minded,” to becoming essential in baseball players’ day-to-day lives.
Latest NL East News
The Washington Nationals finalized their deal with Anibal Sanchez. He will make $19 million overall, which includes $6 million in 2019, $7 million in 2020 and $6 million deferred until 2021. The Nationals will also have a $12 million club option for 2021 as well.
Terry Pendleton and Hugh Duffy will be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame on Jan 18. They will join 33 others in the Braves Hall.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Liam Quinn graded Cespedes’ 2018 campaign.
Marshall Field reminisced about when the Mets hired Johnny Murphy as their general manager 51 years ago yesterday.
Dilip Sridhar did an MMO free agent profile on Adam Warren.
Michael Mayer took a look at the best highlights and plays from the Mets farm system in 2018.
Matt Mancuso listed and wrote about the Mets’ top-5 relief prospects according to the Mets Minors staff.
David Gerth reviewed four of the Mets minor leaguers who the team drafted in 2017 out of junior colleges.
This Day in Mets History
2001: Outgoing New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani announced a $1.6 billion deal with the New York Yankees and Mets for new retractable-roof stadiums. In the deal, each team would contribute $400 million and the city would contribute the remaining $800 million. Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg felt that the $1.6 billion cost of the proposed new ballparks was too high and did not follow through with the same deal after he took office.
Birthdays: Benny Agbayani turns 47 and Ray Knight turns 66. John Milner was also born on this day in 1949.
