Good morning and happy Friday, Mets fans! Let the notion baseball games this month take us into the weekend!
Latest Mets News
Pitcher Taijuan Walker is still high on the Mets’ free agent radar, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Marcus Stroman told Puma of the New York Post, “I never have to get ready because I stay ready…my preparation is elite,” as he looks forward to the 2021 season.
Brian Dozier announced his retirement today, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The second baseman spent the second half of the 2020 season as a Met before being released.
Latest MLB News
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Mitch Moreland is headed to Oakland on a $2.25 million dollar contract.
Former Rays outfielder Fernando Perez is returning to MLB as a video analyst for the San Francisco Giants, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Perez is a Columbia alum, a documentary filmmaker and a published poet. He’s also a Spanish speaker who can help Latino players with video analysis.
The Yankees are thinking outside of the box this season. A barn-looking building called “the gas station” is being used by New York’s pitchers as a lab to experiment with Rapsodo, Edgertonic, etc., per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.
Oliver Perez is headed back to Cleveland, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Yankees’ Zack Britton spoke out about Domingo German‘s return to the team after serving a season-long suspension for domestic violence related issues. “Sometimes you don’t get to control who you teammates are,” Britton explained, per NJ.com.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ken Giles deal with the Mariners is done. The reliever as will make $7 million for two years guaranteed with $16 million dollars available in incentives over three years.
Wily Peralta is headed to the tigers on a minor league deal with a spring training invite, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The contract entails a $1.5 million dollar base salary with $300K in incentives.
Indians’ Shane Bieber has tested positive for COVID-19, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com. He has mild symptoms and is expected back at camp in a few days.
Latest NL East News
Philadelphia Phillies star catcher JT Realmuto suffered a broken thumb in his throwing hand, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. He is expected to be healthy for Opening Day but will miss a considerable amount, if not all, of the Phil’s slated spring games.
Latest on MMO
Rob Piersall wrote about Marcus Stroman’s spring training enthusiasm.
Jack Ramsey covered Luis Rojas‘ opinions on the first two days of camp and his main takeaways so far.
Thomas Hall breaks down how trading J.D. Davis could improve the Mets’ farm system.
On This Date in Mets History
1962: On February 19, 1962 the New York Mets participated in their first ever spring training drill as a team at Huggins-Stengel Field in St. Petersburg, FL. Manager Casey Stengel and coach Rogers Hornsby led the Amazin’s in their inaugural season.
Birthdays: Miguel Batista (50), Alvaro Espinoza (59), Tim Burke (62)
Let’s go Mets!
