By John Jackson
Good morning Mets fans! The Houston Astros defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 in Game 5 of the ALDS to close the book on the final League Division Series of 2019. The next stop for the four remaining playoff teams are their league’s respective League Championship Series.
Latest Mets News
Mets minor league field coordinator Kevin Morgan has left the organization after the Mets planned on reassigning him, according to Matt Ehalt of Yahoo! Sports. Morgan spent 26 years in the Mets organization, split up as a player (1994-1997), assistant to the director of minor league operations (1998-2000), director of minor league operations (2001-2005), minor league instruction and infield coordinator (2006-2015) and minor league field coordinator (2016-2019).
Pete Alonso was unanimously selected as the Baseball America Rookie of the Year.
Francisco Alvarez was named the top prospect in the Appalachian League by Baseball America. Also on BA’s Top-20 list for the league were Brett Baty (second), Jaylen Palmer (10th) and Junior Santos (12th).
The Mets signed pitcher Peter Tago to a minor league contract as reported by MMO‘s own Jacob Resnick. Tago, 27, was drafted 47th overall by the Colorado Rockies in the 2010 MLB Draft and has spent time in independent league baseball and in the minor leagues with the Rockies, Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners organizations.
Latest MLB News
USA Baseball announced their 28-man roster for the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12™.
The White Sox hired Frank Menechino as their new hitting coach per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
The Mariners shut down top prospect Jarred Kelenic from playing in the Arizona Fall League due to a sore back, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com. The issue is not considered to be serious and the club was just being cautious.
Jacob Nix, a pitcher within the San Diego Padres organization, was charged with criminal trespassing after he entered a Peoria home through the doggie door according to Joe Enea of ABC15 Arizona. The homeowner kicked and tased Nix before police arrested him.
Curtis Granderson announced that he will appear on the TBS broadcast of Game 1 of the NLCS.
Latest NL East News
The Washington Nationals will face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS on Friday night. Anibal Sanchez (11-8, 3.85 ERA) will get the ball for the Nats, while Miles Mikolas (9-14, 4.16 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Cards.
The Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Gabe Kapler. Kapler, who had one year remaining on his contract, went 161-163 during his two seasons as manager in Philadelphia.
The Miami Marlins will be retaining Mel Stottlemyre Jr. as pitching coach and Trey Hillman as first base coach. Third base coach Fredi Gonzalez will not be returning as he has informed team officials that he would like to pursue other career options.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Matt Musico shared an encouraging 2019 stat from each Mets player.
Tim Ryder uploaded the latest episode of the Simply Amazin’ podcast with Tim Healey of Newsday as his special guest. The two Tims discussed the Mets’ managerial search, the progress the team’s core made in 2019 and what direction general manager Brodie Van Wagenen may go in this offseason.
Ryder also wrote an “MMO Free Agent Profile” on Josh Donaldson.
John Sheridan wrote about Mets managerial candidate Derek Shelton, who most recently worked as the Minnesota Twins bench coach the last two seasons.
Ernest Dove reviewed the St. Lucie Mets’ 2019 season.
Steve Schaeffler wrote about how the Mets’ pitching prospects are faring in the Arizona Fall League.
This Day in Mets History
1961: The Mets purchased Ken MacKenzie and Johnny Antonelli from the Milwaukee Braves.
1962: The Mets purchased Ron Hunt from the Braves. The Mets also purchased Dick Smith and Norm Sherry from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Birthdays: Jenrry Mejia turns 30, Ty Wigginton turns 42 and Orlando Hernandez turns 54. Charlie Williams and Joe Ginsberg were also born on this day in 1947 and 1926, respectively.
