By John Jackson
Good morning Mets fans! Ahead of the New York Yankees’ postseason opener, it was the New York Mets who were the talk of the town on Thursday as they fired manager Mickey Callaway. The Mets have now begun their search for a new manager in a loaded field where many names are being thrown around.
Latest Mets News
After Callaway’s firing, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters on a conference call that the rest of the coaching staff is being evaluated. Tim Britton of The Athletic noted that nobody from the coaching staff are under contract for 2020.
The fate of one member of the coaching staff has already been made clear as Jim Riggleman will not return as the Mets bench coach according to William Ladson of MLB.com.
Also two other coaching staff members’ jobs appear safe as Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that Mets want hitting coach Chili Davis and pitching coach Phil Regan back in 2020 if there is mutual interest.
During Van Wagenen’s conference call, he also put to rest any lingering trade rumors regarding Noah Syndergaard and Edwin Diaz. Both players will be on the 2020 team according to Van Wagenen.
David Cone expressed interest in the Mets’ vacant managerial position if contacted.
Pete Alonso was named the Mets’ nominee for the Hank Aaron Award, which is awarded to the best overall offensive player in each league. Aaron, a panel of Hall of Famers and fans vote on which players gets the award. The Mets are among 10 MLB teams who have never had one of their players win the award.
Latest MLB News
Some Baltimore Orioles season-ticket holders received handwritten “thank you” notes from players after they finished the 2019 campaign with the second-worst record in MLB, as reported by Dan Connolly of The Athletic.
Benjamin Mullin and Jeffrey Trachtenberg of the Wall Street Journal covered the news about around 40 positions at Sports Illustrated being eliminated by their new operator, TheMaven Inc.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced that CC Sabathia will not be on the Yankees ALDS roster since his pitching shoulder was not bouncing back after his relief appearance. Boone also revealed that the starters for the ALDS will be James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino, in that order.
Latest NL East News
The Atlanta Braves’ ninth-inning comeback in Game 1 of the NLDS came up short against the St. Louis Cardinals as they fell 7-6. The Braves had a 3-1 lead heading into the eighth, which turned into a 3-3 tie heading into the ninth. The Braves then entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 7-3 and fought back, but ultimately fell short.
Chris Martin left Game 1 of the NLDS with an oblique injury and is not expected to return during the postseason according to David O’Brien of The Athletic.
The Washington Nationals were shutout 6-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS. They were limited to two hits and three walks. On the Dodgers side, Gavin Lux made franchise history with his pinch hit home run, as he was the youngest Dodger to hit a postseason home run (21 years, 314 days).
Latest on MMO/MMN
Matt Musico broke down the bullpen statistics and concluded that Seth Lugo was more valuable than the entire rest of the bullpen combined.
Pat Ragazzo wrote about the Mets’ core being a reason to be optimistic for the team in 2020.
Christopher Soto wrote about how Andres Gimenez and Ali Sanchez performed in the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday.
This Day in Mets History
1969: The Mets defeated the Braves by a score of 9-5 in the first game of the inaugural National League Championship Series.
1972: The Mets beat the Expos 3-1 to finish the season over .500. Despite collecting 83 wins as a team, the club made MLB history by becoming the first team to finish a season without any player collecting at least 100 hits.
1999: The Mets triumphed over the Reds 5-0 in a Game 163. Al Leiter pitched a complete game shutout in which he only allowed four walks and two hits. Rey Ordonez also extended his major league record for errorless games at shortstop to 100.
2010: The Mets fired manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya following a 79-83 season; their second-straight losing season in a row.
Birthdays: Dennis Cook turns 57.
