Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets fans!

On Friday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Cubs have signed Michael Fulmer to an undisclosed contract. The former Mets minor leaguer was traded to the Tigers as part of the Yoenis Céspedes trade and remained an integral part of the Detroit bullpen until he was shipped off to the Twins at the trade deadline this past year. Between these two AL Central teams he recorded a 3.82 ERA in 67 games. Mets fans clamored to acquire Fulmer at the trade deadline and again as a free agent this offseason, but he now heads to Chicago as the Cubs continue their busy offseason.

Now onto the morning briefing!

Latest Mets News

In a video posted on SNY‘s Twitter account, Eduardo Escobar expressed excitement about being back with the Mets in 2023, stating “I love it here.”

Khalil Lee has cleared waivers and has been sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse. Lee was designated for assignment this past week amidst assault allegations.

Latest MLB News

MLB Pipeline took a look at some of MLB’s top prospects in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Sal Frelick, Harry Ford, and Bo Naylor are the participants in MLB’s top 100 prospects, while several other players sit in their respective team’s Top 30.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said at a recent owners’ meeting that the league is prepared to take over local broadcasts for the teams whose rights belong to Bally Sports. There is concern that Diamond Sports Group, the company that operates Bally Sports, will not be able to make the necessary payments for the fourteen teams it holds the rights to.

The Astros signed pitcher Cristian Javier to a five-year, $64 million contract extension that includes a $2 million signing bonus.

The Dodgers signed outfielder David Peralta to a one-year, $6.5 million contract, with incentives that can take the deal up to $8 million.

Yasiel Puig and renowned attorney Ben Crump will address federal charges against Puig today in Los Angeles. Crump calls the charges, relating to illegal sports gambling, “erroneous.” Puig originally plead guilty as part of a plea deal but has since withdrawn from that deal.

Former major league first baseman Justin Bour announced his retirement from baseball.

Jack Harris of the LA Times wrote a piece on Mookie Betts‘ passion for bowling and how it helps him during MLB’s offseason.

Latest on MMO

Rich Sparago broke down how the pitch clock will work in MLB this year.

Brian Wright rated Vince Coleman as the worst free-agent signing in Mets history.

Ricky Keeler profiled Mets’ Non-Roster Invitee Hayden Senger.

Rivka Boord listed the top five questions facing the Mets heading into the 2023 season.

On This Date in Mets History

1987: Coming off a memorable World Series victory in which he won World Series MVP, Ray Knight left the Mets in free agency and signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He became the first player to win World Series MVP and switch teams the following offseason.

2o10: The Mets signed Hisanori Takahashi, who had been playing professionally in Nippon Professional Baseball, to a minor league contract. In his lone season with the Mets Takahashi served as both a starter and a reliever, taking over the closer role after Francisco Rodriguez became injured. He pitched to a 10-6 record with a 3.61 ERA with the Mets that year.

Birthdays: Brian Daubach (51)

The post Morning Briefing: Michael Fulmer Signs With Cubs appeared first on Metsmerized.

This offseason, we’re looking at the Mets history with free agency. Our last two were James McCann at No. 8 and Luis Castillo at No. 7. Next up is a slugger who was dynamic when healthy but too often wasn’t on the field. 

As the Mets won the National League East and then the National League pennant in 2015, considering the state of the team prior to the trade deadline, where would they have been without Yoenis Céspedes? Then on August 2, 2020, which turned out to be his last day as a New York Met, all any Mets person wanted to know was: where is Yoenis Céspedes?

Ultimately, for all he did for that World Series team, Céspedes offered more questions than answers. His arrival to New York marked one of the great trades and his departure punctuated one their most egregious free-agent contracts.

In between was a slew of mysterious injury reports, less mysterious injuries, a dynamic presence on the field when healthy, a wild boar, golf outings, and finally fleeing the team in an exit only he could pull off.

Let’s start with the good, which was actually great. New York acquired the power hitting outfielder in a July 31st deal with the Detroit Tigers. Over 57 games, his OPS+ was 155, he hit 17 homer and drove in 44.

The Mets went from second place to division champs to league champs. When the season ended, it was hard to imagine not retaining Céspedes that winter. In January 2016, the Mets re-signed him to a three-year, $75 million contract, with an opt-out after the first year. This isn’t necessarily where things went off the rails, because despite leg injuries he ended up with the same OPS+ he posted for all of 2015. Named to the All-Star Game for the second time, his 31 homers and 86 RBIs led the team.

They needed every bit of it. The Mets rallied from being below .500 in August to end up as a Wild Card.

Benefiting from another terrific year, Céspedes exercised his opt-out shortly after the season. It took less than a month for the Mets to decide to keep him even longer: four years at $110 million with a no-trade clause. This was when the regret really began.

From 2017 through his brief stint in 2020, Céspedes played in just 127 games. More often the news that surrounded him dealt with topics other than his performance as a left fielder and middle-of-the order hitter.

The ’17 season was marred by first his left hamstring and later his right hamstring. In 2018, he needed surgery on both heels which put him out for 8-10 months. That timeline was severely altered in the craziest way possible. Because while recovering, he fractured his right ankle at his ranch. Details of the story were murky. Did he fall off a horse? Did he fall into a hole? Then, of all things, a report surfaced that the injury occurred while being chased by a wild boar. If that was the truth or not, it didn’t help get Céspedes on to the field any faster.

His 2019 season was completely wasted and 2020 was almost too because of the pandemic. But when the 60-game schedule started, so did Céspedes — finally. At DH, he provided the opener’s only run — a homer down the left-field line.

It was certainly a blast from the past — save for the cardboard cutouts in the stands and the cheering crowd noise piped in.

But this was the story of Céspedes in his final four seasons: flashes of greatness reminiscent of 2015 or 2016 soon eventually followed by a bizarre twist. Céspedes batted just .161 in the season’s first eight games. The home run was clearly a mirage as he looked nothing like a capable hitter.

Prior to a Sunday afternoon contest in Atlanta, he took off. Reports that he was missing came out during the game — and speculation about his condition and whereabouts were rampant. Then his agent announced the he opted out of the season due to concerns regarding COVID-19.

Yoenis Céspedes’ time in New York was exciting and intriguing. For a while, those qualities complimented success. In the end, they were more a burden than a benefit.

The post Mets Worst Free-Agent Signing No. 6: Yoenis Céspedes appeared first on Metsmerized.

Photo via Águilas Cibaeñas

Good morning, Mets fans!

Former Mets outfielder Yoenis Céspedes is back playing and on Wednesday night he looked like the guy that helped the Mets 2015 playoff run. Céspedes went 4-for-4 with a home run, double, two runs scored, and three RBIs for the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League. The veteran is typically playing left field and batting third in the lineup. He has a 1.171 OPS through five games.

Before winter ball, Céspedes last played professionally for the Mets back in 2020.

Yoenis Céspedes had a monster night in the Dominican Winter League:

4-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI

pic.twitter.com/dwg0wob7Y8

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) October 20, 2022

Both conference series were in action Wednesday, as the Astros defeated the Yankees, 4-2 to take a 1-0 series lead in the ALCS. Justin Verlander allowed one earned run and struck out eleven batters in six innings while Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick, and Jeremy Peña all hit solo home runs.

In the NLCS, the Padres defeated the Phillies 8-5 to tie the series at 1-1. The Padres were trailing 4-2 entering the fifth inning but scored five runs in the inning. Austin Nola, Juan Soto, Brandon Drury, and Josh Bell all had RBI hits in the fifth inning. Finally, Josh Hader struck out the side to save the game for Blake Snell.

Latest Mets News

Michael Mayer reports that Tim Teufel (infield coordinator) and Endy Chávez (FCL manager) will not be returning to the Mets organization for the 2023 season. John Sheridan has more on this story.

Francisco Álvarez is on the cover of Baseball America’s November issue! Click here to preorder.

Latest MLB News

Christina de Nicola of MLB.com interviewed A.J. Nola (Aaron and Austin Nola’s dad) about how he feels about the NLCS. Nola remarked that “One of our boys is going to be playing for a World Series championship […] one of them is going to lose.”

Prospects Live released their top 200 prospects list ahead of the 2023 MLB draft.

Jeff Fletcher of The Southern California News Group reports that The Los Angeles Angels have confirmed that hitting coach Jeremy Reed will not be back next season. Assistant hitting John Mallee will also not be back next year.

Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports reports that Luis Severino made this comment about the environment in Minute Maid Park: “I mean, everywhere we go we’re not liked. … The only place we go where we’re liked is Tampa because they don’t have a lot of fans.”

Zack Meisel of The Athletic confirms that José Ramírez is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right hand in the coming weeks. It was an option midseason but he would have missed substantial time and preferred to play through it.

Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports that Josh Reddick is planning to retire after his stint in Australia.

Latest on MMO

Matthew Brownstein has an MMO exclusive with Trevor Williams.

John Sheridan writes that Steve Cohen revitalized the Mets organization in 2022.

Michael Mayer writes that David Ortiz thinks that Aaron Judge is a perfect fit for the Mets.

On This Date in Mets History

1973: With the Mets having a 3-2 series lead in the World Series, manager Yogi Berra decided to start Tom Seaver on three days rest in game six instead of saving him for game seven. The decision backfired as Seaver allowed two runs in seven innings but the Mets lost to the Athletics in game six (3-1). Left with Jon Matlack as the starter for game seven, the Mets lost 5-2.

Birthdays: Jonathan Hurst (56), Rick Ownbey (65), Keith Hernandez (69)

The post Morning Briefing: Yoenis Céspedes Has Big Night in Winter Ball appeared first on Metsmerized.

Two former fan favorites, Bartolo Colón and Yoenis Céspedes, are coming back to Citi Field on August 27 to be a part of the Mets Old Timers’ Day per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Colón and Céspedes join a group of close to 60 players that are expected to participate in the event. We also know that Billy Wagner, Cliff Floyd, Daniel Murphy, Bobby Ojeda, Robin Ventura, Turk Wendell, Endy Chávez, Ron Swoboda, Jon Matlack, Howard Johnson, Mookie Wilson, Frank Thomas, Turk Wendell, and original Met Ken MacKenzie will also be there.

Colón, 48, last played for the Mets during the 2016 season and his last stint in the big leagues came back in 2018 with the Rangers. Colón, a starting pitcher, is mostly remembered for him launching a home run in San Diego. He also wooed fans with a couple of highlight defensive plays and had a 3.90 ERA in 588 innings over three seasons with the Mets.

Céspedes, 36, last played in the big leagues in 2020 when he had two home runs for the Mets in eight games before he decided to end his season due to COVID-19 concerns. The Mets acquired Céspedes in 2015, and he helped them with a huge second half that ultimately brought them to the 2015 World Series.

The Cuban outfielder had 76 home runs and a .883 OPS over parts of five seasons with the Mets.

The Old Timers’ Day player introductions will begin at 5 p.m. ahead of the scheduled 7:10 p.m. game vs. the Rockies and gates will open at 4:10 p.m.

The post Big Sexy and Cespedes Coming Back to Citi Field appeared first on Metsmerized.