Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The holidays are here! Steve Cohen has already gotten Mets fans a bunch of gifts and we’re so grateful. But what’s the one thing still on our Mets list?

John Sheridan

Michael Conforto

Conforto was a Met through and through. We’ve seen him come through in big moments. He fills the need for a left fielder and a power bat. On that we should note the Mets brought in the right field walls.

Matt Mancuso

Lest I sound like Dudley Dursley, who during his birthday celebration in Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone was adamant that he should be receiving more and better presents than years past, another solid middle reliever would be a nice capstone to the Mets’ offseason binge. Even with the signing of David Robertson, the bridge to Edwin Diaz is still shaky. The 2015-2016 playoff-bound clubs didn’t just have Jeurys Familia holding down the fort; a combination of Tyler Clippard, Fernando Salas, and Addison Reed all provided steady late-innings relief. While there are a number of relievers currently in the mix for a late-inning spot, a 344M payroll leaves little room for error

Chris Bello

Adam Duvall

The Mets are lacking power in their lineup and Adam Duvall would be a perfect fit. Not only could he DH for the Mets, but he can play all three outfield positions. Duvall was hurt last year and only played 86 games, but clubbed 38 home runs between the Marlins and Braves in 2021.

James Villani

Adam Ottavino

The Mets’ bullpen is still a couple arms away from being a “comfortable” unit. Ottavino was terrific last year, adding him back to the fold would give New York five reliable arms in the pen, plus a plethora of potential intriguing options.

Next: Michael Conforto, he’s top on my position wish list. Would love to see him back in the orange and blue. Would also fill a need.

Honorable mentions:
RPs: Matt Moore, Michael Fulmer, or Andrew Chafin.
OF/DH: Jurickson Profar, J.D. Martinez, or Michael Brantley.

Patrick Glynn

I’ll be spoiled and ask for Adam Ottavino and AJ Pollock. That would fill the two of the remaining spots left on the Mets roster—a righty who can hit lefties and a righty who can get guys out in the eighth. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mets remain active in trade markets, especially if they can get McCann off their hands, but rounding out their roster sooner rather than later will allow them to focus on wrapping up pieces like Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso for the long-term.

Andrew Steele-Davis

J.D. Martinez

While the Mets have made a lot of big splashes this offseason, they haven’t actually improved the offense at all. Brandon Nimmo was part of the lineup last year and, while re-signing him was key, the offense left a lot to be desired last year, especially in the power department. If this team is to compete in 2023, they need another big bat and J.D. Martinez would tick a lot of boxes. He can absolutely destroy baseballs for one, he can mash against lefties and he can also get on base at a high rate. The Mets need to address their lack of power this offseason and Martinez would be a really good and smart addition

The post MMO Roundtable: What Remaining Offseason Move Are You Wishing For This Holiday Season? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

December is right around the corner and it’s officially the season of gift giving. If you’re looking for something special for a Mets fan, then look no further than FOCO’s brand new New York Mets Holiday Mascot Bobblehead. The New York Mets version is part of a larger collection of 53 bobbleheads that feature popular team mascots across 53 teams from the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and select colleges. These exclusive collectables are in stock and ready to ship now.

Each bobblehead in the collection features a team mascot in their team themed holiday pajamas. They stand in front of a fireplace that’s decorated for the holidays with several team logos across the items around it. The mascots names are displayed in front.

Like all FOCO bobbleheads, each one is handcrafted and hand-painted so no two are exactly the same. They are individually numbered out of 222 units are in stock and ready to ship now. They retail for $65 and stand at 8in tall making them the perfect addition to any collection or desk at work, school, or home. Don’t wait to pick up the New York Mets Holiday Mascot Bobblehead for yourself or as gift for the upcoming holidays!

The post FOCO Releases New York Mets Holiday Mascot Bobblehead appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Noah Syndergaard delivered some holiday cheer to the children of some New York City schools Thursday afternoon at Citi Field, but not without talking about how his offseason is going.

The 25-year-old said that his body has “never felt better,” after suffering a partially torn lat in an April game against the Washington Nationals, causing him to appear in just seven games total.

“All my workouts right now are being programmed by Eric Cressey and Shane Rye,” he said. “It’s my first offseason working with them after working with them a little bit during the season. I feel like those guys are second to none in the business in terms of, not only baseball players, but just general public or any other sport.”

Syndergaard said he has known who Cressey was since his time with the Toronto Blue Jays, but said his contact with him was limited due to the trainer being based primarily in Boston.

“Those guys are at the top of their game and are always trying to learn more about the human body and how it functions,” he said. “I’m still lifting heavy, but in a smarter way. Last year was not necessarily the most smart thing I was supposed to be doing in terms of exercises.

“For example, last year, I was doing a lot of pull-ups which is primarily a lat exercise. This year, I haven’t done a pull-up yet. It’s different, it’s still taxing workouts, but I have never felt better.”

The right-hander also said that his throwing program this offseason will be more structured, with him having mostly “winged it” in the past. He is also working on becoming a more well-rounded athlete and more flexible. Syndergaard also noted that he felt the way he does now in his final start against the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the season.

Monday, Syndergaard said he was at a gym he works out at and the Canadian Olympic sprint coach was there and he worked with Syndergaard on his sprint mechanics.

“While I don’t plan on becoming an Olympic sprinter anytime soon, he will help me stop running like a ‘fat guy in flip flops,'” he said.

Finally, I asked Syndergaard if hitting the 200 innings plateau is a goal of his and he said absolutely, but some things are out of his control. What he wants to focus on primarily is just going out there every fifth day and leaving it all on the line.

At the end of the day, the hope is that Syndergaard can see this past season as an aberration and build off his 2016 campaign where he went 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA, 2.29 FIP and 1.149 WHIP in 31 games (30 started).

The post Syndergaard Working On Becoming More Well-Rounded Athlete appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

There was a glaring hole in the game of New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario in his major league stint last year and was plate discipline.

Rosario, 22, walked only three times in 170 big league plate appearances. His 1.8% walk rate was the lowest among 376 major leaguers that had at least 170 plate appearances in 2017.

The lack of walks weren’t the only proof of his free swinging, he also struck out a whopping 49 times. His 28.8% strikeout rate was the 46th highest out of the 376 qualifiers and worst among Mets players.

Rosario knows this is an issue and that it needs to improve to be a big league hitter as he told Abbey Mastracco of the NJ.com, “For me, the thing I focus on is my strike zone. I know it was a little big and I know I need to really work on making that smaller.”

Taking a walk has always been something Rosario has struggled with his best rate coming at 8% for the Double-A Binghamton Mets in 2016 and only 5.4% for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s last season.

Rosario was alongside fellow 22-year-old teammate Dominic Smith on Wednesday at Queens Target as part of the Mets annual shopping spree to help families shop for holiday toys and other items.

The young shortstop talked to Mastracco on numerous other topics including his mentor and free agent Jose Reyes, “It something for me where, of course it would be important if he was around. It’s not just for me, but I think for the whole team he’s a guy who brings a lot of energy.”

The post Rosario Hoping To Improve Plate Discipline appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

On behalf of everyone at Metsmerized Online, we would like to take some time to remember and honor all of the brave servicemen and women that have served and continue to serve our great country.

Each Veteran’s Day we have an opportunity to recognize all the sacrifices of the amazing men and women who make up the greatest military in the world. They faithfully protect our borders, our freedom, and our way of life.

Thank you for your unwavering courage, loyalty, and patriotism.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Veterans, Enjoy A Free Meal At These Fine Restaurants!

Red Robin: Free Red’s Tavern Double Burger with bottomless fries.

Applebee’s Grill: Choose one of seven entrees from a special menu for a free meal.

Chili’s: Choose a free meal from a special holiday menu.

Friendly’s: Enjoy a free dine-in breakfast, lunch or dinner from select menus on Veteran’s Day.

Olive Garden: Free entree from a special Veterans Day menu, plus unlimited soup or salad and garlic bread sticks.

The post Happy Veteran’s Day To All Who Served appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Happy New Year! The Talkin’ Mets podcast has returned from holiday hiatus.

The hot stove is very cold right now so I decided to take a different approach to this week’s podcast.

This week I chatted with Bill Sullivan, author of the book “Long Before the Miracle,” which examines the early sixties Mets. Hear Bill remember stories about the Polo Grounds, the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, Jerry Koosman, Ron Hunt, Nolan Ryan and Roger Craig among others. This is a rare opportunity to remember members of the Mets who were part of the transition from “lovable losers” to 1969 World Series champs. 

Next week I will be doing my annual Hall-of-Fame show where I give my ballot and feature a guest who gives their perspective on who should be inducted into this year’s class.

[iframe]<iframe src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/301553393&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false” height=”166″ width=”100%” frameborder=”no” scrolling=”no”></iframe>[/iframe]

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE

RSS FEED

iTunes Stores

The post Talkin’ Mets: Long Before the Miracle appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Roger and Brian wished each other, as well as the listeners, a very happy holiday season and New Year, before they talked about the recently quiet Mets offseason, as well as the fairly funny (to Mets fans) Winter Meetings the Nationals just had, before admitting that the Nationals still might be the better team.

They then had a long chat with Very Special guest Dan Szymborski of ESPN, who talked about which team is the one to beat in the NL East. He also tells us about the history of ZiPS, why he didn’t name it SiPS, the Baseball Think Factory days, the massive trade value of Ecto Cooler in the school cafeteria, what to expect from Cespedes moving forward, and why Curtis Granderson is like the suit you wore to the high school prom.

Dan also discusses getting dirty looks at Ned Yost media sessions, his feud with Murray Chass, the one player he wished Carl Everett played with, and more if you can believe it.

[iframe]<iframe width=”100%” height=”150″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”no” src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/298169890&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true”></iframe>[/iframe]

iTunes  –  Stitcher  –  Twitter

The post Good Fundies Episode 29: This is Not a Blog (with Dan Szymborski) appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Steven, the winner of our Why I Love The Mets contest! I’ve also decided to reward the other two finalists, John and Larry, with $25 Gift Cards to Amazon.com because all three of them were winners! Thank you to everyone who participated! 

In the spirit of the season and in the kinship we share as part of the Mets family, have a blessed and happy holiday season! And now, a second and very worthy look at this year’s winning entry. Enjoy… 

Why I Love The Mets

By Steven Colasanto

I love the Mets so much and I owe it all to my dad, but not in the way you would think. After he died tragically in 1996, I was devastated and wasn’t really handling it as well as my older brothers and sisters. I was named after him, and everyone always called me Stevie instead of Steven. I hated baseball growing up and I wasn’t a big sports kid at the time. I was addicted to video games and no matter how hard my dad tried to get me to go out with him and have a catch, I always found some way to get out of it. Today, I beat myself up over it whenever I think about it.

He was a huge Mets fan and would always talk about them. My dad would never miss a game, even when my oldest sister got married. The catering hall had a bar with a TV and he’d keep going back there to watch the action to the dismay of my mom. When the game was on at home, we all knew never to disturb him, I mean he was totally addicted to the Mets. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident while driving home from work less than five miles from home. It was raining and a witness said he swerved to avoid hitting a dog and lost control of his vehicle.

About a year after his death I was home alone and had gotten into a big argument with my girlfriend that day. I was still upset and turned on the TV to get my mind off of it. It was the third or fourth inning of a Mets game and they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead of changing the channel as I would normally do, I kept watching. It was weird, but I felt like my father was sitting there with me. It felt good and I just kept watching. All that you could hear in my house was the game, and it was a good one. It drew me in. During a break in between innings, I grabbed a Coke and hurried back to watch as the Mets were three outs away from winning the game as they headed into the top of the ninth ahead 9-7. I couldn’t believe how exciting this all was to me. I grabbed the remote and raised the volume to watch the end.

But then the unthinkable happened. The Pirates came roaring back with two runs to tie the game. I don’t know why, but I moaned something inaudible in frustration as the tying run crossed the plate. I didn’t know who John Franco was at the time, a Met I’d grow to love, but at that moment I started yelling at my TV and cursed this poor guy out. The Mets didn’t score in the bottom half of the inning and so it was onto the tenth, further adding to my anxiety.

At this point I was totally engrossed in this game. I wanted to to see the Mets win. I wanted so desperately to see them come back and beat these Pirates for my dad. And wouldn’t you know it, I was going to experience my first ever Mets miracle – my first taste of Mets magic.

In the bottom of the tenth, Carl Everett hit a three-run shot that just cleared the top of the fence to beat the Bucs 12-9. I jumped up and yelled “yes!!!” at the top of my lungs just as my mother was just coming home. “What are you screaming about and why is the TV so loud!”

“The Mets won! The Mets won!” I said. “You should have seen it, mom!”

“Since when did you become a Mets fan,” my mom asked. I thought about it and said, “just now.” That was the first day of my Mets journey.

My dad left behind a huge collection of books on the Mets for me to catch up on all their history. He also left me his Mets baseball card collection which was now all mine. One day, while going through some of the cards and reading the backs, I discovered a note from him in one of the boxes of cards. It said, Dear Stevie, I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I have. Love, Dad. I was so shocked that this note from my dad was sitting in one of those old boxes for all this time.

He was probably waiting to give them to me, if I had only gone out and played that game of catch with him. So this is why I love the Mets. They are a bridge to my dad who I miss so much. But also because they taught me how to believe in miracles. I love this team.

Lets Go Mets!

The post Why I Love The Mets: And The Winner Is… appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Matt Mosher writes…

During a Baseball Prospectus Chat today, I asked Jason Parks, their head prospect guy, if the Mets farm was Top 10. (I assumed they were) He replied that they definitely were not.

That’s noteworthy because I believe he ranked them at No. 10 last year. So, at least according to one outlet, the farm’s overall ranking has dropped. Be interesting to see if Baseball America drops them some too. They are usually more harsh on the Mets than BP is. The lack of bats is completely killing them.

Joe D. writes…

Thanks for the heads up. I’m not surprised at all. With Zack Wheeler now in the Majors, you’d have to think they’d take a hit. But what really hurts them most was that top picks Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Cecchini didn’t burst out of the gate the way everyone expected. Additionally, their top position player Cesar Puello was suspended for PEDs.

I would say the Mets are probably in the 14-16 range and mostly because of Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero, a solid and “healthy” season from Steven Matz, the emergence of Gabriel Ynoa and Jeff Walters, and Kevin Plawecki producing in A-Ball. By the way, how bad was that Fangraphs Top 10?

* * * * * * * *

Here are a couple of relevant Mets related questions from yesterday’s chat at BP:

Maybe an early holiday gift for readers: OFP grades/lines for Syndergaard, Stephenson, and Giolito? 

Syndergaard: 7 FB; 7 CB; 6+ CH
OFP: 7; No. 2 starter

Stephenson: 7+ FB; 7 CB; 5+ CH
OFP: 7; No. 2 starter

Giolito: 8 FB; 8 CB; 6+ CH
OFP: 8; No. 1 starter

The Mets are a top ten farm, right?

No. They aren’t a top ten farm. They have some very nice pieces, but it fades quickly after the first few names on the list.

Is Dominic Smith already the #1 ranked 1B prospect in the game? Potential 25/100?

I don’t see that kind of over-the-fence power from him. I like the bat, but I wouldn’t take him over Singleton, even with Singleton’s recent run of slack.

Thanks to Matt Mosher for the email and link to BP…

The post Do The Mets Have A Top 10 Farm System? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Listen in as they sing you a rousing rendition of that holiday classic “Sleigh Ride” led by the Capn’.

[iframe]<iframe style=”width: 580px; height: 330px;” frameborder=”0″ height=”240″ src=”https://mlb.mlb.com/shared/media/flvPlayerFrame.jsp?content_id=31233289&amp;w=580&amp;h=330&amp;skin=none&amp;autoHideSkin=true&amp;autoplay=true&amp;endPoster=https://mlb.mlb.com/nym/images/fan_forum/y2013/holiday_cards/nym.jpg” width=”320″></iframe>[/iframe]

Turner cracks me up and d’Arnaud looks as if he’s serving time for batting .190 in his MLB debut. 🙂 Check it out…

Incidentally, we’ll be at the Annual Mets Holiday Party on December 18 where Daniel Murphy will serve as Santa Claus this year, assuming he isn’t traded by then.  Ho ho ho…

The post Happy Holidays From The Mets! appeared first on Metsmerized Online.