The Mets (12-3) won their tenth game in a row on Wednesday night, beating the Braves (8-6) at Citi Field by a score of 3-2. Dillon Gee pitched for the Mets and tightroped his way through seven innings of two-run ball, working around eight hits and a walk, striking out three. After the Mets squandered John Mayberry’s leadoff triple in the bottom of the first against Eric Stults, the Braves...
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Braves are “very much shopping” outfielder Justin Upton and are looking for “a higher return” than they received for Jason Heyward, who they traded to St. Louis earlier this week. In exchange for Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden, Atlanta received 24-year old righthander Shelby Miller plus right-handed pitching prospect...
On Thursday night, Mets manager Terry Collins discussed the Mets offseason with reporters at a charity dinner in New York City. According to Adam Rubin, Collins also expects the Mets to follow the “Red Sox model” — signing a bulk of middle-tier free agents rather than the biggest names. “I’m sure that’s what the philosophy is going to be,” Collins said....
Winter 2004. It was a great time to be a Mets fan. As cameras clicked away and members of the press took their seats, all eyes were focused on the recently acquired outfielder. With Jeff Wilpon on one side and wife Jessica on the other, Carlos Beltran donned a Mets cap for the very first time. Suddenly, General Manager Omar Minaya appeared. He rode on to the stage on a tricycle. Dressed as a...
If you haven’t done so already, check out this article by Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. The veteran columnist shares an incident that took place in Spring Training when Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster asked teammate Jonny Gomes how he was doing and his response was: “Great, one day closer to the parade.’’ “Let that sink in for a second,” writes Kernan. “Here it was...
An MMO Fan Shot By Andrew Doris The two-year plan The past two seasons, the Mets have finished 74-88. Over that time, they’ve dumped all their albatross contracts (except Bobby Bonilla…) and resolved the Bernie Madoff lawsuit, such that management finally appears capable of investing in the team. Whether they will or not remains to be seen, but Sandy Alderson has said the team has about $30...
One of our readers, Rob Aguilar, sent me a link to February’s Off-Season Report Cards by the Sporting News. His point, as he indicated in his email, was that nobody was gloating over the Red Sox model before this past season began. Anyway, it’s funny looking back and reading these three particular capsules in hindsight. Toronto Blue Jays: A When general manager Alex Anthopoulos...
New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said the 2014 budget has already been discussed, and Sandy Alderson said he could have enough resources at his disposal to offer a $100-million contract, which seemed unthinkable last year at this time. Alderson also said it is conceivable the Mets’ payroll could be even smaller next year. Their payroll this season – excluding what they owed Jason Bay – was $88...
The Mets need a right-handed power hitter. There’s no doubt about that. The Mets ranked 22nd in baseball in home runs and 23rd in slugging percentage, and that’s with Scott Hairston, who will likely not return next year, in the lineup. Finding (and acquiring) these players will be a difficult task, especially with the Mets budget already limited. Sandy Alderson will likely re-sign...
Yesterday, I weighed in on two of Saturday’s non tender players; Jack Cust and Garrett Atkins. This morning, there are several new additions to the free agent market. The following players were non tendered by their former team before last nights midnight deadline. Matt Capps, RP – Capps would be an interesting reliever to consider for the Mets. Only 26 years old, it was surprising...
