The Kingsport Mets did not know it at the time, but the conclusion of their 2019 season would end up being their last. After Kingsport spent 99 years in the Appalachian League as a professional baseball team, the Appy League will transition to a wooden-bat league for college players in 2021. The new collegiate summer baseball league will be for the nation’s top rising college freshmen and...
On this day in 2010, which believe it or not was now 10 years ago, the Mets drafted a former college shortstop by the name of Jacob deGrom in the ninth round. And the rest was history. The right-handed thrower was strictly a shortstop during his freshman season at Stetson, then pitched in only one game as a sophomore before making 17 appearances (12 starts) as a junior. DeGrom, of course, jumped...
Thursday was a rough one for Major League Baseball with multiple teams releasing a significant amount of minor leaguers. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that there could be upwards of 1,000 minor leaguers released over the week. The Mets released 39 players on Thursday according to Mike Mayer of MMO. One of those players is pitcher Andrew Church and he shared his thoughts about the Mets system on...
No. 1 Ronny Mauricio, SS B/T: S/R Age: 19 (4/4/2001) Height: 6’3″ Weight: 166 lbs Acquired: Signed as International Free Agent During The 2017-2018 IFA Signing Period ETA: 2022 2019 Stats: .268/.307/.357, 20 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 4.6 BB%, 14.6 K%, 93 wRC+ Chris Becerra and the rest of the Mets international scouting team have done a brilliant job identifying and signing high-upside Latin...
Former Mets’ area scouting supervisor Jon Updike believes in paying it forward. As a former 28th-round pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 1993 MLB Draft, Updike reflects fondly on the scout, John Ramey, who took the chance on him as a reliever and offered Updike all he could ask for: an opportunity. After his professional playing career was over, in which he spent time with the Mariners,...
25. Daison Acosta, RHP B/T: R/R Age: 21 (08/24/1998) Height: 6’2” Weight: 160 Acquired: International Free Agent (07/2016) $70K ETA: 2022 Previous Rank: N/A 2019 Stats (Brooklyn, Columbia): 3.06 ERA 1.28 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9, 9.4 K/9, 3.72 FIP At No. 25 we have starting pitcher Daison Acosta. He began the year in Brooklyn and showed immediate success at the level, with an impressive 0.98 ERA...
The Columbia Fireflies have announced that they have hired Reid Brignac to manage the team. Also, Jerome Williams (pitching coach) and Mariano Duncan (hitting coach) will join their coaching staff. Andy Martino of SNY reported earlier on Wednesday that the Mets have also brought back former scouting director Chad MacDonald. Brignac, 33, played nine years in the Major Leagues for the Rays,...
The Mets opened this decade with the terrific first-round pick of right-handed pitcher Matt Harvey from the University of North Carolina with the No. 7 overall pick and finished the decade with prep third baseman Brett Baty from Austin, Texas at No. 12 this year. While it still remains to be seen how a lot of these picks will be evaluated overall, the Mets did a solid job in the 2010s of getting...
According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has his eyes on acquiring a catcher this offseason, specifically a defensive-minded one with upside. While Cherington says the team is interested in signing a catcher, he does not rule out acquiring one via trade. Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic reports that no one on the current Pirates roster, a list that...
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Joey Cora has met multiple times with the Mets and is seen as a strong candidate for their open bench coach position. Cora, older brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora, is currently the third base coach for the Pirates, a role he’s held for three seasons. He also serves as the club’s infield coach and was a manager in 2016 of their Double-A...
Joey Cora Previous Position: Pirates Third Base Coach (2017 – 2019) Age: May 14, 1965 (54) Managerial Experience: Altoona Curve (2016), Tiburones de la Guaira (2005-2006), Savannah Sand Gnats (2003), Kingsport Mets (2001-2002) Believe it or not, there is someone available who had a hand in shaping David Wright’s career. That person is Cora, who started his professional coaching...
Francisco Alvarez Teams Played For: GCL Mets/Kingsport Mets Age: 17 (November 19, 2001) Traditional Stats: 42 GB, 157 AB, 10 2B, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 32 R, 21 BB, . 263/.330/.514, .844 OPS Advanced Stats: .391 wOBA, 143 wRC+ My oh my, what a year Francisco Alvarez had. In 2018, the Mets signed the 17-year-old backstop out of Venezuela with the expectation that he’d need plenty of time to develop....
