Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets (35-19) took on the Dodgers (35-17) Friday night for game two of a four-game series in Los Angeles. The Dodgers won game one 2-0 and were the first team to shut out the Mets this year. New York was hoping for a better game on offense this time around. Unfortunately, it was the Dodgers’ bats that were hot, and the Mets’ offense stayed quiet, leading to a 6-1 victory for the Dodgers.

Chris Bassitt had an interesting start for the Mets. He pitched well for the most part but gave up two-run homers in the second and fourth innings. After former Met Justin Turner reached on a base hit to right field to start the second inning, Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run shot. In the fourth inning, Bellinger reached first on an error by Eduardo Escobar. One out later, recently called up Dodger DH Zach McKinstry hit a two-run homer and the Dodgers had all the runs they needed to win, though they would tack on runs later.

Bassitt tossed his first one-two-three inning in the fifth inning. That allowed him to stay in for the sixth inning after throwing 93 pitches through five innings. He got the first out and then walked Bellinger, Bassitt’s second walk of the night. Bassitt then struck out the next two batters, bringing his strikeout total to eight, matching his season high. His final line was four runs on six hits in six innings of work.

Joely Rodriguez was the first reliever up for the Mets. He started the seventh inning and struck out two, with a base hit for Mookie Betts sandwiched in between. Stephen Nogosek came in to get the final out of the inning. Unfortunately, he was unable to retire Trea Turner and Betts, who had reached third earlier thanks to a stolen base and a wild pitch, scored on Turner’s infield single. Nogosek was able to recover and strike out Will Smith to end the inning.

Nogosek stayed in for the eighth inning. He retired the first two batters, but then gave up a solo home run to Chris Taylor, which made it 6-1 Dodgers. Taylor’s homer was also the Dodgers’ third homer of the night.

On the offensive side, the Mets’ bats were stifled again. Dodgers’ starter Tyler Anderson and his funky delivery had the New York hitters off balance all night. Unlike in Thursday’s game, the Mets were able to get the leadoff man on base in a couple of innings. Escobar singled leading off the third inning and J.D. Davis singled leading off the fifth inning. But Escobar was stranded at first, and Davis was erased by a double play.

It wasn’t until the seventh inning, when Anderson was out of the game, that the Mets were able to get a run across. Pete Alonso started the inning with a solo home run off the first pitch he saw from Dodgers reliever Yency Almonte. The Mets did not score again for the rest of the game. They threatened in the eighth, thanks to walks to Tomas Nido and Starling Marte. However, Francisco Lindor was unable to drive them in and grounded out for the final out of the inning. The Mets have been held to one run in 18 innings so far this series.

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Alonso scored the Mets’ first run in LA this year thanks to his seventh inning home run. In doing so he made sure the Mets avoided being shutout in back-to-back games. Alonso also played solid defense in the game. He made a great diving catch on a line drive in the fourth inning.

On Deck

The Mets and Dodgers meet again for game three Saturday night in LA. Game time is 10:10 p.m. ET. David Peterson is starting for the Mets, while Walker Buehler will take the mound for the Dodgers. The game will be on SNY.

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The Mets thought they were on the one-yard line with free agent starting pitcher Trevor Bauer on Thursday, but when Friday rolled along, he chose to take his talents to Los Angeles and join the Dodgers.

According to a report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post, multiple sources informed the paper that at a point during the last 24 hours leading up to the deal, the Mets felt they had agreed upon terms for a contract, and were working with one of Bauer’s agents, John Fetterolf, to complete the move.

“A source said that Mets president Sandy Alderson, who has been involved with three organizations over the past four decades, felt he had never proceeded to this extent of negotiations and not finalized the deal,” Sherman said in the article.

The Mets and Dodgers had similar offers to Bauer, but the California native decided on a homecoming and released his decision via his YouTube channel.

Leading up to his announcement, Bauer’s Linktree and website briefly made it seem as though he was going to be heading to Flushing, by posting merchandise that was Mets related. It was shortly taken down, but not before fans saw it and were under the impression he had made a decision.

On Sunday night, Bauer penned a statement to Mets fans in a series of Tweets, which can be found below:

Mets fans, I owe you an explanation and apology.

My intention this entire offseason was to engage with fans in ways that made the off season and free agent process more interesting. I woke up early on Friday not knowing what my decision would be and spent the next 5 hours on

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) February 8, 2021

Bauer’s agent, Rachel Luba, also doubled down on his statement, saying no one felt more awful than her client for what happened.

When (Trevor) discovered what happened w/ his merch while we were finishing the negotiations, nobody felt shittier about it than him,” Luba said. “It was very important to him that he took the time to understand the mistake & give your fan base a sincere explanation & apology.”

Regardless of Bauer’s intentions being legitimate or not, it could work as a blessing for the Mets, who now won’t have $40 million this year tied to one player, who also comes with personal baggage off the field.

To read more about my thoughts on the deal (or lack thereof) please follow this link.

The post Trevor Bauer Pens Statement After Rebuffing Mets, Fans on Friday appeared first on Metsmerized.

The top starting pitcher on the open market this winter, Trevor Bauer, pulled a Lebron James mini on Friday, by announcing via his YouTube channel that he is taking his talents to Los Angeles to join the Dodgers.

The Mets offered Bauer more money to try and entice him away from the West Coast, but the California native and UCLA product had his heart set on a homecoming.

While Bauer would have given New York arguably the best rotation in the game, him spurning the Mets isn’t the end of the world — in fact, it could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

For one, we learned that the Mets are willing to exceed the luxury tax threshold, as Bauer’s deal had he signed with New York would have paid him upwards of $40 million in year one.

That money can now be used to fill other holes around the diamond, including some outfield reinforcements, a more cost effective starter, and potentially another infielder or reliever.

For the sake of brevity, I won’t delve too deep into Bauer’s off field persona. However, it is worth mentioning that issues such as him harrassing a college woman on Twitter a couple of years ago, and antics like throwing a ball over the center field fence when being pulled from a game in addition to his consistent activity on Twitter and YouTube would have become more magnified if he struggled in the heat of the bright lights.

These are just a few examples of Bauer’s past issues, but regardless, it’s not something the Mets have to worry about now. They made their offer, and Bauer made his decision. It’s time now to set their sights on wrapping up what has been an extremely productive offseason from a transaction standpoint.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how this benefits the Mets

Possible extensions looming

Had the Mets inked Bauer to such a lucrative deal, it could have made matters tight in extending some of their in-house talent, especially with second baseman Robinson Cano‘s contract hitting the books again next winter.

The Mets have shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Michael Conforto and starting pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman slated to hit the open market next offseason and should realistically try to retain them all.

It’s feasible to believe that Lindor will reach an extension with the Mets as the team had faith that would ultimately come to fruition upon trading for him. Conforto as well has been an integral part of the Mets offensive success in recent years and is a homegrown star who seems to have mutual interest in returning.

As for Syndergaard and Stroman, not landing Bauer gives the Mets an opportunity to retain both, though even if they re-sign one of them, it would impact the rotation big time going forward.

Had Bauer opted out of his deal with the Mets after year one, the team might not have had to worry about anything, but had he opted in to his contract, keeping these four core guys would be a pipe dream.

Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Flexibility

Signing Bauer to a record breaking deal would have likely handcuffed the Mets from addressing other needs around the diamond this winter.

That would have meant going into the season without adding more outfield help, another infielder and potentially bullpen reinforcements.

There are still a few appealing options on the open market the Mets can now shift their attention to, including starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi, outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr., Albert Almora or a fallback option in Jake Marisnick, an infielder like Justin Turner and a bunch of low-cost, high-reward relievers.

Ideally, center field should be their top priority now, for one to allow Brandon Nimmo to move to a corner spot and additionally to provide the team some extra padding. Currently, Guillermo Heredia and Mallex Smith are about the extent of the Mets’ backup outfield options.

Splurging on Justin Turner on a one-year deal would also allow the team to use J.D. Davis in a more limited capacity instead of trotting him out defensively where he is a liability on a daily basis.

The team could realistically go into the season with a rotation as is, but the old adage of baseball proves that one can never have enough pitching. Odorizzi would round out the Mets’ starters and give them a solid and serviceable No. 5.

Apart from the free agent market, the Mets have also been linked to Chicago Cubs’ third baseman Kris Bryant this winter, and this could pave the way to try and engage in a deal for him again.

***

Overall, the Mets have already had a solid winter, and fanning on Bauer doesn’t change that. Also, they are likely to still add some supplemental pieces to tie the team together, which might not have been possible if they put all their eggs in one basket.

Signing Bauer would have given the Mets a historically good rotation on paper, but it wasn’t a do or die transaction. Now it’s time to get to work and execute on plan’s B and C.

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