Good morning, Mets Fans!

Matching up against Jack Flaherty won’t be an easy task for Marcus Stroman, but the 5’10” right-hander will look to do his best. This will be Stroman’s third outing of the spring. The game will be televised on ESPN at 1:10 p.m.

Jeff McNeil hit a first-inning tater and Noah Syndergaard looked sharp in his third spring outing, but the Marlins were able to defeat the Mets 6-1 yesterday.

Andres Gimenez knocked another extra-base hit; the 21-year-old has a 1.010 OPS this spring.

Latest Mets News

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported that J.D. Davis is progressing ahead of schedule. Davis suffered a jammed left should last week and he just started baseball activities.

Pete Alonso did a meet and greet with some members of the Wounded Warrior Project in Florida.

Dellin Betances is ready for a healthy 2020 campaign, wrote Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News.

However, Betances’s velocity is reportedly currently not near the levels that he had during his heyday with the Yankees.

Ben Clemens of Fangraphs argues that Amed Rosario is worth the wait.

Keith Law of The Athletic and MLB Pipeline released their top Mets prospect lists.

Latest MLB News 

Christian Yelich inked a monster seven-year extension with the Brewers, adding more than 190 million dollars to his current deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic broke the news.

Sports Info Solutions released an update to the Defensive Runs Saved metric.

Major League Baseball and Google have agreed to use the Google Cloud going forward. This deal replaces Amazon Web Service as the primary data storage partner for Major League Baseball.

Chris Sale will visit Dr. James Andrews after receiving an MRI for his ailing elbow, per Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald.

Brian Cashman believes that Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will not be ready for Opening Day.

Zack Britton told George King III of The New York Post that he is concerned about the threat coronavirus poses to Major-League Baseball players.

Latest NL East News 

Jay Jaffe of Fangraphs previews the Braves’ rotation depth.

Latest on MMO

Matt Mancuso wondered what can be done to fix Robert Gsellman.

Robert Correa analyzed MMO’s No.10 ranked Mets prospect: right-hander Josh Wolf.

On This Date in Mets History

Birthdays: Jack Fisher (81), Tom Grieve (72)

Let’s go Mets!

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Good Morning Mets Fans!

The Mets continue their west-coast road trip with Steven Matz (3-3, 3.53 ERA) taking the mound. He’ll be opposed by Rich Hill (1-1, 2.57 ERA)The game can be viewed on SNY and WCBS 880 at 10:10 p.m.

Jacob deGrom battled through five effective innings to keep the Mets in the game, but the bullpen blew in the sixth inning. The duo of Tyler Bashlor and Daniel Zamora permitted six runs and at one point, allowed eight consecutive batters to reach base.

Latest Mets News 

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes that Robinson Cano appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a left quad strain.

Max’s Sporting Studio looked at why Noah Syndergaard hasn’t found his previous success in 2019.

Down in the Mets’ farm, Arquimedes Caminero instigated a bench-clearing incident by throwing a pitch up-and-in to Mike Ford, a day after Ford homered.

The Syracuse Mets announced that Sean Burnett has retired.

Latest MLB News 

Bill Buckner, a 22-year-old Major-League veteran and folk hero in Mets’ postseason lore, passed away at 69 yesterday.

The Astros placed Aledmys Díaz on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain and called up Jack Mayfield from Triple-A Round Rock.

After leaving his last start pre-maturely, Diamondbacks manager Tory Lovullo announced that starter Luke Weaver has been diagnosed with a forearm strain.

The Pirates acquired Yefry Ramirez from the Orioles in exchange for cash considerations or a PTBNL.

The Rockies put Charlie Blackmon on the 10-day IL with a right calf issue.

Dustin Pedroia disclosed to reporters that he is uncertain if he’ll ever return to the diamond.

Latest NL East News 

Jim Salisbury of NBCSports detailed Bryce Harper‘s offensive struggles.

Craig Mish of SiriusXM tweets out that several teams are showing interested in the Marlins’ Jose Urena

Latest on MMO

Joe D took a moment to honor veterans on Memorial Day.

John Sheridan praised Anthony Kay.

Pat Ragazzo looked at how the rest of the NL East is doing.

Mathew Brownstein interviewed Emily Waldon of The Athletic.

Tim Ryder looks at what Dominic Smith brings the table.

Matt Musico wonders why Steven Matz is so frustrating at times.

Mike Silva published the latest edition of Talkin’ Met.

On this date in Mets history 

2006: Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez won in his Mets debut, defeating the Marlins 7-3.

Birthdays: Ryota Igarashi (41), Mike Difelice (51),

Let’s Go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Matz vs Dodgers in Battle of Lefties appeared first on Metsmerized.

Good morning, Mets fans!

The 114th World Series will kick off tonight as the Dodgers and the Red Sox will play Game 1 at 8:09 p.m. Chris Sale will toe the rubber against the Dodgers longtime ace Clayton Kershaw. The game can be viewed on Fox.

Latest Mets News

Yesterday, there were lots of developments on the Mets GM situation.

Matt Ehalt of The Record heard that the Mets have nixed Kim Ng and Casey Close from their GM search. Even though he was a candidate, Close never interviewed for the position.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com confirmed this while adding that Doug Melvin, Chaim Bloom and Brodie Van Wagenen are the three finalists for the job. Van Wagenen conducted his second-round interview yesterday per Ehalt.

Scott Boras didn’t give a great recommendation for Mr. Van Wagenen, saying agents should stay away from front office positions.

Mike Puma of The New York Post bets on former Brewers GM Doug Melvin being hired for the position.

Joe Torre advocated for Ng’s hiring, writes Tim Healey of Newsday.

Kristie Ackert of The NY Daily News described the significant obstacle that the Mets next GM will have to face. (Hint: It rhymes with Bed Milpon)

Latest MLB News

The Twins managerial search entered its second round.

The Diamondbacks made the first notable signing of the offseason, inking infielder Eduardo Escobar to a three-year, $21 million deal. 

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted out that Dave Roberts‘ 2019 option is worth $1.1 million. 

Knuckleballer Steven Wright is expected to be added to the Red Sox’s World Series roster. He was removed from the ALDS roster after suffering a knee injury. 

The Giants outrighted five players, including Travis d’Arnaud‘s brother, Chase d’Arnaud.

Latest NL East News

The Marlins made their signing of Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr official. The elder Mesa received a $5.25 million signing bonus while his brother collected a $1 million signing bonus.

MLB Pipeline ranks Victor Victor No.1 among Marlins farmhands while Mesa Jr is unranked.

Latest on MMO

John Sheridan analyzed Charlie Morton’s free agency.

Sheridan also talked about the Mets players that are participating in the Arizona Fall League.

Matt Musico wondered which backstops could land in Queens on a cheap deal.

On This Date in Mets History

The Red Sox took a commanding 3-2 lead in the 1986 World Series, defeating the Mets 4-2. Man, it would be a shame for Red Sox fans if an iconic World Series moment happened in the next game that gave the Mets a ton of momentum going into Game 7. 

Birthdays: Kaz Matsui (43), Al Leiter (53), Randy Tate (67).

Let’s go Mets!

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Free Shirt Fridays have become a staple in the Mets’ annual promotional schedule. It’s been one of their longer-tenured promotions that has been a hit both in the stands and on TV, as SNY often puts its focus on the shirts given out.

But let’s be real: Nobody wears these shirts to make a fashion statement. These are the kind of shirts you wear to the gym, or the kind that you throw to your girlfriend who has zero interest in baseball when you drag her out to Citi Field. Or, they’re the kind of shirts you cut the sleeves off of. Now that’s a fashion statement.

The shirts are always way oversized, and some of them don’t even look all that nice. But this year’s lineup looks pretty promising and some of them actually do look pretty cool. So here’s your definitive power rankings of 2017 Free Shirt Fridays:

No. 13 – Sept. 22: NY Mets: New York’s Favorite Team

Not only is this shirt overtly bland, but you have to be delusional to think that the Mets are New York’s favorite team. Even the most die-hard of the Mets’ faithful would acknowledge this. Realistically, they’re New York’s fourth or fifth favorite team, depending on how you count the Rangers. It’s a good thing most Free Shirt Friday shirts don’t look like this, otherwise this promotion would probably not be going anywhere.

No. 12 – .July 14: New York

The Mets are trying way too hard to be “hip with the youngsters and the rap music” with this one. No Supreme-wearing Drake fan is going to wear this shirt. And it’s way too generic.

No. 11 – June 16: Tie-Dye NY Logo

Tie-dye is never a good look for anyone. Except maybe Bill Walton.

No. 10 – Sept. 8: Let’s Go Mets

As far as the generic-looking Free Shirt Friday shirts go, this one is actually not the worst. It utilizes the team’s original color scheme pretty well, and “Let’s Go Mets” is a perfect shirt to be wearing to a Mets game.

No. 9 – August 18: NY Logo Mania

Three whole Mets logos. That design is actually kind of cool.

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No. 8 – August 4: Blue Jersey

This is the kind of shirt that looks really good in theory, but may not work as well in practice. Considering that most of these shirts tend to be cheaply made and oversized, the shirt probably won’t look like a jersey on most fans– as it does in this picture. Either way, it’s a pretty cool concept for one of the better Mets’ alternate jerseys.

No. 7 – June 2: Ultimate DeGrom

If I knew nothing about baseball or Jacob deGrom, I’d think this was a really weird shirt. Why is a guy holding a baseball next to some loose locks of hair, all pitted against an orange and blue background?  But if you do know about baseball, this is actually a pretty cool design.

No. 6 – July 21: Back In Black

The Mets have essentially abandoned their black jersey over the last five years, and that’s a shame. That look defined the late-90s-early-00s look that many young Mets fans look back on fondly, and they should at least wear it as an alternate. That’s why it’s cool to see the Mets at least kind of bring back the black shirt– even if it is only in a Free Shirt Friday capacity.

The neon look also bears a loose resemblance to the neon players that were showcased outside of Shea Stadium– a quintessential part of the Mets’ old home.

No. 5 – April 21: Run, Reyes, Run!

The Mets’ all-time stolen base leader gets his own free shirt for the first time to commemorate his speed.

No. 4 –  April 7: There’s no Place Like Home

This is fitting, especially since it will be the Mets’ first free shirt of the season, and since it’ll probably be pretty cold out when the game is played in April.

No. 3 – May 19: Up The Middle

Imagine someone wearing an Edgardo Alfonzo and Rey Ordonez “Up the Middle” t-shirt now. That’s so vintage. That’s also how people will look at someone wearing this shirt in 20 years.

No. 2 – June 30: Cespedes Necklace

This is a really out-of-the-box concept. If only they could have made this with a neon green sleeve to match too…

No. 1 – May 5: The Totally not “Thor” Noah Syndergaard T-Shirt

This shirt has no direct references to the Marvel superhero, as to not get into any copyright troubles. But it has just enough indirect ones so that fans know what they mean.

Syndergaard’s Norse god features are captured very well in this shirt. The 17 pounds of added muscle. The flowing locks. The lightning bolt. If only this shirt had a way to capture his Twitter game, then it could go down as one of the greatest in Free Shirt Friday history.

The post The Definitive 2017 Free Shirt Friday Power Rankings appeared first on Metsmerized.

An MMO Fan Shot by Robert Walsh

Just wanted to get your thoughts as to what you think about the prospects and value of a strong 1-year pillow contract offer to Yoenis Cespedes. A strong $24-$26 million, one-year deal may be enough for him at the going rate.

It doesn’t sound as if he is going to get that 6-year/$150 million he’s looking for and next year’s free agent class is by far less crowded than this one meaning he may be better positioned to land the nine figure prize he and his agents are aiming for.

Also the Tigers, Angels and White Sox (notably the likeliest of all remaining landing spots) are all on the record touting that they would not go beyond a three year deal for him.

Given Cespedes’ age the time is ticking for him to cash in on that monstrous deal. A three year deal puts him in a bad spot to land his optimum value over the next six years. He may be willing to decline a three year deal somewhere for the prospect of proving his haters wrong and cashing in on that Powerball of a payday a year from now. If he took a three-year deal he would be 33 at the end of it.

I am also a strong proponent of what the Mets did with Neil Walker on getting players with one year left who are motivated for a large payday. You get a very high quality player seeking to prove themselves worthy of that sweet multiyear deal AND also very importantly a declined qualifying offer at the end of the year resulting in a high draft pick.

I would also argue that of the next six years, the Mets would likely be getting and paying for the most productive year for Cespedes (and Walker) at a much more affordable rate.

If Cespedes were to be open to a one-year offer wouldn’t it make sense for him to strongly consider a showcase spot with his most recent team? A team that just landed him an opportunity to show his talents off on the largest stage in baseball (obviously with regrettable outcomes)?

If he were to be amenable to a one year showcase it would behoove him to choose a team that is on the upside with a strong potential for a deep playoff run and almost equally important a weak division to play in.

The Mets may be in budget mode, but I like this deal for them. They could either hang on to the rest of their outfield or get smart and try to flip an asset like Juan Lagares or Alejandro De Aza (with his agreement) for a lock-down type arm to pair with Jeurys Familia for late inning relief.

This also adds the power bat that is still very much needed to protect the rest of the lineup and drive in runs. So while we have an an elite pitching staff, if we want to win games we will still need a lineup that can put up three or four runs a night – a valuable lesson from 2015 – if we want to be any better than .500.

Our coveted pitching staff is only going to be bargain basement cheap for another 2-3 years depending on when ownership gets smart and starts locking at least some of them up. Subject for another day… The time is now for the defending NL Champion Mets to spend like the team we are and pony up for that one or two extra pieces we need to ensure we are once again playing November baseball. Let’s Go Mets get this done already!!!

* * * * * * * *

This Fan Shot was contributed by Robert Walsh. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Met fans who read this site daily.

Send your Fan Shot to FanShot@MetsmerizedOnline.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

The post Featured Post: Mets Should Make Cespedes An Aggressive One-Year Offer appeared first on Metsmerized.

I love that so many fans are so inspired about our Mets right now that many of them are charged up and motivated to create some truly fantastic graphics and artwork, phenomenal sculptures, and dramatic videos and songs to celebrate the team and their amazing postseason run to a World Series Championship.

I wish I could post all of the incredible and uniquely inspired stuff that fans have been emailing me over the last two weeks. This stuff is all so cool. And please keep it coming!

On Friday when one of my writers asked me if I would post a Mets video by his dear friends, a wonderful rendition of Danny Boy dedicated to Daniel Murphy by Irish singer Maxine Linehan, the video went viral the next day and I received two wonderful thank you notes from Maxine and her husband Andrew.

I have another special treat for you this morning straight from the MMO Community, created by one of our own Omid Malekan a true Mets die-hard. This is the perfect video to get you energized for tomorrow night’s big game. I’m sure you will all love it. It’s called The Space Between, a dramatic video that will leave you profoundly proud and emotionally inspired for our New York Mets.

Please enjoy it and Let’s Go Mets..

The post Watch: Must See Mets Tribute Video appeared first on Metsmerized.

The New York Mets travel to Disney to face the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday at 1:05 PM.

Bartolo Colon gets the start for the Mets and opposes Julio Teheran for the Braves.

Buddy Carlyle, Akeel Morris, and Hansel Robles are also scheduled to pitch.

Travis d’Arnaud returns to the starting lineup after missing three games with a cut on his left ring finger.

Matt Harvey is expected to throw 50 pitches, roughly 3-4 innings in his start tomorrow, says Dan Warthen.

Unfortunately, the game is not on TV or radio. Boo, Hiss… So GameDay it is… Or you know what we can do, we can use this thread as an official bitching session? I jest, I jest…

Mets Lineup

1. Juan Lagares, cf
2. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, lf
3. Wilmer Flores, ss
4. John Mayberry Jr., dh
5. Travis d’Arnaud, c
6. Eric Campbell, 1b
7. Alex Castellanos, 3b
8. Cesar Puello, rf
9. Dilson Herrera, 2b

Let’s Go Mets, Wherever You Are…

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Braves, 1:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

In 2013, Parnell became the closer for a Mets team that would go on to win 74 games, just five more than the 2014 Mets have right now. He appeared in 49 games last season, saving 22 games and pitching to an incredible 2.16 ERA. Mejia has had a very similar season in 2014. He’s appeared in 48 games as a reliever, saving 24 games with a 3.21 ERA.

On Opening Day of 2014 Parnell injured his arm and soon after underwent Tommy John Surgery. Now he’s on the way back and the Mets front office is looking at a stacked bullpen heading into next season. The real question is who should be the closer?

The old adage that you can’t lose your job to an injury should be thrown out in this instance. Parnell was not the established closer of this team and should be competing for the job when he gets back to work in the spring. While the two young guns, Black and Familia would be really fun to watch as closers, Mejia needs to win the job from the start.

Unlike Black and Familia, but very similar to Parnell, Mejia has been jerked around a lot by the Mets. He was a starter, then a reliever, then a starter again. He underwent Tommy John Surgery in May of 2011. Since being installed as the closer after a few starts in 2014, Mejia has settled down. He’s started to learn how to pitch in the 9th, instead of just throwing.

Instead of just using incredible stuff like Parnell does, Mejia seems to feel the moment. He throws the right off speed pitch to the right guy and always knows when to revert to the fastball. When he reacts at the end of a game you can feel the energy. The bigger the save, the bigger the celebration. If you think any save has been big this year, just wait until next year.

The real reason Mejia needs to remain the closer heading into next season isn’t about his post-game celebrations. It’s because he’s got the job right now. There’s no way to know how Mejia would react to setting up for any of the other three. He might slip back on old habits and the Mets can’t afford that. We know that Black and Familia know how to pitch in the 7th and 8th. Moving any of those parts creates a recipe for potential disaster.

Only Parnell should be able to truly challenge for the position. If he comes back healthy, he and Mejia will likely battle for the spot. Similar to the Jets quarterback situation this season, I would guess that Mejia will have to lose the job, as Geno Smith would have had to, as opposed to Parnell (or Mike Vick) winning it.

Here’s a toast to having these types of problems moving forward! Let’s Go Mets.

The post Why Jenrry Mejia Should Be The 2015 Opening Day Closer appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were in town this week, taking 2 out of 3 games against the Mets. This was a fun series, that pictured two well pitched games on Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll even go so far as to say Wednesday night’s game was one of the most enjoyable ball games I’ve watched in a while.

Where’s The Spin: No doubt about who would lead of this edition. Jordany Valdespin wins the only game the Mets took in the series and then tells reporters afterward that the team won the game because of Mike Baxter‘s hustle. Nice. But, how come he was not in the lineup after hitting a dramatic game winning grand slam home run in the tenth inning the previous night?

Wright On: Wright gets a nod for his game tying hit in the ninth inning on Wednesday night. Wright did exactly what a captain should do. The Dodgers had some mojo going after Jerry Hairston‘s great catch on Daniel Murphy. Wright stepped up, two out Baxter on third and promptly laces a single to center. So much for the non-clutch label.

Heff Deserved Better: Jeremy Hefner pitched a gem on Thursday afternoon, going seven innings, giving up one run, three hits, and four strikeouts. Job well done, Jeremy. Unfortunately, he got no run support. Let’s hope he can string some back to back quality starts together.

Mattingly’s Moves: In the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s game, Donny Baseball decide to use an extra infielder, and play with only two outfielders. The problem I have with this, is it took way too long for the Dodgers to get set on defense. As Ron Darling mentioned on SNY, Terry should be out complaining about the delay. Second head-scratcher from Mattingly was using his ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw as a pinch hitter to bunt. I get it, Kershaw is a very good bunter. But, the Dodgers pitching staff has been hit hard with injuries, so why risk getting your ace injured on a bunt play? Is Donny that desperate to save his job?

Post Game Celebrations: Joe D. had a post here on Thursday about the pie in Valdespin’s face on Wednesday night being a cheap shot. Looking at it live, I didn’t realize it, but then saw Joe was 100% correct upon further review. There was more behind the pie incident than we fans will ever know about. Joe called for an apology, was criticized for it, but that’s exactly what Valdespin and the team got. Buck assembled them all before yesterday’s game and apologized to the team and then turned to Valdespin and said he was sorry in Spanish. Valdespin accepted, shook hands with Buck, and the matter is over. I don’t like the pie in the face, and I also don’t like the entire team crowding around home plate after a walk off home run like a bunch of little leaguers.

Where’s His Edge: On Tuesday, sophomore reliever Josh Edgin worked 1/3 of an inning, giving up four hits and two runs. On the season Edgin is 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA. Not good enough. His fastball has no life, his slider is flat, and it may be time to consider a trip to Vegas because he is not helping the team right now.

The Phillies are in town this weekend. Chase, Ryan, Cole, J-Roll….all our old friends enemies . Lets hope for the best, and Let’s Go Mets.

The post 3 Up & 3 Down: Those Darn Dodgers Edition appeared first on Metsmerized.

She says, ” I would like to bring your attention to a great film called Let’s Go Mets, which documents the Mets team of the 80s, especially the 86 World Series winning team. ”

Here is a preview clip:

Watch more free documentaries

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