Big news from late night/early morning: Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the San Francisco Giants signed third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million extension. Chapman will be under contract with the Giants through the 2030 season.

Chapman was likely to opt-out of his contract this offseason to become a free agent, but now leaves the expected third basemen market this offseason to Alex Bregman and not much else.

The Mets came into Wednesday night’s matchup looking for a clean three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, and they came up big. Jesse Winker started the game with a boom as he hit a first-inning grand slam to put the Mets up 4-0 early. Tylor Megill went four-plus innings while giving up three runs in his start, but the Mets’ bullpen was stupendous, going five innings of shutout ball. The Mets pulled away late as the Red Sox bullpen lost all control, conceding four runs in the eighth inning, ultimately resulting in an 8-3 Mets win. Click here for a full game recap.

The Mets have now won their seventh game in a row, the longest active streak in MLB, and will have Thursday off as they prepare to host the Reds over the weekend. Sean Manaea is slated to open the series on Friday against the 67-73 Cincinnati Reds.

Wild Card Update

The Mets did not gain any ground on the third and final Wild Card spot on Wednesday as the Braves handled business against the Rockies. They remain a half game back.

The Padres and Diamondbacks both won as well. The Mets are 3.5 and 3.0 games behind them, respectively.

Latest Mets News

Kodai Senga, who has been on the IL with a left calf strain, threw 25 pitches off a mound with “noticeably increased intensity,” per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. DiComo added that Senga mentioned that he was transitioning his focus from leg rehab to getting his arm back in game shape.

Staying on Kodai Senga, Andy Martino of SNY.com reported that the Mets organization is increasingly optimistic that Senga will be able to return as a starting pitcher in 2024.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that the Mets expect to get starting pitcher Paul Blackburn back from the IL during their Blue Jays series early next week.

1969 World Series champion Cleon Jones joined the “Erik Sherman Show” podcast to detail the 1960s Mets’ rise from losers to champions.

Mets outfield prospect Drew Gilbert blasted his sixth home run in his last 13 games for Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday night.

Mets assistant GM Ian Levin will be leaving the organization at the end of the season after 20 years with the club, per Andy Martino of SNY. 

The Mets continue to honor former chief photographer Marc Levine, who suddenly passed away on July 4. On Wednesday, Jay Horowitz announced that the club dedicated the first base well to Levine.

Noah Syndergaard joined the “Terry Collins Show” podcast to catch up with his old manager and talk about their memorable times in Queens.

Latest MLB News

MLB released the schedule and club assignments for the 2025 Arizona Fall League, by Brendan Samson of MLB.com. Mets prospects will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions, with the season starting on Oct. 7.

The Chicago Cubs placed former All-Star pitcher Justin Steele on the 15-day IL with left elbow tendinitis, retroactive to September 1. The Cubs’ ace southpaw said he vows to return before the end of the season.

The Cubs also placed former Mets RHP Jorge López on the 15-day IL with a right groin strain, retroactive to September 3. 

Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will make his return off the IL on Tuesday, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Yamamoto has been on the injured list since June 16 with a right triceps injury.

Cubs pitchers Shōta Imanaga, Nate Pearson, and Porter Hodge combined to throw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Imanaga started the game with seven no-hit innings before handing the ball to Pearson and Hodge after throwing 95 pitches.

The Texas Rangers placed star shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day IL with right hip discomfort.

Elvis Andrus will officialy retire as a Texas Ranger on Friday, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Andrus spent 12 of his 15 big league seasons with the Rangers, and will be honored on Friday as he will be throwing out the first pitch as the Angels and Elvis’ first big league manager Ron Washington will return to Texas.

Latest on MMO

Francisco Lindor continues his roaring MVP level pace.

The Mets’ bullpen has been lights out during their winning streak.

A Kodai Senga return continues to look more likely.

On This Date in Mets History

2015: Bartolo Colón makes a jaw-dropping behind-the-back toss to throw out Justin Bour at first base. In this start, the 42-year-old Colón became the oldest Met to pitch a shutout and extended his scoreless inning streak to 25.

1969: Tom Seaver throws a complete game en route to becoming the first Met to win 20 games in a season.

1963: The Mets sign outfielder Ron Swoboda for $35,000. Swoboda would end up being a key piece to the Mets 1969 World Series team; hitting .400 in the World Series while making a miraculous grab in game 4 and driving in the game-winning run in game 5. 

Born on This Date: Pablo Reyes (1993), Chris Young (1983), Matt Watson (1978), Rod Barajas (1975)

The post Morning Briefing: Matt Chapman Signs Six-Year Extension With Giants appeared first on Metsmerized.

On Wednesday, one of the great first basemen of the 21st century officially hung up his cleats. In an Instagram post where he gave thanks to all those that helped him during his career, longtime Red Joey Votto called it a career. Votto played all 17 of his major league seasons in Cincinnati since being called up in 2007, racking up six All-Star appearances, one Gold Glove Award and an MVP.

Votto was a wizard at the plate, always finding a way to get on base. During his prime, it was a virtual guarantee that he would hold a batting average north of .300 by the end of the season and was a walk machine, leading the NL in OBP seven times. Despite signing a minor league deal with the Blue Jays prior to the 2024 season, he never made it to the majors this year and will end as a career-long Red.

It was also another exciting day in Flushing on Wednesday. If Monday’s finish wasn’t enthralling enough, the Mets had more in store on Wednesday. Despite giving seven solid innings, Sean Manaea left the game with the eventual tying run on base. However, Jesse Winker was there to save the day; Winker sent his first home run as a Met over the left field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mets a 4-3 win over the Orioles, securing a series win over the O’s. For more on the Mets’ late-inning theatrics, click here.

After going 5-4 during their homestand, the Mets will now swing back out to the West Coast to take on the Padres and Diamondbacks. Luis Severino (8-6, 3.91 ERA) will be on the mound for Thursday night’s 9:40 p.m. start against Padres ace Dylan Cease (12-9, 3.46 ERA) to kick off the four-game weekend series in San Diego. The Mets currently stand 1.5 games behind the Braves for the third Wild Card spot.

Latest Mets News

Jett Williams went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in his first rehab appearance for the St. Lucie Mets. He played seven solid innings at shortstop, including this sparkling play.

Jett Williams in his first rehab game for the St. Lucie Mets:

1-for-3, SB, played 7 innings at SS including this great play.

pic.twitter.com/FbtmTiSjU4

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) August 21, 2024

Former Mets manager Terry Collins is hosting a Mets pre-game party on Saturday before their game against the Padres. The event, which starts at 4 p.m., will be on 42nd Street by Grand Central and fans will be able to meet and watch the game with Collins.

Katie Honan of The City NY gave Mets fans insight into Citi Field’s SVP of ballpark operations, who makes game days run smoothly.

Comedian and writer Eitan Levine set the world record for the most first pitches in a season on Wednesday. With his first pitch at Citi Field, he threw out his 40th and record-breaking first pitch. 

Mets top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat struggled in his third start for Triple-A Syracuse: 5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

Latest MLB News

The St. Louis Cardinals optioned INF Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis and recalled INF José Fermín from Triple-A. The once top prospect Gorman has struggled this season, with a slash line of .203/.271/.400.

Atlanta Braves left-handed reliever A.J. Minter underwent left hip surgery on Wednesday and will be out for the remainder of the 2024 season. 

Johnny Cueto made his 2024 debut on Wednesday and was given a standing ovation by the Kansas City crowd after giving up three runs in 6 1/3 innings. While Cueto was pitching for the Angels, Mets fans know all too well how important he was for the Royals in their 2015 World Series season. 

Royals fans don't forget Johnny Cueto's contributions to the 2015 team 👏 pic.twitter.com/diuKWtUGKN

— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2024

The World Baseball Classic announced the pools and schedule for the 2026 WBC, which will start on March 5 of that year. The United States will be in Pool B with Mexico, Great Britain, Italy and another qualifier.

In his first start since June 9, Justin Verlander went 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, and 6 K in the Astros’ 4-1 loss to the Red Sox.

Yankees starting RHP Luis Gil was placed on the 15-day IL on Wednesday with a lower back strain. 

Latest on MMO

Jose Quintana’s August troubles continue to roll on. 

Mets propsect Nolan McLean dazzled in the Rumble Ponies Tuesday win.

Jesse Winker walk-off homer gives Mets the series win in electric fashion.

On This Date in Mets History

2006: Carlos Delgado blasts a grand slam into deep right field at Shea Stadium for his 400th career home run. Carlos Beltran finished that game by hitting a two-run walk-off home run off of Jason Isringhausen to beat the Cardinals, 8-7.

Birthdays: Darrin Jackson (61), Ike Hampton (73), Ray Burris (74)

The post Morning Briefing: Joey Votto Retires From Baseball appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets’ offense has come alive!

After a disappointing 10-game homestand against three west coast teams, the Mets turned things around quickly and will fly into London with a sweep in their back pocket. After scoring 14 runs in the first two games of their series against the Nationals, the Mets’ offense did not let up, scoring nine runs in a 9-1 sweep clinching victory over Washington. Newly acquired Luis Torrens went deep twice and Luis Severino diced up the Nats’ bats, going eight innings of one-run ball. For the full game breakdown, click here.

The Mets left for London after Wednesday night’s win and will have Thursday and Friday off before starting the London Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Ranger Suárez of the Phillies is expected to go up against Sean Manaea of the Mets at 1:10 p.m. ET in Saturday’s matchup.

Photo by: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Latest Mets News

All-Star Game voting opened on Wednesday. Click here to vote for your Mets!

Take a look at how London Stadium was turned into a baseball stadium for the Mets-Phillies series this upcoming weekend, via MLB Europe.

⚽️ Football ➡️ Baseball ⚾️

The London Stadium is #LondonSeries ready @MLB | @Mets | @Phillies pic.twitter.com/pgYLsxPrUJ

— MLB Europe (@MLBEurope) June 5, 2024

Starling Marte was scratched from the Met’s lineup on Wednesday with a right knee issue, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. DiComo noted that he received treatment, but the Mets are being cautious. Manager Carlos Mendoza said there is a “low level of concern right now” and he was available off the bench.

Manager Carlos Mendoza told the media that Edwin Díaz will pitch an inning for the Brooklyn Cyclones Thursday.

Mendoza also mentioned that the 27th player in London will either be Brett Baty or catcher Joe Hudson, per Mike Puma of the NY Post. RHP Cole Sulser will also be traveling with the team.

Right-handed relief pitcher Bryce Montes de Oca threw live BP recently and was hitting 96-98 mph, per Mike Mayer of Metsmerized Online. He is continuing to rehab from Tommy John surgery.

The Mets officially released Omar Narváez and Jorge López after they were both designated for assignment last week. Click here for the full report.

Six Mets, including Christian Scott and Jett Williams, crack Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects of 2024 list. Click here to see what other Mets prospects made the cut.

Franciso Alvarez was DH and batted second for the Brooklyn Cyclones on Wednesday morning. He went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Latest MLB News

Ranger Suárez is expected to get the ball for the Phillies in the first game of the London Series against the Mets on Saturday, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Suárez was hit in the hand with a 106 mph comebacker last Saturday.

The Houston Astros announced that both Cristian Javier and José Urquidy will be undergoing right elbow surgery. Both starting pitcher will miss the rest of the season.

The Chicago White Sox signed INF/OF Michael Chavis to a minor league deal, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Chavis most recently played for Washington in 2023.

Texas Rangers star shortstop Corey Seager left Wednesday night’s game with left hamstring tightness.

Latest on MMO

MMO is giving away three sets of FOCO Mets sunglasses. Retweet the Twitter post and follow MMO on Twitter/X to enter.

Dedniel Núñez has been coming up big.

Six Mets prospects crack Baseball America’s Top 100.

On This Date in Mets History

2022: Eduardo Escobar finishes off the 11th cycle in Mets history with a ninth inning triple off Tim Hill of the Padres.

2017: After giving up eight runs in four innings, manager Terry Collins consoles Jacob deGrom, who would go on to win two Cy Young Awards and have a historic run in the following years with the club.

2011: The Mets draft outfielder Brandon Nimmo from Cheyenne East High School in Wyoming with the 13th overall pick in the MLB draft.

2006: With the 394th pick in the MLB draft, the Mets select 3B Daniel Murphy from Jacksonville University.

Birthdays: Joey Lucchesi (31), Jesús Feliciano (45), David Lamb (49)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets’ Offense Explodes in Sweep of Nats appeared first on Metsmerized.

Regularly the smallest player on every organized team he played on, Collins realized that he could stand out by routinely playing harder than the rest.

Collins, 74, has spent over five decades in professional baseball. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 19th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft, he never appeared in the big leagues as a player. Collins soon understood that if he wanted to taste the life of a major leaguer, he would need to do so in a different way.

The baseball lifer worked his way up from managing in the minor leagues to earning a coaching spot with Jim Leyland’s Pittsburgh Pirates team before getting his first shot as a major league skipper with the Houston Astros in 1994. The Astros would go on to finish second in the N.L. Central in each of the three seasons Collins was at the helm. Houston fired him following the 1996 season, however, after the team went 8-17 in September and saw their division lead disappear.

Collins wasn’t out of work long though, as the Anaheim Angels named him the 15th manager in franchise history in November of 1996. The Angels won 84 and 85 games, respectively, in 1997 and 1998, but went a disappointing 51-82 in their first 133 games of the 1999 season. Despite receiving a contract extension midway through that campaign, Collins resigned as manager following a nine-game losing streak at the end of August. Stories of player unrest and a fractious clubhouse marred Collins’ tenure as Angels manager.

Following stints as an advance scout with the Chicago Cubs, bullpen and third base coach with the Tampa Bay Rays, field coordinator and director of player development with the Los Angeles Dodgers and manager for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, Collins was hired by the New York Mets as their minor league field coordinator for the 2010 season.

Almost a year after the Mets brought Collins on, he was tasked with a new, yet familiar, responsibility: managing a ball club.

Collins returned to the dugout, becoming the 20th skipper in Mets history. He made a promise to himself to enjoy this time more and not make the same mistakes he did with the Astros and Angels.

In total, he was at the helm for seven seasons (2011-2017), becoming the second manager in franchise history to lead the club to back-to-back postseasons in 2015 and 2016 (joining Bobby Valentine). Collins is the longest-tenured manager in Mets history, managing 1,134 regular season games.

Recently, Collins joined X (formerly Twitter) and began a podcast with John Arezzi aptly called “The Terry Collins Show.” The weekly show features Collins bringing listeners behind the scenes of a major league clubhouse, along with hosting a variety of guests, including David Wright, R.A. Dickey and Daniel Murphy.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Collins over the phone, where we discussed his playing career, transitioning to managing and some of his memories from his time with the Mets.

MMO: Who were some of your favorite players growing up?

Collins: I grew up in Michigan, and Al Kaline was a big star with the Tigers. There was another player named Rocky Colavito who became a great player with the Tigers.

The Yankees won a lot back then, so I was a big Mickey Mantle fan.

One of the stations we listened to in Michigan had Milwaukee Braves baseball. I used to listen to the great Braves players like [Hank] Aaron and [Eddie] Mathews. The catcher’s name was Del Crandall, who I played for in the minor leagues. So that was cool.

MMO: You played all over the field throughout your minor league career. Were you always a versatile player?

Collins: I grew up playing just second base. I was always the smallest guy on every team I ever played. Second base was my position, and I only played a couple of games at shortstop in American Legion.

When I got to college, I made the team as a freshman. The first game we had was a doubleheader, and the second baseman on varsity got hurt. They brought me up for those two games, and I got six hits in the doubleheader.

The next day the coach asked me, “Can you play shortstop?” I told him yes. He said, “Well, meet me at the field,” and the following day I played shortstop against the University of Michigan. I ended up playing shortstop the rest of my career at Eastern Michigan.

MMO: You’ve always been known as an intense and fiery competitor. Do you remember when you first started displaying those traits?

Collins: Well, again, I’m a little guy. When I had to compete, if I was going to compete, I had to play hard. I played harder than anybody.

When I was a little boy, my mother got a phone call from one of my friend’s mothers. She said, “I don’t want Bobby playing with Terry anymore. He plays too hard.”

When my dad got home from work that night, my mom said to him, “You need to talk to Terry.” My dad asked, “Why?” She said, “One of the mothers called and said Terry plays too hard, and we need to talk to him.” My dad said, “I’ll talk to him.” She asked, “What are you going to tell him?” He said, “I’m going to tell him not to play with Bobby anymore.” [Laughs.]

MMO: When and how did the chance to manage in the minor leagues come about? 

Collins: It’s pretty funny. My first spring training, I saw Triple-A guys who were 29-30 years-old still playing. I wrote a letter to my mother that spring telling her there are guys who are 29 and 30 years old still playing in the minors. I told her I’m giving it three years, and if I’m not in the big leagues in three years, I’m going to go back and use my education. Fifty years later, I’m still doing it!

I kind of fell in love with the game. The one thing I always wanted to do was be a coach. When I went to the Dodgers organization from the Pirates, in spring training you would go into a backroom, and they had this little area where guys could get a beer. It was part of the complex. You would sit there and listen to [Sandy] Koufax, [Don] Drysdale, [Johnny] Podres, Maury Wills, Wes Parker, Walter Alston and [Tommy] Lasorda. They were always at spring training. You just sat there and absorbed as much information as you could.

When I was hoping I would get a chance to manage, as I said, I played for Del Crandall. I picked his brain because he was an outstanding minor league manager, great teacher, and great teacher of catching. Back then, you didn’t have any coaches in the minor leagues; it was just you. I had to learn how to teach catching, how to teach outfield play and how to work with the pitchers.

I picked the brains of those guys as much as I possibly could. I knew at some time I was going to have to use all of that information. It was the greatest education you could have.

MMO: It’s crazy to think there was a time where the only coach on a minor league time was the manager.

Collins: My first year managing, I’m in Lodi, California, and in the minors you have halves. So, the first half, our team wasn’t very good. Fernando Valenzuela burst onto the scene in Los Angeles, and he was throwing a screwball. There was an older pitcher the Dodgers had at one time named Jim Brewer, and Jim threw a screwball. The Dodgers hired him to go through the minor leagues and try to teach some guys that were average pitchers the screwball.

The first place he came was Lodi. He saw our pitching staff and said, “Terry, first of all, I’m going to teach them how to throw their fastballs for strikes. I’m not worried about the screwball. If they can’t throw their fastballs for strikes, the screwball is not going to help them.”

He turned our entire pitching staff around in three weeks. We ended up winning the second half and won the championship because Brewer came and taught my pitchers to throw strikes with their fastballs. That’s the kind of stuff you got the opportunity with. Again, this was my first year coaching by myself.

When I got to Triple-A, we had coaches; we had a pitching coach and third base coach. My pitching coach was Dave Wallace, who was one of the best pitching coaches for a long time and one of my best friends. He had to go home, and I’m the only guy who’s ever had Sandy Koufax as a pitching coach. Sandy used to roll through the minor leagues, and he came to Albuquerque when Dave was going to be gone. Sandy was my pitching coach for a day.

MMO: You can’t do much better than having Koufax offering his tutelage.

Collins: We were sitting on the bench and the game was going on, and I brought a pitcher in for the ninth. He walked the first guy, and I went, “God damn it!” And Sandy, sitting next to me, said, “Did you ever pitch?” I said, “No.” Then he said, “Well, it ain’t that easy.” I never, ever said that again! I learned a lesson in one little sentence. [Laughs.]

MMO: Can you talk a bit about the role Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland played in your development as a skipper?

Collins: Jim had a similar background as me. He only got to Double-A as a player; I spent six years in Triple-A. Neither of us got to the big leagues. Jim started managing at a young age and was stuck in the Tigers organization where Sparky [Anderson] was the manager, so Jim was going nowhere.

He was stuck in Triple-A and had a chance to go with Tony La Russa, but he wanted to be a Tiger; that’s all he wanted to do. Sparky wouldn’t hire him, so Jim ended up leaving. It was a very similar thing [for me]. Tommy [Lasorda] was the manager of the Dodgers, and he was never going to go until he decided he was going to. There was no place for me.

I had been managing in Albuquerque for six years as the Triple-A manager, and I had a chance to go to the Pittsburgh Pirates and manage their Triple-A team. I went to Pittsburgh and asked, ‘How do I get to the big leagues?’ I met Jim, and he liked me, and he brought me to the big leagues three years later. We had this relationship because of our backgrounds. He’s such an entertaining guy and funnier than heck.

In September, they started bringing the Triple-A manager up to the big leagues at the end of the season as part of the call-ups; they bring five, six, seven guys up in September. They started bringing the managers up so that you could help the coaches and the [minor league] manager knows about the [minor league] players. The other teams brought their minor league guys up who I saw [play]. So you could help.

When I got to the big leagues, Jim said to me, “Here’s your job: I want you to sit next to me on the bench during the games. I want you to throw batting practice to [Barry] Bonds, [Bobby] Bonilla and [Andy] Van Slyke. If I ever see you throwing batting practice to Tom Prince, I’m going to send you back to Triple-A. When the game’s over, I want you to come in, sit right over there in the corner, and listen to what kind of questions the sportswriters ask me and how I answer them. You don’t have to say the same things I say, but you need to hear the kind of questions you’re going to face.”

For the next number of years, that’s what I did. We’d sit on a plane together, and I’d ask questions about situations that happened in the game that night. He’s very upfront and blunt about it and would talk about it.

I asked him one time, ‘Jim, when you got the job in ’86 in Pittsburgh, what changes have you made to be the manager you are today?’ He looked off for a second and said, “Well, I’ll tell you, Terry. The biggest change I made was I write Barry Bonds’ name in a lineup now and not Jason Thompson’s.” [Laughs.]

MMO: There’s no better way to get acclimated to a future as a major league manager then getting to essentially shadow one as you did with Leyland.

Collins: Absolutely. They had a lockout one time, and Jim was in minor league spring training, so there were no big-league players at camp. The Triple-A manager ran spring training with the Pittsburgh organization at the time, so I ran spring training.

When it was over, Jim came over to me and said, “They opened up the camp for the big-league players. I don’t make promises but the next spot on my staff, you’re it.” That’s how I got my chance. I was really lucky, and we’ve just been very, very good friends. We stay in constant contact.

MMO: Are you planning on being in Cooperstown for his induction into the Hall of Fame this summer?

Collins: Yeah, absolutely.

MMO: I interviewed Ned Colleti several years ago, and he sang your praises during your time with the Dodgers as director of player development. He said when you left for Japan, he often missed your approach, intellect and honesty. What are your memories from your time with the Dodgers organization?

Collins: I was talking with Andy Green when he got the job with the Mets, and I told him that he’s the perfect guy. I told him he can make a huge impact on people. What helped me, Mathew, to be honest, I had already managed in the big leagues for six years. I had some situations with young players that got to the big leagues that failed miserably, and they were good players! It took them a while to get through it. That was one of the theories when I became the minor league director of Los Angeles was, look, I’m going to challenge my good players, and if they’re good enough they’ll get it and move faster.

I challenged Matt Kemp when he was 19; I put him in Double-A. He might have had a little problem in the beginning, but at the end of the year, he’s the best player in the league bar none.

My time with the Dodgers, Paul DePodesta was the GM, and when Jim Tracy was let go and I was going to get that job, Paul got fired two days before they were going to name me the manager. Ned got hired, and he came down to Florida to talk to me, and he said, “Look, you’re not going to get the job. I’m going to go with somebody else.” I said, “Okay.” And he said, “I don’t know what you want to do.” I told him, ‘I’m going to do what I always do: I’m just going to do my job.’

But I didn’t mope; shit happens! I stayed on and tried to help Ned as best I could and was always there and calling about different things. I had a great relationship with him, but I had a chance to go to Japan [to manage] for a lot of money, and I couldn’t turn that down. That’s why I left.

MMO: How would you compare baseball in Japan vs. the States?

Collins: The whole game’s different. Number one, they are fundamentally off the charts; tremendous cut-offs and relays. They can lay down the best bunts you’ll ever see, they can run the bases – they don’t steal a lot – but they run the bases great. They play to score one run and they play to protect one run. It might be the top of the first inning, and a guy’s on third base with one out and they’re bringing that infield in. They’re not giving up runs. You’re going to have to get a hit to earn a run; that’s how they play.

They have a tremendous work ethic. I mean, the pitchers with 200-pitch bullpens between starts, and hitters will take 500 swings before a game. They trained themselves and want to make the game easier so they get themselves into tremendous shape. They run and run and run and run!

You go to spring training, and they don’t have the number of fields we have over here, but spring training starts at nine in the morning and you’re off the field at six. You have dinner, and then the players get their bats and go out in the parking lot and swing. The rookies went to a room at the hotel and had night batting where they used wiffle balls. It’s pretty intense. It’s always go, go, go!

They have a day off or two every week, they play 144 games, but there’s a number of off days. They take the bullet trains, or they’ll take an easy flight, which are only an hour and ten minutes.

They’re very sound players. All of their pitchers throw the ball over the plate. Here, we like strike one and then expand the zone. They do almost the opposite. They nibble the outside corner and see if you’ll swing at it. If you don’t, they’ll throw it over. They don’t like to strikeout, so those guys will put the ball in play. They’ll hit that borderline pitch. They may not hit it good, but if you really work the count, you’re going to get a good ball to hit.

When I got over there, Bobby Valentine told me, “Terry, you’re not going to like the cut-offs or relays, but leave them alone because they do it.” Mathew, in all my years in the United States, I have never seen a guy tag up at third base on a fly ball to the outfield and try to score where the ball is cut off and relayed to home never be thrown out. I saw it three times in Japan! They are so good at it. Every cut off is perfectly thrown.

MMO: Did you take anything you learned in Japan and bring it back to the States when you were managing the Mets?

Collins: Not really. I saw a thing the other day that Carlos [Mendoza] was saying we took infield. Well, you know, in all my years in New York, we took infield. You know how they used to take it after batting practice? We took it before. When we were at home, our guys threw to the bases twice during a homestand. The outfielders loved it. You had [Yoenis] Céspedes and [Juan] Lagares, who both had tremendous arms. It was like a challenge of who was going to make the better throw.

Tommy Goodwin was my outfield coach, and those guys loved him. We took infield/outfield most every day. Those fundamentals in Japan, I remember I took an American coach over and a scout asked him one day before the game, “You guys going to take infield?” And John said, “Let me think, this is our hundredth game, and we’ve taken infield one-hundred times. Yeah, we’ll take it again.” [Laughs.]

I liked it. You make it easy because they want to take ground balls anyway. We came out 15 minutes early before we started hitting, and guys got all of their defensive work in. Now, if you want to take some balls off the bat during batting practice, that was fine. It eliminated guys getting hit because they were catching a ground ball while someone was taking BP. It really helped out, and I thought it was a big difference, so I brought that over.

Their batting practices at home [in Japan], have two cages going; they have a right-handed pitcher and a left-handed pitcher. You just go from cage to cage. It’s tremendous! They have routines, man. I saw [Yu] Darvish when he was 19. I saw [Masahiro] Tanaka when he was 17. They were electric, and both threw between starts. They would throw 150 pitches in the bullpen because that would make their game easier when they got to 120. That was their theory. But you couldn’t bring that here. You’d never get an American guy to do that.

MMO: The July 29, 2015, game is one fans will likely never forget with the sight of Wilmer Flores crying on the field believing he had been traded. What memories stick out for you from that night, and how did you go about managing a game that clearly had so much off-the-field speculation going on?

Collins: It was during the trade deadline, and Wilmer’s name was never mentioned; Sandy did that stuff himself. I’m just standing in the dugout and the game’s going on, and Wilmer was on deck, and some fans were yelling good luck and we love you. I’m going, “What the heck is that?”

David [Wright] came up to me and said, “Terry, it’s all over TV. He’s been traded.” I said, ‘David, he has not been traded.’ He said, “I’m telling you they’re broadcasting right now on TV; he’s been traded.” I said, “David, this guy has not been traded. You see that phone right there?” He said, “Yeah.” I said, ‘That phone goes to Sandy. If there’s a deal done, that phone would be ringing, and I’d be taking him out of the game.”

Now people are telling Wilmer he’s been traded, and he’s upset. I walked down the dugout to him, and I said, “Hey, let’s go. You’re on this team. You have not been traded. You’ve got to go out and play.” He goes out, and sure enough, he starts crying on the field. As he comes in off the field, I went over to him, and at the time, I think he was the only shortstop I had who was healthy. I said, “Look, you’ve got to finish this game, man. You’re fine, you’re still a Met. You’re not going anywhere.”

He went back, and he’s still crying on the field. The next thing you know, the phone rings, and it’s Sandy. And he said, “You’ve got to take Wilmer out.” I asked, ‘Is he traded?’ He said, “No, but he’s crying on the field!” So, he came back in, and I got him out, and sure enough, he wasn’t traded. I didn’t know what else to do. I told him, ‘Wilmer, if you were traded, I would’ve been told, and I would’ve taken you out of the game. You are a Met. Everything’s going to be okay.’

Sure enough, it ended up being okay. And that’s why, Mathew, two days later he hit that home run against the Nationals that couldn’t have been written. You can’t read a Hollywood script better than that.

MMO: Your “To who? For What” postgame comment will forever be etched in my brain. I always loved watching your pre and postgame press conferences because you were very transparent.

Collins: Absolutely, Mathew, and I’m going to go back to Jim Leyland. Right when I got my interview with the Houston Astros, I called Jim and said, ‘I’m going to go to Houston tomorrow and interview for the manager job.’ He said, “I’ll meet you at the stadium.” I was living in Pittsburgh, and we went to the stadium and I spent six hours with him. He just talked about all these different questions that I was going to face and different things.

One of the things he said was, “Listen, I’m going to tell you right now, you treat every reporter as if they’re the sports editor of The New York Times. There are no dumb questions, but if you’re hit with one, treat it like any other question. Don’t belittle the guy, just answer the question.”

When I got to the Mets, Jay Horwitz was the guy who told me, “Terry, one of the best things you can do is learn everybody’s name.” When I did these press conferences and if Mike Puma asked me a question, I would say, “Well, you know Mike…” Now his name is tied to that question.

There were some questions asked by some young guys or people from a different team or something that didn’t make much sense and all the writers would laugh. I didn’t laugh; I just answered the question. I thought that really helped, not to belittle any reporter. They have a job to do, and I respect it.

The only thing I ever asked of these guys was not to lie. Don’t make something up. It’s your opinion and strictly your opinion; that’s fine. There were a couple of times where there was an unnamed source that says this. I would go to them and say, “I know you won’t tell me who it was that said it, but how do I know you just didn’t make that up? Maybe you just said this is what I think, and I’m going to put it down and say somebody else said it.” I always did that one-on-one, I never did it in front of any of the other writers.

After your press conference, you’ve got to budget two minutes for almost every one of those guys; they all want their own two minutes. They’d ask a question or two for their own stories that they don’t want out there. That’s why I try and tell anybody that’s ever managed in New York that you’ve got to understand to budget your time for these guys and answer their questions. Don’t blow them off because they’ve got the pen, and they can make it miserable for you. Just treat them with respect, and that’s about it. I thought it helped me out a lot.

MMO: How beneficial was the Matrix during the 2015 season?

Collins: It was just coming into play then. I think it was a great coaching tool, I think it’s really good for coaches to use. The players can get overwhelmed with information, and their job is to go play. As a coach or manager, you take that information and try to use it to your benefit to put those guys in the best position to succeed. We didn’t flood them with a bunch of information; I just didn’t like it. Number one, most of them have played a long time, I had a pretty veteran club. The last thing I want to do is put stuff in their head.

I remember one time when I was in Anaheim, Tim Salmon, who’s a great, great player, somebody on the team said, “Hey, I’ve got the signs. Do you guys want them? If I’m on base I can tell you what’s coming.” And Tim said, “I do not want to know. I’m fine.” I asked him after the game was over why that was, and he said, “Terry, if he’s wrong, it’ll screw me up mentally. Let me just figure it out.” I thought that made sense.

They used it (analytics) a lot in Japan. In interleague play in Japan, you can have your advance scout on the bench with you. The other team brought in a pitcher, so this advance scout got up and talked to my rookie shortstop, who was a pretty nice player, and said, “There’s a thirty percent chance you’re going to get this, another thirty percent chance you’re going to get this pitch, a twenty-five percent chance you’re going to get this pitch.” You’ve got to be shitting me! [Laughs.] Go up there, and if you get a fastball, hit it!

You’ve got to filter it. I thought our coaches did a great job of using that information for their benefit to help the players and not try to overwhelm them.

MMO: One of the moments I’ll always remember is when SNY caught the shot of you going over and putting your arm around Jacob deGrom in the dugout after he gave up eight earned runs against the Texas Rangers in 2017. Do you remember some of the things you relayed to deGrom in that moment?

Collins: First of all, everybody saw how talented Jake was. Great talent. He was the best pitcher we had. There were times Matt [Harvey] was the best, or [Noah] Syndergaard might have been the best, but Jake was our guy.

I remember years ago, Walter Alston told me when I first started managing, “Terry, there are two kinds of players. There are the ones who have been humbled, and ones who will be humbled in this game.” And that was what I pretty much told Jake. Everybody’s going to have a bad day. [Sandy] Koufax had a bad day; Bob Feller had a bad day. He had a bad day. You’ve got to be able to forget about it, because in four days you’re going back out there, big boy. Blow it off, tip your cap and say I’ll see you in four days.

That was just a moment where you could look back and say, guess way? Welcome to the game. It’s not easy out there. That’s why guys who compete like he did, it can cause that humbleness that a player needs once in a while to realize the game is not easy. I thought that was a coaching chance for me to tell Jake that he’s still the guy. You’re going to be just fine, you had a bad night and move on.

MMO: Does a day go by where someone doesn’t mention the ass in the jackpot game?

Collins: You know what? It’s become part of me, it really has!

I live in St. Lucie, and I belong to a golf course where three quarters of the members are New Yorkers. During this time of year, people come down and they’ll come out and somebody will introduce me. And that’s the first thing they’ll bring up!

I have a friend who’s a golf pro at the pro shop, and every time I walk in the first thing I hear is, “Give us a shot! Gotta give us a shot!” So there’s not a day.

MMO: It still baffles me that Adam Hamari had such a quick trigger when it came to Syndergaard’s pitch behind Chase Utley.

Collins: That was my argument. Do you remember John McSherry? Great, big umpire. He actually died on the field in Cincinnati. He was a long-time umpire, and we had a fight in Houston. When the fight finally stopped, I went over to him, and he’s writing down names of guys he’s going to kick out. He never looked up; he was just writing names down. He said to me, “You get one shot. You get the first guy in the batter’s box and then I’m going to put an end to this.”

Four years later, I’m managing the Angels, and we get in a big fight in Kansas City. Don Denkinger said exactly the same thing to me when all the stuff stopped finally. He said, “You get the first guy and it’s over with.” This was the first time we saw Utley, and I was shocked. That’s why when Tom [Hailon] said, “You had a shot,” no we didn’t! This was it! That was my whole argument. I wasn’t mad at Tom; we didn’t get the chance to get Utley and that’s what I was upset about.

MMO: What advice would Terry Collins in his final year as manager in 2017 give to first-year manager Terry Collins in 1994?

Collins: Enjoy the game more. I took it real serious, that’s why I rubbed people the wrong way. I’m a pretty intense guy, you know, when I played, I was intense. I had an old manager tell me one time, “Players will take on the personality of the manager.” I really respected the game. I wasn’t a good enough player, but there wasn’t a time that I didn’t play as hard as I could. Not one day.

One year I broke my jaw, and seven days later with my jaw wired shut, I was in the lineup. I was playing with a pair of pliers in my pocket in case I got sick so I could snip the wires off. You just played; you played as hard as you could. I always thought you had to respect the game. If it wasn’t for baseball, what would we all be doing? Give it back, give it back effort. And for some people that rubbed them the wrong way. And I understood it. Shoot, I apologized to a lot of players.

Garret Anderson was a really good player, but he was one of those guys who didn’t run every ball out. One time I went up to him and asked, “Do you have a problem with me?” He said, “Absolutely not. You’re wound a little too tight for me, but I know you want to win, and I have no problem with that.” I told him okay, and that I just wanted to make sure because he’s going to be playing, he’s going to be in the lineup every day.

There are times where you’ve got to take a stance on something. It might rub a player the wrong way, but I just think that’s the way the game should be played and managed.

When I went to New York, I told myself that I’ve got to start enjoying the game more. I’ve got to enjoy my time because these jobs are hard to get. I’ve got good players, and there’s nothing more fun than going out with the best players in the world and competing. So, I told myself I’ve got to enjoy it, and that’s how I went about it in New York.

MMO: Tell me about joining X and starting a podcast. What can fans expect from “The Terry Collins Show”?

Collins: John Arezzi called me about it, and I had absolutely no idea I was going to do it. I’m not a big social media guy, and I’m too old to get on that stuff. But I just want to have some fun with it.

As you said earlier in the conversation, I’m an honest guy. I think there are things the fans might want to know about with the actions during a game or what goes on behind the scenes. The more they know the more they’ll enjoy the game. I want to have some fun and have guests on and talk about their careers.

I’ve got a buddy who’s a bookie, and one of the shows is going to be about gambling in sports, especially baseball. It’s just something to have some fun with and to relate to the fans. I’ve never been big enough in the game to think that I don’t have a relationship with the fans. I respect that. I try and say hi to everyone and take pictures. It takes ten seconds to sign an autograph, and that ten seconds means a lot to people.

MMO: When you look back over your fifty years in the sport, what are you most proud of?

Collins: That’s a tough one. I guess I’m most proud that I lasted for fifty years. After I signed, three years later I was released. I loved the sport and endured enough through all of the years, rode a lot of buses and didn’t make much money for a long, long time. I still respected and loved the game enough that it was fun, and it was all I wanted to do. So, I stayed with it.

I stayed with what I wanted to do and made a life. I took the ups and downs and tried to be the same guy every day. I think baseball teaches that.

Follow Terry Collins on Twitter, @TerryCollins_10.

Check out Terry’s podcast here.

The post MMO Exclusive: Former Mets Manager, Terry Collins appeared first on Metsmerized.

Spring training officially got underway Saturday as the New York Mets dropped their spring opener to the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5. They are once again set to play at Clover Park Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET, this time against the Houston Astros. The Astros come as a split-squad to face the Mets.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Latest Mets News

Tim Healey of Newsday Sports caught up with Tylor Megill, Jeremy Hefner, and Jordan Walker and discussed Megill’s new pitch and why he did not throw it much in the Mets’ Saturday loss to the Cardinals.

President of baseball operations, David Stearns, recently spoke about Terry Collins, stating, “Terry was a great manager in this organization. It’s important that we recognize the teams he helped to lead. We’re certainly open to him being part of the organization,” Stearns said. Andy Martino of SNY discussed in this article why it’s time for the Mets to return Collins to the organization.

Per Mike Puma of The New York Post, Shintaro Fujinami had to return home to Japan for visa-related matters. He faced a similar situation in 2023 with Oakland, but it was before spring training camp began.

Latest MLB News

According to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, the San Francisco Giants offered free agent designated hitter J.D. Martinez a contract, but he declined the deal.

Latest on MMO

Elliot Teichman analyzed one of the Mets 2024 non-roster invitees in Kevin Parada.

Evan Mazza recapped the Mets’ 10-5 loss to the Cardinals in their 2024 spring training opener.

On This Date in Mets History

 Birthdays: Ed Lynch (68)

The post Morning Briefing: David Stearns Open To Giving Terry Collins An Organizational Role appeared first on Metsmerized.

Photo via New York Mets

On Wednesday, the Mets and new manager Carlos Mendoza made headway into filling out multiple openings in their coaching staff. The first hiring that was reported, was that the Mets would be adding former Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons as Carlos Mendoza’s bench coach for the upcoming season, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. For a greater look into the former ’86 Met and now Mets bench coach’s hiring, click here!

Along with that report, Andy Martino of SNY reported that Mike Sarbaugh will become the Mets’ third base coach after serving as the Guardians third base and infield coach for the past decade. Finally, Andy Martino of MLB.com announced that Antoan Richardson will be the Mets new first base coach after filling the same position last season with the San Francisco Giants.

The three new additions made on Wednesday nearly round out the coaching staff as Carlos Mendoza has gotten to work since he started in Queens just over a week ago. The tweet below from Mike Mayer of Metsmerized Online will show the current state of the Mets coaching staff with the three newest additions:

Mets coaching staff so far:

Manager – Carlos Mendoza
Bench coach – John Gibbons
Pitching coach – Jeremy Hefner
Hitting coach – Eric Chavez
Co-hitting coach – Jeremy Barnes
Third base coach – Mike Sarbaugh
Catching coach – Glenn Sherlock
First base coach – Antoan Richardson

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) November 23, 2023

Latest Mets News

The Mets signed right-handed pitcher Joseph Yabbour to a minor league deal, per Mike Mayer of Metsmerized Online. The 20-year-old pitcher posted a 3.60 ERA and 12.6 K/9 in 20 innings in the Dominican Summer League with the Mariners. Yabbour is also the cousin of new Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña. 

The New York Mets signed Kevin Mahala as their minor league hitting coordinator, per his Twitter page. Mahala previously worked in the Phillies system and is one of many new hires as David Stearns tries to bring his guys into the Mets system. 

Latest MLB News

A trade between the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks went down on Wednesday, Arizona received veteran third-baseman Eugenio Suárez and sent right-handed reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala to Seattle in return, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. For a deeper dive into the details of the trade click here. 

Shōta Imanaga, who started the championship game of the World Baseball Classic for Japan this past March, is expected to be posted by this coming Monday, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Check out MMO’s article on the Imanaga posting and his free agency outlook. 

An article release by Yahoo Japan, revealed a lot about Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto‘s upcoming free agency. Among those reports was that he would prefer to play with other Japanese players as well as revealing that geography is not a big factor into his decision. To learn more about Yamamoto’s deciding factors click here. 

Former Chicago White Sox shortstop and current free agent Tim Anderson held a Thanksgiving turkey drive in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Latest on MMO

FOCO provided Mets fans with some great holiday gift ideas!

Learn more about the Mets’ hiring of John Gibbons.

Allison Waxman updated us on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s impending free agency. 

On This Date in Mets History

2010: The Mets introduce new manager of the club Terry Collins at Citi Field. Collins would go on to manage a franchise record 1,134 games, including 551 wins and a World Series appearance in 2015.

1961: Mets manager Casey Stengel appears on a float during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Billy Leos, Monte Irvin, and Gil Hodges to try and let people know about the new club in town.

Birthdays: Justin Turner (39), Ryan McGuire (52), Rich Sauveur (60), Tom Hall (76)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Continue to Build Coaching Staff appeared first on Metsmerized.

Bartolo Colón officially retired from baseball as a member of the New York Mets, signing a one-day contract before Sunday’s game. Former Mets manager Terry Collins was among those on hand for Sunday’s festivities, which included the 50-year-old Colón throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to Brandon Nimmo. During his pregame remarks, Colón said that the Mets had the fan base that accepted him the most and that they gave him a good amount of happiness. He also said he no longer plays baseball other than practicing with his son.

Latest Mets News

After the Colón tributes, José Quintana held the Reds to two runs over 6 2/3 innings of work while the Mets banged out eight runs on 13 hits in an 8-4 victory. Francisco Álvarez drove in two runs with a double, Daniel Vogelbach blasted a pinch-hit bases-clearing double, and Ronny Mauricio collected two knocks and an RBI. Mark Vientos also continued his recent surge, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.

The Mets now head to South Beach for a three-game series with the Marlins, the start of a seven-game road trip. José Butto (1-2, 3.46 ERA) will look to follow up his first big league win with another strong start against Edward Cabrera (6-7, 4.52 ERA). The Mets have faced Cabrera twice this year and won both matchups, thanks in large part to the right-hander issuing 13 walks in 6 2/3 innings. The Mets have won five of their seven games against Miami this year, all of which came in the first two weeks of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.

During Friday night’s game at Citi Field, a fan caught two foul balls in a three-pitch span, and he’s gifted both to his mother. 23-year-old Patrick Wedderburn was attending the game with his family for his mother’s birthday celebration when he retrieved both foul balls.

Latest MLB News

The Rangers have promoted 2023 first-round pick Wyatt Langford to Triple-A Round Rock, as well as 2021 first-rounder Jack Leiter. It’s unclear whether Leiter will pitch again this season. Langford has dominated in his first taste of pro ball since getting drafted fourth overall out of the University of Florida, hitting .370/.479/.717 with 10 homers, 14 doubles, and nine steals while drawing 29 walks against 25 strikeouts in 169 plate appearances. Most recently, Langford went 17-for-38 with four homers and three doubles, walking 10 times and striking out just four times for Double-A Frisco.

Latest on MMO

Sean Kenny recaps the Mets’ win in their series finale against the Reds.

James Villani looks back at Bartolo Colón’s Mets career.

On This Date in Mets History

1963: The Mets and Phillies play the final game at Polo Grounds, with the Phillies winning 5-1. Jim Hickman hits the last New York home run in the stadium.

1975: Dave Kingman sets a new franchise record by belting his 35th home run of the year, a walk-off blast to beat the Cubs 7-5. Rusty Staub also etches his name in franchise history, becoming the first Met to drive in 100 runs in a season with his two-run homer in the fifth inning.

2006: José Valentín goes deep twice, Steve Trachsel tosses 6 1/3 shutout innings, and Billy Wagner gets Josh Willingham to fly out to Cliff Floyd to clinch the Mets’ first NL East title since 1988. After getting swept in Pittsburgh, the Mets get to celebrate their division title in front of their home fans at Shea Stadium.

2015: Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and Juan Uribe all hit homers, and Steven Matz improves to 4-0 with six innings of one-run ball as the Mets down the Yankees, 5-1. Jeurys Familia loads the bases in the ninth inning but gets Brett Gardner to fly out and strikes out Chase Headley to end the game.

Birthdays: Roger Mason (66), Scott Holman (65)

The post Morning Briefing: Bartolo Colón Commends Mets’ Fanbase appeared first on Metsmerized.

Bartolo Colón. USA Today

Sunday afternoon, the New York Mets welcomed back former starting pitcher Bartolo Colón to Citi Field where he officially retired as a member of the organization. The festivities were kicked off via a press conference that included Colón and his former manager, Terry Collins. During the conference, Collins explained, “During my tenure here we made some good signs as everybody know and this guy was one of the best.”

Current manager Buck Showalter was also asked about Colón during his pregame press conference and he said, “It wasn’t funny when he was on the other team. It wasn’t fun facing hi and we didn’t have a good time when he pitched, so no I don’t have funny stories about him,” he quipped.

Colón, now 50 years old, spent parts of three seasons with the Mets (2014-2016) where he made one All-Star team (2016). Over his Mets’ tenure, he posted a 44-34 record with a 3.90 ERA across 588 2/3 innings. This is the third-most innings he threw with a team over his career, which longed over 21 years and 11 teams.

Colón won 247 games over this 21-year career. He made four All-Star appearances and won a Cy Young back during the 2005 season with the Los Angeles Angels, winning 21 games that season. He threw his first major-league pitch as a 24-year-old in 1997 and ended his career in 2018 at 45.

Bartolo had several memorable moments throughout his career. Some notable Mets’ moments included being apart of the 2015 National League Pennant winning team that lost in the World Series to Kansas City, as well as making the impossible happen:

Oh do not forget about this sparkling play the 42-year-old made back in 2015:

All-in-all, it was a terrific career for the 565-game veteran. What makes it that much better is he got to spend a sliver of it with the Mets’ franchise and gave the fanbase so many unforgettable memories in such a short period of time. When asked what was so special about his Mets’ tenure he said, “It’s not that they are the most important to me, but they are the ones that did give me a good amount of happiness.”

Oh, in case you were wondering where the nickname “Big Sexy” came from, Colón gave that secret away in the press conference explaining it was former Met pitcher Noah Syndergaard who gifted him with that.

The post Bartolo Colón Officially Retires As A Member Of The Mets appeared first on Metsmerized.

Granderson, 42, was an easy player to root for, no matter what team he was on. As congenial as they come, the left-handed hitter posted a 47.2 fWAR for his sixteen-year major league career and was a true ambassador for the sport on and off the field.

Selected in the third round of the 2002 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers out of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Granderson didn’t expect to make the majors. In fact, he believed that he would spend two or three years in the minors before getting released to pursue other interests, be it in sports marketing or teaching, like both of his parents.

Fast forward to 2007, in which Granderson became the first player since Willie Mays in 1957 to tally at least 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season. In his second full season in the majors, Granderson posted the fourth-highest fWAR among position players in ’07 with a 7.9 mark and finished tenth in the M.V.P vote in the American League.

The affable Granderson made his way to the New York Mets following the 2013 season. After spending the previous four seasons across town with the New York Yankees, in which Granderson recorded back-to-back 40+ home run seasons in 2011-12, he inked a four-year, $60 million deal with the Mets in December 2013.

The ‘Grandy Man’ was incredibly durable with the Mets, playing in at least 150 games in each of his first three seasons with the club. Granderson’s best season came in 2015, in which he led the Mets in fWAR (5.3), games played (157) and hits (150), while second in home runs (26).

En route to the Mets’ first division title since 2006, Granderson posted an OPS of .898 in the second half of the ’15 season, with a 151 wRC+ (tied for 16th-highest among 123 hitters with a min. 250 plate appearances).

In 14 postseason games in ’15, Granderson produced an .866 OPS. His three home runs in the World Series tied Donn Clendenon (1969) for the most homers in a single Fall Classic in franchise history.

Following the 2019 season, Granderson announced his retirement. A Roberto Clemente Award recipient, a four-time Marvin Miller Man of the Year, a three-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, Granderson left an indelible mark on the game of baseball.

Beyond the recognition on the field, Granderson remains an incredible representative off it.

From his Grand Kids Foundation, founded in 2007 to provide educational and athletic opportunities to kids, to his broadcasting assignment for TBS’s Tuesday Night Baseball, to being the board chair of the Players Alliance, a nonprofit comprised of active and former players focused on building equitable systems in order to change the trajectory of diversity throughout baseball, Granderson has continued to keep busy and focus his time on important issues.

I had the privilege of interviewing Granderson over the phone, where he discussed juggling academics and athletics, his time with the Mets, friendship with Lucas Duda and his work outside of the game.

MMO: Both of your parents were educators. How did your parents have you balance academics and athletics growing up?

Granderson: They laid the groundwork that I had to get my schoolwork done first in order to participate in different activities. That was the priority.

A lot of people ask if I had to get straight A’s or if I had to be on the honor roll. They didn’t need that, per se. As long as they spoke to a teacher and I put forth the effort required and there wasn’t, he didn’t turn this in, or I know he can do more, then they were fine.

I got a D one time in Spanish II, and I was like, ‘Mom, Dad, you know it’s not me. This class is really bad. It’s the one class that doesn’t have air conditioning. It’s the summer, and every other class in the foreign language hall is doing these cool cultural experiences.’

Our whole class had Cs and Ds. That was the only time I got a really bad grade, and they were okay with it. It was getting your work done first, and then you could enjoy all the different activities.

MMO: Is it true you grew up an Atlanta Braves fan — even though you lived in Chicago — due to the timing of “Saved by the Bell” on television?

Granderson: It is! At that time, “Saved by the Bell” was on WGN, except for when the Cubs would play; they played a majority of day games. I’d be excited to come home, and nope, the Cubs would be on. It was like, Man, I missed my show!

The timing of the Braves being so good led me to TBS, and I could watch baseball at night. A combination of “Saved by the Bell” not being on, the Braves being on at a time that made more sense for me, and the Braves being good was a perfect recipe for me to become a Braves fan.

MMO: I have to test how big a fan you are. Did you also watch “Saved by the Bell: The College Years”?

Granderson: I did! The one thing I missed live was Zack and Kelly’s wedding. I forgot why I missed that, but I ended up seeing it.

Even before that, I watched the beginning when it was “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” before it became “Saved by the Bell.” I loved every bit of it!

MMO: Can you tell me what the phrase ‘Don’t Think, Have Fun’ means to you?

Granderson: It was coined in combination with my head coach, Mike Dee, from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He was in his second year as head coach of baseball, which was my first year there.

One of the things he said to me early on in my college career was, “You’re very analytical. You can think with the best of them, but I don’t want you to overthink it. Just trust your ability. Go out there and have fun.”

That stuck with me because I would have a day where I would do something successful and still try to find something. I would nitpick a bit. He said, “No, trust what you’ve been doing and go out there and do it.”

From that moment, I started writing it underneath my hat as a constant reminder because you’re constantly taking your hat off throughout the game, so you can look at it. That was a good spot for me to have it.

I used it all the way through my career because the game is hard and challenging enough. Why add more? It’s supposed to be the same game that you were playing when you first started and fell in love with it. As long as you can do that, you’ll have fun doing it. That’s when you tend to be at your best.

I always try to relay that message to younger players: As long as you can put forth the work, then you can trust it. When you put forth the work, you get the results. When you get the results, you have fun. And when you’re having fun, you want to perform.

It all goes in cycle, right? That’s when you end up just enjoying it. It was a good reminder for me.

MMO: You mentioned being analytical. Were you someone who embraced the metrics throughout your playing career?

Granderson: I feel like it came out of the storm, but then there was no one there to explain it to you. Either up on the scoreboard or you have a meeting where they would say that you need to improve in a certain stat. But there wasn’t any follow up in terms of this is why it’s important. If you do these things, this will increase these numbers and, therefore, hopefully results in this.

I feel like that part has been, and still kind of is, missing a bit. I’ll see stats pop up, and I have no idea what it means. Even when I look at it and go, Okay, I know a bigger number is better, but how do I get a bigger number? What does that mean once I do get a bigger number? Am I actually doing something better than something else?

WAR was a very popular one right away towards the middle part of my career. I would always ask people how WAR is defined defensively. No one would give me an answer, and I still don’t know how to define it defensively. There are also two or three different WARs, so which one is the most accurate? Then there’s the wRC+ and OPS+, and you start adding these plus symbols on different things.

It’s very unique because if you look at some of the analytic numbers that have come out, they’ve been able to backtrack it to players that played way before this time and throw it on them. And that’s an interesting question. Just thinking defensively, do we know for players that played when there was no TV and all that stuff the range they had? All we know is putouts, attempts and errors. So how do we accurately quantify it?

This isn’t me saying I’m against it; I definitely think there’s a place for it. I just think there needs to be a better job of explaining it, especially to the younger players.

For the longest it was, if I got more hits, my average goes up. Okay, I know that. If I walk, my on-base goes up; if I don’t make an error, my fielding percentage stays higher. I knew those different things. Ultimately, those things would lead me to being a better player, helping our team get a chance to win, or once you start playing professionally, start to make more money.

MMO: You hit the free agent market for the first time after the 2013 season. What was going through that process like, and what made you ultimately sign with the Mets?

Granderson: It was unique because I was finally getting the chance to get close to that point. I had just come off of a solid 2011-2012. I was like, If everything continues to stay in place in 2013, the offseason could be very exciting.

I got hurt twice; I get hit in the hands in the first at-bat of spring training, and then I came back, and I got hit eight days later in the hand and missed more time. I only played a fraction of a season (61 games).

That changed a couple of things for me in terms of the outfielders who were going to be free agents. I think it was Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, myself; I think we were the top three. My stock fell because I was hurt.

We’re going through it, and the Mets reached out, and I started talking about a couple of different things. What’s interesting in the baseball landscape, the American League and the National League, up until this year, even with interleague play, you don’t really know what’s going on with the other side because you don’t play them nearly as much. Yes, you have your natural rivals, so we had the Subway Series. Whether it was a four-game or six-game series, in the grand scheme of 162, you didn’t really focus on them too much and vice versa.

I didn’t know a ton about the Mets. I played the Mets in interleague in ’07 with the Tigers and in the Subway Series during my time with the Yankees. Over the course of 2004, when I debuted, to 2013, I only played against them four times and maybe in spring training.

I played against David Wright in the minor leagues, so I knew he was there. After that, it was like, I really don’t know much about them. I met with Sandy Alderson, and we got a chance to chat and talk about things. The conversation started moving forward, and I was like, You know what? I’ve been in New York for four years. I’m very familiar with it when we play in the Subway Series; I would just drive to Citi Field. I’m used to getting to and from, and it’s not too complicated. I think this could be a good fit.

Everything kind of aligned that way, and the Mets became my first free agent home.

MMO: Something I’ll always remember during your time with the Mets is your friendship with Lucas Duda. The wefollowlucasduda Instagram account was amazing. Can you talk about your relationship with Duda, and how that account came about?

Granderson: We were locker mates. With him being a left-handed hitter, we would talk a lot in the cage or during the game. One of the things I always try to communicate to younger players is look at the other players in the lineup that are similar to you, whether you’re a right-handed batter, switch hitter or a left-handed batter. There’s a good chance they’re (the pitchers) probably doing very similar things to that batter that they are to you. That could help you throughout the course of a game.

Sure enough, with Duda and I, we would watch each other and talk about things. What do you see? What do you feel? What’s going on? That’s how our relationship started.

Duda’s very quiet; he stays to himself and doesn’t say too much. At this time, I think Instagram, in terms of being viral, just started to become a big thing. The number of players who would enter a team that already had social media or the number of players that were starting to jump on was skyrocketing. But there were still a lot of them who swore they would never get it.

Daniel Muno, John Mayberry and myself were like, let’s make an account for Duda. That’s how it started. It wasn’t even the plan to grow followers; it was to make one for him because he didn’t have it and didn’t want one. We became this invasive paparazzi crew that would follow him and antagonize him.

I think it was helpful because it kept him loose and relaxed because he can overthink with the best of them, just like me. We got to keep the game fun and do all these different things. It’s amazing how quickly the followers jumped. We got to 100,000 followers in a matter of a couple of months! And then people wanted more.

I think it’s (the account) still out there, but I don’t think anything has been posted recently. It’s funny how that came to be. But it helped not only him but the clubhouse stay loose because other players started trying to sneak pictures of him and give them to me and give me a chance to post.

I did one that was really good and he begged me not to post it. And I never did it. I caught him one time in the bathroom, and he was in the stall. I went into the stall next to him. I stood on top of the toilet and went over the top and took a picture of him. [Laughs.] I was ready to post it, but he was like, “No, please don’t post it!” That’s one that was deleted, and no one got a chance to see it.

MMO: I love how this became a team effort.

Granderson: It was amazing. Everyone was like, “Oh, I got this!” And then I’d say, ‘The quality isn’t good.’

I became a photo editor and social media person where I’d say, ‘That’s not good enough. I need five seconds of video. I need this, I need that.’ My team was out there going to work.

MMO: Only two Mets in franchise history have hit three homers in a single World Series: Donn Clendenon in 1969, and you in 2015. What memories stand out from that Fall Classic?

Granderson: It was fun to see Citi Field rocking. It was exciting that it happened my second year there. Although I had signed there, I knew there wasn’t a lot of anticipation for us to be as good as we were that fast.

Here we are on the biggest stage, the final two teams standing, and we have a chance to do something that hadn’t been done in a very long time. The energy was through the roof! It was exciting and loud. If we just would’ve won Game One… there are a number of factors that played into that. Alex Gordon extending and putting the game into extra innings and then ultimately winning the game, but we forget how that game started: they had the inside-the-park home run (Alcides Escobar), and then we came back and took the lead.

If we win that one, I’d definitely give the Royals Game Two because they just outplayed us. Now we come back to Citi Field being tied one-one versus being down zero to two. It’s a different mindset.

It’s the same thing with my hat: don’t think, have fun. I had been in the postseason and the World Series in ’06, and I put way too much pressure on myself. I made it a point to say, ‘I don’t care what happens; I’m going to have as much fun out there as possible.’

I feel like that let me go out there and do some of the things you quoted statistically. When we were down three games to one before our last game at Citi Field, Kevin Long, our hitting coach, called a hitter’s meeting. We went in the cage, and he wanted to see where everyone was at and what we were thinking. I sat there and said, ‘Isn’t this fun? We have a chance to do something that’s only been done a couple of times. Let’s go out there and have a ton of fun and just see what happens.’

In that game, I led off with another home run. Unfortunately, we ended up not getting the win to extend the Series. It was still fun! Of course, we wanted to win it, which would’ve been even more fun. I enjoyed every moment of it. You don’t get a chance to be there often, so you have to take advantage of it. I made sure I did.

MMO: In the 2016 Wild Card Game, you made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen in center in the top of the sixth. You covered a ton of ground running back and somehow kept the trajectory of the ball in your view. What are your memories from that play?

Granderson: Hitting the wall and just being able to get up. It’s funny; prior to that, I talked about how loud the place can be, but there are times where I don’t hear anything. I’m going back for a ball and don’t hear anything; hit a home run, don’t hear anything; run for a triple, don’t hear anything. I just go deaf.

Very similar to that situation, I just remember thinking, He got this one over my head. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed as a center fielder was going back on the ball. I feel like that was my strength versus coming in. When given the opportunity, I tried to play as shallow as I could because that was my strength.

Sure enough, here’s a ball over my head, and now it’s time for me to go back. I could sense the wall was coming on, and I was like, This is going to hurt. But it’s zero-zero, and if I don’t try this, it’s going to bounce off the wall and going to be at least a double, maybe a triple. That could be the game-winning run, so let me go.

When I hit, I was like, Okay, my shoulder feels fine, wrist feels fine, I can breathe. I finally started to hear the crowd at that point as we start to come off the field. But prior to that, I was like, Let me get us to the playoffs. If I get hurt on it, this is the one chance to do it to keep us in the ballgame.

But it wasn’t enough. We didn’t have enough star power. Even if we win that game, I don’t know if we had enough at that point of the year in 2016 to keep going further. A lot of our pitching was hurt, and we were scraping by and doing enough. At that point, I think we would have been exposed if we were to move forward.

MMO: Along with your playing career, you were also a big leader with the Players Association, and won four Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards. Can you talk about how important it was to be involved with the MLBPA?

Granderson: I kind of got pushed into that in 2006, my first full year with the Tigers. It was an election year for the team, and every two years I think it is, the team votes for their main team rep and alternate rep.

So it’s my first full year in the big leagues, and someone recommended me, and then they seconded me. I’m looking around thinking, What does that mean? All of a sudden, I’m in this position. I thought, If I’m in this position, let me figure out what I can do.

At the end of the season, I went to my first union meeting in the winter. At the time, the head of the players’ union was Michael Weiner, and I had no idea what was being talked about. It was the first time I heard words like collusion, arbitration, all these different things. I was just thinking, Let me ask some questions and not look too odd.

I started going year after year after year and started understanding a bit more. I started understanding the importance of asking more questions while also being able to take that information and give it back to my teammates. Or, if someone called and had a question, I can try to break it down for them. If I didn’t know the answer, I can point them in the right direction to get the feedback.

I pride myself on that because you have fun in this game, you enjoy it, get into it, and then there’s a lot of the business of the game where again, you just don’t know. We talked about the statistical side and that stuff’s not really explained to you, well, same thing with your playing career.

I had this conversation with one of the staff members at Turner. I’m talking to Jimmy Rollins, and I said, ‘The Padres just DFA’d Nelson Cruz.’ One of the staff members went, “What does that mean?” And again, not saying that the staff member is supposed to know that, but I think most people don’t know what that means. And what that means for you and your career, or what arbitration means, or what exactly free agency means or what options mean.

You see a player and get mad about why he got sent down. Why did my favorite player get sent down? We have these emotional responses, but we don’t understand the reasoning behind it. That’s where understanding what the union is for and what has been collectively bargained is important.

I have some former teammates that are now in real estate, and they’re in Chicago. We have two teams here, so a lot of players have either signed here, were traded here, or started a new career here, and they’re looking for a place. I’ll try to connect them, and this is someone who played pro ball and is constantly asking me, “What happens if a player gets sent down? What happens if a player gets traded but they’re in a lease?”

That language is in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. It’s amazing how few people know what that stuff means. I took pride in gathering the information and passing that along.

To be acknowledged with the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award is just a sign of what the players and the game thought of me from that standpoint. I appreciate them because they’re the ones voting for it. I always tried to do my best to improve the scenarios for the players that were there and provide as much information as I could.

MMO: Talk to me about your foundation. When did you initially start it, and what is the mission?

Granderson: In 2007, I’m in Detroit, and I got approached about starting a foundation. I heard about foundations, but again, it’s one of those things that I didn’t know what all went into it. They told me to find something I like and go for it. I said, ‘Education, that’s important.’ I remember people asking, why education? And I said, ‘That’s important to me.’

This is when the Wounded Warrior Project was going on, a lot of the military-focused initiatives were front and center. I didn’t have a passion for that like I do education. So I went for it.

The name Grand Kids plays off my last name and kids being in school. The education side of it was started, and obviously, using baseball as a vehicle because that’s what I was involved in that I could hopefully use as a character. Like, here’s a baseball player telling me that school is fun and important. Let me listen to that player tell me that stuff.

At the time in Detroit, the high school graduation rate was at fifty percent. That stood out to me, and I wanted to do something around that. We started with education and baseball, trying to get kids active. I was able to join Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to help fight childhood obesity. We got kids moving around and started all these different initiatives.

Fast forward to where we are now; we have food and insecure issues that we tackle here in my hometown of Chicago. I’ve done that in a bunch of different places with the food bank from New York and for one of the hurricanes in Houston. We were able to help with No Kid Hungry, which has national reach.

The good thing about playing for seven different teams is I got a chance to be in all of these different areas, including Canada. I realized that even though I might not be there full-time, I could still do something and not physically have to be there. That’s kind of how Grand Kids has evolved.

It’s amazing to say that it’s been going on for 15+ years. Who knows what the future is going to look like? As long as we continue to help out in some form or fashion and give kids an opportunity, that’s what I’m all about.

MMO: The Players Alliance was formed in the wake of the horrific killing of George Floyd in 2020, and is aimed to help build Black participation in baseball. Can you talk about your role in the Players Alliance, and some of the work the nonprofit does to help spur participation?

Granderson: I became the board chair and timing and I guess my position in the game aligned pretty well from that. I just retired, so I was still very much connected to the active players. C.C. Sabathia just retired, he’s our vice president. And then Edwin Jackson is our founding board chair. We had a good connection to the current players and the up-and-coming players. We were also connected to some of the older veteran players, players that had taken us under their wing, like Dmitri Young, Ken Griffey Jr., Ellis Burks, to name a few.

It was a good bridge because it was a conversation that had already started 18 years ago, 30 years ago, but now we were able to bring it together because there was nothing going on at that time. Baseball wasn’t happening. Covid was happening, and the George Floyd situation happened. Most people were just at home and able to be connected to this new and exciting thing that not many people knew about via Zoom.

For example, in 2008, I think it was, there were about 40 of us that all met in New York at the time. Frank Robinson was there, Tony Clark, C.C., Dontrelle Willis, Dmitri Young, a bunch of players. We had talked about very similar things to what the Players Alliance had become. I know players and generations before with Dave Winfield and all those players back then talked about it too, but life was happening. Let’s get together next year. Let’s get together this time next year. I can’t. I’m busy. I thought I had this. I’m injured. I’m free.

The timing of 2020, there was nowhere to go. We wanted to do more than just, if you remember at that time, everything was about, let’s take a stance on social media and post an orange square, a black square. I was like, This isn’t enough. We’ve got to do a little more than that. We’ve been talking about this, let’s see what we can do.

We’ve been trying to identify what have been some of the causes of why Black participation has gone down so much at the pro level, the college level and in the front office. We’re starting to realize that poverty has been one of the biggest barriers, or the lack of ability to afford certain things in this space. It’s not just the Black issue. It started and was founded by Black players, but this has affected so many different players.

When you look at the number of kids that play baseball up until the age of 12, the numbers are high here in the U.S. The most recent stat I saw was anywhere between two and three million kids play. But as soon as you jump into 13 and 14, you lose about one-to-two million kids. As of 2021, this was by “Sports and Fitness Industry Associations,” the baseball participation was at 3.67 million players ages six to twelve. Between the ages of 13 and 17, that number drops to 1.9 million.

You start looking and ask, why is there such a big drop? First, people look at the field finally gets bigger, and the failure rate starts to go up a bit. Okay, that’s part of it. But at the same time, this is where travel ball becomes such a big thing. I’ve seen travel ball as young as eight years old, which doesn’t make any sense to me. At the same time, when it can start to make sense is when you get to 13U, or 14U, or 15U or 16U, I think there is space for it there. But the risk of cost associated with it, now you’ve alienated a lot of kids, especially kids that just want to play.

There is a family that I’ve grown up with where they communicate with me about their sons playing. They said, “We’re at a point now where we’re thinking about getting a motor home because all these hotels we constantly have to go to. It might be more affordable for us to go ahead and have this motor home. At least we don’t have to pay for all these different hotel rooms.’

Times have changed where you don’t just send your kids out, it’s a whole family gathering. So this is multiple rooms and multiple weekends. We’re trying to address those barriers with the Players Alliance by making accessibility affordable, especially if kids are being carded, scouted or recruited. And the only thing that’s keeping them from going is cost. Let’s try to find some workaround to do that. Once you start to get more of these players into that wheelhouse of playing more, now there’s more exposure, more recruitment. There’s more possibility to go on to the next level, whatever that happens to be.

The same thing moving into the education space, looking at opportunities to define whether it’s internships, entry-level jobs. It’s different spaces like that to provide opportunities, not handouts, just more opportunities because there is more demand.

I think that gets mixed up when people say there’s no interest. I think there’s definitely interest, but at the same time, you have to make a decision: can I afford this? If the answer is no, then I have to shift what it is I want to do, not because I’m not interested. I just can’t afford it.

MMO: When you look back on your career, what are you most proud of?

Granderson: The thing I’m most proud of is that I had fun out there, and it’s amazing that I got a chance to play as long as I did.

I never imagined that when I got drafted in 2002, I honestly thought and told people this: that I would play for two-to-three years in the minor leagues and get released. Then I would put my college degree to work in a number of different things, whether it be sports marketing because I was a marketing and management major, or follow what my parents and sister did and teach. I wanted to teach at the college level; I didn’t want to teach at the high school or grade school level.

What’s crazy is I played in 2002, played well, make the All-Star team. I played well in 2003, made the All-Star team. This is my second year of pro ball and I’m just hating life. I didn’t like where I was at in Lakeland, Florida, and the Florida State League.

I always tell people that the Major Leagues are the hardest, but the Florida State League is the second hardest. It’s hot, the stadiums are so big, there are no fans because who wants to sit out in a game where it’s 95 degrees plus humidity. There are a couple of teams that draw, but Lakeland didn’t at that time. I think we were averaging two-to-three hundred fans a game at a stadium that holds 7,000!

All of my friends are in Chicago and going and doing all these things that sounded exciting. I was ready to be done. I got to the end of that season, I came back, and I was able to finish and graduate with my college class, and then the next year I got called to the big leagues. It’s just crazy to think about in two or three years I’d be done, and I almost quit at the two-year mark, and then by the three-year mark I had made my Major League debut. I thought, Since I’m here, let’s see what happens.

It’s really cool to be a part of this baseball fraternity. To have done it and get a chance to talk to different people about it and try to help anywhere I can on the field or off it is great.

Follow Curtis Granderson on Twitter, @cgrand3

The post MMO Exclusive: Three-Time All-Star, Curtis Granderson appeared first on Metsmerized.

Good morning, Mets fans!

Tim Healey of Newsday captured Buck Showalter‘s response to the Mets hiring Carlos Beltrán as a special assistant to Billy Eppler: “That’s a great addition for us. … As much as Carlos is willing to do (regarding on-field instruction), I’ll take him.” Beltran was selected for nine All-Star games, won three Gold Gloves, and earned two Silver Slugger awards during his career, so Showalter and the Mets will hope that his highly successful career as a player will translate to success in his new front office role.

Now, it is time for the morning briefing.

Latest Mets News

Brett Baty was asked on SNY (via Yahoo) about his relationship with Francisco Álvarez: “He’s one of my best friends even though we don’t speak the same language. It’s super fun to be around him right now.”

Up to 12 Mets could be participating in the World Baseball Classic. The finalized roster will be released tonight. However, Ross Bentley reports that Showalter is somewhat concerned with his players playing in the event, saying, “We are excited and proud that they are going, but they can’t come back and be way behind.”

Howie Rose interviewed Steve Cohen. Click here for the full interview. Michael Mayer has a summary of the interview.

The Thurman Munson Awards are given to professional and Olympic athletes in recognition of their athletic achievements and contributions to the community. Brandon Nimmo and Showalter were honored at the event on Tuesday night.

Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors writes about Pete Alonso as an extension candidate for the Mets.

Michael Mayer reports that former Cardinals outfielder Shane Robinson will be the Mets minor league outfield/base running coordinator this season. Robinson spent the 2022 season as a bench coach in the Padres farm system after retiring as a player in 2021.

Latest MLB News

Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the Marlins have spoken to Terry Collins about a possible consultant’s role within the organization. Collins and Marlins general manager Kim Ng worked together with the Dodgers.

Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Ronald Acuña Jr. will play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. The decision was made Wednesday. The Braves feel comfortable because they will monitor Acuña’s knee for a few weeks in camp before he joins his country.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com polled MLB executives on which signings were the best in terms of value and fit for the club. For the Mets, Edwin Díaz, Kodai Senga, and Justin Verlander each got a vote.

Nick Pollack of Pitcher List announced the launch of PL8, which includes New mobile design, MLB Percentiles for every stat, PLV metrics on player pages, PL Pro fantasy tools, Custom Article Feed, Usage/MPH arrows, and In Game Log.

Latest on MMO

Ross Bentley explains new MLB rules for the 2023 season.

Ross Bentley writes about how Francisco Lindor and Edwin Díaz reportedly pushed for the Mets to hire Carlos Beltrán.

On This Date in Mets History

1956: Mookie Wilson was born.

Other birthdays: Todd Pratt (56), Doug Linton (58)

The post Morning Briefing: Buck Showalter Comments on Carlos Beltrán Hiring appeared first on Metsmerized.