Jonah Tong. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Tong’s baseball career started with playing in Canada, where he was born and raised in Markham, Ontario. After graduating high school, Tong traveled to Arizona with other Canadians for an amateur baseball Pro Tour in 2022, where he got to play against professional players while facing competition from top-level Arizona JUCO colleges. From there, Tong got the invite to play at the Georgia Premier Academy in April and May, and later the MLB Draft League.

With a commitment to North Dakota State University, Tong ultimately altered that plan, as he was selected by the New York Mets in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft and signed for the full slot value at $226,000.

After being limited to 21 innings in 2023, Tong got off to a fast start in 2024. In his first five appearances, Tong struck out 43 batters while allowing just two unearned runs—none earned!—over 23.2 innings. Over three levels in ’24, Tong tossed 113 innings with a 3.03 ERA. Among 313 minor league pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings pitched, Tong posted the sixth-highest strikeout rate (34.2 percent) and second-lowest fielding independent pitching (2.33).

Following the ’24 season, Tong went home to Canada for a bit but arrived back in Port St. Lucie in mid-January for a preseason camp. Noting the limited places to throw in Canada, Tong has enjoyed the ability to get his work in without weather limitations.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tong in February, where he discussed his arsenal, studying major league pitchers and the mental side of the game.

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

Tong: My favorite player used to be Brett Cecil. An odd one for a lot of people. I remember I went with my rookie travel ball team to this meet-and-greet with the Blue Jays. We got to take pictures with some of the players and went to the game. He was the first person I saw and was like, Wow! That’s a big-league pitcher right there.

Jacob deGrom was up there, and Tim Lincecum became a huge influence, as most people know.

Credit: USA TODAY

MMO: Who introduced you to the game?

Tong: I always tell this funny story about how I woke up one day, and I was trying to find some sports place. I was going through the newspaper, and I saw this local T-Ball organization. I asked my parents if I could join, and their faces lit up. They said absolutely because they both have softball backgrounds. So, technically me, I guess, but my parents heavily influenced my career.

MMO: At what point during your development did you start to concentrate on pitching?

Tong: Since I knew I couldn’t hit! [Laughs.] My dad and I would get into some mini-arguments about me hitting because my dad always wanted me to be a two-way player in college and conquer the international scene. I said, ‘Dad, that’s just not happening.’

My middle sister played soccer and did gymnastics back home at the highest level you could for the longest time, and I was like, Okay, she’s not going to the Olympics for both of those.

He always wanted me to hit and have as many options as possible. When I was 16, I went on this fall tournament. I got caught stealing three times, and I tagged up on a ball that didn’t leave the infield. My coach looked at me and said, “Maybe we should do pitching.” My dad wasn’t fully sold, but that’s the story. [Laughs.]

MMO: That ended up being a good decision in the long run though.

Tong: I think so. Funny enough, my grandpa—out of nowhere this past season—came up to me and said, “Jonah, I think you should start hitting.” I said, ‘I don’t think that’s how it works.’ He said, “I think you could. Look at [Shohei] Ohtani!” And I went, ‘Yeah, okay, I think I’m good.’ [Laughs.]

If you need a bunt, I can do that. That’s pretty much it.

MMO: I found your path into professional baseball so interesting. For those who don’t know, can you talk about your journey from Canada to the States to eventually getting drafted by the Mets in 2022?

Tong: In the ’21 offseason, I started to work through everything. I just got into college, and then in January, I got invited to Arizona for this travel ball team from Canada. I went down and played a bunch of the spring training teams; it’s kind of like our [major league] spring training. At that point, I looked at my parents and said, ‘I don’t think it makes sense for me to ramp up for this and then all of a sudden just stop.’ I looked around, and I followed Georgia Premier, and I think Pro 5 because my buddy went there.

Georgia Premier hit me up after that and asked if I would consider coming down to play. I told them I would think about it. Then the Arizona thing happened, and I said, ‘I think this is a good opportunity for me to go and branch off on my own and start learning about who I am as a person, and see if I can do it.’ So I did that, and I had an awesome time.

The Draft League was kind of the same deal when the season ended in May and I wanted to find somewhere else to play before the draft. My agent made a few calls, and I ended up getting an opportunity to go to the Draft League. I met a lot of people, and it was a lot of fun.

I think that’s the place I learned that baseball is not going to be easy. You’re facing guys who are three or four years older, but you do learn a lot.

MMO: Were the Mets on your radar as a potential landing spot in the 2022 Draft?

Tong: Yeah, I was close with the area scout, Marlin McPhail, but I didn’t know that [he was with the Mets] at the time. I just saw a guy with an iconic bucket hat he wore everywhere he went.

I remember talking to him after my first start, and from there we just started talking more and more. He would ask how I was doing and adjusting and would ask me different situations. It was honestly refreshing to talk to somebody after being away from everybody I’ve ever known. To get to know somebody and pick his brain was the coolest thing.

I really didn’t know that I was going to go anywhere [in the draft] until late the night before when I started to hear a little bit more.

MMO: You mentioned being away from home and how big of an adjustment it was. Can you expand on some of those adjustments and challenges you faced?

Tong: Every stop I made, I had to learn something new. When I was in Arizona, I was with a few buddies from back home. In my first inning there, I walked five straight guys. I had no idea where it was going. I asked if I could go one more inning, and it was three-up-three-down with three punchouts against a junior college from Nebraska. And I was like, Alright, I’m just trying to get my feet wet. I was still having a lot of fun because I was with people I knew.

When I went to Georgia, I got picked up by the pastor of the academy and his wife. I thought it was a little different, but I was excited about a new challenge. I was dropped off at the academy in the middle of Statesboro, Georgia, which if you know where Statesboro, Georgia, is, is nothing crazy.

The first time I called my mom; I was just bawling my eyes out. I said, ‘Mom, I’m homesick, I can’t do this anymore.’ She was trying to walk me off the cliff and asked if I wanted to be picked up. I told her no, and that if I was going to go to college, I couldn’t be doing this. Shoot, if I’m going to play baseball, I can’t be doing this because you’re going to be put in situations like that. The next day I woke up and made some friends; the rest is history.

With the Draft League, the experience from the academy helped, and that just continued to where I’m at now. It all taught me to be flexible and open-minded because you don’t know where you’re going to be day-to-day.

MMO: One intriguing trait in your arsenal is the carry your four-seam fastball generates. When did you start to realize that your four-seamer has such rise, and how do you utilize that on the mound?

@TJStats

Tong: When I went to the Draft League, there was a tweet that went out with a highlight of what I did. Honestly, I thought I pitched horribly in my last game. It was not pretty. But they highlighted something called IVB, which stands for induced vertical break. The number was around 20, and I thought, Okay, that’s interesting, but I don’t know what that means. 

When we got to draft camp, they told me that my fastball had a pretty good amount of ride, and I told them I had no idea what that was. They took the time to explain it to me, and once I figured out what it was, I looked up some pitchers for inspiration. Tyler Glasnow was a big comp for fastball shape, I guess because I have more cut ride. I started to watch him and figured out where he pitched. I noticed that if it had ride, it would make sense to pitch up, which is exactly what they told me.

It’s been a big part of my game, especially going into this year, and trying to learn how to use that and pair it with my offspeed [pitches]. I think that’s why my curveball plays; even though it’s not the fastest pitch and not the nastiest thing in the world, there’s enough difference in movement.

MMO: Along with your four-seamer, you also feature a changeup, curveball and slider. Can you talk about the rest of your arsenal? Is it true that you learned your changeup and curveball grips from watching videos online?

Tong: Yeah! My dad and I used to throw across the street—we still do occasionally—and he said I should try and learn a curveball. Originally, I threw a knuckle curve, or so I thought. Basically, I had my two fingers on top, and I pushed it with my fingers. I thought it was a knuckleball, but it was really like a knuckle curve.

Fast forward, they told me that pitch was probably not going to play, and I should consider throwing a regular curveball. I scoured the internet, played around with some stuff, and looked at other pitchers. Clayton Kershaw was a big one; that’s a Hall of Fame curveball. I looked at that and made adjustments and didn’t really think about it for a while.

With my changeup, an influencer and former player with the Cardinals, Robby Rowland, had a video when I was nine or ten of him throwing a Vulcan changeup. I was like, Woah, Vulcan? That sounds sick! Why would I ever throw a circle changeup when I can throw a Vulcan? I tried to learn that, and my dad didn’t want me throwing a splitter at that age. So I thought, How can I mess with something that he can’t tell me I can’t do? The next best thing was this changeup. That developed over the years, and lately, we’ve been tweaking it and trying to improve it. We’ve seen some really interesting things with improving the shape.

The slider was something new. I remember in 2023, I felt like I couldn’t throw a strike. I remember walking into our pitching office, and I went, ‘We need something new because I’m frustrated.’ I was at the point in my career where I was just like, This sucks, and pitching is brutal right now. You go from a place of having so much success in high school, and then you’re challenged for the first time. Looking back at it now, it was probably the most influential year I’ve had up until this point, and we stumbled on a few things.

Going back to Tyler Glasnow, he had this short bullet slider that was gross. I was going to try to copy something like that; I kind of mirrored his arsenal. In developing that—it’s here and there—it’s been pretty consistent lately, which I’m happy about. I’m trying to use it as a bridge pitch because of my big curveball and rising fastball.

We tried working on a two-seamer, and it’s been interesting. It’s basically like, if Glasnow throws it, I’m trying it. [Laughs.] I’m trying to work on that. We’re focusing more on my consistency with the slider and changeup, and maybe we’ll bring in the two-seamer.

MMO: I interviewed Christian Scott recently, and he sang the praises of two developmental figures in the organization Kyle Rogers and Eric Jagers. What has been your relationship with the player development staff?

Tong: It wouldn’t be fair of me not to include everyone on our staff. There are honestly too many names, but guys like Dan McKinney, Garrett Baker, A. J. Sager, Luis Alvarado, Miguel Bonilla, Jagers and Rogers. Everybody has built this massive unit, and being able to pick their brains and learn from them put me in a good spot.

Rogers is awesome when it comes to dealing with your body and trying to figure out what you can do mechanically and pitch-wise. All of the other pitching coaches together have helped me out a lot.

The biggest mentor that I’ve had so far has been Garrett Baker; he’s our integration pitching coach. He loves this Bruce Lee saying: Be like water. You know, be adaptable. I’ve kind of taken that as my mantra. I’ve become close with him.

The biggest thing he’s taught me with everything in general is, yeah, things may suck right now, but how are you going to learn to adapt to it? You’re pitching in 115-degree heat in July, and it’s not ideal conditions. You go play in Brooklyn in April, and it’s 25 degrees, and Binghamton and the big leagues are the same. But the difference is there are more people on you, there’s added pressure, and things aren’t always going to go your way. Some things are just out of your control. How are you not going to let it affect you? You have to ride the wave. Just take it, react to it, be able to adjust, and remain the pitcher that you are.

That’s been the thing that I’ve been constantly learning the most, and it’s had the biggest impact on my career thus far. I think that has helped me transition from the ’23 season to the ’24 season, and now moving into ’25. It’s about looking at everything with a different perspective. How am I going to ride this wave? How am I going to continue to develop and not think the world is crashing when things aren’t going well?

MMO: You really seem to be in touch with the mental aspect of the game.

Tong: One hundred percent. It goes back to the Bruce Lee mantra; it’s on the inside of my glove, which is the coolest thing. When I look at it, it’s just where I need to be. We have to recognize that we are in the presence of some of the best players in the world. Being able to go to the field and get to throw with Christian Scott one day, or throw with Calvin Ziegler. Francisco Lindor is playing on the field next to us, or Jett Williams is right there hitting. Everybody together builds this unit, and you kind of take advantage of that.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

I think being able to mentally understand that you don’t need to be someone bigger is the biggest challenge for me. I always felt like I needed to do something extra because some things weren’t going my way. Our mental performance team through the years has changed, but the people always have the same message: don’t be someone bigger than yourself. Be a good teammate, and things will work out in the way that they’re supposed to. I’m a firm believer in that. I have bad days and good days; it’s still a constant battle. Confidence can be a constant battle throughout my career.

I think for high school guys specifically, that’s the thing that we don’t recognize until it’s happening. To get out of something, and then once you’re out of it, you have a different perspective. It’s almost like you’re enlightened about it. If I could go back and talk to anybody, specifically myself, I’d say, ‘The faster you recognize that things aren’t going to go your way all the time and tackle the mental side of baseball, you can enjoy it so much more.’

MMO: One of the many investments Steve Cohen has made with this team is the pitching lab in Port St. Lucie. Have you had a chance to use it?

Tong: I’ve gotten to throw there a few times; it’s pretty cool. For a guy who knows nothing about what goes on, there are a lot of smart people around who make sure we have access to everything. I’m still learning what’s going on in there, because again, I’ll look in and be like, Oh, that’s new! What does that do? 

It really helps us as pitchers understand stuff that we can’t normally see from a biomechanical standpoint. I do find it interesting. It’ll be interesting to see how it translates over the next few years.

MMO: Is the lab available for pitchers to drop in at any point? Or, are there certain times that it’s available?

Tong: I’m honestly not sure. I know that we’ll throw in there a few times in the year, but everybody’s case is a little bit different. I’m sure if you’re working on something mechanically, that’s going to be your best place to get what you need.

MMO: You mentioned having control issues in 2023. Of course, it was a small sample size (21 innings). However, you went from a 22 percent walk rate to 10 percent over 113 innings in 2024. What adjustments were made?

Tong: Going back to Rogers, he kind of built our prior movement routine, and stuff like that. Baker kind of helped me realize that I have to be adaptable. Over the course of that entire season, we were trying to nail down my mechanics and make sure everything was repeatable. That’s the biggest word I was fed.

Going into the offseason, I took that and used some water bags or Orca bags, which are huge for me. Doing different plyo variations and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, which I think over time helped me be more resilient on the mound. As a result, the mechanics were cleaned up a bit.

I wouldn’t say there’s one specific fix; there were just a lot of things that slowly started to merge and click to kind of where we are right now. There’s still room to grow, but I like where we’re going from that.

Jonah Tong. Photo by @ITSDMPhotos via Binghamton Rumble Ponies

MMO: You talked about your repertoire in a video for MLB Pipeline last year. In it, you mentioned that the curveball is the first pitch you throw in your bullpens before a game. Is that still the case? And how do you adjust if you don’t have a feel for that pitch on a given day?

Tong: I like to either start with it or end with it. Lately, it’s been ending with it because it’s more of a feel thing. For instance, in live BP, it’s always the funniest thing when it’s the last pitch, and even though I just want to throw a fastball to challenge myself, I throw an offspeed. I thought everyone gave me weird looks when I did that because they were expecting a fastball. And I was like, You know what? Let’s just make this a thing. 

Going into the season, that was one of those things I wanted to make sure I had a feel for. That helped me by throwing it as the last pitch. It just made me feel like I had this confidence. The last fastball is generally my best fastball in my sides or bullpens; not always, but mostly. Being able to change that up with my curveball can give me a little more confidence with it.

It’s funny that you asked if it makes me feel like I can throw it in the game. Yes and no. I think when I go into the game trusting it, it’s pretty good, and it does what I need it to do. When I get away from that or feel like I need to do something a little bit extra, that’s when we have different issues.

The big thing for me moving forward is making sure that when I throw it, I trust it. I remember watching a thing about Clayton Kershaw in an on-field interview. He was talking about tucking his curveball, gripping it really hard, and not having many thoughts on it because when he does that, it takes away from everything. And I was like, That’s a great point! I’ve been trying to work on that.

MMO: Throughout our chat, you’ve mentioned several big leaguers you’ve studied and taken bits and pieces from for your own game. Have you always been a student of the game?

Tong: I love telling the story about my dad and I watching videos of Tim Lincecum and my mom yelling downstairs because it was late on a school night. My dad instilled that in me. He’d be like, “Hey, come here,” and I’d be like, ‘Dad, I’m in the middle of an assignment.’ He’d say, “Come here, check this out: Greg Maddux.” He does everything for me. We watch it, understand it, pick his brain, and pick my brain. I think it slowly became something where he started to learn something and I did, which is kind of cool and beautiful now thinking about it.

When I was a kid, I didn’t think of it like that; I thought it was a waste of my time. But I started growing up and realizing the importance of it. I’m not the biggest guy on the field; I never have been and never will be. So being able to educate myself has been one of the biggest things in my career. Coming from Canada, we don’t play enough baseball just because of our climate compared to the American travel scene, so you kind of have to [be educated in the game].

Playing MLB The Show is a great example. It kind of teaches you more about the game and how you would pitch to people. I’ve always been a pretty good academic student, and studying is something I know, and I’m still improving with it. It’s funny; as you go up levels and start seeing different coaches, people, and styles, everything seems like one step, and everybody has their specialties. Getting a chance to be with A.J. [Sager] at the end of the year [with Binghamton] was pretty cool and something I was looking forward to in just learning from him and being more of a student of the game from that aspect.

MMO: You mentioned a few things that you’ve been working on with your slider and adding a two-seamer. Is there anything else you’re focusing on heading into 2025?

Tong: Just being present. I think that’s the thing I’ve been trying to focus on the most. It’s like, I’m here, soak it all up, be thankful every day, and thank God for the opportunities. That’s what I’m trying to focus on the most: realizing what we’re doing and how cool it is, and that’s what makes baseball fun. When we start thinking about it too much and putting more pressure on ourselves, that’s when we run into issues, and I did that all the time in ’23.

I’m going to continue the trend and focus on situation-based things. If we have a live BP, for instance, and my focus is working on early count curveballs. Yeah, it’s February. Did I do it all the time? No. But I got one of the six I tried, and that’s success. That’s a win. Everything is brick-by-brick, day-by-day because we’re not trying to be perfect in February.

The post MMO Exclusive: Pitching Prospect Jonah Tong appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Well, it was quite a letdown from the epic Wild Card walk-off, but to give some unsolicited inspiration for Dodger fans — Boston crushed Tampa Bay in their domed backyard after being blanked the night before. Not buying it? Okay, you got me.

Let’s face it. While San Francisco starter Logan Webb had Tim Lincecom/Madison Bumgarner playoff numbers, Walker Buehler channeled Max Scherzer’s un-commanding performance on Wednesday.

In his first postseason outing, Webb was superb — tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings of four hit ball, fanning 10 without a free pass. He blew away the Los Angeles line-up on a bevy of off-speed brilliance.

The Dodgers had some baserunners to do some damage, but unfortunately, their heroics didn’t leave the building – they never entered.

No Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger lost his patience at the plate, twice swinging on strike three, and what appears to loom the largest, Matt Beaty – 0-6 in the post season while filling in for the injured Max Muncy. Boy, they’re really going to miss his bat.

You know whose bat they’re also missing? Former teammate, Kike’ Hernandez. The Kieran Culkin doppelganger devoured Rays pitching going 5-6 with a solo home run, three doubles, a base hit that plated a pair and three runs scored.

Saturday the reigning champs look to Julio Urias to even the series against their northern nemesis. The 25-year-old lefty has some magic up the sleeve of his Dodger jersey – posting a 20-3 record, more than any pitcher in the majors this season.

So for now, sit back, relax and enjoy the bumpy ride.

The post Dodgers Caught Up In Logan’s Webb, Giants Take Game 1 of NLDS appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

In a surprising development out of San Francisco Giants camp, long time Giant manager, Bruce Bochy, announced that 2019 will be his last season. Bochy has managed the Giants since 2007.

He enters his final season 11th all time in wins with 1926 and the ten men ahead of him are all in the Hall of Fame. Some are not surprised at his decision as he is entering the final year of his contract and will also be playing for a new head of baseball operations in Farhan Zaidi.

Bruce Bochy. 63, began his managerial career with the San Diego Padres in 1995. In his rookie year as skipper he took a 47-win team in 1994 to a a 70-win team. In 1996, he led the Padres to a 91-71 record and a NL West division title earning him the National League Manager of the Year and the Sporting News National League Manager of the year honors. It was only the second division title in franchise history.

The 1998 series was his most distinguished as Padres’ manager as he guided San Diego to an 98 win season and the NL pennant, only the second pennant in team history. The Padres were swept in the World Series by the Yankees in 1998.

After the World Series, the Padres dramatically cut payroll leading to five straight losing seasons. The Padres returned to prominence in the 2005 and 2006 campaigns as they won consecutive NL West titles for the first time in franchise history. Bochy would leave the Padres for the San Francisco Giants after the 2006 season. In 12 seasons under Bochy the Padres, a team known for constant losing, had five winning seasons, four NL West titles and one pennant.

Bochy replaced Felipe Alou and became the Giants’ manager on October 27, 2006. His tenure started slowly with two losing seasons before an 88 win campaign in 2009. In 2010, the Giants won 92 games and their first NL west division crown since 2003. They beat the Altlanta Braves in the NLDS before defeating the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

His “bunch of castoffs and misfits” as they were affectionately known as, completed the magical year by defeating the Texas Rangers in five games to win the first World Series for the franchise since 1954 when the Giants were still in New York.

The Giants missed the playoffs in 2011 but won 94 games in 2012 clinching their second NL West title in three years. The Giants fell behind both the Cincinnati Reds on the ALDS and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS before rallying to win both series, The climax of the season was a sweep of the heavily favored Detroit Tigers in the World Series. Bochy was a wizard and mixing and matching pitchers in the 2012 playoffs, using starter Tim Lincecum in a memorable bullpen role as an example.

The Giants also won the World Series in 2014 defeating the Kansas City Royals in seven games, giving Bochy and the Giants three championships in five years. In this back and forth series, Bochy used Madison Bumgarner in the fifth inning of game seven and left him in for the rest of the series clinching victory. Bochy became only the tenth manager in MLB history to win three championships. The other nine managers are all in the Hall of Fame.

The Giants also made the playoffs as a wild-card in 2016. After defeating the New York Mets in the wild-card game, the Giants lost the NLDS to the Chicaco Cubs. It was the first post-season series loss for Bochy as manager of the Giants.

On April 10, 2017 in the Giants’ home owner, San Francisco defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1. The win vaulted Bochy over Dusty Baker as the all-time winningest manager of the Giants in the San Francisco era with 861. On May 3, 2017, Bochy became the 15th manager with 1800 wins. On July 29, 2019, Bochy surpassed Casey Stengel into 11th place on the all-time win list.

Bruce Bochy won four pennants and three World Series in his illustrious career. He is widely regarded as one of the finest managers in recent baseball memory. He will retire under his own terms after one last go-around with the Giants. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

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The odds of making the major leagues are slim, but don’t tell the Molina brothers that.

The Molina’s, consisting of Bengie (43), Jose (42) and Yadier (35) is considered one of baseball’s royal families. Not only did the trio of siblings make it to the majors, but all three played at least a dozen years in the majors, won at least two World Series and played the same position: catcher.

Growing up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, baseball was life to the Molinas. Baseball brought them great joy and fulfillment, and what made it even better for the brothers was the person who taught them the game, the person Bengie Molina calls the family’s real Hall of Famer: their father.

Benjamin Molina, Sr., the patriarch in the Molina household, worked tirelessly with all three of his sons to hone their skills on the field while ensuring that they were better men off it. Though the elder Molina worked tirelessly at a Westinghouse factory by day, by night, he sought to ensure that his three sons were respectful, humble and appreciative of family and all that they were given.

On the diamond, Molina Sr. was instrumental in each of his son’s development, catering to their individual strengths and weaknesses while working hard to ensure that their grasp of the basic fundamentals of the sport was instilled first and foremost.

While most ardent fans of the sport know of the three Molina brothers, the story of the man who raised and developed the talent in the family had little to no mention in the mainstream media. The oldest of the three Molina brothers, Bengie, decided, along with his wife, Jamie, that a perfect way to give proper tribute to the man they most revered would be by writing a book as a tribute.

The book Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty sheds light on his father’s story. A therapeutic yet personal homage to a man that meant the world to his sons, Molina chronicles his relationship with his father and shares personal anecdotes of how he helped shape him into the man he became.

Beyond raising and teaching all three of his sons, Molina Sr. was a staple in Puerto Rico. He’s enshrined in the Puerto Rican Hall of Fame for his own baseball career, one that could’ve potentially amounted to a career in the majors.

Molina Sr. once had a tryout set up with a major league scout but never showed. The reason? His wife was expecting their first child, Bengie, and decided that he needed to put aside his baseball ambitions to be there for his wife and growing family.

The tale of the Molina brothers is one of perseverance, with their personal accomplishments and accolades a testament to their upbringing, which includes their loving mother, Gladys.

In the book, Molina details personal highs and lows, including the sudden and devastating revelation that his father had a massive heart attack prior to coaching a youth baseball game in 2008 and died at the age of 58.

The elder Molina never stopped coaching, even when his three sons were off living their dreams in the majors. His dedication to the children of Puerto Rico to help shape their young baseball careers adds to his legacy, one that enriched the lives of thousands. Included among the throngs of kids he helped coach were future All-Stars and Hall of Famers, including Bernie Williams, Jose Hernandez and Ivan Rodriguez.

The commitment and investment Molina Sr. made in enriching children’s lives does not go unnoticed by Bengie, who speaks admirably about the time and zeal Molina Sr. gave to aiding others. While he was described as a man of few words, Molina noted that his father didn’t need to say a whole lot to be understood, that he could tell just by a look his father gave him as to what he wanted him to do.

Leadership and being a field manager are key attributes for a catcher to have, and certainly qualities that Molina Sr. never stopped instilling to his three sons.

While the memoir offers a retrospect into the Molina household, it also reflects on Bengie’s professional career. In total, Molina spent thirteen seasons in the majors, playing for four teams and a member of two World Series champions (2002 with the Angels and earning another as a member of the San Francisco Giants in 2010, before a July trade to the Texas Rangers).

I had the privilege of speaking with Molina in mid-February, where we discussed his book and father, signing with the Angels in 1993 and how close he came to becoming a member of the Mets in 2006.

MMO: What initially made you want to write this book, Bengie?

Molina: When my dad passed away, my wife came up with the idea of doing it as a tribute to him. Everybody knows that we are the Molina brothers in the majors, and we get the glory, or whatever they want to call it. But the real hero and the real Hall of Famer for us in our hearts is our dad and mom. That was one of the main reasons why we wanted to write this book, so people out there could know the real story of the Molina brothers instead of knowing the people that played.

I think that was one of the main reasons, as a tribute to him. Plus, he was such a great man with us. He’s in the Hall of Fame for his amateur playing days in Puerto Rico. He’s also in the Hall of Fame as a coach for Little League. That’s what I wanted people to know, that he’s in the Hall of Fame as a player and as a coach for helping kids, too.

Photo Credit: John Cordes

MMO: For those who haven’t read your book, can you talk about the kind of man your father was?

Molina: My dad was a very humble guy; he never liked to brag. He used to go every weekend and hang out with his friends and play dominoes and have fun. He was very humble, very quiet.

He was a guy of very few words, but then he would say a lot. You know what I’m saying? Just [by] looking at you.

MMO: Was he a tough coach on you and your brothers growing up?

Molina: He wasn’t tough; he was quite the opposite. When I started playing baseball, the reason he made the team was because me and a couple of his friends that worked with him – their sons – didn’t make the team. We were really bad players, and that’s just the truth.

The reason he made the team was so that we could play, and he told us right away, “I don’t want to win. I’m not looking to win; I’m looking to teach you the game of baseball. Just concentrate on learning, and then we’ll concentrate on winning whenever we’re ready. If you’re not ready, don’t worry about it. Just come here, go to school, respect your elders, respect your parents and teachers. If we win later, we win later.”

Let me tell you, that’s what happened! I don’t know if he saw it or not, but he trained us for a while. We didn’t win a game for probably the first couple of years. The third year we won a few, and we kept getting better and better.

He wasn’t worried about any winning; he was worried about making men out of us for the future and making us better players to have more opportunities.

MMO: An interesting part of your book was when you discuss attending Arizona Western College, with hopes of attracting more scouts to see you play. You had to take English classes and were a young man in an unfamiliar place. How difficult was that transition for you, especially being away from home?

Molina: It was very, very difficult. You wish you could speak a little bit so you can communicate with everybody on the field and become more friendly with the guys and build that chemistry. It was very difficult; I didn’t know how to order a burger! I didn’t know how to communicate.

I had a roommate who was Puerto Rican, same as me. I went to the coach, and I said, ‘Can I get an American roommate?’ He looked at me like, What, are you serious? I said, ‘If I want to be able to learn English fast, I better have one of those guys.’

And I did – I forgot his name – but he was very, very nice, and he took me under his wing. He started by asking me, “How do you say bed? How do you say toilet?” Anything that was in the room at the moment I would tell him in Spanish, and he was telling me in English. By the way, he learned Spanish; he knew Spanish by the end of his two years at junior college. He actually worked, too. It worked for him.

MMO: I didn’t know until reading your book that you didn’t catch at all until the Angels asked you to in their tryout in 1993. How difficult was it for you to find yourself in that situation, with a major league scout on hand and having to play a position that was foreign to you?

Molina: It was very difficult because of the position, but it wasn’t difficult because I saw it like a chance. I actually saw it as my last chance to be a pro baseball player. It was difficult just to adjust and to catch and throw. At the same time, I didn’t see it that way. I just thought this was my opportunity; the guy likes me as a catcher, and I’m going to make the most out of it.

Thank God that worked.

MMO: Fast forward a few years after you’ve played a couple of seasons in the Angels minor league system. You name Sal Fasano as a mentor in 1996 while playing Winter Ball. How big of an influence was he in helping form your catching skills?

Molina: Well, actually, as a catching instructor, I’ve got to give credit to Orlando Mercado, Bill Lachemann, Bob Clear and John McNamara. He was there with me when I arrived in the minor leagues in Mesa in ’93, and I had no idea how to catch. They took their time, and we were out there at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning every day trying to learn as quickly as I could.

And here I go to Puerto Rico to play Winter Ball. If I didn’t play Winter Ball, I wouldn’t have made it, straight up. Winter Ball was a huge part [of my success]. A lot of veteran pitchers helped me out. I didn’t play as much as I would’ve loved to, but I spent my time in the bullpen with a lot of veteran pitchers.

Sal gave his time. He got there early because he knew I was there early, catching four or five bullpens before the game started. I knew I wasn’t playing because they had veteran players like him, and he was the starter. I got there early so I could catch bullpens and learn quickly and develop my skills. He took it upon himself to sit down with me for long hours, and he would watch me catch bullpens.

He would tell me, “Put this knee this way. Try to get comfortable here. Let the ball travel to you. Receive the ball; don’t snap at it.” Anything that’s related to catching he would tell me, not that I didn’t hear it, but he was reassuring that I did it.

Sal was a big, big part in my catching success, and whenever I see him, I always tell him.

MMO: Where does playing with your brother, Jose Molina, on the 2002 World Champion Angels rank in your career?

Molina: I think it’s the top. Actually winning the World Series, getting a ring, and not only are you getting a ring, but you’re getting it with your brother on the same team? Come on, man! You can’t top that. I don’t care who you are. There’s no way in the world if you’re a baseball player that you can top that!

MMO: Was it ever tough having your brother on the same team with you?

Molina: We were very close. We would’ve won another championship if they kept us together; I really, really felt that way. He helped me; we had lunch together almost every day. It was awesome having him as part of me and being there together.

It was never a competition. If he would’ve been the number one and I was number two, I would’ve been happy for him, so it wasn’t any of that. It was more of, how do we help these pitchers succeed and help our team win? We actually did it, man.

It’s pretty crazy to win a championship with your brother on your side.

MMO: At the end of the 2005 season, there were reports that the Mets had offered you a 3-year, $18 million deal. You chronicle in the book your desire to come to New York. Can you talk about what happened in that process?

Molina: The lovely part of free agency is that you don’t know where you’re going to end up. In my head, we had no teams, we had no communication with anybody. All of a sudden, my agent called me and said, “Omar Minaya wants you there for three years, $18 million.”

I said, ‘Wow! Could we get a little bit more money? Negotiate some money, and I’m in. Tell him yes so we don’t lose that offer!’

I didn’t have anything; we didn’t have any offers. Well, at least I didn’t know; I’m going to tell you later what happened. At that moment, I didn’t know we had other offers, but he (his agent) didn’t say that to me because he was looking for four-year deals. So everybody that had two-year deals in their head he was saying no to, instead of consulting it with me.

The three-year deal with the Mets happened with me, Minaya and Tony Bernazard. [Bernazard] was huge with me; he was Puerto Rican, so he loved me. And I’m like, ‘Okay, three-year deal for $18 million. Let’s try to hustle a couple of more million in there for the taxes.’ That’s just a joke. I told him, ‘Hey, just hustle a couple more million for the taxes and tell him yes, I don’t want to lose it.’

And he said, “Yes, all right. I’m going to call them right now.”

I didn’t hear from him for the next week. It was kind of weird because I already said yes, and everybody’s asking me, “Did you sign?” And I said, ‘Yeah, I got a three-year deal with the Mets. I’m going to the Big Apple and going to try and hit that apple over there.’

I was having fun with it, and I almost went to a hat store to buy the Mets hat. All of a sudden, I didn’t hear from my agent, and it’s kind of weird. I kept calling, no answer. I kept calling, no answer. I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty weird.’

Then all of a sudden, on the news they said that they got Paul Lo Duca in a trade. Here I am, and I’m like, How the heck did they get Paul Lo Duca if they offered me a three-year deal? What happened?

I ended up calling the assistant of my agent, and I said, ‘Where the hell is Alan? I’ve been trying to call him about the contract.’

He said, “I’m going to tell him. He’s going to call you right back.”

He ended up calling me, and I said, ‘Alan, what the hell happened? I told you I said yes, and now they’ve got Lo Duca.’

His first reaction was, “Oh, you didn’t want to go there. You didn’t want to go to New York and play anyway.”

I’m like, ‘What the heck are you saying?’ He said that they didn’t want to go four years. I’m like, ‘What the hell!’ I didn’t say that; I said worse. [Laughs.]

Right away I fired the guy. I just said, ‘You’re fired, Alan. I don’t want any part with you. I don’t want any part with your organization or anything with you.’

And that’s how it happened. I was ready to go and be a Met. But all of a sudden, Alan Nero didn’t want it; I don’t know. And for some reason, it didn’t happen.

MMO: It’s crazy that you had no communication with your agent for that long of a period during a time when you had an offer on the table.

Molina: Yeah, that’s exactly what happened, man. I don’t have anything to hide. I was ready to go, and then all of a sudden he said, “I didn’t want to go there anyway.”

I’m like, ‘I don’t want to go where anyway? You’ve got to ask me; you’re not the one playing. I’m the one playing.’ Then we got into a big argument.

He went and visited me in Toronto because I ended up signing a one-year deal with Toronto with an option. I signed with like one week to go in spring. He came up to me and said, “I’m sorry about that deal with the Mets.”

And I said, ‘Hey, Alan, I told you before, I don’t want anything [to do] with you, man. I really don’t.’

He said, “Oh, but we’ve been with you for years.”

I told him, ‘I don’t care. You should’ve asked me, you should’ve asked me first. And then I’m the one who says no, I don’t want to go there, or, I want to go there.’ So that’s what happened.

MMO: I certainly think you would’ve excelled in New York, Bengie. Especially with your passion, dedication and work ethic. I think the fans would’ve gravitated to you.

Molina: I would’ve loved it. I talked to Carlos Beltran, who took a lot of heat over there from a lot of fans. He told me, “B-Mo, they’re strong fans, but you would’ve loved it. You would’ve loved it.”

MMO: Talk a little about your youngest brother Yadier. You write in your book that it was clear very early on growing up that Yadier was the best player in your family. What makes him tick?

Molina: First of all, I think he took from both of us, from Jose and myself. He took whatever he could and learned it. If I have 100 percent of my mind in baseball, Yadi has 200 percent in baseball. He’s very dedicated to it. He’s dedicated to today, which if today he faces the Cubs, he wants to beat the Cubs. He doesn’t care about any other team.

Yadier’s mind is way ahead of other people, way ahead. By that, I mean in a smart way. Maybe not so much in regards to other guys’ production, but for me, he’s so smart, way over the top. And it makes him really special.

He cares; that’s one thing people need to know. He cares about his pitchers and about his team. He cares about that jersey he wears. He wants to play every day because he cares.

MMO: He certainly brings a fiery passion to the game, and holds his ground well.

Molina: He’s defending his territory, man. You’re not going to come here and punk me [speaking about the Reds/Cardinals brawl]. It’s just very true. If they would have done it to me, we would’ve had the same type of reaction. You’re not going to come here and talk crap about my team the night before, and come here and say hi to me. I would’ve done the same thing, and probably a lot of players would’ve done the same thing.

MMO: One of the things your father told you that you could accomplish was hitting 20 home runs in a season. You came close in both 2006 and 2007 (19 home runs each). You finally accomplished the feat in 2009. Can you talk about how important that goal was for you personally?

Molina: He put it right in my head. I thought I was a 15-18-homer guy and a lot of RBIs, because thank God I was a clutch guy. But that’s what I thought I was. He said, “You could hit 20 home runs whenever you want to. You know that, right?”

I was like, ‘What?’

He put so many different thoughts into my head, and I was like, ‘Really, you think so? Do you know where I play? I play in San Francisco, buddy.’ But he said it, and he ended up passing away in 2008.

In 2009, I hit number twenty. It was a two-home run game. It was like my Hall of Fame speech. You know how kids think of speeches for the Hall of Fame? And you know how great they feel and how awesome they feel? For me, that was it. For me, that was my Hall of Fame time that I could show my dad that, hey, you were right, I hit twenty home runs in the big leagues. I never had 100 RBIs, although I came close. I never hit .300, but I came close, too.

Those are the numbers I wanted to [reach], and it was because of what you said in the beginning. You asked me about never catching before, and all of a sudden you made it as an opportunity. You made it. A guy like me that’s not supposed to be there ends up doing these things; it’s a win/win.

That’s why it was very special to me.

MMO: In your thirteen-year major league career, who were the best pitchers you had the privilege of catching?

Molina: There were many. The main ones that come to mind are Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett at his time. I caught Kevin Appier, but he was older; he was in his last couple of years. I would’ve loved to have caught him when he was in his prime.

Oh man, I caught many good pitchers, but those are probably the main ones that stand out in my head.

MMO: What was the normal day-to-day preparation for you as a catcher when you were preparing for a series? Was it a lot of scouting reports and video?

Molina: Yeah, yeah, but that’s normal. You have to do that just because it’s your job; you have to do it. If you want to become a really smart catcher, you have to do double time. If you watch one hour, I’ll be watching two. That’s what I was doing. I was watching the video and reading the scouting reports. At this time, they had a lot of paperwork that tells you what they hit in 2-2 counts, what they hit with two outs, and all of that.

I was trying to pick the best out of them. If I was facing Matt Kemp, what did he hit? Or Andre Ethier, what do they like to hit in certain situations? I went with what they couldn’t hit because if I get beat with that, at least we know they could hit that. It takes a lot of mental toughness and mental preparation to be a really good catcher.

It’s not impossible to do it, it just takes more time.

MMO: In today’s analytic world of baseball, catching stats has gotten more attention with metrics like pitch framing, pop time, etc. What are your thoughts on the new analytics in the game, and are you a proponent of utilizing them?

Molina: I’m an old-school guy, man. I’m a guy that loved the old school, talking to a pitcher and talking to hitters. I loved that more than a couple of numbers. I’m not against analytics, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I’m against it, I’m just an old-school guy. I can work with it, and it could probably help me out, but the numbers and analytics come after it happens, right?

You can tell me Jay Bruce is 2-for-3 against Adam Wainwright, but you’re telling me something that already happened. You’re not telling me something that’s going to happen next. Does he have a better chance of hitting him? Yes, because he’s 2-for-3. It doesn’t mean he has his number or anything like that. If Wainwright makes his pitches, he’s going to get him out.

I’m not against it; I’m willing to work with it. I’m sure it’s going to make whoever uses it better because if you mix old school with analytics in your brain, you’ll be fine.

If you give me the option, I’ll go old school. I’ll go watching the player, watching his heart. Nobody has come up to me yet and said, “What number heart or what number of guts or what number of feeling or toughness does a guy have?” You can’t measure that.

I’d rather see the guys that are five-foot-eleven but have just as big of a heart as a guy that’s six-foot-six. But the six-foot-six guy doesn’t know how to play, but you’re going to get the six-foot-six guy because he has the potential of doing it. But I’ll go with the five-foot-eleven [guy] because he’s a baller. He’s a guy that’s done it and who’s played before and has the passion. I’m just giving you an example of what I think.

MMO: I heard that your book has the potential to turn into a feature film. Is that true?

Molina: We haven’t come to an agreement, but we have a couple of companies that are very interested in making the book into a  movie, so we’re in the works. We might make a documentary; we want that. It’s not there yet, but there’s a lot of talking about it.

MMO: Can you talk a little about the weekly podcast you’re a part of, “Two Birds on a Bat,” and how you initially got involved with that?

Molina: Just the same as Twitter, as you did, and a lot of people have reached out to me for interviews and stuff. Jim Cromer – who’s the main guy there – and Steve Flowers, they asked me to do an interview, because Yadi plays for the Cardinals.

The podcast is actually supposed to be a Cardinals podcast, but we talk about baseball overall, life things; it’s not only the Cardinals. He asked me to do an interview, and I said, ‘All right, no problem.’ I liked it, and he said, “Do you mind being here for next week? The fans love it, you get fired up sometimes and the fans love it.” I told them I can do that.

That’s how it started, little by little. Before you know, it I told them, ‘Hey, I’d love to do this every week.’

MMO: It’s certainly a great way for you to stay involved with the game.

Molina: Yeah, and I actually have a job. I work for the Cardinals and do the Spanish radio; I’ve been doing it the last two years. The first year I did 10 games, the second year we did 23 or so. This year we’re going to do 39 or 40 games overall.

It’s the first time that the St. Louis Cardinals have ever done Spanish radio. I’m part of it with Polo Ascencio. As soon as the season starts, and every weekend that they’re home, we’ve got those games. I can’t wait for that.

MMO: You also get to keep an eye on Yadi and make sure he’s staying out of trouble!

Molina: [Laughs.] Exactly! I’m doing my own brother’s game. How great is that?!

MMO: Listen, your brother is one of the best catchers I’ve ever seen, but he killed my Mets in the ’06 NLCS, and that home run in Game 7…

Molina: Hey, don’t get mad at Yadi, get mad at that pitcher. [Laughs.]

MMO: You’ve been a coach for both the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals after you retired as a player. Have you ever thought about managing someday?

Molina: I would love to be a manager in the major leagues. I’m telling you straight up, I would love to be a part of a team, and I can not wait to see what I could do with 25 men on a roster. When we are in-between the white lines, I can’t wait to see what I could do with a group, and see if we can win a championship. I really, really want to be a manager!

It hasn’t happened yet; doesn’t mean it won’t. But we’ll see what happens. We’ll see who’s out there willing to give me an opportunity, that’s all it takes. Somebody that’s willing to give you a chance.

MMO: I can’t thank you enough for your time today, Bengie. Thanks for sharing some great memories.

Molina: Thank you for having me. It was awesome.

Follow Bengie Molina on Twitter, @BengieMolina1

Check out Bengie Molina’s book, “Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty” by Bengie Molina and Joan Ryan.

The post MMO Exclusive: Two-Time Gold Glove-Winning Catcher, Bengie Molina appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Most of the buzz around the Mets indicates that adding a starting pitcher remains a low priority for the team. And knowing the Mets, that means any starter will probably be cheaper than even their usual clearance-rack prices.

Despite the lack of urgency to improve the rotation, the Mets could really benefit from adding a Bartolo Colon-esque veteran starter. They could use the kind of guy who maybe isn’t a star, but can eat innings and stay off the DL. Outside of Jacob deGrom Noah Syndergaard and perhaps Seth Lugo, they don’t have anyone they can count on to start on a consistent basis. Matt Harvey had a 6.70 ERA last season. Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler are too injury prone to be counted on. And Rafael Montero… Well, let’s not even go there.

Anyway, the Mets are probably going to have to resort to a minor-league deal for a starter — if they even decide to sign one. Here are 15 guys who should fit that bill:

Anibal Sanchez– Sanchez led the American League in ERA in 2014, with a 2.57 mark. It has subsequently risen to 3.43 in 2014, 4.99 in 2015, 5.87 in 2016, and 6.41 in 2017. What happens in 2018 — if anything — remains to be seen.

Ubaldo Jimenez– This name has generated some speculation due to Jimenez’s history with Mickey Callaway: He pitched with the Indians from 2012-13. In 2012, Jimenez went 9-17 with a 5.40 ERA, leading the league in losses. Once Callaway came to the team in 2013, Jimenez went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA. So Callaway oversaw a solid improvement here.

Jimenez has been downright awful over the last two seasons, recording a 6.13 ERA since 2016. Perhaps Callaway can turn him around again.

Ricky Nolasco– Nolasco went 6-15 with a 4.92 ERA last season. But on the bright side, he’s made at least 30 starts in each of the last two seasons.

Chris Tillman– Tillman might actually get a major-league deal, given the fact that he’s approaching his age-30 season, and his decent track record in the major leagues. But his 7.84 ERA last season might not do him any favors in that department. Tillman had a 3.81 ERA and 108 ERA+ from 2012-2016, so he would be a terrific bounce-back candidate on a one-year deal.

Matt Garza– The former Rays-ace has a 5.10 ERA since 2015. That means he’ll be cheap which in turn means he’s probably on the Mets’ radar.

Hector Santiago– A 2015 All-Star, Santiago had a 5.63 ERA in just 14 starts in 2015. Much like Tillman, Santiago is a solid age-30 bounce-back candidate.

R.A. Dickey– It’s widely believed that the 43-year-old will retire. But if he doesn’t, the Mets should strongly consider a reunion with Dickey: He recorded a 4.26 ERA last year, and has made at least 26 starts every year since 2010. His price and consistency make him a perfect fit for the Mets.

Clay Buchholz– Buchholz made just two starts last season for the Phillies, letting up ten runs in 7.1 innings. He doesn’t really make sense for the Mets, who don’t need another injury-prone starter.

Wade Miley– Miley has largely been unable to find the success he had early in his career with the Diamondbacks: He’s got a 4.59 ERA since 2014. But he did make 32 starts and pitch 157.1 innings last year, so he is capable of eating up innings.

Scott Feldman– Coming into his age-35 season, Feldman recorded a 4.77 ERA and 92 ERA+ for the Reds last season. He recorded ERA’s under four in the three seasons prior to that, however, so he’s a pretty solid bounce-back candidate.

Derek Holland– The former Ranger has been consistently awful since 2015, recording a 5.50 ERA over the last three seasons. He’ll probably be looking for a minor-league deal going into his age-31 season.

Jake Peavy– Peavy, 37, is planning a comeback after spending last year out of baseball. When he last pitched in 2016, he was 5-9 with a 5.54 ERA and a 4.36 FIP — which could indicate Peavy was a victim of bad luck. He was effective as recently as 2015, when he went 8-6 with a 3.58 ERA.

Tim Lincecum– Lincecum spent last season out of baseball, and had a 9.16 ERA in 2016. Which means the Mets may actually be able to afford him.

Henderson Alvarez– The former Marlins ace made three starts at the end of last season for the Phillies — his first MLB appearances since April of 2015. Alvarez looked like a potential star in the making for Miami in 2014, when he went 12-7 with a 2.65 ERA and 140 ERA+. He might not be a terrible reclamation project, although the Mets need more stability in the 2018 rotation.

Bartolo Colon- It looked last season as though the game had passed Bartolo by. He finished with a 6.48 ERA — the worst of his 20-year career. But if there’s anything left in the tank for the 44-year-old, a return to Flushing may be the best place to find it. Colon, however, might latch on with the Texas Rangers before too long as reports say a deal is close.

The post 15 Starting Pitchers Who Could Sign on Minor League Deals appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

It was spring 1982 when this 16 year-old fan heard the worst news imaginable from his parents: “We’re moving to Las Vegas.” Who could’ve imagined that three decades later, the Mets, to a small degree, would follow me here. With the recent announcement of a 2-year extension in Las Vegas, I decided to blog about the Baseball landscape in the desert and hopefully offer some insight many of you may not be aware of.

Baseball debuted here in 1983 with the Las Vegas Stars, the Padres’ affiliate. Since then, Vegas has served as AAA home to the Dodgers, Blue-Jays and, starting in 2013, the Mets.

Simply put, Las Vegas is NOT a sports town. It’s a sports betting town.

Fan support for all sports is apathetic at best. In the 1980’s and early 90’s, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, led by Jerry Tarkanian, was the hottest ticket in the city. The 18,000 seat Thomas and Mack Center was sold-out every game. However, since the Runnin Rebels became a mediocre team in the mid-90’s interest has waned and attendance dwindled. The Rebels typically now play to a stadium 60% empty. The UNLV football team has been on life support for decades and there are frequent grumblings that the university should just discontinue the program altogether. They play at the Sam Boyd Stadium where you’re lucky to fill 8,000 seats in a 35,000 seat arena.  Even college students who are given free tickets don’t attend.

Over the years Vegas has been home to indoor football, indoor soccer and the Continental Basketball Association. All were short lived. In the late 90’s the Las Vegas Thunder were a hugely popular IHL team. However, when their contract expired, Thomas and Mack didn’t renew, forcing the much beloved Hockey franchise to move elsewhere. The fact that minor league baseball has survived—not thrived–is due primarily to the power of the National Pastime.

The list of major leaguers who’ve come through here is impressive. Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, John Kruk, Matt Kemp, Kevin McReynolds, Carlos Baerga, James Loney, Benito Santiago, Ozzie Guillen, Derrek Lee, Eric Gagne and Hall of Famer Robby Alomar all played here. The first HR hit at Cashman Field came off the bat of current Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Yet, minor league baseball remains this city’s best kept secret.

Case in point: In the inaugural season, 1983, the Las Vegas Stars averaged 4878 fans per game. The population of the city back then was just over 500,000.

In 2016, the Las Vegas 51’s averaged 4882 fans per game. The population of Las Vegas is currently 2.2 million.

In other words, while the population has increased over 400 percent, average attendance has remained flat.

There are 16 cities in the Pacific Coast League, many with lower populations than Las Vegas such as El Paso and Omaha. Yet, Vegas remains at or near the bottom in annual attendance year after year. In the last 5 seasons, Vegas has finished 14^th, 13^th, 16^th, 14^th and 15^th.

The question is why?

Granted, Cashman Field is not in the best of areas. Located 2 miles north of downtown it’s directly across the street from Potter’s Field and a stone’s throw from a homeless shelter and several tent cities. However, the ballpark itself is beautiful. Don Logan and company, I’m sure with help from the Mets, have made attending a game enjoyable. Parking is cheap ($5), ushers, vendors and attendants are pleasant and always courteous. Tickets are very reasonable and food is relatively inexpensive. Between innings there are the usual shenanigans and gimmicks that have existed at minor league games since the dawn of time. I mean, hey, who wouldn’t love to race Cosmo, the 51’s mascot who survived a UFO crash and spent time at Area 51, around the base paths?

The answer is simple.

The casinos which rule this city and control all aspects of life here view every other business as competition. Each dollar you spend at a ballgame is one less dollar you can lose at a Craps table. If you want to go to a movie here you must walk into a casino. If you want to go to a rock concert you must go to a venue on The Strip. And many of you may be surprised to learn we have no lottery here. Think about that for a moment. No lottery in a state that survives solely on gambling. Whenever Powerball climbs to the hundreds of millions, there’s a mass exodus of locals driving to Arizona and California to purchase a ticket.

If you drive around the city you see no billboards promoting the 51’s. You rarely see a commercial on TV, hardly ever hear one on the radio. 51’s games are not televised. On the local news, the sportscaster gives a score. And that’s it. “Out at Cashman tonight, Las Vegas defeated Albuquerque, 7-2.” No highlights. If time permits you’ll get a quick four second snippet of an unnamed player hitting a HR. Maybe. I don’t ever recall hearing or seeing 51’s players involved in the community at all. I’m sure they do but it receives no attention from the media. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen someone wearing a 51’s t-shirt or a 51’s cap. A good friend of mine from Illinois is an avid Baseball fan who lives and dies with the Cubs. He lived in town over a year before even realizing we had a AAA team.

You may have heard that the NHL recently awarded Las Vegas a hockey franchise. This, however, is yet another example of how everything here is based around the casinos. The still unnamed team will play in the T-Mobile Arena which is located dead-center on the Las Vegas Strip. Locals go to The Strip about as often as New Yorkers go to the Statue of Liberty.

How often would you go to Citi Field if it was located on Fifth Ave. in the heart of midtown? And had to drive since Vegas, unlike New York, has no subway system and a bus system that’s a joke. This wont be a Hockey team for locals but rather yet one more tourist attraction, something to do if gamblers need a break from slot machines or were unable to get tickets to Carrot Top.

True, a AAA game is nothing like a major league game. An August showdown between the Mets and Nats is obviously more intense than the 51’s hosting the El Paso Chihuahuas. (Yes, that’s really their name.) Still, it always feels like the game on the field is secondary, almost irrelevant. Michael Conforto gets no more cheers stepping to the plate as does a third string catcher. “Fans” are more enthused when Cosmo launches t-shirts into the crowd than when Brandon Nimmo steps to the plate with the tying and winning runs in scoring position. The biggest crowd is usually on $1 beer night. Fans typically start filing out by the 6th inning no matter what the score is.

I went to a game a couple weeks ago and silly me, I was actually watching the game and yes, keeping score. A little to my left were two guys my age who spent five innings discussing the pros and cons of various golf courses in town. To my right were two twenty-something women who gave up good seats to go sit in the grass beyond the LF wall because the sun was brighter and “we can get a better tan out there.”

A few rows behind me a fella wearing a Dodgers hat, drunk before the end of the National Anthem, yelled and cursed at the pitcher for Salt Lake, former Giant Tim Lincecum. Directly in front of me sat two middle-aged couples. In the bottom of the first, one asked, “Who’s playing?” The answer “The Mets minor league team and…someone else.” “Who should we root for?” The first person shrugged. “I don’t know. How about those guys in blue?”

The very concept of AAA Baseball is unique. Rosters are filled with players rehabbing, longing to get healthy and get back with the parent club. Veterans at the end of their careers are trying to impress someone—anyone–that they still have what it takes for one more shot. Young kids are hungry to achieve their childhood dream and make it to The Show. The one constant is that no one wants to be here.

And in the case of Las Vegas, truer words were never spoken.

The post The Other Side of Neon: A Painfully Honest Look at Baseball in the Desert appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the deal could include a full no-trade clause for the 37-year old Hudson.

The veteran right-hander is coming back from a fractured ankle he suffered against the Mets last July. He was having a solid season at the time posting a 3.97 ERA in 131 innings pitched.

The Braves were reportedly interested in retaining Hudson, but they were unwilling to guarantee two years.

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Tom Verducci wrote an excellent analysis of the starting pitching market this offseason in an article for Sports Illustrated and SI.com.

The longtime sports editor determined that the free agent market is loaded with pitchers that are the “baseball versions of a ’61 Corvette — only in poor condition.”

The pool of 30-plus starters includes four former Cy Young Award winners (Bartolo Colon, Roy Halladay, Johan Santana and Barry Zito). Let’s remove veteran pitchers who are in line for contracts of three or more years, including Bronson Arroyo, Ricky Nolasco, Ervin Santana and Jason Vargas. That leaves 33 veteran starters who could be had for one-or two-year deals.

Verducci asked a veteran talent evaluator with one NL team to rank the five best risks among those 33. Here are his rankings with my comments, and then my picks and comments for the next five:

1. Tim Hudson, 38: Hudson was throwing the ball well in July (4-0, 3.10 ERA) when his season ended with an ankle injury. Scouts admire his competitiveness, his clubhouse presence, the sound health of his arm and his late-career transition to a pitcher with effective breaking stuff and changes of speed. Hudson might find such a strong market that he could price himself out of Atlanta, but at this stage of his career he should remain in the NL. Case in point: Last season he posted a 5.89 ERA in three starts against AL teams and a 3.66 ERA in 18 starts against NL teams.

Best fit: If not a return to the Braves, he would fit well with the Giants.

2. Bartolo Colon, 40: He looked like he was finished in April 2010, but that’s when he underwent a surgery in the Dominican Republic in which doctors injected fat and bone marrow stem cells in Colon’s elbow and shoulder. One of the doctors was known to have used human growth hormone in such procedures, though, he said, not in this one. Colon has since tested positive for synthetic testosterone in 2012.

There is no disputing that Colon has revived his career since the surgery and in the timeframe of his PED use. In the three seasons before that operation he was 13-16 with a 5.20 ERA in only 38 games. He is 36-25 with a 3.32 ERA in 80 games in three seasons since. Colon has become one of the game’s premier two-seam fastball specialists, with uncanny movement and command.

Best fit: The Athletics have interest in keeping Colon in that big ballpark, but his stuff would play well in Pittsburgh, with the Pirates’ emphasis on throwing and fielding groundballs.

3. Roy Halladay, 36: It was painful to watch Halladay tossing in the low 80s and pitching to a 4.55 ERA after he came back in August from shoulder surgery. But he was hurt by uncharacteristic wildness. In the six games after his return, he walked 19 and struck out 16 — but batters hit .222 against him.

Shoulder surgeries remain the most ominous of procedures for a pitcher. Halladay’s prospective value depends largely on a review of his medical records, perhaps an avenue best explored late in the winter after he has had a chance to continue his rehab. In any case, Halladay’s pitching smarts and work ethic make him an attractive bet.

Best fit: The New York Mets. Assistant GM J.P. Ricciardi and Halladay share a history in Toronto and mutual admiration. Halladay may be worth the investment just to have him around New York’s young pitchers in spring training.

4. Dan Haren, 33: All the innings and all the cutters have caught up with Haren. One of the most durable strike-throwers in baseball is no longer a 200-inning machine. But Haren, once the Nationals gave him a midseason 15-day break last year, proved he still can be a useful option in the back end of an NL rotation if handled with care. Haren had a 6.15 ERA on June 22, but after the re-boot, he went 6-5 with a 3.29 ERA in his last 16 games.

Best fit: The California native would be more comfortable nearer his SoCal home. San Diego or San Francisco make sense.

5. Ryan Vogelsong, 36: The Giants, after doling out industry-rattling bucks to keep Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum, oddly declined the $6.5 million option on Vogelsong after an injury-shortened season. But like Hudson, Vogelsong suffered a non-throwing injury: he broke bones in his hand while swinging a bat May 20. Upon his return, with his velocity down a tick or two after missing two months, he went 2-2 with a 4.55 ERA in 10 starts.

Best fit: Vogelsong has strong ties to San Francisco, where he revived his career, and mutual interest remains. But it is curious why the Giants would not pay Vogelsong less than what the Indians paid Myers last year, a decision that might open the door for the Phillies, his hometown team, to make a call.

The next five included Hiroki Kuroda, A.J. Burnett, Jason Hammel, Scott Baker, and Scott Feldman.

These are the types of options that would fit into the Mets structure as I understand it.

The post Market Loaded With Pitchers Who Are Baseball’s Version Of A ’61 Corvette appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The offseason started off with much talk about which promised veteran pitcher the Mets would bring in, however several recent comments made by Alderson and the Wilpons suggest that a starting pitcher is the least of their top priorities. Nonetheless, it is still a very essential aspect of how the eventual Opening Day roster will be shaped. There were early speculations surrounding Tim Lincecum (before he resigned with SF, of course), Ubaldo Jimenez, Dan Haren and even Ervin Santana. But what about Roy Halladay?

Coming off shoulder surgery, Halladay went 4-5 with an unappetizing 6.82 ERA and 36 walks in only 62 IP last year. While it was upsetting to watch an 8-time All Star and a 2-time Cy Young award winner throw a fastball in the 80s, his short 2013 performance renders rather insignificant when factoring in the benefits. With a repertoire of a distinct 2-seam sinking fastball, a wicked curve, a cut fastball and even recently-added split-change strikeout pitch still makes him a viable threat to any hitter.

Halladay’s ability to not only produce ground balls in tough spots but to strike out hitters as well will be essential to the Mets, who are looking for serviceable guy they can count on to almost guarantee the bullpen a good days rest; he has led the league in IP 4 times and CG 7 times. While these may be the taglines of Roy Halladay’s past, it is not to say that he can still pitch near the level he once could. After all, he is well-known for rendering complete focus on his starts and letting nothing divert him. Even if he does not have the ability he once used to, the veteran presence he brings to the clubhouse will be a spectacular help to the surplus of young pitching making their debuts in 2014.

A 14 year veteran, Halladay is clearly approaching the end of his career; which not only makes him a cheap option ($4-5M with incentives at the most), but he will most likely be seeking a one year deal, while other FA pitchers are looking for multiple years. Of course it is a risk to pursue a pitcher who recently had surgery, but who knows what a full offseason of rest and spring training will bring back? The potential of what he could bring far outweigh the cons of failure. His status of a hard working, reliable guy who can go deep into games and give you innings fits the bill for a team who are looking to temporarily replace an injured guy who used to do just that.

The post Free Agent Profile: Roy Halladay, RHP appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post asks an interesting question this morning…

What do the Mets do when $30 million-to-$40 million does not go as far as they once hoped?

Like the Yanks, they can’t punt. They have been selling their fans on contention in 2014, and they can’t table that now because Matt Harvey will miss the season and others are flexing their financial muscles.

In fact, few front offices have more pressure to deliver this offseason. Alderson’s Mets have won 77, 74 and 74 games, and the GM has mostly gotten a pass to pursue a big-picture agenda — cleanse the payroll of bad contracts, pump up the farm system. There is no 2014 mulligan. There is money to spend, and there is this: Alderson and loyal lieutenants Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi were part of the incubation of the Moneyball A’s. Their claim to fame was finding gems others did not see. It is what made them so attractive to a Wilpon ownership that was about to go into a financial Four Corners.

Yep, the Moneyball secrets got out to an entire industry, and so, now that is a far tougher trick. But it is a trick they must make work again. Alderson and his crew need to get perhaps double the value of the $30 million-to-$40 million they spend. That means no more Frank Franciscos.

What it further means is a fascinating offseason in which we see just what the Mets do when they have some money to spend — but so does pretty much every other team.

Sherman hits on a couple of very valid points. Yes, the Moneyball secret is no longer in play. All teams look to exploit market inefficiencies and use advanced statistics to one degree or another to help them find and acquire talent. Well, all teams except for the Philadelphia Phillies it seems…

With the San Francisco Giants already setting a high bar for power hitters and mid rotation starters with their Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum signings, it’s safe to say we could be heading into a free agent market that may send Sandy Alderson into shock.

Players who play at a level never once considered to be in nine figure terrain (Shin-Soo Choo, Brian McCann, etc.) are now being mentioned in the same sentence as $100 million dollar deals… And rumors have the Mets already bailing out on such deals and players…

With more teams than ever before targeting mid-tier free agents, even those players will end up getting far more money than their production might be worth.

And this is a solid free agent market compared to last offseason and next year’s projected free agent class.

In other words, this is as good as it gets.

More and more teams now lock up their prized players and you see fewer and fewer of them ending up in free agency.

It’s gonna be interesting to watch how Sandy navigates these choppy waters now that he has his fistful of dollars…

And we’ll start to know more about that with the GM Meetings set to begin tomorrow…

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