The Mets showed shades of their 2022 selves Wednesday night as they came from behind in the ninth to take down the Diamondbacks by a score of 2-1. The story of the night was Kodai Senga as he put together an absolutely masterful outing, going eight innings, giving up only one run and accumulating 12 strikeouts. The Mets’ bats finally woke up in the ninth inning with a Francisco Álvarez home run and Mark Canha triple which ultimately pushed the Mets past the D-backs.

The Mets look to sweep the Diamondbacks tomorrow as they will throw Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 5.94 ERA) against the D-backs’ Ryne Nelson (5-4, 4.67 ERA) at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Latest Mets News

The 2023 Home Run Derby bracket was released after the field was set earlier on in the day and Pete Alonso found himself as the two seed in the annual tournament. Pete will try to get revenge as he takes on Mariners star outfielder Julio Rodríguez in the first round, who ended Alonso’s chance at a three-peat last year in Los Angeles.

The Mets’ sixth overall prospect Dominic Hamel spun a gem in his start for Double-A Binghamton as he went six innings while racking up 11 strikeouts and only allowing one earned run. Despite having an up and down season, Hamel has an impressive 91 strikeouts while only allowing 25 walks in 67 2/3 innings.

Tyler Stuart continued his dominance in High-A Brooklyn as he gave up two earned runs early on but would go on to retire 17 of the last 19 batters he faced. This extends Stuart’s streak of allowing two or less runs to 14 consecutive starts and lowers his ERA to 1.55.

Kodai Senga. Photo by MMO’s Ed Delany

Latest MLB News

A pair of struggling veteran pitchers, Adam Wainwright and Zack Greinke, hit the 15-day IL on Wednesday for their respective teams. The Cardinals, who have been one of the most disappointing teams in the majors, have not been helped by Wainwright as he has posted a 7.66 ERA in his age-41 season and is now on the IL with a right shoulder strain. Greinke is also in the midst of a down year for a lowly Royals team and finds himself sidelined with right shoulder tendinitis after being pulled from his last start. 

The Baltimore Orioles called up their second ranked prospect and the 14th prospect in all of MLB, Colton Cowser. The fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft had a meteoric rise through the Orioles system and was rewarded for his hot start in Triple-A as he was hitting for a .330 BA with a .996 OPS. Cowser went 1-for-3 with an RBI in his big league debut against the Yankees Wednesday night.

Major League Baseball announced that Yankees relief pitching, Jimmy Cordero, is being suspended for the rest of the season for violating MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. This suspension includes the postseason and Cordero will go participate in a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program which will be supervised by the Joint Policy Board.

Latest on MMO

Michael Famulari went in depth on the Mets newest acquisition, Trevor Gott.

Sam Neumann highlighted a possible turning point for Starling Marte.

On This Date in Mets History

1970: Mets outfielder Tommie Agee hits a triple in the seventh inning for the second cycle in Mets history.

2010: Johan Santana hits his first major league home run while throwing a complete game shutout in a Mets win against the Cincinnati Reds. 

2018: José Bautista deposits the first pitch of his ninth inning at bat t1o the left field seats for a walk-off grand slam. Bautista’s first career walk-off homer ended a night in which Jacob Degrom threw eight innings of one-run ball.

Birthdays: Lance Johnson (60), Willie Randolph (69)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Now 4-0 in July After Stunning Comeback appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

While Major League Baseball remains in the early stages of its first lockout in over 25 years, a number of notable free agents remained unsigned. Specifically, the starting pitcher market contains some of the most accomplished arms of the past decade. With the Mets already making a statement this winter, signing Max Scherzer and adding on three impact bats as well, there’s no telling what move the Metropolitans might make next.

In previous years, marquee names like Scherzer would have mostly been a pipe dream for the Mets. But with Steve Cohen and team management demonstrating that they’re willing to spend the big bucks to bring in premier talent, the following names could be of interest should the Mets decide to make another splash once a new collective bargaining agreement is signed.

1) Clayton Kershaw – Perhaps baseball’s best pitcher of the past decade, Kershaw has done it all since joining the Dodgers as a rookie in 2008. Three Cy Young awards and eight All-Star selections later and the ace finds himself on the free agent market past the prime of his career. That being said, Kershaw is coming off a 2021 season in which he posted a 3.55 ERA in 121 2/3 innings, and before that, he posted a sub-3.00 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

While he may no longer be anywhere near baseball’s unanimous best pitcher anymore, the lefty still has at least a few good years left in him as a starter, and would be an incredible veteran presence behind Scherzer and Jacob deGrom in the Mets rotation.

2) Zack Greinke – Another former Cy Young winner who spent some of the best years of his career in the City of Angels, Greinke is just a few years removed from an All-Star, Gold Glove season with the Diamondbacks and Astros. While he’s posted an ERA above 4.00 in each of the past two seasons, Greinke – who turns 38 next October – has gotten the job done along every stop in his career. Having played exclusively in the midwest and west coast during his 18 year major league career, a move east, to Queens specifically, could be the best chance for Greinke to capture his first World Series championship before he hangs up the cleats.

Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

3) Carlos Rodon – The former White Sox lefty made his first All-Star team in 2021, a season in which he finished fifth in American League Cy Young voting. While he was a free agent in 2020 as well and re-signed with the White Sox on one-year deal, Rodon could be set for a huge payday this winter. After four consecutive seasons with an ERA over 4.00, he broke out this year, posting a 2.37 ERA and a 0.957 WHIP, good for an ERA+ of 183. He also finished the year with a 5.14 strikeout to walk ratio, by far a career best.

Rodon is early enough in his career, and peaking at the right time, that he should have no problem getting at least a $60 million deal over a few seasons – and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number approach nine figures, on a longer term contract. The Mets have shown interest in Rodon this offseason as they look to add another starter.

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

4) Yusei Kikuchi – Coming off his first major league All-Star appearance, the former international free agent Kikuchi posted career bests in ERA (4.41), strikeouts (163), and ERA+ (94) in 2021. However, it was a tale of two-seasons for Seattle’s lone All-Star, as his fist half-ERA sat below 4.00, while his ERA after the mid-summer classic soared over 5.00. With Seattle declining Kikuchi’s option, he is looking to join a ballclub other than the Mariners for the first time in his big league career. With a need for proven, middle-of-the-rotation arms, the Mets offer him an opportunity for a fresh start in a larger market, while surrounding him with two aces to learn from as well.

Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

5) Tyler Anderson – Acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline in July, Anderson had his best seasons in the altitude of Denver. Over his past two seasons between San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Seattle, his ERA+ has regressed to 94. And despite the constant moving around, Anderson could benefit from another change of scenery, this time to a contender. He’s not one to wow you statistically, but there’s a reason Seattle went out and grabbed him from the Buccos in an attempt to end the M’s playoff drought. Anderson turns 32 this month but brings potential as a low-end starter that the Mets need after their two aces.

The post Five of the Best Starting Pitchers Available in Free Agency appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Every sports team can look back at decisions made in their franchise history that they later regretted. After all, hindsight is 20/20. However, these decisions still bring back a sense of pain and beg the question of “What could have been?” The New York Mets are no strangers to these types of regrettable decisions and have been notorious throughout baseball for many of them. One such example is LHP Scott Kazmir.

Kazmir’s Days Within The Mets Organization

The Mets drafted Kazmir in the first round (15th overall) of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Cypress Falls High School in Houston, TX. Prior to the draft, Kazmir was described as an ordinary kid with extraordinary talent.

“In many ways No. 19 is a typical high schooler — a lean, clean-cut teen with broad shoulders who looks like the neighbor kid you hired to mow your lawn,” wrote Jim Molony of MLB.com. “But the word typical does not apply when the conversation turns to this exceptional left-hander’s ability to pitch a baseball. His name is Scott Kazmir, and when next month’s First-Year Player Draft rolls around this extraordinary southpaw could be the very first high school pitcher selected.”

Kazmir ended up being the fifth high school pitcher selected in the draft. The southpaw was picked after RHP Chris Gruler (drafted third overall by the Cincinnati Reds), LHP Adam Loewen (drafted fourth overall by the Baltimore Orioles), his high school teammate Clint Everts (drafted fifth overall by the Montreal Expos) and Zack Greinke (drafted sixth overall by the Kansas City Royals).

Although Greinke turned out to be the best high school pitcher from the draft by far, Gruler and Everts never ended up making the majors and Loewen struggled across parts of five MLB seasons.

Kazmir arrived to New York and quickly established himself as a top prospect throughout baseball. In five starts and 18 innings with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2002, the 18-year-old Kazmir struck out 34 batters and allowed only one earned run (0.50 ERA). Baseball America ranked him as the 11th best prospect in baseball coming into the 2003 season.

In his first full minor league season in 2003, Kazmir continued to showcase his dominant strikeout rate. The 19-year-old struck out 145 batters in 109 1/3 innings (11.9 strikeouts per nine innings) between the Capital City Bombers and St. Lucie Mets. He also finished the 2003 campaign with a 2.63 ERA and 1.125 WHIP.

Heading into 2004, Kazmir was still high in the prospect rankings as Baseball America ranked him the 12th best prospect in the game. While he started the year in St. Lucie, he continued his quick ascent through the Mets minor league system as he received a promotion on July 10, 2004 to the Binghamton Mets.

Double-A did not slow down Kazmir. In his first four starts for Binghamton, the 20-year-old put up a 1.73 ERA, a 0.962 WHIP and 29 strikeouts in 26 innings. However, beginning in August Kazmir’s ascent through the minors would go through the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.

A Day Of Trades

The day was July 30, 2004, and the Mets fell to 49-53 on the season and seven games out of a playoff spot after losing to the first-place Atlanta Braves by a score of 3-1. However, that was not the biggest news of the day as earlier in the day, the Mets were involved in three trades with three other teams.

In one deal, the Mets traded C Justin Huber to the Royals in exchange for 3B Jose Bautista. In another deal the Mets flipped Bautista in addition to 3B Ty Wigginton and RHP Matt Peterson to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for RHP Kris Benson and INF Jeff Keppinger. In the third deal the Mets traded Kazmir and RHP Jose Diaz to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for RHP Victor Zambrano and RHP Bartolome Fortunato.

While Bautista would go on to be a six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger, at the time he struggled to stick with a team. The Mets were his fifth different team (albeit for less than a day) in less than a year before he stuck with the Toronto Blue Jays and found a great deal of success. So while losing out on the future of Bautista may involve a level of regret, it was hard to blame the Mets for the Bautista deal as much as the Kazmir deal.

In regards to Kazmir, the Mets gave up on a top prospect and quickly rising star in their organization for a couple of pitchers who were basically non-factors in the team’s pursuit for success.

While widely looked upon as poor in the present, at the time some were happy with the deal.

“Some may believe the Mets mortgaged their future for the present,” wrote Mark Hale of the New York Post on July 31, 2004. “After all, Kazmir and Peterson are their two top pitching prospects. But the Mets’ philosophy is they were willing to trade unproven minor league talent for proven major league talent that is both young and controllable for several years.”

Mets general manager Jim Duquette was thrilled with the deal at the time.

“We felt Zambrano was a guy Kazmir eventually could be,” Duquette said. “But Kazmir is still a ways away.”

Duquette was all-in despite the Mets being three games under .500 and six games out of a playoff spot earlier in the day. He felt the trio of deals would help put the Mets over the top and the reward of the trades would outweigh the risks.

“We’re still in the hunt and we’re still in the mix. Let’s go for it,” Duquette said. “With these guys added to the rotation, we’re going to have a chance to win every night.”

An Ace Is Born In Tampa Bay

Upon his trade to Tampa Bay, Kazmir made four dominant starts for the organization’s Double-A affiliate Montgomery Biscuits before being called up to the majors on Aug. 23, 2004. Despite Duquette saying Kazmir was “still a ways away,” on July 30, the Devils Rays felt the 20-year-old was ready for The Show less than a month later.

Kazmir appeared in eight games and made seven starts during the final stretch of 2004. Although his results were a mixed bag in his first handful of starts, it was a completely different story from 2005 to 2008.

In 2005, Kazmir finished ninth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. While he struggled with control (as evident by his league-leading 100 walks issued), he had a solid season overall as he went 10-9 with a 3.77 ERA, 1.462 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 186 innings pitched.

Kazmir took a step forward in 2006 although in only 24 starts. The 22-year-old was selected to his first All-Star game in a season where he went 10-8 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.272 WHIP and 163 strikeouts in 144 2/3 innings.

The 2007 season was when Kazmir reached the apex of his career. The southpaw led the league in strikeouts with 239, and went 13-9 with a 3.48 ERA and 1.379 WHIP in 206 2/3 innings.

In 2008, Kazmir dealt with a strained elbow that delayed his season until May 4, but did not hold him back from another overall successful season. On May 14, he was rewarded for his production by the newly-named Tampa Bay Rays with a four-year, $28.5 million extension. He responded by having another All-Star season that helped carry the Rays to the franchise’s first winning season, first playoff appearance, first and only ALCS appearance and first and only World Series appearance.

After 2008, Kazmir’s career took a turn for the worse. He struggled in 2009 with the Rays and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels. While he found some brief success with the Angels in his six starts with the team in 2009, he experienced the worst season of his career in 2010. The 26-year-old went 9-15 with a 5.94 ERA, 1.580 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 150 innings.

Kazmir made only one start in 2011 and was pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters, an independent baseball team, by 2012.

Kazmir experienced a career renaissance from 2013-2016 which resulted in a few more solid seasons and a third All-Star selection. While he has not pitched in a major league game since 2016, the southpaw still seeks a comeback to this day, confirming to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times at the end of January that he wanted to return to the majors in 2020.

Despite an up-and-down overall career, Kazmir experienced stretches of success that could have helped the Mets had they held onto the southpaw.

What Could Have Been For The Mets

On the flipside you have the post-Kazmir trade Mets.

In 2004 the Mets finished the season with an abysmal 71-91 record and 21 games out of a playoff spot.

Zambrano only pitched 14 innings in 2004 and 25 1/3 innings in 2006. His best season came in 2005 when he went 7-12 with a 4.17 ERA, 1.485 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings.

While Kazmir contributed 16.6 bWAR to Tampa Bay in parts of six seasons, Zambrano contributed 1.7 bWAR to the Mets in parts of three seasons.

Fortunato, on the other hand, made 15 relief appearances for the Mets in 2004 in which he struck out 20 batters in 18 2/3 innings. He pitched to the tune of a 3.86 ERA and 1.446 WHIP in those handful of games.

The reliever then missed all of 2005 due to injury and pitched a total of three innings in 2006 to end his Mets career and major league career.

What really stings in hindsight is thinking how much better Kazmir would have made the Mets at a time when a pitcher of his caliber could have put them over the top.

Does Kazmir bring the 83-79 2005 Mets into the playoffs? Does Kazmir help the 97-65 2006 Mets win the World Series? Does Kazmir help prevent the historic collapses of the 88-74 2007 Mets and 89-73 2008 Mets?

Kazmir was not a once in a lifetime generational pitcher. The Kazmir trade made by the Mets on July 30, 2004 was not quite like the Nolan Ryan trade on Dec. 10, 1971 where they gave up too early on a future Hall of Famer. However, the Kazmir trade caused the Mets to miss out on a pitcher who dominated during a four-year stretch where the Mets were good, but needed a little extra boost. Kazmir was that extra boost, but Mets fans will never truly know what his presence would have resulted in from 2005-2008.

The post Amazin’ Mistakes: Trading Scott Kazmir Haunts Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Major League Baseball announced its 2019 Silver Slugger Award winners during a live MLB Network telecast on Thursday night.

The award — presented by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger baseball bats — has been given out annually since 1980 to the top offensive performers at each defensive position and designated hitter, as voted on by MLB managers and coaches.

Leading off — and a bit of a shocker, to boot — Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman (.295/.389/.549, 38 HR, 121 RBIs, 138 wRC+, 4.0 fWAR) beat out the Mets’ Pete Alonso (.260/.358/.583, 53 HR, 120 RBIs, 143 wRC+, 4.8 fWAR) for the Silver Slugger Award at first base in the National League.

In all fairness, Freeman had an outstanding, well-rounded offensive season. That being said, Alonso was the epitome of a slugger in 2019.

Cleveland’s Carlos Santana (.281/.397/.515, 34 HR, 93 RBIs, 135 wRC+, 4.4 fWAR) won at first base in the American League.

At second base, the Braves’ Ozzie Albies (.295/.352/.500, 24 HR, 86 RBIs, 117 wRC+, 4.6 fWAR) and the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu (.327/.375/.518, 26 HR, 102 RBIs, 136 wRC+, 5.4 fWAR) were both honored for the first time.

Boston’s Xander Bogaerts (.309/.384/.555, 33 HR, 117 RBIs, 141 wRC+, 6.8 fWAR; third award) and Colorado’s Trevor Story (.294/.363/.554, 35 HR, 85 RBIs, 121 wRC+, 5.8 fWAR; second) won at shortstop.

In an impromptu World Series-themed segment of the show, Washington’s Anthony Rendon (.319/.412/.598, 34 HR, 126 RBIs, 154 wRC+, 7.0 fWAR; second award) and Houston’s Alex Bregman (.296/.423/.592, 41 HR, 112 RBIs, 168 wRC+, 8.5 fWAR; first) took home the hardware at third base.

Houston’s George Springer (.292/.383/.591, 39 HR, 96 RBIs, 156 wRC+, 6.5 fWAR; second award), Boston’s Mookie Betts (.295/.391/.524, 29 HR, 80 RBIs, 135 wRC+, 6.6 fWAR; third), and Los Angeles’ Mike Trout (.291/.438/.645, 45 HR, 104 RBIs, 180 wRC+, 8.6 fWAR; seventh) took home the honors in the AL outfield.

Their NL counterparts were Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. (.280/.365/.518, 41 HR, 101 RBIs, 126 wRC+, 5.6 fWAR; first), the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger (.305/.406/.629, 47 HR, 115 RBIs, 162 wRC+, 7.8 fWAR; first), and Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich (.329/.429/.671, 44 HR, 97 RBIs, 174 wRC+, 7.8 fWAR; third).

Behind the plate, Minnesota’s Mitch Garver (.273/.365/.630, 31 HR, 67 RBIs, 155 wRC+, 3.9 fWAR; first) and Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto (.275/.328/.493, 25 HR, 83 RBIs, 108 wRC+, 5.7 fWAR; second) won out.

Zack Greinke, formerly of Arizona, (.280/.308/.580, 3 HR, 123 wRC+, 1.0 fWAR; second award) won the NL honors on the mound and Texas’ Nelson Cruz (.311/.392/.639, 41 HR, 108 RBIs, 163 wRC+, 4.3 fWAR; third) won in the DH spot.

Stats via FanGraphs

The post Freddie Freeman Beats Out Pete Alonso For Silver Slugger Award appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

By Tim Ryder

Rawlings handed out their 2019 Gold Glove Awards on Sunday evening during a live announcement on ESPN2. The best fielders in the game have been recognized with this honor celebrating their outstanding glovework each season since 1958.

The voting pool is made up of MLB coaches and managers (who can’t vote for their own players), as well as 25 percent of the vote coming from the Society for American Baseball Research’s (SABR) data.

In the American League infield, Oakland’s Matt Olson (13 defensive runs saved, 4.6 ultimate zone rating per 150 innings) took home the honors at first base for the second consecutive season, Chicago’s Yolmer Sanchez (11 DRS, 5.0 UZR/150) won his first Gold Glove at second, Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor (9 DRS, 7.4 UZR/150) won his second award (2016) at shortstop, and Matt Chapman of the Athletics (18 DRS, 12 UZR/150) won at third for the second straight season.

In the National League infield, the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo (3 DRS, 2.9 UZR/150) won his third Gold Glove and second straight for his play at first, St. Louis’ Kolten Wong (14 DRS, 4.9 UZR/150) took home the honors at second (his first career win), Arizona’s Nick Ahmed won his second consecutive award for his play at shortstop (18 DRS, 2.3 UZR/150), and Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (8 DRS, 12 UZR/150) to0k home his eighth straight Gold Glove for his sparkling play at third.

Alex Gordon of the Royals (1 DRS, 3.1 UZR/150; seventh Gold Glove, third straight), Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier (13 DRS, 9.8 UZR/150; third award), and Boston’s Mookie Betts (15 DRS, 13.3 UZR/150; fourth straight) took home the hardware for their terrific outfield play in the AL. In the NL, the Diamondbacks’ David Peralta (10 DRS, 9.5 UZR/150), Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain (20 DRS, 8.7 UZR/150), and the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger (22 DRS, 13.7 UZR/150) all took home their first Gold Gloves.

To clarify, each respective league’s outfield winners are listed from left field to right field, but their stats are their cumulative outfield stats, as per FanGraphs.

Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto (11 DRS, eight framing runs above average) took home his first Gold Glove for his defensive play behind the plate in the NL, beating out San Diego’s Austin Hedges, whose advanced metrics (22 DRS, 20.7 FRM) dwarfed Realmuto’s. Cleveland’s Roberto Perez (29 DRS, 9.6 FRM) took home the honors in the AL — his first Gold Glove.

On the mound, Houston’s Zack Greinke (4 DRS, 0.5 FRM; yes, it’s also a fielding metric for pitchers) won the NL Gold Glove — his sixth award — for his time with the Diamondbacks and Seattle’s Mike Leake (2 DRS, 1.1 FRM) — who also spent time with Arizona this season — won the honors in the AL for the first time in his 10-year career.

The post 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners Announced appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Houston Astros (O-2) at Washington Nationals (2-O)
WORLD SERIES GAME 3: RHP ZACK GREINKE (0-2, 6.43) VS. RHP ANÍBAL SÁNCHEZ (1-0, 0.71)
FRIDAY, OCT. 25, 2019 • NATIONALS PARK • WASHINGTON, D.C. 

The Nationals took a 2-0 series lead after trouncing the Astros, 11-3 on Wednesday night in Houston. Nats look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead as they host the first World Series game being played in the Nation’s capital since 1933.

Game begins at 8:07 p.m. ET and can be watched on Fox.

Astros Lineup

1. George Springer – CF
2. Jose Altuve – 2B
3. Michael Brantley – LF
4. Alex Bregman – 3B
5. Yuli Gurriel – 1B
6. Carlos Correa – SS
7. Josh Reddick – RF
8. Robinson Chirinos – C
9. Zack Greinke – RHP

Nationals Lineup 

1. Trea Turner – SS
2. Adam Eaton – RF
3. Anthony Rendon – 3B
4. Juan Soto – LF
5. Asdrubal Cabrera – 2B
6. Ryan Zimmerman – 1B
7. Kurt Suzuki – C
8. Victor Robles – CF
9. Anibal Sanchez

The post World Series Game 3 Thread: Astros vs Nationals, 8:07 PM (FOX) appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good morning Mets fans! On Wednesday, game four of the ALCS was rained out in the Bronx.

Tonight, Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka, who is coming off a shutout in game one of this series, takes the hill at home against Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, as the Bronx Bombers look to avoid dropping their third straight game of the series and go down 3-1. First pitch will be thrown at 8:08 p.m. E.T. and the game can be seen on FS1.

Now let’s take a look at what else went on around the league yesterday!

Latest Mets News

Former Met and current Nationals first base coach Tim Bogar has emerged as a potential managerial candidate for the Mets, says Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Joe Girardi will reportedly not manage Team USA in the Premier 12 tournament as he hopes to return to managing in the big leagues this spring.

Girardi told Mike Francesa that he has interviewed with three teams and all “went well.”

Jacob deGrom is among the finalists for the MLBPA Players’ Choice Award for National League Outstanding Pitcher, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Latest MLB News

The Angels hired former Cubs and Rays manager Joe Maddon to be their next skipper on a three-year $12 million deal, as Jeff Fletcher of The Southern California News Group reported.

Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein is in a current dispute with a landlord dating back to his 2015 stay in an Arizona house, where he allegedly left dog urine stains. According to Epstein, the landlord refused to take action of 45 scorpions on the property during his stay, writes Steven Hsieh of The Phoenix Times.

Latest MMO News

Josh Finklestein believes the NL Champion Nationals provide hope for the Mets in 2020.

Marshall Field looks back at the 1969 Miracle Mets on the anniversary of the day they captured their title.

Matt Mancuso analyzes the statcast breakdown of J.D. Davis‘s 2019 season.

Lindsey Moran looks at the Phillies pending free agents.

On This Day in Mets History 

Chris Mazza turns 30 and Rafael Montero is 31.

The post Morning Briefing: Yankees Look To Avoid 3-1 Deficit appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

By Josh Finkelstein

On Friday night, Zack Greinke spoke to the press about his ALCS Game 1 start set to take place on Saturday. However, the press conference ended up going viral and not for good reason.

The right-hander was criticized left and right for his inability to give long, detailed answers while in front of the press. Many on social media decided to poke fun at his expense for his responses in that presser. Those can simply be seen by typing in “Zack Greinke” on Twitter.

Dave Martinez’s answer on Juan Soto versus Zack Greinke’s entire press conference. pic.twitter.com/E5tMiqZMP7

— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 11, 2019

Yes, they were admittedly short and certainly were not the best soundbites in the world, but the problem lies with the circumstances surrounding it.

Zack Greinke has been battling social anxiety since 2006, a season in which he only was able to appear in three games due to that. He talks about that in an interview with Bill Plaschke of the LA Times.

Now, I don’t think that the people on Twitter were looking to harm him and I’m sure it wasn’t with malicious intent.

That being said, a situation like what happened on Friday night needs to be a learning moment and a realization that making fun of someone who is well-known to be dealing with social anxiety is simply unacceptable.

Many of the commenters made these people hear it hard for their unnecessary comments about Greinke, knowing that the people who made these tweets were hoping for likes and retweets.

That was probably the most encouraging thing that occurred on Friday night as there was a point in my life where not many people would have responded too negatively to that.

As someone who deals with anxiety myself, seeing people poking fun at Greinke for his short responses meant to be seen by thousands of others made me very uncomfortable.

The thing that a lot of people are unable to understand is why that would even bother someone and especially a professional athlete. Greinke is a human being still, though, and seeing people criticizing you is still hurtful for anyone. It’s no different than if it was your kid, friend, or partner on that stage.

Add in social anxiety, and one criticism from a person can feel like the walls caving in on your view to the entire public.

Do I know exactly how he specifically thinks? No, absolutely not. But, I also am not going to act like it’s all in good fun either.

None of us truthfully will know how he feels about stuff like this besides him, but from experience with my own anxiety, I understand that it’s very plausible that reactions like those on Friday can have that type of impact.

Yes, he’s an athlete and with that comes criticism. But, also keep in mind that when you criticize someone that they have a background and a story just like you and me.

We all have things that we struggle with and adversity we have to overcome. For someone like Greinke, public speaking might be one of them.

Getting up in front of those reporters at the podium on Friday night was an accomplishment in its own right for him, though. A player who once pondered retirement due to what was once crippling anxiety spoke in front of a multitude of national media outlets in preparation for a Game 1 start for the Houston Astros in the ALCS.

Whether Greinke should have been forced to speak in front of those outlets is another issue altogether. Given how people responded, though, why should he feel any reason to want to besides that MLB currently mandates it?

Social media has gotten many of us to sometimes think that whatever we say or comment on has no repercussions and has a limited effect on anyone else besides themselves.

The fact is that there is always a person on the other end of the screen that you could be making a difference for, whether that be good or bad.

Instead of trying to poke fun at someone for your own gain, make the conscious effort to make a difference in someone’s life in a good way.

Talking about mental health is something that we all need to do as more and more people each year deal with mental health issues.

But, instead of criticizing someone like Zack Greinke who openly has explained his journey of dealing with mental illness in the past, we should embrace the fact that many people that deal with their own mental health issues probably look up to him as someone who has overcome that adversity even if he’s not perfect.

All of our words matter. Use them for the better.

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Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Houston Astros have acquired Zack Greinke and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that the Diamondbacks will receive Seth Beer, Corbin Martin, J.B. Bukauskas, and Joshua Rojas in return. All four prospects rank on the Astros’ MLB Pipeline top 30 prospects list, with Beer (third), Bukauskas (fourth), and Martin (fifth) ranking much higher than Rojas (22nd).

In addition to that, the Astros have acquired Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Greinke, 35, is a six-time All-Star and one-time Cy Young Award winner. He’s in the midst of a very strong season with the Diamondbacks as he is 10-4 with a 2.87 ERA, 0.943 WHIP, 3.15 FIP, and 128 strikeouts in 22 starts (141 innings).

The right-hander is in the fourth year of a six-year, $206.5 million contract that began in 2016. He is making $31.5 million this season and will make $32 million in 2020 and 2021 before hitting the open market.

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Good morning Mets fans! Former Mets radio play-by-play announcer Josh Lewin will be a part of the Boston Red Sox’s radio play-by-play rotation, in addition to his new job as the San Diego Padres’ radio pregame and postgame host. Lewin confirmed the recent news about both jobs in a letter to Mets fans. Lewin will also continue to call basketball and football games for UCLA.

Latest Mets News

Jacob deGrom was in the headlines for a few reasons on Thursday.

DeGrom indicated to the media that he has a desire to stay in New York, but that contract extension talks have been stagnant so far. Both he and the Mets have set Opening Day as the deadline for an extension.

Also Mickey Callaway confirmed the expected by stating that deGrom will be the Opening Day starter.

Finally in regards to deGrom, his National League Cy Young Award plaque was slightly damaged as it was shipped from New York to Florida according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Mets are returning the award to the manufacturer for a repair.

Infield Chatter caught up with Keon Broxton who returned to his hometown to reminisce about his childhood.

Bruce Markusen of Fangraphs interviewed Wayne Coffey, the author of They Said It Couldn’t Done: the ’69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History.

Ron Darling spoke about Michael Conforto on MLB Network after he was ranked 60th on the network’s “Top 100 Right Now” list by saying, “Opposite field power, as good as any left-hander in the game. I’ll make that argument.”

Former Mets hitting coach Pat Roessler is returning to the New York Yankees as a consultant in player development per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.

Latest MLB News

Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus said that Matt Harvey strained a glute muscle during agility drills and will be sidelined for about 10 days per Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times.

Johnny Cueto will start throwing next week according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.

Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports wrote that the Toronto Blue Jays plan to manipulate Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s service time as inferred from general manager Ross Atkin’s comments in which he would not commit a time of arrival for Guerrero Jr. in Toronto.

The Blue Jays signed southpaw Ryan Feierabend to a minor league deal according to Keegan Matheson of Baseball Toronto. The 33-year-old has not pitched in the Majors since 2014, but has since reinvented himself as a consistent knuckleballer and pitched the last four seasons in Korea.

Latest NL East News

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak mentioned that he is happy with how the team’s offseason has went and is willing to wait on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper and play out the situation.

Don Mattingly announced that Jose Urena will be the Miami Marlins’ Opening Day starter.

Mark Zuckerman of MASN wrote about the Washington Nationals’ spring training plans for Howie Kendrick and Ryan Zimmerman.

Latest on MMO/MMN

Matt Mancuso covered the news about the Mets farm system being ranked 19th by Baseball America.

John Sheridan continued MMN’s top-50 Mets prospects list with No. 8, Thomas Szapucki.

Sheridan also wrote about the Mets’ contentious talks with St. Lucie county in their renovation project of First Data Field.

Tim Ryder wrote a piece about Edwin Diaz who recently told Matt Ehalt of The Record that he is happy to be in New York with the Mets.

Mr._O wrote a Fan Shot in which he argued that the Mets should trade for Zack Greinke. If you are interested in writing a Fan Shot, find out more information here.

This Day in Mets History

1961: Mets chairman and minority owner, M. Donald Grant, offered Branch Rickey a contract to become the Mets general manager. Rickey turned down the offer and George Weiss was offered and accepted the position instead.

2001: After Bobby Jones turned down the Mets’ offer of salary arbitration which would have been worth at least $2-$3 million, he signed with the San Diego Padres for $625,000. Jones went on to pitch to the tune of a 5.12 ERA and put up an 8-19 record for San Diego in the 2001 season.

Birthdays: Barry Jones turns 56 and Chuck Estrada turns 81.

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