Focus on Your Team

Baseball fans in New York focus on your team do not worry about the new York team you do not root for as it is a complete waste if time.

Yes Cohen spent big time on his team and Yankees spent some as well. For Met fans it is a joyous time but remember proof will be determined this coming summer. Yanks won 99 last year and Mets won 101 games and both records were terrific. The playoffs which is equalizer in this sport did not go well but both teams are better equipped to handle that with the current rosters. It promises to be a terrific year of baseball in this town and let's focus on that. Plus off season is not done yet and more could happen with both teams. It is a holiday season let's he nice to.each other.

Mets Press Conference

Busy week coming 2 met press conferences Monday is for Senga and Tuesday is for Verlander. Two tremendous gifts for Met fans. We all know about Verlander but wait till you see Senga pitch. I saw film of him and his stuff is incredible. In Japan they pitch once a week but here in mlb it is 5 days between starts not 7 so building up his durability in spring training will be important.. the 2023 met rotation will be top.to.bottom the best in the sport..

Jacob DeGrom

I refuse to be critical about Jacob deGrom for leaving the Mets. He made a decision best for his family and I wish him all the success in his new home. He was a great Met and nothing will change that. As a reporter covering Mets, I always found him to be accessible and very engaging. The memory I have of him will always be Game 5 of the 2015 NLDS winning a do or die game at Dodger Stadium. I feel honored I got to cover his Met tenure.

Mets Pitching

On Mets pitching decisions simply put they traded Walker and degrom for verlander and Quintana for 2 year commitments as opposed to much longer contracts for the 2 pitchers they had.. higher annual salary in less years will also allow to sign Alonso and McNeil to.ling term deals much sooner. And if they land senga watch next off season as ohtani and or Darvish will come to flushing as well ohtani contract with Angel's has limited no trade clause with only team on his accepted list being the Mets. That should tell.you where he wants to be.

Mets 2023

Would like to see Mets sign Ottavino--Adam, Drew Smith, Robertsen as well as Raley good bridge pieces to Diaz--Also Mets picked up others who could step up like Brigham. And if Senga is signed, Megill/Peterson could be swing man depth. Nogosek/Lucchessi also options.

2023 Mets

Clearly Mets have more to do but when I look at NL East Mets have best closer, top HR Hitter and best Batting Average guy and best overall SS as well as best 1-2-3 starting pitching rotation in NL East. Senga and Nimmo could widen that and BP bridges to Diaz need to be obtained. Throw in Met farm system getting better each year. We all know Alvarez, Vientos and Baty are solid but hidden gem could be Mauricio. Mets plan of overpaying a bit to get shorter term contracts in terms of years makes total sense. The Mets went for 2 years on Verlander and Quintana as opposed to longer terms with deGrom and Walker. And next season as both Ohtani and Darvish could be FA's do not think for a minute a Senga signing won't help with the recruitment of those players. All of this fits in what Cohen keeps saying: Building a short term success with $ allows the farm system to develop at the right pace and that will breed long term success. You can do both and Mets are proving that. Yes the playoff loss to Padres was a punch in the gut but a 101 win season is not done without proper roster construction. Like the Braves and Nationals can tell you (The Dodgers too) you keep getting to the playoffs year after year and your time will come. So much in a short series can occur and that is what makes this sport great but you keep plugging away and you will get to the promised land. That is exactly what Steve Cohen and the Mets are doing.

Lefty Sign Up For Mets

Outstanding Met signing of Quintana lefty starter who had a sub 3.00 ERA and pitched over 150 innings last year. Still not out on Senga who could still fit this rotation with Carrasco in 5th spot. Could then use Megill & Peterson as bullpen pieces.

 

Justin Verlander

The Ny Mets and star pitcher Justin Verlander agree on a 2 year contract. The way his wife Kate Upton took on Philly fans during the World Series vs Astros leads me to believe the Verlander family will fit right in--- at CitiField

Sad Day

A sad day as degrom signs with Texas Rangers--but the Mets will move on maybe sign Verlander if not maybe Rodon and Bassitt  with Scherzer at top of the rotation.  Use $ to fortify bullpen and/or add a hitter like Trea Turner or JD Martinez--But Jake will be missed. That being said, 5 years for a 35 ear old who has been injured a bunch is a risk and Mets showed restraint. Sad news but understandable

 

Thoughts

With Nimmo being a free agent I certainly hope Mets sign him but I think a Plan B for OF could be Joc Pedersonor or Adam Duvall. They could also pursue Trea Turner for 2B and move McNeil to outfield with Marte in CF and Canha in corner OF position. With Vogelbach back might be worth it to pursue a righty dh like maybe Brandon Drury.

 

Pitching-wise you want to sign deGrom but should he leave both Rodon and Tyler Anderson are reasonable fits as well as Seth Lugo who is a free agent. Bridge to Diaz in pen right now has Drew Smith would like them to re-sign both Ottavino and Lugo--Trevor May not so sure.

 

And depending on rotation, right now only Scherzer, Carrasco, Megill and Peterson in the fold--deGrom and Bassitt are my first choices but even if both return I would still add Rodon to provide depth and of course consider Taijuan Walker's return if it fits in the budget.  I would like Megill and Peterson to be multi-faceted as they could be used as starters or relievers but to do that you need pitching depth.

 

As far as Alvarez is concerned, my hope is get him more time at AAA before making him either as DH and/or C