#mets

#mets

Keith Hernandez revealed on SNY during Tuesday's Mets game in St. Louis that he was heading back to New York to get treatment on his back.

"Davey was a bold manager who led with a quiet confidence and an unwavering belief in his team. He cared deeply for his players both on and off the field."

Olney: Financial disparity among teams has long existed, but the Dodgers' payroll will serve to galvanize the effort of other owners to rebuild the sport's financial system through some kind of proposed cap-and-floor design. As one former player said: "It's like we're back in 1994 -- you've got some owners looking for the players to solve ownership issues." The players went on strike in August of 1994, of course, and that fall's World Series was canceled. But it remains to be seen how far the owners will push to revamp the system, and whether the players' coalition will hold together as strongly as it did three decades ago.

Evaluating the National League East's offseason activity so far begins with what has happened -- and what hasn't happened in New York. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns set out to make significant changes this winter after a frustrating season ( to put it mildly). Running it back wasn't an option. But it's been a shocking -- and, so far, incomplete -- overhaul in Queens that has fans on edge, an anxiousness exacerbated by Kyle Tucker emerging from the smoke to choose the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Mets late Thursday night.

This was the most loaded pool of candidates, with Hall of Famers, MVPs and World Series champions populating the list. How could someone eclipse Derek Jeter, who recorded 2,658 hits from 2000-14, or Mariano Rivera, who saved 523 games from 2000-13? That's a testament to the greatness of Judge. Since his MLB debut in 2016, Judge leads the majors in home runs (368), OPS (1.028) and wins above replacement, or WAR (61.6).

The Mets have grabbed headlines for the moves they haven't made this offseason, namely watching Pete Alonso sign with Baltimore and head to Los Angeles. The club is actively working to add on the offensive side, though, with the Cardinals as a potential trade partner. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports the Mets have interest in outfielder Lars Nootbaar, while John Denton of MLB.com reports New York reached out about Willson Contreras.

The Mets have been perusing the trade market in hopes of bolstering their rotation and have their eye on Twins right-hander as one of several targets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He adds that the Twins like young Mets righty - hardly a surprise, given that Tong is widely regarded as one of the sport's top pitching prospects.

The Mets have interviewed Padres third base/infield coach Tim Leiper for an unspecified role on New York's coaching staff, according to The Athletic's Tim Britton. SNY's Andy Martino reported yesterday that the Mets were nearing a hire for their third base coach vacancy, so it would seem logical that Leiper might be the one being tapped as Mike Sarbaugh's replacement.

She's going to be a star," Stone told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com at the time.

I remember that a few weeks ago, Michael Baumann at FanGraphs ran an article, the gist of which was, "the lack of playoff races means the system is working," in the sense that if there are six playoff spots per league and there's no fight for any division or Wild Card spot, then six is the "right" number of seeds because it plainly cleaves between "deserving" and "non-deserving" teams.

Brandon Sproat started off taking aim at his own foot, walking Paul DeJong and throwing away a little swinging bunt by Jorge Alfaro, with DeJong scoring after Juan Soto didn't show particular interest in backing up the play. That tied the game, but just wait: CJ Abrams doubled to bring home Alfaro; Josh Bell hit a drive to left-center that hit Jose Siri in the glove and popped out, scoring Abrams;

Trout chasing 400: belted the 399th home run of his illustrious career last night, placing him just one round-tripper shy of becoming the 59th plate in MLB history to reach the 400 milestone. Trout, currently in a three-way tie with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline on the all-time leaderboard, is hitting .235/.368/.426 (119 wRC+) and has already secured the tenth 20-homer season of his career (plus 17 homers during the shortened 2020 season).

That aside, though, it's at least marginally interesting to think about final win totals that will or won't be sufficient to make the playoffs this year. 86 was the magic number last year for both the Tigers and Royals; the Diamondbacks somehow made the playoffs with 84 wins in 2023. In the inaugural season of this stupid playoff system, it was again 86 wins, in benefit of the Rays.

Great American Ball Park opened in 2003. The Mets made their first September visit there in 2007, then returned in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019. Their composite won-lost mark on the banks of the Ohio in the final month of those specific seasons? A cool 15-4, including a division-clincher in 2015 and Pete Alonso's 50th home run as a rookie in 2019. Six series versus the Reds inside this month within the walls of this venue, six series wins.

There is some feeling within the Mets organization that right-handed pitching prospect could make his MLB debut before the 2025 season is up, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Tong only just made his debut with Triple-A Syracuse on August 16 and hadn't been projected as "a consideration for the Major League roster this year," Puma writes, but "that stance has changed in recent days."

The pamphlet regarding Seaver’s opposition to the Vietnam War was handed out outside Shea Stadium as he prepared to pitch in Game Four of the 1969 World Series.

The current streak of Mets starters hitting at least five innings follows a period where they threw an MLB-low 241 2/3 innings in just two months.

When asked if Holmes will remain a starter the rest of the season, manager Carlos Mendoza said 'he's going to keep getting opportunities.'