35 Years of Misery & Counting
The Mets have followed through with their promise to bring their best 25 players north.
Pete Alonso will be among those players, The Post confirmed, after the top Mets prospect had a scorching spring training.
Alonso hit .352 with four home runs and 11 RBIs as he vied for the first-base job with Dominic Smith, who also had an impressive spring training. It’s unclear who will get the Opening Day start against Washington’s Max Scherzer.
Well, it’s good to know that that’s over with as this could’ve been a huge distraction during the season.
RELATED: Jacob deGrom is the gamble the new Mets had to take
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Newsday.com:
Told that he didn’t make the Mets’ major-league club, Devin Mesoraco decided Saturday to leave the team rather than report to minor-league camp.
Mesoraco was among the Mets’ latest spring training cuts. Also reassigned to the minors were infielder Adeiny Hechavarria, outfielders Rajai Davis and Carlos Gomez, and lefthanders Ryan O’Rourke and Hector Santiago.
The Mets said Mesoraco was “reassessing his situation.” But a source familiar with Mesoraco’s thinking said the catcher, who is 30 and has spent more than seven years in the majors, will not go to Triple-A. He remains under contract — a minor-league deal — with the Mets, who are left with a decision: grant Mesoraco his release or put him on the restricted list.
Mesoraco’s disappointment stems from pre-contract conversations with the Mets, which left him under the impression that he had two viable paths to breaking camp with the team: if Travis d’Arnaud (Tommy John surgery) wasn’t ready for the start of the season, or if the Mets carried three catchers. In the end, the Mets prioritized Tomas Nido over Mesoraco, even with d’Arnaud’s fate to be decided.
This makes little sense. Nido can’t hit at all and Mesoraco was not only superb catching Jacob deGrom last season, but the guy is a former All-Star. Plus, with his hapless track record, you just know that Travis d’Arnaud is going to get injured at some point this season, it’s just a matter of when.
Hey, Trout’s the best player in the game so give him what he wants. But with an MVP and championship already under his belt, you just know that Mookie Betts is salivating at this deal.
I think that Alonso can certainly hit on the big-league level, it’s his defense that worries me.
RELATED: Pete Alonso hits his fourth homer as he keeps strengthening his case to make the Opening Day roster
Dominic Smith could tell you he is in the best shape of his life, as so many other ballplayers do at this time of year, and it probably would be true. But he knows that doesn’t mean anything unless he performs when it matters.
Before he got his body right during the offseason, the Mets helped Smith do the same with his mind. Last season was the worst of his career, and at the end of it, he wasn’t sure where he stood with the organization. The new Mets regime, led by general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, settled that by telling Smith the team still believes in him.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Smith, who got a visit from executive director of player development Jared Banner and visited hitting coach Chili Davis. “To hear that, especially early in the offseason, it helped me get through this offseason and helped me feel more comfortable, relaxed and have fun on an everyday basis. They don’t have to let you know that, but for them to be open with me was awesome.”
With his concerns assuaged, Smith used the Mets’ vote of confidence as a springboard into an intense offseason and strong spring training, including a .400 average and 1.005 OPS as he competes with Pete Alonso for the first-base job.
All things considered, the Mets would be better off keeping Pete Alonso in the minor league to start the season anyway.
T.J. Rivera’s spring training with the Mets never really got started, and Saturday it concluded with the popular infielder receiving his release from the club.
The 30-year-old Rivera had not appeared in the Grapefruit League because of discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow. Rivera missed all of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“I think we started to look at the playing time as we go forward in camp,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said. “We also started to realize the number of guys we have playing the infield positions were significant and as we built the roster over the course of this offseason it was clear that some people were going to have to be removed from the equation, not only to compete at the major league level but also to compete for our Triple-A roster.”
Rivera, a Bronx native, had a .304/.335/.445 slash line in 106 games for the Mets in 2016 and 2017. His rehab was shut down last summer because of discomfort in his elbow, on which he had surgery in September 2017.
I was a huge T.J. Rivera fan. So much that I thought for sure that he’d be the starting 2nd baseman for the Mets for a long time. However, the injury bug just caught up to him and considering the length of time he’s been out, I guess the Mets had no choice but to let him go.
Sad news for the greatest player to ever wear a Mets uniform. Prayers and best wishes to the Seaver family.
D’Arnaud said he had completed all the steps necessary to get back on the field and Callaway added that the final steps included “live throwing, [facing] live runners, getting his footwork synced up. He’s doing really well.”
The catcher’s status remains uncertain, even if he does prove himself to be healthy.
The Mets added Wilson Ramos in the offseason on a two-year deal worth $19 million and signed Devin Mesoraco, a favorite of NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, late in the offseason.
D’Arnaud was tendered a contract worth $3.52 million, but if the Mets let him go before the end of spring training, they’d have to pay just 25 percent of that amount.
Is it possible that the Mets could keep all 3 catchers on their roster for Opening Day? Other teams have done it and I believe that Mesoraco and even D’Arnaud could play some 1st base.
As if the Mets don’t already have a surplus of outfielders and as if they aren’t aware of what a showboat and head case Gomez is. Smh.
Harper stays in the NL East so we still have to face him 19 times a year. And by the time this deal ends, Harper will be like 40 and still making $30M a year. Ridiculous.
