There’s No Way Freddie Freeman Becomes A Met

24 Feb

Freddie Freeman
PhilliesNation.com:

Even with an outfield that already includes Marte, Canha and Brandon Nimmo, new manager Buck Showalter acknowledged that the team has considered making another addition to the outfield. In an appearance on The Michael Kay Show Thursday, ESPN‘s Buster Olney delivered perhaps an even more concerning development for the Phillies:

“This was the most interesting thing that I heard. There’s a perception in the industry that Freddie Freeman is not going back to the Braves,” Olney said. “Last summer, that was assumed, like ‘Yeah, eventually he’ll go back there.’ Now, they don’t believe that, and here’s an interesting thing. One of the teams that checked in on the Freddie Freeman availability before December 2 were the Mets.” Freeman has spent his entire 12-year career with the Atlanta Braves to this point, making five All-Star teams, winning the 2020 NL MVP and helping the franchise to capture the 2021 World Series title.

First of all, the Braves would be fools to let a perennial All-Star like Freeman go. Secondly, we already have a pretty good 1st baseman and I can’t imagine what acquiring Freeman (who’s a better defensive player) and forcing him to move to DH, would do to Pete Alonso’s psyche. Lastly, the Mets are better off going after a 3rd starter and Kris Bryant, not Freeman who in all intents and purposes would most likely be signed by the Dodgers if he’s really going anywhere.

Buck Showalter Sounds Open To Bringing Michael Conforto Back

22 Feb

Michael Conforto
NYPost.com:

Additional players almost certainly will be added to the Mets roster once the lockout concludes, and manager Buck Showalter acknowledged Friday that another outfielder could be a consideration.

The Mets already signed free agents Starling Marte and Mark Canha this offseason to join Brandon Nimmo in the outfield, but beyond that there is haziness: Dominic Smith and Jeff McNeil can play the outfield, but are also trade candidates.

RELATED: “Hoping He’s Well Paid Elsewhere” – Marcus Stroman Backs Michael Conforto, Asks New York Mets to ‘Pay Him What He Deserves’

Matt Harvey Admits To Using Cocaine While With The Angels

15 Feb

Matt Harvey Sports Illustrated cover
Yahoo.com:

Former Los Angeles Angels players Matt Harvey and C.J. Cron admitted to receiving pills from Eric Kay Tuesday during the former team communications official’s trial in relation to Tyler Skaggs’ death. Both players took the stand, where they discussed their own — and Skaggs’ — drug use.

Kay is standing trial in federal court on charges that he gave Skaggs pills laced with fentanyl that led to his death and possessing fentanyl and oxycodone with intent to distribute. Now in its second week, the trial has begun to pull in recent MLB players. Harvey was subpoenaed as Kay’s defense team attempts to convince the jury that Skaggs obtained opioids from more than one source.

Of course, Harvey isn’t the first ML player to admit to using cocaine and he won’t be the last. But the possibility that he might have contributed to a teammate’s death takes his downfall from once starting an All-Star game to a new level.

The Universal DH Is Officially Here

11 Feb


NYDailyNews.com:

No more pitchers on the bases wearing jackets. No more surprise dingers. No more epic bunts. No more awkward batting stances and related injury scares. It’s the end of an era, but at least we’ll always have Bartolo Colon’s legendary home run.

Major League Baseball has agreed to the universal designated hitter, commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Thursday. The move ends the National League’s 48-year run that forced pitchers to take at-bats. In addition, Manfred said MLB has agreed to eliminate draft-pick compensation for signing free agents.

Well, thanks to Manfred and all these ‘progressive’ scribes out there, the last remaining distinction between the NL and the AL is now gone, us purists be damned and that sucks. By the way, as spectacular and surprising as the Bartolo Colon HR was in 2016, can we take the time to give Noah Syndergaard props for hitting 2 HRs against the Dodgers in a game that same year?

RIP Gerald Williams

8 Feb


NYPost.com:

Gerald Williams, who had two stints with the Yankees, has died after a fight with cancer, Derek Jeter announced. He was 55. Williams was drafted by the Yankees in 1987 and made his debut in pinstripes in 1992. The outfielder played five seasons in the Bronx before being traded to the Brewers during the 1996 season. Williams returned in 2001 and played parts of two more seasons for the Yankees.

“Gerald Williams passed away this morning after a battle with cancer,” Jeter said in a statement on The Players’ Tribune Twitter account.

A Met at the tailor end of his career, what I remember most about Williams was that great catch he made in centerfield during the 2nd inning of Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter in 1996 while a Yankee. RIP.

Prayers for Jeff Innis Who’s Battling Cancer

28 Jan

Jeff Innis
TheChampaignRoom.com:

Family of former Illinois Baseball and New York Mets pitcher Jeff Innis is asking for help to get him home in his final days.

In a GoFundMe posted this week, Innis’ family said he has been battling cancer since 2017 and it recently took a turn for the worst. Family said his treatment at a Houston area hospital is no longer viable, and they’re trying to get Innis home to Atlanta so he can spend his finally days in hospice care with his family. “We appreciate any support you can offer as we bring Jeff home to rest peacefully,” the family wrote.

Innis was a standout reliever who mostly played on some really bad Mets teams in the late 80’s and early 90s. A lifetime Met who played only 7 years in total, I never heard or read a bad thing about him and word has it that he also played in fantasy camps after he retired. It’s not looking good at the moment, but prayers to his family and loved ones.

Baseball Hall of Fame Snubs Barry Bonds…Again

26 Jan


YahooSports.com:

One rewriting of baseball’s record books began in earnest in 1986. That year, a fireballing right-hander in Boston won 24 games en route to the AL Cy Young and the AL MVP. Meanwhile, a wiry 21-year-old with a familiar name reached the big leagues in Pittsburgh.

Across the 22 years their careers would overlap, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens earned 17% of all the MVP and Cy Young Awards handed out. They each claimed their occupation’s top honor seven times, obliterating the all-time marks. They each had two careers worth of Hall of Fame dominance — with peaks in the 1990s and 2000s matching or eclipsing their most fearsome contemporaries.

Bonds and Clemens should’ve both been elected, but hey Bonds didn’t get along with the media and since he never actually failed a drug test, there can’t be any other reason why he isn’t in. On the other hand, Clemens was just aloof so who knows what the deal really is there. Yet, David Ortiz has always been well-liked by everybody so do the math.

Players Association Drops Request To Give Players Free Agency Before 6 Years

24 Jan

Tony Clark Rob Manfred
TheAthletic.com:

The Major League Baseball Players Association dropped its request to introduce an age-based free-agency system into the sport on Monday, withdrawing a proposal in one of the three major areas MLB had shown no interest in changing, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Athletic.

That means the amount of service time it takes a player to reach free agency — six years — is most likely going to remain unchanged whenever the sides reach a new deal. The players had previously proposed a system to get some players to free agency after five years if they had reached a certain age: 30 1/2, and then eventually, 29 1/2.

I’m always wondering about the effort from pro athletes after they sign long-term contracts and honestly feel that with contracts sky-rocketing as they are these days, MLB had every right to keep their position on this.

RELATED: MLB, players’ association plan to meet again Tuesday after sides make progress, sources say

Mets Round Out Coaching Staff With Glenn Sherlock Hire

18 Jan

Glenn Sherlock
NYDailyNews.com:

Bench coach was the last major hole remaining on the Mets’ coaching staff, and now they’ve got someone on the case.

The team is expected to hire Glenn Sherlock — who was a former minor league catcher and Mets’ coach under Terry Collins and Mickey Callaway — to be Buck Showalter’s top confidant in the dugout. Sherlock was also a coach in the Yankees’ and Diamondbacks’ organizations while Showalter was managing there.

This lockout is really working wonders on what makes news nowadays as all this coaching news of late has gotten way too much attention.

RELATED: The Mets Found a Hitting Coach. He Was on the Yankees’ Bench.

Yes. Keith Hernandez Belongs in the Hall of Fame

15 Jan

1984 Topps Keith Hernandez
NYDailyNews.com:

While reflecting on his career, which earned him a number retirement from the Mets and a congratulatory press conference on Wednesday, Keith Hernandez also came face-to-face with his own mortality.

Specifically, when the topic shifted to his chances of making the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the 68-year-old Hernandez said that if he does earn an induction, he’d like for it to happen while he’s still around to appreciate it. “It’s out of my hands,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been out of the game for a long time. Hopefully I’ve got another 15, 16, 17, 18 years of life. Maybe it’ll happen before I kick the bucket.”

I’m not into the analytics stuff, so I went old-school and counted 9 Hall of Fame-ish seasons for Hernandez during his career. Add to that an MVP in ’79, two World Series championships and 11 Gold Gloves and to me, Hernandez should be in there. Of course, the biggest knock will be the lack power for a 1st baseman (only 162 HRs in a 17-year career), but in his prime Keith was pretty consistent run producer with a guarantee of around 90 per year and an OBP that was always high. That said, the fact that Hernandez never got better than 10.8% in a Hall of Fame vote when he was on the ballot is mind-boggling. Time for the Veterans Committee to make up for that mistake.

Mets to Bring Back Old Timers Day

13 Jan

Mets Old Timers Day
Newsday.com:

On Wednesday, on a Zoom news conference to talk about that honor, Hernandez may have added a second new line to his resume: Newsbreaker. As he was talking about the Mets’ growing efforts under owner Steve Cohen to celebrate their history, Hernandez seemed to break the news that the team is going to hold its first Old-Timers’ Day since the 1990s this summer.

“The fact that we’re going to have an Old-Timers’ game again,” Hernandez said. “They’re going to bring in 50 players, I understand. That is fantastic.” The Mets have not announced the return of Old-Timers’ Day. Team president Sandy Alderson was asked on the same Zoom call if they plan to in 2022.

Yet another great move here by Steve Cohen in respect to Mets tradition.

Keith Hernandez To Finally Have His Number 17 Retired

11 Jan

Keith Hernandez
NYPost.com:

The Mets are going to retire Keith Hernandez’s No. 17 next season, during a ceremony on Saturday, July 9, prior to a game with the Marlins. Hernandez, the lynchpin of the Mets’ 1986 world championship team, joins Casey Stengel (37), Gil Hodges (14), Tom Seaver (41), Mike Piazza (31) and Jerry Koosman (36) to be so honored.

Hernandez played for the Mets from 1983 through 1989, acquired from the Cardinals in a trade on June 15, 1983. He hit .297 as a Met and won five Gold Gloves as a first baseman in New York. In 1984 he finished second to Ryne Sandberg in the NL MVP vote, hitting .311 with 97 RBIs.

Hernandez’s number being retired is not only long overdue, but also further testament to former owner’s Fred Wilpon’s incompetence in running the team all those years. David Wright will obviously get his number retired some day soon. But why the late, great Gary Carter hasn’t had his number retired already is beyond me.