35 Years of Misery & Counting
Gee, a former manager who led his old Rangers team to two straight AL championships, is beloved by players everywhere and still wanted to manage is somehow picked up by the Angels instead of the Mets, who instead with a guy with no experience. Is there not something wrong with this picture?
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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.
Aaron Loup has decided to celebrate one of the best seasons by a reliever in Mets history by going to Disneyland.
The lefty reliever Monday reached agreement with the Angels on a two-year contract, the club announced. An industry source confirmed it’s a two-year deal worth $17 million with a team option for 2024.
Loup, 33, pitched to a 0.95 ERA in 65 appearances for the Mets last season. It was the lowest ERA in the major leagues by a pitcher who logged at least 50 innings last season. The Mets had signed Loup to a one-year deal worth $3 million last winter after they had missed on lefty Brad Hand. The veteran Hand was claimed off waivers by the Mets in August.
Yeah, $17M for two years is a lot to pay for a reliever. But Loup literally had a historic year in 2021 and allowed just 1 HR all season. In other words, not signing him sounds like something the Wilpons would do and I’m almost certain that we will regret it.
Right-hander Noah Syndergaard and the Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a one-year, $21 million deal, pending a physical, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Syndergaard, 29, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the New York Mets, making one All-Star team and displaying perhaps the nastiest array of pitches for a starter in the major leagues. Having pitched only two innings since 2019 because of Tommy John surgery, Syndergaard will join an Angels rotation that was among the worst in the big leagues last season.
Hey, the Mets get a draft pick from the Angels and avoid paying a $18M to a guy who’s pitched all of 2 innings for the last two years. Syndergaard was a fan favorite and we’ll miss his tweets and tenacity on the mound, but I’d much rather the Mets sign Marcus Stroman to a 5-year deal and take a flyer out on Justin Verlander for 1 year to improve their starting pitching.
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