Gwreck

Little surprise but Freddy Peralta was named opening day starter. He will be the 8th player to make his Mets debut as an opening day starting pitcher. And the others are…?

I understand this to strictly be a money thing. Costs a lot to broadcast the games for a lower return (preseason game on a Tuesday afternoon is not going to have a big audience).

I read this entire thread just now. Thoughts: 1. I’m grateful for the time and energy and funds that have been put into running this forum. I’m happy to contribute funds and am remiss in not having done so more frequently. 2. As I don’t run the place, I don’t make the rules. If someone asked me, I’d say (a) I think a few posters were given far too much leash with respect to trolling/spamming with AI slop/being *******s; but also ( there is also an ignore function and people could just use that a lot more. 2a. But again, I don’t make the rules. I’m a guest here and have viewed my role as trying to make positive contributions with my posts without being too much of a disagreeable curmudgeon. 3. I’ve never found a smarter group of Mets fans in one place on the internet, and I’m incredibly grateful for the friendships - whether in-person or virtual - that exist because of this place. Even with diminished numbers, this place stands apart. There was a time when I was somehow a “new” member here, having only started posting in late 2005 (?) and somehow that’s been 20 years now. I’d absolutely hate to see this place disappear and I’d thus of course give any new home of this forum a shot.

A couple thoughts: -It may be that the market for a Seaver World Series ring is as high as it’s ever going to get. The universe of people who have that kind of money to spend and who were around to care about the Mets of that era/Seaver is actively dwindling. -Knowing nothing about the family’s finances, estates are still complicated. And I recall that one of Tom’s daughters died in the last year or two. There may be financial or estate planning reasons that make it prudent to liquidate things.

I did not remember Ventura or Leiter being very good for the Yankees and am a bit surprised to see them here. How about El Duque?

Doc Gooden (sigh)

Curtis also sits comfortably on a top 10 list of my favorite Mets players of all time. A true credit to him, and especially so given where he played before reaching the Mets.

Curtis Granderson.

Tauchman was my first guess too. Does Dylan Ross count? He’s on the 40-man roster. This guy was in serious consideration for the postseason roster last year despite having still not pitched in a major league game.

Verlander, Ohtani…and then deGrom in the Mets HOF? All seriousness, relievers are tricky when it comes to the HOF but I’m not so sure Kimbrel makes it.

Seaver. and I think Justin Verlander won in the AL in 2006, the year the Tigers won the pennant.

If Benge is starting in the minors, there are two bench spots open, and could be filled by Tauchman *and* another lefty.

Could even be his sister’s wife.

I wish he had more power but those OBPs in 2023-25 are good: .363, .357, .356

#31 on the Mets all-time list for games pitched. Drew got one complete season, in 2023 (62 games). I recall him being a very nice guy and I always found him easy to root for. Wish him all the best, except if facing the Mets.

He used to play center. Full season in 2022 in the KBL in center, and the majority of his 2023 playing time there as well. This is to me a very intriguing pickup. Lefty bat. 2023: 2.7 WAR in 400 plate appearances; 2024: 0.6 WAR in 350 PAs; 2025, 1.9 WAR in 385 PAs.

Mets signed Tauchman today. Glad to see Stearns is here taking suggestions.

I actually think it’s very smart. Permanently shuts down something as a distracting topic that gets way too much attention in the media/from the fanbase. And if he ever wants to change his mind, he can — while never having to deal with questions like “why not do it this year” or “hasn’t Lindor been here long enough?”

Alomar, Vaughn, Burnitz, Cedeno, Astacio, Estes, and D’Amico combined had 2.1 WAR. It was so bad.

Some real softballs from Howie here. Relevant takeaways: -Cohen says the Mets’ offer to Diaz was in some ways better than the Dodgers’ offer as the Mets also included a fourth “conditional” year. Said it came down to player preference. -Reaffirmed that Mets weren’t going to go 5 years for Alonso. -Steve didn’t discuss Nimmo or McNeil. Howie pre-empted the topic by declaring those were “purely baseball” trades as contrast to Alonso or Diaz. -Howie said the 1986 team would be “honored” this year with a 40th Anniversary Celebration at the park this year (the Mets haven’t actually announced that yet). -Howie asked about timing for construction of the casino/“Metropolitan Park” and Steve gave a non-answer with no specifics. -Howie asks about upcoming CBA negotiations and Steve gives a non-answer saying he’s “one of 30” and saying “central baseball” will be involved there. -“Every move that we’ve made” is with a view towards seasons beyond 2026. -The book in the bookcase behind Steve is My Prison Without Bars by Pete Rose.

Has a Mets player ever not come back *slower* than expected from surgery? Corollary…has a Mets player ever come back either *faster* than expected, or as expected, and been good right away?

[bLOCKQUOTE]Castellanos, many of his teammates argued, was not a team player. This was an important distinction to make. His candor, appreciated by some because there was never any guessing about where Castellanos stood, was not for everyone. A team player, Phillies sources said, would have understood that late-inning defensive substitutions were not necessarily an indictment of his abilities. The team had a better chance to win that game with a defensive upgrade. A team player, Phillies sources said, would not play music from his own portable speaker if he personally had a good game after a Phillies loss. Numerous players had grievances with management regarding strategy or usage; these were usually expressed in private settings. Castellanos was different. He was most outward with his disdain for two people, Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long. He did not trust them, he told teammates, because they had never played in the majors[/bLOCKQUOTE]

Answering questions on what I think will happen (and not necessarily what should happen): 1. Williams is the closer on opening day. Is he the closer by the time the postseason comes around? Not sure. 2. Mets break camp with 6 starters, and continue to use a 6-man rotation unless/until one of those 6 gets hurt. 3. Yes, Benge makes the roster. 4. Yes, Benge plays RF on opening day. Baty plays <25 games there in 2026. 5. Semien leads off if Lindor is not playing opening day.

As in November, I remain unenthused about our outfield other than Soto. Feels like the team is still short a bat. Maybe Benge will prove me wrong and it’s a repeat of 2019 Alonso….but this sure feels like a hole Stearns hasn’t adequately addressed.

Don’t forget the DWI too. We should want no part of Ozuna.