smg58

The offense is a bigger problem than the pitching right now. Other than Alvarez, nobody is hitting. I'm particularly disappointed in Baty and Vientos, who have been given the opportunity to grab full time jobs and have flat out refused to do so. Stearns showed too much confidence in Benge's readiness, but that is water under the bridge at this point. I think Polanco was playing hurt, but Bichette and Lindor really couldn't afford to slump with Soto out. The bullpen has let them down a few times, yesterday certainly, but we wouldn't have noticed if the team was hitting.

Freddy Peralta will pitch to the 3.60 ERA that his career numbers, and peripherals from last year, say that he will. Much press space and air time will be devoted to speculating on what's wrong with him. Benge will have ups and downs but will be solid down the stretch. Devin Williams will be fine. But the Mets will still need Clay Holmes to bail out their bullpen. Soto will make last year look like Beltran's 2005. Jonah Tong will be the key to their season.

Hello, is this the draft room?

Was Randy Jones a Padre for long enough to get 20.4 WAR?

How about Larry Bowa for the Phillies?

We had a Halloween-themed event at our campus last October, and one of my colleagues wore a Bears shirt complete with "Chico's Bail Bonds" on the back. It totally made my night. I'm gonna be bullish on this Soto guy: .285/.425/.600, 130 runs and 110 RBI, and says "No way, Shohei!" as he goes to grab some hardware.

Far too many Mets on this list.

I went for Hubie. His two best seasons were in Montreal, and he didn't have a standout hit (much less a postseason one, like Agbayani) for the Mets that I could remember.

He's righthanded, and the Guardians have lefties at 1B and DH, so the fit makes sense on a no-risk deal.

Jose Rojas.

Frequently discussed Twins pitcher Pablo López has a torn UCL. It's a head-shaker that the Twins would trade all their other short-term contracts, but hold on to a pitcher.

He's a good pickup, but we have all these lefties lined up when we could really use a righthanded bat. The confidence being shown in Tyrone Taylor to handle the short side of a platoon as a corner outfielder is baffling.

There's nothing fake about my love for you. [FIMG=1200]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/46/30/15/10060649/4/1200x0.jpg[/FIMG]

That was the last really dramatic overhaul. The 2004-05 offseason brought a couple of very major signings, but the team's core wasn't dismantled to do it. Hopefully this team won't duplicate the 2002 team's performance.

Yeah, you'd think he'd have fit in better with the Phillies than he did.