Centerfield

This is the only positive news of this offseason so far. And sure, the Nats will probably pivot to Donaldson, but there's only one of him, meaning either Washington or Atlanta will miss out.

=41Forever post_id=28247 time=1576160381 user_id=69] =Centerfield post_id=28246 time=1576160115 user_id=65] One year deal. Per Ken Rosenthal.

One year deal. Per Ken Rosenthal.

Frayed Knot wrote: So the question to be answered is whether Stroman/Wacha > Wheeler/Vargas???? Stay tuned to this station to find out. Let's hope so. Because the Wheeler-Vargas rotation finished 50-55.

Garbage WHIP. Even when he was in his prime.

That sounds mostly right. Adding to the above: Nimmo: Not at all hated, but underrated. Even after putting up great numbers his first few years (especially if you ignore the time he couldn't turn his head), people think he's not great. See above for the 4th OF comment. I'm guessing its the BA fans. Conforto: Exactly right. Frustration that he's not blossomed into the mega-star. What's wrong with that guy. Beltran: Was a superstar! But fans turned on him after the disappointing first year, and maybe the rumor that Boras called the Yankees for an offer before accepting our's. Which is what you'd want any agent to do really. Definitely got backlash for seeming aloof, but Piazza had this too. Strange that Beltran never shook it. Both made last outs of the season, but only Beltran is accused of not caring. Like anyone would not care in that situation. If he chased a bad one, we'd all be killing him for not staying disciplined. You'd think that he'd lose all detractors the minute he played with a broken face. Benitez: Sure, the hiccups hurt, but something about his demeanor made fans turn on him even more than normal. McReynolds: I think I was too young to notice any off-field demeanor.

Brandon Nimmo Michael Conforto Carlos Beltran Armando Benitez Kevin McReynolds Good players. Seemingly good people. For some reason draw the ire of a large segments of the fan population for some reason. But everyone loves Joe Fucking McEwing.

"Unsustainable", says the guy selling his team.

=smg58 post_id=28135 time=1576080633 user_id=62] Nimmo had a .995 OPS after returning. And Marte had a bad year defensively (at least according to The Fielding Bible). I think we would dealing the better, cheaper player.

For me, Brodie has never demonstrated he's "smart enough" for anything. In fact, most of what I've seen from him are terrible decisions. But how smart he may or may not be is not the subject here. His words of caution, like his bravado last year, are indicative of the Wilpon mindset. The mindset can change. So can circumstances, like an infusion of money from Cohen. But what we are seeing here is not encouraging.

Here we go again. Every Met who sucked last season is gonna be great in 2020. And every Met who was great is gonna be even greater. And no, David Wright won't hit 50 homers next season. Don't be ridiculous. But Yoenis will. I tend to agree with him. I think the second half record is a true indication of the talent level and the first half should be disregarded. I know Zack Wheeler won 5 games and pitched to a 2.83 ERA in the second half and he'll be doing that for Philly now, but I don't think he was a significant factor. Stroman, who's not as good as Wheeler, will replace Zack, and Lugo, who's not as good as a starter as Stroman, will replace Stroman. Gsellman, who's not as good as Lugo, will replace Lugo, and we we will round out the pen with "depth" pieces.

Here's one I wasn't expecting: 86 wins is plenty enough! The actual quote: "We have a lot of our quote-unquote needs already filled." https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/zack-wheeler-winter-meetings-steve-cohen-1.39393808https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/zack-wheeler-winter-meetings-steve-cohen-1.39393808

I saw 7 years, $220, which is much more reasonable.

Off to a fast start. Strassburg re-ups with the Nationals. 7 year deal. $220 million. And so it goes on.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Looks like Flexy was whacked from the 40-man to make room. Too bad for him. Had a world of opportunity to step up but didn't Nitpick here. Of the candidates available, I wouldn't have picked Flexen. Has the stuff to potentially be a good reliever if they stopped jerking him around. Good candidate to go Heath Bell on us.

Terrible WHIP the last two seasons. Historically the splits are not as drastic as we saw. But still a great low risk move. If he can recapture any of the magic of 2014-2017 he'll be a big help. Stuff seems to be there.

Edgy MD wrote: Yeah, I'd be happy to replay last season with the same players and a different manager. The Mets were the better team than the Nats for half the season. The Nats just got hot at the right time. Hey, maybe in the replay, Céspedes doesn't fall into the hole! Acknowledging that anything can happen in a replay, it's misleading to suggest the Mets were close to the Nats. Their starting pitching was better than our's (#2 in MLB versus #7). Their hitting was better. (#6 offense vs. #13). The only place we beat them was the bullpen. (#25 versus #30). They had a better record in the first half (41-40 versus 37-44), and they were better than us in the second half (52-29 versus 49-32). 7 games total for the year. Again, anything can happen in a replay. Maybe Ces comes back and hits 25 HRs, but it's also possible that deGrom and Alonso collide on a popup.

Tim Healey has an interesting article in Newsday. I can't read it since I'm not a subscriber. In the part that they show you, there is this interesting tidbit: Under the terms of the deal, Fred Wilpon and his son, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, will retain their titles for five years — an unorthodox arrangement, many of the specifics of which are not clear yet. After that five-year window, a source said, Cohen will take over the role of “control person” — the top executive and decision-maker in the eyes of Major League Baseball — from Fred Wilpon. Cohen's ownership will need to be approved by a three-quarters majority of the other 29 major-league owners, but that vote is not imminent. The vote for approval typically does not happen until the incoming owner is put forth as the new control person — which, under the current parameters, would not happen until after the 2024 season. https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-sale-steve-cohen-sny-1.39252944https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-sale-steve-cohen-sny-1.39252944 I haven't heard that anywhere else. And it would seem to contradict what Forbes is saying. I can't imagine Cohen would invest a dime toward payroll until he got approval. I think it's more likely that Cohen will be the control person from day 1, with the Wilpons holding those titles for appearance. And maybe Cohen is willing to some control over the team (with veto power only) for a certain time. But I can't imagine they wait until 2024 for approval.

It's pointless to argue with him. I do it too, then ask myself why I bothered. Anyone with half a brain can see that the team was going to go nowhere with the Wilpons at the helm. They were never going to commit to building a division winner, they were never going to commit to a rebuild. So all we could hope for is a mid-80s win team catching fire and getting hot. Which happens about once a decade. So any new owner, even if we knew nothing about them, would be a welcome change. Yes, there is a risk that the incoming group could be even worse than the Wilpons, but the chances are low. And what little we do know about him, is encouraging. He's smart, successful, had deep pockets, and most importantly, is too busy to play GM. He put out a notice to his investors yesterday that his time would not be divided. He's probably at least a little bit evil too. Which is perplexing. What do you do when the guy who will provide great personal benefit to you (in this case, a winning baseball team) also happens to be a terrible guy. Do we perform mental gymnastics and pretend he's not? Do we justify being happy by arguing that anyone who's successful enough to be an owner is also a bad guy? (not completely true) Or do we just accept it and say this is a downside to achieving our goals. This must be what it's like to be Republican. Anyway, it's an exciting time. And although the deal could fall through, and we don't know any of the details yet, and because the Mets may still be saddled with a terrible TV contract courtesy of the Wilpons, we have no idea how any of this will pan out. But we have something today that we didn't have yesterday. And that's hope. So fuck you Wilpons. Hurry up and get the fuck out.

That's right. Taylor has bad career numbers, but maybe figured it out in 2019. 2.16 ERA, 1.095 WHIP over three levels. Walks a lot, but strikes out a lot too. Was just protected for the Rule 5, so not a throw away pick. I don't know Kennedy Corona.

That's a lot to pay for a statue of Glenn Sherlock waving everyone home.

Blake Taylor is a hard throwing lefty reliever no? Why give up anyone if Pillar is available for just money?

Marisnick is not a very good hitter, though I hear he's a terrific fielder. If given the choice, I would have preferred Kevin Pillar.

I'm so sick of Lagares not being able to hit...go get me....Jake Marisnick????

=Ceetar post_id=27656 time=1575507942 user_id=102] =Centerfield post_id=27635 time=1575499955 user_id=65] I wonder if SNY suddenly turns on the Wilpons the minute the check clears.