Centerfield

Why make millions legally when you have a chance to make the thousands illegally

This is the regime that allowed ads on uniforms and the ridiculous ad on the post season helmets. They were never going to be disciplined enough to turn down the riches of legalized betting.

How much can they be paid that this is worthwhile? Craziness.

Yeah, I don't think it's realistic to say that the Mets have set themselves up to be at the top of any standings considering they just finished with 83 wins and missed a 6 team playoff. I get that the farm system looks good, but lots of #1 ranked systems have failed to materialize into wins and certainly championships. The good news is, you don't have to be at the top of the standings. You just need to be near the top. And I think the Mets are well-positioned to be in playoff chases for years with the core they have in place, and the young guys coming of age. Trading a bunch of them for Skubal certainly makes them more likely to make the playoffs this year, and provided he's healthy in October, probably improves their chances of advancing, arguably more than any other player available? Is that worth giving up a bunch of guys who can provide value for 5-6 years? Probably not. It depends on the package, but considering the type of haul it would take to land Skubal, I'd probably think it was too much.

1. Closer: TBD 2. LHRP: AJ Minter 3. LHRP: Brooks Raley 4. [CROSSOUT]RHRP: Drew Smith[/CROSSOUT] 5. RHRP: Huascar Brazoban 6. RHRP: Adbert Alzolay 7. RHRP: Dylan Ross

In Phillips' defense, I think his tenure as GM was during a time that it was much harder to make the playoffs. If a team had the makings of a solid core, and could amass a win total in the high 80s, it made sense to go all in and get yourself a low 90s team that could make the playoffs. Not to say you can justify all of his trades, but it made more sense at the time. Now, with 6 teams making the playoffs (and more rounds consequently), I think it makes much more sense to simply try to make it every year, instead of pushing your chips in for one playoff run. And I realize this doesn't justify the trade proposal he just made, but you know, old dog, new tricks. I hate trades when it comes to the Mets. I'm notoriously bad at being objective and judging them. But to me, this feels like a lot to give up for Skubal. I also feel that this might be what it takes to get Skubal. Which I guess leaves me in the "it's not happening" camp. A lot has been made of the Mets needing to get an "ace" level pitcher. And lots of talking heads are going with the assumption that this is something Stearns and Cohen will be pursing. But I'm not so sure. They might, who knows, but Stearns doesn't seem the type to suddenly change his philosophy drastically following one disastrous season.

One note. Though the article projects the Mets at $265M, with projected arbitration, the Mets actual page projects them at $247M. That give them a little more room to work with. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/new-york-mets/overview I think this type of offseason (not necessarily the names listed, but guys like them) could be a perfectly fine off-season. And puts the Mets right back as playoff contenders. But it doesn't move the needle, and the Mets are likely fighting for a WC spot again. I have a feeling Stearns and Cohen are aiming higher.

Of the top 25 OPS leaders in 2025, 10 of those players were in the 31-35 age range FK mentions. 1. Aaron Judge (33) 3. George Springer (35) 5. Kyle Schwarber (33) 7. Ketel Marte (31) 9. Byron Buxton (31) 11. Freddie Freeman (35) 13. Jose Ramirez (32) 18. Matt Olson (31) 19. Yandy Diaz (33) 22. Bryce Harper (32) So clearly, there is precedent for Pete staying productive for at least a few more years. On the other hand, in this article chronicling the worst contracts on the books for 2025, we see a lot of guys in that age range. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10144883-ranking-the-10-worst-mlb-contracts-on-the-books-for-2025-season Anthony Rendon. Fell off a cliff after age 29. Nick Castellanos. Regressing since age 31 DJ Lemahieu. Aged suddenly after age 31 Andrew Benitendi. Somehow washed up at age 28 Trevor Story. Plummeted after age 28 Xander Bogaerts. Declined after age 30. Javier Baez. Declined after age 28 Kris Bryant. Done after age 29 If you look at these names, it makes it seem like Pete may be on borrowed time already. Interestingly, the article mentions these five guys, who all bounced back to varying degrees of success in 2025. Christian Yelich George Springer Giancarlo Stanton Trevor Story Mike Trout

I think money has to be of some concern. Let's say we are $265M, and we re-sign Pete and Diaz at $50M collectively. That gets us to $315MM. From my list above: 1. A starting pitcher. (ace level or just below) $30M 2. Another starting pitcher $15M 3. A RH DH $20M 4. A centerfielder 10M? 5. An eighth inning reliever $10M 6. A mid-leverage reliever $7M Total additions: $92M Total Payroll: $407M Do you see Cohen going over $400M in payroll? I don't think that's realistic.

I liked what I saw of Christian Scott in 2024. I thought he pitched better than his numbers, but I just looked at the numbers and they weren't particularly good. He pitched better when he first came up in May than he did the second go round in July. But maybe he was already hurt in July? I see upside. Rooting for him.

Spotrac has it's team summaries out for this winter. The Mets preview is here: https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/3021/new-york-mets-offseason-preview The big takeaway: That figure includes projections on all arbitration eligible players. That number might go down a little if the Mets decide to non-tender some guys, but it won't be significantly different. If you assume payroll stays around the same level, that leaves about $80 Million to rebuild the club. If they resign Pete ($30M) and Diaz ($20M), that leaves you about $30M. So with $30M, can you find: 1. A starting pitcher. (ace level or just below) 2. Another starting pitcher 3. A RH DH 4. A centerfielder 5. An eighth inning reliever 6. A mid-leverage reliever I don't know. It seems like a tall order.

For me it was Torrens. Without thinking too much: Good: Torrens Baty Taylor Lindor (but not as good as we expect) Acuna Bad: Alonso Soto Vientos Nimmo Mullins OK: McNeil Alvarez Mauricio

Keith Hernandez was on Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman's podcast. According to Keith (very scientific), Pete is most similar to Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew is a better hitter overall than Pete. So I'm not sure Keith's eye-test would pass any real level of scrutiny. But you can't argue against his longevity. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/killeha01.shtml Stayed square in his prime through his age 34 season (.957 OPS, 41 HR). Was good through age 36. (.850 OPS, then .817 OPS). Fell off a cliff at age 37.

One of the most troubling parts of the 2025 season is the inexplicable poor performance from Sean Manaea. For me, I assumed he wasn't healthy. But to hear the loose bodies weren't bothering him, and that he's contemplating not getting the surgery (which to me makes no sense, but that's another story) and that he just pitched badly is alarming. Here's a guy who was slotted to be either our 1 or 2, and he ended up unpitchable at the end of the season. I don't know how to look up pitching metrics, but I'd be curious to see how his stuff compares to last year. Spin rate, swing and miss rate, etc. It certainly seemed like his velocity was down. Sean's not young. 33 years old. Maybe he just declined in one year? I can't remember the last time the Mets had a guy slotted to be their 1/2, who ended up pitching so poorly you could no longer start him. And to add to the craziness, this not only happened with Manaea, but also Peterson and Senga. All three were projected to lead the rotation, all three cratered, and pitched the worst baseball of their lives. How is that possible? I know Hefner is gone. And maybe that's part of the solution. But one of the things the Mets will have to figure out this offseason is why Manaea, Peterson, Senga, and to a lesser extent Helsley, Montas, and Garrett, pitched some of the worst baseball of their careers.

Thanks for sharing. Trying to think of the talent the minors signed during that window. Maybe Mike Pelfrey? I used to tell SC. That old guy in the gym is probably more badass than we can even imagine.

I find it surprising that she's not reviled by an entire generation of Mets fans. I know everyone hates Grant (what are the chances he comes up in back to back subjects?). But Linda was the team president and Chairman of the Board. She's the one that handed the keys to Grant and allowed him to run it into the ground. Of course, she's her own person, and she doesn't have to love the team, just because her mother did. But if you're given the keys to a team that means so much to so many people, you owe them a duty to put the club into capable hands.

From M. Donald Grant's wiki page: Yeah, put me down for hating anything introduced by M. Donald Grant.

My old man thoughts on uniforms. Home Pinstripes. I'm just ok with them. But they're the classic uniform. They should be worn the majority of home games. Black Uniforms. This is easy. Get rid of them. It was fine when they brought back the classic black unis as a once in a while thing, but the new ones are neither nostalgic or relevant. Plus they're ugly, and without the white outline, the orange gets lost and looks like pink. Put these out to pasture. City Connects. I don't like the entire idea of city connect uniforms. I think introducing a uniform with another set of colors dilutes the uniformity that you see among fans at the game. Nothing better than seeing a sea of blue with orange mixed in. How you see gray, and purple. Eh. That being said, if we have to have a city connect, these particular uniforms are fine. Road Gray. The classic road gray is as close to perfection as you can get. I don't know why you'd ever want to bring back the piping from the late 70s, early 80s Mets. It's ugly and it takes you back to a bad time in Mets history. Restore the classic gray, and wear it the majority of road games. Road Blue. I like the concept of a road blue. In fact, I like the idea of an alternative jersey that is primarily blue. As I mentioned, I don't like the piping, and I hate the 1987 script. If I were king: Home Games: Home pinstripes the majority of the time. Alternate home blue jersey, similar to this one. Away Games. Classic gray the majority of the time, alternate blue jerseys, design TBD.

And Bellinger can play CF in the short term, while also giving our corner OF a day off, and play 1B.

I think The Mets can afford to pursue two firstbasemen at once. If they somehow accidentally come to agreements with both, they have the DH slot open as well. So they can kind of land an Alonso replacement and keep negotiating with Alonso, if necessary. That’s a great point. The case can be made that Okamoto and Bellinger would be good fits for the Mets even with Pete in the fold. Okamoto especially. He’s a RH bat that plays third, so can spell Baty, and McNeil with Baty shifting to second when that happens. Plays corner OF, so he can spell Nimmo. And plays 1B so he can fill in on days Alonso DHs. And can be the primary DH. Good fit overall.

One thing about Okamoto and Munetaka is that once they are posted, they only have 45 days to sign. I don’t think the Mets can afford to watch options come off the board without Alonso locked in. I suspect the timelines of the alternatives, the two Japanese players, Bellinger, and Naylor if you’re so inclined, will speed up the Pete timetable this winter.

I agree too. I liked the home blue uniform. I thought that was a nice alternative. I also liked the classic road gray. This version sucks.

We went with the three-stripe piping of the late 70s early 80s and the script from 1987. How on earth did we did we not think this year would be a disaster.

I was listening to the MLBTR podcast. Those guys are not very dynamic speakers, but they are pretty tuned into the latest rumblings, and they present things from a more neutral point of view, versus anything Mets-centric. They seem to be of the mindset that Skubal isn't going anywhere. They speculate that Detroit won't get any offers that are more attractive to them than just letting it ride with one more year of Skubal and try to win the World Series. And they were fairly firm in their belief. I guess we'll have to wait and see. According to them, Freddie Peralta is more likely to be moved.

Sorry. Who is the Tom Seaver of sitcom neighbors?