Centerfield

We are not allowed to have lefty relievers.

Kinda. Looks like an incredible athlete. Super fast. But very long-limbed. Almost too long. Like it’s hard for him to have fine coordination because of it. I felt this way about Amed Rosario. I don’t think he’ll ever be a very good contact hitter because of it. It looks like he can hit one out when he gets a hold of one. He just hasn’t yet. Took a bad route on that Rooker triple.

I’d trade any prospect in the Mets system for Alcantara. I bet Stearns would too. But I’m guessing someone can give a package that will beat the Mets.

Youse mean pitchers should avoid pitching to the sweet spot? That's what pitchers have been doing, or trying to do, since baseball was invented. Yes. But assuming it’s a regular barrel, the idea is to live on the corners. If the barrel is now middle in, then the batter should be vulnerable away.

So then pitch them outer half.

Yeah. Not good.

I definitely have some weird psychosis. Just based on my gut, I believe Nimmo, Alonso, McNeil, Senga and Diaz will have bounce back seasons. I think Alvarez and Baty will break out. I think Mauricio will get back healthy and be a big factor for us sometime this year. I also think Manaea and Peterson will duplicate what they did last year. And Holmes will be good as a starter. At the same time I think the Mets will win 77 games, because, they're the Mets. But I'm trying not to think that way anymore. So. My predictions. 1. What will the Mets' record be? 91-71 2. Predict the NL East standings from 1 to 5: ATL - NYM - PHI - WAS - MIA 3. Will the Mets make the playoffs (if so, as the division champ or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd WC)? Yes. First WC 4. If so, how far will they go? NLDS 5. Who will be the World Champion? Texas Rangers 6. Number of regular season HRs for Pete Alonso: 44 7. Who will be on the cover of the 2025 winner of the Tabloid Cover Derby? Jose Siri

Musicals. Cat vs phantom vs French revolutionary vs chorus line Maybe work in a rockette somehow.

I think the idea is fun. I think the costumes are a miss. In the other parks, it’s all sausages or all Presidents. Here the mascots are too much of a jumble. There are so many things we could have done. Buildings. ESB vs Chrysler vs Freedom Tower vs Statue of Liberty. Mayors. Rudy. Bloomberg. Koch. La Guardia. Foods. Pizza. Bagel. Apple. Knish. Taco. We could even use offensive stereotypes for this one.

Hagenman has looked good this spring. 2.25 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP. Canning has been even better. 0.90 ERA with a 0.80 WHIP. It's not too late for someone to jump on the Max Kranick bandwagon. 9.1 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 1.93 ERA. Paul Blackburn on the other hand... Of course, it's just spring training. And spring training stats mean nothing.

Awful. Starting pitchers are losing half a season to injuries that didn’t exist a generation ago. Pitching is so fragile.

Big news from Yankee camp as a fly ball was hit to LF and Jasson Dominguez caught it.

Maybe we did have it. Here's Mike Piazza in his last game as a Met.

I remember him trying. Did it fly? Here's Pedro Martinez violating that rule.

The rule was one of the dumbest things in all of sports. It arose from a moral standard that is long outdated. It's insulting to grown professional men who are the greatest in their arena. It may have served as a detriment in free agency, now that the Yankees are not at a financial advantage over all other teams. It was likely illegal. Given that they benefit from the anti-trust exemption and have player control for 6+ years. But I liked that it made the Yankees look stupid and outdated.

Excited for this.

To recap: 1. MMM: Griffin Canning 2. irish: Justin Hagenman 3. BG: Jared Young 4. MFS62: Huascar Brazoban 5. Gwreck: Luke Ritter 6. doctee: Paul Blackburn 7. Fman: George Harrison 8. mm: Jonathan Frickin' Pintaro 9. JCL: Kevin "Night Train" Herget 10. KC: NONE A few notes. *smg: Tidwell/Hamel. Neither guy is on BP top 10. So both are eligible. Please pick one! *George Harrison. If he were alive, would have been the most likely to have a hit song. But he's dead. So seems like a long shot. *Brazoban, Canning and Blackburn. I'll allow these. But these are definitely on the lighter side of the Dark Horse eligibility pool. They might be Dusk Horse Mets. Like say, Jose Valentin.

Sure. But the honorable thing to do is to guess before you see them in action. Real men make decisions with as little data as possible.

yeah, that's a dark horse right there. let's go! This is what I'm talking about right here. That's a real Dark Horse. Luke Ritter. Jared Young. Hagenman. These are some dark horses. Griffin Canning? Paul Blackburn? GTFOH Reminds me of an article I saw recently. It was like "Breakout Candidates for 2025!" and had names like Corbin Carroll, Jackson Merrill.

Nunez and Butto already arrived in 2024. Put it this way. Every entry in this thread should make you say “who”? Think of how you felt about Jose Iglesias one year ago today.

Cast your predictions for Dark Horse Met of 2025 here!!! A reminder of the criteria for Dark Horse candidacy. 1. Not reasonably expected to contribute this year. No projected starters. No big name free agents coming off a down year. Has to be someone we expect to be a fringe guy. (IOW, no Montas/Holmes) 2. Can't be a premiere prospect (or at least, no longer one). No Drew Gilbert, Acuna, Clifford, etc. However, if Gavin Cecchini were to somehow resurface and make a contribution, he would qualify. 3. The type of player if he were hurt/released/traded prior to Opening Day you wouldn't care. Nick Madrigal fits that description. Dylan Covey too. Brett Baty does not. Of course, your prediction can be that there is no Dark Horse Met this year. Given that we have so many known quantities, that may end up being the case. And no, the Dark Horse Met need not have released any hit songs (though it's a bonus if he has). Good luck!

So if you’re predicting the opening day roster: Infielders: 1. Pete Alonso 2. Jeff McNeil 3. Francisco Lindor 4. Mark Vientos 5. Francisco Alvarez 6. Luis Torrens Outfielders 1. Juan Soto 2. Tyrone Taylor 3. Jose Siri 4. Brandon Nimmo 5. Starling Marte 6. Jesse Winker That leaves one spot for a backup infielder. Acuna, Baty, Mauricio, etc. Would be good if that infielder could play SS. Starting Pitchers: 1. Kodai Senga 2. Sean Manaea 3. David Peterson 4. Clay Holmes 5. Frankie Montas 6. Paul Blackburn Relievers: 1. Edwin Diaz 2. AJ Minter 3. Dedniel Nunez 4. Jose Butto 5. Griffin Canning 6. Tylor Megill 7. Reed Garrett Barring injury or trade, that’s your team folks.

I was thinking that too. With this short term deal, the conundrum continues. But I think next year will be much different. And I don't see much chance of him coming back. I think ultimately, if he has a good enough year to get a 4 year deal from someone else, he'll be gone. Stearns won't match it. But even if he's looking at 2-3 year deals again next winter, I think the chances are low. I think one of the Mets' young infielders will stick. Be it Mauricio, Baty, Jett, Acuna or someone else we're not thinking of. And I think Stearns, who values defense, won't want to keep Alonso and Vientos on the corners. I also think there's a chance that the team will want to move either Nimmo or Soto to 1B. We're probably years away for Soto. But Nimmo is older, has a bad foot, and opening up an OF spot gives you more options in next year's free agency than limiting yourself to 1B. But ultimately I think the biggest difference is that Pete will be ready to move on. I think this year he thought and hoped the team would eventually lock him down to a long term deal. When he realized that wasn't happening, I think he decided that the only place he'd play short-term is with the Mets. But I'm sure he's realized by now that he's likely not going to be a life-long Met. And that he's got one last chance to cash in. I'm sure Boras has told him that he shot himself in the foot by professing to everyone who would listen how much he wanted to come back to the Mets. How much that hurt his market. I wonder if we'll see Pete answer questions differently this year. To borrower a line from his teammate, "every team has the same chance".

The funny thing is, the structure of the contract almost assures Pete the record. If he hits less than 27 this year, he'll have had a **** year. Which means he likely opts in for 2026. The only thing that can derail him is if he's lights out for half the year proving he's not in decline, but has an injury that keeps him from getting to the record.

So if you're mathing. The offer was 7 years, $158M. Since then, he's earned $20.5M in 2024, and will earn $30M in 2025. That leaves 5 years, $107.5M left on that deal ($21.5AAV) Assuming Alonso opts out after 2025. He will hit the free agent market again at age 31, with no QO. Could he get a 5 year deal at that AAV? Maybe. Likely not. But assuming he puts up decent numbers (not worse than 2024), you have to figure he's offered at least a 3 year for something close to $21.5M AAV. With a good year, I can see 4 years, $25M per. So while it sucks for him that he won't have the security of a multi-year deal, if he doesn't decline further, I can see him ultimately making more money than the deal he rejected.