Frayed Knot

He's really the next key move because you go forward from there differently depending on whether he's back or not. My only purpose of bringing up Arenado is that acquiring him would be one scenario to consider in a post-Pete world. Infield defense would be better and they wouldn't be locked in to anyone beyond the next three years aside from Lindor. Certainly it's not the only option sans Pete.

That's fine but Bregman -- younger but, at 31, not young -- is going to come long term or not at all. He's already turned down 6 yrs/$156 from Houston so at the end of his deal he's going to be at least as old as Arenado will be at the end of his.

With the Cardinals (83-79 in '24) going into "re-set" mode, they're making it known that they'll talk trade concerning Nolan Arenado and he, with his baseball clock ticking and only 35 post-season PAs over 12 seasons, has indicated a willingness to waive his no-trade protection if the destination is the Angels, Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Red Sox, ... or the Mets! On the down side: - turns 34 in April - is no longer the defensive or offensive player he once was [hasn't won a GG since 2022, 99 OPS+ in 2024) - is owed $74 million over the next three seasons (about $10mil of that still being paid by Colorado) On the plus side, it's not like he's turned into a bad fielder or hitter, just not what he once was when he was a top ten MVP in five straight seasons ('15 to '19) and was winning Gold AND Platinum Gloves every year. Also it probably wouldn't take much to pry him loose considering the money it would save StL while they rejigger things. It's just a thought really and I don't expect this to happen. But in a possible 'What/If' situation where Pete signs elsewhere and some of the young IFs are traded for pitching, you move Vientos over to 1st and Arenado is a two to three season resident at 3B.

Fried's been pretty darn good in his career [ERA+ since his first full season in 2019 = 114, 208, 143, 166, 171, 128] and only in 2023 did he miss significant time. In every other season he made virtually every start: 30, 11 (Covid yr), 28, 30, 14, and 29 in '24 while notching a 2nd & 5th in CY voting, three Gold Gloves, two AS teams, and even a (Sigh!) Silver Slugger*. So there are definitely worse guys to give big money to. As always, and especially so with pitchers north of 30, you worry about the length. * The very last one awarded for a pitcher And, once again given their usual shunning of long contracts to players over 30, I wonder if the Braves even tried to keep him or just preemptively decided to let him walk.

Fried turns 31 next month so the deal takes him through his age 38 season.

I knew there were restrictions on in-season switching but a deadline eight months prior to the start of the next season seems a bit over the top. When Michael Jordan came back to the Bulls from his 1-1/2 year baseball sabbatical he did so in a different number (45 I think). But after a very short time he opted to return to his original 23 leaving a whole lot of newly minted Bulls/45 on shelves everywhere. The NBA told the Bulls they were subject to fines if this happened but neither they nor Jordan cared and a fine was levied for each game he played wearing 23 for the remainder of that season.

Edgy MD wrote: One owner for 13 AAA franchises is pretty rotten. Yeah, I didn't think that was allowed. There have long been individuals/groups owning multiple teams but I always thought it all had to be in different leagues. Now there are different leagues/divisions within the AAA level but I don't think there are 13 of them.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I don't know the details of this new arrangement, but I hope it doesn't mean that the Mets can get bounced from Syracuse in favor of another MLB franchise. ML clubs sign affiliation deals at each minor league level in two year chunks or in multiples of two. So without any owned franchises going forward it's possible that a NYM affiliation ends if and when either side sees a situation they like better. Not sure where we currently are in that cycle but the new Syracuse owners would inherit the current agreement. The problem with that old AAA situation is that there was one more AAA city in the west than there was a ML city so some eastern team was always losing out in the affiliate game of musical chairs. For a while it was the Mets once the long stable relationship with Norfolk ended.

=Centerfield post_id=180704 time=1733861720 user_id=65] If I understand this correctly, this means that the Mets are responsible to pay the players/coaches/training staff, while DBH handles the entertainment side (tickets, marketing, venue, etc)

"there's no hint or allegation I know of" then bringing it up is essentially making one. No. It. Isn't. My original comments were a bit of gallows humor. Great that we've got him signed ... so as long as he doesn't break both legs skiing or turn out to be already 30 then things should be great. So if you want to continue parsing this further, have at it. But I'm done here.

I don't remember the source of the article (which may have said "widely believed" rather than widely accepted) but it was from earlier this year and was in connection with Soto's pending FA-gency saying essentially that what the signing team doesn't want to experience is what happened with the Angels and Pujols where it is now widely believe/accepted within the game that Albert was then several years older than his listed age. There's no hint or allegations I know of that this is the case with Soto (which I already stated) and it would be harder to do in this era (which I also said) but let's also not pretend that it's never happened before: El Duque, Rey Ordonez, Raffy Furcal, Adrian Beltre, others. The Yanx wound up taking legal action of some young foreign players who fudged their ages but only against the ones who turned out to not be as good as the team thought they were going to be because to take no action was to admit that they mis-judged their talent. They let things slide on the good players. I was merely pointing out, in the wake of overnight news, that what one doesn't want to occur following the long-term signing of the uber-FA is either a succession of injuries which rob the player of what he once was [see Griffey, Ken Jr., the Cincinnati years] or a questionable age discrepancy [Pujols, Albert: the Disney era].

None. But neither did anyone have anything on Pujols until it was recently reported that it's now "widely accepted" in MLB circles that he was up to three years older than his listed age. I think it's tougher to get away with that kind of thing now but so it was said during Albert's time too. The point is that when you're agreeing to pay a guy through his age 41 season it would be nice to be sure that you're not really agreeing to pay him through his age 44 season.

Now all we have to do is A) hope he stays healthy hope that his recent (Oct) 26th birthday really IS his age and not just some number he arrived at through Pujolsian math

The Yanx made no attempt to re-sign Reggie after that first five year deal was up. When Reggie had some success afterward George, you may remember, kept bleating on about how "his baseball people" were the ones who told him to not sign The Reg-ster so, of course, none of it was His fault. The Cano thing was definitely about the length in years Seattle gave him rather than the per year money. The Yanx, rather smartly IMO, chose not to chase that dragon. Bernie Williams gave them a scare with Boston and the Yanx went higher than they planned to at the last minute so as to not lose him. Same more recently with Judge (SFG).

Wait! SportsCenter was discussing baseball ... in December ... on a Monday?!?!?! Shit, this must be big news!

So, any new developments overnight?

Both Mets & Yanx (and maybe others) have offers in the $710 to $730 range [Jon Hey, Man - NY Post] The Yankees and Mets both remain heavily involved in the five-team Juan Soto Derby, with both clubs recently upping offers into the $710 million-$730 million range — MLB record territory — as it's believed the sweepstakes could be within a day or two of an historic conclusion.[/i] https://nypost.com/2024/12/07/sports/yankees-mets-up-juan-soto-bids-north-of-700-million/https://nypost.com/2024/12/07/sports/yankees-mets-up-juan-soto-bids-north-of-700-million/

Interesting idea to convert a 32 y/o (by Opening Day) pitcher with seven seasons but just four career starts under his belt (all in 2018) to a starter. Not that I'm against it (kind of like it actually) but you hope it doesn't crash and burn. Had a rough September w/the Yanx, but some of that is likely just small sample size variances endemic to relievers. Has had a good career to date particularly since getting out of Pittsburgh in 2021

Mendoza Jr needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. P.S. I doubt he knows what the offer is because there's no reason why his dad should know what the offer is.

=metirish post_id=180283 time=1733362542 user_id=72] Right, this years play-offs had some of the best numbers in years

=Centerfield post_id=180275 time=1733353138 user_id=65] Michael Kay, who complained that there should be a Golden AB type of rule because the Yankees had two good hitters, of course supported Manfred when the news broke, and has now backtracked.

I think the 'Pons saw Carter (and rightfully so) as a future Halla Fama and so wanted to keep that number in reserve for when he became the next 'Met' to be inducted although his induction wound up taking longer than most expected, the mandatory five year waiting period plus six more, before he garnered enough votes. Not sure why, assuming they planned on a ceremony all along since the number was mostly moth-balled after he retired, they didn't act then. But it wasn't long after that that he got sick and maybe they didn't want it to seem like they were retiring the number because he was ill, or later because he died (it was longer from the end of his career to his HoF than from the HoF to his death). In any case, it seems like it just got stuck in limbo, as if nobody wanted to make the call for retirement but no one wanted to be the one to put it back in circulation either. And so it's now stood like that going on 13 years since his passing.

Ya gotta know your audience.

So you think that the Mets might have already signed a player but are managing to keep it a secret with the idea of pulling it out after Soto makes a decision in some yet-to-be-determined time frame? I'm going with a 'No' on that one.

The upside of this signing, or so sez this NYP article by Dan Martin (no word on what Dick Rowen thinks of the deal) https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/sports/frankie-montas-mets-pairing-seen-as-one-with-plenty-of-promise/https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/sports/frankie-montas-mets-pairing-seen-as-one-with-plenty-of-promise/ He's yet to return to the form he showed prior to [his] injury, when he allowed just 7.8 hits per nine innings over 19 starts during the first half of '22 with the A's. But several scouts and executives around MLB on Tuesday said they believe Montas showed positive signs with the Brewers during the latter part of last season and that being teamed with Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner could help the 31-year-old get back to similar heights ... “When he's healthy and the team is good, I'll take my chances with him,'' one exec said Tuesday. “He's a smart pitcher and being paired with Hefner is going to be good.” Montas was shaky with the Reds early last year and pitched better as the season went on — and as he got further removed from the shoulder surgery he underwent in 2023. He tinkered with his arm slot last year, which Manaea did last season with the Mets to significant success, as Manaea bounced back after two subpar seasons with a strong one in Queens. Two encouraging signs stood out following Montas' move from Cincinnati to Milwaukee: His hit rate decreased sharply and his strikeout rate jumped up..