Lefty Specialist

Boy, who would opt OUT of $50 million? Tucker's good, but not $50 million good.

If this were 2019, maybe, but it's not. Move along, please.

Had his moments. But boy was he inconsistent- alternating between being unhittable and very hittable. I was always nervous when he came in.

Looking at the Mets roster as currently constructed, it might be better to have the strike/lockout in 2026 rather than 2027.

Just don't see Stearns going for Tucker as he'll want at least a 5-year deal. That being said, they've got two-thirds of an outfield to fill right now.

In one of the more curious head-scratchers among the long history of head-scratching moves that the Mets have long made when trying to define their identity, they announced on September 24, 2019, of all days, with the team trying to mount a late-season run that would prove to be too late to overcome a long mid-season slump (with locker-room melodrama!), that they would be retiring #36 in honor of Jerry Koosman, 40 years after the enigmatic lefthander had last played for the team. The expected and unexpected repercussions of this move would be many, but perhaps the first was that manager Mickey Callaway was forced to shed his digits and spend the last week of the season — and what would prove to be the last week of his Mets managerial career — with a new numerical identifier. He chose #26 for his rebrand — and while that may only technically qualify him for this poll — he went 5-1 while donning his shiny new integers, both opening and closing the run with walkoff victories (the latter being the remarkable back-from-the-dead Dominic Smith moment). Hey maybe he does deserve a vote or two. Maybe Mickey 36 was Mickey-of-the-Darkness, while Mickey 26 was Mickey-of-the-Light. Well, I'll be dipped. I'd totally forgotten/didh't even realize that. I'm not worthy.

I'd like Peralta, but not at the expense of a Sproat/Tong and definitely not McLean. I'm okay with someone a little further down the food chain for a guy you only get for one year.

I'd only take Roberts for the proverbial bag of balls. He's trending sharply in the wrong direction. Sox want too much for him which is why they still have him.

Kingman, no contest. Perhaps McLean in a few years. Not that anyone would ever vote for him, but wasn't Mickey Callaway #36?

Well, what I meant was nothing from this point on.....

Beginning to think the plan is to do nothing and hope for the best.

Yeah, that deal with the Astros would have been easy for the Mets. Not even a long term deal.

True. Boras loves to get New York teams involved publicly even if they're not interested privately.

So you take an 83-win team, subtract Nimmo, Diaz, Alonso and McNeil, add Williams, Polanco and Semien, and expect to compete for a playoff spot? Um, no. Missing 2/3 of an outfield, at least one rotation arm and half a bullpen. Plus too many infielders, even after banishing the Squirrel. Just don't see how any of this works.

Hard pass.

The Mets certainly have the salary room to make additions. But the fact that they haven't signed anyone big seems to play into Stearns' aversion to long-term deals. They seem to be waiting like they waited for Alonso last year, hoping the market will come to them. I don't think that's going to happen. Could be a game of musical chairs where they're the ones left standing. Yeah, if 19 things all happen, they'll win 95 games. If they don't, or if only a few happen, they're a sub-.500 team.

Sounds like a younger version of Tomas Nido.

I like the Weaver signing. Firms up the bullpen a bit, and in typical Stearns fashion, it's not a long-yerm deal.

Bingo.

Padres have leverage, too. Stearns has pretty much whiffed this off-season and the pressure is on him to do something big. Uncle Steve's looking over his shoulder. I would really hate to lose Tong- I think he's going to be something special with a little seasoning.

Another confusing move from Stearns.

That's a Jeff Wilpon plan. I've already seen that movie and know how it ends.

Nothing less than a WS title, because then he will have been right and we will have been wrong. Currently, this is a 75-win team.

Made it! I'm in New Zealand cuŕrenty, so I have to turn the phone upside down to read things. Otherwise, no worries.

Glad we're not talking about Ty Subtractcock.