The Hot Corner

Cedric's offense had slipped just as badly as anticipated, but I hoped hoped that he could at least provide good defense in CF. Overall, he made me long to see Tyrone Taylor back in CF on a regular basis. A complete bust with the Mets.

Stearns has the benefit of Cohen's deep pockets, but he seems to be value shopping. It's seems like he is afraid to go big on a long-term deal for fear of getting burned. I know he went big (in a historic way) for Juan Soto last year, but if that deal goes sour it is almost assuredly many years down the road. The next new additions to the Mets best be Kyle Tucker and Michael King. At this point, I don't expect either one to join the Mets.

My Mets Icons: Tom Seaver David Wright Pete Alonso Darryl Strawberry Dwight Gooden Mike Piazza Keith Hernandez (gets a boost to his Mets pedigree with his many years in the booth)

I would have liked to resign Rogers. He is a durable reliever that throws a lot of innings year after year. Pretty effective and he is rather unique. That is a pretty reasonable deal for the Blue Jays.

The greatest power hitter the Mets ever produced. His competitive spirit and enthusiasm for the game will be missed. I didn't expect the Mets to go 5 years, but it sucks that they (reportedly) never made Pete an offer.

For as good as the Mets Winter meeting was last year, this year's Winter Meeting was an absolute disaster. Stearns will have to work some major miracles for the Mets to improve upon last season's disappointing failure.

As DocTee posted, the Twins decided to keep their best players in the fold. Not too surprising, considering the production that got from the two of them for their relatively inexpensive contracts.

What Gwreck mentioned and I expounded upon, was not a Ryan for Tong straight up deal. It also provided a significant upgrade to CF position while dealing from an excess of youngsters with too few spots available to them. Ryan for Tong straight up, I would consider based on the advice of the organizations scouts, but I would be less excited about that one for one. We can all cite trades of young developing players for established veterans that did not pan out (and the opposite is also true). Just like we can all cite young talent that blossomed when given the opportunity (David Wright, Jose Reyes, and looking promising, Nolan McLean ), we can likewise cite young talent that never came to fruition (Generation K - Bull Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Paul Wilson) immediately comes to my mind.

As have so many before me have already stated, I will gladly contribute financially to help keep the forum viable. Unfortunately, I do not possess the technical skills or knowledge to be of help with running the forum. We have a small, but passionate and loyal membership. I am pleased to see that it is likely that the CPF will continue on. I hope this all works out well for all involved.

Joe Ryan is pretty solid. Byron Buxton is a superlative athlete that provides power, speed and very good defense in CF, the problem is keeping him healthy enough to stay on the field. By todays standards, Buxton's contract is pretty cheap. For the production he provides, Joe Ryan is a steal financially with 2 years of team control remaining before he is eligible to become a free agent. The pair would not come cheap, but the Mets have a surplus of young bodies (Mauricio, Vientos, Baty, Acuna, Williams) for essentially third base & DH. Then you add Jeff McNeil in that positional log jam, though he is does have the defensive versatility to play the outfield. However, I doubt McNeil would be of interest to the Twins due to his age and salary. That gives the Mets lot of bodies for too few positions. And as long as McLean is in New York, then I could see moving either Tong or Sproat since the Mets getting a proven starter in return. By adding a monetarily inexpensive quality starter to the rotation, it would free up more money for Alonso /Diaz negotiations. So I like Gwreck's WATP.....though I would prefer to keep Carson Benge out of the deal.

I like this signing, particularly if he ends up being in addition to Diaz. He offers insurance, in the event Diaz chooses to go somewhere else. If Diaz returns, the Mets should have strong backend to their bullpen with Diaz, Williams, Minter, & Raley.

I too lack the technical knowledge to run or host the site. However, I like Centerfield, am willing to offer financial assistance, should it be needed, to keep the site running at a new home site. No matter how this ends up, I again wish to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for the countless hours of administrative duties/technical support provided by Ben, KC, & Edgy over the years. So much time and effort goes on "behind the scenes" that most users, such as myself, are unaware of.

I was pretty psyched when the Mets added Helsley and Rogers at the trade deadline. Rogers was helpful. Helsley was a disaster. I think that he (and possibly the Mets) became convinced that he was tipping his pitches and it seemed to completely psych him out. Maybe he was tipping his pitches. It quickly became evident that he couldn't reliably throw a slider for a strike. Hitters could simply gear up for the fastball and sit on it. No matter how hard you can throw, major league hitters can hit the fastball when that is all they truly have to worry about. That is even more true when the pitcher can't hit their spots consistently. . Pitching is much like real estate, location, location, location. Velocity is great, but not when it is too often grooved down the center of the plate.

Ba Dum Bum

Valdez would be a solid addition to the Mets rotation. The length of the deal and the amount of money for a starting pitcher seems out of character for Stearns, based upon his track record.

I think that Rogers would be well worth retaining if possible. He is unique, but more importantly he is effective and durable.

I always liked Nimmo. I appreciated his hustle. He was a solid player the past few years, but his defense has never been stellar and it seems to be slipping even after the move from CF to LF. His poor throwing arm was always a liability. With his contract and his gradual decline, it was likely viewed as necessary to move him sooner rather than later. I will miss him and wish him well in Texas.

Yup. Good analysis.

Well, we can likely eliminate the Mariners as suitors for Alonso's services.

Well, we can likely eliminate the Mariners as suitors for Alanso's services.

I appreciate the time and energy that our devoted administrators/tech support have dedicated to keeping the CPF up and running for so many years. Ben, KC, & Edgy have done an admirable, and often thankless, job of maintaining the CPF for the benefit of our small band of Mets fanatics. I trust them to make the decision on how best to proceed in the future. I will do all in my power to support them, as best I can, with the future of this site. I wish each of you the best moving forward and hope that Ben can find a suitable buyer to continue the wonderful work he has done with the UMDB site. I thank each of you for the work you have done and continue to do on behalf of the CPF community.

I believe that having been shifted from lead-off or second in the order to 4th ("clean up") or fifth in the order likely played into a change in his approach at the plate. Traditionally, the top 2 hitters are viewed as the "table setters" to get on base for the "sluggers" to drive them in. Moving to the middle of the line up, would likely cause him to feel the need to hit the ball with more authority and drive the ball rather than be as selective and work walks to pass as he would have at the top of the order. I know that the traditional batting order roles have shifted (Ohtani hitting leadoff), but I believe it still plays into the thinking and approach of many hitters. I have always felt that Nimmo was well suited to hit in the second spot behind Lindor, because Nimmo can work long counts, draw walks, and bats LH. All of those attributes provide greater opportunities for Lindor to steal bases and get into scoring position while hopefully creating a greater number of RBI opportunities for your best hitter (Soto) in the 3 hole. Many people view line up construction differently, but I'm old school in my thinking.

If it were my call to make, I would be fine with offering 4 years/$80 mil. with a club option for $20 mil. on a 5th year. I would be okay with a club buy out of $3-4 mil. should the club option is not exercised. Since the club was already on the hook for $38 mil. for 2026 & 2027 had Diaz not opted out, that isn't that big a stretch. Of course, it isn't my money nor my call to make.

It just shows how sick and twisted our world has become.

I voted 4 stars. I would have gone 4.5 stars had it been an option. As Gwreck pointed out in his analysis of Cohen's ownership the Mets, the overall result has been positive. Cohen has improved the team, the stadium and the Mets "brand" during his tenure. I doubt anyone would want to go back to the Wilpon era. The results haven't been quite what the fan base had hoped for, particularly this season, but he has given the Mets the resources to be successful. It is up the players to then provide the results.