The Hot Corner

I am assuming the Baseball Prospectus list is for rankings within the Mets system and the ESPN list is for rankings for all of MLB prospects (as is the Athletic rankings by Frayed Knot).

I will always associate Vlad Guerrero with the Expos. He spent the majority of his career with them and accumulated more hits, doubles, triples, HRs, RBIs, higher BA, SBs, WAR than during his time with the Angels. He did win his one MVP award during his first season with the Angels, however. To me, he was and always will be a Montreal Expo in my mind.

Carlos played for so many teams during the course of his long and accomplished career. I wondered how they could determine the team that best represented his career. However, after looking at his career stats there were really only 2 reasonable options. Carlos spent 7 seasons* with both the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets. During his time with the Mets, he appeared in more games and amassed more at bats, walks, doubles, HRs, RBIs & WAR. Many of his stats were similar during his time as a Royal where he accumulated more hits, triples, and SBs. A reasonable case could be made for his entering Cooperstown representing either organization. I'm pleased that he will go in representing the Mets. *Parts of seven seasons.

Eugenio Saurez returns to the Cincinnati Reds on a 1 year/$15 Mil. deal with a mutual option for 2027.

The recent free agent signing of Luis Arraez sparked my interest. As a 3 time batting champion with a career .317 batting average there seemed to be very little interest in him. In this age of "launch angle" and emphasis on home runs and little concern for high strike out rates, it seems that guys that consistently makes contact and piles up singles and doubles just doesn't have much of a market. I decided to compare Arraez to 4 great contact hitters of the modern era. I know that Arraez is not in the elite company of Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, and Ichiro Suzuki, but I wanted to see how closely his numbers aligned to theirs through his 7 year career. I used the average production over a 162 game season for the career of each of the great hitters as provided by Baseball Reference. -----------------------------AVG. / OBP / SLG. / OPS / OPS+/WAR Rod Carew . (19 seasons) .328 / .393 / .429 / .822 / 131 / 5.3 Wade Boggs (18 seasons) .328 / .415 / .443 / .858 / 131 / 6.1 Tony Gwynn (20 seasons) .338 / .388 / .459/ .847 / 132 / 4.6 Ichiro Suzuki (19 seasons) .311/ .355 / .402/ .757 / 107 / 3.7 Luis Arraez ....(7 seasons) .317/ .363 /.413/ .777 / 115 / 3.2 First for clarification, I do not view Arraez as having the same value as the 4 Hall of Fame greats I am comparing him with. They are simply similar type of hitters, in that they consistently made contact with low strike out rates and hit for high averages. What I find interesting, is how closely at this point in his career Arraez offensive numbers match up with Ichiro's career. Ichiro's ceiling was certainly much higher and his career numbers, as did all of the HOF stars, tailed of at the end of his long careers. Ichiro also won 10 Gold Gloves inn Right Field while Tony Gwynn 5 Gold Gloves as an outfielder. Carew, Gwynn, and Ichiro also stole bases and brought speed on the base paths. These are additional skills that Arraez does not possess. The closest match to Arraez that I could come up with off the top my head was Brett Butler. Butler had was a good player and had a solid career. Brett Butler (17 seasons) .290 / .377 / .376 / .753 / 110 / 3.6 Butler again brought the stolen base and speed on the base paths. Lastly, I was rather surprised to see how Ichiro's career offensive averages lagged behind those of his HOF brethren and how closely Brett Butler's numbers compare to those of Suzuki.

Plus also Marcus Semien! If that guy brings nothing else, gold glove-caliber defense on the Mets is something we haven’t seen a lot of recently. Oops! I did not mean to overlook Semien. He should provide stellar defense at second base. He and Lindor should give the Mets a very good double-play combo. It is said that teams need to be defensively strong up the middle. With Lindor, Semien, Robert, and Alvarez/Torrens the Mets should be very solid defensively up the middle (particularly when Torrens is behind the plate. With Taylor as the 4th outfielder, he can cover left field, in late innings to further solidify the defense when protecting a lead.

I liked him. He brought defensive versatility and seem provided very good defense wherever that positioned him. He was an offensive weapon as a pinch runner. I liked his energy and versatility. He will likely have more opportunity to get significant playing time with the White Sox. I wish him well in the future.

If Polanco can be near average at first base, then the defense should be improved. I expect Bichette to be at least league average at thrd base. Which would be a vast improvement over Vientos and as good or possibly a little better than Baty. Robert is still a very good defensive center fielder. Left field will be interesting part of the new defensive alignment, but like Alonso at first base, Nimmo was far below average defensively and had an absolute rag arm. Benge would, by all reports, would be a vast improvement over Nimmo. Baty, should he be in LF has the athleticism to be adequate which also would be a big improvement. Should Baty spend some time at first base, I expect he would be better than Alonso. So there she be improved defensively over what we trotted out most days last season.

Good for Bo and good for the Mets.

Reports have The Giants signing CF Harrison Bader (2 years/$20.5 mil.) Seems like a reasonably good pick up for the Giants who definitely needed to improve their outfield defense from last season. Bader should help immensely in that department.

Nice low risk signing, with potential for significant upside. Hopefully, he can regain some of his old form and give the Mets some solid innings. If not, he could potentially be a good influence (hopefully) on the Mets young pitchers.

I will miss Jett. Aside from the fact he was my adoptee, he packed a lot of talent into his small frame. Defensive versatility, very good speed, good plate discipline and surprising power for a short* guy. I think he has a chance to be a solid MLB player. *As a 5'6" 172 lb. lead off hitter, my high school coach once told a scouting college coach who commented on my stature, "He's short, but I don't consider him small."

Texas giving up 5 prospects (Rangers' #2, #6, #12, #16, & #18) for 2 years of Gore (5-15 w/ 4.17 ERA & 1.353 WHIP) makes the Mets surrendering 2 prospects (Mets #3 & Mets #5) for 1 year of Peralta (17-6 w/ 2.70 ERA & 1.075 WHIP) & potentially 5 years of Myers (1-2 w/ 3.55 ERA & 1.362 WHIP) look like an absolute steal. Makes me like the Peralta deal even more.

Peralta gives the Mets the proven ace they lacked. Hopefully, McLean can pick up where he left of last season, which would give the Mets 2 quality starters at the top of the rotation. With Peterson, Manaea, Holmes and Senga to round out the rotation, it should be improved over last season. Tobias Myers has experience as a spot starter and offers some depth and insurance in the event of injury/poor performance within the rotation. Otherwise, he should help to bolster the bullpen. I hate to lose Sproat and Williams, but overall, I really like this deal.

Reports I have read state that he features a riding, 92-94 mph, four seam fastball that is most effective up in the strike zone. Has a good change up that generates a lot of swing and misses. Mixes in a cutter against right handed batters. His fourth (and least used) pitch is a "big" curve. Noted to have better than average control. Experience both as a starter and reliever. Notes that his velocity ticks up to 96 mph as a reliever. Should be a nice addition to the bullpen and give depth to the rotation should the front line starters suffer injuries. Sound a lot like Tong, but with far more MLB experience.

All my adoptees either burnout in the minors, or get traded away before ever donning a Mets uniform. So it is with Jett Williams SS/CF as he has been traded to Milwaukee, along with RHP Brandon Sproat, for RHP Freddie Peralta & RHP Tobias Myers. Fair thee well, young Jett. I will be pulling or you to make good.

Luis Robert would not have been my first choice, but it is essentially a 1 year commitment, with the team option for a second. Still a very good defensive CF and runs well. His hitting is the concern, but their is the potential that he regains his form if he can remain healthy. He should provide more offense than Taylor would. I would have preferred Bellinger, but you can't have everything. Time to address the rotation at this point.

I strongly suspect that the trade for Luis Robert, has pretty much removed the Mets from the Bellinger "sweepstakes". Bellinger (and Boras) have lost some leverage in their pursuit of a deal. The Yankees position likely got much stronger overnight. The Mets need to turn their attention to strengthening the rotation.

Is it just me, or do the Mets pictures and names in the projected line up look like one of those matching questions in elementary school?

Well, I believe he is. Bichette historically makes contact, hits for a better average than anyone on the Mets roster, and provides 15-18 HRs a year. He has produced the following seasonal averages during his 7 year career (.294/.337/.469/.806). He sports a career OPS+ 121 and WAR 21.0. He frequently hit behind Vlad Jr. in Toronto.* He will have a learning curve at third base, but the biggest knock on his defense at shortstop was a lack of range. Not as big an issue at the hot corner. Third base is more reactionary. I am more worried about Polanco manning first base than I am about Bichette handling third. *As mentioned previously by Gwreck.

Like a lot of relievers, he could be very solid one outing, then frustratingly ineffective the next. I always felt that he should have be better and more consistent than he often was. He had great velocity and "stuff", but I felt that his command was hit or miss.

Both Megill and Garrett will draw their nice pay days while missing the entire 2026 season as they rehab for injuries/surgeries.

So is Chicago not considered a large market?

There is even more room for someone who is actually good, like Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker. Plus, Luis Robert will cost prospects in addition to money.

The Cubs (potentially) paid a steep price for Edward Cabrera. As with most trades, I guess it all depends how well Cabrera performs for the Cubs versus how good Owen Caissie (Cubs #1 prospect), Cristian Hernández (Cubs #11 prospect) and Edgardo De Leon eventually turn out to be. It would appear that the trade package for Skubal (or even Peralta) would be extremely high. Talk about betting the farm. It will be what happens in the next few weeks.