Cowtipper

Jeurys Familia, the longtime Mets reliever who had a couple tours of duty with the team, was 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in 14 relief appearances for the Athletics before getting his walking papers in May. Johneshwy Fargas, the here-then-gone outfielder who hit .286 in limited duty for New York in 2021, has played in the Mexican League and for the independent Kansas City Monarchs in 2023. He hit just .267 in Mexico, but has slashed .348/.391/.509 in 118 at-bats for the Monarchs. Nate Fisher, who finally made the majors for a single game with New York in 2022 after a long and winding trek there, signed with the White Sox for 2023, but is just 5-10 with a 6.55 ERA in 24 games (20 starts) for their Triple-A club in Charlotte. He's currently on the IL.

Happy trails! I wish more of these guys would choose free agency so we wouldn't have to worry about seeing them in the future.

Reed Garrett is in? Well, it was a close game.

Brandon Drury, who was solid off the bench in 2021 and who I personally think the Mets should have brought back, hit 28 home runs with 87 RBI last year and currently has 17 home runs and 54 RBI in 90 games for the Angels this season. Jerad Eickhoff, who was part of the Mets 2021 pitching carousel, played for the independent Lexington Counter Clocks this year, going 3-4 with a 6.16 ERA in 9 starts with them. That obviously was enough to convince the Indians to sign him, as he is currently in their system. He's 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 8 games (7 starts) for their Triple-A club. Phillip Evans, who was never a top prospect but managed a .303 average in limited duty in 2017, is slashing .330/.446/.448 with 7 home runs, 70 RBI and 88 runs scored for the Diamondbacks' Triple-A club. With numbers like that, you'd think he'd get the call to the majors at some point this year. Then again, the team batting average is .302.

Handful of organizational transactions: The Mets released Yeremi Abad, who had been in their system since 2019, but who missed 2020 due to the pandemic, most of 2021 to injury and all of 2022 and 2023 (so far) to injury. He'd most recently been on St. Lucie's roster, but never pitched for them. They also released Tommy Gomez, who'd been in their system since 2021 but peaked at rookie ball and Adrian Rubio, who'd been in their system since last year but also peaked at rookie ball. They let Tanner Murphy (whose middle name is ""Lomax") go; he was actually a familiar face in their system, having been around since 2019. He peaked at Triple-A (reaching that level this year) but he never got the call. Quinn Brodey, who was their third round pick in 2017 and who was once ranked among the team's top-30 prospects, was let go, too. He spent five years in their system, including parts of two years at Triple-A. Warren Saunders, who was in their system since 2019, was also let go. He spent parts of a couple years at Triple-A, including this year, as well.

1. Release Daniel Vogelbach 2. Make DJ Stewart the DH

Alejandro de Aza, who hit .205 in 234 at-bats for New York in 2016 is still around. In his 21st professional season, the 39-year-old is hitting .287 with 3 home runs, 37 RBI and 58 hits in 56 games for the independent Long Island Ducks. Jacob deGrom, who was an okay but mostly forgettable pitcher in New York, was 2-0 with 45 strikeouts in 30.1 innings for the Rangers before getting hurt and missing the rest of the year. Yennsy Diaz, who was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 20 relief appearances for New York in 2021, is with Monterrey of the Mexican League in 2023. In 8 starts, he is 2-2 with a 5.23 ERA.

I'm pretty sure he declined the assignment and became a free agent.

I'm sure we all have memories of Yankaboner, but they might not be particularly positive.

Of all the shlock they threw out there, THIS is the one they let get away without giving him a second chance. Sounds about right.

6 games out of the second wild card. Their current magic number to get to the second wild card, if I'm not mistaken, is 45. We can do it!

Edgy MD wrote: Alonso not brief in his public mea culpa to Masyn Winn: [bLOCKQUOTE] "I feel horrible. I feel awful. I know it sounds stupid, but it's just a bad brain fart. I know throwing the ball in the stands, that robs him of a really special moment. I feel really bad thinking on my first hit and just getting the ball thrown back to the dugout. I feel awful. I feel like a piece of crap. "In the heat of the moment, you kind of just get lost. I got up from trying to make a play, the umpire said, 'Hey we're going to try to switch this ball out,' so I'm like 'OK, I'm going to do what I always do.' I always throw the ball in the stands, but I'll never throw the ball in the stands again. I'm just going to roll every ball to the dugout when they're going to switch it out. "That's a really bad mistake and it's completely unintentional. I feel horrible about it. I feel really bad. I apologized to him when I was at second after the forceout. I'm really sorry and I'm going to try to talk to him and get him something for tomorrow as an apology. It's stupid, it's a really bad look and I feel like an idiot. I feel terrible. I feel really bad."[/bLOCKQUOTE] Exactly what someone who doesn't feel bad would say.

I wanna see Wainwright's ERA over 10 by the time this game is over.

Good riddance ... Yacabonis elected free agency.

I can only imagine what the Mets transactions page is going to look like after this game. Hopefully they put the carousel in motion and throw something else at the wall.

Michael Conforto, the former wunderkind who was supposed to lead us to greatness, is currently hitting .246 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI for the Giants, showing he's still stuck in 2021 mode (.232 BA, 14 HR). Travis d'Arnaud, who we spent years and years waiting to get halfway decent, is performing well with the Braves in a backup role. He's hitting .259 with 9 home runs and 29 RBI in 51 games, after hitting 18 homers for them last year. J.D. Davis, a solid role player for a few years, is hitting .245 with 15 home runs and 56 RBI in 110 games for the Giants. We traded him, Carson Seymour (3-2, 3.51 in 92 1/3 Double-A innings this year), Nick Zwack (10.4 K/9 in 67 1/3 Double-A innings this year) AND Thomas Szapucki to the Giants last season and all we got was Darin Ruf in return. LAME.

Bobby Morgan: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/08/11/bobby-morgan-brooklyn-dodgers-boys-of-summer-dies-at-96/70569532007/https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/08/11/bobby-morgan-brooklyn-dodgers-boys-of-summer-dies-at-96/70569532007/

Even that seemed like an anomaly as he had just 5 in 197 big league ABs before this game and has slugged just .366 in his minor league career. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Lindor is the Mets' first 20-20 guy since Carlos Beltran in 2008, when he had 27 dingers and 25 stolen bases.

One of the unlikeliest home runs of the 2023 season just hit by Arauz. Wow!

Ha, it was 7-3 and I was pleasantly surprised, but I didn't get my hopes up. I check again a few moments later and now it's 7-4 ... and now I know why I didn't get my hopes up.

Mel Roach: https://richmond.com/sports/professional/mel-roach-90-all-round-athletics-star-and-former-big-leaguer-dies/article_a936779c-355f-11ee-ae5c-f73f686ca88e.htmlhttps://richmond.com/sports/professional/mel-roach-90-all-round-athletics-star-and-former-big-leaguer-dies/article_a936779c-355f-11ee-ae5c-f73f686ca88e.html Ken Suarez: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/ken-suarez-passes-away.htmlhttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/ken-suarez-passes-away.html Ron Tompkins: https://ripbaseball.com/2023/02/12/obituary-ron-tomkins-1944-2023/https://ripbaseball.com/2023/02/12/obituary-ron-tomkins-1944-2023/ Sandy Valdespino: https://www.startribune.com/former-twins-outfielder-sandy-valdespino-dies-at-age-84/600255147/https://www.startribune.com/former-twins-outfielder-sandy-valdespino-dies-at-age-84/600255147/ Larry Yellen: https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/28485919/lawrence-larry-alan-yellen/duluth/georgia/bill-head-funeral-homeshttps://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/28485919/lawrence-larry-alan-yellen/duluth/georgia/bill-head-funeral-homes Danny Young: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/daniel-young-obituary?id=52232933https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/daniel-young-obituary?id=52232933 Mike Young: https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2023/05/30/former-brewer-young-involved-in-memorable-lineup-snafu-dies-at-63/70268383007/https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2023/05/30/former-brewer-young-involved-in-memorable-lineup-snafu-dies-at-63/70268383007/

Juan Centeno, who debuted with the Mets in 2013 and also played with them in 2014, hasn't played in the majors since 2019. But he's still going, hitting .251 with a home run and 13 RBI in 51 games for the Diamondbacks' Double-A club, the Amarillo Sod Poodles. Alex Claudio, who pitched briefly for the Mets in 2022 (and who I wanted them to bring back for 2023) pitched 1/3 of an inning for the Brewers this year. In 36 games for their Triple-A club, he has a 3.30 ERA. Sam Clay, who made a single appearance for the Mets in 2022, is 6-3 with a 5.30 ERA in 31 games (1 start) for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in the Tigers system.

Not sure if it's worth mentioning, but the Mets recently released Branden Fryman, who'd been in their system since 2019 and who had played at Triple-A this year and last year. Upon further inspection, they've also released Triple-Aers Alex Valverde and Oscar Campos recently. Campos has been in the Mets system since 2021 and played a total of 12 games. He's one of those catchers that, though officially a player, acted more as a coach if I'm not mistaken. Since his release, he's hitting .449 in 78 at-bats for the independent Tri-City Valley Cats.

This is promising.

Akeem Bostick, who pitched a single inning of scoreless ball for the Mets in 2021, is 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA in 10 starts for the independent Sioux Falls Canaries. Keon Broxton, who the Mets actually traded for and who hit .143 for the club in 2019, has played in indy ball and the Mexican League this year. He is hitting .259 with 8 home runs and 25 RBI between them. Miguel Castro, who was an effective reliever for the Mets in 2021, is 5-5 with 7 saves and a 3.97 ERA in 50 appearances for the Diamondbacks this year.