Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

Lucas Duda is with the Twins. 

I don't know what made me look. Don't judge. 

FilmCarp said:

mrincredible said:
Looks like the blockbuster signing we've been waiting for:
Adeiny Hechavarria, pending a physical, will be joining the team tomorrow.

Ok, yes, I'm being facetious. But a true backup shortstop is a solid addition. It seems like a fair amount of tinkering this off season without a major overhaul. 

 I thought their best minor league prospect was a shortstop.   

I don't think any team wants a top prospect sitting on the bench in the big leagues as a backup.

no, but making a few trips up and down if there is an injury is SOP.  

FilmCarp said:
no, but making a few trips up and down if there is an injury is SOP.  

and probably not good for player development.  I'd prefer a guy like Hechavarria in a utility role to a 20 year-old Gimenez who hasn't yet played above AA.

ml1 said:

mfpark said:

mrincredible said:
I'll defer to your judgement.  
What if anything would you still like for the team? Harper and Machado being out of the question.

 Marwin Gonzalez.

 I wanted them to sign Gonzalez. But with Lowrie on the roster it doesn't make sense now. 

 The question was what, if anything, would you want?  It was not based in reality but in hope.

In fact, I kinda still hope Brodie has something up his sleeve to snag Harper.  But I doubt that as well.

Oh, and Lowrie is heading for an MRI on his knee.  The Mets' Injury Curse strikes already!

Ruh Roh.  Frazier out with a strained oblique.  Timeline is indefinite..................

Looks like McNeil is heading back to the infiled for a while.

First guy to say Down goes Frazier gets a virtual sock full of batteries to the nads.

mfpark said:
Ruh Roh.  Frazier out with a strained oblique.  Timeline is indefinite..................
Looks like McNeil is heading back to the infiled for a while.

this is why the team concentrated on depth this off-season.  Coming off last year's performance, I don't think the team loses anything by plugging Lowrie and McNeil in at 3B.  The problem will be if they have 2 or 3 infielders out at the same time.

And we should note that starting this year, it's no longer the DL.  It's the IL.

Lowrie is already on the IL himself.

mfpark said:
Lowrie is already on the IL himself.

 I forgot about that

.

Sounds like Nimmo’s been choking on his chicken.

The Mets had a pretty darned good offseason.  But then there is this estimate of how many wins each team will pick up (or lose) based on their offseason moves.

"That the Mets (+1) look barely improved despite all their moves is stunning, though that's largely explained by the strength of their division. If the Phillies are +8, the Braves are +3 and the Nationals are +2, those extra wins have to come from somewhere and it's not going to be all from the Marlins (-5). Another way to say that is that the Mets really did improve, but so did three of their largest competitors. The NL East, as you know, is going to be wild."

Of course, so much depends on sustained health and if the players actually perform to their past standards, which is not a given either up or down.  For example, Dom Smith has been really hot so far in Spring Training, which if it continues through the season could be an unexpected plus.  Or Bryce Harper could start to see his OBPS fall as his batting average falls (although I doubt this, especially in a hitter-friendly ball park).  

Still, Van W did what needed to be done to keep the Mets in the thick of it on paper, which is all he could do and far better than the Mets have done in recent years.  I am excited to see how they play in the real year.

According to that, here are your final 2019 NL East standings:

ATL 93-69  —

PHL 88-74   5

WAS 84-78   9

NYM 77-84  16

MIA   Hades

One thing I've learned is that injuries change everything.  Who can say what any roster will look like in July 

But someone remind me how many WS titles the Nats won with Harper? 

Bueller? Bueller? 

"Where's my ring?"

I think he's still asking.

DaveSchmidt said:
According to that, here are your final 2019 NL East standings:


ATL 93-69  —
PHL 88-74   5
WAS 84-78   9
NYM 77-84  16
MIA   Hades

actually the article has the projected wins by team as:

• Washington -- 90
• Philadelphia -- 86
• Mets -- 84
• Atlanta -- 83

the improvements were between the projections for each roster made in November and then again in March.  Historically, the projections aren't bad, but they aren't particularly precise.

Let's make sure we're honest about projections

Harper is ring kryptonite.  

Tom Seaver is why I chose to be a Met fan when I was a kid. And in case you're wondering, that's credit, not blame -- I wouldn't have it any other way. Sad to read today of his struggles.

My boyhood baseball idol. Very sad day.

Very sad.

I have a baseball signed by Seaver.  It was on the day he came back to Shea with the Reds for the first time.   Somehow my Aunt got 2 box seats near the Reds dugout and he signed a few things before the game.   It's awfully faded now but at least I have it.

As some of you know, I also got onto his wine mailing list a few years ago and just ordered the newest batch a couple of weeks ago.   His vineyard is really important to him - he almost lost it last year in the fires - and I really hope that he can continue to enjoy that part of his life for a long time to come.

Seaver and Carlton, Carlton and Seaver, battling it out for Cy Youngs all through the ’70s. And I knew as well as the rest of you which one’s mind was right. This news saddens me as well.

(intentionally deleted, as they say in the biz)

Hard to argue when someone throws 8 shutouts in 25 games in a strike-shortened year.

It's sad about Tom Seaver.  I didn't really start following baseball until after he was almost done but his legend was pretty fresh at the time.

my favorite player when I was a kid.  I also remember piling in the car and driving out to Shea to see him return on Opening Day in 1983.  What a great day that was for Mets fans.

I recall his family saying that he had had dementia symptoms several years ago as a result of Lyme disease.  It was very obvious watching the telecast of the All-Time Mets team a few years back that Seaver's on-stage interview was heavily edited.  I suspected at the time that he was probably showing some signs of dementia, but assumed it was still after effects of Lyme.  Now it seems it was likely something worse.

Very sad news.

I became a baseball fan in the mid to late 1960's and really grew into the game in the 1970's.  What a magical time for me.  And Tom Terrific was right at the top of my list of all-time favorites.  I grew up in Hartford, CT so we went to Met, Yankee, and Red Sox games and were able to listen to all three teams on the radio.  I was a Yankee fan until Steinbrenner came along, but always adored Tom Terrific, as any true fan of baseball should have done.

Those were great years as a fan in general.  The Big Red Machine and all their terrific stars.  The Pirates with Willie Stargell et al.  Charley O's Athletics, and the impossibly wonderful Baltimore Orioles with both Robinsons and four twenty game winners.  Tom Seaver fit perfectly into that pantheon, both as an impeccably graceful and efficient pitcher and as a stand-up and straight forwardly decent human being.

Buddy Harrelson, Ed Kranepool and Tom Seaver - three of my boyhood favorites. Such sad news for all three.