6:52 AM EDT, Fri March 29, 2024
Amazin Avenue

An updated vibe check on the 2024 Mets

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports How are we feeling about the 2024 Mets now that the season is about to start? Back in mid-February, we collected our feelings about the 2024 Mets and put them in a post. But with spring training in the books, Opening Day just about upon us, Kodai Senga starting the year on the injured list, and J.D. Martinez signed and coming soon as the team’s regular DH, we thought we’d take our collective baseball temperature again. Allison McCague In the February vibe check, I lamented how many free agents who could help the Mets remained unsigned...

Amazin Avenue

J.D. Martinez brings more than just a bat to the Mets

Photo by Norm Hall/ Is Martinez the avatar of the Mets in 2024? Despite what Max Scherzer was told in order to waive his no-trade clause, the Mets always insisted, at least in public, that they were going to attempt to field a playoff team in 2024. This may have seemed like wishful thinking at times, especially without significant signings that act as the most surefire way to hype a fanbase up to expect a winning season. But when J.D. Martinez signed a one-year, $12 million deal late in spring training, the Mets made their most compelling argument for competition this...

Amazin Avenue

Alex Ramirez needs more time

Photo by Jared Blais/MLB Photos via The speedy outfielder looks to improve his bat in 2024. Before the Mets sent most of their tradable players elsewhere at the 2023 trade deadline, Alex Ramirez was a much more important piece in the Mets’ system. An international free agent who got a $2.05 million signing bonus, Ramirez is an athletic, speedy outfield prospect who has not played above Single-A Brooklyn. He’s also very, very young. Having just turned 21, Ramirez is still very much a work in progress, and very much an unknown. After an impressive 2022 season, split...

Amazin Avenue

Mets release Phil Bickford

Phil Bickford | Photo by Dustin Satloff/ Picked up during the 2023 season, Bickford’s time with the Mets has ended. The Mets have released 28-year-old right-handed reliever Phil Bickford, having designated him for assignment a few days ago to make room for designated hitter J.D. Martinez on their 40-man roster. Coming into spring training, Bickford was one of several pitchers who had a shot at making the team’s Opening Day bullpen. But he and many of the other relievers in that competition were out of options. Having joined the Mets last year in a trade with the...

Amazin Avenue

From Complex To Queens, Episode 266: What to watch for in 2024

An audio guide to the most interesting parts of each of the Mets’ affiliates in the upcoming season. Welcome to From Complex to Queens, Home Run Applesauce’s podcast focusing on the Mets’ minor league system. It’s a skeleton crew this week - just Thomas and Lukas, with Ken coming in via recording. Nevertheless, we managed to go on a long tangent about the most fun positions to play and the state of catching in this week’s promote-extend-trade. We then went through draft updates - Thomas is doing quite well, Ken and Lukas less so. For the remainder of the show, we...

Lone Star Ball

J.D. Martinez to Mets, per report

Photo by Norm Hall/ The Mets and J.D. Martinez have reportedly agreed on a one year, $12 million deal The New York Mets and free agent DH J.D. Martinez have agreed to terms on a one year, $12 million deal, per Jon Heyman on Twitter. Martinez is signing very late in the process, but he was always going to get a one year deal and it was expected to be for around this amount, so I don’t know if this is a win for the “The Bad Agent is screwing over his clients with bad advice” people. Martinez will be the DH for a Mets team that projects to be around .500, and who...

Amazin Avenue

Sean Reid-Foley could claim a spot in the Mets’ Opening Day bullpen

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports The 28-year-old is in his fourth season in the Mets’ org. It’s been a little over three years since the Mets traded Steven Matz to the Blue Jays, and Sean Reid-Foley is the only piece of the trade that remains with the Mets. In each of the three seasons since the trade, Reid-Foley has logged some major league innings. Easily identifiable by his unique pre-delivery crouch and tattooed arms, Reid-Foley showed some promise at the major league level early in the 2021 season before finishing that year with a 5.23 ERA in 20.2 innings with the...

New York Post

Mets’, Angels’ J.D. Martinez offers aren’t quite there yet

The Angels and Mets bid for free agent DH J.D. Martinez, and while he likes both teams, apparently the offers were too low for his liking.

Amazin Avenue

Adam Ottavino is back in the Mets’ bullpen in 2024

Photo by Alex Slitz/ Ottavino is entering his age-38 season. Back at the start of this offseason, Adam Ottavino chose to decline his option to stay with the Mets on a $6.75 million salary for the 2024 season. After testing free agency, the 38-year-old reliever ended up signing back with the Mets on a one-year, $4.5 million deal. In between those decisions, he also made some appearances on SNY and expressed concerns about what the Mets were trying to accomplish this year along with his desire to play for a contender. It was all a bit weird. Here we are, though, with...

Amazin Avenue

Phil Bickford is one of several Mets pitchers vying for a bullpen spot

Photo by Rich Storry/ Picked up in a trade with the Dodgers last year, Bickford remains in the mix. When it comes to deciding the final composition of their Opening Day bullpen, the Mets still have some work to do. With a few bullpen spots claimed by sure-thing major league pitchers, at least one or two spots are still up for grabs, and the team has a bunch of pitchers—most of them without options remaining—trying to claim one. Enter Phil Bickford, a 28-year-old right-handed pitcher traded to the Mets by the Dodgers at the deadline last summer. On the Los Angeles...

Amazin Avenue

Mets Morning News for March 13, 2024

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports Your Wednesday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links. Meet the Mets Jose Quintana had a strong game on Tuesday while Joey Lucchesi did not. Darryl Strawberry is recovering after suffering a heart attack. Steve and Alex Cohen released a statement on the news of Strawberry. J.D. Martinez and the Mets have shown mutual interest in each other in bringing the free agent DH to New York. The Mets redid their field-level Delta luxury club, making it three times bigger than what it was previously. Carlos Mendoza likes the Mets...

Amazin Avenue

Tyone Taylor should be a steady bench presence in 2024

Photo by Rich Storry/ A useful bench piece that was acquired fairly anonymously and will hopefully remain so. A product of David Stearns’ first trade with his former team, you may assume that Taylor is much the same as many other fourth outfielders the Mets have made sub-optimal deals for over the years. Keon Broxton cones to mind given he also came from the Brewers, but you can trace this pattern all the way back to the Alejandro de Aza signing or even the infamous, bagel shop-driven trade for J.J. Putz and Jeremy Reed in 2008 (and potentially earlier, but my Met...

Amazin Avenue

Shintaro Fujinami is one of the most intriguing players on the 2024 Mets

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via The flamethrower was brought in as a low-risk option with tons of upside in the bullpen. Last offseason, the Oakland A’s made their one-and-only splash in the free agent market by signing Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami to a one-year, $3.25 million contract out of NPB. There was a lot of interest in Fujinami coming over from Japan due to his velocity and his raw stuff—he easily touches 100 MPH with a plus splitter—but a lot of teams saw him as a reliever due to his command issues despite elite strikeout rates in Japan...

New York Post

Tyrone Taylor looking to make mark with Mets after Brewers trade

If Tyrone Taylor ever needed outfield inspiration, the Brewers possessed plenty of sources. Lorenzo Cain. Ben Gamel. Christian Yelich.

Amazin Avenue

Pete Alonso looks to continue his prolific power-hitting ways in 2024

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via The slugging first baseman will be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. Before we dive into what will be an uncertain year for Pete Alonso and the Mets, let’s take a moment to acknowledge how special Alonso’s tenure has been for the organization. The Mets have been a pitching-dominant franchise since their inception, making Alonso something of a unicorn for them. Sure, they’ve had home run hitters in the past, but none who have made the long ball the central tenant of their game, and have not just excelled at...

The Crawfish Boxes

Astros Crawfish Boil

Chas McCormick | Photo by Megan Briggs/ Welcome to the Wednesday Boil. Houston Astros News Verlander (shoulder) needs time to build strength, will open season on IL Small-town guy Trey Cabbage dreaming big with Astros this spring (Houston Chronicle) Here’s how Astros next extension candidate might actually catch you by surprise (Sportsmap Houston) We have the depth’: Analyzing Astros’ rotation after JV injury Astros’ Alex Bregman could be at the center of uptick in Mets-Yankees free agency battles AL West News Blarts — Rangers spring training postcard: The...

Lone Star Ball

Wheeler, Phillies agree to extension, per reports

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/ Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies have reportedly agreed to terms on a three year deal MLB Rumors: Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to terms on a contract extension that is expected to be announced today, per reports. Matt Gelb of the Athletic says it is a 3 year, $126 million extension. Wheeler, who turns 34 in May, has blossomed since joining the Phillies prior to the 2020 season. Originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants sixth overall in the 2009 MLB Draft and then traded to the New York Mets at the trade...

Amazin Avenue

Flushing is Burning: Spring Has Sprung, I Guess

Spring Training games have begun, and they’re fine! Grace is back with actual baseball games to discuss! First, she talks the Mets first few Spring Training games, how they’ve looked and what could possibly be ahead. She laments the participation of Murphy in the booth but is resigned to the fact that he will just be in the Mets orbit until the end of time. And she touches on the Steve Cohen’s recent remarks about Pete Alonso’s free agency. Then, she generally discusses the state of baseball, with the controversy around Scott Boras and his clients this offseason. His...

New York Post

Astros’ Alex Bregman could be at the center of uptick in Mets-Yankees free agency battles

For most of the nearly half century of major league free agency, the New York teams have avoided each other on that financial battlefield until both almost pulled out all the stops to not get Yoshinobu Yamamoto this offsesason.

Amazin Avenue

Sean Manaea will look to revitalize his career in New York

Photo by Rich Storry/ Sporting increased velocity and a completely revamped arsenal, Manaea has overhauled himself as a pitcher and is a high-upside gamble for 2024. If you were dreaming up potential Mets free agent signings to shore up the starting rotation at the beginning of the offseason, your list probably started with names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, or Jordan Montgomery. A name like Sean Manaea was probably not high on your list, if it was even on your list at all. But while Yamamoto went to LA and Snell and Montgomery still sit untouched on the free...

Pinstripe Alley

NYY News: A surprise second-place finish

Photo by Chris Coduto/MLB Photos via Kiké Hernandez was down to Yankees or Dodgers before signing in LA; profiling the newest Yankees analyst making the numbers more palatable; Poteet leans on fellow UCLA alum in finding his footing; Mets considered signing former Yankee closer. MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Kiké Hernandez finalized a deal to return to the Dodgers this week after LA managed to move Manuel Margot’s contract to the Twins, and it was the destination he clearly wanted to go to all along. What was surprising, however, was who came in as the...

Biggest 2019 MLB Trade Deadline moves

Zack Greinke to the Astros. Marcus Stroman to the Mets. Trevor Bauer to the Reds. Yasiel Puig on the Indians. It was a quality MLB Trade Deadline!

MLB Whip Crew discusses the three-team trade, plus the latest with Noah Syndergaard | MLB WHIPAROUND

MLB Whip Crew discusses the three-team trade involving Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig. Plus, the latest with on Mets ace Noah Syndergaard. #FOXSports #MLB #TrevorBauer #YasielPuig #NoahSyndergaard

The Marcus Stroman trade makes NO SENSE for the Mets | Time to Schein

Adam Schein gives his take on Marcus Stroman being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Mets and how this unexpected deal does not make any sense. Adam Schein also discusses potential trade targets for the New York Yankees now that Marcus Str