- Luis Severino has joined the Mets in free agency after a mixed history with the Yankees. His career with the Yankees was marked by both success and extensive injuries. Severino signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Mets.
Mets' Catching Depth:
- The Mets' catching depth is a concern, regarding Omar Narváez's performance and health. Cooper Hmel is considered a potential replacement for Narváez. They also picked up Tyler Heineman.
- Joey Wendle was picked up to replace LG as the utility man.
- Kyle Crick, a new Mets relief pitcher, has joined on a minor league deal with hopes of strengthening the bullpen.
The Mets have signed Austin Adams, Joseph Yabbour, Andre Scrubb and Cole Sulser to aid bullpen depth.
Mets Winter Meetings Focus:
- The Mets are expected to be active at the Winter Meetings, with a focus on acquiring an outfielder, starting pitching, and relief pitching. They are also interested in improving run prevention and outfield defense.
- The team may engage in trade talks, expect to hear the usual prospect names such as Kevin Parada, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Player Meetings:
- The New York Mets are planning to meet with Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the next week and he is expected to continue to draw significant interest from MLB teams.
- Shohei Ohtani is also expected to make a decision on his next team soon, with bids for his services surpassing $500 million.
- The Mets are also considering Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.
Summary from pre Winter Meeting thread:
Hall of Fame Ballot Newbies: Inclusion of players like Big Sexy, Wright, and Reyes in the Hall of Fame ballot.
- Several iconic Yankees and Mets greats were in contention for Hall of Fame induction, but they fell short of the required votes.
Management and Coaching Updates: Significant changes in the Mets' management and coaching staff, including a new contract for manager Mendoza. Bench coach vacancy and role shifts for Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes as hitting coaches. Introduction of Kris Gross and Andy Green in player development and amateur scouting.
Pitching Strategy and Market Moves: Focus on fortifying the rotation, implications of the Cardinals' signings, and the pursuit of high-caliber pitchers.
Bullpen and Player Performance: Signing of BP arms to minor league deals and review of the players.
Previous Mets thread: - (
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Baseball America
@BaseballAmerica
#BestofBA2023
We examined how all 30 major league farm systems ranked based on advanced statcast pitching data
For each organization, team-level metrics such as xwOBA (expected weighted on-base average) were calculated by aggregating the metrics of each pitcher in the organization, weighted by the number of pitches thrown in 2023 by each pitcher. The xwOBA stat measures how hitters are expected to perform statistically against these pitches based on their batted ball data
The overall Stuff+ number is a blended metric of each organization’s STF+ (based on our internal model), per pitch Run Value, xwOBA, and pitch quality metrics such as in-zone whiff% and chase %. The resultant number was then scaled on a wRC+ scale where 100 is average and a standard deviation is 10 points. In other words, an organization with an overall Stuff+ number of 90 is one standard deviation worse than a league-average organization.
Players between the ages of 17 to 26 years old were included in this study. Any pitcher older than that was eliminated to minimize the impact of older pitchers on rehabilitation stints or older veterans who make up a great deal of the Triple-A pitching staffs. We are trying to view the developing pitching talent in each organization, not the team’s ability to stock quality MiLB free agents into Triple-A bullpens.
We also removed all players who spent the entirety of their season at the complex level. There’s less reliability within the data at that level and its impact on overall performance could cloud the final results.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2023-mlb-farm-system-statcast-pitching-rankings/ - ( New Window )
“ The Mets perform well across all metrics. They rank fourth for in-zone whiff, sixth in chase rate and ninth in xwOBA against. They have some interesting traits under the hood, they rank first in extension, sixth in four-seam fastball xwOBA, third in slider in-zone whiff and fourth in changeup in-zone whiff. They also throw the fourth most amount of sliders of any organization.”
Here are the top five teams in each metric.
In-Zone Whiff Percentage
Rays
Yankees
Dodgers
Mets
Rangers
Chase Percentage
Blue Jays
Yankees
Tigers
Braves
Rays
xWOBA
Rays
Orioles
Yankees
Royals
Giants
@WexlerRules
·
12m
@ZackScottSports
Zack, how true do you think "money talks" is when dealing with FA's? What % of FA's actually take less to join a good team? How transparent are FA's (agents) when they don't find a market appealing? Do players ever actually cite media/fans as deterrents?
Zack Scott
@ZackScottSports
The overwhelming majority of FAs go to the highest bidder. I don't recall an agent citing media/fans as a deterrent. My sense, for example, was that deGrom preferred a few landing spots and his agent still got a great contract despite those potential limitations.
$ and gets some guy from lad 40 man they may not even have room for.
@WexlerRules
·
12m
@ZackScottSports
Zack, how true do you think "money talks" is when dealing with FA's? What % of FA's actually take less to join a good team? How transparent are FA's (agents) when they don't find a market appealing? Do players ever actually cite media/fans as deterrents?
Zack Scott
@ZackScottSports
The overwhelming majority of FAs go to the highest bidder. I don't recall an agent citing media/fans as a deterrent. My sense, for example, was that deGrom preferred a few landing spots and his agent still got a great contract despite those potential limitations.
This is why Mets have a chance with anyone but especially boras clients and players subject to posting process.
i think I saw Wolfe is now the agent for sasaki, obviously how he comes to mlb is unknown but I think a part of Wolfe keeping that pipeline is that he isn’t leaving $ on table for the teams. He threaded a tricky needle with yamamoto getting to his preferred destination.
@ZackScottSports
·
4m
Replying to
@DVainchenker
@bulkypenguin47
and
@WexlerRules
We had two years of control remaining at a club-friendly luxury tax number. He was seeking a deal that I believed could only be attained as a free agent. Extensions two years in advance of FA typically have some element of risk sharing, but this did not.
lad very confident on a rh hitter (I assume it’s him).
Verified
@Sportsnet
According to industry sources, Joc Pederson is drawing serious interest from the Blue Jays, whose greatest need is offence at this point in the off-season.
Link - ( New Window )
Verified
@Sportsnet
According to industry sources, Joc Pederson is drawing serious interest from the Blue Jays, whose greatest need is offence at this point in the off-season. Link - ( New Window )
Be awesome if they sign Pham too.
I'd actually sign Pham if I were the Mets he was much different than I expected, but he's a better fit on a contender IMO.
There are a handful of every day players left who can help them so value hunting there and waiting out the market is no issue. They could add 2-3 fwar by grabbing 1 or 2 fairly priced veterans for depth.
phi 2nd thanks to nola at 172m
az 3rd with 122m
sfg 4th with 121m
cin 5th with 106m
kc 6th with 105m
st lou 7th with 99m
det 8th with 45m
bos 9th with 39m
atl 10th with 30m
nym 16th with 18m spent
probably $400m left to be spent on the top 3 remaining pitchers. maybe $500m if you add in hader. just 6 weeks from ST and a lot still on the board.
Each Team’s Free Agent Spending Thus Far - ( New Window )
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
The impact on his overall results is quite clear. In his first 11 appearances of the year, prior to introducing the sweeper, he had a 6.61 ERA, 28.9% strikeout rate, 12.5% walk rate, 32.6% ground ball rate and eight home runs in just 32 2/3 innings. The rest of the way, he had a 3.60 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate, 44% ground ball rate and six home runs in 85 innings. The Giants gave him four actual starts to finish the year and he posted a 2.25 ERA in those, averaging six innings per start.
This is still a fairly small sample size of results but the change in his arsenal at least gives some reason to believe that it may not just be a fluke. Last month, Driveline tweeted some video of a session with Manaea which showed him also trying out a splitter, perhaps suggesting Manaea is still trying to find yet another gear going forward.
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
I'm a NYY fan just scrolling for baseball content, but enjoy your baseball postings here and on twitter and was curious...
do you really prefer guys like Paxton and Junis to a Mike Cleavinger or Michael Lorenzen?
I'm guessing you're including an expected dollar cost as part of the reason you have those guys where you do, but just something that I've been ruminating on as a fan of NYY who are similarly in need of pitching with the options seemingly dwidling by the week.
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
I’m glad to see you list Imanaga #1. If the price is right, I think he makes a ton of sense for NYM, but I haven’t seen anything linking the Mets to him.
Quote:
My personal top 5 wish list (SP FA edition)
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
I'm a NYY fan just scrolling for baseball content, but enjoy your baseball postings here and on twitter and was curious...
do you really prefer guys like Paxton and Junis to a Mike Cleavinger or Michael Lorenzen?
I'm guessing you're including an expected dollar cost as part of the reason you have those guys where you do, but just something that I've been ruminating on as a fan of NYY who are similarly in need of pitching with the options seemingly dwidling by the week.
In the case of Lorenzen, he was truly awful post trade to the Phillies (people sort of forget about this because he threw a no-hitter) but post trade to the Phillies 5.51 era/5.81 FIP, 5.3 k's/3.8 BB. Over his final 9 appearances....6.98 FIP, 8.01 era. He was so bad, the Phillies opted not to use him in the playoffs. He's about to be 32 (I realize, Paxton is even older) but the upside is extremely limited and the batted ball data wasn't very good.
In the case of Clevinger (33), he has a very poor reputation as a teammate/off the field, poor with the media etc. Just feels like a bad fit for the Mets with a rookie manager in what may be a trying season. They could certainly do worse than Clevinger but 2 TJ's, looking for multiple seasons, 33 years old etc just don't like the fit for the Mets.
Quote:
My personal top 5 wish list (SP FA edition)
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
I’m glad to see you list Imanaga #1. If the price is right, I think he makes a ton of sense for NYM, but I haven’t seen anything linking the Mets to him.
Imanaga's deadline to sign is 1/11. He's reportedly going to be making some visits, so we should have some clarity on the Mets interest soon.
yes it blows. i think in hindsight it may end up because of the dual postings since it seems like nobody is in a rush to deal with boras before imanaga. only 6 weeks until ST and 7 of FG top 12 FA still out there.
2022:
Marte, Scherzer, Bassitt, Otto, etc.
2023:
Senga, Verlander, Robertson, Nimmo extension, Diaz extension (until the WBC at least we could be happy about it)
this year is completely different - and I'm not even unhappy about it. it's just slow and boring.
And I could of wish they'd trade the scrap parts and get closer to the LT to get under it next year and reset.
In fairness, that’s minus nearly 30 million for Alonso (assuming he’s back)
1. Imanaga
2. Rodriguez
3. Manaea
4. Paxton
5.Junis
Ideal world @mets add 2 of these guys. Doesn't appear they are "in" on Rodriguez and Junis would be a speculative "shot to start headed into ST out of ST, or move to BP" #Mets
With all of the driveline guys they have brought in I’m sure they are considering Manaea. His new sweeper looks like a weapon and now he’s working on a splitter with driveline
-doesn’t expect them to sign JDM… don’t want to block Vientos and Stewart… maybe they should check Stewart’s September and age…he’s not a prospect. If true… going to be a long season.
-doesn’t expect them to sign JDM… don’t want to block Vientos and Stewart… maybe they should check Stewart’s September and age…he’s not a prospect. If true… going to be a long season.
If they’re making FA decisions based on Megill and Peterson, we’re in for a world of hurt. If they’re not good enough, they should be blocked.
Dykstra: We just put him onto the Mets list at No. 30. He will be moving up when we do our update here in a few months. But, Jeremy Rodriguez was one of the younger players in the DSL this year, only turned 17 on the fourth of July. He was moved from the D-backs to the Mets pretty quickly after that in the Tommy Pham deal. What I like about Jeremy Rodriguez is he doesn’t swing and miss very much, at least, for that level and especially for his age. That especially came through after the trade, you know, it was a very small sample, he only played 13 games for the Mets’ DSL affiliate. But in those 13 games he walked 11 times and struck out only four. Showed some good speed too with seven steals. He’s got mostly gap power right now. All the reports we got on him when he first signed with the D-backs for $1.25 million, which was their biggest signing last year, was that power could come for him eventually, it’s mostly to the gaps right now. It’s going to take a while for that to develop, I think. But that fact that he’s making some really interesting swing decisions, he is putting bat on ball – especially relative to his age – it’s a strong start. Could play short, could play second base, we’ll see how he ends up defensively. But, this could end up being, you know, for just a few months of Tommy Pham, a pretty strong pickup for the Mets if he continues on this developmental path.
He did say he was in wait and see mode on Vargas when it comes to hitting better pitching and making an impact. Felt his type advanced approach with less “athletic” guys ends up being just that. Wasn’t really being a hater more the profile
-doesn’t expect them to sign JDM… don’t want to block Vientos and Stewart… maybe they should check Stewart’s September and age…he’s not a prospect. If true… going to be a long season.
Yikes. Maybe Stearns wants a full year to evaluate everyone before he starts to make the big decisions? I don't know that's all I got.
The funny thing is - that doesn’t bother me as much as hearing from a reporter that the Mets don’t want to block Megill or Peterson. Gross. Really hope that’s not true. But I am a little surprised that they don’t want to improve some of the biggest holes on this team. Next year is going to suck…again.
Quote:
with nobody of note due for a big arbitration award and that's with 17.5m retained if JV's option kicks in (so they'd have more room if it doesnt). $ flexibility beyond this year isn't as much of a problem as having enough pitching depth to keep building forward.
In fairness, that’s minus nearly 30 million for Alonso (assuming he’s back)
That assumption hasnt seemed like a foregone conclusion since the deadline and if martino ends up right that severino is their sp3 I’d say it’s probably 50/50 odds they are out of the race and deal Alonso at deadline. And if they deal Alonso why not deal senga too assuming he’ll waive his ntc? He’s about to turn 31.
It looks like martino also said “it’s possible but not probable” they sign imanaga, so I’m going to hold out hope this is a lot of posturing and at minimum they’ll spend a chunk of money on 1 year deals to try to compete.
43. Edward Lantigua, OF, Dominican Republic #Mets
Yea it’s been a bad offseason starting with the draft spot. But we will likely have to take a couple of lumps to let this franchise start to function on an elite level and that includes letting player development catch up.
Hector Gomez says he had the surgery yesterday. Gomez has had incorrect Mauricio information in the past (twice reporting he was promoted when he wasn’t) so grain of salt but it fits the timeline Sammon noted “shortly after new years”
43. Edward Lantigua, OF, Dominican Republic #Mets
I think most are aware of this at this point but these agreement pre-date Stearns and in fact the Mets 2025 class also is via Eppler as well as some 2026/2027 names. 2025 will see the Mets give out their biggest bonus of the IFA pool era.