Mets News and Morning Links 1/2/2021

 

Good Morning. Happy Birthday David Cone. Winter Ball games resume today and Bloggers have some very interesting New Year’s Resolutions for the Mets.

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Winter Baseball, and This Day in Mets History.

Mets Links:

Gus Livaditis Mets360: New Year’s resolutions for the Mets. Gus sets goals for 11 different Mets including Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis, Amed Rosario, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso who Gus asks him “To stop chasing pitches away in order to lower the 26% K%, to work hard on defense and mobility, and to increase his starter worst 17.7% LD% [Line Drive Percentage].”  

Mike Phillips also has New Year’s Resolutions for the Mets in 2021 at Metstradamus’ Sports Daily site: He includes Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson, Jared Porter, and Luis Rojas in his list.  Especially like what he has for James McCann: “Don’t try to do too much” and Noah Syndergaard: “Don’t rush back from Tommy John surgery”.

Bradford William Davis NY Daily News: How a small Queens deli won over the Mets. Angelo Baretta, a co-owner of Benateri’s Italian Gourmet Deli & Catering talks about how he connected with Pete Alonso on Instagram.

Mets.com: 5 questions for Mets entering 2021. 1. How will the Mets fill out their rotation? 2. Will the Mets land George Springer? 3. Will Alderson and Porter spring a big trade? 4. What’s going to happen at first base? 5. Is Edwin Diaz the closer (and if so, can the Mets trust him)?

Amazing Avenue: Top 25 Mets Prospects for 2021: 25-21. #25: Ryley Gilliam; #24: Jordany Ventura; #23: Endy Rodriguez; #22: Stanley Consuegra; #21: Adrian Hernandez.

Rising Apple: Three predictions for the month of January.  Mets get Springer but not Trevor Bauer. “Mets make a trade but maybe not any we expected.”

Forbes.com: The Top 5 Weird New York Mets Moments Of 2020. 5. The sub-.500 Mets make a bunch of flotsam and jetsam trades at the deadline. 4. Jacob deGrom was all alone. 3. A fire broke out beyond Citi Field as the Mets suffered another crushing late September loss to the Braves. 2. The Wilpons throw Van Wagenen under the bus to curry favor with the commissioner. 1. Yoenis Cespedes disappears, possibly to never be heard from again.

Amazing Avenue: Our Favorite Mets Moments of 2020.

Metsmerized Online: Top Ten List: Best Mets Moments of 2020.

Mike Phillips The Sports Daily: New York Mets 2020 Year in Review.

Empire Sports Media: 20 names in New York sports that made 2020 tolerable.  For the Mets – Steve Cohen.

Reflections On Baseball: Steve Cohen: Frustration Continues To Rise As Mets Remain Handcuffed. “While the Mets have players of value on their major league roster, teams like the Cubs and Rays are in a rebuilding and cost-cutting mode, having no need or interest in what the Mets bring to the table.”

Mike’s Mets: The Waiting Is the Hardest Part.

Mike’s Mets also looked at how the Rays have been successful “Maximizing Player Value”.

Rising Apple: Mets offseason strategy for success is superior to the Padres plan. “While New York has yet to match the splash moves of the Padres, they have also made their roster improvements without sacrificing from their farm system. Instead, they have elected to use their financial capital to build what they hope is a postseason contender.”

So what's going on with Trevor Bauer? In a preview of tomorrow's Sports Report show on @sportanarium the honorable MC @ernestdove in a bigger then Big E like way gives us the latest scoop on the biggest free agent on the market. pic.twitter.com/qXWIU3vNLI

— Thomas Brice (@ThomasBrice2017) January 2, 2021

Empire Sports Media: New York Mets: 2021 Marks The First Full Year Without The Wilpons.

SNY.TV You Tube Channel David Wright looks to settle an old Mets batting practice bet with Carlos Delgado.

MLB Links:

MLB Trade Rumors: Trevor Bauer Had Meeting With Blue Jays.

MLB Trade Rumors: NC Dinos Re-Sign Aaron Altherr, Drew Rucinski.

MLB Trade Rumors: Checking In On Last Season’s Worst Rotations. Mets are #5 (5.37 ERA/4.21 FIP, 8.55 K/9, 3.17 BB/9) Behind the Tigers, Angels, Braves, and Nationals.

Masahiro Tanaka calls the possibility of leaving the MLB and returning to Japan "not zero" https://t.co/actwXdhJwA pic.twitter.com/VmZUwXX53X

— SNY (@SNYtv) January 2, 2021

MLB Trade Rumors: Marlins Sign Ross Detwiler To Major League Contract.

MLB Trade Rumors: Yankees, Socrates Brito Agree To Minor League Deal.

MLB Trade Rumors: Phillies Sign Michael Ynoa To Minor League Contract.

MLB Trade Rumors: The Complexity Of Trading Kevin Kiermaier. “The problem for interested parties, of course, is that Kiermaier is paid at a higher rate than a glove-first player of that nature would typically be compensated. He’s owed $26MM over the next two seasons: $11.5MM in 2021, $12.5MM in 2022 and at least a $2.5MM buyout on a $13MM option for the 2023 season.”

MLB.com: Here are the 1st Power Rankings of 2021.  Dodgers #1. Padres #2.  Mets come in at #8.

MLB.com: You heard it here first: Bold 2021 predictions. Mets win a Wild Card, Braves and Blue Jays Pennant winners. 

MLB.com: The Phils' best Realmuto alternative is ... Willson Contreras?

MLB.com: We expect these prospects to debut in 2021. For the Mets: Thomas Szapucki, LHP.

MLB.com: The fastest pitches hit for homers in 2020.

MLB.com: 22 stats and facts as Tatis turns 22.

Prime Time Sports Talk: Hall of Fame Case: Jeff Kent.

Chris Bodig Cooperstown Cred: HALL OF FAME DOORS: CLOSED TO BILLY WAGNER.

Chris Bodig Cooperstown Cred: SPIDER-MAN: DOES TORII HUNTER HAVE A HALL OF FAME CASE?

What’s your favorite batting stance of all time?

Tag @MLBNetwork in a video of you doing your best impersonation of it! pic.twitter.com/orZWlrWDpe

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 1, 2021

Winter Baseball:

No Games Yesterday in any of the Winter Leagues.  They all will be playing today.

Australia’s games are already underway but the Sydney Blue Sox which features 4 Mets players are not scheduled to resume play until January 7^th due to current COVID 19 travel restrictions there.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

January 1

Born on this date:

• Fernando Tatis (1975)

Died on this date:

• Danny Frisella (1977)

January 2

Born on this date:

• Red Kress (1907)
• David Cone (1963)
• Gulf Coast Mets Shortstop, William Lugo (2002)

Died on this date:

• Jerry Buchek (2019)

Transactions:

New York Mets signed free agent Mike Birkbeck on January 2, 1992.

Boston Red Sox signed Frank Viola of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 2, 1992.

Chicago White Sox signed Barry Jones of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 2, 1993.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, @dcone36! The former @Mets ace turns 58 today. Remember the last game of the 1991 season when he struck out 19 @Phillies? https://t.co/u5bNfEnkuy #LGM #MetsRewind #Mets pic.twitter.com/QwGwA5zvPx

— Mets Rewind (@metsrewind) January 2, 2021

January 2, 1985: The New York @Mets resigned free agent Rusty Staub to a one-year deal. #LGM #MetsRewind #Mets pic.twitter.com/RSqaUh8ozq

— Mets Rewind (@metsrewind) January 2, 2021

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