At least three trades were made in the last 24 hours … Continue reading →

With the flurry of moves over the past week, it seems as though the week of the winter meetings was a slow-down of the hot stove season. At the same time, it could be argued that the meetings led to many of the recent deals. Continue reading →

It’s still early in the offseason, and the Mets may yet add more pieces to the puzzle.

But, with the way the team stands now, how many wins do you think it can accumulate in the 2014 season?

Inspired by loyal MetsToday reader and commenter “argonbunnies“:

There’s a call for W-L predictions upthread. I can never resist those, so here’s mine. As currently constructed, I think the 2014 Mets are set up for a 3rd straight 74-win season.

Granderson + Colon + Young are unlikely to make up for the loss of what Harvey and Byrd gave us in 2013, plus Gee and Wright might not be quite as good. Hawkins also had a very good year that will take some luck or some money (far more than the $2.5 mil the Rockies gave him) to replace.

The Mets’ best hope for improvement lies in the growth of their own young players. If d’Arnaud and Flores can hit the way scouts thought they would, and Lagares can hit the way he’s hit in other leagues, and Wheeler can find his filthy stuff without shredding his shoulder, then these Mets can crack .500. I’ll take the under on everything breaking the Mets’ way, but I’d guess someone will improve enough to offset the losses elsewhere and bring us back to 74 wins.

Add a SS, a bunch of good relievers, and good luck with the youngsters, and .500 should be achievable, with wild card contention a possibility. So we’ll see what the rest of the winter brings.

Make your prediction based on the current roster, and any comments on what kinds of additions will result in how many more wins.

Mets Item of the Day

For the tree, a Kurt Adler MetsToday Mr. Met Mascot Ornament

I know, I’ve posted this one before — but you didn’t buy it, did you? And it would look great hanging from the branch of a blue spruce or douglas fir, I’m sure of it.

New York magazine is publishing their annual series titled “Reasons to Love New York,” and as of this writing, there are 47 reasons. Why there would need to be any reasons beyond the cronut, Shake Shack, and 24-hour dim sum (or Korean barbecue, take your pick) is not the focus of this discussion. Rather, we’ll discuss reason #26, authored by Will Leitch: Because Sandy Alderson is the Best G.M. in Baseball. Continue reading →

No, it’s not another flashback post. Shaun Marcum has been signed, and Collin McHugh, released.

But not by the Mets. Continue reading →

While researching something else through the MetsToday archives, I happened upon several fun flashback posts from December 2007. I’m sharing them here, for skittles and giggles. Jump into your hot tub time machine and follow the links.

For one, there was the low-risk / high-reward signing of Mark Prior by the Padres. Mark Prior, of course, retired from baseball a week or so ago. The funny part about that post? The last sentence, which suggested that the Mets may be putting out calls to Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That winter, I thought Prior would be a good roll of the dice for the Mets, who were anxious to find an “ace” starter, and didn’t seem to have any worthwhile and expendable trade bait. But I REALLY had it all wrong by championing Carlos Silva as an ideal innings-eater to fill out the back of the rotation. Wow … do you remember when the Mariners signed Silva to a 4-year, $44M contract? They haven’t made as big a free-agent splash since. Oh, wait …

December 2007 was the month that the Mets signed Luis Castillo to a contract that supposedly handcuffed the organization for a half-decade (naw, the Mets’ financial problems had nothing to do with Bernie Madoff). Hindsight, though, is 20/20, and though no one considered it a great signing at the time, when you put yourself back there, at that moment, it’s somewhat understandable why the Mets gave Castillo that deal — they didn’t have many alternatives.

Remember when we dreamed of the Mets in their new stadium, sporting an athletic, All-Star outfield of Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez? In a December 2007 post, I argued the case for Gomez, wasn’t so impressed with LMillz, and thought that both might be moved that winter.

Hope you enjoy the brief travel in the hot tub time machine.

Mets Item of the Day

Holiday shopping? How about theNew York Mets 50th Anniversary Collector’s DVD SET? Follow the link or click on the below image to purchase from Amazon.

I meant to quickly go over the pitchers who recently joined new teams, and I will, but it turns out I missed a few position players as well. Let’s go over them, pitchers first … Continue reading →

There was a rash of signings over the past few days — first let’s take a quick look at the position players locked up. Continue reading →