Mets

[Amazin69]

That should be our standard unit of measurement, "a Soto". Poor Pete, paid less than 40% of a Soto last year! And clearly Edlose is a bargain, then.

[LD84]

Jesus Christ.

Maybe the third billion is a charm and the Mutts an finally win something?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

That should be our standard unit of measurement, "a Soto". Poor Pete, paid less than 40% of a Soto last year! And clearly Edlose is a bargain, then.

I'm a bit aghast that player contracts have reached the best part of a billion so fast. A decade ago, a $200M contract was still some real money.

For my own sanity I kept the finances in my Raccoons dynasty low. Nobody has ever made $10M a year in that league... yet.

[Amazin69]

Fun Fact: Whilst Frankie Lindor is paid twice per season what Frankie Mount-Ass will be, you need both of their salaries together to equal one season of Soto. Yoicks.

[Amazin69]

Mets said to be pursuing Roki Sasaki (allegedly, Senga having success here is a magnet) and are also looking to bring back Manaea.

Crickets on Peeeeeete, however.

Mets lose minor league pitchers Nate Lavender and Mike Vasil in the Rule V draft, both to the Rays. (Philly drafted Vasil, but traded him to TB right after that.)

[Westheim]

Senga's success - all five innings of it in '24.

[Amazin69]

July 19, 2025: Mets will induct David Wright to team HoF, retire #5.

(And, one hopes, beat Stinkinnati, but that's technically for later in the day.)

The Captain will become the only Met besides The Franchise to receive both honors in the same day.

[Amazin69]

Mets sign 29-year-old Jared "Not That" Young, fresh off his 1.080 OPS this summer! In, er, the KBO, but why quibble, right?

(In more relevant news, Young had a .725 OPS in 22 games as a Scrubs scrub, spread across the two previous seasons.)

Young has played every position except pitcher, catcher and SS, but he is primarily *sigh* another 1B "insurance policy", in case…well, you know.

[Amazin69]

Mets sign RHP Griffin Canning (1 year, $4.25 million), a career-long Angel who was last on the Braves' roster as part of a salary dump before Atlanta cut him loose.

Canning made a career-high 31 starts last season, and threw a career-high 171.2 IP. However, he was about as good as you'd expect an Angel to be, going 6-13, 5.10, albeit with a semi-passable 1.40 WHIP.

Anthony DiComo expects Canning to join those such as Blackburn, Megill and Buttó who will support the "clear top four' of Senga, Mount-Ass, Holmes and Peterson.

(Yes, that's right. The Mets are building their rotation around

…Senga, who pitched 5 IP last season before tripping over the grass
…Mount-ass, who hasn't actually been good since he left Oakland in mid-2022, and missed all of 2023 with an injury.
…Holmes, who has never held a rotation spot in the Show and lost his closer job with the Pinstripers last season
…and Peterson, who despite a few nice stretches last August, stubbornly remains, well, David Peterson.

Need I say more?)

Rotsa Ruck!!

[Westheim]

Big Pete could be added to that rump rotation and would not necessarly stick out as the sore thumb.

Speaking of which - I want Peeeeete!!

[Amazin69]

Apparently, there's no great rush to sign Peeeete.

iTalk Studios says that, by passing on the Mets' initial offer of 7 years at $22.5 mn @, Pete (and Boras) have scared off teams that don't want to commit to more than 3 years for a 30-year-old power-first 1B, no matter how consistent and consistently healthy he has been. The Asstros gave Christian Walker 3 years at $20 mn per, the Yankees may do something similar for Goldschmidt, but nobody wants a big deal for Big Pete. At this point, Pete and Boras are basically hoping somebody panics as cheaper alternatives come off the market.

I would think Uncle Stevie should at least step it up to $27 million or so per season. After what he means to the team, the Polar Bear should be making more than the $20 million that Mr. Pointy and Edlose get, and he's worth at least half a Soto. JMO.

ETA: Dugout Diaries notes that Pete's .788 OPS last season was the worst of his career and his 34 HRs were the fewest except for the COVID season, so there's concern he's starting to lose it.. An AL executive allegedly said "he's not a defender and not an athlete", so it's only the bat. Apparently, despite much praise from Keith Hernandez (who also praises the defense of Mark Vientos, recall), Pete posted a -9 Runs Saved last season, putting him in the bottom third, statistically, and his baserunning is rated equally low.



(Other videos [find them yourself] say that Cheating Asstro Alex Bregman is in the same boat, and one overly-optimistic Mets fan says that this means the Mets will sign both of them. Hardly seems likely, and anyhow, where would Vientos play? Right field? No sane GM is going to make Swaggy V [his team nickname, apparently] a full-time DH when he just turned 25 less than two weeks ago.)

[Westheim]

Bregman can still pick it and we need a third baseman. Vientos was scary with the glove.

Yes, Pete had his worst season by OPS (and probably your nerd metric of choice), and it felt like the valleys were deeper at times. I don't think, though, that he can't have another 45-homer season. I first wrote 50 there, then subtracted 10% for the juiceball era of 2019.

In an ideal world, I would want both of them on the Mets (and Vientos as DH), but if Uncle Steve says I can only have one big gift for Christmas, I'm taking Pete.

Like that's worthy of a discussion. I'd take Pete on the Mets over my left leg!

[Westheim]

Manaea apparently coming back for a tenth of a Soto over three years.

[Amazin69]

$25 mn annually for a guy we called "Manaearhea" makes me twitch a bit, ngl. Then I remembered that we paid far more for Verlander, and I feel slightly better.

Slightly, I said.

[Amazin69]

From DiComo's piece on the Manaearhea deal:

Manaea set a career high in innings (181 2/3) and a career-best ERA (3.47) and was downright spectacular from July through the end of the postseason. In 21 starts from July 1 until his final postseason start, Manaea had a 3.40 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 127 strikeouts over 124 1/3 innings,

3.40 ERA is "downright spectacular", is that it, Anthony?

D. Gooden, 1985, 1.53
J. de Grom, 2018, 1.70
T. Seaver, 1971, 1.76
T. Seaver, 1973, 2.08
J. Koosman, 1968, 2.08
T. Seaver, 1968, 2.20
T Seaver, 1969, 2.21
D. Cone, 1988, 2.22
M. Harvey, 2013, 2.27
J. Koosman, 1969, 2.28
M. Scherzer, 2022, 2.29
J. Matlack, 1972, 2.32
T. Seaver, 1975, 2.38

Hey, Sean! Come back when you don't have 13 people who outdid you by more than a run.

(In related news, Emergency Services has been dispatched to help Mr. A. Di Como remove his head from his ass.)

Please also note that Tom Terrific has FIVE of the cited 13 seasons. Only Koosman even has two, other than Mr. Franchise.

[Westheim]

Jake only had one season with an ERA under 2.40? (looks taken aback)

(checks bb-ref)

Well, he had a 2.38* in 2020, and a narrow miss in '19 (2.43).

He has a better career ERA (2.52) than Tom Terrific's Mets ERA (2.57, and it got worse post-NY), but then again he's only pitched 264 innings across the last FIVE years, which Seaver passed in a single season seven times without constantly coming apart.

Look, I love them both, but for different reasons. Manaea? If he keeps the 3.40 stuff going we'll hardly complain, won't we?

[Amazin69]

[Jake]'s only pitched 264 innings across the last FIVE years

Jiminy Cree, 52 IP per, on average? That makes me very sad. (It also rather confirms my hypothesis that JdG is the Kris Bryant of the hill, and he'd have been better off backing off, but I do admit it was fun while it lasted.)

I actually feel that (given the peaks and valleys of any season) Manaea's future 3.40 ERAs will give us ample opportunity for complaint, given the price tag. But yes, if he can be consistent at that level, it will be a help, while we wait to have a true #1 (Sproat?) sprout.

ETA: You'll note that Seaver's best year was the one where he didn't win the Cy Young. I love Fergie (I felt a bit bad when Walt Terrell had the 2HR game against him in Wrigley, much as I was gleeful on Crazy Crab's behalf) and I understand about Wrigley and park effects, but…come on, guys.

G. Thomas Seaver, every alternate year in Shea: ROY, CYA, screwed, CYA, CYA, traded. The even-numbered seasons were good, too (I'll never forget his K'ing 16 Phools on the last day of 1974 to keep his 200-K streak intact, despite the sciatic nerve that plagued him all year), but the peaks came nice and regular, in retrospect.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Apparently, there's no great rush to sign Peeeete.

iTalk Studios says that, by passing on the Mets' initial offer of 7 years at $22.5 mn @, Pete (and Boras) have scared off teams that don't want to commit to more than 3 years for a 30-year-old power-first 1B, no matter how consistent and consistently healthy he has been. The Asstros gave Christian Walker 3 years at $20 mn per, the Yankees may do something similar for Goldschmidt, but nobody wants a big deal for Big Pete. At this point, Pete and Boras are basically hoping somebody panics as cheaper alternatives come off the market.

I would think Uncle Stevie should at least step it up to $27 million or so per season. After what he means to the team, the Polar Bear should be making more than the $20 million that Mr. Pointy and Edlose get, and he's worth at least half a Soto. JMO.

ETA: Dugout Diaries notes that Pete's .788 OPS last season was the worst of his career and his 34 HRs were the fewest except for the COVID season, so there's concern he's starting to lose it.. An AL executive allegedly said "he's not a defender and not an athlete", so it's only the bat. Apparently, despite much praise from Keith Hernandez (who also praises the defense of Mark Vientos, recall), Pete posted a -9 Runs Saved last season, putting him in the bottom third, statistically, and his baserunning is rated equally low.



(Other videos [find them yourself] say that Cheating Asstro Alex Bregman is in the same boat, and one overly-optimistic Mets fan says that this means the Mets will sign both of them. Hardly seems likely, and anyhow, where would Vientos play? Right field? No sane GM is going to make Swaggy V [his team nickname, apparently] a full-time DH when he just turned 25 less than two weeks ago.)

Goldy is on a one year deal. Excellent chance that he will bounce back..as his BABIP shows the baseball God treated him unfairly last year.

[Amazin69]

Jon "Hey, man!" Heyman reports that there is still a "sizeable gap" between the Mets and Peeeeeeete/Boras.

On the one hand, there's still nobody really banging down Boras's door. OTOH, the Mets' plan B appears to be "Swaggy V" at 1B, and either Baty or Mauricio at 3B. (I guess they don't want to try Acuña there, and Candelita is a FA. I would think they might consider putting Luisangel at 2B and moving the Squirrel to 3rd but that isn't being mentioned, yet.)

And yet…so far, so nothing.

[Amazin69]

Also, the current rotation's ages as of April 1, 2025:

Manaea (33)
Senga (32)
Montas (32)
Holmes (32)
Peterson (29)

Not Scherzer-and-Verlander aged, but our "support" starters better be ready. I doubt the whole rotation will get through the year without incident.