Mets

[Westheim]

Don't you worry, cowboy, you can still grow out of that blubber.

[Amazin69]

Lol, maybe in 1985, I could have. These days, I can barely lift myself out of my chair, much less power-lifting. (It's okay…my body is what it is. Whining won't change that.)

Anyhow, the Mets have a new #12 option for the rotation, as they have signed José Ureña to a minors deal. ($2 million if he reaches the big club.) Ureña had a 3.80 ERA in 109 innings last season, which is less impressive than it sounds, given that he was mostly pitching in relief.

But stranger things have happened, yada-yada…

[Westheim]

"Pitching for the Mets, Jose Uremia!"

With any luck we'll have that in April. And in May he's on the DL, like everybody and their mother.

[Amazin69]

Hey, remember how Adam Ottavi-NO went free agent last season…but then he came back?

Well, I had a horrifying thought…but it turns out he signed with the Red Sox last week (played his college ball for Northeastern, recall), so we're safe…

…for now.

(Phil Maton is also gon.)

[Westheim]

Well. Looks like my MLB TV subscription lapsed because they failed to charge my brand new card. Could be my fault, I don't know. Usually the problem sits in front of the screen.

And it's the weekend now and the bank is closed, so unless I rumble into a free game that's it for me for at least a couple of days.

(blows)

[Amazin69]

Mike Lupica column about how happy Pete Alonso is to still be a Met. (Also, his and his wife's house in Tampa took 2 feet of water during Hurricane Helene.) Which, okay, whatever.

In more-exciting news, David Wright used to be Jacob deGrom's barber!

(Did not realize that Jake's two Cy Young seasons were immediately after he cut the long hair. That doesn't feel right. )

[Amazin69]

Di Como article about Paul Blackburn:

Paul Blackburn has been checking various boxes over the past few weeks, but after his latest outing, the 31-year-old finally feels like it’s just another Spring Training.

Friday night, in a 5-4 loss to the Nationals, that meant a tough, 2 1/3-inning performance, where Blackburn gave up three runs on five hits and two walks. All three runs came on third-inning home runs by CJ Abrams and James Wood, but as Blackburn prepares to enter his ninth season in the Majors, he isn’t worried about what the box score says in an exhibition game.

It's nice to be so optimistic after an outing where you post an ERA over 9.00 and a WHIP over 2.00, isn't it?

[Westheim]

I wonder who will have worse pitching. The 2025 Mets or the 2065 Raccoons.

One long man has already been released after posting a 6.88 ERA.

[Westheim]

Francisco Alvarez is out for six to eight weeks with a broken paw, will have surgery, and then there's rehab and that crap and so we probably won't see him until June.

So that's how you turn Luis Torrens into an asset...

[Amazin69]

Don't wet the sheetz! We have Jakson Reetz!

(Yeah, not great news. Although Carp and Kevin Frandsen [dang the Nats go through analysts, don't they?] point out that Jakson is naturally economical, since he's removed the "c" from his first name to be used to designate his position, lol.

Carp turned 72 last Tuesday. I'm gonna miss him whenever he retires, ngl.)

[Amazin69]

More from the Gnat-cast (I'm on delay): Frandsen points out (after Vientos homers) that Swaggy V likes the ball down in the zone, which is unusual for a righty.

They also think that the ump jobbed McNeil out of a double by calling his grounder down the line foul…but given that Squirrel hit the next one off of the fence in right-center, I say we can call that "no harm, yes foul".

[Déjà Bru]

I'm glad to see Pete today, still in a Mets uniform.

[Amazin69]

Gnats put up a graphic projecting their bullpen, divided into "locks" and "possibles".

Among the "locks" was 2022 All-Star Jorge "Glove Toss" Lopez.

Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee.

[Amazin69]

Genesis Cabrera pitched like a Saturn. Blech.

(I mean, none of these guys are making the team anyhow, so blowing a 6-0 lead is nbd, in theory. But why start bad habits?)

[Westheim]

How great an addition would Travis Swaggerty be, and can be catch a baseball?

[Amazin69]

I keep forgetting to update the ex-Mets, so this is old news (last week):

…Quintana might have rejected that 1-year deal with Pittsburgh, but Milwaukee is a different matter. Welcome to the land of sausage and suds, Jose!

…not all our ex-Joes were so lucky. Candelita had to settle for a minor-league deal with the Padres. Steve Gelbs was truly pissed that nobody thought they could use Iglesias after the season he had last year. Yes, he might not hit .337 again…but he's a lifetime .283 batter. And if he's slightly slower in the field, he still has those magic hands, went Gelbs's argument.

…The Bronxville Kid is now north of Flushing, the Bronx and Bronxville. Bader's on a 1 year deal with the Twinkies. I wish him luck.

Meanwhile, on today's Ass-Cast, Todd Kalas said that Tylor Megill (who had a very impressive 4 IP of work) is in a 3-way battle (with Canning and Blackburn) for the final two rotation slots. That's a bit of an upgrade from the previously-reported "anybody who still has an option year, get ready to enjoy Syracuse…Tylor". Megill has certainly looked the most-ready of the three, I'd say.

[Amazin69]

Nimmo's been shot!

(Or, more precisely, had some gel injected into his knee over the weekend in the hope he might take the field sometime before Thanos snaps us all into dust. We'll see.)

[Déjà Bru]

Your old friend Dom Smith has been having a good spring training with the Yankees. I saw a few of his ABs and what struck me was his bat control — I think that's the term for it. For example, waiting on a curve and just meeting the ball even below the strike zone, lacing it for a single. He's almost 30 now, so he should have picked up some tricks along the way.

[Amazin69]

McNeil has right oblique strain, shut down for 7-10 days, will miss the opener.

To quote Joe Schultz, "********". Squirrel was really raking it, too.

So that's two starters out, two injured relievers who have yet to come back, Alvarez, McNeil, and Brandon Kneemo (who's still trying to get ready). Yeesh.

[Amazin69]

Well, NImmo at least DH'd today, so that's a step (pun?) in the right direction. Catching duties were handled by the Immortal Hayden Senger, which is close enough for me to make a "Holden Caulfied/J.D. Salinger" reference, even though I hate The Catcher in the Rye, since when my 8th grade self was assigned to read it, I thought that Holden came off as a whiny little brat.

Somebody not appearing for the Mets was Phil Maton, for the excellent reason that Maton just signed with the Cardinals (1 year, $2 million). Not certain if St. Louis is paying so that Maton will pitch for them, or if Uncle Stevie is paying to ensure that he doesn't pitch for us…