Johan Santana
While it may not be fair to have expected the New York Mets to start spending like drunken sailors, it was fair to expect significant progress. Frankly, we’re not seeing that entirely.
There’s the caveat the Wilpons never would’ve given Francisco Lindor that extension. They once did it with Johan Santana, but they’ve refused post Madoff.
Things are definitively improved, but it’s really not where it should be. Certainly, someone can say it’s not my money, and that’s true. However, what this ultimately about is winning.
It’s hard to see how the Mets recent decisions are driven by the intent to win. It seems like more penny-wise, pound foolish decisions.
In the Javier Baez trade, the Chicago Cubs paid most of Baez’s salary. With the Cubs kicking in so much money, they got a better prospect in Pete Crow-Armstrong. While the trade may be fair value even without the money, it’s fair to question why the Mets parted with the better prospect instead of adding payroll.
The Mets had the opportunity to add Josh Donaldson and Kenta Maeda. It not only was a move which would’ve significantly improved the Mets World Series chances, but it was all the more necessary with Jacob deGrom injured. They walked away because the Twins weren’t eating enough salary.
Then, they draft Kumar Rocker. The Mets had a handshake agreement if Kumar fell the Mets would draft him and give him a $6 million bonus. That amount plus some injury concerns helped Kumar fall.
Make no mistake here. When the Mets drafted Kumar and when they talked about $6 million, they knew something very likely could pop up on the medicals.
Knowing that, The Mets still went all-in on Rocker. They drafted underslot after Rocker. They had a lot of money remaining in the till, except they didn’t draft a Plan B to sign in the even Rocker didn’t sign. Again, Rocker was the only plan which is a horrendous plan if you’re drafting a guy of questionable health.
Now, Rocker is left figuring out the next step while the Mets pocket the $6 million it promised Kumar and all the savings on the underslot deals. If this was the Wilpons, we’d be screaming about their cheapness and Madoff.
That’s not exactly what’s happening here. Here, the Mets have an owner with the wherewithal to make these deals. He’s just opting not to for various reasons.
In the end, Cohen’s Mets made the same cheap decisions the Wilpons made. The only thing which has changed is the explanation. It’s a matter of “I can’t” to “I could, but I don’t want to do it.” Whatever it is, the result is the same.
So yes, things are better, much better. That said, this Mets team parted with a better prospect to save money, they opted not to eat salary to address an area of need, and they effectively punted the 2021 draft.
Between all of that, and not showing up to score runs against the Cincinnati Reds, this was a bad week, and frankly, it was a bad month. Let’s hope, it doesn’t all equate to a bad rest of the year.
During this series between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, it was announced Keith Hernandez will FINALLY be inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame. It didn’t exactly go great:
The Edward Jones advertisement being larger than Hernandez’s name is embarrassing. Then again, at least the Cardinals are attending to their Hall of Fame.
The Cardinals have an official committee, and they have fan votes to determine who belongs in their Hall of Fame. More than that, they actually have a Hall of Fame.
When Citi Field first opened, there was some lip service to the Mets Hall of Fame. As time progressed, and the impact of Madoff continued, we saw the Team Store push into and completely overwhelm the Mets Hall of Fame.
Aside from that, there’s been a serious lack of attention to inducting new members. The last member inducted was Mike Piazza in 2013. That’s unacceptable.
Right now, 13 of the top 24 Mets by WAR have not been inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. Put another way, most of the best players in team history have not been recognized.
That includes Edgardo Alfonzo and Al Leiter. That’s shocking with Alonzo being the best second baseman in team history, and with Leiter being the only Mets pitcher to win a play-in game.
It’s more than that. Bobby Valentine led the Mets to consecutive postseasons. Johan Santana had many great moments including the first and only no-hitter in Mets history. There’s also Nelson Doubleday who purchased the Mets and brought in the right people leading to the best run in Mets history.
Point is, the Mets Hall of Fame is severely lacking. Case-in-point. David Wright has not yet been inducted. We can argue over retiring his number, but his not being in the Mets Hall of Fame is absurd.
The Mets need to have Wright and others in the team Hall of Fame. For that matter, there needs to be a real Mets Hall of Fame.
This is a franchise with real history and great moments. It’s well past time it’s celebrated and properly honored. The Mets need a real and proper Hall of Fame. Hopefully, it will happen soon.
As has been the case with him over the past year (probably longer), Marcus Stroman has been a lightning rod for criticism. In terms of the New York Mets, it began when he opted out of the 2020 season, but there’s a possibility it began sooner than that.
In terms of that, Stroman was open and honest he was afraid of the outbreaks in Miami and St. Louis, and he had family members who were high risk. Rather than accept his explanation, people opted to read malice into his decision.
Since that point, Stroman signed the qualifying offer, has worked to develop a new pitch, and he has been just about as enthusiastic a Mets fan as there is. Yes, every action he has taken has indicated he is every bit the Mets fan he was like the day he was at Citi Field for Johan Santana‘s no-hitter.
Marcus Stroman taking on Negativity in the media. #LFGM pic.twitter.com/SWALbrDypQ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 12, 2021
This is a pitcher who not only believes in himself, but he believes in his teammates. He openly speaks about how Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in baseball. He talks about the talent on the roster. He talk about how great the Mets are. Really, if you look at Stroman, he pushes positivity and belief in not just himself, but also his teammates.
Still, like we saw in 2020, Stroman is going to make decisions which are good for him and his career. After seeing how Matt Harvey‘s career has transpired, we should have learned by now that’s not being selfish, but also, smart. The best ability you can give your team is availability, and if you hit the IL because you unnecessarily pushed it, you’re no longer available.
After the ridiculous decision to start the game against the Miami Marlins which was then suspended due to rain, Stroman announced his frustration he was not available again for five more days. He put in all that work, and it was all for naught. Of course, people opted to take that as Stroman being selfish and not team-first.
As an aside, the reason the Mets did not go with a six man rotation this year was because deGrom voiced his objections. Like all starting pitchers, deGrom is a creature of routine, and he didn’t want anything messing with his routine. What’s interesting is when this was Harvey, he was vilified, and for Stroman, when he said he wanted to stick to his routine, he was criticized.
Well, now, Stroman threw a bullpen session, and he declared himself good to pitch in the doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies. Once again, Stroman is stepping up and helping the team. He is doing it when few pitchers would be willing to pitch on one day’s rest.
Now that he is doing that, the people who refuse to embrace him, need to find another reason to criticize him. Better yet, instead of going that route, they should probably embrace him and acknowledge they’re getting to see not just one of the best pitchers in baseball, but also a positive individual who only seeks to build up everyone around him.
Due to the rain-out yesterday, the New York Mets split a series against the Miami Marlins. There was a lot which happened in the span of those three days, which is just an indication of just how bizarre the start to this season has been:
1. Not calling a game which had zero chance of ever getting played was a very Wilpon like decision. Hopefully, this is something that we will not see happen again.
2. Whenever there is a threat of rain, teams should just use an opener. It is not worth wasting a pitcher’s turn through the rotation in the hopes of a game being played. Instead of getting someone like Robert Gsellman some work, the Mets are going to have to wait until Friday to see Marcus Stroman again.
3. Aside from David Peterson, the Mets starting pitching has been quite good this season. The best surprise might’ve been Taijuan Walker who looked like the pitcher many thought he would be when he was once a top 10 prospect in the game.
4. Why bother reading the Wilpon owned Mets website, when you can come here and read it done first and better?
5. Jeff McNeil was swinging a good bat and ran into some bad luck before hitting that clutch homer. That bat flip was reminiscent of the Asdrubal Cabrera one.
6. The umpires completely blew it when ruling Michael Conforto was hit by the pitch to force in the game winning run. The fact replay can’t fix that error is a failure of the system.
7. Just when you thought that was bad, on Sunday Night Baseball, Alec Bohm never touched home plate, was ruled safe, and the call was somehow upheld on replay. What is the point of the system when you can’t get obviously blown calls corrected?
8. By the way, Travis d’Arnaud did an amazing job receiving that throw and blocking the plate. There really is no one better in the game than him at doing that, and it is also notable the Mets have spent a ton of money on catchers who are no better than him.
9. These two plays are reminiscent of when Chase Utley went out of the baseline, tackled Ruben Tejada, never touched the bag, and was ruled safe on replay and awarded second base. By the way, the manager who asked for that review and wound up winning partially because of that absurdity was Don Mattingly, so he can save us from listening to his whining.
10. The booing of Conforto was ridiculous. Yes, he had a really bad four game stretch as all players are going to have during the course of the season. You would just think a player of his stature who has been a good Met for this long would have a longer leash than four games.
11. Dropping Conforto in the line-up was a pure panic decision. It’s not like he’s the only Mets player not hitting. For example, there was no booing of Pete Alonso despite his being hitless over his last 11 at-bats, and no one wants him dropped in the order. Remember, Conforto was great last year whereas Alonso comparatively struggled.
12. No, this is not a call to boo Alonso. It is also not a call to boo McNeil who has one hit this year. The same goes for James McCann and Francisco Lindor who have matching .176 batting averages with no extra base hits. It is was too soon to boo any of these players.
13. Conforto is eventually going to break out of his slump due to the ebbs and flows of the baseball season. His being dropped to fifth, sixth, or even seventh in the order will have nothing to do with hit.
14. If this was about rewarding the best hitters, Luis Guillorme would be playing everyday. That goes double when you consider J.D. Davis hit the IL. Guillorme is literally hitting .500 in his limited playing opportunities.
15. Brandon Nimmo has been phenomenal to start the season. He has flat out been the Mets best player with a 223 OPS+ and a 1 OAA in center. He’s been locked in to start the season. Yes, it is too soon to talk All-Star or even MVP consideration, but he looks like he’s poised to have a great year.
16. Of course, no one is better than Jacob deGrom. On the season, he has allowed one run over 14.0 innings while striking out 21. We are running out of words to describe how great he is.
17. We’re also running out of ways to describe just how terrible the lack of run support he receives is. It is beyond a joke deGrom is 0-1 to start the year. It’s really difficult to pinpoint the reason, but there is no rational explanation why this keeps happening.
18. Congrats to Joe Musgrove for throwing the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history. Doing that for the team you grew up rooting for is like Mike Baxter making the no-hitter saving catch for Johan Santana‘s. On that topic, Anthony DiComo certainly showed his true colors.
19. People need to stop this over the top criticism of Luis Rojas. We are five games into a disjointed season with COVID cancellations and front office blown decisions on a rain delay. Like all managers, he is not the one setting the lineup or deciding whether or not to play the games. He is working with the front office on these decisions, including scripting out how long the starters go and which relievers pitch. He’s just the face and fall guy for many of these decisions.
20. The Mets already have four games to make up this season. The bright side will be those games will come when Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco have returned.
The consensus of people who have done this much longer and better is Francisco Alvarez supplanted Ronny Mauricio as the Mets top prospect. The consensus seems to be they are the top two in the system.
That said, at least here, Matthew Allan should be considered the Mets top prospect. We’re seeing and hearing many of the reasons why this Spring Training.
Matt Allan sets Starlin Castro down on strikes 😈 pic.twitter.com/U5HC1Nmj5K
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 8, 2021
Before Spring Training, Allan had been at the Mets alternate site at Brooklyn. That’s also where he pitched for the 2019 New York-Penn League Champions.
In that 2019 season, he made a combined six appearances (five starts) for the GCL Mets and Brooklyn. He was 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.452 WHIP, 4.4 BB/9, and a 12.2 K/9.
In the NYPL postseason, he was dominant pitching out of the bullpen. In two games, he pitched 5.0 innings retiring all 15 batters he faced. That included him pitching three innings and picking up the win in the clincher.
⚾️🌴 #Mets NRI Preview: RHP Matt Allan
• Easily the top pitching prospect in the org
• Sat 94-96 mph as an 18-year-old in 2019
• Curve projects as a plus pitch as well
• Improved changeup at Alt. Site in '20
• Could see him at Hi-A Brooklyn in 2021 pic.twitter.com/hwSeBIS922— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) February 16, 2021
In those games, we saw the repertoire and poise which led the Mets to implement their draft strategy to sign him. As per MLB Pipeline, he had a mid to high 90s fastball which he combined with an excellent curve and a change that was a work in progress. He had the size and delivery which portends success as a starter.
As noted by Jacob Resnick of SNY above, Allan improved the change last year. It should come as no surprise that came after getting to work with Jacob deGrom during part of the COVID shutdown last year. In that time, he got to learn from deGrom much in the same way deGrom once got to learn from Johan Santana.
This past offseason, Allan again went to Stetson University to work with deGrom and fellow Stetson alum catcher Patrick Mazeika.
Allan had the opportunity to speak to and learn from the best pitcher in the game. As noted, it helped lead to an improved change. It may also help him in terms of the mental side of the game and preparation. Really with deGrom encouraging him to wear him out with questions, Allan had a real opportunity to hone his craft.
That continued in Spring Training when Allan got to work not only with deGrom but also Marcus Stroman.
Here is Mets prospect Matt Allan, on picking the brains of Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and others as a 19-year-old in big-league camp: pic.twitter.com/1xOP8GvR2P
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 25, 2021
With Stroman, Allan discussed grips as well as the mental side of the game. Many forget Stroman is a real student of the game, and he’s someone who works harder than anyone to find ways to improve and get batters out. As noted by Allan, Stroman was genuine in helping him improve as a pitcher.
That’s a huge reason why Allan should be considered the Mets best prospect. Yes, he certainly has the natural talent and pure stuff to earn that consideration. However, it’s more than that.
Allan, himself, is working hard and striving to improve. He’s in a very fortunate situation where he has had the opportunity and will continue to have the opportunity to get mentored by deGrom and Stroman.
Taking everything into account, it’s not just Allan’s change which will make considerable strides. He should also in every aspect of his game. Seeing how he and others are investing in him, he has real top of the rotation potential, and seeing his progress that may come far sooner than originally anticipated.
Overall, it’s very fair to consider Alvarez and Mauricio as the Mets best prospects. Still, seeing Allan’s improvement, maturity, and natural talent, he should probably be considered a step ahead thereby making him the Mets best prospect.
When the New York Mets obtain a star, some have some trepidation. There are bad memories associated with the 1992 Mets as well as with future Hall of Famers like Roberto Alomar and All-Stars like Carlos Baerga.
Yes, those names were specifically chosen. They were not just chosen because they were great players before joining the Mets. They were also great Cleveland Indians players traded to the Mets.
What does that have to do with Francisco Lindor? In reality, absolutely nothing.
Alomar was 34 when the Mets obtained him. Baerga was hitting .267/.302/.396 with the Indians when the Mets obtained him.
Lindor is the best shortstop in baseball. In fact, since his debut in 2015, only Mike Trout and Mookie Betts have a higher WAR. That’s it. That’s the list.
No one asked if Trout should get the $426.5 million he received. There wasn’t a question about Betts’ $365 million extension. Yet, somehow, we see fans and articles question whether Lindor should receive an extension at all.
Really, it’s nonsense hand-wringing. It’s assuming everything goes wrong for the Mets. It’s remembering only the bad while conveniently forgetting Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza, and even Johan Santana.
The Mets traded for those stars and gave them extensions. Hernandez led to the best stretch in Mets history and the team’s second World Series.
Piazza set records for homers as a catcher, led the Mets to consecutive postseasons for the first time in their history, the homer after 9/11, and he became the second player to wear a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
Santana had the last great moment in Shea Stadium history, and to date, he’s thrown the only no-hitter in Mets history.
The point is for every Alomar, there’s a Piazza. For every Jason Bay or Bobby Bonilla, there’s a Carlos Beltran and Curtis Granderson.
There’s also the matter of next year’s free agent class. Lindor should find himself the biggest target, but Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, and Trevor Story will also be available.
Do the Mets want to sort through this class and have the Los Angeles Dodgers run up the bidding like they did with Trevor Bauer, or the way the Toronto Blue Jays did with George Springer. That’s nothing to say of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox who are resetting under the luxury tax to position themselves to attack free agency next year.
That’s whenever free agency does begin. Remember, the CBA expires at the end of the season, which very well may lead to a strike or lockout. In those circumstances, it makes it all the more difficult to navigate your way through the offseason.
Regardless, all of that distracts from the main point. Francisco Lindor is a top three player in the sport and future Hall of Famer who is in his prime. Instead of inventing reasons to try to justify not extending him, we should all just demand the Mets extend him.
June 1, 2012.
Johan Santana was 10 starts deep into the season as he tried to make the fairly unprecedented step of returning from anterior capsule surgery in his pitching shoulder. On this night, this one glorious night, he would do something no one had ever done before:
The Mets history is one of great pitching. There were great pitchers both before and after Santana. There were many close cases, but Santana was the only one who threw a no-hitter.
This is just one part of his legendary Mets career.
Santana initially came to the Mets after the dismal 2007 collapse. He came to the Mets as the piece meant to not only ensure there wouldn’t be a second collapse, but also to get them to the World Series.
Santana would more than hold up his end of the bargain. That season he was arguably cheated out of the Cy Young after he led the NL in ERA, GS, and IP.
Even if Santana didn’t win the award, he proved himself to be an ace’s ace and arguably the best pitcher in baseball. In a game the Mets had to win, Santana took the ball on the penultimate day of the season despite his being on short rest and his dealing with a knee injury. It was a virtuoso performance:
In that game, Santana registered the last great performance by a Mets pitcher at Shea Stadium. It was the last complete game shut out, and he would pick up the last win by a Mets pitcher in the ballpark.
The Mets were in the position for that heartbreaking loss because Santana was phenomenal down the stretch. In the second half, he was 8-0 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.096 WHIP.
Sadly, it was the last chance for him to pitch in a pennant chase for the Mets. Poor roster decisions, an ill conceived ballpark, a Ponzi scheme, and flat out bad ownership cost the Mets and Santana the opportunity to again compete for a postseason berth.
Despite that, Santana was good when his health allowed him to pitch for the Mets.
To this day, he is still the Mets best left-handed pitcher in the Citi Field era. Since the ballpark opened, he leads all left-handed pitchers in ERA and FIP. Overall, he’s fourth and sixth in those categories respectively.
Looking past that with an eye towards Mets history, Santana still rates well. He’s sixth all-time in ERA+ and 10th in K/BB%. He’s 11th in pitching WAR despite having fewer starts than anyone in the top 10. In fact, he has the second fewest starts out of any Mets pitcher in the top 20.
As if this convincing enough, Santana’s impact on the Mets is still felt to this day. Back when Santana was rehabbing his shoulder injury, a then unknown prospect by the name of Jacob deGrom was rehabbing from Tommy John.
As detailed by Tim Rohan, then of the New York Times, Santana taught deGrom how to throw his change-up. That helped deGrom set on the path to not only make the majors but also become the best pitcher in all of baseball.
In a nutshell, that shows how much of a profound impact Santana has had on the Mets organization.
He delivered the last great moment in Shea Stadium history. He’s thrown the only no-hitter. He and his change-up helped deGrom. When you break it all down, it’s just impossible to tell the history of the Mets without Santana.
Overall, he’s one of the best starters in team history, and he’s done things no one has done in Mets history. As a result, he belongs in the Mets Hall of Fame.