For some reason when they built my home, they put no cable on the main floor. No idea why. I didn’t realize it or care when I purchased the house. There’s cable in the bedrooms. I have a great set-up in the basement. It wasn’t an issue until my son was born.
Having a baby changes your life forever. What was once a great set-up becomes a death trap. It used to be no big deal running up and down two flights of stairs. We weren’t doing that with our son, especially as an infant. You’re too tired to do that. You really watch less and less TV. However, as a fan, you still don’t want to miss the big events. As such, I put a TV on the first floor, and I got a Roku stick.
Last night, the Super Bowl was streamed on the CBS Sports App. I watched the entire game on it. I saw the same plays you saw. I saw the same commercials you did. Judging from Twitter, there was a palatable 5-10 second delay from TV. At halftime, I gave my son a bath and put him to bed. I went back downstairs and watched the end of the game. Overall, it was great, but it did raise one important question. Why doesn’t Major League Baseball do this? Honestly, I can’t think of one justifiable reason.
If you talk about cable money, keep in mind other companies have figured it out. In order to stream ESPN, HBO, Showtime, etc., you have to log in through your cable provider. In essence, you can’t watch without establishing you already pay for the service. I have no idea why SNY, or even YES for that matter, doesn’t do the same.
If you want to argue that you can never watch a game on a mobile device, you’re wrong. I have the Optimum App on my phone and other devices. I can walk around my home with the Mets game on my phone. However, I can’t sit down and watch a game using the Roku (unless you have Time Warner cable).
Now, I can watch games on the MLB app. However, I can only stream out of market games. Even if I could stream a Mets game, I would need to purchase a MLB subscription for a service I already paid good money to watch. It’s time for MLB to stop these arcane practices and allow their games to be streamed in local markets.
I’m tired of Major League Baseball lagging behind the NFL. It needs to stop.
Families and friends will gather around the TV tonight to watch the Super Bowl tonight. Some gather for the game. Some gather for the commercials. With some Mets already at Spring Training, I’m sure they’ll get together to watch the game.
One person we know who will not be there is Juan Uribe. No, not because he’s a free agent. He’s not watching because he really hates football. He only wants to watch baseball. If he was there tonight, he’d probably tell David Wright to turn on the baseball game. Unfortunately for Uribe, there’s no baseball games being televised during the Super Bowl tomorrow. No, not even on the MLB Network.
So who knows? Maybe Uribe breaks down and watches the Super Bowl tonight. If it’ll help him to know that Cam Newton loves baseball or that his former teammate Todd Helton was a former teammate of Peyton Manning at Tennessee.
In any event, after tonight, it’s all about baseball just like Juan Uribe wants it to be.
My favorite Mets jerseys are the ’86 Mets jerseys. I love the orange and blue racing stripes along the sides of the jerseys. Now that the Mets are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ’86 World Series title, the jersey is coming back:
Mets will wear '86 uniforms multiple times throughout the season as an alternate — not just during weekend honoring 30th anniversary.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) February 3, 2016
At first, I was ecstatic. I never thought the Mets should’ve gotten rid of those jerseys. I love seeing them out on the field. It reminds me of a time when the Mets were great. It reminds me of when the Mets once owned New York. Those days are long past. The Mets have moved on from that time.
First, it was the black jerseys. They had a good run through the 90’s. Then it was a transitional period where we saw less of the black, more of the snow white jerseys, and variations of the pinstriped jerseys.
Now, the Mets have settled on a new group of uniforms. It’s a mixture between the simpler old-style uniforms and the nice alternate blue uniforms.
These are new uniforms for a new generation of Mets baseball. While I agree the Mets should be wearing the ’86 jerseys to celebrate the last Mets World Series championship team, I do not agree they should be worn throughout the season. Instead, I’d like to see the Mets update the patch the Mets wore on the ’86 jerseys.
Recreate this patch with the years 1986 and 2016 for the 30th anniversary. Put these on the new Mets uniforms. The uniforms that belong to the ’16 Mets. Let these Mets wear their own uniforms.
Hopefully, they will be the same uniforms another Mets team will wear 30 years from now.
Last year, the Mets were carried by their pitching. It helped them sustain an anemic offense until the Mets got healthy and made trades. It helped carry them to the World Series. It’s the promise for the future.
That future first comes into question around 2019. That is the year that Matt Harvey becomes a free agent. Zack Wheeler could become a free agent the same year or the subsequent year. Two years later Jacob deGrom becomes a free agent. After that, the Mets will have to address the free agent case of Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Naturally, this prompts the discussion of who the Mets should extend and when they should do it.
When these discussions take place, I find everyone to be extremely short-sided. Yes, it’s important to make a decision on the Mets starters, especially on Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard. However, I find that these discussions ignore Jeurys Familia. Like Harvey, Familia will be a free agent in 2019.
Familia was an exceedingly important part of the 2015 Mets. He was the stabilizing force at the back-end of a beleaguered bullpen. During 2015, Familia had the fifth most appearances. Of players who were strictly relievers, he had the third most innings pitched. He lead the league in games finished. He tied the Mets single season record for saves.
The advanced statistics also loved Familia’s 2015 season. He had an ERA+ of 200, which is astounding. It was the best amongst Mets pitchers. In fact, it’s a tick below Mariano Rivera‘s career 205 mark, which is the best in major league history. Familia’s FIP was 2.74, which, unsurprisingly, rates him as an excellent pitcher. Mariano’s career mark was 2.76. In essence, Familia’s 2015 was Riveraesque.
Keep in mind, Collins initially deployed Familia like Rivera. When it came time to close out the NLDS, Familia pitched two shutout innings. In the whole postseason, Familia had 12 appearances, and of those 12 appearances, he pitched more than one inning five times. He pitched 14.2 innings in those 12 appearances. Yes, he blew three saves in the World Series, but he only allowed one earned run the entire postseason. In reality, the blown saves were not on Familia but the Mets team as a whole.
Its important to lock-up some starting pitchers. If Harvey, deGrom, or Syndergaard leave, the Mets have other starters to keep having a strong rotation. If Familia were to leave, the Mets do not appear to have another reliever to take Familia’s spot. This makes extending Familia absolutely imperative.
So when it comes down to which Mets pitcher I would extend first, my answer is Jeurys Familia.
Editor’s Note: this article also appeared on metsmerizedonline.com
One of the many blurbs that have surfaced from Yoenis Cespedes press conference is the Mets believe they can keep this young rotation together:
While Sandy said he thinks team could sign all starters, realistically just hard to envision a team doing that unless payroll is $200m.
— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) February 3, 2016
Now, the $200 million is conjecture. To be fair, if you polled most Mets fans, or really anyone for that matter, they would agree with this assessment. Rather than take it at face value, I figured it would be better to actually try to figure out if it’s possible.
Of all of the Mets pitchers, Matt Harvey has reached the arbitration stage of his career, and he agreed to $4.325 million to play in 2016. He will be a free agent in 2019. That’s the key timeframe because that’s the point when these starting pitchers will start receiving large free agent deals.
Right now, the Mets payroll stands around $140 million. Before figuring out how much these pitchers will cost, we should figure out which of the players on the payroll whose contracts will expire by the time Harvey first reaches free agency along with their 2016 salaries:
- Yoenis Cespedes $27.5 million (free agent 2019)
- Curtis Granderson $16 million (free agent 2018)
- Neil Walker $10.55 million (free agent 2017)
- Asdrubal Cabrera $8.25 million (free agent 2018)
- Bartolo Colon $7.25 million (free agent 2017)
- Addison Reed $5.3 million (free agent 2018)
- Antonio Bastardo $5.375 million (free agent 2018)
- Jeurys Familia $4.1 million (free agent 2019)
- Jerry Blevins $4 million (free agent 2017)
- Lucas Duda $6.725 million (free agent 2018)
- Jenrry Mejia $2.47 million* (free agent 2019)
- Ruben Tejada $3 million (free agent 2018)
Before proceeding, it should be noted the Mets only owe Mejia a pro-rated portion of the $2.47 million due to his suspension. Mejia served 62 games of his 162 game suspension last year meaning the Mets will owe him roughly $945,000 next year.
Without factoring in arbitration increases and the like, the Mets payroll will decrease by $98,995,000. That means the Mets payroll obligations would be around $41 million. When you look at David Wright‘s salary, it will actually decrease by an additional $5 million to reduce obligations to $36 million. On the other side of that coin, Juan Lagares‘ $2.5 million 2016 salary jumps to $9.0 million in 2019. That’s a $6.5 million increase. As a result, the Mets 2019 payroll obligations will be $42.5 million.
If payroll remains stagnant, that means the Mets will have $97.5 million to fill out their roster and pay their starting pitchers.
Part two will analyze how much of this money will be attributed towards position players.
This is a whole new generation. When I was growing up, we had candy cigarettes (gone) and Big League Chew (still around). While playing baseball, we used to have the candy cigarettes so we could smoke like Keith Hernandez, or we would shove a ton of Big League Chew in our mouths to look like Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra was such a legendary chewer that he was said to have stained the AstroTurf at the old Vet.
As kids, we used this stuff because we thought it was cool to look like ballplayers. Did we try to real stuff? Well, not as kids. It’s s good thing too because it would’ve been like that scene in The Sandlot:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CAxuXNxsNMk
Personally, I never really had any interest. Part of the reason was my parents. Another part was I was a catcher. I’ve seen catchers who have used chewing tobacco, but to me that was a pain. I tried seeds, which is similar in principle, but it annoyed me. So I went without any of it for most of my baseball life.
Then I got older, got big, and was moved out from behind the plate. Part of “rookie” hazing was getting them to throw in a dip and watch the hilarity ensue. It wasn’t pleasant.
In any event, I found myself playing that dreaded DH position more and more, which means you spend a lot of time on the bench. Many of those guys throw one in, so you usually do as well. You practice that finger motion with your index finger so you can pack it better and tighter. One day, it all becomes second nature.
When I was in college, it was great. There were a couple of nights, it helped me get through the all-nighters. Also, there were some bars in the area where if you didn’t throw one in, you were out of place. Honestly, I wasn’t so much addicted to it as I loved doing it.
A good friend of mine and me used to love dipping while watching baseball games. We would not only watch the games, but we would also keep an eye out for who was dipping. You would see the finger going in the dugout. The circle shape in the player’s uniform pants. That ever so slight bump in the bottom lip. If you ever saw it in the top lip, you knew that guy was having real problems. Looking at the Mets now, I can tell you who does and who doesn’t dip. I can do that for any team if I watch them long enough.
Eventually, I quit. It really is a nasty habit. More importantly, it’s dangerous. We saw Tony Gwynn die too young because of it. We saw Curt Schilling battle cancer. As much as I enjoyed it, it really wasn’t worth it.
The strange part is I never would’ve started had it not been part of baseball’s culture. No sport is as associated with smokeless tobacco than baseball. I thought about all of this when I saw Tim Rohan’s New York Times article about New York City looking to ban smokeless tobacco from being used in places like Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.
There’s a lively debate to be had here about whether this law is a good idea or not. It’s a debate that should occur. However, at the end of the day, I’m more concerned for that two year old of mine that loves baseball. I realize that NYC can put every law in place they want, but it won’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the problem is baseball.
The city bans smoking, but we hear about Yoenis Cespedes smoking between innings. We see players using smokeless tobacco all over the field. As we see with Cespedes, a player will find a work-around. You should hear how they work around smokeless tobacco bans and stigmas in other sports. Overall, players will always find a way to do it.
If that’s the case, it’ll always be associated with baseball, and that’s not a good thing. Baseball needs to help find a reasonable solution to this because what they have so far isn’t working. They need to figure it out because one day that Big League Chew becomes Skoal or Red Man. That needs to stop before another generation of players starts using it.
I don’t want to see another Tony Gwynn.
In 2016, the Mets are defending their fifth National League crown. Do you know how the Mets finished their season in their other four attempts? Good luck.
Well, I didn’t quite make it to work today. There’s a simple reason. My son did his best Linda Blair impersonation. I heard him say, “Uh oh” and then vomit all over. I mean all over. He even hit me. It was on my shirt, in my hair. Everywhere.
Worse yet, I was woefully unprepared for it. Like an idiot, I thought these days were done. When my son was a baby, we were always prepared for vomits and blowouts. Now that he’s a toddler? We’re mostly prepared for spilled milk and the like. Well today, I put the provisions back in place, which are:
- Liter of bottle of water
- Dawn paper towels
- Clorox wipes
- Garbage bag
- Paper towels
Seriously, I cannot stress enough the need for the Dawn paper towels. Once you get them wet, it permits you to scrub whatever surface of your car, or child’s clothing with soap and water (the liter that’s in your car). Keep in mind, you don’t need a lot. A little goes a long way. Most of the time, I’ve been able to clean whatever issue was present with the Dawn paper towels. More importantly, you’re going to reduce the smell in the car for when you’re finally going to get back on the road.
The Clorox wipes are to wipe down any toys and the like that are salvageable. I threw away two coloring books today, but I was able to wipe down some toy cars.
Before you depart, you don’t want to leave everything soapy. Use the remaining water and rinse the areas that had to be cleaned with the Clorox paper towels. You want to get rid of a the soap, and you want to make sure you got everything.
It should go without saying, all of the aforementioned steps come AFTER you’ve cleaned off your child.
Overall, I’ve found this kit helps really well. I only wish I had it with me today. I hope now you’ll have it with you.
At the press conference today re-introducing Yoenis Cespedes, the issue of what Alejandro De Aza‘s role will be. Naturally, he’s expected to be on the bench ready, willing, and able to play all three outfield positions. Perhaps, that is jumping the gun a bit:
https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/694964819003359232
This really just confirms what every Mets fan thought when De Aza came aboard. De Aza signed with the Mets to share centerfield duties with Juan Lagares. The move was made because the Mets never thought they were going to be able to sign Cespedes. Yet, somehow, Cespedes returned to the Mets leaving behind Lagares and De Aza platooning on the bench.
Now, we are not privy to what, if any, promises were made to De Aza. We do know at the time De Aza was signed, the Mets were fairly steadfast they were not re-signing Cespedes. With that said, it’s fair to say, De Aza came to the Mets to be at worst their fourth outfielder. At a minimum, it appeared he was going to have a legitimate shot to get the bulk of the at bats in centerfield. Now, he’s the team’s fifth outfielder. I’m sure he’s not happy with being pushed down the depth chart without even playing one game, especially when he could’ve signed anywhere.
Now, De Aza can’t be traded until June 15th unless he consents to a deal, which he very well might. While every player wants to win, every player also wants to play. Right now, De Aza’s at bats will be few and far between as he’s the left-handed option off the bench, and the corner outfielders hit left-handed as well. He could be buried on the bench for a while. It’s not exactly an exciting proposition for a 31 year old utility outfielder.
So yes, we understand why De Aza would want to be traded, but why would the Mets want to trade him? With the Brandon Nimmo injury and the Darrell Ceciliani trade, De Aza is it when it comes to organizational centerfield depth. Well, there are a few good reasons.
First, De Aza may not be happy on the bench for long stretches, especially after he thought he could be a starter with the Mets. Having a disgruntled player is never good for your clubhouse. While Terry Collins was quite adept at handling the clubhouse last year, it doesn’t mean you should introduce a potential problem from the start. No, I’m not suggesting De Aza is a bad guy. Rather, I’m saying any player not getting sufficient playing time is an issue that will eventually come to a head.
Another reason you trade De Aza now is this might be the time when he has his most value. As teams look to fill out their rosters as Spring Training and/or the regular season approaches, De Aza may become a more attractive option. The Mets aren’t likely to get much in return, but whatever they do get is most likely to be better than what they get around the trade deadline.
Whether or not the Mets trade De Aza, we should be able to agree on one thing. De Aza is here because the Mets never expected Cespedes to be here. Now the Mets need to find playing time for FIVE major league caliber outfielders. This really is a nice problem to have after the problems we saw with the Mets last year.
Sometimes, it’s great when the plan doesn’t come together.
When is a story not a story? I found myself asking that question when I read Deadspin‘s account on the current state of the Wilpon’s real estate business.
For the relatively uninformed Fred Wilpon made his money in the New York City real estate market. He is seen as a shrewd investor and a respected member of the industry. Say what you will about Fred Wilpon and his running of the Mets, but up until this article, his real estate acumen has not come into question.
Normally, I think Deadspin’s article would have been very important and enlightening. As we’ve seen from Howard Megdal’s reporting, the Mets other business interests have affected their ability/willingness to put the most competitive Mets team on the field as possible. However, with the Yoenis Cespedes signing, and the payroll hovering around $140 million, I’m not sure the Mets payroll is a story anymore, at least not with respect to the 2016 season.
While we can quibble with any particular move, it’s hard to attack the Mets for this roster as a whole. They have arguably the best pitching staff in baseball. Of the eight everyday position players, five are former All Stars while the other three could reasonably be All Stars within the next year or so. The bullpen has many pitchers who can handle both righties and lefties well, and it is headlined by a dominant closer.
So yes, the Deadspin report is very newsworthy. However, at least with respect to the 2016 season it’s not really a baseball story. It’s not a reason for any snarky comments. The Mets have spent the money, and they have a complete roster to make another run towards winning the World Series.