What Mets fans talk about when not talking about the actual games.
Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice
Shannon Shark is the founder of MetsPolice.com, tweets as @metspolice, is an avid fan of Lee Mazzilli and Daniel Murphy, hates black uniforms and is the author of "Send The Beer Guy" available at Amazon.com. #imwith28
“I talked to Billy,” Scherzer told The Athletic. “I was like, ‘OK, are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ‘25 at the earliest, more like ‘26. We’re going to be making trades around that.’
“I was like, ‘So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’ He said, ‘No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. ‘24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.’” (Via The Athletic)
Man who seemingly only comes on twitter when things are good.
I don’t know what happened to the brash young man that once hosted Mets Extra, but Howie…listen to yourself.
Compete for the Wild Card?
Like…hey we won 84 games and we were right there in the Wild Card hunt? That’s why we got the cool billionaire with the open wallet? That’s year four of the 3 to 5 years plan?
There was once a young man on WFAN who would have done a full blown tirade at that notion. You basically said “meaningful games in September.”
Anyway, the Mets sent some more press releases…
METS ACQUIRE MINOR LEAGUE INFIELDER JEREMY RODRÍGUEZ FROM ARIZONA
FLUSHING, N.Y., August 1, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has acquired minor league infielder Jeremy Rodríguez from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Tommy Pham and cash considerations.
Rodríguez, 17, ranked as the No. 47 prospect in this year’s international signing class according to MLB.com. The native of the Dominican Republic signed with Arizona as a non-drafted free agent on January 15. He has appeared in 37 games for the Rookie DSL Arizona Black, where he has tallied six doubles, two triples, two home runs, 18 RBI, 24 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.
Pham, 35, signed with the Mets as a free agent prior to the 2023 season. In 79 games with the Mets, he batted .268 (62-231) with 29 runs, 15 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 36 RBI, 11 steals with a .348 OBP, a .472 SLG, an .820 OPS with a 126 OPS+.
METS ACQUIRE RHP PHIL BICKFORD AND LHP ADAM KOLAREK
FROM LOS ANGELES DODGERS
FLUSHING, N.Y., August 1, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has acquired right-handed pitcher Phil Bickford and left-handed pitcher Adam Kolarek from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations.
Bickford, 28, was designed for assignment by the Dodgers on July 29. He appeared in 36 games with Los Angeles and went 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA (24 ER/42.0 IP) with 26 walks and 48 strikeouts. Over four seasons with the Brewers (2020-2021) and Dodgers (2021-2023), Bickford owns an 8-6 record with a save, a 4.40 ERA (76 ER/155.1 IP) with 59 walks and 176 strikeouts. He was originally selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 18th overall pick in the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of the College of Southern Nevada.
Kolarek, 34, spent the majority of the 2023 season with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the team’s Triple-A affiliate. In 33 games in the Pacific Coast League, the lefty went 0-3 with a 2.40 ERA (8 ER/30.0 IP) with 17 walks and 26 strikeouts. He has appeared in 171 career major league games with Tampa Bay (2017-2019), Los Angeles-NL (2019-2020, 2023) and Oakland (2021-2022), posting an 11-4 record with four saves, a 3.73 ERA (60 ER/144.2 IP) with 42 walks and 96 strikeouts. He has limited left-handed hitters to a .190/.242/.359 slashline over his career.
A Baltimore native, Kolarek was originally drafted by the Mets in the 11th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Maryland.
METS ACQUIRE MINOR LEAGUE INF JEREMIAH JACKSON FROM THE ANGELS
FLUSHING, N.Y., August 1, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has acquired minor league infielder Jeremiah Jackson from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for right-handed pitcher Dominic Leone and cash considerations.
Jackson, 23, ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Angels system according to MLB Pipeline. Prior to this season, he was rated by Baseball America as the best power hitter in the Angels organization. This year at Double-A Rocket City, he slashed .248/.321/.447 with 15 doubles, one triple, 15 homers, 56 RBI, 46 runs scored and 21 stolen bases in 82 appearances. In 328 career minor league games, Jackson has posted an .816 OPS. He was selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft.
Leone, 31, made 31 appearances for the Mets after signing with the club on May 4, posting a 1-3 record and 4.40 ERA (15 ER/30.2 IP) with 11 walks and 33 strikeouts.
Hey it’s another bury the lede press release from The Mets!
METS ACQUIRE MINOR LEAGUE OUTFIELDERS DREW GILBERT AND RYAN CLIFFORD FROM HOUSTON
FLUSHING, N.Y., AUGUST 1, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has acquired minor league outfielders Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford from the Houston Astros in exchange for RHP Justin Verlander and cash considerations.
Gilbert, 22, ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Astros organization according to Baseball America and the 68th-best prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. He was slotted as the 36th-best prospect in the majors according to the Baseball Prospectus mid-year ranking. Clifford, 20, was the No. 3 prospect in Houston’s system according to Baseball America and the No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Gilbert was selected as the 28th overall pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Tennessee. In 81 games between High-A and Double-A this season, the left-handed hitter has hit .274 with 57 runs, 19 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs, 38 RBI, 10 steals with a .363 OBP and a .458 SLG. In 21 games before he was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi, Gilbert batted .361 (31-86) with 21 runs, eight doubles, one triple, six home runs, 18 RBI, four steals with a .421 OBP and a .686 SLG. He represented the Astros in the 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.
Clifford has appeared in 83 games this season between Class-A Fayetteville and High-A Ashville, batting .291/.399/.520 with 57 runs, 16 doubles, 18 home runs, 61 RBI with a .919 OPS. He was selected in the 11th round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Crossroads FLEX High School in Cary, NC. In 108 minor league games, the left-handed hitter owns a .282/.405/.494 slashline with 21 doubles, 20 homers, 71 RBI and 70 runs scored.
Verlander signed with New York as a free agent last offseason. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner made 16 starts for the Mets and went 6-5 with a 3.15 ERA (33 ER/94.1 IP) with 31 walks and 81 strikeouts.
FLUSHING, N.Y., July 29, 2023 – The New York Mets have opened their first-ever Teen Club for the remainder of the 2023 season, which is free for fans ages 13-15.
This newly established club offers members the opportunity to enter for a chance to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences at Citi Field, including a behind the scenes tour of Citi Field and a chance to shadow the New York Mets Social Media Team.
This new club is available from today through Saturday, September 30. For more information on the New York Mets Teen Club, click here.
