Opening Day 2019 minus 95 Days
With the Mets hiring a new GM, Brodie Van Waganen, they’re hungry for new players and consequentially getting better with the correct trades.
The Amazins’ made a smart move today in signing veteran catcher Wilson Ramos for a two-year deal. The thirty-one year old backstop posted 109 homers, a batting average of .273 and having 426 RBIs in his career.
A couple of weeks ago, the Boys from Queens made another good move in signing slugger Robinson Cano and lights-out closer Edwin Diaz.
The Mariners, on the other hand, are going to get STACKED, they got Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, their #1 pick in the draft in Jarred Kelenic, Gerson Bautista and Justin Dunn. Cano will not produce as much as he did in his early career, but he will provide the hole in second base that the Mets could not fill and another experienced bat in the lineup.
Edwin Diaz is the spotlight in this trade because the Mets will destroy anyone with him late in the game.
In other news for the Mets – and yes, I will get to other teams too – their interest in Marlins star catcher, Realmuto remains real and they are seriously considering trading Syndergaard to the Yankees in a three-team deal. The Mets also want to sign DeGrom long term, the 30-year-old righty, who won the Cy Young award with a 1.70 ERA last season, which I think is a great thought.
So, now in other news, the Mariners are looking for new players because they traded the good players to the Mets. They landed Domingo Santana from the Brewers and now they have a great outfield, and well-rounded outfield – an outfield with Mitch Haniger, Jay Bruce and Mallex Smith is a great lineup. The Brewers landed Ben Gamel, the veteran right/left fielder is batting .269 with 13 homers in just three years which were cut short—all three of them. This is probably the biggest trade of the year and we definitely won’t see one like this one until the calendar turns the page to 2019.
The Dodgers landed Homer Bailey and a few prospects while the Reds got Matt Kemp, Yaisel Puig, Kyle Farmer and Alex Wood. An amazing deal. I don’t know how Nick Krall managed that insane deal with the Dodgers, maybe Andrew Friedman was having a bad day, maybe he didn’t sleep at all that night.
The Cardinals got an amazing bullpen reinforcement in Andrew Miller, the outstanding lefty reliever who injured his elbow really badly during the season and he was out most of the season. He still has 53 saves and a 3.98 career ERA. I think he will perform very, very well and will have his first taste of the National League.
Personally, I think pitching in the National League is much easier than in the American League, and one reason is that the American League has better hitter and the American League has the DH. It’s really your choice but you gotta face the facts some time.
While I’m writing this, I’m thinking that Yasiel Puig will actually look pretty good in a Cincinnati Reds uni. The good closer Craig Kimbrel is still on the market somehow and I don’t know why. He’s a great closer and is completely cool even in the toughest situations. He is reportedly lowering his price so now maybe he will be sold a little faster.
The Padres are looking into signing Marcus Stroman to help their rotation. The young sparkplug righty had a injury-stricken 2018 season so he only pitched 19 games and posted an ugly 5.54 ERA over the season. The Padres already had a great infield with power hitters all over and a great infield coming up lead by Fernando Tatias Jr. But the Paders finalized the deal for the World Series winning second baseman to come west, Ian Kinsler. Kinsler had a season with 14 homers, a .240 batting average, second to lowest in his career and stole 16 bags with two teams. He’s the kind of guy who every team wants to have.
If Kinsler is reading this, do not and I repeat, DO NOT, take this personally. Kinsler is the kind of guy who doesn’t really make a difference to a team on the big picture, but if you look really closely, he has the speed, the amazing glove and has the pop to hit a few homers, so in my book, the perfect leadoff hitter. I read that the Dodgers made this deal just to make the outfield have only green grass, with Joc Pederson and Kike Hernandez grazing out there somewhere.
Harper wants a lot of money for someone to sign him, the worse the team the more the money, but for the Dodgers, Harper doesn’t want to say it. But everyone thinks he would fit best there, a team without Harper going to the World Series and losing, what will happen with Harper.
The Cubs are also looking for Harper but they don’t really have room unless they trade Schwarber, Heyward, Happ or Almora, one of the four and they got Harper.
While I was writing this, ESPN gave me a notification that the Mets signed Rajai Davis to a minor league contract and will hopefully get promoted to the majors sometime during the season. The veteran played 102 games and hit only 1 home run, power was never his strong suit, but he stole 21 bags and had a .224 average, so he didn’t have a great year last year. But we will all never forget that this is the man that hit the game-tying homer in Game 7.
The Mets signed another outfielder, Gregor Blanco from the Giants to another minor league contract, Gregor Blanco will be another guy that if someone gets injured, he’ll step in, if he’s playing well and the guy that’s injured comes back, Blanco will be hanging on by a thread, if he’s playing bad, he’ll get sent right back down.
The Mets have a great farm system, with Peter Alonso ready to get called up, next up is Andres Gimenez and Ronny Maurucio both shortstops who both performed well in ’18. Matt Harvey found a new home on Friday, Los Angeles, maybe he could set up a crime lab in LA and Robin will no longer be Robin, Robin will now be…… Seagull!!!!
Alfred will trade in the old tux for a swim suit, no, no, that doesn’t sound right, maybe one of those Hawaiian luau shirts, some shorts and flip flops. No longer Alfred Pennyworth, it’s Alfred Sunburnsworth. His batterang will be a baseball now and his bat suit will be an Angels jersey.
Now, seriously, Daniel Murphy has signed with the Colorado Rockies for two years. Murphy was limited to only 91 games in 2018 due to injury. He was always a power hitter with a glove that needed work. He is excepted to play 1B there. Murphy will move Ian Desmond to center and that will shift the whole outfield a little.
To top it off, the Dodgers are expecting to make a Kluber trade, but this deal is being sidetracked by both teams, the players that being considered to be dealt is a bad idea, I think.
Baseball Quiz: Tweet my father the answer.
Who is the Twins winningest manager?
Who has the most career WAR with the Texas Rangers?
How many career stolen bases do Jose Altuve and Pablo Sandoval have together?
How many saves do Fernando Rodney and Craig Kimbrell have together?
There are exciting things happening in the MLB in the countdown to Opening Day 2019.
