There’s always next season!

The MLB season wrapped up just a few days ago, and the season is in the midst of the Divisional Series. Surprisingly, the Orioles actually made it to the playoffs by winning their division. Even finishing higher than fourth in the AL East is cause enough for Maryland to explode for a week of partying. But the Texas Rangers have already swept the Orioles 3-0, so I guess not too much has really changed. 

 

For me, it wasn’t too weird to see the Yankees out of the playoffs, as they didn’t really play well for this season. You can’t even blame it on injuries, and although they did have some, they had 24 position players bat at least once during the season, which is about the average for an MLB team this year. Simply put, their roster wasn’t too strong at the beginning of the year, and those who were on it didn’t play well. I think that both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays had very similar seasons, although, the Rays finished 10 games above the Blue Jays. It was interesting to see the Rays dominate again without too many overly flashy players, but both teams fell in the Wild Card round. 

 

The AL Central was a disgusting division for the whole season, producing two teams with 100+ losses, only the fourth time that’s happened in the past eleven years, with the other three times being the AL Central in 2018 (again) and 2019 (again??) and the NL Central in 2022. The first-place Twins are hanging in there against the mighty Astros at 2-1 in the divisional after somehow surviving the Wild Card round. Everyone expected the Cleveland Guardians to have a good season, but they finished 10 games below .500. Somewhat understandably, longtime manager Terry Francona stepped away from the team at the end of 162. He was the Guardians’ winningest manager over their 123 seasons. Francona led them to the World Series in 2016 and on a 22-game win streak the next season: the longest streak in American League history. The replacement will definitely take some getting used to for all baseball fans. 

 

The AL West was very top-heavy again, which is not too hard to do when you have the Angels and the Athletics together in a division. The A’s finished as by far the worst team in baseball with 112 losses (they were a whopping 12-46 at the end of May after winning on Opening Day against the Angels). The Texas Rangers gave the Houston Astros a run for their money for the division title after the ‘Stros calmly swept the AL East for a while before the Rangers came storming through. The Astros did end up finishing first in the division, though. I think the Rangers can go pretty far in these playoffs. They’ll have to face the Astros or the Twins next round if they hold their lead against the Orioles. 

 

The New York Mets held last place in the NL East for a few games this season, which marked their season low; but they ended up finishing in fourth, 29 games behind the Braves. My blog about my offseason hopes for the Mets will be coming soon. The Braves have constructed a dynasty with a core that will continue to win them games until they’re all 40 years old, I’m not too happy about this as a Mets fan, especially when I know how they’ve struggled to build anything over the past 20 years. The Phillies will continue to be explosive, as they’ve shown over the games in the playoffs as of right now. As a Mets fan, after seeing some of these highlights, Citizens Bank Park might be the stadium with the best atmosphere in baseball. Disagree? Just watch Bryson Stott's grand slam in the sixth inning a few days ago – he couldn’t even keep his composure. 

 

The NL Central always represents the pinnacle of mediocrity, or they host the most vicious dogfight seen in the past century for the last playoff spot (it varies from year to year). This year, there were no crazy outliers, although the Cardinals finished last for the first time this century. I guess that’s what happens when your star catcher, Yadier Molina, retires and former ace Adam Wainwright has a serious off year. Only one team made it to the playoffs, the Brewers, but both the Cubs and Reds were very close. Cincinnati called up a lot of their prospects which drove them to have a midseason surge, but they barely missed the end result. 

 

In the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers dominated once again. They simply have everything figured out for success. If one of their players gets old or starts playing badly, a rookie steps up. This season, it was Jason Outman whose Rookie of the Year odds would be far lower if he had just hit for average consistently. Their pitching was not particularly dominant, although 4 out of their 5 starters had a win percentage of above .500. The Diamondbacks were a very sneaky team this season (they lead the Dodgers 2-0 in their NLDS matchup), with the definite 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll leading the team. Both the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres had underwhelming seasons, as they both have above-average rosters, but both failed to make the playoffs. 

 

The postseason will be incredibly fun this year, as it always is. I hope we get to see more late-inning drama as well as a lot of high-scoring games, instead of low-scoring pitching duels. Those are meant for the regular season – I’m pushing homework back to watch a 2-1 nightmare. 

Lifetime Allegiance – Amazin!

Here I am, sitting before my computer for a few minutes, thinking about how to start this blog. Usually, it comes to me quickly, as I already know where the blog is going and how to get it there.

I started the last one by talking about the insane payroll, and how the Mets just keep losing. Well, not much changed, except for the six guys the Mets traded at the deadline. The Mets are 0-6 since the deadline, to put them at 11 games under .500. But the Nationals are so bad that the Mets have some space between them and Washington, right? Just 1.5 games.

Things have gotten so bad that a few days ago the Mets had Jonathan Arauz playing second base for them. I’ve been an avid Mets fan for 16 years now, and I know just about everyone that has stepped onto the field for the Mets over the last ten years, but I have never heard of Arauz, not in the Mets organization, not for another team, not even in the World Baseball Classic. But hey, he’s played 70 games across four years in the MLB, I haven’t. 

The only capable pitcher in the rotation is Kodai Senga, as they traded away Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the rest of the rotation will give up five runs each start. Everyone’s saying that the Mets are tanking, or should tank for the rest of the season, and I’ve written about tanking in past blogs, and how it doesn’t make too much sense to me, especially in baseball. In football and basketball, you can tank because you get a lower draft pick, who comes out of college, or another league overseas, immediately ready to play, usually as a starter. But in baseball, you tank for a lower pick and draft an 18-year-old that has a slim chance of ever making it to the major leagues, and being that superstar that he was projected to be.

It also doesn’t make sense for the players, why would Pete Alonso, in the prime of his career, want to tank? Take Jeff McNeil for example, he’s going to be 32 next year, and having a fairly off year this year, but a consistently solid player. The Mets also just acquired Luisangel Acuna from the Rangers, a middle infielder, whose best attribute is his bat. Jeff McNeil won’t be tanking, because he’s playing for his next contract, wherever that is, and there’s a good chance the Mets don’t resign him as Acuna inevitably takes his spot.

The casual Mets fan can’t name more than a couple of Mets pitchers now. The rotation is lacking, and the bullpen is more than lacking, except Billy Eppler only traded for three pitchers, one of whom isn’t even in the top 30 prospects for the Brewers, Justin Jarvis, and another, Phil Bickford, already gave up six runs in three outings out of the bullpen.

The Mets do have a plethora of position players, though, eight of the first nine best prospects in the farm system are hitters. We may see Ronny Mauricio this season, although he has not only come back down to earth, he nose-dived and face-planted back down to earth from his insane tear at the beginning of the season.

We might see Acuna next season, but everyone else has an ETA of 2025 and beyond. Which makes me wonder what the new and improved direction of the team is. Take all of the prospects and dump them for a superstar and make one final push? This would inevitably lead to dropping down and hanging out with Basement Bertha for two decades.

Or, do they keep their prospects, wait a couple of years and pray that all of them pan out? But what should the Mets do about pitching? Realistically? Eppler will ignore the glaring need for another offseason and trade for yet another shortstop. 

What on earth was I thinking sixteen years ago when I followed my father’s footsteps and signed the contract in my heart that swore allegiance to this team for the rest of my life? 

Say It Isn’t so, Mets!

If I have to sum up the Mets’ season so far in one word, it has to be “F.” The Mets set the record with the highest payroll in MLB history this offseason, so everyone was expecting them to play like the Avengers because their payroll ($344,875,664) is higher than the GDP of the Czech Republic.

But no, not only are they below .500 by a few games, they’re blowing significant leads and can’t hold on to a game to save themselves. And the worst part is the Miami Marlins are ahead of them in the NL East, not wallowing in last place like they usually do. 

It seems as though the Mets should be tearing the cover off of the ball with the massive payroll they have, but that’s obviously not the case, as offense remains their biggest struggle.

Pete Alonso leads the league in home runs, except now he’s injured for a couple of weeks, and rookie Mark Vientos has to fill in, out of position, and he can’t find himself at the plate. Francisco Lindor cannot hit anything right now; he has the most at-bats on the team, with the lowest batting average among qualified players (3.1 plate appearances per team game). He leads the team in strikeouts, but Buck Showalter can’t take him out of the lineup because he’s getting paid so much, so it would be a waste of money.

The two stars of the team this season, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo, have played great, but two guys can’t carry a team to being good (just look at Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the Angels).

I’ve also been very impressed with Starling Marte, who, after starting out terribly, has been great. He has the second-most stolen bases in the NL and hitting well. But the problem which has persisted for as long as I can remember is hitting in clutch situations, and the Mets just cannot do it, their rallies are built on walks and hit-by-pitches. I can’t even suggest a solution because nothing seems to work. 

The Mets' pitching, a great strong suit of years past, has not been great. The Mets signed Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for about $40 million apiece, and they both have a 4.40 ERA so far this season, not great at all. The Mets’ potential NL Rookie of the Year Kodai Senga has been playing alright, getting a lot of outs, primarily through strikeouts but he’s been walking a TON of hitters, some days allowing more walks than hits. But, I’ll take what I can get from him.

The rest of the starters cannot be trusted at all, Tylor Megill, David Peterson, and Carlos Carrasco will either throw a very average game or completely blow the game wide open in the third inning. Even if one of the starters was to throw an above-average game, the bullpen would then lose it.

I find it funny how only two relievers can be trusted consistently: David Robertson and Brooks Raley. The only pitchers you’ll find on the whole team with a sub-2.80 ERA. Robertson has been elite in the closer role and I’ve been impressed with Raley as the Mets have struggled to find a solid lefty reliever for the longest time. It is really difficult for Buck not to blow a game in the later innings when John Curtiss, Jeff Brigham, and Dominic Leone are three relievers that need to be trusted to get quality outs (potentially against the heart of teams’ orders). Adam Ottavino and Drew Smith have been really solid compared to the rest of the bullpen, but they have their occasional moments where they will go a couple of outings in a row giving up a few runs. It’s almost like I say this in every single blog I write about the Mets, but especially now: they have to shell out for a reliever before the trade deadline because if by some miracle they make the playoffs, they are going to get embarrassed after some random reliever blows a five-run lead in the eighth inning. 

I’m not sure increasing the payroll to half a billion will help the Mets, and it might even hurt them. But here’s an idea: blow the team up and start fresh! Maybe in 200 years Mets fans will be celebrating a World Series, instead of 300. 

NBA Mock Draft 2.0

The NBA Draft is coming up on June 22, and this might be the year where the fight for the #1 pick is the most chaotic, and the race is always much more exciting when a lottery decides the team who gets the #1 pick. 

1.      San Antonio Spurs - Victor Wembanyama - France. After winning the lottery, the San Antonio Spurs will certainly take the 7’4 prodigy with guard skills. There will be some crazy trade offers thrown at the Spurs, but they won’t trade him. Wembanyama is the most highly coveted prospect since LeBron.

2.      Charlotte Hornets - Scoot Henderson - G League Ignite. These two are the established #1 and #2 overall picks. Henderson is a point guard that’s built like a linebacker, and him being a potential second coming of Derrick Rose makes him the right fit for the Hornets, who aim to stack up on their backcourt. 

3.      Portland Trailblazers- Amen Thompson - Overtime Elite. Thompson is a very well-rounded guard that has been thriving in the OT Elite league. He’s developed a very reliable three-point shot but the only concern with him is that he’s not playing against tough competition and with heckling fans, like in the NCAA, but the Blazers can’t pass up on this guy. Also, the Blazers are trying to find themselves over this next offseason, and whichever way they go, Thompson seems like a good choice. 

4.      Houston Rockets - Brandon Miller - Alabama. Many expected Brandon Miller to go as early as 3, but I think that he’s going to drop. Throughout the SEC season, Miller’s been the undisputed star of Bama’s team, leading them to the 1 seed, but he didn’t have a dominant March Madness and eventually, his team lost in Sweet Sixteen. Also, since the Rockets have a lot of guard play, Miller will be that decently-sized forward that can project them forward. 

5.      Detroit Pistons - Ausar Thompson - Overtime Elite. The second Thompson twin is next, and Ausar’s skillset is similar to Amen’s, although Amen seems a little more NBA-ready. The Pistons are on the come-up and trying to stack up on young talent. I think Ausar would be a great fit. 

6.      Orlando Magic - Jarace Walker - Houston. The Magic are a couple of years away from being scary. Like the Pistons, they are looking to stack up on talent, and what better way to do that than by drafting a big power forward? Walker has been dominating the interior the whole college basketball season, and he likely won't stop in the NBA. 

7.      Indiana Pacers - Nick Smith Jr. - Arkansas. The Pacers are in a confusing spot. They just missed out on the play-in this year, so which way do they go? Drafting Smith will help as he’ll come into the NBA as one of the best pure scorers of this draft. He’s 6’5 and only 19, with so much time to improve. Pair him with Tyrese Haliburton and the rest of the established Pacers, and it’s looking good. 

8.      Washington Wizards - Cam Whitmore - Villanova. Any position for the Wizards would be an upgrade for them, as they barely have any potable young talent with their top 3 are being 27+. So having Whitmore slide in and take a back seat for a year or so would be great for him and the team. With the remaining good players being guards in a guard-heavy draft, I think it would make sense for Whitmore to be drafted here. 

9.      Utah Jazz - Gradey Dick - Kansas. There’s a lot to like about Dick for any team as he doesn’t really interrupt a team’s play style. Dick is a tall guard/forward who shines in any part of the offense. This pick also makes a lot of sense for the Jazz, as having Dick on the bench and continuing to stack young talent on a roster that barely missed the playoffs this year. 

10.   Dallas Mavericks - Taylor Hendricks - UCF. The Mavericks are in an interesting position, as they traded away a lot to get Kyrie Irving, but now the 31-year-old’s contract is up and I don’t think it would be very wise to resign him for what would definitely be $30+ million. So, any young talent they can pair with Doncic will help their team so much. Hendricks is a tall forward that won’t interrupt Doncic, who touches the ball every possession. He can shoot the ball and rebound well, and whichever way the Mavericks go from here, Hendricks will be there to stay. 

What to Expect in the NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is coming up soon, and this might be the year when the fight for the #1 pick is the craziest, and I think the race is made 20 times more exciting when a lottery decides the team who gets the #1 pick. 

1. San Antonio Spurs - Victor Wembanyama - France. It doesn’t matter which team wins the lottery, because they will take the 7’4” prodigy with guard skills. I’m assuming there will be some crazy trade offers thrown at the team with the #1 overall pick, but they won’t trade it. Wembanyama is the most highly coveted prospect since LeBron.

2. Houston Rockets - Scoot Henderson - G Lea
gue Ignite. Unless someone absolutely pops off in March Madness, these two are the consensus #1 and 2 overall picks, but I doubt it’ll happen. Henderson is a point guard that’s built like a linebacker that seems like the right fit for the Rockets, stacking up on their backcourt. 

3. Detroit Pistons - Amen Thompson - Overtime Elite. Thompson is a very well-rounded guard that has been thriving in the OT Elite league. He’s developed a very reliable three-point shot but my only concern with him is that he’s not playing against a lot of competition, like the NCAA, but the Pistons can’t pass up on this guy. 

4. Charlotte Hornets - Ausar Thompson - Overtime Elite. The second Thompson twin is next, and Ausar’s skillset is very similar to Amen’s, although Amen seems a little more NBA-ready. The Hornets already have a decent roster with young guys waiting to flourish, and Thompson will add an explosive wing to their roster. 

5. Orlando Magic - Brandon Miller - Alabama. Many expected Brandon Miller to go as early as 3, but I think that he’s going to drop by the end of March Madness. Throughout the SEC season, Miller’s been the undisputed star of Bama’s team, leading them to the 1 seed, but after the game against one of the worst teams in the tournament, Miller didn’t show up and I’m fairly certain this will continue throughout the tournament and an early exit. 

6. Indiana Pacers - Jarace Walker - Houston. The Pacers need help. Especially down low, and if they didn’t already have Tyrese Haliburton, I would say Nick Smith Jr. goes here, but since they’ve been experimenting with many 4’s over the past season and a half, I think Walker is the guy they need. Walker’s been dominating the interior the whole season, and I don’t think he’ll stop in the NBA. 

7. Washington Wizards - Nick Smith Jr. - Arkansas. The Wizards aren’t getting any younger, and with their three best players being above 27, none of them being an actual point guard. Smith will come into the NBA as one of the best pure scorers of this draft. He’s 6’5 and only 19, with so much time to improve. And having Smith and Bradley Beal together for a few seasons will provide a lot of points.

8. Portland Trail Blazers - Cam Whitmore - Villanova. Damian Lillard is showing no signs of stopping at the age of 32, scoring 35+ with ease almost every night, and with Anfernee Simons at the other guard position, I figured that they need help in other positions. So, with the remaining good players being guards in a guard-heavy draft, I think it would make sense for Whitmore to be drafted here. 

9. Orlando Magic (via Bulls) - Carson Wallace - Kentucky. I think there’s a lot to like about Carson Wallace, especially if you’ve been watching the SEC. Wallace is a hard-nosed defender that can also shoot the ball at a decent clip. This pick also makes a lot of sense for Orlando, as Paolo Banchero and the rest of the young players will get better, and having Wallace will only make them better. 

10. Toronto Raptors - Gradey Dick - Kansas. The Raptors front court is set, and the only position they need to go from good to great is a wing. The Raptors could draft a lot of players with this pick, including Keyontae George, Taylor Hendrix, and GG Jackson, but I think Dick is the explosive player they need. Dick can score on all three levels, but he loves the three-ball. He’s not going to come in and be a primary dribbler, as basically, anyone in the starting lineup for the Raptors can do that, he’ll be called in to score the ball. His draft stock might go up even more once March Madness is over. 

NBA – What’s to Expect in the 2^nd Half

The first half of the NBA season has brought a lot of excitement for the fans, and all of us are getting ready for a close finish, in both the standings and the Awards Race. The season was just made crazier because of the Trade Deadline and a historic amount of monumental moves that made teams deeper as well as star-studded.

WEST

In the West, the Nuggets are running away with it and the closest team is the Memphis Grizzlies, but as we see with every loss they take, they’re not “fine in the West.” Going farther down in the West, we see a lot more parity, as the 4 and 12 seeds are separated by just 3.5 games. You know it’s crazy when the Thunder are the 10-seed when they were 40 games back of first place just last season. Then you have teams like the Lakers, who are the 13 seed, but they just got a lot better after the trade deadline. They traded for Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and others, to go along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis who seems to be passed his constantly injured days. I’ll go as far as to say I really like the Warriors this season, and it’s definitely possible that they make the playoffs as the 6-seed or above, but with one pre-requisite, Steph Curry has to be on the court consistently, and basically can’t get injured once he comes back from his injury right now. Obviously, the race near the top will get a lot tighter, once the Suns and Mavericks start figuring out to play with their new teams. I believe the Mavericks have the advantage right now, as Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic are figuring each other out right now, as well as the rest of the team. The Suns are practically playing from behind, as the learning process will only start once Kevin Durant comes back, and the timetable for his return hasn’t been set up yet. Finally, the Kings having the best offense in the NBA right now is wild to me with a pretty top-heavy team. They’re just going to be confusing everything in the West.

EAST

Even with how crazy the West is, I think the East is more competitive. Obviously, the Celtics and the Bucks are the best teams. The Celtics are just unstoppable, mostly because of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but also because their supporting cast all produce scoring. I think that Bucks great play was aided with the emergence of Jrue Holiday being a scorer when Giannis was out a couple of weeks ago has been crucial to their success. He’s also been carrying this on in the games when Giannis has been playing, even out scoring him by dropping a 40 pointer in an OT game a few days ago. The Cavaliers are one of my favorite teams to watch this year. Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell highlight one of the most explosive offenses in the NBA. Except, even after having one of the best all-around starting 5’s in the NBA, I don’t see them going far in the playoffs. The Nets and the Knicks are at the 5 and 6 spots in the standings, and I predict that both of the teams will fall at least somewhat by the end of the season, for one of them, because they traded their whole team, and for the other, it’s because they’re the Knicks. I don’t understand why the Hawks are the 8 seed, as throughout the season, they’ve consistently been playing below where they should be. John Collins has been underwhelming to the say the least and Trae Young has been very inconsistent. Although, I do see a world where they step it up. I believe that the Bulls and the Pacers are two teams that are very similar. They both have pretty good rosters, but they are playing below where they should. The Pacers have a lot of young guards that seem as though they rotate between themselves who will have a good game, and Tyrese Haliburton will always have 9+ assists. The Bulls have a really, really good starting lineup, but I believe their problem is Demar Derozan getting injured a lot and they’ve been playing inconsistently as a whole. Only one of these teams will rise in the standings, and it’s really hard to differentiate which one.

Final Standings Predictions:

West:

Nuggets

Kings

Suns

Grizzlies

Mavericks

Clippers

Warriors

Timberwolves

Pelicans

 Jazz

 Thunder

 Lakers

 Trail Blazers

 Spurs

 Rockets

 

East:

Bucks

Celtics

76ers

Cavaliers

Heat

Knicks

Hawks

Nets

Raptors

 Bulls

 Wizards

 Pacers

 Magic

 Pistons

 Hornets

Knicks’ Options for this Season

Last season, the Knicks had a very disappointing season, missing the playoffs after making it the year before. The team was not very good last year, and improvements needed to be made. So, during the offseason, the front office went out and made those moves. The only major signing they made was bringing in Jalen Brunson to play point guard, who now seems like he’s the player that pushed the Knicks passed .500 again. The other moves they made were to not re-sign the old players on the team and focus on the youth. 

So, what’s working so well this year? Well, first off, they have a pretty competitive big three of Brunson, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett. All three of them are capable ball handlers which have shown they can lead the Knicks offense. Finally, Barrett blossomed into a really good option for the Knicks, he’s shown that he can score this season and last season, even like a few games ago, where he dropped 44 and averaging 20+. Although, even though he’s been doing so well, he’s only the third-leading scorer for the Knicks. The Knicks haven’t had a competent point guard since 2017 when Derrick Rose ran the one and averaged 18 and 4. Well, Brunson is alr
eady averaging 21 and 6.5 and dropped 38 two games ago. Finally, the unlikely #1 option, Julius Randle, who is really succeeding in New York is getting a lot of hate from most fans. Randle led the team to the playoffs in 2021 and played great last year too. He’s averaging a double-double right now and has six of them in a row. Now I know that six double-doubles in a row aren’t amazing when Luka Doncic is getting five triple-doubles in a row but for the player, Randle is, it’s impressive. The shooting numbers have been really good so far. Eleven players are shooting above 40% from the field this season, including Jericho Sims and Mitchell Robinson above 70%. The rebounding has been amazing as well this season, as the Knicks as a whole are top 3 in total rebounding and offensive rebounding. 

Would the Knicks need to make a move at the deadline? Well, first let’s see the missing pieces on the team. Well, Mitchell Robinson, in my opinion, is an indispensable option for the Knicks at the center, so I don’t see a hole at center for the Knicks. Obviously, I would prefer Nikola Jokic instead of Robinson, but realistically, the Knicks aren’t trading for Jokic. I would even prefer someone like Clint Capela, but looking at the past, the Knicks haven’t been too aggressive at the deadline so realistically, Capela isn’t even an option. Now, the small forward position is currently filled by a smaller guard, Quentin Grimes, so upgrading at small forward is most definitely an option. Luckily, the Knicks have options: Harrison Barnes, Gary Trent Jr, Caris LeVert, Malik Beasley and Kelly Oubre Jr. just to name a few. Once the Knicks would trade for one of these guys, then Grimes would be moved to the bench, adding to an already decent bench unit. 

Will the Knicks continue this performance? I think they will and could possibly go deep into the playoffs this year.

Yearend Thoughts on Mets’ Free Agents

The Mets finished the 2022 season with the second-best record in franchise history, finishing at 101-61. Obviously, a team doesn’t have many weaknesses if they finish with 100+ wins, but there’s always room for improvement. The main concerns going into the offseason for the Mets were catcher, pitching, maybe a third baseman if they have money, and re-signing the crucial players whose contracts expired. Of course, the Mets also had the mindset that no player is too expensive for them, as owner Steve Cohen showed last year.

Now, to the signings:

The Mets resigned Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz, two pivotal players in the 2022 team, to play in New York for multiple years.

Nimmo is one of the most underrated players in baseball, but also one of the most valuable players on any team. Not many know about him outside of New York but he is probably the best lead-off hitter in baseball right now, not to mention that he actually has great hitting ability outside of just making contact.

Similarly, Diaz is arguably the best closer in all of baseball as well. His walk up song paired with his filthy pitches will shut any close game now. The only thing that scares me about this deal, though, is the length. This deal shows how much the Mets trust Diaz to finish games for them.

Then, they signed two more:

The Mets then went out into free agency to help their starting rotation, signing Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga.

The Mets signed 40-year-old Justin Verlander to a two-year contract, worth $86.6 million. I think this is a great signing, as Verlander showed in Houston that even when he’s 40, he can still be a reliable pitcher. Although, paying two old pitchers $43.3 million each is a little crazy.

I think this is the first time in a while the Mets have signed the best Japanese player in free agency. What’s interesting is that Kodai Senga dominated the NPB but will probably only be the #3 starter for the Mets. He seems like a great option that pushes the Mets to have the best rotation in baseball now.

Finally, the Mets agreed to the biggest free agent signing of their offseason.

Shortstop Carlos Correa is negotiating with the Mets for a 12-year, $315 million contract to most likely play third base. They basically stole Correa from the Giants, after they had agreed to an even bigger deal, but found something on his physical check-up that prevented them from going through with it. Unfortunately, the physical isn’t going as well for the Mets, either. The Mets also found something concerning, and thus postponed the signing of the deal. Correa is a really good hitter hitting .291 and 22 home runs in 2022. He also has a great glove, winning the Gold Glove in 2021.

Another great reason this is a terrific signing is that Correa brings great team chemistry with him, unheard of for a new player. He played with Edwin Diaz and best friend Francisco Lindor on the Puerto Rico National Team and played with Justin Verlander on the Houston Astros. This is the player, but more importantly, the bat, the Mets needed to solidify their lineup to push them past their few weaknesses to hopefully win the World Series next year.

Surprises in the 2022-23 Football Season

The NFL is in full swing and a lot has happened for me to unpack. I know the MLB ended with the World Series and the NBA also just got into the swing of things but I thought I’d start with football.

Let’s talk about the surprises that we’re seeing.

The Jets. The New York Jets have a winning record at 6-4 and a +13 point differential. Generally, I’m used to having them be last in the AFC East and being without a competent quarterback. Now they’re third in the AFC East but still without a talented quarterback. Something has to happen in the QB room, as Zach Wilson is not a great team player and with nothing to show for it. The backup is 37-year-old Joe Flacco who’s injured right now. The third string and the guy that will start on Sunday against the Bears is Mike White, who had one week of fame last season and then sunk back down to the bottom of the barrel. The team is playing well though, and we just have to hope it’s not another last-place finish.

The other New Yo-, New Jersey team, the Giants, is the second surprise. They have an even better record than the Jets at 7-4. They’re doing everything even better than the Jets. Their offense is somehow humming along. The QB Daniel Jones is as mediocre as it gets, but isn’t doing as much to hamper his team’s performance. The star on the team is the running back Saquon Barkley who is serving as a workhorse running back, completely contrary to his role. Barkley is a quick, shifty back, not meant to carry the ball 30+ times in a game, but hey, it’s working for them. The Giants do have the hardest schedule for the remaining games coming up. It's tricky to say whether they'll keep it up.

What I don’t understand is why the Los Angeles Rams are doing nothing this season. They’re the reigning Super Bowl champions yet they sit at 3-7. Something is going on with QB Matt Stafford. Is age catching up to him? Is Cooper Kupp not turning into Superman for the second season in a row slowing the Rams down? Is it their lack of an effective run game? Well, I can certainly tell you it’s not their defense as they’ve allowed a fairly decent amount of points this season. Further, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey will never play inconsistently, so it has to be something on the offense. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they can turn it around this season.

The Vikings are making a statement at 9-2. They already have one of the best 1-2 punch wide receivers in the NFL, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Their running back Dalvin Cook is playing at an elite level. But the surprise and the guy lifting this team from mediocrity is Kirk Cousins, a top-10 QB in football this year. It’s ridiculous. Their defense is filled with above-average players, but who’s complaining, they’re at the top of the NFC North and finally beating out the Packers for the 1 spot.

Speaking of the Packers, it turns out they aren’t that good without the best wide receiver in the league. When they lost Davante Adams, their whole season went down the drain. I guess age really is catching up with Aaron Rodgers. The Packers’ defense, usually a solid defense, has not been great this season. They have good numbers individually, but the team stats tell a different story, and that story is not letting Rodgers put up a fight in a game.

Lastly, what is going on in the AFC West? The Raiders and the Broncos, two teams that were supposed to make up one of the scariest divisions in football, are both 3-7. The Raiders traded for Davante Adams who, on paper, would make up one of the scariest offenses in the NFL, but Derek Carr is not making anything happen with them. Although Adams is having a pretty solid season so far, with 10 touchdowns in 10 games, the offense seems to be stuck in place, even with all the injuries. Josh Jacobs had a stint of being the best running back in history, but he went back to sleep. Worst of all, the Raiders’ defense is atrocious. Can’t even talk about them, they’ve just been underperforming.

The Broncos seem to get worse from last year. Russell Wilson came to Denver and has thrown seven touchdowns so far. Their run game has been nonexistent as their leading rusher, Melvin Gordon III, is no longer on the team after they released him. The receiving game can only be weak because of a weak quarterback and the best receiver being injured. But don’t go blame this on Jerry Jeudy for getting injured. Even before his injury, Wilson could only find his two best receivers, Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, for four touchdowns in nine games. On defense, they’ve been just as bad as the Raiders, not getting any pressure to the QB and not defending the pass very well. I was really looking forward to seeing the AFC West terrorize teams, but the Kansas City Chiefs are by far the best team in the division and they’ve been playing like it.

We’re coming up on the home stretch of the NFL season, and things are going to get more exciting as the weather gets colder, maybe we’ll even see some snow games.

Final Points – Tight Ends

Here is my final installment – the best fantasy players at their positions, and I’m going to be breaking down the tight ends.

1: By probably the biggest margin between two players in this whole series, Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs is at one. The Chiefs lost their best receiver in the offseason, Tyreek Hill but even if they still had Hill, Kelce would still be the best. He’s the most reliable tight end and the most versatile. He can go get a high ball, he could catch and run with the ball and he could stay home as a blocker. Kelce is going to get a high volume of touches on the Chiefs’ offense. He’s going in the first or very early second round, so if he’s available, pick him up.

2: Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens is at two. Andrews is also a very versatile tight end and similarly to Kelce, the most dangerous weapon on their offenses minus the QB. Andrews plays a very similar role to Kelce, meaning that he could go up and get the ball and run after the catch. He doesn’t block that much, but for fantasy, it doesn’t matter. The only reason Kelce is at one by such a huge margin is that the Ravens like the run game WAY more than the Chiefs do, so that may take away from Andrews’ touches.

3: Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons is at three. Unfortunately, he will be such a hit or miss this season. We saw this last season as he got a decent amount of catches and yards but only one touchdown the whole season. Pitts is on a very young Falcons offense so I believe that he’ll be one of the focal points of this offense. Pitts is one of the fastest tight ends in the league, and if the Falcons show that they can be an explosive force, then Pitts is a great option, but proceed with caution.

4: By a pretty big margin once again, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers is at four. Kittle is not a fantasy tight end. Probably the third-best tight end based on actual in-game value, but for fantasy, he’s very average. He’s injury prone, he has a lot of blocking assignments and he’s not very fast, so you’ll just be relying on catches and touchdowns. But, Kittle is one of the best tight ends for his value in the early fourth round, so he’s not terrible.

5: Darren Waller of the Las Vegas Raiders is at six. Waller used to be the second-best fantasy tight end, as early as two years ago, but injury concerns and more offensive weapons in Vegas sent him to lower down the rankings. Waller now has to contend with Hunter Renfrow and Davante Adams, both elite wide receivers. Sure, Waller can use his speed to get open but his injuries frighten me. But, when Waller’s on, he’s ON. He will be getting catches, yards, and touchdowns like no tomorrow. Similarly to Kittle, great value pick.

6: Dalton Schultz of the Dallas Cowboys is at six. This is where the tight end well starts to run dry. Schultz is a very decent pick. But, if you’re in the position to draft him, I expect that you have a pretty well-rounded team in every other department. Schultz is going to be a very intriguing player this year because the Cowboys have weapons in the receiving core and at running back, but Prescott might decide to target Schultz quite a bit. He won’t be a blocking tight end, so that’s just more potential targets for him.

7: TJ Hockenson of the Detroit Lions is at seven. Hockenson has the potential to be one of the best tight ends for fantasy this year at the end of the year. There are a lot of really young weapons on this team, like D’Andre Swift and Amon Ra St. Brown, so Hockenson might be fighting for touches this year but I’m not worried. The Lions don’t have that big imposing receiver on their roster, so I think Hockenson will be getting red zone targets this year. He’s also a tight end that can run with the ball after the catch. The Lions improved their offensive line over the offseason so that will give their subpar QB, Jared Goff more time to find his tight end.

8: Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles is at eight. Goedert is not appealing to me in any way fantasy-wise. He’s playing on a really clogged Eagles offense where he never found success and was playing second fiddle to Zach Ertz all the time. The only thing going for Goedert here is that he has a young QB that will want to find his most reliable receivers. One of them being Goedert. He might get an occasional touchdown or two but I doubt he’ll find any success outside the red zone.

9: Zach Ertz of the Arizona Cardinals is at nine. Physically, nothing is really working for Ertz. He’s not fast, he’s not tall and he’s not big for a tight end. Unfortunately, he’s a player that’s going to catch the ball and then get past one guy by bulldozing him and then get brought down. Weirdly so, he’s not a tight end that’s going to get the ball primarily in the red zone, but I see Ertz getting the ball earlier in the drive, and just as a means to move the ball. Ertz is playing on a clogged offense, though, so I’m scared he’s not going to get a lot of targets.

10: Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots is at ten. Henry is a very good tight end for his value. Full disclosure, though: In my main 12-team league, Henry is my backup tight end. Henry has a young QB in Mac Jones, who will want to target the reliable receivers for guaranteed yardage. I don’t think you knew that Hunter Henry had nine touchdowns last year, tied for the league lead among tight ends. Henry is a big guy that also has some speed, a deadly combo as we saw earlier in the list. I don’t see another nine or so touchdown season from him, but he can still have a great one while flying under everyone’s radar.

11: Pat Freiermuth of the Pittsburgh Steelers is at eleven. Freiermuth was a rookie last season and he had moments where he shocked everyone and provided some quality offense for the Steelers. He might take that step forward this year or he might stay put or take a step back. Obviously, he’s a second-year player, so he can’t regress in his performance, but I meant he could take a step back in the Steelers offense. This guy’s a pretty big gamble, but it could pay off. Like I’ve been saying, if you’re taking Patrick John Freiermuth as your starting tight end, you should probably have an elite rest of your team, or else you’re doing something wrong.

12: Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears is at 12. We are REALLY scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Kmet is a third-year player that had some good moments last year but Justin Fields was pretty bad last year. I believe that if Fields takes a step in his development this year, so will Kmet. This also goes for the rest of the Chicago Bears receivers. Kmet has the potential to be a really solid tight end at some point in his career, but definitely not this year (this also depends on if the Bears will develop him properly). I think Kmet will be used all over the field this year, and after the Bears lost Allen Robinson to the Rams this offseason, Kmet will be a pretty big red zone threat.

Here is my fantasy football team. I’m in a 12-team league with full PPR.

QB: Lamar Jackson

RB1: Austin Ekeler

RB2: Breece Hall

WR1: Deebo Samuel

WR2: Gabe Davis

TE: Mark Andrews

FLEX: Elijah Mitchell

FLEX: Dameon Pierce

Kicker: Matt Gay

Defense: Dallas Cowboys

 

Bench

Ryan Tannehill, QB

Raheem Mostert, RB

James Cook, RB

Garrett Wilson, WR

Joshua Palmer, WR

Hunter Henry, TE

Deshaun Watson, QB

 

Definitely not the best team in the league, although the upside for this team is huge. I’ll be attempting to make trades over the course of the season to fill the obvious holes in the team such as both FLEX positions or WR2.