First Mets spring training workout dates announced
Plus, the club revealed number retirement dates for Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry
What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets will hold their first official workout for pitchers and catchers in Port St. Lucie on February 14, and their first full squad workout will be held on February 19
The Mets announced they will retire Dwight Gooden’s no. 16 on April 14 and Darryl Strawberry’s no. 18 on June 1 (X)
Spring Training is on the horizon! ✍️
If you live in the New York area, you may have noticed there’s some daylight these days after 5:00 PM, the first hint spring will be here sooner rather than later.
Yeah, its really cold out there right now and more snow is in the forecast, so it’s merely a hint.
But there was another hint spring is approaching on Wednesday.
MLB announced the first workout dates for all 30 clubs Wednesday afternoon, with Mets pitchers and catchers taking the field on Wednesday, February 14 at the club’s spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida for their first official workout (they will be there before that date, of course).
Ah, the first real hint that baseball is indeed on the horizon.
I know the Mets are in a state of transition, rebuild, retool, reset or whatever you want to call it and the 2024 season could be added to the long list of mediocre seasons in Mets history, but hope springs eternal anyway and the Mets are proof that you just never know what is going to happen over the course of a 162-game season.
Look at how surprised we were by the outcome and disappointment from just last year. And yet, look at how surprised everyone was during the miraculous season of 1969 and the near-impossible comeback by the 1973 Mets who were in last place at the end of August that year only to find themselves one better decision away by Yogi Berra from quite probably winning that World Series.
Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns will have everyone believe this Met team, as incomplete and flawed as they unquestionably might be, can and should contend for a playoff spot in 2024.
That’s what he precisely said on SNY earlier this week.
Look, they might. The oddsmakers aren’t particularly impressed, the fanbase is rightfully skeptical.
But one thing we can all like and appreciate with these Mets in particular, regardless of how they look in 2024 or the outcome of the season as a whole, the philosophy has shifted towards run prevention, speed and athleticism. There’s a long way for them to go, but Stearns has worked hard to improve the club’s speed, improve the club’s defense, and change the personality of a team that lacked in all of those facets of the game in 2023.
What it all means in the coming months remains to be seen.
There’s something else I’ve been thinking about lately.
The Mets have done a good job boosting their farm system since last summer, albeit in an expensive and very unconventional way. They parlayed what they perceived to be bad contracts into a few top shelf prospects, and while time will tell how that strategy pans out, their winter strategy of signing players to one-to-two year contracts could conceivably follow a similar path.
Should the Mets fall out of contention, the club will have several starting pitchers for contending teams to choose from. José Quintana, Luis Severino, and Adrian Houser are all eligible for free agency next winter and can all be very strong bargaining chips to potentially be parlayed into more prospects for a club trying to build up their farm and create a pipeline to the big leagues.
Also, Sean Manaea has an opt out and could become a free agent as well.
Of course, their competence will determine their value but there have been so many overpays for rentals since MLB dumped the trade waiver system a couple of years ago.
The Mets could benefit from such a marketplace which is always so hungry for pitching.
Obviously, if the Mets are interested in trading their veteran starting pitching, they’ll be out of contention. If that’s the case, it probably followed the predominant expectation for the club but it would pave the way for young arms such as Mike Vasil, Christian Scott, and Dominic Hamel, pitching prospects who have made waves over the last year and are also generally close to the big leagues.
We will see of course.
Hot Stove 🔥
The Yankees made their two-year deal with RHP Marcus Stroman official on Wednesday (release)
RHP Yariel Rodríguez is in agreement on a four-year, $32 million contract with the Blue Jays (MLB.com)
Amazon has invested $100 million into the Diamond Sports Group which is expected to help them emerge from bankruptcy and keep their rights to broadcast on the Bally Sports Networks (New York Post)