Just Mets Digest - December 15-21
Here's a roundup of this week's Mets news and stories, and notes from around the league
Rickey Henderson: 1958-2024 💔
Former Met, baseball Hall of Famer, and all-time great Rickey Henderson has passed away at the age of 65.
Henderson is the all-time leader in stolen bases by far with 1,406 and runs scored with 2,295. His 2,190 walks are second all-time, behind only Barry Bonds, who drew 2,558 walks in his career. He was a ten-time All-Star during his illustrious 25-year career and led the league in stolen bases 12 times, the last coming at the age of 39 when he stole 66 bases with the A’s in 1998.
Henderson was the quintessential leadoff hitter in the game’s history, reaching base 38 percent of the time when leading off a game and hitting 81 leadoff home runs. He reached base 5,343 times in his career, fourth most in baseball history. His 111.1 bWAR is 11th all-time as well.
Henderson joined the Mets as a free agent before the 1999 season at age 40 and showed no signs of slowing down in his first year with the club when he slashed a .315/.423/.466 line and a 128 OPS+ with 30 doubles, 12 home runs, 42 RBI, 37 stolen bases, and 82 walks against 82 strikeouts. He had a .360 OBP when leading off a game that year for New York, helping the Mets reach the playoffs for the first time since 1988 with his outstanding performance out of the leadoff spot.
Henderson hit .298/.416/.423 in 152 games between 1999-2000 for the Mets.
He won the American League MVP Award in 1990 after a dominant season out of the leadoff spot, and broke Lou Brock’s all-time stolen base record on May 1, 1991 when he stole career base number 939 on a steal of third base against the Yankees in Oakland.
Henderson notched his 3000th career hit on the last day of the 2001 season against the Rockies while with the Padres. He finished in the top-10 of MVP voting six times over the course of his career and won a silver slugger and gold glove award in 1981 with the A’s.
He retired after the 2003 season at the age of 44 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, securing his status as one of the best players to ever play the game.
Hall of Fame page
What’s Up with the Mets This Week? 🍎
December 21
The Yankees are signing 1B Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year, $12.5 million contract (YES Network)
The Yankees and Mets met with RHP Rōki Sasaki in Los Angeles on Thursday (New York Post)
The Mets signed LHP Anthony Gose, RHP Oliver Ortega and catcher Chris Williams to minor league contracts with invites to major league spring training
The Yankees appear to be looking for less expensive options at first base than Pete Alonso (Athletic)
The Mets luxury tax bill for 2024 was $97,115,609. They were among nine clubs to pay a total of $311.3 million in penalties this past season, up from $209.8 million from 2023 (AP)
December 20
Teams are reportedly hesitant to give Pete Alonso a long-term deal, given his profile as a right-handed first baseman (SNY)
SS Francisco Lindor made a surprise appearance at a Play Ball event that hosted a baseball clinic for children (MLB.com)
December 19
The Mets signed RHP Griffin Canning, as first reported by The Athletic, to a one-year, $4.25 million contract (Read More)
The Mets signed C Chris Williams to a minor league deal on Wednesday (The Athletic)
Since the Soto signing, the Mets have seen a boost in ticket sales (Newsday)
December 18
The Mets formally introduced RHP Clay Holmes on Tuesday after agreeing to a three-year, $38 million contract earlier this offseason
Holmes told reporters that his goal is to reach 160 innings over the course of the 2025 season
December 17
The Mets officially signed infielder Jared Young to a major league contract on Monday night
New York also reportedly agreed to sign LHP Brandon Waddell to a minor league contract (FanSided)
Former Mets team photographer Marc Levine will be posthumously inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame (Mets)
December 16
Luisangel Acuña crushed his third home run in the Venezuela Winter League (Watch)
New Mets outfielder José Siri gave a preview of what Mets fans can expect with this crazy steal of third and then home in the Dominican Winter League (Watch)
December 15
The Mets, Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers and Astros are showing “continued” interest in 3B Alex Bregman (KPRC2 Houston)
The Mets have inquired about a trade for Mariners RHP Luis Castillo (Athletic)
Hot Stove Roundup ♨️
December 20
The Twins are listening to trade offers for RHP Pablo López (ESPN)
The Blue Jays have gotten calls on INF Bo Bichette, and are talking to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. about a contract extension (Athletic)
The Astros signed 1B Christian Walker to a three-year, $60 million deal (USA Today)
The Red Sox are signing LHP Patrick Sandoval to a two-year, $18.25 million contract (ESPN)
The Yankees traded C Luis Trevino to the Reds for RHP Fernando Cruz and C Alex Jackson (official release)
The Blue Jays inked former Met LHP Josh Walker to a one-year contract (MLB.com)
December 19
Josh Naylor’s name came up in trade talks between the Guardians and Mariners (MLB Network)
Free agent Michael Lorenzen is pitching himself as a two-way player to teams interested in signing him (The Athletic)
Jurickson Profar is looking for a three-year deal in free agency (ESPN)
The Astros are signaling they’re not interested in trading Framber Valdez (ESPN)
The Phillies reportedly signed OF Max Kepler to a one-year deal worth $10 million (MLB.com)
The A’s signed INF Gio Urshela to a one-year deal with the A’s (MLB.com)
The Nationals and former-Brave RHP Mike Soroka agreed to a one-year, $9 million contract (official)
After releasing an apology for using steroids, Sammy Sosa was welcomed back to the Cubs organization by owner Tom Ricketts (Press Release)
December 18
Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado refused to waive his no-trade clause in order to nix a potential move to the Astros (MLB.com)
Free agent OF Teoscar Hernández, who won the World Series with LA in 2024, is seeking a three-year contract with an average annual value in the $24 million range (MLB.com)
The Cubs are all in on pitching after shedding Cody Bellinger’s salary, and they have kicked the tires on a potential trade for Marlins LHP Jesús Luzardo (FanSided)
The White Sox signed RHP Bryse Wilson to a one-year, $1.05 million deal on Wednesday and renamed their ballpark to ‘Rate Field’
Major League Baseball released its much-anticipated pitching study in a bid to try and find out why so many pitchers are getting hurt in the modern game (ESPN)
December 17
After coming up short in their pursuit of free agents Juan Soto and Max Fried, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow says the club is still looking to add starting pitchers and right-handed hitters (MLB Network Radio)
The Yankees are showing interest in free agent 1B Paul Goldschmidt (USA Today)
The Blue Jays are among teams showing interest in RHP Nick Pivetta (New York Post)
The Yankees officially acquired OF/1B Cody Bellinger and cash from the Cubs in exchange for RHP Cody Poteet
New York also made their signing of LHP Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract official on Tuesday
December 16
Could free agent RHP Corbin Burnes consider taking a short-term contract for high AAV? (Athletic)
The Cubs are working hard to complete a potential trade for Marlins LHP Jesús Luzardo (WSCR-AM)
The Orioles officially signed Japanese RHP Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year, $13 million contract
December 15
The Mariners signed veteran lefty Drew Pomeranz to a minor league contract (Just Baseball)
Philadelphia is considering a workload reduction for catcher J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia Inquirer)
The Braves added outfielder Bryan De La Cruz on a two way contract (Official)
Stories ✍️
Who is the Mets second baseman of the future? (Mears)
Be patient with the next phase of the Mets offseason (MacLeod)
Have the Mets become the next great destination for pitchers? (MacLeod)
How might the Mets address their hole at DH in 2025? (Steele)
The Mets have added a lot of depth, but they still need a top starter to their rotation (Surovich)
A blueprint for the rest of the off-season (Baron)