Mets Draft Outfielder Pete-Crow Armstrong in First Round of MLB Draft

Mets Outfielder Pete-Crow Alexander (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets drafted high school outfielder Pete-Crow Alexander tonight in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Crow went to Harvard-Westlake School High School in Hollywood, California. He is known for his defense and was considered to be one of the best defensive high school players in the country. His athleticism and speed are some of his strongest skill sets and helped him become possibly the best outfielder defender in his draft class. Crow has been always been a contact hitter and is starting to develop his power and turn on balls and improve his launch angles. Hopefully he will continue to improve offensively and he will get an opportunity to get called up the big leagues in a few years. It will be fun watching him in the minors and see how he progresses.

Noah Syndergaard to Have Tommy John Surgery

Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets announced that RHP Noah Syndergaard has a torn UCL and will undergo Tommy John Surgery. Syndergarrd is expected to miss the remainder of the 2020 season and part of the 2021 season. He will have the surgery on Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery Syndergarrd was experiencing discomfort in his throwing elbow before spring training. He had a 4.28 ERA in 32 starts last year. This really hurts the starting rotation and leaves a gaping hole as the # 2 starter behind Jacob deGrom.  RHP Michael Wacha will most likely take Syndergarrd's spot in the rotation and they also have RHP Walker Lockett and minor league pitching LHP David Peterson as fall back options.

Mets Hire Luis Rojas as Manager

Mets Manager Luis Rojas (Credits to NYDailyNews.com)

The New York Mets announced today they have hired Luis Rojas as their next manager after they let their previous manager Carlos Beltran go for his role in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal. They are working on finalizing a multi-year deal with him. Rojas has been in the Met organization since 2007 and has previously managed the Dominican Summer League Mets in 2007 and Gulf Coast Mets in 2008. He later coached the Savannah Sand Gnats in 2010.  Rojas managed the Gulf Coast League Mets in 2011 as well as the manager for Savannah in 2012-2014. He also managed the High A St. Lucie Mets in 2015 and 2016 and Binghamton Mets in 2017 and 2018.   In the 2017-2018 season, he managed the Double A Binghamton Mets and lead them to a playoff berth in 2017. Rojas was promoted to the Major League coaching staff in 2019 as outfield coach and also served a quality control coach whose job was to work with the analytics staff and coaching staff and help the coaches and players take all the information they have and help the hitters improve. He comes from a well-known baseball family and is the son of former player and manager Felipe Alou, nephew of Matty and Jesus Alou and brother of former Met outfielder Moises Alou. Rojas has managed and is familiar with several of the younger players on the Met roster including Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Dom Smith, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, and Amed Rosario which should come in handy during the course of the season.

Mets Announce Today That They have Mutually Parted Ways With Carlos Beltran

The New York Mets announced today that they have mutually agreed parted ways with manager Carlos Beltran. Beltran was involved in a cheating scandal involving stealing signs using technology when he played for the Houston Astros in 2017. He was the only player on that Astros team mentioned in MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's report as part of a group of players who discussed to improve the team's system of decoding signs and communicating them to the batter according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. It will be interesting to see where the Mets go from here and who their next manager will be.

Mets Sign Reliever RHP Dellin Betances to a One-Year deal

Mets RHP Dellin Betances (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets signed reliever RHP Dellin Betances to a one-year deal today. Betances is getting a $5.3 million signing bonus and a $2.2 million base salary in 2020. He has a $6 million player option for 2021 with a $3 million buyout and a vesting player option for 2022. Betances pitched in only one game in the 2019 season due to shoulder issues and a partial Achilles tear, but is expected to make a full recovery for next year. He had a dominant stretch from 2014-2018 and was a four-time All Star and became the first reliever to have five consecutive 100 strikeout seasons. In his last full season in 2018, he made 66 appearances with a 2.70 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings. He has a career 2.36 ERA, 1.04  WHIP, and an incredible 14.6 K/9 in 381 2/3 over eight years with the Yankees. This is a great move since the Mets had to upgrade their bullpen after a disastrous 2019 season. If Betances is healthy, he could help form one of the best bullpens in baseball alongside Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, and Seth Lugo.

Mets Sign RHP Rick Porcello To One-Year Deal

Mets RHP Rick Porcello (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets signed RHP Rick Porcello today to a one-year, $10 million deal. Porcello is a local New Jersey native from Morristown and had his best season in 2016 after won the American League Cy Young with the Boston Red Sox. Since that year, he has struggled and had his worst season of his career with a 5.52 ERA. Porcello is a sinker-ball ball and records a lot of ground-outs when he's at his best and need strong infield defense behind him. It's a risk, but one worth taking since they were another need of another starting pitcher and a fifth starter. With the signing of Porcello and RHP Michael Wacha yesterday, they have plenty of pitching depth. Porcello is only 30 and hopefully will find success like he did in 2016. Now they can focus on adding more pieces to the bullpen since the starting rotation is set.

Mets Sign RHP Michael Wacha To One-Year Deal

Mets RHP Michael Wacha (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets signed RHP Michael Wacha today to a one-year deal pending a physical. Wacha will be making $3 million guaranteed and could make up to $7 million with incentives. He made 24 starts and five relief appearances for the Cardinals last year and went 6-7 with a 4.76 ERA, 1.563 WHIP and a 7.4 K/9 in 126.2 innings. It was a difficult year for him last year with the second worst ERA in his career. Wacha has had difficulty staying healthy the last few years  after he shut down in June 2018 with an oblique injury and in 2016 he went on the IL (Injured List) with shoulder inflammation. He was able to stay healthy last year and avoid the IL, so hopefully he will be able to make 30-35 starts.  With this signing, it is expected that Wacha will be the Mets fifth starter this year and RHP Seth Lugo and RHP Robert Gsellman will stay in the bullpen as middle and long relievers and can also step in as starter pitchers in case of injury.