2K24: New York Mets

[mjl]

Mets minor league issues finally explained

[Judge Jude]

kind of a weird team to pick, having won the NL pennant in 2015, a wild-card team in 2016 - wait, their win total was in the 70s in every other season of the past 10 years.

but 88+ wins in 1997-2000 and 2006-08 as well.
9 88+ win teams in 22 years - that's not terrible.
last full season not winning at least 70 games was 1993 - "The Worst Team Money Can Buy."
last one before that was 1983.

if you squint, I guess winning 70-90 games every year of a 162-game season for decades sort of seems "mediocre."

but I think they have won a little too often since the 1977-83 House of Horrors.

[madducks]

The Mets reassigned 31 year old OF Tim Tebow to minor league camp. He is expected to begin the year in AAA. I have to admit it. Tebow has made it a lot farther than i thought he would. If the Mets have an outfield injury or two, he could get called up this year.

[Gregg]

The Mets reassigned 31 year old OF Tim Tebow to minor league camp. He is expected to begin the year in AAA. I have to admit it. Tebow has made it a lot farther than i thought he would. If the Mets have an outfield injury or two, he could get called up this year.

Agree, much farther than I expected.

I hope he will get a chance to play, his time is running out.

[Sour Masher]

Agree, much farther than I expected.

I hope he will get a chance to play, his time is running out.

Tebow seems like a wonderful guy, and I was a big fan of him at UF, and I don't want to come across as a Tebow hater. But. It is hard for me to give him credit for making it to AAA or root for him to make the pros when it seems he made it as far as he did mostly based on his name rather than his talent. He owns a career .674 OPS while being very old for his levels (not bad at all, but not in line with anyone that should be in the majors as a power more than speed player who is also not an exceptional defender). It is a fair thing to wonder what he might have accomplished if he dedicated himself solely to baseball at an early age, but it is also fair, I think, to root for those more deserving to get a shot.

[The Dane]

Tebow seems like a wonderful guy, and I was a big fan of him at UF, and I don't want to come across as a Tebow hater. But. It is hard for me to give him credit for making it to AAA or root for him to make the pros when it seems he made it as far as he did mostly based on his name rather than his talent. He owns a career .674 OPS while being very old for his levels (not bad at all, but not in line with anyone that should be in the majors as a power more than speed player who is also not an exceptional defender). It is a fair thing to wonder what he might have accomplished if he dedicated himself solely to baseball at an early age, but it is also fair, I think, to root for those more deserving to get a shot.

In all fairness, Tebow is only one guy, so he's only keeping one guy who would otherwise be on a AAA roster away from baseball. I'm no Tebow-lover; I find his religious proselytizing totally nauseating. However, he HAS been an interesting story in baseball. He went from an oddity, to an attraction, and he HAS actually improved to the point where it's not an impossibility that he reaches the majors, far further than anyone gave him credit for. It's a good story, well worth the cost of one aged AAAer.

[Ken]

Tebow seems like a wonderful guy, and I was a big fan of him at UF, and I don't want to come across as a Tebow hater. But. It is hard for me to give him credit for making it to AAA or root for him to make the pros when it seems he made it as far as he did mostly based on his name rather than his talent. He owns a career .674 OPS while being very old for his levels (not bad at all, but not in line with anyone that should be in the majors as a power more than speed player who is also not an exceptional defender). It is a fair thing to wonder what he might have accomplished if he dedicated himself solely to baseball at an early age, but it is also fair, I think, to root for those more deserving to get a shot.

No dog in the fight here but I tend to disagree.

I think the numbers he put up at Binghamton suggest he might be an end of the bench 5th OFer type without blocking someone "more deserving". .273/.336/.399 isn't anything to write home about but it's also not embarrassing.

Comparing him to others as far as age relative to league isn't a useful exercise. Those comparisons are made based on experience against the competition level, taking a guy who hasn't played since he was a junior in HS and comparing him against 30 year olds who have been pros for 10 years isn't productive. It would be more appropriate to compare him to ~23 year olds. He was in the AFL getting his first pro ABs just 2 years ago.

[revo]

Tebow did a little better than I thought he would as he's progressed, which is a good sign and I'm sure one that Mets brass is looking at. I'm not a fan, but I do admire his work ethic in returning to the minors after he became a "star," and has done all that's been asked.

That said, we all know he's going to get promoted to the majors at some point (which is likely to be this year, as this is the last season Sept rosters will increase to 40), and if he doesn't continue to show improvement, it will be only because of who he is. The fact he was out of baseball for a decade, which makes his .273 at AA pretty impressive -- but so what? He also whiffed 38% of the time. We all know that's not MLB worthy. If it was, then is his teammate, 27-year old Levi Michael who hit .305/.391/.470, also en route to the Mets? Of course not.

Tebow has worked his way up to "minor league filler" status, but we all know the promotion is coming.

Now if Tebow hits .300 with some good power at AAA, by all means, give him a look. But if he's hitting .240 with a 40% whiff rate, then it would be pretty ridiculous, IMO.

[cavebird]

Tebow did a little better than I thought he would as he's progressed, which is a good sign and I'm sure one that Mets brass is looking at. I'm not a fan, but I do admire his work ethic in returning to the minors after he became a "star," and has done all that's been asked.

That said, we all know he's going to get promoted to the majors at some point (which is likely to be this year, as this is the last season Sept rosters will increase to 40), and if he doesn't continue to show improvement, it will be only because of who he is. The fact he was out of baseball for a decade, which makes his .273 at AA pretty impressive -- but so what? He also whiffed 38% of the time. We all know that's not MLB worthy. If it was, then is his teammate, 27-year old Levi Michael who hit .305/.391/.470, also en route to the Mets? Of course not.

Tebow has worked his way up to "minor league filler" status, but we all know the promotion is coming.

Now if Tebow hits .300 with some good power at AAA, by all means, give him a look. But if he's hitting .240 with a 40% whiff rate, then it would be pretty ridiculous, IMO.

As a Dawg, I am hardly a fan of any Gator. But Tebow's performance is quite amazing; he's a hell of an athlete to do anywhere as well as he did last year. That all being said, he will only be on a major league roster as a curiosity unless he makes massive improvements quickly, which is highly unlikely, but far more likely for him than an average 31-year-old AAA guy since he hasn't played much.

[madducks]

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Pete Alonso is expected to make the Mets' Opening Day roster.

[pitbull]

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Pete Alonso is expected to make the Mets' Opening Day roster.

Wouldn't the Mets benefit by starting him off in the minors? From what I read it would only be 2 weeks get an extra year then bring in up.

[The Dane]

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Pete Alonso is expected to make the Mets' Opening Day roster.

So dumb. Keep him down for a couple of weeks.

It's the Mets.

[heyelander]

Wouldn't the Mets benefit by starting him off in the minors? From what I read it would only be 2 weeks get an extra year then bring in up.

Miami has had a good spring training and look like they could be a bit better than expected... I'm guessing the Mets want to put the best team on the field right from the start so they have a better shot at finishing 4th in the east...

[revo]

So dumb. Keep him down for a couple of weeks.

It's the Mets.

One of new GM Brodie Van Wagenen’s key points was to turn the Mets into an organization that puts the player first. He was very clear that he would not play any shenanigans with service time, and the Alonso case would be an early decider on if he would stay true to his word or if he was BSing.

[Judge Jude]

also, if he's hitting .190 after two weeks, can't they just send him back to AAA for a few weeks anyway?
then the demotion is performance-based.

the Giants let Buster Posey sit in AAA for 2 months in 2010, where he had a .995 OPS. this was after he killed in both high A and AAA in 2009.

they only won the division by 2 games - and then won the World Series.
if they had missed the playoffs by a game, they would have looked pretty dumb, no?
I mean, they had a good front office, but if they knew exactly when to bring up Posey - who had a rock star 133 OPS+ for the Giants in 2010 - to barely win the division, then they are scary smart.

also, Alonso is 24 and not 22 like Posey was.

the Mets do a LOT of stupid stuff, and I am happy to call them on it. but if Alonso is their best play at 1B and he starts the season on the MLB roster, not sure that is worthy of mockery.