new york mets

Some may say that dishing out a record contract to your closer days after the conclusion of the World Series isn't playing your hand slowly. As New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler heads into his second off-season at the helm of Steve Cohen's team, he is well aware that one has to move fast at times and be patient at others to be successful. Eppler made some key acquisitions last winter, like right fielder Starling Marte, left fielder Mark Cahna and third baseman Eduardo Escobar. Those three moves, along with Eppler's hire of Manager of the Year, Buck Showalter, changed the culture of the Mets. Now it's time to continue the improvement. That is what Cohen expects.

Carlos Castro may have celebrated a bit too much after hitting home run, but that still wasn't enough to justify what ex-New York Met Asdrubal Cabrera did next.

If the New York Mets want to be a perennial playoff team, then they have to make decisions with their head and not their heart. Faced with the prospect of paying their free-agent, ace right-hander, Jake deGrom for the next 3 or 4 years, at $40 plus million per, Amazin's general manager Billy Eppler had better think long and hard about the investments that he makes over the next year, as Mets president-in-waiting David Stearns bides his time, collecting checks from the Milwaukee Brewers and making notes on his future employees.

Not one, but both of New York's baseball teams have been implicated in a collusion scandal over the biggest free agent in Major League Baseball this offseason.

For decades New York Mets (and for many years Jets fans) always felt that the area in Queens surrounding Shea Stadium, now Citi Field, detracted from the fan experience. From the rows of auto repair shops to the barbed-wire fences surrounding the junk yards, there is basically nothing for fans to do outside of Citi Field, if they don't need work done on their car. However, that is about to change. New York City officials have reached an agreement to build the city’s first professional soccer stadium and it has benefits for Mets fans.

The New York Mets do not have a storied history of great managers. Gil Hodges was terrific for his few years prior to his passing in 1972. Davey Johnson did a great job winning games with his late 1980s teams but his undisciplined style rubbed management the wrong way. Terry Collins was terrific in 2015, especially if you want a guy to win with a sub-par roster. However, none of them was ever named National League Manager of the Year, like this year's winner, Buck Showalter.

Baseball players who belonged to New York organizations were a few of the many involved in an out-of-control brawl during a Venezuelan Winter League game.

All-Star, right-handed pitcher Zach Wheeler is preparing to start Game 2 of this year's World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies. After the 2019 season, the former New York Met was basically disregarded as he hit free agency, by his former employers, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. Wheeler still has plenty of friends in New York, including pending free agent ace, Jacob deGrom. On Thursday, after their pre-World Series workout in Houston, the Phillies ace shared some of his discussions with with his former teammate regarding deGrom's future with the Mets.

As the winter months edge closer, New York Mets fans will begin to soften on the disappointments of their team's 101 win season. Then they will reflect on the sound of "Narco" by Timmy Trumpet blaring out of the Citi Field speakers, as the crowd rose its feet and closer Edwin Diaz jogged from the bullpen. It was a good season for the Mets and especially on the mound. Fortunately for fans and the organization, the pitching coach behind that success, Jeremy Hefner, looks to be returning.

Obviously, the New York Mets wanted and expected to go further in the playoffs than they did, especially after a 101 win regular season. However, the baseball gods don't often cooperate with Amazin's best laid plans. Hence, on Sunday night, instead of strategizing to beat the Los Angelas Dodgers, general manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter began the process of figuring out how to get this team to play a few weeks deeper into October. In other words, how do they make a run at the 2023 World Series? That's what owner Steve Cohen expects in the next two years. What questions are Eppler and Showalter facing?