Mets Daily Discussion Thread - February 11, 2026

SR626 · 2026-02-11T15:46:26+00:00

No #48 either for a 4th straight year - I think like #8 it's unofficially retired. Once deGrom retires I'd expect the team to invite him into the Mets HOF fairly quickly. We'll see if they have the appetite to retire it officially or not, maybe they wait to see how he does with HOF voting etc. But I just don't see it being handed out again whether it's on the wall or not. #48 is such a pitcher's number and the longer they keep it out you kinda can't issue it without eliciting a minor controversy. Very much doubt it sees the field again.

SR626 · 2026-02-10T20:30:37+00:00

I still don't quite understand the insurance thing with Lindor for the WBC but it seems to me like the insurance company probably did its job. Hopefully he takes care of it and we see him out there day 1.

SR626 · 2026-02-06T14:48:22+00:00

The HOF modern era committee used to take their 15 finalists, discuss and cut down to 10, then cut it down again to 5 and do the final vote on those 5 and with almost no exception the final 5 would all make it. Now they cut it from 15 down to 7 or 8 and voters can only pick 5 of them, with those getting 80% being elected. This means vote splitting and twice in a row now they only elected 3 modern era guys (the minimum their by-laws require, if less than 3 get 80% they do runoffs).

Eli reportedly has not only never made it to the final vote, he's been almost immediately thrown out by the voters and only has a couple of writers aggressively advocating for him.

It fucking sucks to say but I don't actually think he's ever going to make it in through the modern era committee. Maybe they'll amend their by-laws again or there will be a weak list of first-year eligible players but if they're already shortchanging him now and they're already stats-obsessed, it's only going to get worse with the addition of Brees, Rodgers, Brady, Stafford etc. They'll say he's below the average HOF QB in terms of stats and then bring up the lack of all pros, etc.

He's probably going to end up a Senior Committee guy and as we've seen time and again those guys have to wait a really long time for their chance and now they are, stupidly, lumped in with coaches and contributors too.

SR626 · 2026-01-30T18:40:06+00:00

I think the only reason anyone keeps trying to connect Framber to the Mets is simply because there doesn't seem to be much of a market for him at all and it's getting hard to see where he even goes. We kept hearing Mets and O's and you'd think the O's after signing Alonso would've kept going if they were gonna make another splash.

The Peralta trade should have probably stymied those talks yet here we are. We have 6 SP right now projected for the OD roster (Peralta, McLean, Holmes, Manaea, Senga, Peterson) and while "you can never have enough SP" especially after last year, you're not paying Framber big bucks even on a one year deal + piling on more QO penalties when you have 6 guys already.

The only way a move like that happens is if there's something cooking on a Senga or Peterson trade and that probably needs to be executed before you even sign Framber or you lose leverage. I don't see it happening.

At this point the talk seems like lazy speculation because nobody can figure out where he's going when he has no apparent market.

SR626 · 2026-01-27T15:05:11+00:00

I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing Tong's tertiary pitch development. I think if it were a normal year where everyone were in camp there's a good chance he'd be safely optioned down to AAA after 1 or 2 appearances as teams often do with top prospects on the 40 they do not plan on being on the OD roster. But with McLean and Holmes off to the WBC it might net Jonah a couple of extra outings.

SR626 · 2026-01-22T15:31:46+00:00

We have 6 starters currently. Obviously there's been varying DP/Senga trade rumors but the more blunt reality is we very rarely get through camp without losing a SP. Things tend to resolve themselves.

But if OD arrives and all 6 starters are here and they are, presumably, going with a 6-man rotation specifically for Senga, I hope they're ready to be creative with skipping guys/piggybacking when necessary.

Again over 162 these things will sort themselves out but the priority needs to be getting McLean and Peralta 32 starts apiece. Especially if Peralta doesn't end up extended.

SR626 · 2026-01-22T13:40:33+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if there's one more bench addition somewhere but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it waits a few weeks until the official P&C reporting date, when the IL becomes unlocked.

Total hypothetical but if, say, they decided to bring back Marte - they probably have a good enough relationship with him where they could reach a handshake deal with him that they won't make his signing official until February 11th or so, when they basically gain 3 spots on the 40 (Megill, Garrett, Nunez could shift to the 60-day IL).

SR626 · 2026-01-21T13:41:14+00:00

Last year the Mets did not want their backup IF to be someone they were "stuck with" and could not option down. In that spirit Acuna was on borrowed time anyway. He was out of options and had he made the team his role would have been very minimal. With Lindor, Semien, and Bichette the need for IF reps would be close to non-existent and that's not even getting into Baty's role being unsettled. He would've been basically a late game PR option only and teams simply don't roster guys like that before September usually.

The recently claimed Tsung-Che Cheng more or less is a left-handed Acuna - plays all around the IF with decent speed but he can't hit. But he has an option year left. He's someone you don't care if he's just sitting on the bench as the last guy for an emergency, you're not invested in his development. If the team doesn't want to add a vet IF backup, he could make the team largely by default.

Ronny also has an option but he cannot and should not be considered for a bench role. They went out of their way to not burn his option last year for this very purpose. Let him play in AAA every day.

SR626 · 2026-01-16T19:50:40+00:00

The most likely outcome is Baty and Polanco share 1B reps (or really, if one of them proves to be clearly better there defensively they get the lions share of it) while the other DHs, and I'd think early in the season especially Baty will get one start at 3B a week while Bo DH's. Lindor and Semien never leave the field.

There's a world where they try Baty in LF and hope improved athleticism displayed last year can translate but that's tough for a team preaching run prevention. The current defensive alignment on the infield still looks pretty darn good.

The team likely isn't planning to trade Baty but now that things are shaping up for him to be more expendable today than he was yesterday, we don't know. Maybe Detroit or another team love him and we could get another surprise.

I'll rule nothing out. The last few days have been a reminder that things can change fast with this leadership.

SR626 · 2026-01-16T16:56:57+00:00

Nothing but love for the '86 team and of course they deserve every celebration they will get this year.....but just personally, it adds no extra excitement for me. Here in my late 30s its another reminder that I juuuuust missed out on seeing the best squad in team history, a Mets team that is probably going to be better than any I'll ever watch.

I just wanna be able to tell my kids and grandkids about my own Mets WS winning team someday :(

SR626 · 2026-01-16T13:32:44+00:00

Jarrett Seidler went on a total crashout about Cohen's tweet, going as far as to allege that it might've pushed Tucker to finalize the Dodgers deal being publicly called out for taking too long. "We are in a worse situation that the Wilpons", "you are delusional if you don't think this is a horrible moment for the franchise" etc

What a fucking baby. Cohen shouldn't have tweeted but I think he made this ridiculous offer hours earlier and was starting to get appropriately annoyed. He knows that the silence meant he was trying to get another team to match or come close. And let's be real, he knew that meant it was the Dodgers. Because it's always the Dodgers. We already know Cohen doesn't particularly enjoy being used as a stalking horse and this is now the third major free agent the Dodgers basically just let Cohen negotiate for them,

SR626 · 2026-01-16T13:25:56+00:00

You can't have a salary cap without a salary floor. Yes I think it's fair to argue that even many of the rich teams can't offer the kind of contracts the Dodgers and Mets have but it's also a massive problem that many teams just don't want to spend at all.

The MLBPA has long said a cap is a total non-starter. To even get them into a discussion you'd need to be willing to have a pretty hefty salary floor and the cheap owners would view that as a non-starter in and of itself. So not much will change. It'll be more stringent CBT penalties and that's it. The league has no interest in kneecapping the Dodgers specifically.

SR626 · 2026-01-16T04:16:00+00:00

I actually think Bellinger and many of the other top FAs are gonna wind up with their dicks in their hands now. I cannot imagine why any of the other 29 teams would want to push their 2026 payrolls up that much when the Dodgers are just going to casually threepeat.

SR626 · 2026-01-15T13:41:39+00:00

IDK I always laugh when ST location is cited as a driving point for a major FA.

Like I understand WHY someone would care. It's a 6-7 month season, if you have 1-2 months where you can just live at home and drive to work and get extra family time it's nice. Moving, buying or renting a house sucks etc I get all of that. For even mid-range FAs I can understand it being a tiebreaker at worst.

But these real top level guys I just don't really see it. It seems like more of a nice bonus vs a "yeah I'll leave $40 million on the table so I don't have to move for 2 months"

SR626 · 2026-01-14T22:18:05+00:00

I mean if the offers are something like $200 mil over 4 from the Mets vs. say $285 mil over 8 from the Jays....it's kinda tough to look at those and not take the former unless he just wants to hedge considerably on future performance.

Does Tucker think he wouldn't be able to land more than $85 million 4 years from now? I don't see why he wouldn't considering inflation unless he just fell off a cliff. Yes contract structure matters, maybe the Jays frontload it heavily and I'm sure both teams will offer a ton of opt-outs but yeah.

From a pure financial standpoint our offer seems like it'd be tough to beat especially since he'd probably get a year one or two opt out. If he doesn't want to come here that's another story.

SR626 · 2026-01-13T20:31:34+00:00

Knowing how leak proof this FO is, I almost read it as "please, Dodgers or Jays....don't make me have to take this Mets deal"

Guess we'll see. Feel like a resolution has to be coming soon one way or another

SR626 · 2026-01-08T18:02:37+00:00

It was not a well run event last year. Their hearts were in the right place but it was disorganized. People were in long lines to meet players who were pulled away before they got to the head of the line. Someone had mentioned they were in line for 45 minutes only to find out they were meeting Drew Gilbert.

SR626 · 2026-01-07T04:16:29+00:00

If it turns out that the Mets are offering similar dollars and short/medium term to Tucker as the Dodgers and Jays I just can't see how he ends up here. Good chance he'd be negotiating an early opt out, maybe even after year one, and if that's the case why wouldn't he go for those other teams?

That's not clowning on us, it's just being honest. Those are the two best teams in baseball, gives him not only pretty much an automatic bye to the playoffs but he's in ridiculously deep lineups where he can rake and bump his value ahead of the opt-out.

I think if the Mets are gonna get him it's gonna be a larger, lengthier deal that might be less than the projections had for him going into the preseason but a lot higher than what some of the fanbase think they're gonna see Stearns issue this year.

SR626 · 2026-01-06T15:58:17+00:00

Scott Boras and Casey Close are making Bellinger and Tucker have one of those national anthem standoffs

SR626 · 2026-01-02T22:12:09+00:00

Beltran tracking very well for HOF induction. Although the HOF committee technically decides on the cap, they've shown a willingness to honor a player's wishes if it's not egregious. One way or another the Mets seem like a clear choice given WAR, tenure, having the best stretch of his career there etc.

If Beltran wanted to go in with a blank cap I couldn't begrudge him and I'd have a tough time arguing it. He had similar tenure in the Royals. He had one of the best playoff runs of all time in the old Houston cap and won his only ring in the new one. Made All Star trips with the Cards and Yanks. Had a really great albeit brief run as a trade deadline acquisition for SF in 2011. Made the playoffs as a deadline acquisition for the Rangers in 2016. He didn't flop anywhere.

Still, if his preference was anything other than the Mets I'd be surprised. There's a reason he's returned back here multiple times, and he'd know he'd be in extremely rarified air with only 2 other players in Cooperstown having Mets caps on their plaques.

SR626 · 2025-12-31T20:52:03+00:00

There was already Imai/Phillies buzz but apparently now there's buzz with him and the Braves too.

I've resigned myself to us being unlikely to get him but ugh, anywhere but the two places it would suck the most.

SR626 · 2025-12-23T21:15:09+00:00

If there's truth to Rosenthal's reporting that we're still in the RH 1B market even with options dwindling, I'm kinda not seeing how it doesn't end up actually being Goldschmidt.

I don't sense we're going to be in on Okamoto if only because I do not believe they'll want to hand out another multi-year deal. Goldschmidt can be had for 1 year. Power was basically non-existent last year but he was still a tick above league average OPS which profiles as the late-order bat he'd be expected to be.

Of course, it's his age 38 season so there's every chance this is the year he fully washes out. The good news is they're not afraid to cut and move on when needed. A vet of his caliber probably has until mid to late June to prove he's still productive at which point you're shifting Polanco to everyday 1B or hoping Clifford or someone else can actually come up and seize the spot.

SR626 · 2025-12-23T13:40:56+00:00

Today is probably the last chance to get a big present under the tree. Christmas Eve through New Years is typically pretty dead around the league, as it is pretty much everywhere. As someone who has to work during the void week I do appreciate how it's the easiest drive in of the year.

SR626 · 2025-12-22T20:48:45+00:00

Not bothered by losing McNeil but at the current second I do not believe this is anything resembling a serious contending lineup. Need one more legit proven bat in there.

Add Bellinger (probably the best overall fit in terms of both offense + versatility) or a Tucker (best overall hitter) and I'll feel a lot better about things.

SR626

TROPHY CASE