Thornton should be upset with him. Thankfully kid took it into his own hands. By Gawd we have a pitcher that went 7. Could they trot him out in the 8th?Wags clearly in for his defense
OT: Mets 2026 Season Thread
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What kids?
Morabito? 9 strikeouts in 11 AB's in his debut. Sure he'd do better now, but where will you play him?
Clifford? Hitting .196 in Triple A.
Reimer? .212 in DOUBLE A.
Serrano? .193 in Double A.
Suero? .198 in Double A.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Easy you roll the dice with Morabito. How did Benge look his first 3 weeks in the majors? Seems like a keeper now. Can’t base Morabito on 11 at bats. Besides rather see what the future may hold. Right now the present (Wags) sucks
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You also should go further with your evaluations. Most if not every player you listed has more power than Wags.
Such a silly excuse when you have the richest owner in MLB. Either try to win now or don't. Virtually every move Stearns made last off-season was terrible and they got considerably worse in all aspects. Cohen should sell the team if he doesn't care anymore and wants to continue with Stearns.
Worst since 1995 but let Stearns “ COOK “
F-€k Steve Cohen is very easy to do a clap chant to
This is just a gigantic collection of horse
Is next year the time to think about moving Lindor to second and getting a legit shortstop?
Mets 2026 MLB Draft: Every pick the Amazin's made
Here are all of the Mets' picks from the 2026 MLB Draft...
OK you bring up Morabito. Now what? You've got three options:
1) Make Morabito your fourth or fifth outfielder who plays once or twice a week, if that. I think we can agree that makes no sense.
2) Make Morabito your every day LF. Tell Soto that for the indefinite future (perhaps forever!), he is a full-time DH. How do you think he will take that news? For better or worse, this team will be built around Soto for years to come. We need happy Juan.
3) Put Morabito in CF and move Ewing to 2B. I don't like this move, as I like Ewing right where he is. But IMO this is the only option that makes sense.
The move that we were hoping to see is Gilbert to 1B. However, he has been subpar (.679 OPS) with 129 strikeouts in 311 plate appearances. Yes, he has struck out 41% of the time - against AAA pitching! Major Leaguers would toy with him.
For just about every shortstop not named Derek Jeter, the day eventually comes where they have to be moved off the position. Has that day arrived for Lindor? My answer is that the question is moot until a new CBA is in place, and we know if spending money on new players is even an option.
I have apparently failed in explaining my point. I will try again.
I assume you are aware that a 2027 lockout is certain. Whenever baseball is resumed, there is a good chance that a hard salary cap will be in place. If there is, the Mets will certainly be over the cap. Spending will be constrained. The more over the cap they are, the more spending will be constrained.
I don't care if Elon F'n Musk is the Mets owner. This has nothing to do with ability or willingness to spend. It has everything to do with being ALLOWED to spend.
Given this environment of uncertainty, I continue to believe that giving Alonso five years would have been economic malpractice. Yeah, I know the Orioles did. They don't have to worry about being in the lowest depths of salary cap hell. We do.
You can say screw it, right now is what matters. Either try to win now or don't. (Actually, you DID say that.) From that perspective, signing Alonso would have been an objective mistake - because nothing he could have possibly done would have helped this sorry team win now.
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Wags is not playing everyday nor should his replacement. Soto does not need to go full DH but when he does would rather have someone other than Wags playing. Green uses his bench often so I believe Morabito would get in just enough games to see what we have. Think of it this way Ewing was not playing everyday. Got his feet wet and now has forced Green to play him almost everyday. Tell me another team that would let Wags bat cleanup. Let me help you out….there is none.
Ok so you want to DH Soto occasionally (twice a week?) and use Morabito then. And every now and then you'll use him to give Benge or Ewing a day off. Fair enough.
But what does any of this have to do with Wagaman? He is the presently the righty half of a 1B platoon. If Polanco is ever healthy enough to play 1B as planned, or if Vientos makes a miraculous recovery, Wagaman will likely be DFA'd.
Taylor, not Wagaman, is presently the primary LF backup.
Wags is playing more than you think and somehow batted cleanup. Get rid of him bring up Morabito. Vientos not coming back for awhile. Polanco stinks and asking him to stay healthy is just not going to happen. Again give someone Wags at bats. He is awful and can’t be counted on.
And if it were a list of teams in the bottom half of the league- It would look just as bad...Holy
You see schedule to start second half ???
Phillies
Brewers
Dodgers
Braves
Marlins
The other part of the equation - we have a $50 mil 3B and a $30 mil 2B - One cant field and the other can't hit. And were is a SS remotely available that can make it sound even plausible.
I would love to have a Lindor at 2B and a slick SS that can get us a .340+ OBP and 20+ HR...And that SS has to be under club control.
All discussions about moves in regard to players like this, are completely mute because of where Ash- oh wait, I mean, Stearns has put us.
Again- let's go back only 2 years- what Stearns inherited. NLCS- a bunch of super stars and also good and repested professional players and a minor league system that was near the top.
And just 2 years later- the worst team at the MLB level- one of the worst minors and 1 superstar they will do anything to make him look bad and another who Stearns would also dump if he could.
Stearns- to try to be the smartest man in the room- has just decided he wants no one here that was before him. So, lets try to make a home grown guy that would have chased 500 HR's and by all accounts- one of the best teammates around that never misses a game. Let's find a way to tie in an outfielder that is home grown, runs to 1B on walks and produces, let's embarrass a HOF player that has come here and has done nothing but produce, play every day and you always hear teammates love him.
I do think Ewing and Benge are going to be very good players for many years. But, they now have no senior leadership guys here with them to guide them.
Stearns has single handedly destroyed this organization. I said it before the season and a handful of you guys pretty much convinced me- let's give it a wait and see because Stearns knows what he is doing and the team is much better now.
Oh- he did it for the Brewers, with Cohen's money- he is a no brainer.
And yet- the Manager that worked under him wanted no part of working with him again and guess what- the Brewers have still stayed good without him and he has made the team with the richest owner in baseball look horrible.
I need to hear just a few reasons why this team has both an immediate and future for me to give this guy even a single positive. Yes, yay- we have 2 rookies- and neither will be ROY...just saying
Game Friday night was a miserable experience, except for the company in our row. We were on the right field line, and when Soto dropped that fly ball in the first, there was a loud mouth in front of us who would not stop berating Soto. It was extremely warm, and my wife did not want to listen to this blowhard, so we went up to the Coca Cola porch and sat in the cheap seats.
Haven't seen a post from @Zak57 in a while.
I'm no longer arranging my schedule to watch games on TV. This organization and team is pathetic. I feel bad for the rookies, and the players who are putting forth a solid effort.
Haven't seen a post from @Zak57 in a while.
I'm no longer arranging my schedule to watch games on TV. This organization and team is pathetic. I feel bad for the rookies, and the players who are putting forth a solid effort.
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Benge was drafted in 2024 out of college by Stearns. Ewing was drafted in 2023 out of HS by Eppler.
No I was referring to the guys who are really struggling in the minors. I think the guy who quoted my post was l;aying the blame on Stearns for drafting those guys. But I am not sure it was him.
Since run prevention is a thing, I decided to "run" some numbers.
There are two major defensive stats: Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and Outs Above Average (OAA). They are both cumulative stats. Zero is average. Positive is good. Negative is bad.
Here are the numbers. Note that OAA does not rate catchers:
Observations:
1) Luis Torrens is really, really good. His DRS of 12 ranks him 7th in MLB. Andy Pages leads with 17, but that was in 94 games. Torrens has compiled his 12 DRS in just 58 games.
2) Marcus Semien was supposed to be good defensively, but has not been. There are others who have not been good, but we didn't expect them to be.
3) Ewing's numbers are consistent with what we have seen with our eyes.
4) Lindor is good but no longer elite. Happens to all shortstops.
5) For Zach Short to attain a DRS of -3 in only 44 innings is almost incomprehensible.
There are two major defensive stats: Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and Outs Above Average (OAA). They are both cumulative stats. Zero is average. Positive is good. Negative is bad.
Here are the numbers. Note that OAA does not rate catchers:
| GAMES | INNINGS | DRS | OAA | |
| Luis Torrens | 58 | 426.2 | 12 | N/A |
| A.J. Ewing | 56 | 465.2 | 4 | 1 |
| Carson Benge | 93 | 793 | 2 | 1 |
| Jared Young | 41 | 286 | 2 | 1 |
| Tyrone Taylor | 47 | 296.2 | 1 | -2 |
| Vidal Brujan | 8 | 32 | 1 | 1 |
| Brett Baty | 89 | 723 | 0 | -2 |
| Francisco Lindor | 39 | 334.1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hayden Senger | 7 | 48 | 0 | N/A |
| Jorge Polanco | 2 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| MJ Melendez | 25 | 148.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Morabito | 3 | 25 | 0 | N/A |
| Luis Robert Jr. | 24 | 209.1 | -1 | -1 |
| Ronny Mauricio | 15 | 112 | -2 | -4 |
| Eric Wagaman | 13 | 50 | -2 | -1 |
| Mark Vientos | 63 | 487 | -3 | -8 |
| Zack Short | 6 | 44 | -3 | 0 |
| Bo Bichette | 92 | 814.2 | -4 | 0 |
| Francisco Alvarez | 49 | 392.1 | -4 | N/A |
| Juan Soto | 49 | 424 | -4 | -1 |
| Marcus Semien | 80 | 710.2 | -5 | -5 |
Observations:
1) Luis Torrens is really, really good. His DRS of 12 ranks him 7th in MLB. Andy Pages leads with 17, but that was in 94 games. Torrens has compiled his 12 DRS in just 58 games.
2) Marcus Semien was supposed to be good defensively, but has not been. There are others who have not been good, but we didn't expect them to be.
3) Ewing's numbers are consistent with what we have seen with our eyes.
4) Lindor is good but no longer elite. Happens to all shortstops.
5) For Zach Short to attain a DRS of -3 in only 44 innings is almost incomprehensible.
Interesting post @Doctor Worm , and thanks for posting. Can't remember if it was the SNY/PIX broadcast or Howie Rose this weekend talking about Torrens or Alvarez being trade material. Not both, just one.
Zach really came up short.
Zach really came up short.
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most of the names we are familiar with, are most likely pre Stearns- but since we have absolute crap in the minors right now- Stearns is a big part of that as well.
This is the thing- from where our organization was going just a couple of years ago- we shouldn't have to find a player here or there and worry about who drafted them. The fact that there are maybe 3-4 players that even have this potential, is an issue. We have to develop them after they get here.
I think that is overly harsh. Three factors to consider:
1) McLean, Benge, and Ewing all graduated. That put a major dent in the rankings, but who cares? Note that if Tong had performed better, he too would have graduated and the rankings would have been even worse.
2) Stearns traded a bunch of prospects. Most notably Sproat, Williams, and Gilbert. None of them have come back to bite us - yet.
3) And then there are a bunch of guys who were highly touted, and maybe still are, but have underperformed. Tong, Reimer, Clifford, a few others. Is this an organization issue attributable to Stearns? I don't know, maybe.
IMO the major criticism is that the veterans he brought in, did not do what they were brought in to do - win. The exceptions were in 2024, when Maton was good early, and Stanek was good late.
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All part of the equation. Also- the great organizations- just continue to develop and reload their minor league system.
Everything that we have been sold on with Stearns has not worked.
The major league team is the worst in baseball over the past year and the minor league system is almost depleted.
He has made zero positive impact trades and mult negative impact trades.
He has been the architect of one of the worst negative directions of an organization that we have seen with almost unlimited funds. You all know I have not been happy with him for quite a while and vocal about his off-season moves. But a few of you convinced me to take a wait and see how his vision and plan works out this year. Since there was no way to undo what he did, I took that approach and really hoped to be proven wrong. And even if I was- As a lifelong Met's fan for 60 years- I really had hoped that we could just keep a home grown guy, so the Alonso move killed a lot of enjoyment for years to come regardless.
Unfortunately, I have been proven right and we have a POBO that is horrible and destroying the franchise.
Zero positive impact trades? I'll name eight:
1) Adrian Hauser and Tyrone Taylor for Coleman Crow. Hauser was a bust as a Met, but Taylor has been a contributor. Crow is a marginal prospect who, at best, would have been part of the Mets ongoing bullpen churn.
2) Huascar Brazoban for Wilfredo Lara. Brazoban is a valued member of the pen. Lara is not in the Marlins Top 30 prospects.
3) Luis Torrens for... Cash. Not Dave Cash. Not Norm Cash. Not even Don Money. Just cash.
4) Phil Maton for... more cash. Maton helped the Mets qualify for the 2024 playoffs.
5) Ryne Stanek for Rhylan Thomas. Stanek was inconsistent in 2024 and 2025, but was excellent in the 2024 postseason when it mattered most. Thomas is now a 26 year old minor league journeyman.
6) Jesse Winker for Tyler Stuart. Winker wasn't great, but he did make some key contributions in the 2024 playoff run. Stuart is a decent prospect but is out all year with TJS. This one could come back to bite us, maybe.
7) Tyler Rogers for Drew Gilbert, Jose Butto, and Blade Tidwell. Yeah, most of Stearns' 2025 deadline trades turned out to be stinkers. This one was not. Rogers was really good, not his fault the Mets choked down the stretch. Mets did give up a lot, on paper. But with Benge and Ewing, they will never miss Gilbert. Tidwell? Maybe. Butto is injured and isn't that good anyway.
8) Yordan Rodriguez for Jeff McNeil. This one was addition by subtraction. McNeil is done. Mets saved some money and got a lottery ticket.
Yes, Stearns made a bunch of negative impact trades. Absolutely no question. But let's be fair. Not everything he touches turns to poop.
1) a 4th OF and a bust pitcher
2) good pickup
3) Backup C
4) ok
5) he had a good playoff but overall pretty bad
6) Winker- sparkplug but wasnt that good
7) ehhh who knows
8) Maybe- but McNeil, as finished as he is- is better than Semien and cheaper- plus we are paying a good chunk of his salary.
And while GM's do have to make these type of moves...very little impact except he didnt have to give up much.
Take your list and compare to the big names and money trades that were so bad. The ones he gave up top prospects for- and even if the prospects he gave up, amount to nothing- the players he brought here have mostly been disasters.
I accept your challenge! Here's my list of Stearns' five worst trades:
1) Ryan Helsley for Jesus Baez, Nate Dohm, and Frank Elissalt - This trade is far and away his worst. Helsley achieved a -0.9 WAR in just two months, which is hard to do. In other words. if some rando had been in the bullpen other than Helsley, the Mets would have (according to WAR) won one more game. That one game would have put them in the playoffs.
But that is not the worst of it. Jesus Baez is killing it in AA in the Cardinals' system. He was their organizational Player of the Month for June. We may be regretting this one for a long time.
2) Freddy Peralta for Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams - Many of us thought this was an overpay at the time, but if Peralta helps us win, it will be worth it. He didn't, and it ain't. Mets will likely flip him in a couple weeks for significantly less than what they paid. Both Sproat and Williams have had their stock drop somewhat, but they still are excellent prospects (although Sproat technically isn't a prospect any more). The potential regret factor of this trade remains high.
3) Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo - Semien has been really bad, which is why I rank this so high. His offensive decline has been more drastic than we thought, and his defense has been disappointing to say the least.
However, the development of Benge and Ewing (the latter a year ahead of schedule!) has mitigated the loss of Nimmo. If Nimmo were here, he'd be in the way. I know we miss his smile. But if he were relegated to DH / 4th OF, I doubt he'd be smiling.
The contractual issues are also important. Mets traded a bad five year contract for a bad three year contract. Could be important if a year from now, a salary cap is in place and the Mets are well over it.
4) Cedric Mullins for Raimon Gomez, Anthony Nunez, and Chandler Marsh - Mullins was awful, no way around that. Nunez has made it to the Orioles bullpen where he has been OK but nothing special. Jury is still out on him. The other two are outside the Orioles top 30 prospects.
5) Greg Soto for Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster - Soto was OK for the Mets, not bad, not great. Foster has made the Orioles bullpen, but he was not a top 30 prospect. I think the regret factor is higher with Aracena.
I gotta admit - Item 1 on this list was so bad that it overshadows all the good ones.
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