Under Steve Cohen, the Mets leaned on older, short-term bridge signings and ranked among MLB's oldest teams from 2021-25. In 2026 they got younger, giving real playing time to homegrown rookies like Carson Benge. Age wasn't the only factor in the results. 📉
Amazin' Avenue's offseason plan contest (AAOP) is open: fans build Mets rosters under a $330M 2027 payroll cap, with the first tax line at $248M. Entries are due Saturday, Nov. 14, and Bo Bichette is assumed to opt in. 📝
Carson Benge and Reds slugger Sal Stewart (32 HR, 111 RBI, .263) look like the NL Rookie of the Year finalists. Benge's all-around game is the Mets' case. The 1968 Koosman-Bench vote ended 10.5 to 9.5, so tight races aren't new.
Braves signed ex-Mets infielder Vidal Brujan to a minor league deal, sending him to Triple-A Gwinnett as depth. He hit .278/.385/.421 in 65 games at Syracuse and went 1-for-11 in nine games with the Mets. A low-stakes loss, but to a division rival. 🔄
Mets claimed infielder Kyren Paris off waivers from the Angels. The utility man hit .274/.384/.458 with 13 HR and 24 steals in the minors, but he's hit just .147 in the majors with a ~38% K rate. He's out of options, so a roster decision looms. 🔄
Francisco Alvarez launched a game-winning eighth-inning grand slam in Venezuelan Winter League play, going 2-for-5 with five RBIs. Meanwhile, Mets prospects Prescott, Cota, Baro and Agbayani sputtered in the Saguaros' 11-2 AFL loss. 🔥
Dylan Ross' 2026 stalled: arm fatigue delayed his start, then he posted a 6.34 ERA in 44.0 Triple-A innings with 37 walks (7.6 BB/9) and a 30% HR/FB rate. One scoreless Mets inning in September. The elite whiffs remain; the command needs work. ✈️
Mets 2027 first-round draft board: the writer passes on Auburn C/1B Chase Fralick (defense concerns) and prep OF Grant Westphal (limited power). Florida RHP Aidan King, with a 97 mph fastball and 3.21 ERA, is the pick if the Mets draft 10th or earlier. ⚾
Rough AFL day for Mets prospects as Surprise fell 11-2. Peyton Prescott gave up five runs (four earned) in 2 1/3 innings, and Irving Cota allowed two in 1 2/3. Boston Baro and Bruin Agbayani went hitless but each walked. 📉
Nippon-Ham is posting right-hander Hiromi Itoh, 29, making him a name to watch on the market. He posted a 3.18 ERA with 159 strikeouts and 34 walks in 172 2/3 innings, and he won the 2025 Sawamura Award. No Mets link is reported yet. 👀
David Stearns reportedly scouted NPB triple-crown winner Teruaki Sato in Japan right after the Mets' season ended, a year after the team backed off Munetaka Murakami. Sato's power is real, but so are the strikeout concerns. Déjà vu, anyone? 👀
Mets morning links: Danny Abriano weighed the pros and cons of the Mets signing Tarik Skubal this offseason, and MLB.com's Will Leitch ranked the Mets fifth among 13 teams chasing a first World Series title since 1998. Contention odds, quietly rising. 📈
Yankees reportedly won't renew Omar Minaya or Brian Sabean as special assistants to Brian Cashman, per Jon Heyman. Minaya, who had three Mets stints, including as GM from 2004 to 2010, is out in the Bronx. 🗂️
Ex-Met Paul Blackburn is projected to cash in this winter: Jim Bowden predicts 2 years, $22M, with the Yankees as a fit, while Spotrac says $7.7M for one year. His 1.59 ERA came with a 3.68 xERA, the league's biggest gap. Buyer beware. 🧐
Tom Brennan's Mets prospect list, #6-#10a: Aiden Robbins, Wandy Asigen, Elian Peña, Carson Wiggins, Jack Wenninger, plus Nick Morabito at 10a, who keeps rookie status for 2027. Big upside, thin pro track records, so 2027 outcomes are wide open. 🔮
Vidal Bruján's short Mets stint is officially over: the 28-year-old utility man signed a minor league deal with the NL East rival Braves and was assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He hit .091 in nine games for New York this season.
10/31/2015: Michael Conforto enjoyed a two-homer performance at Citi Field in Game 4 of the World Series.
MJ Melendez mirrored the Mets' 2026 offseason: a low-cost gamble leaned on too heavily. He posted a 191 wRC+ in April, then 54 in May and 71 in June before landing in Syracuse. He finished at 91 wRC+ and elected free agency in October.
Free agent Luis Arraez (2B-1B) hit .310 with 185 hits, just short of the NL batting title (.3104 vs. Moreno's .3107). His elite contact skills come with bottom-percentile power, a unicorn profile for any Mets lineup talk. 🦄
SNY's John Harper predicts the Mets could land Teruaki Sato, Clay Holmes and Michael King in free agency, though not Tarik Skubal. The twist: Sato might not play first base, with Bo Bichette potentially shifting there instead. Just a prediction. 🤔
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