As the wait for the World Series to begin, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Mets end-of-season press conference:
On the heels of the club being eliminated from the postseason at the hands of the Dodgers, the Mets are now set to shift their attention toward the coming offseason. Part of that process is the club’s end-of-season press conference, which Mike Puma of the New York Post notes will be conducted at Citi Field later today by president of baseball operations David Stearns. Overall, it was quite the successful year for a Mets club that won 89 games and made it to their first NLCS since 2015 despite relatively low expectations regarding the club’s competitiveness just one year after they traded off key pieces like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
Stearns and the rest of the front office face a new challenge this winter, however. Not only is first baseman Pete Alonso scheduled to become a free agent, but the impending departures of Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, and Luis Severino mean that the Mets will need to rebuild their rotation nearly from scratch this offseason. Beyond that, speculation has run rampant over the past year that the Mets will be involved in the Juan Soto market, presumably creating a bidding war between the two New York teams as the incumbent Yankees try to retain their young star.
2. Are more injury announcements coming down the pipe?
The lull between the end of the NLCS on Sunday and the start of the World Series this coming Friday has created space for teams to make announcements that otherwise may have conflicted with the postseason, and among the most noteworthy have been a handful of injury updates. So far this week, we’ve received word that Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner underwent forearm surgery and Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn underwent a spinal procedure earlier this month. Those major injury announcements that could impact the players’ timelines for Spring Training aside, the Padres also discussed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim’s recent shoulder surgery ahead of his free agency and indicated he might take longer to return to action than initially believed. Could any more injury announcements or updates crop up over the next few days?
3. Managerial searches continue:
Details surrounding the managerial searches for the White Sox and Marlins have been fairly sparse to this point, though a few names of potential candidates have been rumored for the vacancy in Miami. There have been more rumors surrounding Chicago’s search, with exiting Marlins manager Skip Schumaker joining a list of names that also includes Lombard, Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough and Rangers associate manager Will Venable. Whoever the two clubs ultimately hire to steer their fifth-place teams in 2025 will face plenty of potential challenges; in addition to the abysmal record of both clubs, the Marlins’ new manager will be tasked with overhauling their entire coaching staff, while the new White Sox manager will join the team amid rumors of a potential sale.
mad1
Successful year as the muts spent three times per win as the brewers Indians/royals and have no hardware to show for it.
Canuckleball
The Mets spent an amount of money their owner was willing to spend and this was a step back year, so all things considered, it was a pretty solid outcome for them.
For all the lauded underfunding of teams like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Kansas City and others, how many titles do they have?
KC is the only cheap team to have won a title recently, and the year they won (2015), they were the 13th highest payroll, so they weren’t even all that cheap.
The Royals title shows several things.
A. You don’t have to spend to the rooftops in order to have an honest shot at a title.
B. The Royals (and many other teams) are capable of spending the amount needed to win, but most years choose not to. A top 20 payroll gives a team an honest shot at a title. A bottom 10 payroll guarantees a non-title team.
whyhayzee
A. You don’t have to spend to the rooftops in order to have an honest shot at a title.
But you can be the Yankees and have a dishonest shot at a title. Massive overpay for known cheaters. And so it goes.
TerryTurnbuckle
And the loser of the World Series is going home having spent either 300+ or 240+million. No reason to single the Mets out dummy.
avenger65
Canuckleball: I’m a little confused. What title did the Royals win?
NashvilleJeff
@avenger65: KC has played in 4 World Series since their founding as an expansion franchise in 1969. Won the WS in 1985 and 2015. Lost in 1980 and 2014.
Canuckleball
@ avenger65
I was referring to the 2015 World Series
metsin4
What’s your obsession with the Mets hate? It’s at a freakish level.
Bill M
Gives him a chance to call the Mets “the muts.” You see, it’s REALLY clever. He changed the “e” to a “u.”
C Yards Jeff
Darn. Bringing Pete back should be a priority. The man does shows up in the post season.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
He earned that 180 million contract because of that postseason
avenger65
No first name for Lombard. There is a city in Illinois named Lombard. Maybe that’s the way to go. It’ll take a village (or city) to bring the Sox franchise up to life support.
metsin4
I hope they are in on Soto just enough that the Yankees pay through the roof for him. He would be crazy to leave the Yankees after the year he had.
Samuel
metsin4;
Love your posts.
Funny how the last few subjects posted above are about:
1. Small market MLB teams can still win because one did it 8-9 years ago. (Then lost all their good players to free agency and has stunk since then, up until this year).
2. The Mets and Yankees get to fight over Soto because other than the Dodgers (who gave Ohtani a kings ransom) none of the other 27 teams can afford to pay Soto and still have the money to put a decent team on the field for the length of his next contract.
–
Cheek out the posts on ‘Hoops Rumors’ and ‘Pro Football Rumors’. Sure, teams can mismanage their payrolls, But all teams are on equal footing. In the NBA (‘Hoops Rumors’) the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Portland Trail Blazers can compete with the New York Knicks, LA Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers. In the NFL (‘Pro Football Rumors’) the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Green Bay Packers can compete with the New York Giants, New York Jets, and Los Angeles Rams.
–
In fact, going back to the KC Royals having 3 good years and winning one championship – look at the KC Chiefs today. A powerhouse, generational team in a small market that didn’t have to be broken up as happened with the Royals.
IMO MLB has the best game, but the worst framework for fans nationally.
Citizen1
Only took 3 years for lindor to finally gel as a met. Same with Edwin Diaz. Bizarrely used in the playoffs. If they sign Soto, add 3 years to that.
metsin4
He’s been a top 10 MVP player and WAR player for the last three years.
cah011381
If Skip is as smart as everyone thinks he is he’ll take a year off and hope for a better job to open. I wouldn’t want anything to do with either of those dumpster fires.