Carlos Beltran is one the most prominent people named in MLB’s sign-stealing report regarding the 2017 Astros. He is now the New York Mets’ manager, and while there haven’t been indications he may face discipline (no player received punishment and he was active at the time,) the team should be alert.
Other important developments took place in the last few hours.
Here are the New York Mets’ news and rumors of the day:
NY Post: The sign-stealing scandal keeps victimizing those involved. While MLB is conducting a separate investigation on the alleged use of a scheme to steal signs by the Red Sox in 2018, the team decided to act quickly and it parted ways with manager Alex Cora.
Cora was the bench coach for the Houston Astros in 2017, the season they won it all. MLB concluded that they took advantage of the replay room to decode signs, and used trash cans to rely the signs to batters. Cora was behind the scheme, as was Carlos Beltran (now the Mets’ manager.)
Mark Feinsand: Josh Donaldson agreed to sign a four-year, $92 million dollar contract with the Minnesota Twins. The deal will net the star third baseman a 23 million AAV, per sources, and it comes with a fifth-year club option that could bring the total to $100 million.
The Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals were left with empty hands in their pursuit. For the New York Mets it is huge news as DiComo points out: a fantastic offensive and defensive player (worth five wins) is now out of the NL East.
MLB.com: Noah Syndergaard, slated to be the Mets’ second starter behind ace Jacob deGrom, is taking the offseason very seriously. He recently worked out at Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy and is looking ripped.
Cincinnati Reds’ two-way phenom Michael Lorenzen joined Thor in the workouts. By hitting the link, you can see pictures.
Justin Toscano: Jeff McNeil told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio that he thinks the Mets will qualify for the postseason in 2020. “I think we have really high expectations. I expect to make the playoffs. We came up a little short in 2019 but I expect to make them,†he said.
He also stated that “we got the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom. We got Pete (Alonso.) We’ve got a bunch of young guys, we have a good mix of young guys and veterans, so I think we’re just going to build off what we did last year.â€