Mets Morning News for February 18, 2024

Mets Morning News for February 18, 2024

Meet the Mets

The Alonso Foundation is going to donate $1,000 to animal shelters for every home run Pete Alonso hits during the 2024 season. “Hopefully there’s a lot of homers and we get to save a lot of animals,” Alonso said.

Meanwhile, a lot of members of the press wrote about Alonso’s Mets future yesterday. Fans need to be emotionally prepared for the possibility that this is his last season in Queens, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

David Lennon of Newsday also speculates about whether Alonso will stay a Met or ultimately land somewhere else.

“For me, right now, I’ve just been sitting back and listening,” Alonso said of his negotiations with the Mets, as quoted by Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports. “And the only contract matters that we talked about were my one-year contract this year.”

Overall, Alonso’s comments lined up with those from David Stearns, signaling free agency as the most likely outcome, writes Tim Healey of Newsday.

But Alonso does say he “envisioned” himself as a lifelong Met, which is consistent with what he has been saying all along.

Will Sammon of The Athletic analyzed the biggest questions surrounding Alonso’s contract situation, based on conversations with league sources.

The Mets are moving toward a minor league agreement with Luke Voit, according to reports.

Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña spoke to the media for the first time at spring training in Port St. Lucie on Saturday morning, opening up about his opportunity to play in the big leagues this season, where he sees himself defensively, and how it was visiting Citi Field earlier this year.

“His ceiling is higher than everyone else,” former Met Trevor May said on a podcast guest spot of his former teammate Shintaro Fujinami, one of the Mets’ recent bullpen additions for 2024. “He’s a freak athlete, he’s so strong and he’s always working. He has the stuff and it’s there. He doesn’t have a crazy sinker, he doesn’t have a rising fastball, he throws something in the middle and can throw hard.”

Baseball Prospectus published its 2024 preview of the Mets, in which Justin Klugh predicts them to finish with 80 wins, below the 84 win total projected by PECOTA.

Around the National League East

“He’s got until Feb. 24 to be here, and, yeah, I expect him to be here,” Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said on Wednesday of Stephen Strasburg and the expectation that he report to spring training. But what the Nationals are doing with Strasburg is a bad look, writes Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic.

Jarred Kelenic is likely to be the Braves’ everyday left fielder going into 2024.

Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera has some of the best stuff in baseball, but lack of command has been an issue for him. For Cabrera this spring, the message is simple: focus on strike one.

Tanner Scott won his arbitration case against the Marlins, according to reporting by Mark Feinsand. Scott will earn $5.7 million in 2024 instead of the $5.15 million at which the Marlins had filed.

The Phillies signed outfielder David Dahl to a minor league contract.

Around Major League Baseball

The Diamondbacks signed outfielder Randal Grichuk to a one year, $2 million deal with a mutual option for 2025.

The Pirates signed Chase Anderson to a minor league deal with an invite to big league spring training.

The Kansas City Roayls acquired right-handed reliever John Schreiber from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for the Royals’ No. 19 prospect David Sandlin.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reviews the best player at each position due to hit free agency next offseason. Not surprisingly, Pete Alonso is that name at first base.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched live batting practice for the first time since signing a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers in December. Needless to say, his teammates were impressed.

“I’m as ready as I can be, I think,” said top prospect Jackson Holliday about the possibility of breaking camp with the Orioles.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

In a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series, Chris McShane and Brian Salvatore dig into the moves the Mets made this offseason, how they feel about the roster, and how the Billy Eppler situation shook out.

This Date in Mets History

Several former Mets were born on February 18.