☀️ Good Morning:
Amazin’ Day created plenty of headlines over the weekend, from jersey reveals to contract talks.
But I start today with some news that went a bit under the radar.
That is, the health updates on several key pieces for the upcoming season.
Brandon Nimmo is still dealing with the plantar fasciitis injury that limited him down the stretch last season. He has yet to start running at full speed and “probably won’t be in those first few [Grapefruit League] games.”
A.J. Minter is taking it “day by day” in his recovery from hip surgery. His “goal” is to be ready by Opening Day, but he still hasn’t thrown off a mound.
Kodai Senga remains somewhat of a mystery. The Mets sent their trainers to visit him in Japan in December and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner made a trip this past week. Reports are positive, but we will see how things look when he returns state-side.
Ronny Mauricio is “taking it slow” in his comeback from knee surgery. He’s doing baseball activities (taking grounders, throwing), but still hasn’t started running at full speed.
Dedniel Núñez is throwing bullpen sessions and live BP in the Dominican Republic. He is making progress from the elbow injury that sidelined him for the second half of last season, but will also require time to build up.
That’s five pieces who are eventually expected to be significant pieces on the 2025 roster who will start the season either still rehabbing or cautiously returning.
Injuries are a part of baseball. The roster always looks different at the end of March versus the beginning of September. But for a team generously projected to win 87-90 games, the health status of these players becomes critical.
Nimmo is a key piece to add strength to the top half of the batting lineup, especially if Pete Alonso doesn’t return. Senga is the X-factor that can turn a very average rotation into a decent one. Minter shores up the bullpen. Both Mauricio and Núñez offer the organization incredible upside, assuming they can return healthy and quickly orient themselves to major-league competition again.
We can talk until we are blue in the face about Alonso (and we will discuss him next), but the relative importance of bringing him back or finding a replacement rests largely on the health and productivity of these players, along with the maturation of several young pieces.
There’s already a wide-variance of outcomes associated with this roster, one that becomes wider when you consider health.
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🗣️ The Alonso Saga
You couldn’t get through Amazin’ Day without Mets fans voicing their opinion on Pete Alonso. What was a bit unexpected was how open owner Steve Cohen became about the negotiations, resulting in a rebuttal from Scott Boras.
In case you somehow missed it:
“We made a significant offer to Pete,” Cohen told the fans. “He’s entitled to explore his market. That’s what he is doing. Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, Soto was tough — this is worse.
“A lot of it is, we made a significant offer … I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. It’s highly asymmetric against us. And I feel strongly about it. I will never say no. There’s always the possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward. And as we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have. That’s where we are. And I am being brutally honest.
“I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Listen, maybe that changes. Certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we are going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have.”
Boras’ response:
“Pete’s free-agent contract structure request are identical to the standards and practices of other clubs who have signed similarly situated qualifying-offer/all-star level players,” agent Scott Boras said. “Nothing different. Just established fairness standards.”
Too honest? While Boras (and other agents) are known for holding press conferences to discuss the status of negotiations, and agents regularly leak information to reporters to stir up the market, Ken Rosenthal writes this morning that there is some question over whether Cohen violated Attachment 49 of the CBA:
The attachment states the negotiating parties “may not disclose to the media the substance of contract discussions between a player and a club (including but not limited to the facts of offers, the substance of offers, or decisions not to make offers or to withdraw offers) until after terms on the contract have been confirmed by the Office of the Commissioner and the Players Association.”
Either Mr. Rosenthal conveniently became an expert on Attachment 49 this weekend, or somebody must have pointed him to this clause 🤔.
What’s this argument really about? The “structure” of a deal could mean a lot of things, but given the reports of the Mets offering Alonso a three-year deal with opt-outs, the difference must be in how those opt-outs are triggered, or how much Alonso is paid in the event he exercises those opt outs.
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