Hibernation Over, Spring Training Is Here | Astromets Mind

Monday, February 12, 2018

Hibernation Over, Spring Training Is Here


Back to the baseball grind!


            Has Kristaps Porzingis bum knee bummed thee? Never fear, baseball is here! Did the crappy seasons from the Giants or Jets leave you filled with regrets? Tallyho, onto the baseball season we go! Do the Islanders, Devils and Rangers sound like groups of weird strangers? Ignore sports with nets, it’s time for THE METS!

            Although many players had arrived early again this year, Mets pitchers and catchers are due to report at Spring Training today, meaning Spring Training 2018 is officially underway!! This should be welcome news for NY sports fans, because we finally have some teams worth following again for the next 8 months.
            What that means around these parts is that I’m back and while most Mets outlets will be covering events around Spring Training camp, I’ll be reviewing all the Mets minor’s action I covered in 2017 (well, as much as I can before the minor league season starts on April 5th). If you don't want to wait for my posts, you can find a list of all the Mets minor’s GIF recaps I’ve done the past 3 seasons here, including the 291 I did in 2017: 56 of Las Vegas, 116 of Binghamton, 4 of St. Lucie, 95 + All-Star coverage of Columbia, and 20 of Brooklyn.
            To start, I will be reviewing the seasons at a team-by-team level over the next week, and then I will take a more in-depth look at prospects within the system, specifically those that got a lot of playing time on MiLB.tv last season. I didn’t have enough time to do this during Spring Training last year, but the posts will generally look like those found on this page from two seasons ago – aka, there will be split breakdowns, personal reaction, and links to ALL GIF’s from last year (and, in a few cases, 2016). I had started this stuff back when the minor league season ended, but I needed a break from the grind at the end of the season, and my break turned into another winter of hibernation (and Rocket League, there was a lot of Rocket League at the beginning, and I may have to get a ‘new’ gen system for that game).

            In other news, I hope you all have had a good, healthy, productive offseason! The Mets were somewhat active this offseason, but time will tell if it was a good and productive one. As last season ended, I thought this would be the toughest offseason this Mets front office has had to deal with, because it wasn’t clear the best path to improve the club.
            One move I thought would help this club was the addition of Todd Frazier, and the Mets ended up getting him on a pretty good-looking deal, but I didn’t think that would be their only major roster move. Sure, Jay Bruce is back and cost more, but he doesn’t really feel like an addition at this point. The only two other new additions are Anthony Swarzak and Adrian Gonzalez, and I don’t really like the A-Gon signing. I get that he’s a low risk sign who the Mets are hoping will come in and turn the clock back a few years, plus he can give Dominic Smith some pointers in Spring Training, but why do it? Why not just give the job to Smith? If Dom fails, the Mets have other options that could fill in more capably at first, and I’d rather see Wilmer Flores get the chance than Adrian Gonzalez. Per wRC+, Wilmer – who is 9 years younger than A-Gon – has been a better hitter in each of the past two seasons, plus he’s out-homered A-Gon 34-to-21, and done so in 188 fewer plate appearances.
            Aaaanywho, if this pitching staff is finally healthy in 2018 (the big IF), the Mets should be a lot of fun to watch again. For now, let’s just enjoy the start of Spring Training and the positive vibes around our favorite club while it lasts. Baseball is back, baby!

  

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