Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 14 seasons full time on the beat.
As a native Venezuelan, Francisco Alvarez never celebrated Thanksgiving as a child. His first brush with the American holiday came last Friday at Part of the Solution in the Fordham Manor neighborhood of the Bronx. For much of an hour, Alvarez joined Mets employees in handing out turkeys to those in need. Many stopped for photos with the rookie catcher.
“It means a lot,” Alvarez said through interpreter Alan Suriel. “I’ve grown to know a lot of people that also need, and I’ve been in that position of need sometimes where [people] have helped me even when they don’t have [much]. So it’s really important to be out here and to be able to help out the community.”
Alvarez’s efforts were part of the team’s annual Metsgiving initiative, which this year organized Thanksgiving food distribution events in all five boroughs. Altogether, the Mets donated more than 7,500 turkeys to needy families through a $180,000 grant from the Amazin’ Mets Foundation. The club expected the program to feed over 61,000 underserved individuals.
For the 22-year-old Alvarez, it was a chance to jump-start his philanthropic career at an age when many players have yet to make the Majors.
“It feels good, because you know they’re going to spend days with their families with the things that they need,” Alvarez said. “To be out here with the Mets and be able to help them out, it feels good.”
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As for his own Thanksgiving, Alvarez was not planning on being in New York to celebrate the holiday for the first time. But he does have a notable relationship with food, famously cooking teammate Brett Baty and his girlfriend a Venezuelan lasagna earlier this season. Asked if he might be interested in whipping up a Thanksgiving spread one day, Alvarez grinned and acknowledged it might not be the best idea.
“My mom cooks better than I do,” he said, laughing, “so I’d prefer for her to cook.”
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Although president of baseball operations David Stearns does not intend to hire a general manager this winter, Stearns has made several additions to the Mets’ front-office staff since taking over seven weeks ago. Among them are former Astros scouting director Kris Gross and former Padres manager Andy Green, as well as former Brewers assistant general manager Eduardo Brizuela. Sources confirmed all three hires, which the Mets have not announced.
Gross spent 11 years with the Astros before joining the Mets and earned a promotion to director of amateur scouting in 2020. In his prior role as a scouting supervisor in Houston, Gross helped select picks such as Jeremy Peña and Hunter Brown.
Best known for his time as Padres manager from 2016-19, Green briefly played for the Mets in 2009 and was most recently David Ross’ bench coach with the Cubs. He joins the Mets in a front-office role rather than a coaching job.
Brizuela had spent 14 years in the Brewers’ organization, beginning as an intern and eventually ascending to one of the team’s highest-ranking baseball ops positions. Known for his Latin American scouting background, Brizuela served in multiple roles with Milwaukee and will now do the same with the Mets.
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AND THE WORLD'S GONNA KNOW YOUR NAME |
Three notable first-timers found their way onto this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, which was released Monday: David Wright, José Reyes and Bartolo Colón, all of whom played their final Major League games in 2018. (The Hall has a five-year waiting period after players retire before they become eligible for election.)
Realistically, none of the three will gain entry to Cooperstown, though they should garner various levels of support. The conversation begins with Wright, who racked up 49.2 Wins Above Replacement (per Baseball Reference) over 14 seasons as one of the most popular players in franchise history. Those numbers include six consecutive Hall-caliber seasons from 2005-10, plus another in 2012.
But Hall of Fame voters also value longevity, and the back, neck and shoulder issues that prevented Wright from taking the field consistently in his 30s also dampened his realistic shot at Cooperstown. His JAWS score, which is a combination of seven-year peak and career WAR totals, sits about 20% below that of an average Hall of Famer.
Reyes similarly features a relatively low bWAR total (37.4) due in part to the injuries he sustained during his career; the shortstop’s peak years were entirely behind him by the time he turned 30. He and Wright will likely have to settle for the Mets Hall of Fame, with Wright a prime candidate to have his No. 5 retired soon at Citi Field.
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As for Colón, a PED suspension back in 2012 remains a stain on his record, despite his status as a cult hero in Flushing. He might have fallen short of the Hall on a statistical basis, anyway.
Despite all that, the Mets could have a presence in this year’s proceedings. Billy Wagner has been knocking on the door to Cooperstown for several years now, topping out at 68.1% of the vote last January. He could receive the requisite 75% in his ninth of a possible 10 tries on the ballot. Carlos Beltrán is likewise a strong candidate to get in eventually; he received 46.5% support in his debut on the ballot and, while Beltrán might not jump another 30% this year, he should make a leap of some sort.
Ballot results will be revealed Jan. 23 on MLB Network.
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Nov. 21, 1972: Jon Matlack won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the second Mets pitcher to do so (after Tom Seaver in 1967.) Matlack, who had appeared in seven games down the stretch in 1971, went 15-10 during his true rookie season with a 2.32 ERA. He earned 19 of a possible 24 first-place votes, beating out his own teammate, John Milner, as well as Giants catcher Dave Rader. |
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