It&rsquo;s time to forget the words we were fed for 99 days this winter &mdash; lockout, negotiations, revenue, compensation &mdash; while waiting for hard news about the game we love. But Opening Day is here, and it&rsquo;s time to greet the new faces that have replaced old ones, time to weigh the deals designed to foster new hope for our favorite teams, and time for Newsday to deliver this Baseball Preview as our opening pitch to you.



	As you travel through these stories, you&rsquo;ll see how the Mets went all-in to land new ace Max Scherzer, pairing him with old ace Jacob deGrom. But with deGrom&rsquo;s shoulder now ailing and Scherzer&rsquo;s gimpy hamstring, manager Buck Showalter is understandably concerned about this one-two pitching punch.



	The Yankees were not the big bucks player in free agency their fans hoped they would be. Yet, they made some key moves, determined to avoid another letdown in October and make it to the World Series.



	How about a <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/the-mount-rushmore-of-every-mlb-team-m4qx7fcw">Mount Rushmore of Baseball</a> &mdash; a monument of each team&rsquo;s all-time top four players. Debatable? Yes, but our selections are set in stone. And the <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/baseball-101-debuts-jackie-robinson-j5ykbdx4">14th installment</a> of our annual <a href="http://newsday.com/baseball101">Baseball 101</a> tutorial is all about debuts &mdash; leading off with Jackie Robinson&rsquo;s historic first major league game 75 years ago.



	It&rsquo;s Opening Day .&ensp;.&ensp;. Time to Play!

Sports

Baseball

spmlbpreview_2022

Tim Healey

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — One night at the peak of his pitching powers, after he had had his way with the Mets, Max Scherzer was almost done. It was the seventh inning. The Nationals were comfortably ahead. He had thrown 112 pitches and just walked the light-hitting No. 8 batter, Alejandro De Aza, with the last two balls missing by a lot. 
 Dusty Baker visited the mound and, undecided on whether to remove Scherzer from the game, wanted to know: Did his ace have enough energy left to get the next Met and finish the frame? Scherzer told his manager yes. Baker was not convinced. 
 “I believe in looking in their eyes,” Baker recalled recently. “I said, ‘Look at me.’ He wasn’t looking at me. I said, ‘How do I know you got enough? Which eye should I look at, the blue or the brown?’ ” 
 Scherzer has a rare condition called heterochromia iridis, which causes each iris to be a different color. The left is brown, with lots of melanin, and the right is blue, with a dearth of it. In the heat of the moment, this apparently was distracting to Baker, who was in the first half of the first season of his 2016-17 run with Washington, a stretch that coincided with Scherzer winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards. 
 In immediate response to Baker’s query, Scherzer grunted in his typical fierce, I’m-in-the-middle-of-something way: “The [expletive] brown one.” 
 “The brown one told me he had enough left,” Baker said stone-faced. “I went back to the dugout, and he got the guy.” 
 So, uh, hey Max, just curious . . . why the brown one? 
 “Because the brown is the pitching eye,” Scherzer said, laughing and confirming Baker’s re-telling. “And the blue one is sexy.” 
 Perhaps that, then, reveals the two sides of Max Scherzer, a 37-year-old righthander who in November received the largest free-agent contract in Mets history at $130 million over three years. 
 He has his brown-eye side, as the all-business, all-world, famously intense pitcher who has blended old-school feel with new-school data to rack up three Cy Young Awards, eight All-Star honors and an on-field resume that puts him on the short list for the best pitcher of his generation and makes him a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. 
 And he has his blue-eye side, as a fun-loving smack-talker and prankster, bad golfer, wannabe hitter and guy who likes to play catch in weird places and argue to pass the time. 
 With the help of a dozen current and former teammates, coaches and managers — and Scherzer himself — here is a look into the two eyes of Mad Max, the Mets’ newest superstar. 
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<h3 data-atex-currentstyle="" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-pstyle="" data-atex-tagstart="0"> THE BLUE EYE </h3> 
 In the approximately 130 games per year when Scherzer is not the starting pitcher, he has a certain routine: Wait till just about first pitch, pound some preworkout — a supplement meant to provide an energy boost before physically strenuous activity — and find a seat in the dugout, ready to chirp. 
 He doesn’t really need the extreme caffeine but, well, “I want to be fired up for the boys,” he said. 
 “He’ll sit there all game,” said Alex Avila, a new MLB Network analyst who caught Scherzer for 113 games, more than double anyone else. “In between starts, a lot of [starters] might be down there for an inning or two, then they go to the clubhouse and get a massage or something like that. He’s there just about every single inning in the dugout with his teammates cheering everybody on, talking [expletive] to the other team and being a good teammate. Any time that camera pans to the dugout, Max is going to be talking to somebody. And more than likely, he’s going to be talking baseball.” 
 That is Scherzer’s trademark borderline maniacal competitiveness, plain for the baseball world to see when he is pitching, presenting itself in one of numerous other environments. He needs an outlet when he is not on the mound, and he will take basically anything. 
 When the Nationals celebrated National Cabbage Day — a real thing, every Feb. 17 — with cabbage relay races, for example, pitting Team Scherzer against Team (Stephen) Strasburg, he demanded excellence. Teammates defer to him when organizing fantasy football leagues, in which he is a perennial contender, and March Madness pools. 
 He insisted on a rematch after Bryan Holaday, one of his best friends in baseball, held his breath underwater in the pool longer. That was a 2020 quarantine activity when Holaday brought his family to live with the Scherzers for what they thought would be a weekend break from baseball. 
 He even turns playing catch into a long-term game with himself, collecting locations. When he needs to throw the day before a start, but the team is off and he doesn’t want to go to the ballpark, he’ll bring a ball and a glove somewhere else — somewhere different. His spots include Central Park, an aircraft carrier, the then-Staples Center, hotel parking lots, an apartment complex near Chicago and the street outside his South Florida home (irritating a neighbor’s dog with every pop of the glove). 
 And then there is golf. Scherzer is not good, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. 
 “He tries to play it off,” said Holaday, a Tigers teammate of Scherzer’s. “He does the whole ‘oh, whatever, I don’t care, it’s golf.’ But you can tell it drives him crazy.” 
 Or as Kevin Long, former Mets and Nationals hitting coach, put it: “He kinda stinks.” 
 And Scherzer, less than revved up: “You can’t be the best at everything. You can try. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to be. I get it. I’m not going to be the best at everything.” 
 But just like when he faces the pressure of the October spotlight, Scherzer can turn it up when the friendly wagers on the course become, ahem, larger friendly wagers. 
 “It pisses me off, because he won’t show up for, like, 15 holes,” Gerald Laird, another catcher from the Detroit days, said by phone from Busan, South Korea, where is a coach for the KBO’s Lotte Giants. “And then when it’s all the press holes and he wants to triple the money, he’ll hit, like, a 320-yard drive and start talking like he’s Tiger Woods.” 
 When there is no physical challenge, Scherzer sometimes will accept or invent a mental one, just for fun. 
 “Max loves to argue,” said Long, now the hitting coach for Joe Girardi’s Phillies. “He loves to prove his point. You can change his mind, but it takes a lot, especially if he’s stuck on something. You better make sense of it. He’s going to argue just to prove that there’s a different way to look at things.” 
 Francisco Lindor experienced this during spring training. He and Scherzer had been Mets teammates for all of several days before they engaged in multiple lighthearted but loud, animated conversations about whether pitchers are athletes. 
 Scherzer said they are, of course, and in a desire to prove it, he challenged Lindor to a one-on-one basketball game. Citing his 5-11-on-a-good-day frame as the reason he doesn’t like to play, Lindor declined that invitation but allowed that pitchers are “some form of athletic.” 
 “He has a better chance of hitting the ball than playing shortstop,” Lindor said. 
 About that: Despite developing a reputation as something of a batting cage rat, Scherzer has a very low chance of hitting the ball. 
 His most recent — and probably last — hit came on Sept. 18, 2019, against the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright. Then he went 0-for-71 (including playoffs). Then the designated hitter rule came to the National League, all but ending his time stepping to the plate. 
 “I’ll take the blame for that,” Long said of Scherzer, a lifetime .168 hitter. “But that’s what happens when you’re working with a high school-caliber hitter.” 
 Long, whom Scherzer identified as his favorite coach of all time, stopped to laugh at his own joke. Those close to Scherzer love to roast him, and he’ll give it right back. 
 “This is the type of stuff that we do,” Long said. “That’s the part that people don’t understand. He’s got a sense of humor, but it’s more like a sense of humor like ‘I’m coming after you.’ ” 
<h3 data-atex-currentstyle="" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-pstyle="" data-atex-tagstart="0"> THE BROWN EYE </h3> 
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 Anybody readying to watch Scherzer regularly — after, say, years of doing so periodically when he faced the Mets — should know a few things about him as a pitcher. 
 He inevitably will snap at his manager or catcher or someone else, and it inevitably will look like a big deal. But it is not personal, he said. Just the heat of the moment. He has feelings. 
 “I’m pitching with emotions,” said Scherzer, whose natural facial expression when on the mound could be described as furious. “I’m a high-adrenaline pitcher. If I want the ball, it’s just because I want the ball.” 
 Laird said: “Max isn’t afraid to tell you to get your [butt] back behind the plate.” 
 And as much as he does always want the ball, he pledges honesty regarding his capabilities in a given moment. So if he still has enough — like that night in Queens when Baker asked which eye to peer into — he will tell the manager and pitching coach as much, with unprintable words if merited. But when he is tapped out, he will tell them that, too, to earn trust and goodwill so he can get that last out when he is feeling strong after well over 100 pitches. 
 That is the same approach Mets people have attributed in recent years to Jacob deGrom, Scherzer’s new co-ace. 
 “Everybody thinks about all the times that I say no and I want to stay in the game,” Scherzer said. “You don’t realize how many times I’ve said, ‘no, I need to come out of the game,’ or I’ve told the manager to take the ball from me. So every time I say I want the ball, there’s probably been at least five other times where I’m saying take the ball from me. You can say no, then it gives you the ability to say yes.” 
 But there also are occasions when Scherzer can’t pitch at all. Those bother him. He has dealt with a bunch of mostly minor physical issues in recent years — neck, back, groin, nose, hamstring — because such is life in ones mid-to-late 30s. Near the end of spring training, for example, the date of his Mets debut became uncertain as he suffered from right hamstring tightness, the latest in a series of what he called “hiccups” with the back of his legs. 
 That was the case last October, when he finished his half-season with the Dodgers on the sideline because of a so-called dead arm, a condition that affects shoulder strength/comfort. 
 “He’ll be your hero,” Avila said. “But at the same time, if he feels like he can’t go and be the best guy out there for you, he’s going to make sure the team and the manager knows so they can make a decision.” 
 A self-defined old-school pitcher, Scherzer combines that talent with lots of studying. Holaday said he is “a huge nerd.” Long described him as “very numbers-oriented.” 
 With all of the metrics available to modern major-leaguers, Scherzer wouldn’t say which he values or pays attention to. That is an ingredient in his secret sauce. But Jim Hickey, the Nationals’ pitching coach, and Mike Maddux, who had that role in 2016-17, said he keys in on opposing hitters’ take rates (so he knows from whom he can steal a strike) and swing rates (so he knows who will chase). 
 “In Washington, analytics were available,” said Maddux, now with the Cardinals. “He might’ve been the only guy who really understood them.” 
 Hickey, noting that the data delivered to Scherzer had greater “depth” than that given to other players, said: “He’s interested in being very efficient. All pitchers are interested in that, but most don’t do a very good job of it. He’s a big strikeout pitcher, as the numbers will bear out, but he’s not a big pitch-count guy. There’s not a lot of waste in his game.” 
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 That is the pitcher the Mets are getting. But there is one last bit of advice from those who know Scherzer for those who are about to get to know him better: Have fun. Take it all in. 
 Rarely does a player of his pedigree and personality — brown eye and blue eye and all — put on the orange and blue. Maybe it is a sort of decades-later karmic forgiveness for a franchise (and its fan base) that let Tom Seaver get away. 
 “Enjoy the moment,” Laird said. “He’s going to do a lot for that ballclub. You’re about to watch something special.”

New York Mets

SPBMAX220407

The eyes have it: Max Scherzer is something special

animation_1649340360

Erik Boland

TAMPA, Fla. — Speaking after yet another postseason run ended much sooner than the Yankees thought it would, manager Aaron Boone uttered a line that quickly elicited guffaws from some opposing organizations. 
“I love the way we have competed and showed up the last couple months,” Boone said after a 6-2 loss to the Red Sox in the American League wild-card game last October. “But the other message is that the league’s closed the gap on us. We have to get better. We have to get better in every aspect.” 
It was the “closed the gap” part that caused a handful of text messages to stream in, unprompted, early the next morning. 
“Not really sure how you can make that comment when you finish in third place,” one AL rival said. “It seems like they’re stuck in this place where they think they should be treated like they were from ’96-’12, but the way they operate has totally changed and the results haven’t been there and they’re totally oblivious to it.” 
Indeed, the Yankees have not won, or been in, a World Series since 2009. No one in the fan base needs to be reminded of that, and no one in the organization needs a reminder, either. 
The Yankees did make some changes. They at last acknowledged that a lineup with almost no lefthanded hitters made it too easy for rival teams to navigate with good pitching. That transition actually began before last season’s trade deadline when lefthanded-hitting Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo were brought aboard. Gallo, who struggled in his transition to New York, is under one more year of control. Late in the offseason, the Yankees signed Rizzo to a two-year, $32 million contract that has an opt-out after the first year. 
There also was an acknowledgment that more of an emphasis should be put on defense. That contributed to the trade that sent Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela to the Twins for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a standout defender, third baseman Josh Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP with Toronto, and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt, known as a strong defender but an unproven big-leaguer overall. 
For sure, this roster looks different from the one that struggled for long stretches during the 2021 season — both offensively and defensively. 
But when it comes to how the organization operates, there was little to no change. 
The franchise’s all-in approach — overseen by general manager Brian Cashman and assistant general manager Michael Fishman and fully endorsed by managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner — when it comes to the use of analytics and performance science changed hardly at all. The Yankees not only doubled down on it during the offseason but, as one staffer said, “tripled and quadrupled down on it.” 
That was evident in a variety of ways, especially when it came to many of Boone’s new coaches. 
Previous third base coach Phil Nevin, for instance, ran afoul of the wrong people in the analytics department. He was viewed as somewhat of a traitor to the cause when it came to that wing’s new-world-order perspective and was tossed overboard. 
The same, to a lesser degree, happened with hitting coach Marcus Thames, an immensely popular figure in the clubhouse, and longtime organizational loyal soldier P.J. Pilittere, who served as his assistant (Thames soon hooked on with the Marlins and Pilittere was hired by the Rockies). 
Nevin, now with the Angels, learned what others in the organization have in recent years — all-in on analytics and performance science means 100% all-in, with little behind-the-scenes questioning or pushback wanted or tolerated. 
The overall sense from those on the inside is that pushback of any kind puts you at risk of being marginalized in your role or, at worst, gets you sent packing. First base coach Reggie Willits, perhaps taking note of the experiences of Nevin, Thames and Pilittere — and others before that trio — chose to take a volunteer coaching job at the University of Oklahoma. 
With the exception of new assistant hitting coach Hensley Meulens (who earned World Series rings as Bruce Bochy’s highly regarded hitting coach with the Giants when they won titles in 2010, ’12 and ’14) and former Mets manager Luis Rojas (the new third base and outfield coach, who enjoys a pristine reputation in the industry), most of Boone’s new staff don’t have much in the way of big-league experience. 
The group, which includes hitting coach Dillon Lawson, assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes, assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and first base/infield coach Travis Chapman, are generally regarded as super- bright and personable and — most important for the club — well-steeped in analytics. Their hires are consistent with the direction taken by the club the last handful of years. 
Pause for the 100th time on this topic: Those thinking the Yankees should abandon this approach when it comes to analytics, performance science, etc. miss an important truism in the game: no franchise with the goal of long-term success operates without taking all of the information available to it and trying to incorporate it between the lines. 
But as an executive with one NL club’s analytics department put it curtly to Newsday last season when it came to analysts: “We’re not all the same. Some of us are better at it than others.” 
He continued: “Look, it’s our job to make sure everyone is on board, and you don’t do that by calling people stupid. You hear that from [so many teams]. It’s our job to make sure all of that [data] is filtered to everyone — players and staff most importantly — and presented in some manner other than ‘you’re a dinosaur and old-school and don’t understand how smart I am, so just do it.’ ” 
As the executive noted, the issue of messaging is not particular to the Yankees, but they have gained a reputation as being particularly ham-handed at it at times. 
Those in scouting have almost gotten used to it over the years — one club insider last season described an “us vs. them” dynamic between scouts and some analysts that gradually has gotten worse and worse in recent years — and though Steinbrenner said last July that he strives for “balance” between the two when it comes to baseball decisions, many on the inside openly scoff at the notion of it being achieved. It is not accurate to say pro scouts no longer have a voice when it comes to baseball decisions, but it would be equally wrong to suggest they have a voice remotely close to what they used to have. 
That in and of itself might not be a bad thing, but there has been a recalibration in the analytics world with some clubs. The Rays, with whom the Yankees have an unhealthy obsession when it comes to how they operate, are just one example. Though it has a well-earned reputation as being numbers-driven, Tampa Bay balances that with a healthy respect for its pro scouts, who feel valued and listened to. The Rays are not alone in that regard. 
There has been a realization with some clubs that not all can be quantified and that the mere lack of numeric value for something isn’t proof of its non-existence. 
As a member of another NL club’s analytics department put it to Newsday during the offseason: 
“Welcome to the battle of scouts versus analysts that’s been happening since Moneyball. Scouts were often able to see their mistakes and grow, while the analysts hid behind computers and poked fun while they left no paper trail so they could always deflect blame.” 
One Yankees staffer, upon hearing that quote, responded: “Has a familiar ring to it.” 
In the end, it likely is in everyone’s best interests to keep the feeling of being treated with condescension out of the clubhouse — if it hasn’t already trickled in. 
That is something that bears watching during the marathon that is the 162-game regular season. Nerves already are frayed by the inevitable slumps that occur and some players — not all, but not an insignificant amount of them, either — may decide they’d prefer the occasional game in which they don’t feel as if they’re cramming for the SAT. 
As for the Yankees’ roster, it is one that should contend for an American League playoff spot. With the right breaks in terms of reasonably good health, bounce-back seasons from the right players and the roster tweaks all but certain to come before the trade deadline, an AL East title and AL pennant are not out of the question. 
The talent, as Boone likes to say, is “in that room.” 
Starting with the regular-season opener April 7, players and coaches in that room officially will start to be held accountable for the results to come in the months to follow. 
They just can’t be the only ones.

New York Yankees

SPBYFEAT220407

Yankees' commitment to analytics: You're all-in or you're out!

Tigers Yankees Spring Baseball

When did you seriously get worried about the possibility of not having a baseball season? 
 Was it Dec. 2, when commissioner Rob Manfred instituted a lockout and froze his own sport? Maybe New Year’s Day, which traditionally serves as the six-week warning for the approach of spring training? 
 Or how about the time the first 15-hour negotiating session, down at the vacant Grapefruit League home of the Marlins and Cardinals, stretched until 2:30 a.m. before collapsing that same March 1 afternoon? Or a week later, after a 16-hour marathon, lasting until 3 a.m., proved futile on March 8? 
 Ultimately, it took 99 days to revive baseball this winter, and six MLB-issued deadlines that threatened to cancel (not postpone) regular season games. In other words, everyone feels lucky we finally made it to Opening Day. 
 This wasn’t easy. Remember, all eight members of the union’s executive committee, the highest-ranking players, voted against the final proposal that was presented by the owners. Fortunately, for those of us who wanted baseball this summer, that offer was still approved by the team reps, delivering a 26-12 majority. 
 So what does all this mean for the sport? Bottom line, at least they’re going to be playing it in 2022. We never had any guarantees regarding that. And if some of the hard-liners had their way -- on both sides -- we might still be camped outside Manhattan office towers waiting for negotiating updates. 
 Instead, the owners and players reached an agreement that in some ways feels like an uneasy truce. Going forward, some players still refuse to appear on MLB Network, feeling their side was misrepresented by why they believe to be the league’s propaganda arm. Perhaps those hard feelings will fade in the coming months when there is more distance from the bitter negotiations. But it’s difficult to ever envision a friction-free relationship between management and the players. They’ll settle for detente in keeping this $11-billion industry operating again. 
 “This was a long, hard labor fight against a powerful adversary committed to maintaining the status quo or making it worse for players,” union lead negotiator Bruce Meyer said upon the new CBA’s completion. “Players were incredibly engaged, involved, educated and interested -- not just in themselves, but in protecting their teammates and future generations of players ... They remained unified throughout in the face of every pressure tactic in the book.” 
 The players again were able to fend off a salary cap, more or less, by getting the CBT’s minimum payroll threshold up to $230 million and adding a fourth rung $60 million above the base, or $290 million for 2022 -- otherwise known as the “Steve Cohen Tax.” 
 And really, this was all about the money, as much as the discussions veered off into other directions. But that’s not to say there won’t be a concrete on-field changes to the game ahead, including this season, with the implementation of the universal DH and the return of the “ghost runner” to decide extra innings. 
 Adding the DH to the National League is a move that was picking up momentum over the past decade, and now that it’s here, any players previously not in favor seem to now be on board. Even Jacob deGrom, a career .204 hitter with three homers and 29 RBIs in 383 at-bats, admitted that he was probably better off not swinging a bat anymore, as the activity likely contributed to his flurry of injuries in 2021. Pitchers just don’t spend enough time preparing for that specific physical strain, and it’s not a smart risk to take with one of the sport’s most expensive commodities. 
 “I know quite a bit of pitchers that really struggled in the box,” said Gerrit Cole, a member of the union’s executive subcommittee. “So the health and safety aspect of it, I think the clubs are more comfortable with, most of the pitchers are more comfortable with. Look, it’s not my favorite thing, but the positives outweigh the negatives.” 
 Despite the raging debate, the DH is probably one of the least intrusive rules on tap. Both leagues already went to the DH for the pandemic-shortened season in 2020. It’s the next round of experimental measures that could make more of a drastic impact -- and that’s a positive thing, as far as Manfred is concerned. The pitch clock, larger bases, banning the shift and automated strike zones are all on the list, and MLB was able to get a clause in the new CBA that allows for only 45 days to take effect, once the rule is reviewed/approved by a group that includes six league reps, four active players and one umpire. 
 “I love our game,” Manfred said shortly after the CBA was ratified by the owners on March 10. “Having said that, since I’ve been commissioner, I’ve talked about the need to make changes in some of our rules to enhance the entertainment value of our product for the benefit of our fans. I think the new agreement opens an opportunity to work with the players to make sure that we make good rule changes.”&nbsp; 
 Some of those changes will be in effect as soon as 2023, and more are likely to follow. For baseball, a sport steeped in tradition that prides itself on evolving at a glacial pace, any tweak, however small, is considered radical. And by that standard, the state of the game has never been more in flux, trying to adapt to a society that is getting more difficult to keep up with by the day.

Columnists

David Lennon

SPBDAVE220407

If there's bad blood still, so be it. Baseball is back!

Lennon: If there's bad blood still, so be it. Baseball is back! 

SPYANKS220327

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — At the start of another Mets season, the key word is paper. 
 Multibillionaire team owner Steve Cohen spent that paper, green-lighting a luxury-tax payroll of more than $280 million, by far the highest in franchise history and one of the highest in baseball history. And now the Mets look like a good club — on paper. 
 “I feel like our group is excellent, but we gotta win games in the season,” Pete Alonso said. “We gotta go and earn it.” 
 “We look great,” Francisco Lindor echoed. “But we gotta put it together.” 
 After consecutive losing seasons — and a half-decade without a postseason berth — the Mets have a lot to prove. And they know it. They pretended to contend last year, when they led the NL East for more than 100 days, but they missed their chance to take control and then fell apart over the summer. 
 So the idea of New York Mets, playoff team, still is very much just a theory. They haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt. 
 Apparently over are the days of bravado-infused public declarations about how good they are. Billy Eppler, a former longtime Yankees executive entering his first year as the Mets’ general manager, said that mentality starts with the holdovers — Jacob deGrom and Alonso and Brandon Nimmo and others, key players who have seen enough stuff in recent years to know better now. 
 And, Eppler continued, the mentality includes new manager Buck Showalter, who is in his fifth stop after managing the Yankees (1992-95), Diamondbacks (1998-2000), Rangers (2003-06) and Orioles (2010-18). 
 “Buck by his nature is also a show-me person,” Eppler said. “That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to focus and make everything about us. And only focus on us. We focus on us and the execution and the process, the process that we put in place to achieve the goals and the outcomes that we want to achieve. If we just focus on that, then you can eliminate a lot of the other outside distractions. Just focus on us.” 
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 Showalter harrumphed upon hearing Eppler’s suggestion that he is a tone-setter in that show-me way. He passed the buck to the fans in the city to which he is returning after decades away. 
 “Our fans are show-me kind of fans,” he said. “Like I’ve told [players]: In New York, they’re waiting to embrace you. It’s your responsibility to give them something to embrace you about. New York is not a lip-service type of place. Play better. Show me. It should be comforting that you control it.” 
 The 2022 Mets look significantly improved relative to their predecessors — on paper, at least. 
 Even with deGrom out for a while, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt make the rotation an extreme strength, replacing Marcus Stroman and Rich Hill. Instead of Michael Conforto and Jonathan Villar, the Mets have Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar. The addition of Mark Canha, underrated after breaking out in Oakland, pushes Dominic Smith to the bench/DH timeshare. 
 Jeff McNeil is healthy. So are J.D. Davis and Smith. Lindor, after a failure of a Mets debut season, has acknowledged feeling more comfortable in his second year. 
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 And then there is Showalter, the Mets’ archetypal wise old man. After a series of false starts with first-timers — Luis Rojas, Carlos Beltran, Mickey Callaway, none of whom lasted for various reasons — Cohen and Eppler wanted a veteran. Showalter, with 20 seasons managing in the majors, is the Mets’ most experienced such hire since Casey Stengel, the Hall of Famer who led the original Mets in 1962. 
 With experience comes a certain reverence. Scherzer, who expressed to team decision-makers his preference for Showalter upon signing in November, said Showalter reminds him of Jim Leyland, his boss in Detroit. Lindor compared him to Cleveland’s Terry Francona. 
 When roaming spring training, by foot or by golf cart, Showalter always carried a bat, a habit he said he has had for 30 years. His go-to during camp was a gift from a high school friend, a 34-inch, 22-ounce black model that he says is a little small, with his name engraved on it. 
 “As I’ve gotten older,” said Showalter, 65, “maybe it’s a cane.” 
 He leaned on the bat while discussing his new team, the expectations that surround it and how New York baseball fans are no dummies. 
 “What’s the expression?” Showalter said, repeating maybe his most common question. “Your actions speak so loudly I can’t hear a word you say. That’s where New York comes from.”

SPBMETS220407

The Mets' mission for 2022 season: Back up all the hype

The Mets' mission: Back up all the hype

Pete Alonso

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Anthony Rieber

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The year was 2016 and then-rookie outfielder Brandon Nimmo was a spectator, not a participant, as the Mets hosted the Giants in the National League wild-card game at Citi Field. 
“It was a great atmosphere,” Nimmo recalled recently. 
The Mets, who had been to the World Series the season before, lost the game, 3-0. But surely that was only a blip . . . 
No. The Mets haven’t been to the postseason since, which means that Nimmo — the club’s longest-tenured position player — hasn’t set foot on the field for a playoff game in his six-year career. 
He’s aching for that to change in 2022. 
“That’s what this is all about,” Nimmo said. “And at this point in my career — where you start to get past the shock and awe of the beginning and trying to stay — you also start to look at things further. And now I’m looking on as a team, I have not made the playoffs. So that’s definitely a goal of mine that I’m looking forward to and that I’m trying to work really hard for. That’s definitely on my mind.” 
Ever since he was the 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft out of Wyoming — where they don’t play a lot of baseball in the summer because they don’t have a lot of summer — Nimmo has been knocking on the door of something special. 
He’s a dynamic player who gets on base at a .393 career clip and makes the Mets’ offense go. He runs to first base when he draws a walk. He never stops smiling. Challenged in 2021 to make himself a better defensive centerfielder, he did, enough so that free-agent signee Starling Marte has moved to right (with Mark Canha in left). 
But Nimmo hasn’t stayed healthy enough to completely fulfill the promise then-general manager Sandy Alderson saw in him in 2011. Now second only to Jacob deGrom in service time with the Mets, the 29-year-old Nimmo is hoping to earn his first All-Star berth . . . and much more. 
“I usually think if the team’s doing well, then I’m helping out with that,” Nimmo said. “An All-Star Game might be part of that just by me pulling my weight. If I’m me and I do what I do — .400 on-base percentage, pretty decent OPS and those kind of things — it’ll be there. If I’m on the field and I’m doing well.” 
If I’m on the field — that’s pretty much the story for Nimmo, who appeared in a career-high 140 games in 2018, when he hit .263 with 17 homers, a .404 OBP and an .886 OPS. 
The next year, injuries limited Nimmo to 69 games. He appeared in 55 of 60 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season but just 92 in the desert that was 2021. 
“There’s definitely been some disappointing seasons,” Nimmo said. “I would like to be a part of one that meets or surpasses expectations.” 
If this one does, Mets fans probably will be able to thank Nimmo, the “grizzled veteran” who was just a wide-eyed kid the last time the team made the playoffs. 
“What it makes me think is that time is really flying by,” Nimmo said. “I remember when I was just breaking in here and my first big-league camp in ’14, and now to be with Jake as one of the longest-tenured vets, it’s just like, ‘Wow, how time flies by and how short this window is.’ 
“Just helps me to appreciate, being on this team, being as fortunate as I’ve been to be with a single team, and be able to kind of put my roots down. How precious it is. How fragile it is.”

SPBMSIDE220407

Brandon Nimmo wants to make a run at the playoffs

Nimmo wants to make a run at the playoffs

spMETS

TAMPA, Fla. — Several Octobers ago, Brett Gardner provided not only the perfect epitaph for postseason baseball in general but for the Yankees of the last five seasons. 
“Just came up a little short,” Gardner said in 2018 while standing in the mostly silent home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium after his team was dispatched by the Red Sox in four games in the Division Series. “This is the time of year when good teams get sent home and great teams move on.” 
The Yankees have been plenty good since essentially rebooting the franchise by choosing to sell at the trade deadline in 2016 (they stayed in the race after the sell-off but missed the postseason for the third time in four years). 
Not a ton was expected in 2017, but the Yankees, sparked by Aaron Judge’s 52-homer American League Rookie of the Year season, surprised many with a run to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series before their season ended at the hands of the Astros. 
That would be the first of five October setbacks — the loss to the Red Sox in 2018 followed by a six-game ALCS loss to the Astros in 2019, a five-game ALDS loss to the Rays in 2020 and a loss to the Red Sox in the AL wild-card game at Fenway Park in 2021. 
Gardner, now 38, was a part of all of those disappointments. If the Yankees break through this season, the outfielder, who has spent each of his 14 big-league seasons with the Yankees, isn’t likely to be a part of it. 
As of publication of this section, Gardner was not back with the Yankees. That prospect was a long shot, barring a glut of injuries to the outfielders in camp. The team has been trying — successfully in some areas and it remains to be seen in others — to get more athletic and more flexible with its roster. 
So can the Yankees break through this season and win the World Series for the first time since the franchise’s last appearance in the Fall Classic in 2009? 
There is skepticism among a fan base that was steaming after the wild-card loss to Boston and remained angry throughout the offseason as the big-name free agents signed elsewhere. 
This was not a surprise to those paying attention to how the club has operated under managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner. Despite some of the reporting to the contrary at the national level, the Yankees were never seriously involved in any of the big-ticket items on the free-agent market — Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, Corey Seager and Freddie Freeman, to name a handful. 
All along, the winter plan was for a roster makeover not necessarily on the cheap — the Yankees will have the biggest payroll in franchise history this season at roughly $256 million — but without dispersing a $200-million-plus megadeal or even a $100-million-plus one. 
The biggest move came late on the night of March 13 when the Yankees sent catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela to the Twins — who surprisingly wound up with Correa because of an oddly structured three-year deal that has an opt-out after the first year — in exchange for third baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt. 
“We feel by doing this trade that we’ve upgraded defensively and offensively at third, defensively at shortstop, placed Gleyber [Torres] at a position he’s best at — at second base — so on the infield side, we’ve upgraded three different ways,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “And improved the defense on the catching side as well. It was with one transaction with one particular team that solved a lot of areas of focus that we had targeted.” 
After being unable to trade for top target Matt Olson from Oakland in hopes of filling another area of focus at first base, the Yankees brought back Anthony Rizzo. He quickly fit in last season after being acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline. 
The rotation, led by ace Gerrit Cole, has some questions but looks solid overall. Organizational depth in that area could become an issue, the reason Cashman continues to look for upgrades there. The bullpen again should be one of the best in the league. 
The offense should be significantly better than last year’s wildly inconsistent edition, especially if Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are able to stay healthy for a second straight year and the unit gets the expected bounce-back seasons from Torres and DJ LeMahieu. 
“This is a championship-caliber team,” managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said on March 16, speaking just after the Sanchez trade. “This team’s got a lot of experience, it’s a veteran team, it’s got a lot of heart. And I think we’re going to see great things this year.” 
October, however, will be the final determinant of just how great and, ultimately, if the 2022 Yankees are good enough.

SPBYANKS220407

These Yankees have something to prove in 2022

These Yankees have something to prove

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TAMPA, Fla. — Isiah Kiner-Falefa was a Yankees fan growing up. He didn’t publicize that until after he was traded to the Yankees on March 13. 
 So what is the origin story of the shortstop’s Yankees fandom? 
 “Just being from Hawaii,” he said, as if by itself that made all the sense in the world, as opposed to becoming a fan of a West Coast team such as the Dodgers or Padres. 
 But then he explained. 
 “Right after school, 7 o’clock games on the East Coast would be right as we’re ending school,” Kiner-Falefa said. “When a West Coast game is on, it’s only three hours difference, so we’re not done with [practice]. The only gap I had to watch baseball was to watch the Yankees or East Coast baseball — right between school and [baseball] practice at 3. I’d come home [after practice] and we’re watching reruns of ‘Monday Night Football’ because the game’s already over. The Yankees and East Coast baseball were the only [live] things available.” 
 But wait. There’s more. 
 “When I was 11 and 12, I went to Cooperstown [to play in youth tournaments],” he said. “We went to the Hall of Fame and then right to the old stadium in the city. I was able in 2006 to watch Mariano [Rivera’s] 400th save. So just all that hit me. I couldn’t believe it. I’m from Hawaii. I don’t see pro sports. It’s not like I went to an Oakland game first. I went to a Yankees game first and I couldn’t believe there was even something like that.” 
 Kiner-Falefa also went to a couple of Mets games at Shea Stadium. So why didn’t the Honolulu native become a Mets fan? 
 “We went to two games,” he said. “But the only thing I remember from those games is Jose Reyes hitting a triple. But there was nothing that got in me. Going from the [Yankee Stadium] Roll Call, sitting in the bleachers, there was no comparison.” 
 Kiner-Falefa said his favorite player was (big surprise) Derek Jeter, but he has never met the former Yankees captain. He’ll get the chance on Sept. 9, when the Yankees honor Jeter for his Hall of Fame induction as part of the Class of 2020. 
 It’s been eight years since Jeter last played shortstop for the Yankees, a position he felt he was always destined to fill. 
 Kiner-Falefa’s journey to the coveted spot of Yankees shortstop was a little more circuitous, and not just because he grew up 5,000 miles away from the Bronx. 
 Kiner-Falefa came up as a rare catcher/infielder with Texas. In 2018, his first big-league season, he started 38 games at third base, 35 at catcher, 19 at second and two at short. He won a Gold Glove as a third baseman in 2020 before moving full-time to shortstop for the Rangers. 
 On March 12, the Rangers — who had signed shortstop Corey Seager to a 10-year, $325 million free-agent contract — traded Kiner-Falefa to Minnesota. 
 The next day — 10 days before his 27th birthday — the Twins traded Kiner-Falefa, Josh Donaldson and catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Yankees for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. 
 On April 7, Kiner-Falefa will be part of his first Yankee Stadium Roll Call as a player. 
 “I couldn’t believe it,” he said, “because when I got the call the first time, I was hoping it was the Yankees. So when they told me it was Minnesota, I was like, ‘OK.’ As the day was going on, I accepted it. The deal was fine with me. But I wanted it to be the Yankees. And when I got traded again, and they said it was the Yankees, I was like, ‘They really want me.’ It was really exciting.” 
 Kiner-Falefa’s play in spring training excited the Yankees. He started hot, batting .375 in the March portion of exhibition play, and earned the praise of manager Aaron Boone. 
 “There’s some intensity to his game,” Boone said. “He wants to be really good at this game and wants to be a big part of this team. He has embraced all those expectations.”

SPBYSIDE220407

How Isiah Kiner-Falefa grew up a Yankees fan in Hawaii

How Kiner-Falefa grew up a Yankees fan in Hawaii

spYANK220321

<h3> MIDDLE INFIELDERS </h3> 
 Shortstop Francisco Lindor and second baseman Jeff McNeil might make or break the Mets’ season. Both played well below their career standards last year — and at times didn’t get along with each other — and are at the top of the list of Mets hitters who need to rebound. 
 This season marks the start of Lindor’s 10-year, $341 million contract agreed to a year ago. He needs to provide more than Gold Glove-caliber defense, which he still flashes regularly, to be worth his salary. McNeil could reach his elusive goal of sticking to one position. He has moved around the infield and outfield in recent years, but the Mets seem content with him as the everyday choice at second base. 
 GRADE: B+  &nbsp; 
<h3> CORNER INFIELDERS </h3> 
 First baseman Pete Alonso is, in his own words last summer, “the best power hitter on the planet.” But third baseman Eduardo Escobar, who has averaged more than 25 homers per season in the past four full seasons, should provide a nice supplement after joining the Mets on a two-year, $20 million deal. 
 The corner infield spots might be the Mets’ deepest positions, too. If Alonso is unavailable, Dominic Smith will step in. If there is a need at third, J.D. Davis and McNeil are options. 
 GRADE: A- 
<h3> OUTFIELD </h3> 
 The Mets’ new-look outfield features should-be leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo plus newcomers Starling Marte and Mark Canha, three solid offensive players who can play all three positions. They spent more than $100 million — mostly on Marte, who signed for four years, and the rest on Canha, who is under contract for two — to revamp this part of the roster and replace Michael Conforto. 
 GRADE: A- 
<h3> CATCHER </h3> 
 This is the Mets’ weakest spot on the diamond. James McCann had a bad debut season with the team in 2021, hitting .232 with a .643 OPS — a steep dropoff from the numbers he posted with the White Sox in the previous two years, which earned him a four-year, $40.6 million deal with the Mets. He hopes to rebound, but his career track record looks a lot more like 2021 than 2019-20, so this might be what he is. 
 And then there is Tomas Nido, a homegrown defensive-minded backup who earned an even split of the playing time at points last season. If that is a discussion again this year, things will not be going well for McCann. 
 GRADE: C- 
<h3> DH/BENCH </h3> 
 For years, the Mets have been built like a team with a DH. Finally, they can use one. 
 Davis, Smith and Robinson Cano — in some combination — are expected to get the majority of the DH at-bats. They were everyday players in the recent past but have been squeezed out by offseason additions. Davis and Smith struggled when hurt last year but say they are healthy now. Cano didn’t play at all in 2021 while serving his second PED-related suspension. 
 Chances are at least part of this trio emerges as a deserving DH and bolsters the Mets’ lineup. 
 Expected to fill out the bench are Nido, sure-handed infielder Luis Guillorme and an outfielder to be named. 
 GRADE: B+  &nbsp; 
<h3> BULLPEN </h3> 
 If pride and team performance aren’t enough, the Mets’ core relievers have another source of motivation: money. Ed- win Diaz (closer), Trevor May, Seth Lugo, spring training signing Adam Ottavino and spring training trade acquisition Joely Rodriguez are scheduled to be free agents after this season. So if watching these guys try to protect leads stresses you out, know that if it goes poorly, the Mets can start from scratch next time. &nbsp;GRADE: B

SPBMSCOUT220407

Mets scouting report for the 2022 season

Mets scouting report for 2022

spMETS220329_photos

For the 2022 Mets, the rotation is representative of the roster at large: immense talent, some uncertainty and a wide range of possible outcomes. 
 They have Jacob deGrom, the best pitcher in the world, albeit not at the start as he recovers from another injury. And Max Scherzer, an even more accomplished co-ace, right behind him. And Chris Bassitt, who would be the No. 1 pitcher for other clubs, slotted into the middle. And Taijuan Walker, another 2021 All-Star, filling out the fourth spot. And Carlos Carrasco, extremely reliable for the better part of the past decade, rounding out the big five. 
 It is a collection of arms that inspires awe — and one-liners. 
 “I know there’s going to be my fair share of games where I’m going to be out there being a spectator,” first baseman Pete Alonso said, “because they’re going to be mowing them down.” 
 Tylor Megill, squeezed out by offseason acquisitions, observed in a plain, understated way: “Obviously, they have experience and Cy Youngs and whatnot.” 
 And an AL scout, feigning surprise that the Mets wouldn’t add another starter: “What? They’re not going to get an ace for the No. 5 spot?” 
 All that is the optimistic view, with plenty of reason. But there is a flip side. 
 DeGrom missed the second half of last season because of arm injuries, including elbow problems, and he will miss the first couple of months of this season because of a stress reaction in his right scapula. Scherzer finished last year with a fatigued arm, and enters the new year with a right hamstring issue, and at some point the 37-year-old will lose to Father Time. Walker was terrible late last season. Carrasco was hurt most of 2021, then pitched poorly when he returned. 
 Reality, surely, will be somewhere in between idealistic and fatalistic. And it will be pitching coach Jeremy Hefner’s job to ensure that it is closer to the former of those options. 
 “It’s hard not to be excited,” he said. “Exciting comes to mind. Grateful comes to mind. I have an opportunity to learn from some really, really Hall of Fame pitchers. And then a lot of guys that have a lot of time and have seen a lot of games and a lot of hitters.” 
 In working with deGrom, whom he has known for a decade, and Scherzer, whom he is getting to know, Hefner said he does less hardcore coaching and more “learning and observing.” 
 “Both of those guys are some of the best to ever do it. It’s more me observing, watching, having conversations and not so much, ‘Hey, you need to keep your front shoulder in,’ ” he said. “As we learn each other, I might have some things that I can offer [Scherzer]. But he’s one of the greatest of all time. There isn’t much that I’m going to teach him.” &nbsp; 
 GRADE: B+

SPBMPITCH220407

Scouting the Mets' starting rotation for 2022

Marlins Mets Spring Baseball

On paper, it all looks pretty good. 
Barring any injuries late in camp, the five pitchers expected to comprise the Yankees’ rotation when the regular season begins likely will line up this way: ace Gerrit Cole (slated to start the opener at the Stadium against the Red Sox), Luis Severino, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery and Nestor Cortes. 
“Pretty deep group,” one rival talent evaluator said. “No studs besides Cole and [maybe] Severino, but just a lot of different looks from all those guys.” 
It all starts with Cole, coming off an up-and-down season similar to the one his club had overall. He finished 16-8 with a 3.23 ERA and 243 strikeouts — five shy of Ron Guidry’s single-season record of 248 set in 1978 — in 30 starts, but that didn’t tell the complete story. 
After going 6-2 with a 1.78 ERA in his first 11 starts, he went 2-2 with a 5.24 ERA in his next six starts, a slump that coincided with Major League Baseball’s early June announcement that it would begin cracking down on the application of illegal substances to baseballs. 
Cole, who back then said he would need to make “adjustments” because of the crackdown — the rule had been on the books forever but was rarely enforced — did adjust, going 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA in his next eight starts. 
But a September skid followed as Cole went 2-2 with a 6.15 ERA in his last five starts, then bombed in the American League wild-card game at Fenway Park, lasting two innings-plus in the Yankees’ 6-2 loss. A hamstring issue may have had an effect on his late slump. 
Though he battled command issues, Severino looked healthy in spring training. Taillon, who had offseason surgery on his right ankle, also seemed fine. 
Unlike the first three, Montgomery gets by with a fastball that doesn’t go much above 90 mph; when he’s on, he flummoxes opponents with command of that pitch and an assortment of slow stuff, including a plus curveball. Cortes’ funky delivery, combined with even slower stuff than Montgomery’s, was a revelation the second half of last season. 
Looking for a “but”? 
There are a few, starting with the fact that there are questions from evaluators around MLB wondering just what kind of impact the enforcement of the sticky-stuff rules will have on Cole (and more than a few other pitchers, too) over a full season. 
There’s also this: Teams in general need an average of 10 to 12 pitchers to take starts in a given season (the Yankees used 15 last year, but that number is slightly skewed because of the occasional use of an opener). Injuries and/or poor performance will occur, and the group currently behind the Yankees’ starting five — Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Deivi Garcia, Mike King and the newly acquired Shelby Miller, to name some — all come with questions. 
It’s the reason general manager Brian Cashman spent the winter — pre- and post-lockout — trying to find rotation upgrades. 
Nonetheless, plenty of teams, including other playoff contenders, have far more concerns about their starters than the Yankees currently do. 
GRADE: B+

SPBYPITCH220407

Scouting the Yankees' starting rotation for 2022

How the Yankees' rotation looks to start 2022

Braves Yankees Spring Baseball

<h3> Middle infielders </h3> 
 Gleyber Torres looked far better at the plate late in the 2021 season after the Yankees shifted him back to second base from shortstop, where he committed a team-high 18 errors. It is not a make-or-break season for Torres, who is still just 25, but another subpar season at the plate and in the field could have the Yankees, whose minor league system is stocked with promising middle infielders, ready to move on. New shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa is a slick fielder who has shown spurts of offensive potential. Rival scouts have remaining questions about the 27-year-old’s bat, but there are few doubts about his defense. 
 GRADE: B- 
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<h3> Corner infielders </h3> 
 Josh Donaldson, though not at flashy at third as Gio Urshela, is still a solid and at times spectacular defender and the 36-year-old is Urshela’s superior at the plate. There have been past injury issues and the uber-intense Donaldson hasn’t always been the most popular player in past clubhouses he’s been in. After failing to wrest Matt Olson, their top choice for first base, this winter via trade from Oakland, the Yankees brought back veteran Anthony Rizzo, who provided an immediate defensive upgrade at the position last season after he came via trade from the Cubs and also gave the lineup a much-needed lefty bat. 
 GRADE: B 
<h3> Outfield </h3> 
 From left to right, it’s Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge, a trio that, if healthy, gives the Yankees a terrific defensive alignment. Gallo is who he is as a feast-or-famine hitter and the switch-hitting Hicks will always have durability questions until he shows he can avoid injury. Judge, in seasons when he’s been able to stay on the field – such as in 2021 – is an AL MVP candidate. &nbsp; 
 GRADE: B+ 
<h3> Catchers </h3> 
 Kyle Higashioka, now 31 and a part of the organization since being drafted in 2008, finally will get his chance to be the starting catcher and become the player that some in the organization have thought he could be for years. No one has ever questioned Higashioka’s defense, but his bat is another matter. Results in spring training were promising. Backup Ben Rortvedt, part of the Gary Sanchez trade with the Twins, will start the season on the injured list with a right oblique strain so the Yankees acquired Jose Trevino just before camp ended to fill that role. This is the position, by far, that elicited the most concern among rival scouts. 
 GRADE C- 
<h3> DH/bench </h3> 
 With Torres set to start at second, DJ LeMahieu, a three-time Gold Glove winner at the position, was poised to enter the season as a utility player. Though best at second, where he will still get some time, LeMahieu can capably fill in –which he will – at third and first. Giancarlo Stanton should see more time in the outfield than he has in recent years, but his primary role will still be as the DH. Marwin Gonzalez swung the bat well after signing a minor league deal and looked like a lock to make the club as a reserve. 
 GRADE: B+ 
<h3> Bullpen </h3> 
 There may be better closers in the game than Aroldis Chapman, but, despite some of his high-profile postseason meltdowns, the list is a short one. Behind the 34-year-old Chapman is an assortment of arms, each coming at the opposition with different arm angles and stuff. Among them: righties Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green, Clay Holmes and Mike King — a swingman — and lefties Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge. The Yankees added an arm late in camp, dealing lefty Joely Rodriguez to the Mets in exchange for hard-throwing righty Miguel Castro, who can be brilliant but also maddeningly inconsistent. The group overall looks good, but one cautionary note: General manager Brian Cashman often says “bullpens are volatile,” a go-to saying because of the massive fluctuations that can take place year to year when it comes to performance. 
 GRADE: A-

SPBYSCOUT220407

Yankees scouting report for 2022 season

Yankees scouting report for 2022

Joey Gallo

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Gregg Sarra

The 2022 season is all about change for the high-profile Long Island players in The Show. The change of scenery could be good for these guys. 
 Righthander Marcus Stroman of Medford, a 2016 Duke University graduate, inked a three-year, $71 million deal with the Cubs. It is Stroman’s third club in four years, and he is in line to be Chicago’s Game 2 starter Friday against Milwaukee. 
 Stroman, 30, was 10-13 with a 3.02 ERA for the Mets last season. He made 33 starts, the most of any righthander in MLB. He tweeted soon after signing with the Cubs in December: “Chicago has always been one of my favorite cities. Culture and passion everywhere. Beyond excited to pitch in front of one of the best fan bases in all of sports. Thank you to everyone in the city for the warm welcome. I can feel it.” 
 Lefthander Steven Matz, 30, of Setauket and Ward Melville High School, signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cardinals in the offseason for his eighth year in the big leagues. It is the third team in three years for Matz. 
 After six years with the Mets, he was with the Blue Jays last season, going 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA. He started 29 games and struck out 144. Now he will try to help St. Louis contend for the NL Central title. 
 Righthander Justin Dunn, 26, of Freeport and Boston College, also has moved on. Dunn spent three years with Seattle and compiled a 5-4 record (11 starts) with a 3.94 ERA. The former first-round selection by the Mets (2016 amateur draft) was part of a five-player trade by the Mariners and Cincinnati on March 14. Dunn is bidding for a spot in the Cincinnati rotation, but Reds manager David Bell reported that he could miss a couple of months with shoulder troubles. 
 Centerfielder Travis Jankowski, 30, who led Stony Brook University to its first NCAA Division I World Series appearance (2014), played five years with San Diego before a year each with Cincinnati and Philadelphia. The Mets signed the free agent to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training in the offseason. The speedy Jankowski is hoping to make the Opening Day roster. 
 Righthanded reliever Stephen Ridings, 26, of Huntington and Haverford College (2016), worked in relief for the Yankees in 2021 and impressed with his 100-mph fastball. The 6-8 fireballer earned a spot on the 40-man roster, but he’ll start the year on the injured list because of a lower-back issue before joining Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He made five relief appearances last season and struck out seven in five innings with an ERA of 1.80. 
 Lefty Anthony Kay, 27, of Stony Brook and UConn (2016), enters his fourth year at the MLB level and is in a battle for a spot in the Blue Jays’ bullpen. Last year he made five starts and six relief appearances, spending some time in the minors and on the IL. His dynamic changeup has helped him to a 5-2 career record. 
 Manhasset native Reiss Knehr, who graduated from Fordham (2018), had a 1-2 record with a 4.97 ERA in 29 innings for San Diego last season. The 25-year-old righthander throws a 93-95-mph fastball with a high spin rate and late movement. He appeared in 12 games with five starts and is a top Padres prospect. 
 Speedy outfielder Ramon Laureano of Oakland, who graduated from Upper Room in 2015, will sit out the first 80 games of the 2022 season. On Aug. 6, 2021, the 27-year-old was suspended without pay after testing positive for nandrolone, a performance-enhancing drug. Laureano denied that he knowingly took the banned substance and said he “was shocked” when he learned about the positive test.

SPBLI220407

For Long Island's MLB pros, new teams and new hopes

For LI's MLB pros, new teams and new hopes

AP22081146929764.jpg

Every time Max Scherzer takes the mound, the possibility of something special happening exists. That’s one reason the Mets are paying him $130 million over three years. 
Perhaps the most special pitching performance of Scher- zer’s career took place against the Mets. It was Oct. 3, 2015, the last Saturday of the regular season, and Scherzer turned in what some analysts consider the second-best pitching performance in baseball history. 
In the second game of a doubleheader, Scherzer no-hit the Mets on that blustery Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 41,480 at Citi Field. 
Scherzer didn’t walk anyone and struck out 17. The only baserunner was Kevin Pla- wecki, who reached on a throwing error by third baseman Yunel Escobar in the sixth inning. 
“He was great,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “We were bad.” 
Using a metric known as Game Score devised by baseball stats guru Bill James in which 50 is an average start, Scherzer’s outing scored 104. 
The only start in big-league history that graded higher was Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout, no-walk, one-hit masterpiece for the Cubs against Houston on May 6, 1988. That earned a 105. 
In the Mets’ defense, they were playing out the regular season and getting ready for a postseason that would lead to a World Series appearance. 
Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda and David Wright were not in the starting lineup, though all but Wright would pinch hit. 
In the ninth inning, Scherzer struck out Cespedes and Duda (the latter was Scherzer’s ninth strikeout in a row, all of them swinging, which was one short of Tom Seaver’s all-time record) and got Curtis Granderson on a pop-up to third. 
Scherzer was mobbed by his teammates. The Nationals’ season ended the next day. 
“It’s been a disappointing season for the team, no doubt about it,” Scherzer said. “That’s why this is bittersweet.” 
According to a 2020 article by Mark Simon for www.sportsinfosolutions.com, Scherzer’s nine half-innings took a total of 37 minutes, 7 seconds. The entire 2-0 Nationals victory took 2:14. Scherzer threw 109 pitches, 80 for strikes. Of the Mets’ 28 batters, only 11 put the ball in play. 
It was Scherzer’s second no-hitter of the season. On June 20 against the Pirates, he threw perfect ball for 8&nbsp;2⁄3 innings before hitting Jose Tabata with a pitch (Tabata appeared to lean into the ball). Scherzer retired Josh Harrison on a fly ball for his first career no-hitter. 
Scherzer struck out 10 and didn’t walk anyone in that one. His game score of 97 was actually three points lower than the 100 he earned in his previous start, when he was perfect for the first six innings in a one-hit, one-walk, 16-strikeout shutout against Milwaukee. 
Scherzer is the fifth pitcher with two no-hitters in one season. The others: Johnny VanderMeer back-to-back in 1938; Allie Reynolds, 1951; Virgil Trucks, 1952; Nolan Ryan, 1973. 
Scherzer, who went 14-12 with a 2.79 ERA in 2015, finished fifth in voting for the NL Cy Young Award, which was won by Jake Arrieta of the Cubs.

SPBMAXSIDE220407

The night Max Scherzer no-hit the Mets

The night Max no-hit the Mets

spbmaxside220407_photos

<h3> A rundown of new rules for the 2022 MLB season </h3> 
 -- Designated Hitter (adopted by the American League in 1973) added to the National League. Also, pitchers who start games in the batting order can remain in the game as a DH after leaving the mound. A DH can also enter the game to pitch. 
 -- Postseason expands from five teams in each league to six. The top two teams in each league automatically advance to the Divisional Series. The wild-card round will now be a best-of-three series. If the six-team playoff had been in place in 2021, the Blue Jays (AL) and Reds (NL) would have made the postseason. 
 -- End-of-season tiebreaker game (that dreaded 163rd game) eliminated. Instead, a series of tiebreakers will be used to decide things. First among these tiebreakers is head-to-head winning percentage. Last on the list is a coin toss. 
 -- Doubleheaders will be nine-inning games rather than the seven-inning format used in 2020 and 2021. 
 -- Player uniforms will have advertising for the first time. 
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<h3> New managers </h3> 
 Mets: Buck Showalter replaces Luis Rojas 
 A’s: Mark Kotsay replaces Bob Melvin 
 Cardinals: Oliver Marmol replaces Mike Shildt 
 Padres: Bob Melvin replaces Jayce Tingler 
<h3> New Hall of Famers </h3> 
 Cooperstown welcomes seven new members this summer: David Ortiz (voted in by the BBWAA); Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva (voted in by the Golden Days Era Committee); and executives Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil (by the Early Baseball Era Committee).

spbWEBNEW_2022

New rules for MLB in 2022

What's new in '22 for MLB

Dodgers Angels Baseball

Andrew Gross

spbWEBRUSH_2022

The Mount Rushmore of every MLB team

mtt-landscape-duo (1).jpg

spbWEB101_2022

Baseball 101: Noteworthy debuts

Baseball 101: Debuts

TV-PBS-Jackie Robinson

The East Division, as usual, is a beast for 2022. Perhaps more beastly than any year in recent memory, with only the perpetually-rebuilding Orioles able to make their October tee times before Opening Day. 
 That said, two new ballpark factors could help tip the balance of power in this ultra-competitive division. The Orioles made their Camden Yards bandbox significantly more pitcher-friendly, pushing back the leftfield wall another 30 feet and raising its height by six feet. While that won’t keep Baltimore out of the basement, whichever East masher best conquers that ballpark adjustment -- and feasts on the O’s -- could wind up with the deciding edge in the division. 
 The other home-field advantage has the possibility of being even more profound, but less permanent, and that belongs to the East favorite Blue Jays, as Canada currently does not allow unvaccinated visitors to cross the border. While there is no way of knowing the extent of that unique impact on Toronto’s opponents at Rogers Centre -- or at least until a team reaches that point of the schedule -- it’s a safe bet that a number of high-profile players could still be unable to participate in those games. 
 Because of that law, at least in part, the Red Sox got a bump in vaccinations ahead of their late-April trip to Toronto, with Xander Bogaerts announcing this spring he got the jab, along with Kevin Plawecki. “At the end of the day, I want to be here for the guys,” the catcher told reporters. 
 Not that the loaded Jays need any help this season after losing out to the Yankees for the second wild-card berth by just one game a year ago. Despite the notable losses of Marcus Semien, Robbie Ray and Steven Matz, they found some solid replacements in Matt Chapman, Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi. 
 As for the Rays, the back-to-back East champs, their biggest free-agent headline this winter being linked to Freddie Freeman, who of course wound up in LA. But Tampa Bay did lock up its young superstar shortstop Wander Franco with an 11-year deal worth $182-million before the lockout hit, and still has plenty around him to make a run for a third straight title. 
 Over in the Central, it’s looking like the White Sox’s division to lose, especially with centerfielder Luis Robert in the lineup for more than the 68 games (13 HRs, .946 OPS) he was limited to a year ago by a torn hip flexor. Pitching-wise, Carlos Rodon is a big subtraction, but the South Siders still have their fearsome bullpen intact, with the addition of Joe Kelly on a two-year, $17-million deal. 
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 As surprising as it was for Carlos Correa to join Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez with the Twins in late March on that low-commitment three-year, $105.3-million contract, people forget that it was the Tigers who made him a reported 10-year, $275-million offer before the Dec. 2 lockout. Detroit pivoted to the ex-Met Javier Baez (6 yrs., $140M) for its shortstop needs, and with AJ Hinch starting his second season, hope is starting to materialize in Motown. 
 Cleveland has a $49-million payroll, putting the team in MLB’s bottom three, which makes the new Guardians a fitting name -- they’re protecting their checkbook rather than spending to support Shane Bieber and Jose Ramirez. The Royals welcome back Zack Greinke, who was KC’s sixth overall pick in the 2002 draft and traded away to the Brewers nearly a dozen years ago. 
 The West has belonged to the Astros four of the last five seasons and they’ve won the pennant three of those pennants. The buzz (er) in Houston this year is the return of Justin Verlander from Tommy John surgery, as well as eight of the team’s nine regular position players (minus Correa) coming back, so the 'Stros will be hard to topple yet again. 
 As for the A’s, their usual challengers, that ain’t happening. Not after a fire sale that shipped out Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Chris Bassit -- with Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas potentially on the block sooner rather than later. The Mariners haven’t been to the playoffs since 2001 (116 wins, ALCS exit) and qualified only four times in 44 seasons, but this could be a legit chance with the addition of free-agent Ray from the Blue Jays along with the March trade for All-Stars Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker. 
 The new “Shohei Ohtani Rule” -- allowing the two-way player to stay at DH after his removal at pitcher -- should be a big benefit to the Angels, who finally will get Mike Trout back after he was sidelined May 17 with a right calf strain. Remember Noah Syndergaard? Thor took his hammer to SoCal, where he’ll see to parlay his one-year, $21-million deal into a longer-term contract. 
<h3> AL Power Rankings </h3> 
 1. Blue Jays 
 2. Rays 
 3. White Sox 
 4. <a href="https://newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees">Yankees</a> 
 5. Astros 
 6. Red Sox 
 7. Mariners 
 8. Angels 
 9. Guardians 
 10. A’s 
 11. Tigers 
 12. Rangers 
 13. Twins 
 14. Royals 
 15. Orioles 
<h3> Best of the best in the AL </h3> 
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 1. Shohei Ohtani, Angels: “Best” can be a subjective term. But a rotation ace who can make 23 starts with a 3.18 ERA and 10.8 K/9, then also hit 46 home runs with a .965 OPS, is just playing in a different league. What Ohtani does is unmatched since Babe Ruth, and with the new rule allowing him to stay at DH after being removed as a pitcher, he’ll be even more dangerous. 
 2. Mike Trout, Angels: Trout didn’t play after May 15 last season because of a right calf strain, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s the only player in history with 300 homers, 200 stolen bases and a .300/.400/.500 slash line a decade after debut. 
 3. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Blue Jays: Only 22, if not for Ohtani’s two-way prowess, he’d have the ’21 MVP trophy after leading the AL in just about every offensive category (48 HRs, .401 OBP, .601 SLG). He also played 161 games. 
 4. Jose Ramirez, Guardians: With Cleveland’s thrifty ways, Ramirez could soon end up on a contending team deserving of his MVP-caliber services. In the last five years, he’s placed second, third (twice) and sixth in voting for the award. 
 5. Aaron Judge, Yankees: If Judge continues to stay healthy as he did a year ago playing 148 games, he gets even more valuable. Adding centerfield to his resume, as he was able to last season, is another big plus. 
 Best manager: Alex Cora, Red Sox 
 Best GM: Erik Neander, Rays 
 Best leadoff hitter: DJ LeMahieu, Yankees 
 Best power: Vladimir Guerreo Jr., Blue Jays 
 Best in the clutch: J.D. Martinez, Red Sox 
 Best baserunner: Whit Merrifield, Royals 
 Most exciting: Shohei Ohtani, Angels 
 Best infielder: Matt Chapman, Blue Jays 
 Best infield arm: Javier Baez, Tigers 
 Best outfielder: Kyle Tucker, Astros 
 Best outfield arm: Ramon Laureano, A’s 
 Best catcher: Salvador Perez, Royals 
 Best catcher arm: Christian Vazquez, Red Sox 
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 Best starting pitcher: Gerrit Cole, Yankees 
 Best setup man: Jonathan Loaisiga, Yankees 
 Best closer: Liam Hendriks, White Sox 
 Rookie to watch: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals 
 Best home uniforms: Athletics 
 Best stadium: Fenway Park 
 Best mascot: The Oriole Bird 
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spbWEBAL_2022

MLB 2022 preview: The Blue Jays, American League power rankings and the best players

MLB '22 preview: The Blue Jays, AL power rankings and top players

Blue Jays Yankees Spring Baseball

Somebody forgot to tell the Dodgers you can’t buy a World Series title. Either that, or their mission statement is to prove such axioms are false. 
 As much as second-year Mets owner Steve Cohen was targeted by baseball’s new fourth payroll tier of the competitive balance tax -- defined as $60 million above the base, or $290 million for 2022 -- L.A. already had set up shop on that summit long before Cohen’s arrival. And the Dodgers are acting as if they don’t plan on relinquishing the title any time soon. 
 By outbidding defending champion Atlanta for franchise cornerstone Freddie Freeman at a cost of six years, $162 million, the Dodgers’ 2022 payroll stood at $288.9 million -- according to Fangraph’s CBT calculations -- by late March, with still time to add in the week or so leading up to Opening Day. On paper, Freeman’s addition makes LA’s lineup the most complete in baseball, and manager Dave Roberts, who piloted them to a championship during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, wasn’t shy when asked about his prediction for this year. 
 “We are winning the World Series in 2022,” Roberts said on The Dan Patrick Show. “We will win the World Series this year, put it on record.” 
 Roberts is hardly the only one believing that, even outside the Dodgers’ organization. But it’s not like the West is laying down a red carpet for them to stroll to October, and remember -- the Giants are the defending division champs after following up four losing seasons with 107 wins a year ago. Carlos Rodon was signed to replace Kevin Gausman, but the biggest concern by the Bay is an aging core headlined by the decorated duo of Brandon Crawford (35) and Brandon Belt (34). 
 The upstart Padres were supposed to supplant the Giants as LA’s more modern rival -- especially as they’re separated by only a two-hour drive (without a pit stop at In-N-Out Burger). But another injury to $329-million shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who is sidelined for three months with a broken wrist suffered in a motorcycle accident, is already casting doubts on the payoff for this $224-million payroll. 
 Getting back to Cohen and the East, the Mets have plenty to worry about in their own division before thinking about an NLCS showdown with the Dodgers. Atlanta wears the ’22 rings, and as much of a blow as it was to lose Freeman, the franchise smoothly pivoted in trading for the A’s Matt Olson as his replacement. One slight problem: Ronald Acuna Jr, limited to 82 games (and no playoffs) last season due to knee surgery, is projected to miss the first month this year to rehab as well. Injured ace Mike Soroka, who hasn’t pitched since 2020 because of an Achilles tendon repair, should be a huge boost around midseason. 
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 Hard to believe this is already Bryce Harper’s fourth season with the Phillies -- he has nine more years left on his $330-million contract -- and they’re still trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011, finishing above .500 (82-80) only once during that span. Don’t pin the blame on Harper -- he won the MVP (35 HRs, 1.044 OPS) last season -- but the Phillies grabbed some reinforcements with the signings of Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. 
 The Marlins don’t figure to be the East pushovers the Orioles are in the AL. Even with Derek Jeter bailing as CEO this spring, with his veiled reference questioning Miami’s commitment to win, the Marlins have an excellent young rotation capable of shutting down anyone fronted by All-Star Trevor Rogers (ROY runner-up), Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez. Scoring runs remains an issue, but the signing of World Series MVP Jorge Soler (3 yrs, $36M) should be a huge help. 
 It’s looking to be a two-team race in the Central, as the Brewers and Cardinals at least appear to be trying. Milwaukee’s rotation is the envy of just about everyone (well, maybe not the Mets) with the 1-2 punch of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff. They’re also nearly unbeatable at the back end of the bullpen, with Devin Williams and Josh Hader. 
 As for the Cardinals, they had a surprising November divorce with Mike Shildt -- the ’19 Manager of the Year -- then hired Oliver Mormol, who at 35 is the youngest manager in the majors. There’s a ton of pressure on Mormol, with St. Louis coming off a 90-win season and three straight playoff appearances under Shildt, including a division title. LI’s Steven Matz, signed to a four-year, $44-million deal this winter, projects to be the Cardinals’ No. 3 starter. 
 And speaking of Long Island, the former Patchogue-Medford star (and Met) Marcus Stroman was considered the Cubs’ biggest offseason addition until they swooped in to sign Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki to a five-year, $85-million contract. As much as it’s been a puzzling rebuild so far on the North Side, the Reds clearly are in tanking mode and the Pirates -- coming off three last-place finishes and 101 losses a year ago -- have been nearly invisible since making it to the 2015 wild-card game. 
<h3> NL Power Rankings </h3> 
 1. Dodgers 
 2. Atlanta 
 3. <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets">Mets</a> 
 4. Giants 
 5. Padres 
 6. Brewers 
 7. Cardinals 
 8. Phillies 
 9. Marlins 
 10. Cubs 
 11. Reds 
 12. Nationals 
 13. Rockies 
 14. Diamondbacks 
 15. Pirates 
<h3> Best of the best in the NL </h3> 
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 1. Juan Soto, Nationals: Soto finished second in the 2021 MVP voting to Bryce Harper, but he starts this year atop the NL. At 23, Soto is quickly becoming the sport’s most dangerous hitter, with a very discerning eye, as illustrated by him leading the majors in walks (145) and OBP (.465) last season to go with a .313 batting average and .999 OPS. 
 2. Jacob deGrom, Mets:&nbsp;If healthy -- and that’s the only question that ever hangs over deGrom -- he’s always capable of an historic season, not just winning a Cy Young. Last season, his ERA didn’t nudge above 1.00 until July 7, his 15th and final start. 
 3. Bryce Harper, Phillies:&nbsp;The reigning MVP wasn’t surrounded by All-Stars, so he’s had to do most of the heavy lifting himself in Philly, and a healthy Harper looked worth every dime of his $330 million last season. Harper led the majors in slugging (.615) and OPS (1.044) to win his second MVP trophy and first since 2015. 
 4. Trea Turner, Dodgers:&nbsp;Turner does it all offensively (.328 BA, 28 HR, 107 R, 32 SB) and now that he’s taking over at shortstop, from a premium defensive position as well. Also noteworthy this year -- Turner is a pending free agent. 
 5. Ronald Acuna, Jr., Atlanta: Sidelined until May in his continuing rehab from knee surgery, Acuna was on track for the MVP himself before getting hurt on July 10. Had 24 homers, 52 RBIs and .990 OPS through the first 82 games. 
 Best manager: Gabe Kapler, Giants 
 Best GM: David Stearns, Brewers 
 Best hitter: Juan Soto, Nationals 
 Best leadoff hitter: Trea Turner, Dodgers 
 Best power: Pete Alonso, Mets 
 Best in the clutch: Juan Soto, Nationals 
 Best baserunner: Trea Turner, Dodgers 
 Most exciting: Mookie Betts, Dodgers 
 Best infielder: Francisco Lindor, Mets 
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 Best infield arm: Nolan Arenado, Cardinals 
 Best outfielder: Victor Robles, Nationals 
 Best outfield arm: Mookie Betts, Dodgers 
 Best catcher: Will Smith, Dodgers 
 Best catcher arm: J.T. Realmuto, Phillies 
 Best starting pitcher: Jacob deGrom, Mets 
 Best setup: Devin Williams, Brewers 
 Best closer: Josh Hader, Brewers 
 Rookie to watch: Oneil Cruz, Pirates 
 Best home uniforms: Dodgers 
 Best stadium: Wrigley Field 
 Best mascot: Philly Phanatic 
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spbWEBNL_2022

MLB 2022 preview: The Dodgers, National League power rankings and the best players

MLB '22 preview: The Dodgers, NL power rankings and the best players

Neil Best

David Cone has a history as a YES Network analyst dating back 20 years, and you might recall him pitching quite well for both the Mets and Yankees. 
 That history has helped keep him a familiar and popular figure in the New York area at age 59. But now Cone the broadcaster is about to mount a bigger stage, one covering a national audience. 
 He is part of a new booth on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” joining play-by-play man Karl Ravech and fellow analyst Eduardo Perez in succeeding Matt Vasgerian and Alex Rodriguez. 
 It is one of many changes in televised baseball for this season, nationally and locally, including the ongoing expansion of games offered exclusively via live streaming. 
 Cone said he is eager for the opportunity and anticipates a smooth transition. 
 For one thing, knowing the Yankees well is a jumpstart itself. The Sunday night slate begins with Red Sox at Yankees, and that matchup always is a staple of the ESPN schedule. 
 But Cone also has felt an early comfort level with Ravech and Perez, who with him will form what figures to be less polarizing booth than the one that starred Rodriguez, a longtime lightning rod. 
 Still, Cone knows the audience will need time to get to know him and the others. 
 “I think the Yankee Universe kind of understands my sense of humor and my sarcasm,” he told Newsday. “I think I need to try to tread lightly at first in order to kind of introduce myself to the national audience.” 
 Cone (presumably) is not making the same money as Troy Aikman, his counterpart in the new ESPN “Monday Night Football” booth, who reportedly will earn $18 million a season. “Wrong sport,” Cone said with a laugh. 
 But as with “Monday Night Football,” baseball people respect ESPN’s exclusive prime time window as a special sports media property. 
 Cone hopes to use it to reach a broad swath of fans from different eras and different mindsets. 
 “To me, it doesn’t have to be a ‘when I played, we used to do it this way’ kind of a broadcast,” he said. “It has to be a more forward-thinking broadcast and pay tribute to current players and their skill level and talent instead of always trying to compare to generations of the past.” 
 Cone will continue doing Yankees games for YES but closer to 50-60 than the 70 that long have been in his contract. 
 With Kenny Singleton having retired, he will be joined in YES’ rotation by two new analysts in Carlos Beltran and Cameron Maybin, along with returning analysts Paul O’Neill and John Flaherty. 
 While Rodriguez no longer is in the main Sunday booth, he will join YES play-by-play man Michael Kay for eight games for a simulcast on ESPN2 called “KayRod” in which they will offer alternative commentary on games 
 Joe Buck’s long reign as Fox’s play-by-play man for the World Series will end with his departure to join Aikman on football at ESPN. Joe Davis is expected to succeed him in that role. 
 Fox’s Saturday and ESPN’s Sunday night windows remain staples of the national schedule, but gone are ESPN’s&nbsp;weeknight games, replaced by a Turner package on Tuesdays (moved there from Sundays). 
 The most controversial changes are in the streaming world. Apple TV+ will have a new schedule of exclusive Friday night doubleheaders, starting with the Mets at the Nationals on Friday. Those games are free for now to anyone with an internet connection but eventually will be for subscribers only 
 NBC’s Peacock will have a Sunday slate of games that starts as early as 11:30 a.m. or noon. 
 Locally, the YES Network will subcontract 21 Yankees games to Amazon Prime Video rather than to Channel 11, marking a shift from free broadcast TV to a subscriber service. (Amazon is a part owner of YES.) 
 The expanded first round of the playoffs will be carried by ESPN, giving Cone an announcing opportunity that he does not get at YES. 
 Cone was considered a good talker as a player, but he did not envision making a career out of that after he retired. Then he realized how much he missed the game and found a way to stay in it. 
 Now he is in it in a bigger way than he has been since his playing days.

Media

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MLB broadcasts undergo lots of changes, both locally and nationally

Lots of MLB broadcast booth changes, both nationally and locally

davidcone

There was no way of knowing when SNY assembled its first Mets booth for 2006 that it still would be intact 17 seasons later, tying a record set by the original announcing team of Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner. 
 But Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling had something going for them that their predecessors did not: familiarity, in the form of a longtime Mets radio announcer and two members of the 1986 championship team. 
 “This is really hard to fathom if you are a Mets fans in their 60th anniversary season, but they were creating a product from scratch,” Cohen said. “They didn’t have former Mets to bring in, because there was no such thing.” 
 So the Mets and their media outlets turned to Nelson, a national announcer known mostly for college football; Murphy, an experienced baseball play-by-play man for the Red Sox and Orioles; and Kiner, a seven-time home run champion with the Pirates who was familiar to National League fans. 
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 “When you think about that mix, it was inspired on every level,” Cohen said, “because you had three completely different sounds, three people with a different experience. And as we know, it was the perfect combination for that fledgling team.” 
 Well, so it seemed for young fans, such as Cohen, now 63, Mets radio announcer Howie Rose, 68, and other Baby Boomers who grew up with the original announcers and knew nothing else. 
 Grownups initially were less impressed. After the home opener in 1962, The New York Times TV critic Jack Gould wrote, “A workmanlike team, if not one likely to give baseball commentary the lift it could use.” 
 Jack Mann of Newsday mostly was positive after the opener but took a few shots at Murphy, whom he called “the mop-up announcer.” (Nelson, Murphy and Kiner rotated through both TV and radio booths in those days.) 
 But over time, the trio came to be the sound of the Mets, and when seven seasons of futility gave way to the “miracle” of 1969, the upstart franchise had voices to call its own and a generation forever bonded with them. 
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 “When I heard their voices, it was a good feeling, regardless of what the Mets were doing,” Rose said. “It felt like I was with my uncles.” 
 Nelson left the Mets for the Giants in 1979, breaking up the original trio, and died in 1995. Murphy retired from the Mets radio booth after the 2003 season and died in 2004. Kiner made occasional appearances on SNY until 2013 and died in 2014. 
 Fans under age 50 or so have no memory of listening to them work together live. Those over 50 never will forget. 
 “They were the ubiquitous sound of the Mets,” Cohen said. “They were on my radio or TV every day for six months.” 
 Said Rose, “I became almost umbilically connected to them . . . They were in my eyes and ears for the better part of seven months, including spring training. So it does become an almost familial connection.” 
 It was a different time in sports announcing, lacking in deep analysis – and questioning of managers’ strategy. Tim McCarver helped usher in the modern era with his more critical approach on Mets broadcasts in the 1980s.&nbsp; 
 But the originals carved distinctive brands for themselves. 
 “Lindsey was the very fast-talking and eccentrically dressed announcer,” Cohen said. “Murphy had wonderful, lilting, cadences and expressions. Kiner knew the game and had this incredibly gentle way of expressing himself. They were wonderful personalities.” 
 Neither Cohen nor Rose knew Nelson well, but both worked with and knew Murphy and Kiner. So unlike most of their fellow fans of the 1960s, they found themselves alongside their childhood narrators as adults. 
 “Surreal,” Rose said. “I can’t find a better word than that.” 
 Rose said that he often thinks about being a 15-year-old following every pitch for the Mets “on their way to this improbable, phenomenal, everlasting ecstasy” in 1969 by listening to Nelson, Murphy and Kiner. 
 “If you would have told me back then I would be working on television with Ralph and on radio occasionally with Bob,” Rose said, “I’d have said the odds against that must have been beyond anybody’s ability to comprehend.” 
 Cohen said that when he joined the Mets radio team in 1989 after working in the minor leagues, he realized how much his style had been influenced by his now-partner, Murphy. 
 “It rubbed off on me by osmosis without me even having a clue about it,” he said. “It wasn’t until I sat next to him every day that I realized so much of what I had developed as a style was a tribute to what I’d learned from Murph.” 
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 Those voices of the past now echo mostly in fans’ memories and on old highlights, and come 2023 their record 17 seasons is set to be surpassed. Now Mets fans under 25 or so do not remember a world without Cohen, Darling and Hernandez on SNY. 
 “We’ve just been so incredibly blessed to live out a dream this way,” said Cohen, entering his 34th season on Mets radio or TV, “and to walk in those enormous footsteps.” 
 Rose said when someone tells him he is “this generation’s Bob Murphy,” it resonates. 
 “It absolutely blows my mind,” he said. “There is no greater compliment that anybody can give me about my work with the Mets than to say that I represent to them what Lindsey, Bob and Ralph represented to me.”

SPBKINER220407

Remembering the Mets' original TV broadcast team of Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner

Remembering the Mets' original TV team

spbKINER220407_photos

Newsday's 2022 MLB preview

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