TEAM NEWS AND PLAYER TRANSACTIONS DURING THE OFF-SEASON

February 14 Pitchers Mike Montgomery and Tommy Hunter signed minor league contracts and invited them to Spring Training..

February 13 Pitcher Seth Lugo will have elbow surgery to remove “loose bodies” in his elbow. Lugo will miss the beginning of the season because he will be out minimum six weeks. So it begin with the injuries.

February 10 Prospect Khali Lee was acquired from the Royals in a three team trade between the Mets, Red Sox, and Royals. The Mets are giving a pitching prospect to the Royals. Lee is regarded to be speedy and great defensively.

February 9 Jonathan Villar was signed to a 1 year contract worth $3.35 million dollars. Villar who can play anywhere hit .232 with the Marlins and Blue Jays last season.

The Mets will start Spring Training on February 19^th with pitchers and catchers reporting. Their first full squad workout will be on February 23^rd.

Major League Baseball and its Players Union agreed on the following rules again in 2021; if a game goes in extra innings, each team will start their half inning with a runner on 2^nd base. Doubleheaders are 7 innings long. However the universal DH is yet to be determined.

February 7 According to a report, the Mets have signed Albert Almora Jr. to a contract pending a physical. Last season with the Cubs he hit .167 in a limited role, but in 2019 Almora Jr. batted .236 with 12 hrs and 32 rbis in 130 games. The Mets hasn’t confirmed the report.

February 2 Former Mets Manager Mickey Callaway was suspended by the Angels for sending unsolicited text messages to 5 different women from 2015-19. Callaway managed the Mets in 2018 and ’19. Team President Sandy Alderson said he was unaware of Callaway’s actions and he is updating the team’s hiring processes. Callaway who is the Angels Pitching Coach said it isn’t true. Major League Baseball is doing a full investigation.

February 1 Jordan Yomamota was acquired from the Marlins for a minor leaguer. The Hawaiian native had a rough 2020, but he is a quality pitcher.

January 30 Daniel Murphy is retiring from baseball. Murphy was a postseason hero for the Mets in 2015 where he hit 7 home runs and was the MVP in the NLCS.

Owner Steve Cohen is taking a break from Twitter because of his involvement with Gamestop and Redit investment scandal. Cohen said he received threats against his family. Cohen said the baseball side is safe from the scandal.

January 27 Steven Matz was traded to the Blue Jays for 3 prospects. Matz had a season to forget in 2020 as he had a 9.64 ERA. This move frees up $5.2 millions and it could means the Mets may be close to signing Trevor Bauer, the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2020.

Aaron Loup was signed to an one year contract. The lefty reliever posted a 2.52 era last season with the Rays.

Zack Scott was named the acting General Manager, replacing Jared Porter.

January 25 Omar Minaya is returning to the Mets for the fourth time. This time as an ambassador. Minaya will make appearances and help with the Latino community.

January 19 The Mets fired General Manager Jared Porter after ESPN reported that Porter sent illicit and nude photos of himself to a foreign news reporter in 2016. Porter was with the Cubs when this occurred and the woman choose not to tell anyone. But when Porter became an important member in an organization she felt she had to tell her story. When asked Porter admitted it was true. Mets owner Steve Cohen wrote in a statement that the Mets have zero tolerance for this behavior.

January 18 Joey Lucchesi was acquired in a three team trade involving the Mets, Padres, and Pirates. Lucchesi owns a 4.18 ERA in 3 years with the Padres. The Mets sent Endy Rodriguez to the Pirates and the Pirates sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres.

January 15 The Mets and Francisco Lindor agreed on a $22.3 million dollars one year contract, avoiding arbitration.

The club also avoided arbitration with the following players; Dominic Smith ($2.25 millions), Michael Conforto (12.25 millions), Brandon Nimmo (4.7 millions), Robert Gsellman (1.3 millions), and Edwin Diaz (7 millions).

January 14 Jose Martinez was signed to a split contract. If he makes the team he will earn $1 million dollars plus incentives. Last season he played with the Rays and Cubs.

January 8 Brandon Drury was signed to a minor league contract. Drury last played with the Diamondbacks in 2017.

January 7 In a blockbuster trade the Mets acquired Francisco Lindor and pitcher Carlos Carrasco from the Indians for Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, and 2 minor leaguers. Lindor will be in his last year of his contract this year, so the Mets will have to sign him to a long term contract. The shortstop batted.258, but he averaged .278 with 34 home runs during 2017-19 seasons. Carrasco was the AL Comeback of the year in 2020 after he battled Leukemia in 2019. Carrasco started 12 games and posted a 2.91 ERA. This is a huge trade.

January 5 The Mets finalized their coaching staff by adding Ricky Meinhold as an assistant Pitching Coach.

December 30 The Mets hired Tony Tarasco as their First Base Coach. Tarasco also oversee the outfielders and the baserunners.

December 23 The Mets named Zack Scott as the Senior Vice President and an Assistant to the Genteel Manager. Scott was the runner up for the Genteel Manager job. Zack worked with Jared Porter in the Red Sox organization for 10 years and he worked in Major League Baseball offices the past several years. He is great at player development and analytics.

December 22 Noah Syndergaard agreed to a $9.7 million dollars contract, avoiding arbitration. It is the same contract he signed last season but he was injured all season.

December 16 Jerad Eickhoff was signed to a minor league contract.If he makes the team he will earn $1.25 millions plus incentives. Eickhoff pitched for the Phillies for 5 years.

December 14 The Mets officially introduced Jared Porter as their 14^th General Manager. Porter is exciting about working in the Mets organization and work with Sandy Alderson and Steve Cohen. Jared embraced Cohen’s statement of winning the World Series in 3 years.

December 13 The Mets hired Dave Jauss as their new Bench Coach. This will be second time Jauss will be the Bench Coach, he was the Bench Coach for Jerry Manuel in 2010. Most recently he was a scout for the Yankees.

December 12 In a very busy day in Mets land, the Mets got a catcher and a new General Manager. Reportedly James McCann signed with the club for 4 years $40 millions. In his last two season with the White Sox McCann hit .276 with 25 homeruns in 149 games. McCann is considered great defensively and works great with the pitchers.

The Mets named Jared Porter as their new General Manager. Porter has been a part of 4 World Series teams, 3 with the Red Sox and one with the Cubs. He worked under Theo Epstein and Ben Cherington. Last season he was the senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager of the Diamondbacks.

December 11 Jerry Blevins was signed to a minor league contract that if he makes the team is worth $1.25 million dollars plus incentives. Blevins pitched for the Mets from 2015-18 and owned a 3.38 ERA during that time.

December 10 The Mets selected pitcher Luis Oviedo from the Indians in the Rule 5 Draft, then the Mets traded him to the Pirates for cash considerations.

Major League Baseball announced its all time team for 2020; Jacob deGrom made the first team and Michael Conforto made the second team.

December 8 Trevor Hildenberger was signed to a minor league contract. Hildenberger is a side arm pitcher who pitch for the Twins for 3 seasons.

December 2 The Mets and Steven Matz agreed on a $5.1 million dollars contract, avoiding arbitration. They also tendered a contract to all tender eligible players, including Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto. They didn’t tender a contract to Chasen Shreve.

December 1 Trevor May was signed to a 2 year contract worth $15 million dollars. Trevor is a hard throwing relief pitcher who struck out 14.47 batters per 9 innings last season.May is the first free agent signed by Steve Cohen.

November 30 Hensley Muelens will not return as Bench Coach for the 2021 season. Muelens was brought in when Carlos Beltran became manager and was kept on when Luis Rojas replaced Beltran.

November 23 Team President Sandy Alderson announced the team will not hire a President of Baseball Operations, rather they will hire just a General Manager. Also Sandy said that Luis Rojas will remain as Manager.

Sam McWilliams was signed to an 1 year contract. McWilliams played with the Rays last season but is a career minor leaguer.

November 18 Major League Baseball announced it suspended Robinson Cano for violating the league’s anti steroids policy. It is Cano’s 2^nd violation so he is suspended one year or 162 games. Cano will forfeit $24 million dollars. When the suspension is over, Cano will still have 2 years and roughly $45 millions remaining on his contract and it remains to be seen whether he will return to the Mets

November 11 Marcus Stroman accepted the $18.9 million dollars qualifying offer from the Mets. Stroman said he is returning because what Steve Cohen said at his press conference.

November 10 Steve Cohen met the press for the first time as team owner, among the things he said were; he expects to win the World Series in about 3-5 years. He wants to build a foundation for the Mets to win consistently year after year. Cohen also wants to build a “Mets Way” of doing things.

Sandy Alderson also met the media, among the things he said were; Manager Luis Rojas will likely to return in 2021, though he left the door slightly ajar if the new General Manager wants to change managers. Alderson wants to rebuild the Front Office as quickly as possible.

November 6 It is officially official Steve Cohen is the new owner of the New York Mets! Cohen and the Wilpon family closed on the $2.4 billion dollars deal.

Shortly after he took ownership of the team, Steve Cohen named Sandy Alderson as Team President. Then Alderson fired General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen and his entire front office staff, including Omar Minaya. Sandy was the General Manager from 2011 to June 2018. During that time the Wilpon family was involved in the Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme. The team lost a significant amount of money and couldn’t keep improving the team the way they should have.

November 2 Jacob deGrom is a Cy Young Award finalist for the third straight year. The previous two years Jacob has won the award.

November 1 The Mets extended a qualifying offer to Marcus Stroman. Also both Dellin Betances and Brad Brach exercised their player’s option to return.

October 30 It is official, Steve Cohen is the new owner of the New York Mets! Major League Baseball owners voted to approve Cohen, and he got 26 out of 29 votes. Shortly thereafter Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced he has no objections with the transaction. Cohen is very excited to be the next owner of the Mets. Fred Wilpon thanked everybody for their loyalty to the Mets. The deal is expecting to close within days.

October 29 The Mets declined the option on Wilson Ramos making him a free agent. Ramos is among 14 Mets who filed for free agency.

October 28 Major League Baseball owners will vote on Friday on Steve Cohen’s purchase of the New York Mets from the Wilpon family. Cohen has to get the majority of the votes, 22 out of 28 votes to be approved. It is believed he will get them. Also, Mayor Bill DeBlasio has to approve Cohen because Citi Field is a city owned building.