So it begins, The official Hot Stove League Thread 2024-25 Offseason

[Big_Maple]

I don’t know if the sheds any light on our search for it every day first base or not, but I found this article from The Athletic interesting.

https://archive.ph/Y7vFP

A guy like Arraez seems to fit the mold of a 1B as much as a power hitting guy like Alonso.

But all of this will be moot if the M’s continue to sit on their hands the whole offseason. 50-some odd days till spring training….

[D-train]

I don’t know if the sheds any light on our search for it every day first base or not, but I found this article from The Athletic interesting.

https://archive.ph/Y7vFP

A guy like Arraez seems to fit the mold of a 1B as much as a power hitting guy like Alonso.

But all of this will be moot if the M’s continue to sit on their hands the whole offseason. 50-some odd days till spring training….

Interesting piece. This is Wild:

There were more 30-homer shortstops in the majors last season (five) than 30-homer first basemen (four). MLB’s home-run leader was a center fielder (Aaron Judge). Alonso, the top first baseman, ranked 12th overall. Among those ahead of him were a second baseman (Ketel Marte), a shortstop (Gunnar Henderson) and a third baseman (José Ramírez). Fourth on the leaderboard was right fielder Juan Soto, who may step into Alonso’s place in the Mets lineup.

[Big_Maple]

There were more 30-homer shortstops in the majors last season (five) than 30-homer first basemen (four). MLB’s home-run leader was a center fielder (Aaron Judge). Alonso, the top first baseman, ranked 12th overall. Among those ahead of him were a second baseman (Ketel Marte), a shortstop (Gunnar Henderson) and a third baseman (José Ramírez). Fourth on the leaderboard was right fielder Juan Soto, who may step into Alonso’s place in the Mets lineup.

There are not too many days that I don't get up wishing we hadn't traded Ketel Marte.

[D-train]

There were more 30-homer shortstops in the majors last season (five) than 30-homer first basemen (four). MLB’s home-run leader was a center fielder (Aaron Judge). Alonso, the top first baseman, ranked 12th overall. Among those ahead of him were a second baseman (Ketel Marte), a shortstop (Gunnar Henderson) and a third baseman (José Ramírez). Fourth on the leaderboard was right fielder Juan Soto, who may step into Alonso’s place in the Mets lineup.

There are not too many days that I don't get up wishing we hadn't traded Ketel Marte.

That is one I have to give Jerry a pass on because he suck his last season for us but yeah, he is probably a top 5 home grown position player product in team history and we never got to enjoy him.

What is the list:
ARod
Griffey
Edgar
Marte
Cal
Adam Jones
Varitek

[Donn Beach]

I didn't like giving marte up, but I guess Hazen insisted on him being part of the deal. Yeah he had a sophomore slump but come on, how many other switch hitters have they been endlessly patient with. The one that was actually great they just flip, go figure

Discussing the trade

. His skill set is pretty rare in the game,” Hazen said. “I mean, being a switch-hitter who’s proficient at both sides, plays in the middle of the diamond, like you just don't run across players like that all that often

[tehmc]

I didn't like giving marte up, but I guess Hazen insisted on him being part of the deal. Yeah he had a sophomore slump but come on, how many other switch hitters have they been endlessly patient with. The one that was actually great they just flip, go figure

Discussing the trade

. His skill set is pretty rare in the game,” Hazen said. “I mean, being a switch-hitter who’s proficient at both sides, plays in the middle of the diamond, like you just don't run across players like that all that often

He's been off and on, it initially looked like we won the trade. Marte had a Sophomore/Junior slump, put up good numbers in 2018, great numbers in 2019 and then fell off due to injury from 2020-2022 and has been great the last 2 years.

[DavidGee24]

There were more 30-homer shortstops in the majors last season (five) than 30-homer first basemen (four). MLB’s home-run leader was a center fielder (Aaron Judge). Alonso, the top first baseman, ranked 12th overall. Among those ahead of him were a second baseman (Ketel Marte), a shortstop (Gunnar Henderson) and a third baseman (José Ramírez). Fourth on the leaderboard was right fielder Juan Soto, who may step into Alonso’s place in the Mets lineup.

There are not too many days that I don't get up wishing we hadn't traded Ketel Marte.

What Marte has done has rarely been done in MLB history. He hit 3 home runs in 656 at-bats for us and didn't become a home run threat for another 3 years.

Once in a blue moon that happens. Kirby Puckett is probably the best example of a guy who went from no pop (4 home runs in his first 2 seasons to 31 in his third) to lots of pop all of a sudden, and we had a guy who was similar in Phil Bradley who went from 0 home runs in his first first season to 26 in his second.

[Seattle or Bust]

It's Morosi but at least it's fun.

[Big_Maple]

What Marte has done has rarely been done in MLB history. He hit 3 home runs in 656 at-bats for us and didn't become a home run threat for another 3 years.

Once in a blue moon that happens. Kirby Puckett is probably the best example of a guy who went from no pop (4 home runs in his first 2 seasons to 31 in his third) to lots of pop all of a sudden, and we had a guy who was similar in Phil Bradley who went from 0 home runs in his first first season to 26 in his second.

You and D-Train make some good points. His bat was tepid with us, and then he revitalized his hitting in Arizona. I wonder if we just need to be more patient...

Here's an interested and analytical article on his hitting over the years:

https://pitcherlist.com/ketel-marte-and ... f-hitting/

[Big_Maple]

It's Morosi but at least it's fun.

I just saw that this morning. As ever, Castillo is listed as the player being sent to Cleveland. Would we give up 3 years of Castillo for one year of Naylor? Is this what we're reduced to? It's a salary dump, and the argument goes that it frees up money to get another starter and more offense. It's not a long term solution to 1B, and it seems like classic robbing Peter to pay Paul.