Morning Briefing: Angels Agree To Deal With Jose Quintana

Good Morning, Mets fans!

Jared Porter was officially terminated as the Mets’ general manager Tuesday morning. Sandy Alderson said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the team didn’t plan to fill their now-vacant general manager position for now.

During the press conference, Alderson said both he and Cohen came to the same decision regarding Porter’s conduct separately, so their conversation was very short when they talked Tuesday morning. Porter was fired soon after that.

In free agent news, George Springer is finalizing a six-year, $150 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Jeff Passan. The deal is pending a physical.

Springer was viewed as the best offensive free agent available, and the Blue Jays outbid the Mets by around $25 million-$30 million, according to Mark Feinsand. Springer will be taking his massive pocketbook north of the border for the 2021 season and beyond.

Latest Mets News

Alderson took accountability Tuesday afternoon for not looking for a woman’s recommendation when vetting Porter for the general manager job. (Hat tip to Yahoo’s Hannah Keyser for asking Alderson if he consulted any women when hiring Porter.) He admitted not having women in positions of power and leadership was something baseball–and specifically the Mets–need to address. Having one woman crack the ceiling of being a general manager for a team is not nearly enough.

Bob Nightengale says Major League Baseball will launch an investigation into Jared Porter, primarily focusing on who knew what and when. The investigation, he says, could end in a suspension that would eventually require a reinstatement from league officials.

To help understand how Porter’s actions aren’t exactly rare and how some women in the industry can relate with Porter’s victim, please read about Mets beat writer Deesha Thosar’s all-too-common experience of being a woman in the baseball industry. Read Brittany Ghiroli’s column, too.

In on-the-field news, MLB Network named Dominic Smith as baseball’s sixth-best left fielder ahead of guys like Eloy Jimenez and Yuli Gurriel. This, obviously, is based on the assumption that there will be no DH in the National League in 2020 and Smith will get most of his playing time in the outfield in 2021. Smith saw a majority of his at-bats in 2019 and 2020 while playing in left field.

The Mets had “pretty strong” interest in Kiké Hernandez while Jared Porter was GM, according to John Heyman. There’s no word on if that interest will be sustained from either side without Porter there, but we’ll ave to wait and see.

Juan Lagares won the MVP Award for the Domincan Winter League championships, says Victor Baez. Lagares’ team–Aguilas Cibaenas–won the championship this year, and Lagares went 11-29 with three home runs and 10 RBIs over the seven-game series. He hit a grand slam in a Game 6 win to tie the series (watch it here), then he tied Game 7 with a solo home run, as Anthony DiComo points out. The soon-to-be-32-year-old is a free agent this offseason.

Latest MLB News

Don Sutton–one of the most dominant and consistent pitchers of his generation–passed away Monday night, his son announced via Twitter. The long-time Dodger won 324 games across 23 seasons. He currently sits at 7th for most innings pitched (5,282.1) over a career, and he had a 3.24 ERA over his career, to boot.

Reliever Kirby Yates finalized a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, Ken Rosenthal says. It’ll be for one year and $8.25 million.

The Los Angeles Angels agreed to a contract with José Quintana, Rosenthal reported, as well. The Angels have been a team desperate for pitching the last couple seasons, and Quintana looks to recapture his pre-Cubs form while heading back to the American League.

Free agent reliever (and Mets free agent target) Brad Hand switched his representation, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo. He’s the second reliever in as many days–following Alex Colomé–to switch agents during free agency.

As I wrote last week, the Red Sox “continue to be open to moving” outfielder Andrew Benintendi, according to a new tweet from South Florida reporter Craig Mish. He notes the Miami Marlins “have pieces that make sense” for the Red Sox (primarily young pitching), though these reports are starting to feel like they are trying to push the Marlins over the finish line in acquiring the 26-year-old outfielder.

The Minnesota Twins are interested in a reunion with utilityman Marwin Gonzalez, according to Mark Feinsand and Do-Hyoung Park.

Jon Heyman says Aníbal Sanchez and Julio Teherán both “appeared to be in great shape” at their Tuesday throwing session. Heyman said they were throwing between 87-91 mph and that Teherán has a new arm slot when delivering his pitches. A good workout is exactly what both needed–especially in Teherán’s case–if they want looks at rotation spots with teams.

Latest on MMO

Tim Ryder and Mathew Brownstein discuss Mets prospects and free agency in the latest Simply Amazin’ podcast.

Dilip Sridhar takes a look at Trevor Rosenthal as a free agent addition to the bullpen. (Rosenthal tweeted this cryptic Bat Signal on Tuesday night.)

On This Day in Mets History

The Mets lost Tom Seaver to the Chicago White Sox in a free agent compensation draft on this date in 1984.

Seaver had returned to the Mets in 1983 following six seasons in Cincinnati. He was traded to the Reds in the infamous Midnight Massacre trade. Sadly, rather than get compensation draft picks how teams do now when they lose top free agents, teams were allowed to draft unprotected players as compensation.

Mets general manager at the time Frank Cashen didn’t protect Seaver–who had just turned 39–from the draft given his age and salary. And who could blame him? Cashen had guys like Ron Darling, Jesse Orosco and Sid Fernandez on the roster. Seaver, though, wound up going an astonishing 38-35 with a 3.69 ERA and 115 ERA+ in his final three years in the big leagues. Could he have helped the Mets in those last three years? Sure, but the young pitching talent that replaces Seaver eventually helped the Mets win in ’86.

Also, on this day in 2011, the Mets signed Scott Hairston to the first of two one-year deals. Hairston had his best full year as a big leaguer with the Mets in 2012, highlighted hitting for the cycle in a game in Colorado. Overall, he had a 118 OPS+ over 398 plate appearances that year.

Let’s go Mets!