Morning Briefing: Francisco Lindor Wins His Fourth Silver Slugger

Good morning, Mets fans!

Francisco Lindor won his fourth Silver Slugger at shortstop, beating out Willy Adames and Elly De La Cruz. It’s his second with the Mets and comes after an amazing 2024 season where he slashed .273/.344/.500 and stole 29 bases. Lindor is also a finalist for the NL MVP. Congratulations, Mr. Smile!

Latest Mets News

Lindor was spotted in Los Angeles on Tuesday, sparking speculation that he’s there to recruit Juan Soto as Mets owner Steve Cohen prepares to meet with the free agent. Lindor didn’t explicitly say he was recruiting Soto, but TMZ reports he wished him “nothing but the best,” leaving some room for interpretation.

Latest MLB News

The Angels announced that they’ve signed former Met Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year deal worth $12 million. Following a decent 2024 campaign with the Braves, his time in Atlanta ends with an overall slash line of .251/.312/.443 and a 103 OPS+.

In other news from Los Angeles, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports that Sal Fasano has joined the Angels as an assistant pitching coach. The 53-year-old Fasano caught a whopping two games for the 2002 World Series-winning squad.

According to Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2, former Athletic Adam Oller is going overseas to become a Kia Tiger. The right-hander, who is now 30 years of age, passed through the Mets organization and was part of the deal that brought Chris Bassitt to New York.

In an article from ESPN, MLB insider Jeff Passan spoke about Nick Pivetta‘s future. Most importantly, he mentioned that Pivetta could command a three-year deal, which would mean that he’d decline the $21.05 million qualifying offer.

Joe DeMayo’s sources indicated that Marc Tramuta is set to be the Toronto Blue Jays’ new scouting director. Tramuta had previously held a role with the Mets for six years, departing the organization in 2023 to join Toronto.

The Minnesota Twins have made changes in their front office: CEO Dave St. Peter is stepping down, with Derek Falvey taking over as President of Baseball and Business Operations. Jeremy Zoll will become the team’s new general manager. St. Peter, 57, has been with the organization since 2000, serving as president before becoming CEO in 2016.

The WBC Baseball qualifiers are approaching, with Chinese Taipei, Nicaragua, Spain and South Africa all battling in the Taipei pool. In the 2022 tournament, none of these teams had much luck: Chinese Taipei failed to make it out of Group A, Nicaragua went 0-4 in Group D, and both South Africa and Spain didn’t even qualify.

The city of Tampa Bay reports that the Trop could potentially be renovated by 2026 at a cost of $55 million. However, with plans for a new stadium by 2028, it’s unclear if the city would be willing to invest in the project for just two years of play.

Click here for the full list of Silver Slugger winners. Notably, free agent slugger Anthony Santander, designated hitter Brent Rooker, Josh Smith, Ketel Marte, Jurickson Profar and rookie Jackson Merrill all earned the award for the first time in their careers.

Latest on MMO

Dom Barone reviewed the Syracuse Mets’ 2024 season.

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Sean Kenny graded third baseman Mark Vientos‘ 2024 season in a Mets report card.

On This Date in Mets History

1985: Backed by a 1.53 ERA in 276 2/3 innings pitched, Dwight Gooden won the NL Cy Young. Doc finally won the award after being absolutely snubbed in his rookie year.

2019: Jacob deGrom won his second consecutive Cy Young Award. His 255 strikeouts that year led the league.

Born On This Date: Bobby Pfeil (1942), George Theodore (1946), Rigo Beltrán (1969), Vic Darensbourg (1970), Asdrúbal Cabrera (1985), Brett Baty (1999).

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