Morning Briefing: The Kids Are All Right

Good morning, Mets fans! Happy birthday, Kodai Senga! He’s 33. According to my research, that matches the number of decisions in his career (20-13).

ESPN and The Athletic both released MLB farm rankings. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN had the Mets at No. 5 and said it was first before New York sent prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat to the Brewers for Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers. Even after the trade, McDaniel has nine Mets in his top 200 prospects and a 10th (RHP Jack Wenninger) knocking on the door.

The Mets came in 12th on Keith Law of The Athletic’s list. He likes that they are teaching all of their pitchers to throw a sweeper and said New York has been drafting well for a decade or more.

MMO’s Mike Mayer will soon release his list of the top 50 Mets prospects based on watching them, reviewing data and talking to scouts and Mets officials.

Latest Mets News

SNY released its spring training broadcast schedule. The network will have the opener at home vs. the Marlins on Feb. 21, Daniel Murphy will do a couple of games (Feb. 24-25) with Gary Cohen and the broadcast schedule concludes on March 21 vs. the Astros. Opening Day is March 26 against the Pirates.

The Nationals claimed LHP Richard Lovelady off waivers from the Mets, per Mike Mayer. Lovelady gave up seven earned runs in 10 innings pitched with the Mets last season. The Nats claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Mets on Wednesday.

Jonah Tong will not pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post has the contract details on two players the Mets signed to minor league deals and invited to spring training. Catcher Austin Barnes will earn $1.5 million if he makes the big-league club. His contract also contains $500,000 in incentives. Infielder Grae Kessinger will earn $900,000 if he makes it to the majors.

Latest MLB News

Dodgers ace Blake Snell‘s status for Opening Day is uncertain, per an article from Jack Harris of the California Post. Snell’s arm was reportedly “exhausted” from the World Series. He only made 11 regular-season starts during the Dodgers’ eventual World Series-winning season.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia, Jackson Chourio and Wilyer Abreu will play for Team Venezuela in the WBC, per Brent Maguire of MLB.com. Team Dominican Republic announced the additions of Fernando Tatis Jr., Oneil Cruz, Cristopher Sánchez and Sandy Alcantara, per David Adler of MLB.com. The Dominican team also announced that Amed Rosario will join them.

The league announced that all 20 WBC rosters will be revealed on MLB Network on Thursday Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The Mets previously announced to play in the WBC are Francisco Lindor (Puerto Rico), Mark Vientos (Nicaragua), Clay Holmes (USA) and Nolan McLean (USA). WBC exhibition games start on March 3.

NBC is close to signing deals that would make Clayton Kershaw, Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo part of its baseball coverage this fall, according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

The Diamondbacks and right-handed reliever Derek Law agreed to a minor-league contract and he was invited to spring training, sources told Robert Murray of FanSided.

The Padres and left-handed reliever Marco Gonzales agreed to a minor-league deal and he was invited to spring training, per Jon Heyman. Gonzales will earn $1.5 million if he makes the team and his contract includes $1 million in incentives. The Astros and LHP Tom Cosgrove ($900,000 if majors) and the Dodgers and RHP Ryder Ryan ($800,000 if majors) did the same, per Heyman.

Latest on MMO

Robert Colonna ranked the NL East’s third basemen. (Spoiler: Bo Bichette edged Austin Riley for the top spot.)

Robert Colonna kicked off our annual positional outlook series with a rundown on the Mets’ corner outfielders, from Juan Soto to Ryan Clifford.

Mathias Altman-Kurosaki has more on the good grades the Mets’ farm received from the experts at ESPN and The Athletic.

The Mets made official the minor-league contracts/spring training invites for reliever Craig Kimbrel and catcher Austin Barnes. Robert Colonna reviewed both players.

On This Date in Mets History

1962: After 16 seasons, 361 home runs and two world championships with the Dodgers, Gil Hodges signs with the Mets for $33,000. (True story: His granddaughter was my teammate on a co-ed softball team 22 years ago. She could hit, wore No. 14 and played an excellent first base. She was also a die-hard Mets fan.)

2006: After eight seasons, 220 home runs and one National League pennant with the Mets, Mike Piazza signs a one-year, $2 million contract with the Padres.

Born on This Date: Ariel Jurado (1996), Kodai Senga (1993), Eddy Alvarez (1990), Nick Evans (1986), Davey Johnson (1943), Charlie Neal (1931).

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