Anthony McCarron, SNY.tv | Twitter |
Sing with us, everyone! "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the Mets' bullpen is delightful."
Wait, that's not right.
But maybe Baseball Santa has answers to the club's relief woes and some other trouble areas as we look at some gift ideas for Flushing's favorites. What's going under their blue-and-orange tree this holiday season? Let's see...
An Edwin Díaz bounceback: Mets' GM Brodie Van Wagenen sounds like a kid talking about the hottest toy of the Christmas season each time he brings up the idea of Díaz returning to his excellent 2018 form after last year's debacle. Would it be enough to fix the Mets bullpen?
Yoenis Céspedes hitting a bunch of his incentives: When the Mets and Céspedes reached a settlement that cut his contract from $29.5 million to $6 million, they included clauses that would allow Céspedes to regain some of the money based on playing time and performance. What if Cespedes actually attains some of them? That would mean, at least, that he's playing well enough to earn playing time. Sure, we'll believe it when we see it, but it's better to have that dancing in our heads than, say, sugarplums.
RUNS: For when Jacob deGrom starts. It's what to give the pitcher who has almost everything.
A spot in the rotation for Seth Lugo: He wants to be a starter rather than continue in the bullpen. Trouble is, he's the Mets best reliever. Even Baseball Santa might not be able to help with this one.
Velcro jerseys: Those shirt-ripping celebrations after walk-off wins would be so much easier. And no buttons to lose!
Matching friendship tattoos for Pete Alonso and Dom Smith: First base was part competition, part buddy movie last year. It was one of the nicest, most genuine stories of the Mets season.
A Diamond in the Rough: It'd be nice if an unknown in their minor leagues emerged as a mega-prospect to either bolster a system that could use another buzzworthy star, or increase the club's trade capital for a potential deadline deal.
Another leap forward for Amed Rosario: What kind of player would the 24-year-old shortstop be if he built on his 2019 season? He was fifth in the National League with 177 hits, blasted 15 homers and made defensive strides.
The return of the alternate black uniforms: It's like those tweets by Alonso and Marcus Stroman about the black unis were letters to Baseball Santa.
A regular spot in the lineup for J.D. Davis: All the Whos down in Whoville know Davis can mash. Put a bow on third base or left field for him already.
A gift card to an NYC steakhouse: For Alonso, to use for that much-discussed dinner with Aaron Judge of the Yankees. They can compare notes on the rookie home run record.