Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS ultimately ended in disappointment but on this date in 2006, Endy Chavez provided plenty of excitement when he robbed Scott Rolen of a home run and doubled Jim Edmonds off at first base.

Your Monday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

The Mets are reportedly seeking a contract extension with J.P. Ricciardi. The special assistant gets a lot of credit for improving the team's minor league system.

Rising Apple reviewed the 2014 season of lefty specialist Josh Edgin.

The Star-Ledger says that the ability of the Royals to win a pennant without a powerful offense should give Mets fans hope for their 2015 team.

Around the Majors

You won't be able to hear the Lorde song "Royals" on certain San Francisco radio stations over the next week or so. 104.5 KFOG and 96.5 KOIT are removing the track from their lineups until the World Series is over.

Yoenis Cespedes could be available in a trade this winter. The power-hitting outfielder has one year and $10.2 million left on his contract.

Former Mets pitcher Chris Young should be an attractive free agent after a healthy and productive 2014. He's leaning towards a return to the Mariners, though.

If you've ever wondered why your Jewish friends care about Jewish baseball players so much, this story tries to explain things.

In case you can't make up your mind, here's a guide on who to root for in the World Series.

Around the NL East

The Braves signed infielder Pedro Ciriaco to a minor league deal.

Federal Baseball tackled the top five offseason storylines surrounding the Nationals.

Yesterday at AA

Colby Conetta broke down the 2014 campaign of Ruben Tejada.

On this date in 1973, Tom Seaver pitched well on short rest, but the Mets fell to the Athletics in Game 6 of the 1973 World Series. Also, say happy birthday to Keith today.

Miami wasn't satisfied with the production of one former Pirates first baseman. But they may be ready to give Ike Davis, another Pirate, a try.

Miami was already confident in one former Pirates first baseman in signing Garrett Jones. But after a slow offensive year, the Marlins' offseason strategy may including pursuing another first base option. And another Pirate may be in the mix.

The Marlins are familiar with Ike Davis because of his New York Mets background, and if Davis finds himself looking for a new squad this offseason, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News believes Davis would be a fit in South Florida.

It won’t be as high-profile as last winter, but former Met Ike Davis could be once again looking for another team this offseason. Davis batted .235 with 10 homers for the Pirates this year, and there is a strong chance that the team will move Pedro Alvarez to first.

If Davis is once again seeking work, the Marlins are one possibility. The team has Garrett Jones, but at least some in the organization are open to change, and like Davis, sources say.

Many believe the Pirates will move Pedro Alvarez to first base in 2015, even though the organization's front office has been notably quiet about the situation. Alvarez, though, had difficulty defensively at third base last season, and the thought of moving him back to first makes Davis a non-tender or trade candidate.

In 2014, Davis posted a .233/.344/.378 line to complement 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. He does not provide a significant amount of power, which may lead the Marlins to explore other options, however he could likely be more productive than Jones, who batted at the bottom of Miami's lineup for much of the year.

Although they owe him $5 million in 2015, the Marlins appear prepared to consider other options. While Jones was consistent offensively to start the year, his production began to dip around the All-Star break. Miami could look to trade Jones, but may have to eat some of his remaining salary if they want to get a deal done.

It may not take much to acquire Davis via a trade, considering he could otherwise be non-tendered. He is a left-handed hitter, which is something that the Marlins' lineup has lacked over the last few seasons. Despite the subpar offensive numbers he posted last season, he is likely a more efficient defensive option than Jones, who at times had trouble handling throws.

When the Marlins begin addressing their offseason needs, looking for a first baseman will likely appear somewhere on their list of priorities. And adding Ike Davis to a young roster may make sense moving forward.

The World Series is too short for grand lessons, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't root for chaos. Alex Gordon and Hunter Pence both delivered that in 2014.

In theory, the postseason is supposed to be the height of intrigue. The leverage is much higher, and every single pitch is monumentally important. The A's were a handful of outs away from the ALDS with a four run lead, and it all fell apart so quickly. But the curse of the postseason is that while there are bona fide big-moment storylines, there aren't many teams or games involved. We've had 25 games in the last three weeks when we'd typically have that many games over the span of two days. As a result, for the sportswriter, there are too many people trying to tell the same story.

And I don't like telling the same story as everyone else. You don't need "my take" sitting next to 17 other columnists, 12 beat writers, and everyone you follow on Twitter. Bottom line, the Royals are good at defense and we probably sold them a little short. Also, while we mock Dayton Moore and Ned Yost, the Royals are not anti-sabermetric. As for the Giants, Hunter Pence has crazy eyes, Posey is awesome, and Bumgarner is the real deal. If you want to read one of those stories, there are plenty of great pieces ready for your consumption.

Instead of giving you a routine take on the World Series, which begins (still can't quite believe this) tomorrow in Kansas City, I'd like to offer a different kind of story about the teams involved. This is the story-stat World Series preview.

If you aren't familiar, WIn Probability Added (WPA) is a statistic that measures how much a player improved his team's chance of winning a game. So if a team had a 56% chance of winning before a home run and their chance of winning was 84% after, the player who hit the bomb would have a WPA of 0.28 for that HR (i.e. 28%).

When it comes to measuring individual players, the stat is basically useless. If you hit 10 HR all year, your WPA would be much higher if you hit them in the ninth inning of 0-0 games than if you hit them in the first inning of otherwise 0-0 games. It's one thing to give a player credit for advancing runners, but giving them credit for hits when the score is close and almost no credit for when it isn't makes it a very poor indicator of performance. There also isn't a defensive component (only hitters and pitchers).

But one thing WPA does very well is tell you the story of a game. Having the highest WPA during a game or a season doesn't make you the best player, but it does a nice job of capturing the key moments.

Both the Giants and Royals performed well in high leverage spots during the 2014 season, and they are about to square off in the Fall Classic, so let's allow a story stat to tell the story of the two best individual offensive games that led these teams to this moment.

San Francisco Giants - Hunter Pence June 7th

The Giants were playing excellent baseball in early June when they drew Bartolo Colon and the Mets on a Saturday evening at AT&T Park. They were in first place, on a short winning streak, and had Tim Hudson toeing the rubber. Pence finished the game 3-4 with a walk in five plate appearances. He was batting second and playing right field.

His first PA came in the bottom of the first with the score tied at zero and Angel Pagan on first base. The win expectancy was a 58% for the Giants when he stepped in. On a 1-1 pitch, Pence put a single through the hole on the left side, registering 0.06 WPA for his first PA. The Giants would fail to score.

For trip number two, it was the bottom of the third inning. The Giants were now trailing 3-0 and had a 24% chance of winning the game. Pence watched strike three and lost 0.04 WPA, leaving him at 0.02 for the day so far. He was two PA into the day and had added only 2% to his club's odds. The Giants would fail to score in the third inning.

Two innings later, still trailing 3-0, the Giants started to fight back. Gregor Blanco and Pagan each singled with no outs to give the team a 27% chance to win the game from the point forward. Pence walked on the sixth pitch of the plate appearance and added 0.11 WPA to his total. After three trips, he was at 0.13 WPA for the day. Decent work, but still somewhat ordinary. He was 1-2 with a walk and his team was down 3-1 when the fifth inning came to a close.

In the very next inning, the Giants pushed back. They had given one back in the top half and trailed 4-1, but a bases loaded single from Pagan set up another Pence single with two men on. It went through the left side, but no one scored, giving Pence just 0.05 WPA. Posey went down swinging right after and it was a 4-3 ballgame after six with Pence standing at 0.16 WPA.

You can probably see where this is heading. In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants were still down 4-3 and Pagan managed to reach first on a dropped third strike to lead off the inning. Pence came to the plate with the Giants sitting on a 30% chance of victory. Then Pence doubled down the left field line on the second pitch. Pagan scored and Pence was in scoring position. His WPA for that PA was a whopping 0.49. Three batters later, the Giants won.

When all was said and done, Pence had accumulated 0.676 WPA (using the unrounded amounts) in the Giants 5-4 win against the Mets.

Kansas City Royals - Alex Gordon, August 26th

Alex Gordon had just four plate appearances in the Royals' 2-1 win over the Twins in Kansas City near the end of August but he only really needed the last one.

He struck out to end the first (-0.01 WPA) and then singled to lead off the fourth inning of a 0-0 game (0.04 WPA). In PA number three, he ended the sixth inning with a ground out to second base (-0.02 WPA) in a 0-0 game. Gordon was barely in the black, but it was a tie game and not much had happened offensively.

In the seventh inning, Joe Mauer knocked in Brian Dozier, and the Royals and their limited offense were down a run with nine outs left.

Glen Perkins entered in the bottom of the 9th and allowed a 1-0 single to Alcides Escobar. Gordon walked to the plate with his team's odds of winning at 33%, and that's on average. It doesn't consider the fact that the Twins had their ace lefty on the mound against a LHH. Gordon's good, but was Gordon that good?

Jamie Squire/Getty

He was. He took an 0-1 pitch and walked off to right field. 2-1, Royals win, 0.67 WPA. That left Gordon with with 0.686 WPA for the entire game.

Would either of these teams have made the World Series without these defining wins? It's impossible to say. Pence and Gordon came through in big moments throughout the year and neither was down to their final out, so the teams still might have won these two games as well.

But it's a story stat. It doesn't really matter what would have happened in 1,000 trials or what's going to happen this week. The Royals and the Giants played well enough to make the playoffs and made it through some tough competition to get this far. The better team might not win. It's tough to tell much from four to seven games, so in lieu of potential lessons, let's just hope for some insane win expectancy graphs and some WPA heroes.

...

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Neil Weinberg is the Associate Managing Editor at Beyond The Box Score, the Site Educator at FanGraphs, and can also be found writing enthusiastically about the Detroit Tigers at New English D. Follow @NeilWeinberg44

deGrom was voted top rookie by fellow National League players.

The official MLB hardware has not been handed out yet, but the quest of Jacob deGrom to be named National League Rookie of the Year was boosted today by the Sporting News. The organization named the former college shortstop as the top NL rookie as a result of a voting process by fellow senior circuit players.

deGrom came out of relative obscurity this season to pitch brilliantly for the Mets in 2014. After being called up in mid-May and struggling through his first month-and-a-half as a big leaguer, deGrom was dominant for much of the campaign's final three months. He finished the year with a 2.69 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

With a strikeout rate of 25.5 percent and a 3.03 xFIP, nothing about deGrom's performance in 2014 seemed fluky. It was an easy choice to hand him the Piazza Award for Best Rookie.

The "real" hardware will be a tougher decision for voters. In the Sporting News voting, deGrom finished just four votes ahead of runner-up Billy Hamilton. Given the speedster's penchant for stealing bases and playing terrific defense, it wouldn't be shocking to see the MLB award voting go in a different direction.

Here are some observations on a few players getting Arizona Fall League experience.

After a mid-season trade from the New York Yankees to the Arizona Diamondbacks, catcher Peter O’Brien was assigned to Double-A Mobile. He didn’t do much with the Baybears, getting in only four games.This had to have been an anti-climactic end to a run he’d had between the Florida State and Eastern Leagues.

O’Brien was making quite a name for himself while with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, going on a home run tear. He hit .245/.296/.555 with 23 homers in 72 games. The sense in Trenton to that point was that the Yankees valued O’Brien’s bat and defense, and there was talk that if he kept that pace, he might get a call from the big club. Instead, his value was in what the Yankees could get for him (veteran infielder Martin Prado).

At the plate, O’Brien’s solid frame (6-4, 215 lbs) projects power, although what he did in the first half of the season was pretty unexpected. He’s a versatile defender, with time split behind the plate and at third in 2013, and he got some time in the outfield in 2014, in addition to his catching duties. Although his overall strikeout rate is quite high, he showed some ability to make contact when viewed in person. He threw out just 10% of runners, but showed some ability to block the ball well. He’s not the flashy type but has natural leadership qualities that teams value, particularly in a catcher.

By capitalizing on the success he put together in 2014, he could move fast in the Arizona system, and considering his age (24), a Triple-A promotion to open next season wouldn’t be a shock. Just looking at his numbers alone in 2014, giving him the chance to play against more advanced competition in Triple-A makes sense. This is especially true given his performance in the Arizona Fall League thus far: although hitting just .226 in 10 games, he's hit three homers, slugged .581 and has drawn 13 walks for a .467 OBP.

Fellow Yankees prospect Tyler Austin is hitting .261/.363/.323 through eight games.  Austin’s progress in the Yankees system has been affected by injuries and time missed in 2013 and this season, after upping his value in 2012 when he hit .322/.400/.559, and level-jumped four times. In 105 games this season for Trenton, he hit .275/.336/.419, collecting 109 hits, 47 RBI, 36 walks and 80 strikeouts in 396 at-bats.The Yankees 2010 13^th round pick showed early ability to make contact & hit for some power (17 HR’s in 2012). Expectations for him are only going to get lower if he can’t show more of what we saw in 2012. Getting a shot at solid fall league competition is a good test for Austin. He did finish strong during the regular season (.336/.397/.557 in his last 33 games).

While the Yankees have received tons of criticism for lacking focus on player development, that’s not entirely fair. Many players whose future they hung their hat on didn’t pan out as predicted. Pitching prospect Manny Banuelos underwent Tommy John surgery. Dellin Betances took a long, rough journey through the minors to the majors, from a starting role, to the elite reliever he’s developing into. On the other hand, an improved focus on development is necessary, as Brian Cashman suggested to reporters when he signed a new three-year deal last week. On the tail-end of a playoffs-free Yankees season, that shift in thinking makes sense. With the power-bat potential of recent draft picks Eric Jagielo and Aaron Judge and top pitching prospect Luis Severino in the pipeline, the upper levels are starting to shape up. The huge Yankees investment in Latin American prospects this summer will (or should) also pay long-term dividends.

The New York Mets, could also be onto something with a few of their own recently drafted players. It’s difficult to find players like Brandon Nimmo, and not just for what he’s capable of on the field. At eighteen, he was the consummate professional, unaffected by attention, respectful of the job, and has no tendency for the controversial, as former top Mets prospect Lastings Milledge did.

Nimmo is that rare breed of focused aggression and intensity, mixed with patience and teachability. His story is legend at this point: with no high school baseball program in Wyoming, he played the showcase circuit. Scouts noticed and he was drafted in 1^st round in 2011 He came to the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York Penn League as poised as a ten-year veteran. By the end of the season, however, the inexperience showed. Fatigue affected what was otherwise a highly successful debut.

He entered Spring Training in 2013 ten pounds heavier and talked about the noticeable difference in getting to balls in the outfield. He made the jump to Double-A Binghamton in 2014. He showcased more power, with a smooth swing path (it looked wobbly at times in 2012), and good hip rotation. He simply looked like a more solid version of the guy that played 69 games in Short-A ball in 2012.The selection to the fall league wasn’t a surprise.

Nimmo is the top outfield prospect in the organization, and one of the top outfield prospects in all the minor leagues. In tough fall league competition, he can work on developing more power and improve already very good plate approach. After the struggles with consistency that he exhibited down the stretch in his first professional season , he showed more ability to perform at the level he’s capable of in 2014. He ended the season hitting .278/.394/.426 in 127 games. He’s had a good fall league debut, hitting .393/.476/.571 in his first seven games.

Similarly, Mets second base prospect LJ Mazzilli is developing more power at the plate. His ability for gap-power was on display in 2013 with the Brooklyn Cyclones. And while Mazzilli has the same kind of professionalism and maturity as Nimmo, Mazzilli’s is all pedigree, as the son of former major leaguer Lee. The younger Mazzilli also remained unfazed by the super-hype of his introduction to the New York media at Citi-Bank Field. That kind of laser-focus helped him adjust quickly to pro- ball. He exhibited rock-solid maturity off the field, and a consistent approach at the plate, also proving to be a strong defender with good speed. He hit .301/.361/.440 in 131 games between the Florida State and South Atlantic Leagues this year.

He spoke about his goals this off-season, working on strengthening and agility, with a focus on further improving his speed. Putting those elements together in fall league, and continuing that program through the winter, could lead to him seeing Double-A time in 2015. While not highly ranked in the system by some sources, he can play himself into a more valuable role with the Mets.

Finally, Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Jaime Schultz was a standout player on a team that struggled from the start of the season. The Bowling Green Hot Rods woes were mostly offensive, while the starting pitching and bullpen remained steady and solid. The Rays 14^th round pick in 2013, is coming off of his first full season of pro-ball, going 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a 79/29 K/BB in 60 innings over 14 starts split between the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Midwest League and the Charlotte Stonecrabs of the Florida State League.

In 2013, pitching for the Short Season Class-A Hudson Valley Renegades in 2013, he showed a live arm, with a consistent delivery, and a sharp curveball with big, late break to compliment his mid-to-high 90’s fastball. The heater also showed a lot of movement.Although his background is as a starter, there’s still strong possibility that he winds up in the bullpen.  He's started three games in the fall league and has struggled with his command, with a 11/10 K/BB in 9.1 innings with 11 runs allowed. Giving him extra innings is crucial in seeing how much of a workload he can handle, particularly with his injury history, but converting him to a relief role, if he can polish his secondary offerings, could be the best thing for him and the Rays.

Good news for the Mets: They'll have spring training neighbors!

The Palm Beach County Commissioners voted today to approve funding for the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros to build a spring training complex in Palm Beach. The vote was 5-2, according to Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington. The Nationals and Astros must now find a plot of land in Palm Beach to build the complex. They have 90 days to do so.

Zuckerman writes:

A new stadium in Palm Beach County would leave the Nationals within a 30-minute drive of four other clubs: the Astros (who would be right on site), the Cardinals and Marlins (who train in Jupiter, at the north end of Palm Beach County) and the Mets in Port St. Lucie.

Your Wednesday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

Kevin Long is going to interview with the Mets later today for their hitting coach position.

Is Daniel Murphy under-appreciated or underwhelming?

Some Mets prospects are playing in the Arizona Fall League. Here's a look at how they're doing.

The Mets and Yankees will play a home and home spring training series this year.

The Nationals and Astros will be moving their spring training homes to Palm Beach as funding was approved there.

Around the Playoffs

Madison Bumgarner shut down the Royals and the Giants' offense knocked James Shields out early as the Giants took game 1 by a score of 7-1.

Around the Majors

Baseball is experimenting with quickening games in the Arizona Fall League.

Former Phillies farmhand Witer Jimenez is part of a lawsuit accusing MLB of violating federal law regarding minimum wage and overtime. Jimenez supposedly received no wage other than $20 total to clean his clothes and eat.

Royals superfan SungWoo Lee is back from Korea for the World Series.

Yesterday At AA

Episode 90 of the Amazin Avenue Audio podcast is available for your listening pleasure.

If you read an article or find a link that you think would be a great addition to a future edition of Mets Morning News, please forward it to our tips email address tips@grission.com and we'll try to add it in.

Reports indicate that the Mets are reluctant to deal any of their pitching in exchange for offensive upgrades.

Andy Martino of the Daily News is reporting that the Mets are highly reluctant to trade any of their top arms this offseason in order to upgrade their offense. Instead, he says the Mets could look to bring in free agent Michael Cuddyer.

Cuddyer will turn 36 just before the start of next season. As a member of the Rockies in 2014, he hit .332/.376/.579, albeit over only 49 games, as he was injured for much of the season. But with that line, he was worth 1.5 fWAR.

The Mets figure to have a surplus of pitching heading into the 2015 season. Matt Harvey returns to a rotation already filled with the likes of Jacob DeGrom, Zack Wheeler, Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, and Jon Niese. In addition, the Mets field a strong bullpen and have Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero waiting in the minors. It would make sense for the Mets to deal from this strength in order to upgrade the offense.

However, Michael Cuddyer would also likely upgrade the offense as he would slot nicely into a corner outfield position. On a short term deal, he could be a good fit for the Mets while they wait for outfield prospects such as Michael Conforto or Brandon Nimmo to develop.

In his second season with the Mets, Juan Lagares has been named a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Juan Lagares has been named a finalist for the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award for center field in the National League, along with Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton and Washington's Denard Span. Congratulations to Juan!

Lagares certainly deserves to be nominated, and probably deserves to win. The defensively-gifted outfielder was a treat to watch this season. Seemingly every game, he made a highlight-reel catch. His defensive metrics confirmed what our eyes saw: his UZR of +19 and DRS of +28 were both outstanding. If you haven't already, or if you want to watch his brilliance in center field again, click here to watch some of his best plays of 2014.

The winner will be announced Tuesday, November 4 at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN2. One would assume the morning newspapers will lead with the winners of the Gold Gloves and not anything else.

Your Thursday afternoon, post-Game 2 dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

The big news of the past day is that the Mets are reportedly interested in veteran outfielder Michael Cuddyer on a short-term deal. Cuddyer is a longtime friend of David Wright, and his name was linked to the Mets on occasion last season.

Juan Lagarestook another step in his Gold Glove candidacy, as it was announced that he's become a finalist.

Mike Vorkunov says that Michael Cuddyer makes a lot of sense for the Mets.

Vorkunov also lists some important offseason dates for the Mets.

Scott Coen of MassLive talks about why the World Series still matters, and how the Miracle Mets made him love baseball.

The Mets may be getting some new neighbors for spring training, as the Astros and Nationals joint-complex took another step in its development.

Around the Playoffs

The Royalsmanaged to flip the script on the Giants last night, as the took Game 2 by a score of 7-2. The game was tight going into the sixth inning, when Salvador Perez double brought home two after a passed ball, and then Omar Infante took Hunter Strickland deep. The home run ended up turning into one of the more curious moments of the playoffs, as Strickland began to jaw at Perez who was waiting for his teammate and the Royals stepped out of their dugout to confront Strickland. The Royals prevailed, ultimately, and tied the series at one game apiece.

Game 3 will take place on Friday at 8:00pm ET, in San Fransisco. where Jeremy Guthrie is slated to take on Tim Hudson.

David Waldstein writes that the Royals are forever connected to the New York Giants.

David Patrick Harmon writes that the Royals reminded him of simpler times, when Yankee-hate was plentiful!

Craig Calcaterra writes that Ned Yost didn't out-manage Bruce Bochy.

August Fagerstrom writes about Madison Bumgarner's secret weapon.

Friend of the program Ted Berg says that the Royals resurgence has drawn fans to the Negro League Baseball Museum.

Around the Majors

Fox's World Series ratings rebounded after a mediocre Game 1.

The Blue Jays are reportedly taking offers on Adam Lind. Unfortunately it may be a bit late to change your AAOP's...

The Blue Jays have also begun talks to extend Melky Cabrera.

Bleed Cubbie Blue goes back in time to look at the 2005 upgrades to Wrigley Field.

Amazin' Avenue alum Eno Sarris hosted a chat on Fangraphs today.

Yesterday at AA

Jeffrey and Greg posted Episode 90 of Amazin' Avenue Audio; in which the guys impressively respond to seven of your emails in an hour and a half!

If you see a link you think would be a great addition to Mets Morning Afternoon News, send a link to our tips address, tips@grission.com, and we'll try to add it in!

Word out of the Big Apple is that the Mets are interested in signing the 2013 National League batting champion to a two-year deal in free agency.

According to reports out of New York, including one from The New York Daily News' Andy Martino, the Mets are interested in signing free agent outfielder Michael Cuddyer.

The 35-year-old played in just 49 games in the final season of a three-year deal with the Rockies in 2014, hitting .332/.376/.579 in 190 at bats with 10 home runs and 31 runs batted in. He won the National League batting crown in 2013, hitting .331 in his best season in Colorado.

Cuddyer signed a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Rockies prior to the 2012 season and played 280 of a possible 486 games with Colorado over that span, hitting .307/.362/.525 over the three seasons with 46 home runs, 3.5 rWAR and an All-Star appearance to show for his efforts.

In Cuddyer's absence, Charlie Blackmon played a lot of right field for the Rockies in 2014, cooling off after a hot start in April to hit a still-respectable .288/.345/.440 for the season with 19 home runs and 28 stolen bases.

If Cuddyer is not in Colorado in 2015, it is likely Blackmon would see a lot of time in right field again, and a platoon of the left-handed Blackmon and righty Kyle Parker in right field is a strong possibility, and it would likely be a lot more cost-effective option that spending several million dollars to bring back Cuddyer.

Long spent the last eight seasons as the Yankees' hitting coach.

The Mets have hired Kevin Long as their new hitting coach. Long, of course, spent the last eight season with the Yankees, but he was let go after the Mets' crosstown rivals missed the playoffs for the second straight season. And the Mets, too, made changes at hitting coach, as they fired Dave Hudgens during the season and made it clear that Lamar Johnson, who took over for the rest of the season, would not be back in that role in 2015.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson says of Long, "Kevin’s experience, success and wealth of knowledge make him the perfect fit as our hitting instructor."

Over the past few weeks, a few other names were mentioned as possibilities for the job, including Dave Magadan, Bobby Abreu, and Edgardo Alfonzo, but it's not a big surprise to see the Mets go with a candidate who has been doing the job at the major league level for a considerable amount of time.

Long wasn't out of a job for ... an extended period of time.

The New York Mets hired Kevin Long as their new hitting coach, the team announced on Thursday.

Long previously served as hitting coach for the New York Yankees from 2007 until he was fired on Oct. 11 of this year. The 47-year-old Arizona native takes the place of interim hitting coach Lamar Johnson, who has been reassigned to a minor league role. Johnson took over in May for Dave Hudgens, who was let go after a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Under Long in 2014, the Yankees finished with collective OPS+ of 94 and ranked in the bottom five of the American League in most offensive categories. Still, the Yankees performed slightly better than the Mets, who ended the season with a 93 OPS+.

"Kevin's experience, success and wealth of knowledge make him the perfect fit as our hitting instructor," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said in a press release. "This is a very positive step for the Mets."

Long takes over an offense that includes a 30-home run hitter in Lucas Duda and capable veterans David Wright and Curtis Granderson, but not one player on the club finished with an on-base percentage of .350 or better.

The 2015 season will be Clarke's fifth with the Mets organization.

Just how important is a strength and conditioning coach to a Major League Baseball team? Even the sharpest baseball minds aren't exactly sure, but let's hope that Dustin Clarke proves to be a valuable contributor to the Mets this season.

The team announced this evening that Clarke will be the major league strength and conditioning coach for the Mets in 2015. He's been with the organization since 2011, when he was in the same role for the Gulf Coast League Mets. Since then, Clarke worked for two years in Binghamton and one in Las Vegas before his most recent promotion.

Prior to his Mets career, Clarke worked with the football team at the University of Michigan.

With the fences set to move closer to home plate next season, the Mets will probably look stronger in the power department by default, but it will be up to Clarke to make sure that the players are in good shape throughout the campaign. The orange and blue might just be playing several more meaningful games than they did in 2014, so they'd better not run out of gas.

Greg Bird is dominating the Arizona Fall League; No Yankee Gold Glove finalists this year.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: No Gold Gloves for any Yankees this year.

Newsday | Cody Derespina: Prospect Greg Bird has been on quite a hot streak in the Arizona Fall League.

ESPN New York | Adam Rubin: The Mets have hired Yankees' former hitting coach Kevin Long.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Comparing the San Francisco Giants to the dynasty Yankees.

LoHud Yankees Blog | Chad Jennings: Looking at the number of starts by position for players during the 2014 season shows the defensive weaknesses.

Your Friday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.

Meet the Mets

Yesterday the Mets announced that former Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long will fill that role with the Mets in 2015. The Yankees are footing part of the bill, which is always nice.

Mike Vorkunov has six things you should know about Long heading into next season.

The Mets also announced that Dustin Clarke will be the team's new strength and conditioning coach.

Joe Janish checks out the free agent market for minor league infielders.

Mets 360 asks who was the least valuable Met of 2014.

Rising Apple wonders if the Mets should look for a speedy, more defensive-minded outfielder instead of Michael Cuddyer this winter.

The 7 Line calendar in 2015 will feature a beauty who is not a conventional model.

Around the NL East

Although he recently turned down the Braves general manager job, John Hart was named the club's president of baseball operations. Assistant GM John Coppolella could be given the title of GM in the near future, but either way, both men will be prominent in baseball decision making for the Braves.

Outfielder Grady Sizemore and relief pitcher Cesar Jimenez have been re-signed by the Phillies.

I know this is going to bum everyone out, but Philadelphia probably won't be relevant until 2017.

The Marlins Man is starting to make a name for himself thanks to some pretty sweet seats at the World Series. It's safe to say he'll fit in much better if he decides to make the trip to San Francisco.

Around the Majors

There was no Major League Baseball played last night. The Giants and Royals will resume the World Series tonight at 8:07 p.m. at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Jeremy Guthrie will start for Kansas City and Tim Hudson will start for the home team.

Steven Goldman shows us how the Giants and Royals are playing in a sabermetric World Series, no matter what anyone says.

While Ned Yost's bullpen may be his greatest asset, Bruce Bochy must overcome the Giants' relief staff if he hopes to bring home another title to the Bay Area.

Craig Calcaterra wonders why anyone cares that the World Series doesn't do well in TV ratings.

Here's a cool visual on why the Royals' outfield is so darn good.

Yesterday at AA

On this date in the year 2000, the Mets won their first World Series game since 1986.

The World Series between the Royals and the Giants will resume tonight in San Francisco.

Comments of the Day

Once again, there were no comments truly worthy of the coveted COTD award. Our highly skilled team of aardvarks simply could not find anything. Sorry.

GIF of the Day

Shaun posted this GIF in response to an embed tweet about Greg Bird. Whatever you do, do NOT focus on the eyes.

Honorable Mod Mention

The mods looked at some fanposts last night. That's about as honorable as it gets really.

• Kevin Long was let go by the Yankees and hired by the Mets. How much of an impact do you think he will have on the Mets offense?
• Favorite basic grocery store cookies? (Chips Ahoy, Oreo, etc)

I mean, they are in San Francisco after all. As always, link us your song of the day!

Jeremy Guthrie will take the mound against Tim Hudson as the World Series between the Royals and the Giants continues tonight. The two teams are all tied up. The Giants are in front of the home AT&T Park crowd for the next three games, but the Royals speedy players could use the stadium to their advantage. There are some big gaps in that outfield.

Go World Series Go Baseball

This week in 1999: Attempting an NLCS comeback, the Mets play some of the wildest playoff games in history.

NBC's introduction to game four of the 1999 National League Championship Series heaped praise on the Braves, their drive, their determination, their professionalism. Truly this is the team of the 1990s. The Mets were not mentioned until the very end, and only then to note that their time was almost at an end. A crude-even-for-1999 graphic showed a groundskeeper's broom literally sweeping a Mets logo away.

Harsh, perhaps, but the way the Mets played in the first three games of the series hardly warranted less. In each of those games, it was less Atlanta dominance that defeated them than a series of mistakes on the field and in the dugout. The Mets continued to protest they were a better team than they'd showed in the series so far, that they were still the team that had pulled itself from elimination time and time again that season. Their blunders had given them another chance to prove it.

The Mets would place their hopes for extending the series in Rick Reed, who'd taken the mound for another must-win game back on October 2 and pitched the game of his life. In this outing, he was even better through seven innings, facing the minimum over that stretch. The lone baserunner he allowed in the first seven frames, a Bret Boone single, was erased when he was caught stealing. Overanxious Braves managed little more than harmless tappers and lazy fly balls. He recorded 21 outs by expending only 70 pitches, a performance that almost out-Madduxed Greg Maddux.

Reed had to be brilliant, because John Smoltz continued to baffle Mets hitters. New York had gone 16 agonizing innings without scoring a run until two outs in the bottom of the sixth, when John Olerud launched a Smoltz fastball to the base of Shea's scoreboard. This gave the Mets a rare lead in the series. Slim though it was, Rick Reed looked like he could make it stand up.

And then, in the top of the eighth, it all came crashing down in the span of three pitched. Brian Jordan launched the first offering of the inning into the picnic area in left field to tie the game. Two pitches later, while the stunned Shea crowd was still puzzling over what had just happened, Ryan Klesko belted his own home run to right, putting the Braves on top.

Once again down to their last outs of the season, a sign of life emerged in the bottom of the eighth when Roger Cedeño hit a leadoff single, but Rey Ordoñez failed in his sac bunt attempt. When Matt Franco was sent up to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot, lefty Mike Remlinger was brought in to neutralize him. Bobby Valentine countered with Benny Agbayani, but the sometime slugger struck out. Valentine appeared outfoxed by Bobby Cox again.

With Melvin Mora at the plate, an impatient Cedeño stole second. Wary of pitching to Mora, one of very few Mets who'd had any success against Braves pitching during the series, Remlinger walked him. He had no fear of doing so because Olerud was due up next, and Atlanta could dispatch with him easily as soon as they brought John Rocker into the game. Against all Mets, Rocker had been stingy in 1999. Against lefties like Olerud, he'd been unhittable.

The Braves were so confident of Rocker's ability to shut down Olerud that when Cedeño and Mora executed a double steal, the catcher didn't even rise from his crouch to fake a throw. Paying the runners no mind, Rocker backed Olerud into a two-strike count. Then, the first baseman found a way to get around on a fastball, just enough to send the ball squibbing up the middle. It eluded the lunges of shortstop Ozzie Guillen, who'd just been double switched into the game.

Both Cedeño and Mora scored to give the Mets back the lead. A grumbling Rocker, who'd taunted Mets fans all series, was taunted right back as he slithered off to the opposing dugout. Armando Benitez recorded a drama-free perfect ninth to earn the save and cap the Mets' thrilling 3-2 victory.

It was only one win, and barely one at that. But it unfolded in such magical fashion that it dared fans to dream again. When the Mets pulled off another improbable victory in game five, one of the most insane postseason games ever played, it sent the series back to Atlanta and dared fans and media alike to dream again. The Grand Slam Single placed the Mets in the small ranks of teams who'd fought back from an 0-3 hole to force a game six. No team had ever forced a game seven.

Any chance to do so relied on the left arm of Al Leiter, who would throw on short rest for the first time in over five years. He declared himself more than ready—hell, he'd been ready to throw an inning during the game five marathon if it came to that. His performance proved otherwise, as wildness and fielding blunders (some of them by Leiter himself) led to two hit batters, a walk, and five first inning runs. Leiter left the mound without recording an out, serenaded by the Tomahawk Chop chant, his season and the Mets' all but over.

When New York made a stab at a comeback by scoring three runs against Kevin Millwood in the top of the sixth, Atlanta scored two of their own in the bottom half. Wanting to go for the jugular, Bobby Cox called on John Smoltz to shut the door in the seventh. But Smoltz gave up back-to-back doubles to Matt Franco and Rickey Henderson to chase home a run, then an RBI single to John Olerud that brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Mike Piazza.

Mike Piazza had looked awful all series long, suffering from a season's worth of catcher wear-and-tear and still groggy from a concussion he suffered during a home plate collision in game three. But for one moment, he became the fearsome slugger he'd been in the summer months. He rocketed a Smoltz fastball on the outside corner for a typical Piazza blast, sending it to the opposite field for a game-tying two-run homer.

The Turner Field crowd was stunned. They were even more stunned in the eighth when Benny Agbayani singled and came around to score on a Melvin Mora hit, giving the Mets the lead. But John Franco proved incapable of holding the lead, as he allowed a leadoff single Eddie Perez (a backup catcher who'd killed New York all series) and watched pinch-runner Otis Nixon score on a sac fly after a botched pickoff throw allowed him to race to third.

Olerud's "hit" in game four aside, the Mets still had done nothing against John Rocker, but Agbayani worked a walk against him to start the top of the tenth. Benny was caught dead to rights trying to steal second, but he swiped the bag safely when the pickoff throw nailed him in the back. One single and one sac fly later, the Mets were on top yet again, three outs away from forcing game seven.

Armando Benitez had been just effective against the Braves as Rocker had against the Mets, but he found himself unable to record those three outs in the bottom of the tenth. A walk and a pair of singles allowed the Braves to tie the score yet again. Melvin Mora made a brilliant throw to gun down a runner at third base and keep the winning run from scoring, but after squandering two chances to take the game, it appeared the Mets might be finally running out of magic.

The end finally came in the bottom of the eleventh when Kenny Rogers—who'd been maligned for postseason failures as a Yankee—allowed a leadoff double to Gerald Williams. A sac bunt put him on third with only one out. Though Octavio Dotel was warming in the bullpen, Bobby Valentine stuck with the veteran and intentionally loaded the bases, hoping Rogers's propensity for ground balls could give him a play at the plate or a twin killing. The Braves were notoriously impatient as a lineup. Surely the next batter, Andruw Jones, would swing at something and give the Mets yet another chance.

He didn't. Rogers's offerings were so wide that even Jones wasn't tempted. He kept the bat on his shoulder and watched the Gambler toss four well out of the strike zone, forcing in a run to send the Braves to the World Series. An insane season ending in insane fashion.

As the Braves celebrated in their clubhouse, they found themselves having to answer one question after another about the Mets. A sideline reporter's first query to Bobby Cox is, Boy, the Mets wouldn't die, would they?

The New York sports press, which had hounded the team for its endless controversies and streaky nature all season, declared the Mets had proven something special by making it this far. Murray Chass, who couldn't stand Bobby Valentine, called them "as remarkable a team as has ever played a postseason game." George Vecsey advised readers to not bother watching the World Series, or anything else on television. What could possibly compare the show the Mets put on in the past few weeks? The Postcompared this game six to the epic pair of game sixes the Mets played in 1986, with the fact that they'd lost this one a seeming afterthought.

Outside the visiting locker room, another NBC reporter  asked Bobby Valentine what he told his team. "I told them they played like champions," he said, "and they should feel like champions." Before leaving the ballpark, many on the team stopped by the video room to get tape of the last two games they'd played, even game six. They knew they'd want to watch them all again.

A look back at moments from the Mets' second half that may have slipped your mind.

The Mets went 34-33 in the second half of the season and finished strong in September. There is hope for 2015. Among the big storylines of the second half were Travis d'Arnaud's post-Vegas rebirth, Jacob deGrom pitching like an ace, and Lucas Duda continuing to make everyone forget Ike Davis. Mixed in with these major storylines were some minor happenings. This post recalls moments from the second half that may have slipped your mind.

La Russa vs Alderson

Tony La Russa and Sandy Alderson won a World Series together with the Oakland Athletics in 1989. However, after La Russa alleged that he once went to Alderson with concerns about possible steroid use by A's players, it appears that there is some friction between the two. At the Baseball Hall of Fame in July, La Russa had this to say:

"I knew our programs in Oakland were 100% clean," said La Russa, who managed the A's from 1986-1995. "But we had our suspicions - guys hitting stronger but not working out. I went to Sandy and ownership about this. And they told me flat off, ‘Right of privacy. It's a collective bargaining issue.' "

Alderson denied this, saying that he had "no recollection whatsoever of any such conversation." And that's where the story ended. It's not the first time steroids and Alderson's tenure as A's GM have been discussed since he was hired as Mets GM.

Citi Field stars in Sharknado 2

The cult movie series produced by the Syfy channel visited Citi Field, as Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, and the rest of the C-list cast shared the screen with the Mets' home. Richard Kind, of Spin City and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, made an extended cameo in the Citi Field sequence as a fictional ex-Mets player. He really knocked it out of the park:

Jon Niese questions Mets fans' loyalty

It's never a good idea for a millionaire pro athlete to complain about poor stadium attendance. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Jon Niese did over the All-Star break, in an interview with ESPN New York:

When it was pointed out to him that Mets fans have stuck with their team through a lot of bad times, Niese questioned the sentiment.

"How can you say that?" Niese said. "We are not filling the stadium. Where are the Mets fans when we are down-and-out? They were here in '06 and '07 when we were really good, but we have struggled and they are not coming to the stadium."

I like Niese and want to root for him, but that's poor. Tickets, parking, and food aren't cheap at Citi Field, and most fans aren't pulling in $5 million a year. Unless you catch a Mets fan keying your car or heckling your family in the stands, best to just smile and say "our fans are great" whenever the topic comes up.

Travis d'Arnaud to left field?

Speculation about a player taking up a new position is always a fallback idea for a baseball writer on deadline. Think Jason Bay moving to center field. Or Justin Turner learning the outfield. The latest example was a Daily News report, supported by some Terry Collins remarks, that Travis d'Arnaud might move from catcher to left field. The main reason for the move would be d'Arnaud's concussion history, with the potential emergence of catcher prospect Kevin Plawecki another consideration. While d'Arnaud's multiple concussions are a concern, a move to a corner outfield position would devastate his value. He's the 2015 Mets' Opening Day starter at catcher, and ideally he'll also be the 2016-2025 Mets' Opening Day catcher.

Noah Syndergaard feeds a lion

Self-explanatory. Maybe use your non-pitching hand next time, Noah:

I fed a lion. What did you do today?

A video posted by Noah Syndergaard (@nsyndergaard) on Sep 9, 2014 at 12:05pm PDT

Jeff Wilpon lawsuit

The lawsuit filed against the Mets by a former employee piled on an already ugly year for professional sports team owners. Leigh Castergine was fired from her job as head of Mets marketing and ticket sales in August. She later sued the organization for allegedly terminating her for being pregnant and unmarried. Jeff Wilpon was singled out in the lawsuit as being particularly hostile to Castergine. From the text of the suit:

"[Jeff Wilpon] frequently humiliated Castergine in front of others by, among other things, pretending to see if she had an engagement ring on her finger and openly stating in a meeting of the Team's all-male senior executives that he is ‘morally opposed' to Castergine ‘having this baby without being married."

That's... pretty ugly. Nothing further has been reported about the lawsuit since the story first broke, but I'm sure any developments will be followed closely by both the media and disgruntled Mets fans.

Related: Nate Gismot's post, "Jeff Wilpon, Leigh Castergine, and rooting for the Mets."

Mets logo shenanigans

On a slow September day, some eagle-eyed Twitter sleuths noticed that the Mets' Facebook and Twitter accounts were using an edited version of the team logo. The United Nations building that appears on the right side of the skyline was replaced by the Citigroup Center. Check out this graphic from SportsLogos.net for a visual of the alteration:

After some speculation that perhaps the Mets were quietly updating their logo, it was confirmed that the official logo had not changed. This one gets my vote for least important Mets news item of the second half, even less important than Sharknado.

Matt Harvey shows RE2PECT

This post wouldn't be complete without a Matt Harvey moment. In the first half, he tweeted a picture of himself giving the middle finger. In the second half, he celebrated his boyhood idol, Derek Jeter, by attending #2's final game at Yankee Stadium. From Harvey's Instagram account:

Tonight is about #RE2PECT!! Saying farewell and paying the man this game has been blessed to have! A childhood idol and it's now an honor to call a friend!!! #derekjeter

A photo posted by Matt Harvey (@mattharvey33) on Sep 9, 2014 at 4:18pm PDT

Whatever. I think we all wish Harvey grew up as a Mets fan instead of a Yankees fan, but what can you do?

Check out my similar post from the All-Star break, "The Mets' forgotten first half."