Your Thursday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links.
Hall of Fame
The BBWAA announced the 2014 Hall of Fame class voting results, and three players made it in: Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, and former Met Tom Glavine. Maddux received 97.2% of the vote, while Glavine got 91.9% and Thomas made it onto 83.7% of the ballots. Despite speculation that Maddux could break Tom Seaver's record of 98.84%, Maddux was left off 16 ballots.
Astros legend Craig Biggio came in at 74.8%, falling short by a measly two votes.
Mike Piazza, arguably the best offensive catcher in MLB history, did not make it once again, and with only 62.8% of the vote, his path to the Hall of Fame is unclear. Mets owner Jeff Wilpon expressed his support for Piazza's future election.
Jack Morris, symbol of the "clean" era for many, failed to make it in his 15th year on the ballot and thus falls of the ballot for 2015. He will be eligible to make it via the Veteran's Committee in 2017.
Notable names such as Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, and Barry Bonds actually saw their vote percentages decrease from last year.
Deadspin revealed that Miami radio host Dan LeBatard handed his vote over to Deadspin commenters. Their ballot was Glavine, Thomas, Maddux, Biggio, Piazza, Bagwell, Clemens, Bonds, Schilling, and Edgar Martinez. Some voters were not pleased by this.
Grantland's Bryan Curtis looked at how baseball writers focused on the steroids issue in the past.
Sports Illustrated's Jay Jaffe gave his thoughts on the 2014 results. Jaffe, using JAWS, has done extensive work profiling players on the ballot in the past month.
Ken Rosenthal believes the voting system needs tweaks, not a complete overhaul.
Ken Davidoff argues that the baseless PED speculation against Piazza is keeping him from the Hall of Fame.
Meet the Mets
Glavine, after learning of his election into the Hall of Fame, looked back on his brief Mets tenure, calling it a "great five years of my career."
Frank Viola has been named the new pitching coach at Triple-A Las Vegas, replacing Randy St. Claire.
Around the Majors
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said that his team could start the season with Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Carl Crawfordall on the roster.
The Phillies and Dodgers have both talked to the agent for Masahiro Tanaka, while the Diamondbacks plan to be very aggressive in their pursuit of him.
The Rangers are interested in re-signing utility infielder Jeff Baker.
The Marlinsbrought backKevin Slowey on a minor-league deal.
Yesterday At AA
Jeff Kopman briefly profiled Glavine, Maddux, and Thomas, while highlighting the snubs on the 2014 ballot.
James Kannengieser compared the Amazin Avenue community projections for Ike Davis in 2013 to his actual results. Hint: they were off.
Chris McShane made the case for Bruce Chen and Kyle Farnsworth as Mets additions.
Steve Sypa gave an update on formet Mets prospect Lastings Milledge's current whereabouts.