Your Monday morning dose of New York Mets and Major League Baseball news, notes, and links.
Meet the Mets
During New York's 8-3 win over Houston on Sunday afternoon, Lucas Duda crushed his 30th home run of the season, Bartolo Colon picked up his 15th win, and Jose Altuve clinched the AL batting title. The Mets ended the 2014 regular season with a 79-83 record.
Recap Parade:Amazin' Avenue, MLB.com, ESPN NY, New York Times, Post, Daily News, Newsday, Star-Ledger
After the game, Sandy Alderson said that he is pleased with what the Mets did this season, and that Citi Field's dimensions are likely to be tweaked again over the winter.
Astros management wanted to sit Altuve in order to protect against his batting average dropping, but the second baseman talked his way into the lineup and banged out a pair of hits to secure his league's batting crown.
After collecting one last single -- the 2,470th hit of his career -- Bobby Abreu was pulled from the game and got a nice ovation from the Citi Field crowd.
The Mets are reportedly set to announce the reassignment of hitting coaches Lamar Johnson and Luia Natera on Tuesday. Their replacements will probably not include Wally Backman, who is expected to remain with Las Vegas next year.
Ken Davidoff says the Mets need to spend a little more money on payroll in order to contend for the playoffs in 2015. Notice how the Mets are "back where they started" since they also won 79 games in 2010. Never mind that the farm system is leagues better than it used to be.
The Star-Ledger has four ways the Mets can get better in 2015 assuming they aren't willing to expand payroll.
Here's an adorable fan appreciation video starring all your favorite Mets.
Around the NL East
Jordan Zimmermann ended the Nationals' regular season with a bang by pitching the first no-hitter in the franchise's history since it moved to Washington. The last out was secured in spectacular fashion by rookie outfielder Steven Souza.
Fiery Miami manager Mike Redmond had his contract extended through the 2017 campaign.
Atlanta interim GM John Hart said that he'd like to keep manager Fredi Gonzalez on board heading into next season.
A supposedly bleak future won't stop loyal Phillies fans from looking forward to next season already.
Around the Majors
The fans of Boston showed a lot of RE2PECT at the end of the Derek Jeter farewell tour.
Of course, Jeter isn't the only franchise-defining player retiring after this season (shocking, right?). Paul Konerko said goodbye to the South Side yesterday afternoon.
The Tigers defeated the Twins 3-0 to finally wrap up the AL Central title. Detroit will face Baltimore in what should be an exciting ALDS.
The Athletics punched their playoff ticket by defeating the Rangers behind a strong Sonny Gray performance. Although Oakland struggled late in the season, it was able to fend off Seattle and will face the upstart Royals in the AL Wild Card game.
Pittsburgh missed out on a shot at the NL Central crown when it fell to the Reds in the final game of the regular season. The Buccos will now have to defeat the Giants in the NL Wild Card game if they hope to advance to the NLDS.
While Altuve hit his way to the AL batting title, Justin Morneau won the NL version by sitting on the bench.
Yesterday at AA
On this date in 1961, Casey Stengel became the first ever manager of the Mets.