Mets Morning News: De quest for de Cy three-peat

Meet the Mets

Jacob deGrom is ready to defend his title as the reigning Cy Young winner but the real goal is getting back to the playoffs.

He received some valuable advice from Pedro Martinez last season that helped him get back on track after a hiccup early on.

Edwin Diaz still remains an important piece of the bullpen, and the Mets’ season could hinge on whether he rebounds or not.

Dominic Smith enters camp with a new number and possibly a new position.

Luis Rojas earned the job late in the offseason but he symbolizes a new type of modern manager that baseball is trending towards.

The new manager survived his first official day of camp and is ready to set the tone for the rest of spring.

The team was reportedly interested in acquiring Mookie Betts but any deal would have had to include Yoenis Cespedes and Jed Lowrie which the Red Sox unsurprisingly did not agree to.

Tim Tebow will arrive in camp next week and is still refusing to give up on his dream of playing baseball.

According to a new report, despite being the mastermind behind the Astros’ cheating system, Carlos Beltran was absolutely terrible at using it to his advantage.

Beltran’s Hall of Fame case may have taken a significant hit with everything that has come to light but only time will tell if he ever gets in.

Anthony DiComo’s book that he is co-writing with David Wright finally has a release date of October 13.

Around the National League East

Cole Hamels’s tenure with the Braves got off to a shaky start when it was announced that he will miss the beginning of camp with shoulder discomfort.

Former Marlin Martin Prado announced his retirement after fourteen seasons in the majors.

Zack Wheeler has Cy Young aspirations with his new team in Philadelphia.

Around Major League Baseball

The buzz from the offseason still surrounds the Astros yet they were not forthcoming with any explanations on the first day of camp.

A.J. Hinch tried to backtrack some of the comments he made about his team using buzzers under his watch.

While Beltran benefited the least from the elaborate system he helped create, utilityman Marwin Gonzalez was the one who benefited the most from the bangs.

More and more of Houston’s peers around the league are condemning their actions. Pitcher Andrew Heaney thinks they need to do more to apologize, David Robertson called them a “disgrace”, Gary Sanchez wondered about Jose Altuve’s reaction to hitting the walk-off home run against the Yankees, and Trevor Bauer is concerned for the integrity of the game as a whole.

It’s time for Commissioner Rob Manfred to answer for how he has handled this scandal.

Major League Baseball officially implemented the three-batter rule which is just one of the changes that teams will face in the 2020 season.

Manfred keeps coming up with ideas that have nothing to do with fans who actually enjoy the game.

Mookie Betts and David Price were officially introduced as the newest Dodgers.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

On Episode 38 of A Pod of Their Own, D.B. Firstman stopped by to chat about their new book Hall of Name: Baseball’s Most Magnificent Monikers.

This Date in Mets History

David Cone returned to the Mets on this date in 2003, but unfortunately the comeback was short-lived and he retired three months later.