Mets Morning News: The Wilpons are OUTTA HERE! OUTTA HERE!

Meet the Mets

After a long and winding road that unofficially began when Tiki Barber revealed that he heard through the grapevines that the Wilpons were planning on selling the Mets and featured more than its fair share of twists and turns, Steve Cohen officially reached an agreement to purchase the Mets from the Wilpon and Katz families.

Choose your story on the sale: Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, North Jersey, MLB.com, ESPN, Yahoo, Bleacher Report

Cohen will own 95% of the franchise but still requires approval from 23 owners in order to take over the team. The deal is valued at $2.475 billion.

SNY is reportedly not part of the sale at this time. However, it sounds like discussions to purchase the network could begin after the owners vote to approve in November.

If you saw the reaction on Mets Twitter yesterday, you are well aware that the Flushing Faithful are already big Cohen fans. But that love affair goes beyond just his $14 billion.

The news brings a merciful end to the Wilpons Era.

Here are three things to know about the new owner.

Rob Manfred sees the ownership change as “an opportunity to make the franchise as strong as it can possibly be”.

John Harper wants to see Cohen flex his financial muscle immediately to help this team and its solid core contend right away.

Andy Martino, perhaps attempting to grasp at his final moments of relevance before Cohen takes over, pleaded with the new owner to keep Luis Rojas as manager “for many years”.

On the field, desperation is the last hope for the Mets, who are maddening at the moment.

Fangraphs examined some tie-breaking scenarios for this year’s playoff picture. Unfortunately for the Mets, the news isn’t ideal, as they own the tie-breaker against the Marlins and nobody else.

Tim Healey broke down the reasons to believe (and reasons not to believe) in the Mets’ postseason dreams this season.

The Mets’ goal is obvious over the final two weeks of the regular season: Make the Playoffs

They will need to be near-perfect if they hope to accomplish that goal.

Tim Britton held a virtual round table to discuss Jacob deGrom’s chances of winning a third straight Cy Young Award. (Paywall Alert)

Brandon Nimmo currently ranks as the worst defensive center fielder in baseball.

A mic’d up Pete Alonso talked with Todd Frazier and Jeff McNeil about singing the National Anthem in front of a crowd.

Around the National League East

The free-falling Phillies lost for a third straight time to the Marlins yesterday, 6-2, in a make-up from a previously-postponed contest. The Mets now trail Philadelphia by 2.5 games with the two clubs squaring off three times over the next three days.

The Phillies are also hurting off the field, as they placed Rhys Hoskins on the IL with an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in his left arm. They will be without catcher J.T. Realmuto for the next few days, although an IL stint does not appear to be in his future. They are also encouraged with Zack Wheeler’s progress after he injured himself while putting his pants on. They will see how the former Met hurler is feeling today.

The Braves were beat down by the Orioles in a 14-1 defeat.

The Braves signed former Giant Pablo Sandoval. He will report to the Alternate Site.

The Nationals are mired in a lost season, and they know what went wrong even if they will take some time after the season’s conclusion to assess.

Around Major League Baseball

The Reds helped their playoff case by sweeping a doubleheader against the Pirates. The Reds are one game back of the Giants for the final playoff spot in the National League.

Trevor Bauer went 6.1 innings in the first game while allowing one run and striking out 12 to boost his Cy Young case. He owns a 1.71 ERA.

The Cardinals and Brewers split a doubleheader. St. Louis maintained their hold on the second spot in the National League Central.

The general managers meeting, which is typically done in November, will be held virtually. The Winter Meetings are still scheduled to be held in Dallas in December.

A false positive test brought a lot of stress to Alex Dickerson and his pregnant wife, who is set to give birth to their child within a week. Relieved that he’s healthy, he is now focusing on the road ahead. (Paywall Alert)

Joel Sherman imagined what a perfect postseason picture would look like.

Manfred recently stated that he hopes fans can attend the LCS and World Series in the bubble, which is a horrifyingly negligent idea. (Paywall Alert)

Teams that do clinch a postseason berth in 2020 will need to do it without alcohol present.

The Yankees could be getting Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton back for the postseason.

Cardinals scout Charles Peterson passed away from COVID-19 at the age of 46. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and with the entire St. Louis organization.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane brought you the happy news that Steve Cohen was in agreement to buy the Mets!

Lukas Vlahos argued that the Mets have nothing to lose by giving their young arms some innings this year.

Steve Sypa reminisced about Terrence Long in his latest Prospect Retrospective.

Episode 79 of From Complex to Queens went up!

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1969, the eventual World Series champion Mets rode two Ron Swoboda two-run home runs to victory against Steve Carlton and the Cardinals despite striking out 19 times against the future Hall of Famer.