Mets Morning News: The fight begins

Meet the Mets

The Mets released a statement echoing Commissioner Rob Manfred’s declaration of the owners’ “defensive lockout” of the MLBPA.

New Met (!) Max Scherzer declared he would not endorse a new collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players unless it addressed competitive imbalances and wage discrepancies for younger players.

Taijuan Walker and Edwin Díaz amongst other Mets players joined a group of major leaguers expressing solidarity in the labor fight by obsucring their likenesses on Twitter.

Marcus Stroman thanked the Mets organization, its fans, and the city of New York in a parting tweet. He even had a cute exchange with Howie Rose!

Though the Mets cannot make any player personnel moves during the lockout, the hot stove rumors continue. Some suspect Steve Cohen has eyes for Kris Bryant’s gorgeous eyes.

Despite all the activity in which the Mets have engaged so far this offseason, they are still without a manager. The Post’s Mike Vacarro thinks they should hire Buck Showalter.

Around the National League East

The Good Phight reacted to the Phillies’ recent signing of reliever Corey Knebel.

Fish Stripes graded every move from the Miami Marlins’ surprisingly active offseason.

Federal Baseball reacted to the Nationals’ signing of César Hernández.

Around Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball locked out its players two days ago, and with the announcement came a statement from Manfred declaring the action a “defensive lockout.” Here’s a good thread refuting Manfred’s language as fallacious.

Unsurprisingly, MLB and the Players Association differ in their categorization of the lockout.

Though they’re the group arguably in greatest need of representation, minor league ballplayers will not have a say in the upcoming negotiations.

MLB told the players their decision to remove images and likenesses from official MLB sites was in response to counsel from lawyers invoking the National Labor Relations Act.

Even though teams are not allowed to make contact with their players during the lockout, some suspect they will do so anyway.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

MLB.com may not be using the images and likenesses of current baseball players, but we still are!

Thomas provided some incredulous commentary on the Scherzer signing.

Grace introduced us to Mark Canha.

Lukas graded the Starling Marte signing. Spoiler: it graded high.

This Date in Mets’ History

The Mets traded Tug McGraw on this date in 1974.