NEWS OUT OF METS TRAINING CAMP

By Mark Halpern

The season hasn’t begun yet, and the Mets are filling the headlines by making trades, signing new free agents to the team, Steve Cohen not caring that he has a luxury tax built in for him. However, yesterday one of the Mets premiere players had a brush with death. Mets All-Star first baseman Pete “The Polar Bear” Alonso was on his way to Spring Training when a car ran a red light and t-boned Alonso’s car, causing it to flip over three times. Pete’s wife and family were following in the car behind and witnessed the wreck and still are all in shock of what happened next. After the car stopped, Alonso kicked out the windshield and walked away unscathed. The pictures of the wreck were horrifying, and Pete was going to be checked out by local area hospital and Mets training personnel. Many times, Alonso said that he is surprised he is alive today.

     On other news, Jacob DeGrom was straightforward with reporters this morning, saying that he fully plans to opt out of his contract at the end of this season. Now before all of us Mets fans go and commit Harry Carey just yet. Players of his high caliber have these clauses built-in for many reasons. First and foremost is the money. I don’t care who the player is; money is the big part. With Scherzer signed for more than DeGrom this, it makes sense for Jake to opt-out so he can leverage himself to be making the most money a pitcher has ever been paid. The second reason is that players might not be getting along with the organization and wants to leave. Putting opt-outs in contracts after a short period in a contract lets players choose where they want to play. DeGrom was quoted that he would love to remain a Mets for the rest of his career. So, we have that going for us. Finally, destination plays a big key. Players want to play in more important markets for the opportunity and the Marketing aspects so they can make as much off themselves as possible before they are told they can’t play the kid’s game anymore. If DeGrom wins the Cy Young this year and the Mets win the World Series, Mike Trout’s contract number will look very small, and that is how the old man sees it.