Yeah, David Wright is like Nomar. Both players wore the same number, everybody. Everyone desired guys like that. On all the teams, both were the best at their positions, and injuries derailed their chances at Cooperstown. And that's painful, considering both were better than Jeter in his prime. I want to reply to what you said about Soto not getting on with guys in SD. I think Manny was the problem. He gets upset over mistakes and acts like an Arkham inmate whenever a teammate makes a mistake. I doubt Juan Goato was the problem. Sean Manaea was on the 2022 Padres, and he said nice things about Juan Goato! Roki is a talented guy, but I'd rather have Pena. We did not have room in our rotation or bullpen for Roki.
View attachment 119490
Yeah.....I said I thought that was more of another person's problem than it was Soto. A team is made up of a LOT of different personalities and some of them don't mesh. Machado is definitely one of those guys who can be tough to be around, but gives it his all on the field. If you are a Machado, Soto (Goato LOL), Betts, etc., you've earned the respect of your teammates and part of what makes you great is your personality. In sports, physical talent generally isn't enough and sometimes those personal characteristics can be tough to take, but without those grating personalities, they aren't the players they are. That's a long way of saying these guys aren't like the rest of us and their teammates generally understand that. They'll do, and put up with, just about anything to win (Like the Astros cheating LOL).
WRT Sasaki, we'll agree to disagree. If the Mets didn't think he would make them a significantly improved team, they wouldn't have been after him. Sasaki would have been a great pickup for the Mets and has a very, very high ceiling. He would have to be considered, minimally and probably higher, as a top 5 free agent pitcher this off season. As far as the Mets pitching, here's my take:
Manaea - solid starter
Senga - "Might" be very good, but comes with some question marks because of injury.
Peterson - solid starter, but a little bit up and down over the years. Potential is definitely there, but which Peterson will pitch?
Montas - I think this is where the quality "may" start to fall off. Montas had a couple really good years for my A's, got injured and hasn't looked quite as good since. He "might" revert back to that form as the injury in 2023 could have affected him last season. Plenty of talent, but question marks remain.
Holmes - Here's where things start to get dicey. Holmes is more than fine as a reliever, but how will he do as a starter? This raises a lot of questions and how things will work out is yet to be determined.
Blackburn, Canning, Megill - I'm VERY familiar with the first 2 because of the association with the A's and Angels. Both are rotational guys and I think it's fair to say you can probably expect average seasons. Could one of them break out? Sure, but I don't see it. You are probably more familiar with Megill than I am, but I've seen him pitch a few times and wasn't overly impressed. Still, who knows what'll happen.
Overall, I'd say the Mets have a shot to have a very good rotation, but with no one who is going to be in the Cy Young race. Also, the potential to be "not so" solid definitely exists. If things go right, they'll be fine. If not......
You can have your guys like Ohtani, Soto, Judge, etc. Those guys can be game changers, but THE most important position in baseball is the pitcher. Even the best get tagged, but if you have a top shelf pitcher, even the great hitters are going to have a tough day. Pitching is the biggest key to winning games in MLB.
EDIT: I wasn't familiar with Pena (who signed as an international player with the Mets) so I looked him up and he certainly looks like a good one. The thing about the vast majority of international signings is that you don't know how they are going to look when they step up in class. Diego Cartaya was considered one of the top prospects in the minors until he started moving up. At that point his hitting fell off dramatically and he sunk like the Titanic. Young players are always a gamble. I guarantee you the Mets would have preferred to land Sasaki and the reason is simple. He competed and starred in a very competitive league (probably equivalent to AAA or maybe a shade higher) so you know a little more about how he's likely to do. Plus, he's more MLB ready. As I've said though, baseball is a funny game. Sasaki could be plagued by arm trouble, Pena could be the next coming of Lindor and the Mets get the best end of the deal. You never know for sure....