Padres people were appalled the Mets asked that Joe Musgrove be checked for foreign substances while he was shutting down the Mets.
“Bush-league move,” one Padres person said after Musgrove allowed just one hit in San Diego’s 6-0 victory in Game 3 of the wild-card round.
Musgrove does seem like a fabulous fellow, as Padres folks pointed out, and the Mets’ evidence was scant. Here is apparently the extent of it: 1) his curveball moved a ton by sight, 2) the recorded spin rates, especially of the curve and slider, were “off the charts” (up between 47 and 247 depending on the pitch) and the velocity was up 1 mph (93.9 from 92.9), and 3) his ears looked shiny according to internet sleuths.
That isn’t much. But the reality is Buck Showalter probably had no choice but to give it a shot. It was a long shot, but what if something surfaces later that implicates Musgrove, as great a guy as he seems to be? As one rival exec pointed out of Showalter, “He’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.”
Biggest debate for the winter is which shortstop will get the biggest contract: Trea Turner or Carlos Correa?
Yes, of course, Correa will opt out. The belief is he’d be willing to come to the Mets and play third base (which would follow the blueprint of former mentor Alex Rodriguez, who gave up shortstop to come to the Yankees).
Seems like a long shot though as the Mets’ second-best prospect is third baseman Brett Baty and they have bigger free-agent fish to fry.
A lot of pressure on the Red Sox to do right by Xander Bogaerts after they lost Mookie Betts and made an “insulting” offer to Bogaerts. One former Red Sox player says, “I don’t get how they are handling Bogaerts.”
The Braves are undoubtedly trying to get Dansby Swanson back on a very reasonable offer. Should be interesting as Swanson is a Georgia native who’s thrived there and has the same agent Freddie Freeman used to have (for his disastrous negotiation with Atlanta).