NEWSLETTER
MLB Notes —
Did the Mets overreact to Jorge López’s overreaction on Wednesday?
Jorge López’s Glove Toss Cost Him His Job, But Should it Have?
I led yesterday’s story with the glove-tossing incident that resulted in New York Mets reliever Jorge López being designated for assignment by the Mets on Thursday. If you missed it, Lopez was ejected from Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers after getting into a verbal altercation with third base umpire Ramon De Jesus. On his way off the field, he tossed his glove into the stands. He also delivered some commentary after the game that I’m sure Mets brass didn’t appreciate.
After the game, López told reporters that his glove-tossing incident made him look like “the worst teammate, probably, in the whole f—ing MLB.” He could have also said, “I’m on the worst team, probably, in the whole f—ing MLB.” Still, there have been conflicting reports on what he meant (English is his second language), and López has since released a statement confirming that it was the former of the two variations.
I mentioned at the end of the original blurb about the López incident yesterday that Boomer Esiason reported that he was informed that Jorge López and his wife have a son who is waiting on a transplant for a severe medical issue, which could explain López’s short fuse in the heat of the moment on Wednesday.
Since then, I came across this story from Andy Kostka in the Baltimore Sun in 2022, detailing the long battle that López’s son Mikael has had with autoimmune disorders, which have kept him hospitalized for much of his life.
My two immediate reactions are this: 1. I feel for López as a father. I can’t imagine being in that position, watching my child struggle to live and still go to work every day simply. 2. Yes, being a pro ball player comes with immense stress, and we expect them to rise above and handle that pressure, but at the end of the day, López is a human being, and none of us are perfect all the time.
The reality is that López has been dealing with this for most of his major league career, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him “lose it” on the field. So, it’s an outlier incident. Considering that Wednesday’s incident was an outlier incident and that while unprofessional, nothing he did was violent or harmful to anyone else, should he have lost his job? Or did the Mets make him a scapegoat for their overall embarrassing season?
I feel the Mets overreacted here and probably could have (should have) done more to help their employee. Maybe an IL stint where they help him find some counseling? Perhaps it’s just an IL stint or suspension where they give him a week to cool off and reset. Something like that seems more appropriate than the direction they went.
Speaking of the Mets’ Embarrassing Season, When Does Steve Cohen Pull the Plug?
The Mets’ offseason plan was to shop in the clearance section, courting veterans on short-term deals that could either 1) help them make the playoffs in a year in which they’re trying to scale back and reset their payroll or 2) provide them a return in trade deadline trades with teams who will be contending down the stretch.
After a horrendous 8-19 May, it looks like the latter is going to be the path for the Mets. The guys who may be on the way out know as much. Francisco Lindor said that he hopes they can tread water long enough to convince the front office to stay the course, but I don’t see Lindor getting his wish.
“The front office is going to make decisions no matter what. Whether it’s to add or subtract, whether it’s to focus on the next season or focus on August and September, they’ve got to make decisions,” Lindor said. “We don’t have 100-plus games for that moment, but we do have time to make sure we are above water. I’ve always said stay above the water. “
Before the All-Star break and before the trade deadline, you’ve got to stay above the water. You can’t have the water be nose-deep. I’m not a good swimmer. We’ve got to make sure — we’ve got to find ways to get the water to at least our shoulders because [otherwise] that’s when the decisions come in, [and] it’s the one we don’t want.”
If the Mets do, in fact, become hard sellers, who are most likely to be wearing a new uniform come August?
Fangraphs’ Jon Becker detailed all of the players who could be traded in the Mets’ potential teardown, and it’s a lengthy list. Check it out!
Stats of the Week
Have you checked out Sarah Langs’ Stats of the Week column over at MLB dot com? Here are a couple nuggets:
“Paul Skenes had nine strikeouts on Wednesday, his 22nd birthday. That marked the most strikeouts by a Pirates pitcher on his birthday (since at least 1901).”
“Gunnar Henderson hit the 50th home run of his career on Wednesday, and he’s still just 22 years old. Henderson is the fourth player in Orioles/Browns franchise history to reach the 50-homer mark before turning 23, joining Manny Machado, Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, and Boog Powell.”
Sarah is one of my favorite researchers in the baseball world, and columns like these are the Snapple cap facts for baseball nerds like us. Give it a read!
