Knicks Morning News (2024.12.21)

The Mets shouldn’t break the bank for Pete Alonso. They can replicate his production, and potentially improve the team overall, by strategically using their resources.

Consider this:

Move Mark Vientos to first base: He’s projected for a 119 wRC+ and 3.3 WAR, primarily at first, offering similar offensive output to Alonso (125 wRC+, 2.8 WAR) with superior defense.

Bring in Joc Pederson as DH: He provides power (125 wRC+, 1.8 WAR) comparable to Alonso.

Trade for Nolan Arenado: He offers a 106 wRC+ and 2.8 WAR. While there’s risk involved, his defense is exceptional, giving him a higher floor than Alonso.

This strategy avoids long-term commitments to declining players. Arenado on his remaining contract, while older, is a safer bet than Alonso on a 4+ year deal if his defense remains strong.

Alternatively, consider signing Ha-Seong Kim. He’s younger, a better defender, and projected to be on par with Arenado offensively (around a 106 wRC+ and 2.8 WAR). His versatility allows for positional flexibility and creates opportunities for prospects.

By exploring these options, the Mets can achieve comparable or even better results than signing Alonso, all while maintaining financial flexibility and prioritizing long-term team building.

Randle was largely a dud after an amazing first Q, but none of his teammates stepped up

It’s hard to step up and get into a rhythm when your team has been cowed into playing iso-heavy Randleball on offense for most of the first half. The biggest difference between KAT and him in Minnesota was how seamlessly the former’s scoring looked within the flow of his team’s offense compared to the latter. The Timberwolves offense wasn’t built for Randle to dominate the ball as much as he had in the first of the last game, just like how our offense evolved to become greater than the sum of its parts during his injury last season.

I truly don’t get how Minny couldn’t find a better return for KAT. It’s like they compounded the dumb decision to dump him over Gobert with an even dumber decision to trade him for a return that didn’t involve any unprotected picks and that would fatally disrupt the chemistry of a conference finals-level team. Cheap and dumb are a bad combo.

You’re hitting on a really important point about the Timberwolves’ moves. It seems like they were banking on Naz Reid stepping up as a solid replacement alongside Gobert. They must have figured they’d get more for KAT than for Rudy, which speaks volumes about Gobert’s value in the current NBA landscape.

Think about it: if they couldn’t get a decent haul for KAT, who’s a proven All-Star and offensive force, what does that say about Gobert’s trade value? It’s clearly plummeted. The fact that they got such a underwhelming return for Towns, especially after giving up so much for Gobert in the first place, just highlights how badly they misjudged the situation.

As you said, cheap and dumb is a terrible combination, and it seems like the Wolves are paying the price for both right now. They’ve disrupted their team chemistry, potentially alienated Edwards, and haven’t gotten much in return to show for it. It’s a tough situation for Minnesota fans.

BTW, how nice of a fit would Naz Reid be on this team?

… it’s worth remembering that while kat is one of the great offensive bigs of all time he absolutely does have well below average big-moment decision-making tendencies relative to that station in life.

The same critique of coming up short in big playoff moments was said in one way or another about Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, David Robinson, Dirk Nowitzski, and even Lebron before they all won a Finals.

Hell, consider that Patrick Ewing’s playoff career was full of those types of moments (like in Game 7 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, against the Pacers when he missed a finger roll layup that would have given them the lead or in the 1994 Finals when he was regularly crushed by Hakeem) and he’s still the most beloved Knick of all time.

It’ll likely be similar to last time, since the players around KAT are the same or better than were around Julius.

I suspect the spacing won’t be anywhere near as good for the offense without KAT there to stretch the opposing 5 out. We just wouldn’t be able to wreck Minnesota’s top 5 defense without the ability to stretch out Golbert and Naz Reid the way we did with KAT out there.

Yankees traded for Trevino, I see. Serious question: are they trying to set the all-time record for oldest ODR? Signing everyone on the FA or trade market in the twilight of their careers seems like a real risk unless they really like their propsects and need the stopgaps.

Stearns doesn’t like to invest lots of money in 1B-only sluggers, so I doubt the Mets would go much more than 3/75 or so for Alonso.

I’m still hoping for Alex Bregman. Has some positional versatility, so you play him at 3B for now and move Vientos to 1B. A year from now if another 3B or 1B emerges, you can move Bregman to 2B. Bregman is 30 so still might have some 4+ WAR seasons left in him. He won’t be cheap but you have to go big if you really want to compete with the Dodgers.

Agreed on all fronts. I like the idea of moving Vientos to 1st – which is probably his optimal fielding position moving forward – and then getting a solid glove for third base to pair with Lindor’s elite gove in short for the left side of the defense.

I also Bregman, too. The problem for me is that I only like him for around the next three seasons and word is that he’s looking for a deal that’s around twice as long. The Astros have offered him a six-year deal worth around $156 million, and he was still believed to be seeking a deal closer to $200 million.

Oh wow. Goldschmidt to the Yanks, 1/12.5m. Another stopgap. Good for them.

RIP to the Man of Steal. One of the all-time greats and one of the biggest and brightest stars.

Also the Mets have held onto all of their prospects so far, and they have several who are close to MLB.

This last part is kind of why I am meh on Bregman to a long-term deal if the plan is to move him to 2nd base. We have bunch of talent that I’d like to see play there coming up like Williams, Acuna, even Mauricio.