FLUSHING, N.Y., January 15, 2022 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed 21 international players.
“It’s an exciting day for the New York Mets to congratulate and welcome these talented young men to our organization,” said Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting, Tommy Tanous. “This is the first step in realizing their dreams of becoming major leaguers. I want to thank everyone from the family of the players to our incredible scouting staff for their hard work in this process.”
“Today is another step in establishing and achieving sustained success,” said General Manager Billy Eppler. “We are excited for these players to get started on their path to Queens. We also want to thank Tommy, Steve Barningham, and our entire international scouting department as well as everyone in the baseball operations department who worked tirelessly to make this day possible.”
The class is highlighted by Simon Juan, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic. The 6-2, 195-pounder is ranked at the 14th-best international prospect according to Baseball America and as the 16th-best prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 Internationals Prospect List. An additional notable signing includes Willy Fañas, a dynamic five tool center fielder from the Dominican Republic.
The full list of players is below:
METS ANNOUNCE INTERNATIONAL SIGNINGS
FLUSHING, N.Y., January 15, 2022 – The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed 21 international players.
“It’s an exciting day for the New York Mets to congratulate and welcome these talented young men to our organization,” said Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting, Tommy Tanous. “This is the first step in realizing their dreams of becoming major leaguers. I want to thank everyone from the family of the players to our incredible scouting staff for their hard work in this process.”
“Today is another step in establishing and achieving sustained success,” said General Manager Billy Eppler. “We are excited for these players to get started on their path to Queens. We also want to thank Tommy, Steve Barningham, and our entire international scouting department as well as everyone in the baseball operations department who worked tirelessly to make this day possible.”
The class is highlighted by Simon Juan, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic. The 6-2, 195-pounder is ranked at the 14th-best international prospect according to Baseball America and as the 16th-best prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 Internationals Prospect List. An additional notable signing includes Willy Fañas, a dynamic five tool center fielder from the Dominican Republic.
Keith didn’t make his name with the Mets, but he expanded upon his legacy by adding another six Gold Gloves and the 1986 World Series title to his resume while compiling a 129 OPS+ and 26.6 bWAR during his time in Queens. The paper stats are great, but what everyone talks about is the leadership he brought to the team. If you watched the four-part ESPN documentary “Once Upon A Time In Queens” his teammates talk of him as if he was Serpentor of GI Joe fame always ready to lead them into great battle as his troops earnestly followed his example.
Serpentor, the cutthroat military genius known for his catchphrase, “This…I command!”
Yes, Keith Hernandez did enough over his time with the Mets to warrant having his number retired, but that doesn’t mean the dam should rupture and Steve Cohen should start handing out retired numbers as if they’re raisins to kids on Halloween. Celebrating the history of the franchise is great and needed and something that can span generations of fandom as tales parents tell their kids while sitting in the stands to build the next generation of supporters, but let’s not be willy-nilly here.
The Mets have had many great players who have passed through, but that doesn’t necessarily make them great Mets. Warren Spahn is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. A Hall of Famer. Not a great Met. Willie Mays may very well be the greatest player in the history of the game and played a role on a National League championship team…but not a great Met.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we – as a fanbase – definitely do suffer from “little brother complex” when pit against the vast and voluminous history of the Yankees. Whether it’s Old Timer’s Day, constantly having to put up with them on Sunday Night Baseball, or that insufferable meme of the bleacher jerk off waving the rings, we always want to fight back as if our team has a much richer history than it really does.
Over the past week, I’ve seen people looking to retire numbers for everyone from Ed Kranepool (no) to Edgardo Alfonzo (also no) to Gary Carter (a bit more difficult, but still no) and many others in between, but doing so completely bastardizes the meaning of the number retirement is. This doesn’t mean you can’t honor good players in other ways; the team does have its own Hall of Fame that properly recognizes a cornucopia of players from the past by acknowledging their contributions and having their accomplishments on display in the team’s museum in the Citi Field Rotunda to be appreciated by all. Ed Kranepool seems like a nice guy and he had the longest tenure of anyone to every put on the uniform and that can be acknowledged, but that doesn’t make him great. The team Hall of Fame is the perfect way to acknowledge a wider swath of players who were very good for the organization.
As you're making your way downtown, rep the New York Mets in comfort with this City Transit hoodie from New Era. Along with an adjustable hood and front pouch pocket for convenient coverage and storage, this midweight pullover offers a cozy fleece lining to keep you nice and toasty. As an added bonus, the striking New York Mets graphics highlight your love for the squad in undeniable style.
You can find this on MLBShop.com
In my opinion, this looks like something you can buy at one of those tourist shops in Times Square.
Zac Brown Band- Out in the Middle Tour Thursday, August 18th, 2022 Citi Field Rain or Shine
Multi-platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning Zac Brown Band announces their upcoming 2022 international tour, "Out in the Middle Tour."
The new set of dates, produced by Live Nation, follows 2021’s incredibly successful "The Comeback Tour," where the band staged their comeback to live performances following a COVID-19 hiatus.
The "Out in the Middle Tour" will showcase the band’s old-school country roots and southern-rock style, serving as an ode to their country pride and life’s simple pleasures. Joining the band once again will be Caroline Jones, who performed as a special guest during "The Comeback Tour." Zac Brown Band also welcomes Robert Randolph Band as the opening act on select dates throughout the tour including Citi Field on Thursday, August 18th.
Tickets will be available for purchase starting on Friday, January 21st at 10 a.m.
