Mets may soon have to make ‘tough’ Brett Baty-Mark Vientos decision
NY Post
The Mets might be reaching an inflection point at third base.
For about two weeks they have carried both Mark Vientos and Brett Baty in what has amounted to a platoon that has boosted the club’s offense but compromised its defensive flexibility.
Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil played all 19 innings of Tuesday’s doubleheader because the Mets had no true backup middle infielder.
Manager Carlos Mendoza acknowledged the Mets were holding conversations about how much longer the club can proceed with such an odd roster makeup.
“We gotta get through today, check with [Lindor and McNeil], see where we’re at,” Mendoza said before the Mets were swept in the doubleheader by the Dodgers on Day 5 of a 13-games-in-13-days stretch. “Obviously, we’ll ask for them to play [every inning] today, and we’ll see how it goes.”
The pair survived the pair of games, McNeil saying just that he was “fine” after another long day.
Steve Kerr was out of line.
Despite the seven-goal goal Festivus the Rangers threw in Washington on Tuesday, the holiday month was short on joy and cheer.
The Mets were active Christmas Eve, signing right-handed journeyman Mike Baumann to a minor league contract, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.
For as talented a scorer he is, one Karl-Anthony Towns tendency is constantly ruining offensive possessions.
It was exactly 1 p.m. Christmas Eve, and the Giants were just beginning their first full practice of the week for their second-to-last game of this miserable losing season.
Brandon Aiyuk issued a mea culpa after a video he shared over the weekend landed him in some hot water.
All eyes are on Travis Kelce and a lingering decision about his football future.
WASHINGTON — It was a merry night for the Rangers in our nation’s capital.
Maxx Crosby isn’t thinking about Fernando Mendoza or whoever may be considered the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
MINNEAPOLIS — Julius Randle had been quiet, just 3-for-11 from the field.
The decision Doug Armstrong’s management group needs to make before the Canadian Olympic roster is announced on New Year’s Eve cannot be about letting Matthew Schaefer be around the group before he takes a leading role in the 2028 World Cup or 2030 Olympics.
The cold, unappetizing truth for Steve Cohen is that he has only one person to blame for the backlash presently aimed at his baseball team, and it isn’t David Stearns. Oh, Stearns makes for an easy target, a never-played-the-game Harvard man who is the perfect contrast to the rub-some-dirt-on-it tobacco chompers who ruled the game for a century.
PHILADELPHIA — A third of the way through the Nets’ season, the focus — and worry — is all about the tank.