Morning Briefing: Opening Day for Arizona Fall League

Good morning, Mets fans! Rumor has it the Blue Jays won’t score today.

Arizona Fall League play begins Monday and the Mets have seven players on the Scottsdale Scorpions, who host Peoria at 9:30 p.m. ET. MMO’s Jorge Eckardt wrote up an AFL preview last week.

Catcher Chris Suero and outfielders Nick Morabito and D’Andre Smith are the biggest Met names on the team.

The 30-game AFL schedule runs through Nov. 12. The league consists of six teams, with prospects from five combined MLB teams making up each squad. The Met prospects will be joined by youngsters from the Astros, Giants, Nationals and Tigers.

Playoff Update

The Yankees’ bid to end their 16-year championship drought is in trouble. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a grand slam, Daulton Varsho went 4-for-5 with two homers and two doubles and the Blue Jays beat New York 13-7 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five ALDS. Guerrero is 6-for-9 with two homers and six RBIs in the series.

Rookie Trey Yesavage, a 22-year-old drafted in the first round last year who debuted last month, threw 5 1/3 scoreless, no-hit innings and struck out 11. Toronto has outscored the Yankees 23-8 in the series. Game 3 is in the Bronx on Tuesday.

In Seattle, the Mariners won their first home playoff game in 24 years with a 3-2 victory over the Tigers that knotted their ALDS at 1-1. Julio Rodríguez came through with a tiebreaking, RBI double in the eighth inning. Jorge Polanco hit two solo homers off Tarik Skubal, who struck out nine over seven innings. The series shifts to Detroit on Tuesday.

The National League was off Sunday. On Monday, the Phillies will hope Jesus Luzardo (15-7, 3.92 ERA) can help even their series against the Dodgers and Blake Snell (5-4, 2.35 ERA) at 6:08 p.m. ET. At 9:08 p.m. ET, Shota Imanaga (9-8, 3.73 ERA) will try to get the Cubs even with the Brewers, who will send Aaron Ashby (5-2, 2.16 ERA) to the mound. Both games will be televised on TBS, truTV and HBO Max.

Latest Mets News

Andy Green, the Mets’ senior vice president for player development, has turned down “multiple managerial opportunities” to stay with New York, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network. Green managed the Padres to a 274-366 record from 2016-2019. He was the third base coach for the Diamondbacks before managing the Padres and the bench coach for the Cubs afterward.

David Stearns hired Green to the Mets’ front office in November 2023. Green played four seasons in the majors, three with Arizona and in 2009 he appeared in four games with the Mets.

Latest MLB News

Former Met managers Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel were among four former skippers inducted Saturday as part of the 2025 Hall of Game class of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. Cito Gaston and Dusty Baker were also honored. Tony Reagins, the Angels’ general manager from 2007-2011, earned the inaugural JL Wilkinson Innovator Award.

A celebration of African American managers will be connected to a “Leaders and Innovators” exhibit that will be on display at the museum through March.

Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai has signed with agent Scott Boras and hopes to be posted to MLB this offseason, per the Yakyu Cosmopolitan. The move must be approved by the Seibu Lions, who have already agreed to posting RHP Kona Takahashi.

Imai, 27, went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA and 0.89 WHIP for Seibu this year. He struck out 178 in 163 2/3 innings. He threw eight innings of a combined no-hitter in April and struck out 17 in a game in June. Takahashi, 28, went 8-8 with a 3.13 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He struck out 82 in 141 innings pitched.

Harrison Bader, who left NLDS Game 1 with a groin injury, may be ready to go for Game 2. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said imaging showed no major tear or strain.

Milwaukee center fielder Jackson Chourio‘s status for Game 2 of the NLDS is uncertain after an MRI on his injured right hamstring was inconclusive, manager Pat Murphy said. Chourio left Game 1 after running out an infield hit. He hurt the same hamstring in July.

Outfielder Brett Phillips, a .187 lifetime hitter who played for five teams over seven years and hit 31 career home runs, announced his retirement on Instagram. Phillips, 31, last played in 2023 for the Angels.

Latest on MMO

It is report card season. James Villani grades reliever Brooks Raley with an A-.

James Villani also hands out grades for each of the four deals the Mets made at the trade deadline. (Spoiler: He wasn’t a fan of the Ryan Helsley move.)

James Villani, who was busier than the scoreboard operator in Toronto, also worked up a list of this offseason’s free agents.

On This Date in Mets History

1969: The Mets win their first National League pennant, finishing a three-game sweep with a 7-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in front of 54,195 at Shea Stadium. Tommie Agee, Ken Boswell and Wayne Garrett homer. Nolan Ryan earns the win in his playoff debut by pitching seven innings of two-run ball in relief. It was the 23rd birthday of starting pitcher Gary Gentry and the 27th birthday of starting catcher Jerry Grote.

1973: Tom Seaver strikes out 13 and connects for an RBI double in Game 1 of the NLCS, but Johnny Bench hits a walk-off homer off Seaver to lift the Reds to a 2-1 victory.

2024: Mark Vientos homers twice, including a game-tying, two-run shot in the ninth, but Nick Castellanos hits a walk-off single for the Phillies to even the NLDS at one game apiece.

Born on This Date: Darren Oliver (1970), Robert Person (1969), Gary Gentry (1946), Gene Clines (1946), Jerry Grote (1942), Joe Frazier (1922).

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