Trending Upward.

     When I logged into Facebook this morning I saw this.  It is rare and refreshing to see any positive story about the Mets trending, much less two of them.  First, the really good news, yesterday Jacob deGrom was named National League Rookie of the Year, the first Mets player to win the award since 1984 when some pitcher named Dwight Gooden won it. 

I only have these three deGrom cards right now, but I am sure that will be remedied soon.

I am gonna be 100% honest here, before he was called up, I wasn't even sure if Jacob deGrom was a lefty or a righty, he was that far off my radar.  But after his first 4 starts, when he was 0-2 with a minuscule 2.42 ERA, I was intrigued - never mind that the Mets anemic offense was doing him no favors; he easily could have been 4-0.  Though, after his first 8 starts, he was 0-4 and the ERA doubled and I was worried the league had already caught up to him.  Then starting when the calendar turned to July, in his last 14 starts, he was 9-2 with a 2.16 ERA and he just kept looking stronger and more confident with every start and deGrom became yet another great young pitching stud on a team that is just dripping with them. Having too much starting pitching is never ever a problem.  No offense to Kolten Wong or Billy Hamilton, but the writers picked the right player to be ROY, deGrom has a chance to be a good pitcher for a long time. 

Ah, but what of that anemic Mets offense?  Well, secondly, yesterday the Mets were the first team to dip into the free agent waters this year, pulling Michael Cuddyer out of the pond with a 2-year contract. 

This signing makes a ton of sense.  Cuddyer is a professional hitter who plugs nicely into right field, moving Curtis Granderson to a more sensible left.  In fact, it parallels the Bartolo Colon signing from last year in that two of the Mets best prospects are outfielders (Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto) who aren't quite ready for prime time and Cuddyer is a safe bet to do a good job filling in until they are ready.  Plus, Cuddyer is old buddies with David Wright, so that should go to improve an already tight clubhouse.  And of course, if Cuddyer does end up breaking down, it is only a two year deal (unlike the horrific 4-year deals of Oliver Perez and Jason Bay) so if it all goes wrong, I won't be screaming about him in 2018.  Since very few players ever get to free agency in their prime anymore, this is the kind of player that gets out on the market that can make a difference (and it beats the pathetic Chris Young experiment).  While I sure as hell hope it isn't the only move the Mets make this off season, it is a very nice beginning and a decent sign that they are actually going to make serious moves to add real players and improve the offense so we don't lose every damn game 2-1.

And amongst all this positivity, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Juan Lagares won the Gold Glove last week becoming just the third outfielder ever to win one for the Mets (Tommy Agee and Carlos Beltran being the others).  No team ever won because of what happened in mid-November, but it's nice to see things might be looking up.