SNY’s Andy Martino is responding to and breaking down answers to Mets questions from readers. Here’s the latest…
Is there anything under the hood about the Mets’ approach with runners in scoring position this season that you observed/have found out from your reporting that has led to their poor numbers? What, if any, changes do you expect to see to remedy this? – @John_Uhen
Because you asked this fine question, I relayed it to David Stearns during his media availability. Better to hear from him than me, right? Here’s the exchange:
Little ol’ me: Do you have a personal belief on the runners in scoring position issue generally — that it’s statistical randomness, or if there’s something about an approach? When you have a team that’s struggling with that for a period, is there anything that can be done, or is it just one of those things that resolves itself?
Stearns: I think there is a skill in slowing down the moment, and I think there is a skill in handling pressure. And in putting yourself in the best frame of mind to succeed in those moments when the intensity is a little higher. Once you do all of that, I think the result is still somewhat random, and there are still smaller sample sizes by nature with runners in scoring position.
With that said, we clearly have not been good in that spot over the course of the year, and more recently, over the last 10 days, two weeks. And so I do think we have to start from the position of, is there something we can control? Is there something we can look at to get better? We’re certainly doing that work, that investigation. Our players are extremely aware of this. And sometimes you wonder, is that actually a good thing or a bad thing to be as aware of this as they all are?
So yes, I think performing in high-pressure situations is a skill that can be learned and improved over time and with experience.
It’s a logical thought, but Lindor might have something to say about it. He does awfully well in that spot, too.
Which team smells better the Mets or the Yankees – @sotoobsessedNYY
The smells of the locker room are typically sweat, cologne and sometimes Icy Hot. Neither the Yankees nor the Mets hold a clear advantage in this space.
We got a ton of Ronny Mauricio questions. Like, where will he fit? This will resolve itself. Not every prospect pans out, and if Mauricio turns out to be among those who does stick, someone else won’t. The Mets have depth on their side here. He’s not yet physically ready to play in the big leagues, the Mets say.
SNY’s Andy Martino is responding to and breaking down answers to Yankees questions from readers. Here’s the latest…
You think the Yanks are getting Jazz Chisholm Jr. reps at 3B because they think the 2B market at the deadline might have more options than 3B does? – @MaxMannis
Yes. That is exactly the reason. And an under-discussed aspect of this story is how admirably team-first Chisholm is acting in this situation. It stretches back to last summer, when he learned the nuances of a difficult position during a pennant race and postseason. Even into October, Chisholm was still working to master the cuts, relays and other aspects of a job that he had never before done.
Asked again this year by the manager — who knows firsthand how difficult it is to play third base at a high level — to leave a more comfortable spot at second base, Chisholm is doing it. As a result, the Yankees have the option to trade for a middle infielder.
It’s hard to imagine how on earth this guy left Miami with anything other than a sterling reputation.
Will the Yankees’ concerns about the luxury tax cause them to move salary in order to take back significant salary at the trade deadline? – @FrankLo9
It’s true that the Yankees’ post-Juan Soto spree left them at the limits of their willingness to spend. In fact, it was no sure thing that they would stretch for Paul Goldschmidt until folks in baseball operations made a strong case for doing so.
But that was the offseason budget. Teams almost always leave payroll in reserve for the trade deadline, and the Yankees are always aggressive when they feel they have the chance to win. I would not expect that to change in a year in which a championship is a reachable goal.
I know you have reported on this before, but any updates on Cashman’s future with the Yankees? Contract is up after next season – @Rick12_85
That’s true, I reported in my book last year that many of Brian Cashman’s colleagues expect this contract to be his last as GM. I asked Cashman directly about it before writing that, and he would not confirm or deny.
Admittedly, I have not followed up with him recently. But I can tell you that the general expectation among many of those around him remains the same. It does not mean that anything is settled, but Cashman believes that he has plenty of “pretty f—ing good” people in the office group who could serve as heirs.
As previously reported, VP of player development Kevin Reese is seen internally as a leading candidate. Cashman also holds a high opinion of assistant GM Michael Fishman and director of baseball operations Matt Ferry. He’ll almost certainly have a strong voice in naming a successor, whenever that day comes.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Language learning apps usually fall into two camps—either they’re too rigid and boring, or they gamify things so much that you stop learning and start guessing. Qlango tries to find the middle ground, and right now, you can grab a lifetime subscription for $34.97 from StackSocial (down from $119.99), which gives you access to all 50+ supported languages. That includes the big ones like Spanish, French, and German, plus less common ones like Georgian, Tatar, and even Latin. Whether you’re prepping for a trip, brushing up your vocabulary, or just trying to keep your brain busy, it’s a lot of content for not a lot of money.
What makes Qlango different is how it forces you to use your target language actively. You don’t spend time translating back into your native tongue—everything you do, from dictation to sentence-building to multiple choice, is centered around the language you’re learning. It uses spaced repetition, so if you miss something, it’ll keep coming back until it sticks. And while that might sound annoying, it’s actually one of the most effective ways to build long-term memory. You can also pick the learning style that suits you best—go slow with word matching, or dive into full sentence translations if you’re up for it.
That said, the app’s design isn’t as polished as something like Duolingo, and if you’re someone who needs visual bells and whistles to stay motivated, it might feel a bit barebones. But the real value here is in how flexible it is—you can set your own weekly goals, skip the guilt trips for missing a day, and focus on what actually helps you learn. You can hear the pronunciation of each word, learn nouns with their articles (super helpful for gendered languages), and build a vocabulary that’s actually useful. If you’ve bounced off other language apps in the past because they either felt too childish or too intense, Qlango might be the middle path you’ve been looking for. And at this price, it’s not a huge risk to find out.
Juan Soto was the talk of the offseason and spring training after signing with the Mets on a massive deal last winter. And the slugger has been the talk of this season after he has gotten off to a slow start and is in a slump for the first time in some time.
“I honestly don’t have a like ‘this is the issue’ that he needs to fix to get better,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said during a news conference Friday ahead of the Mets opening a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
“I think he’s taking pretty good at-bats, he’s controlling the strike zone pretty well,” Stearns continued. “He’s hitting the ball on the ground a little bit more than he has in the past. I think that’s something that he’s aware of. But telling yourself, ‘Hey, I need to hit the ball in the air more,’ doesn’t immediately translate to hitting the ball in the air more.
“Do I think he’s trying to do a little too much right now? Yeah, I think he’s probably trying to do a little bit too much right now. And that is natural for a player who cares about improving.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza sees it as just a matter of time before Soto gets going.
“We’ve seen it pretty much every day he’s hitting a couple balls hard. The results haven’t been there, but he’s gonna get going,” Mendoza said Friday. “Every day I sit here, you look at the numbers, he’s gonna get going here pretty soon.
The skipper added he hasn’t felt the need recently to have a conversation with Soto about his hitting: “He knows he’s in a good place. Treat him the same way I treat the other guys, too.”
Stearns doesn’t believe Soto is struggling with confidence, saying, “I think there’s frustration, sure, but I have not sensed a confidence issue.”
Stearns called it a “very unique position” for Soto, but there is a track record of players changing organizations and making big changes in their careers, taking a bit of time to adjust before turning it on, and is “very confident” Soto will soon come good.
“Maybe it will take a bloop or a couple bloops,” he said. “Or maybe it takes him connecting on one or two to exhale a little bit, but I would imagine it is difficult when the results don’t come.”
When it comes to possibly easing some of the pressure on Soto, the Mets’ top baseball man said the only thing he can do is to “continue to support him.” But even he admitted that could have a limit in its effectiveness.
“I don’t know how much pressure that eases,” Stearns said. “He’s gonna put the pressure on himself. He’s not feeling the pressure because of the things around him, I don’t think. He’s a highly competitive person who expects a lot of himself, who wants to win. And so when he’s not performing up to a level he’s accustomed to, he’s gonna put pressure on himself to do that.”
While the slumping Soto still has posted a .745 OPS, good for an above-average 121 OPS+ and 113 wRC+, those numbers are well below his averages and what was expected after he signed a 15-year, $765 million deal in December.
The connection between his play and the pressure of expectation after signing a big contract isn’t far from the Mets’ minds.
“I also understand it is natural when a player signs a big contract – and this was a really big contract – if the results aren’t immediate, there are going to be questions and there are going to be reactions,” Stearns said. “And I completely get that, Juan does too.”
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (22) is brushed back during while batting in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. / Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
Despite Soto’s rotten run at the plate, the Mets have posted a .607 winning percentage through 56 games and are 2.0 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the NL and the division lead. And Soto has done his part to lift the team.
“He’s still helping us win games,” Stearns said of Soto. “I’m aware that the OPS isn’t where he would want it, it’s not where we would want it, it’s not where our fans would want it. I get that. But I can say it’s not for lack of work behind the scenes, he’s working, he’s trying. He certainly wants results at a higher level than what we’ve seen so far. I’m pretty confident we’re going to get those.”
Mendoza said the one thing you can control as a hitter is “getting a good pitch, putting a good swing, and hitting the ball hard.”
“After that, you can’t control where they’re playing, how they’re positioned,” the manager said, adding, “you control the strike zone, which [Soto] is elite at doing that, and hitting the ball hard, which he’s elite at doing that, too.
“He’s just gotta stay the course, ‘cause if he keeps doing that, the numbers are gonna be there at the end of the year.”
A concern with Soto’s elite batting eye is the double-edged sword of patience: Is he too often taking a good pitch to hit?
“Part of elite plate discipline is swinging at pitches that you can do damage on… Are there at-bats where he’s let some pitches go where he could probably do some damage? Yeah, I think there probably are,” Stearns said. “I think as he gets more comfortable at the plate, he’ll be able to pull the trigger on those.”
Related to the issue of Soto’s increased ground-ball rate – up 8.9 percent to 52.5 percent for the 2025 season – has been double-plays as he has matched his total of 10 from last year in just y games.
Stearns sees it as a combination of the elevated number of ground balls, having a lot of players on base ahead of him (a 4.8 percent increase in at-bats with runners on compared to last year), and some well-documented “batted-ball misfortune.” But don’t expect that trend to last forever: “We’re a third of the way through the season, he has 10 double plays, I would hammer the under on 30 double-plays over the course of the season.”
With the Mets entering a stretch of 16 games over 17 days beginning with games over the next 10 straight days, is there value in giving Soto a day off or could that be counterproductive? Those conversations have been had internally, Sterans said, and “we don’t know.”
“What we do know is that we have a player who is really competitive who wants to play,” Stearns said, noting Soto did get a day out of the lineup before on an off-day two weeks back. “But Juan wants to play. He wants to be out there, he wants to compete, he’s not shying away from this. And so I think sending him out there more often than not is probably the right thing to do.”
Jan 14, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) arrives before a game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
David Banks-Imagn Images
Zion Williamson is being sued by a woman describing herself as a former dating partner and who alleges the New Orleans Pelicans star committed repeated sexual violence against her.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday night, identifies the plaintiff as “Jane Doe.” She claims she began dating Williamson in 2018, when he played at Duke, and alleges that he engaged in abusive behavior toward her in California, Louisiana and Texas from 2020 until their relationship ended in 2023.
Williamson’s New Orleans-based attorney, Michael Balascio, called the claims in the lawsuit “categorically false and reckless,” and accused the plaintiff of extortion, which he said has been reported to law enforcement.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them,” Balascio said in a written statement provided to The Associated Press. “This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance.”
The lawsuit alleges that the first instance of sexual violence occurred in a home Williamson had rented in Beverly Hills, California.
The lawsuit also alleges that Williamson temporarily took the plaintiff’s mobile phone from her after the first two instances of forced intercourse and also took her laptop after the second.
The complaint includes accusations of strangulation, death threats to the plaintiff and her family, and physical abuse, including being kicked, slammed with a car door, and suffocated until she lost consciousness.
“We’re going to be very cautious about litigating this in the press,” said the plaintiff’s attorney, Sam Taylor II, who is with the Lanier Law Firm in Los Angeles.
“This is a very serious case as reflected in the allegations in the complaint, which are pretty detailed,” Taylor continued, adding that his client “genuinely looks forward to her day in court when she can tell a jury of her peers what happened to her and seek justice.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages – including punitive damages – for emotional distress.
Balascio said Williamson and the plaintiff “never dated, but did maintain a consensual, casual relationship that began more than six years ago,” when Williamson was 18.
“At no point during or immediately after that relationship did the plaintiff raise any concerns,” Balascio said, adding that “only after the friendship ended did she begin demanding millions of dollars.”
Williamson also intends to file counterclaims and “seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit,” Balascio said.
A Pelicans spokesman said the club was aware of the matter but deferred comment to Williamson’s lawyer.
Williamson was the first player picked in the 2019 draft. In six years as a pro, he has averaged 24.7 points per game. But has played in only 214 of 472 regular season games – and no playoff games – during that span because of a series of injuries, one of which caused him to miss the entire 2021-22 season.
