Degrom, Lemahieu on ALL-MLB team
Mets’ ace, Yanks’ 2B make the elite list
Although Jacob degrom fell just short of his third consecutive Cy Young Award, the New York Mets ace right-hander was the only pitcher to attain AllMLB honors for the second straight year. The team was announced Wednesday night.
Degrom had a 2.38 earnedrun average, 104 strikeouts and a 0.956 walks and hits to innings pitched ratio during the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 season.
New York Yankees second baseman DJ Lemahieu, who with a .364 batting average became the first player in modern history to win the batting title in both leagues (he also did it with the Rockies in 2016) is also a back-to-back ALL-MLB firstteamer. Other first-teamers were pitchers Shane Bieber (Indians), Trevor Bauer (Reds), Yu Darvish (Cubs) and Max Fried (Braves); first baseman Freddie Freeman (Braves); third baseman Manny Machado (Padres); catcher Salvador Perez (Royals); relievers Liam Hendriks (A’s) and Nick Anderson (Rays); DH Marcell Ozuna (Braves); and outfielders Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Mike Trout (Angels) and Juan Soto (Nationals).
Mets: Catcher James Mccann is “close” to signing a deal with the Mets, a source confirmed to the Daily News on Wednesday, though an agreement has not yet been reached. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the deal will likely be for four years. Mccann, entering his age-31 season, hit .289 for the White Sox in 2020. He collected 15 RBI and seven home runs over 31 games behind the plate in the truncated season. The Mets’ pending acquisition of Mccann, which is not yet a done deal, would take them out of the running for J.T. Realmuto.
Mariners: An MLB source confirmed that right-handed pitcher Chris Flexen — a former Met — has agreed to a twoyear, $4.75 million major league contract with the Mariners. The club has yet to announce the deal because Flexen’s physical is pending.
Ford Frick Award: Former ABC baseball commentator Al Michaels has been voted the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence by baseball’s Hall of Fame. Michaels, 76, will be honored during the Hall of Fame induction weekend in July. Michaels became lead broadcaster on ABC’S “Monday Night Baseball” telecasts in 1983. He was in the booth when an earthquake struck at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 1989. Michaels also worked games for the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants.
Minor leagues: While short-season leagues, such as the New York-penn League, and rookie-level leagues, such as the Appalachian League, were eliminated altogether, some of their former members made Wednesday's cut. Among them was the Aberdeen (Maryland) Ironbirds, owned by Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., which will remain an Orioles affiliate but make the jump from short-season Class A to high Class A. ... The Washington Nationals extended invites to four affiliates: the Rochester (N.Y.) Red Wings (Class AAA), the Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators (AA), the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks (high Class A) and the Fredericksburg (Va.) Nationals (low Class A).