Hand was reinstated from the bereavement list and designated for assignment before Tuesday’s game against Baltimore. We’re going through a rough time, and it was a gesture to pick each other up.”īLUE JAYS: The Toronto Blue Jays have cut struggling lefty reliever Brad Hand. “This is just a time of trying to pick each other up. “I hope this doesn’t stick around because it wasn’t meant to offend anybody, to disrespect nobody,” he said. He was hopeful the gesture wouldn’t spoil his relationship with the fan base he is committed to through 2031. Lindor signed a $341 million, 10-year deal to remain in New York, but he has been jeered often during a season in which he is hitting. “And myself, I have always told the guys how accountable we’ve got to be.”Ī four-time All-Star, Lindor was acquired from Cleveland over the offseason in the first major move for the team since Cohen purchased the franchise. “We have leaders in there that have explained how the media, the fans, everything is here,” he added. “This is a group of guys that I think is accountable for their actions. “We’re being accountable for some of those decisions and that’s what I see in this group,” the manager said. Rojas said he didn’t know the meaning of the thumbs-down gesture until Baez’s comments Sunday. “Media always searching for anything to cause controversy,” replied pitcher Marcus Stroman. “Please don’t look (too) much into this,” he wrote. Outfielder Kevin Pillar – also in his first season with the team – tweeted Sunday that he’s “felt nothing but love in NYC” and that “No I’m not booing the fans.” The entire team – not just Baez and Lindor – was using the gesture, and Rojas said the players had decided to stop before he addressed the club Tuesday. So, if he doesn’t want to get booed, he should just play better.” “But you know, we’re New Yorkers, and that’s how (Baez) is going to be received if he plays bad. “He took it a lot differently, saying that, `We need to be better,”‘ Gregory said. Gregory – standing with friends near the players’ entrance seeking autographs – said he respected Stanton for acknowledging the fans’ right to boo. Mets fan Will Gregory, 15, said before the game that he wished Baez handled the boos with as much grace as Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton. “People are very honest and they let you know.” “Here, I have a lot of respect,” Lindor said. Players and coaches expect that underperforming stars in the Big Apple will hear about it from fans. “They have to understand that I’m a human being, too,” he said. Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco complained last week about booing from fans in Pittsburgh a couple of days before being released by the team. The Mets aren’t the only club taking exception to home-cooked ridicule. “Let’s get behind our players today and go out and win 2 today!” “Glad to hear our players apologizing to the fans,” first-year owner Steve Cohen said on Twitter. After Baez concluded his apology, one fan shouted to him “Javy, we just want to win, bro!” Lindor was booed by a few fans when he emerged, and two young boys held up thumbs-down signals behind him while he spoke. It was not my intent to offend people.”īaez and Lindor spoke to reporters in front of the Mets’ dugout.

“However, it was wrong, and I apologize to whoever I offended. “Like the negative things, we overcome it, so it’s like, `We did it! We went over it!’ “Thumbs down for me means adversity, the adversity we have gone through in this whole time,” Lindor said. Lindor also said the gesture was not explicitly about fans. And, you know, I didn’t mean to offend anybody, and if I offend anybody, we apologize.” “The fans obviously want to win, and they pay our salary like everybody says, but like, we want to win, too, and the frustration got to us. “I didn’t say the fans are bad, I love the fans, but like, I just felt like we were alone,” Baez said Tuesday. Lindor and Manager Luis Rojas said Tuesday they believe Baez – whose first language is Spanish but doesn’t use an interpreter when speaking to media – misspoke when he said Mets players were booing the fans. “So they’re going to get booed when we have success.” “When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed,” Baez explained Sunday. Players began making the thumbs-down gesture toward their dugout after base hits and other positive plays while at Dodger Stadium from Aug. Mets fans booed him and others throughout August, when the team has gone 8-19 to fall out of playoff position after leading the NL East for nearly three months. The 28-year-old Baez was acquired from the Chicago Cubs on July 30 and has hit.

Mets thumbs down