Whenever this 2020 MLB season gets underway, Mets ace Jacob deGrom will be going after a feat only two pitchers in MLB history have accomplished before him. 

A three-peat in Cy Young Awards has only been done by Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson -- two Hall of Fame starters that were just as dominant as deGrom has been in their primes. It's an entirely different situation this season, of course, with it being shortened. But deGrom is still at the top of his game, and many believe he can join these two in the record books.

But does deGrom also have to worry about his competition? 

See how the Mets fared against the Atlanta Braves in Game 53 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that effective immediately, all professional local sports teams are now permitted to begin training camps in the state while following appropriate health protocols.

"Starting today, all the New York professional sports leagues will be able to begin training camps (in the state)," Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus press briefing. "I believe that sports that can come back without having people in the stadium, without having people in the arena -- do it, do it.

"Work out the economics if you can. We want you up, we want people to be able to watch sports. To the extent people are still staying home, it gives people something to do. It's a return to normalcy. So we are working and encouraging all sports teams to start their training camps as soon as possible, and we'll work with them to make sure that can happen."

Zero players finished the 2019 MLB season with more home runs than Pete Alonso's 53. And Only five National League players had a higher slugging percentage than Alonso's .583. But there are currently 15 players who are better bets than Alonso to win the 2020 NL MVP award, per PointsBet.

Some of those names make plenty of sense.

Dodgers teammates Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger lead the pack, followed by Christian Yelich, who slugged an outrageous .671 in 2019.

See the highlights as SNY brings together members of the 1986 New York Mets to re-watch Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Here is the Sports Squared crossword puzzle for Sunday, May 24, called Baseball's Incredible Feats and Greatest Moments...

Earlier on Saturday, news surfaced that Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard was being sued for $250,000 by his New York City landlord for unpaid rent on a Tribeca apartment.

The Mets right-hander responded via Twitter on Saturday evening, telling his side of the story.

"So let me get this straight. I fairly, and in food faith offered to pay 2 months rent (over 50K) to a landlord for a place I was never going to step foot in due to a global pandemic that took a severe toll upon the residents of NYC, gave timely notice to attempt to try and re-rent, while getting TJ and now living in Florida for rehab, and the landlord tries to extort me for 250K while leaking this story to the media, and I'm the bad guy? Yeah, ok. See you in court pal."

The 1986 Mets were certainly a cast of characters. 

As SNY celebrates the 1986 World Series champions, many members of the team, including Bob Ojeda, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and others, joined in for a Game 6 Watch Party.

As they watched the game live on SNY, they also told some classic stories from their era of Mets baseball. 

When third baseman Ray Knight was brought up in conversation, Ron Darling told a perhaps never-before-known tale about how a wrestling match once broke out inside the team's training room.

See how the Mets fared against the Atlanta Braves in Game 52 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

Due to MLB's coronavirus hiatus, Mets manager Luis Rojas has still yet to manage his first game in the big leagues, something he's undoubtedly been dreaming of for quite some time.

A baseball lifer, Rojas grew up around the game (including being ejected from a minor league dugout when he was just seven years old), and he's worked his way up through the minor leagues to reach the big job with the Mets. 

Rojas' time with the Mets organization is now going on 13 years, as he was first hired as a coach of their Dominican League team in 2007, but former Mets skipper Terry Collins believes Rojas' knowledge of both the game and of the players in the Mets' system, will suit him well in his new role as manager.

The Mets have given their fans tons of magical moment, but some of those moments have been lost in the shuffle a bit.

Here are nine forgotten moments from the last 25 years...

See how the Mets fared against the Atlanta Braves in Game 51 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

With owners giving approval on May 11 to Major League Baseball's proposal to begin the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic, negotiations are now ongoing between the league and Players Association.

The goal is to begin a second spring training of sorts around June 10 and for Opening Day to be around July 1, meaning the league and players have a finite amount of time to reach an agreement.

Here's the latest...

Doc Gooden joins the BNNY crew to talk about the impact that Gary Carter had on the Mets after being acquired by the team. He also talks about what it was like to play at Shea Stadium, and much more.

Catch the full episode of Baseball Night in New York: Living Room Edition on SNY at 7 p.m.

Shortly after news came out that Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2020 MLB season, New York's odds to win the World Series sat at +1800.

Those +1800 odds were the seventh-best in baseball.

With roughly two months having passed, the Mets' odds to win the World Series are now +1400, per PointsBet, giving them the sixth-best odds to win it all (with them jumping the Minnesota Twins in that regard).

As negotiations between the league and players union continue to play out, it sounds like the Mets and Yankees have both decided where they'll resume spring training, when permitted.

According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, both the Mets and Yankees will be returning to Florida for spring training 2.0, with Heyman noting that Florida's per capita coronavirus numbers are better than those of most other states. 

If and when MLB and the union can come to a deal regarding players' pay for a shortened 2020 season (without fans in attendance), teams will be permitted to choose between their home cities and their spring training sites for where to resume spring training. 

See how the Mets fared against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 50 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

SNY's Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling answer questions from fans and also discuss the latest negotiations between MLB and the players union during Beyond the Booth Live, hosted by Steve Gelbs on Thursdays at 4 p.m.

Carlos Beltran put up incredible numbers during his seven seasons as a Met, but is he a no-brainer for the best center fielder in franchise history?

Doug Williams, Steve Gelbs, and Anthony Recker tackle that question and more on the latest Baseball Night in New York: Living Room Edition. Catch the full episode on SNY at 7 p.m.

For most Mets fans, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling are practically family members, as their voices resonate in homes throughout the Mets' season.

But there may be some things about the SNY crew that fans don't know. On the latest Beyond The Booth, Keith and Ron tell one thing each that fans probably don't know about the Mets' play-by-play announcer …

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Within the next few days, Major League Baseball will likely make its first economic proposal to the Players Association about resuming play this season. Moderates among the players and agents -- the ones who want a fair settlement but not a war -- will push for an agreement, and the sides will agree to a pay cut but not a 50/50 revenue split.

That, at least, is what we predict from talking to sources on all sides of this negotiation.

As previously reported, it's far from a sure thing that MLB will propose a controversial revenue sharing plan. Over the past few days, agents around the game have become increasingly skeptical that was ever the plan. 

After being selected in the first round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, Dominic Smith ascended his way up through the Mets' minor league system, while receiving help along the way. 

One of the people who helped Smith become the major leaguer he is today is his now manager Luis Rojas, who coached Smith at multiple stops along the way to Queens. 

Appearing as a guest on The Cookie Club presented by Insomnia Cookies, Rojas told a story of how he helped motivate Smith during his 2015 season with the St. Lucie Mets, after Smith had shown up a bit out of shape and wasn't hustling the way Rojas and the rest of the coaching staff wanted him to.

Mets manager Luis Rojas has been around the game of baseball his entire life. He's coached his way up through almost every level of the minor leagues and is now preparing for his first season as a big-league skipper.

Rojas was first hired by the Mets in 2007 as a Dominican Summer League coach, but it sounds like his coaching experience actually dates back a little further than that.

When Rojas was just 7 years old, his father, Felipe Alou, had to eject him from the dugout for being too critical of the players Alou was managing during a minor league game.

"I thought we were done."

It was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, and in the bottom of the 10th inning, that's what Keith Hernandez had in his head when he flew out to center field for the second out. The Mets allowed two runs to the Boston Red Sox in the top of the 10th, so a 5-3 lead for the away team with only one out to go didn't look good at all for Hernandez. 

Hernandez ran into the clubhouse because he simply couldn't watch when the Red Sox get that out and celebrate as world champions. But we all know how that went.

See how the Mets fared against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 49 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

With the 2020 MLB season expected to feature the universal DH and be shortened to roughly 82 games (if and when it begins, hopefully around July 1), the Mets are one of the National League teams that could benefit the most.

If you take one quick glance at the Mets' roster, four players jump out immediately as DH candidates: Yoenis Cespedes, J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith, and Robinson Cano.

During The Cookie Club presented by Insomnia Cookies on Wednesday, manager Luis Rojas, Davis, and Smith all talked about the kind of impact the universal DH this season could have on the team and on them personally.

On The Cookie Club presented by Insomnia Cookies, J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith welcome in their manager Luis Rojas to talk about the universal DH and how it will affect the Mets, getting tossed from a game at seven years old by his father, and much more.

Mets reliever Jeurys Familia, who has been working out with teammate Dellin Betances under the training of Dave Paladino in New Jersey, is confident he and Betances will be fine during a potentially shortened 2020 season. But he's worried about other players.

"I think it'll cause a lot of injuries," Familia told Pat Ragazzo of Metsmerized. "Most guys aren't fortunate enough to have the same level of training as me and Dellin. Thank God Dave is allowing us to use his facility so we can throw every day, stretch out our arms, and get the proper physical training we need to prepare."

Betances, whose velocity was down early in spring training (as it often is at that point) said his velocity is "good right now," and Familia said the two relievers have been in touch with the Mets' trainer as they continue to prepare for the season.

See how the Mets fare against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 48 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Major League Baseball has not yet made an economic proposal to the Players' Association regarding the 2020 season -- and when it does, it won't necessarily be the revenue-sharing plan that the union considers a non-starter, according to people with direct knowledge of the process.

Perhaps agreeing to an across-the-board pay cut with no revenue sharing component will help the union salvage the appearance of compromise out of an increasingly challenging negotiation.

After Mets assistant pitching coach Jeremy Accardo does his fatherly duties -- home-schooling his sons and daughters -- he goes out for his daily run. It's a run with a purpose, one that will be gracing the New York City Marathon stage on Nov. 1. 

And the reason behind his training is his daughter, Leighton.

Leighton was diagnosed with Stage 4 malignant germ cell tumors in May of 2019, and she has been undergoing chemotherapy to combat them ever since. She's also recently traveled to New York with her mom to undergo surgeries as well, per Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown.

Former Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, whose time in New York from 2009-2011 was marked by success on the mound (3.05 ERA and 10 K/9) and controversy off of it (an arrest due to a fist fight with his father-in-law at Citi Field), is attempting an unlikely comeback at the age of 38.

Rodriguez last pitched in the majors in 2017 with the Detroit Tigers.

"That is the goal," he told Venezuelan journalist Guillermo Arcay. "In spite of the fact that I'm seen as being advanced in age, that is the goal. The injuries and the ups and downs have slowed me down. But I have the conviction, the hunger and I am completely sure I can accomplish it. Many say it's impossible. Impossible was a child leaving the Barrio Kennedy and succeeding abroad."

A shortened season could have a big effect on Jacob deGrom three-peating as the NL Cy Young Award winner, but Mets teammate Steven Matz doesn't believe that will be the case. 

DeGrom is notorious for being locked in at all times when he toes the rubber, but fewer games means there truly is no room for error. Matz knows nothing shakes up the Mets' ace, though.

"No, not really. Everyone will be in the same boat," Matz said, via the Mets, about deGrom winning another Cy Young. "He's still going to go out and dominate. Everyone is playing by the same set of guidelines. It doesn't matter if the season is short or long, he's just going to be himself and that will be pretty good."

Time Machine Tuesday travels to September 2018, when David Wright returned to the Mets one last time, and said goodbye from the SNY booth.

See how the Mets fare against the Pirates in Game 47 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

The Mets have made some fine trades in their history -- ones that became "era-changing" as SNY's Steve Gelbs said in the latest edition of Baseball Night in New York: Living Room Edition. 

But which one stands out above all the rest? 

It's hard to pick just one, but the BNNY crew tried to do just that. Check out the full episode on SNY at 7 p.m.

Mets LHP Steven Matz doesn't know when he'll be able to toe the rubber in a real MLB game in 2020. But he'll remain ready until that day comes. 

Like the rest of MLB players, Matz continues to work at his home in preparation for whenever the 2020 MLB season resumes. And that includes virtual meetings with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner to make sure everything -- whether it's mechanics or pitch types -- is copasetic. 

Matz would have a few starts under his belt at this point in the season, so Hefner wants him to be working as if that was actually the case.

Bartolo Colon is not ready to ride off into the sunset, instead hoping to pitch again in 2020 before retiring. And he made it clear that his preference is to return to the Mets.

"If it was up to me, I would retire with the Mets," Colon said on a video call with ESPN. "I would like my career to end in New York."

The 46-year-old Colon, who did not pitch in 2019, pitched for the Mets from 2014-2016.

As Major League Baseball and the Players Association continue to negotiate toward the potential return of the sport amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning that he is in favor of all of the major sports franchises in the New York area resuming play without fans.

"I also have been encouraging major sports teams to plan reopenings without fans," Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus briefing. "But the games could be televised. New York State will help those major sports franchises to do just that. Hockey, basketball, baseball, football -- whoever can reopen -- we're a ready, willing, and able partner."

The plan currently being discussed by MLB and the players revolves around as many teams as possible opening the season in their home ballparks without fans in attendance.

On this episode of The Cookie Club Crumbs presented by Insomnia Cookies, Pete Alonso, J.D. Davis and Dom Smith discuss a night after a Mets loss when they decided to step up and take the reins.

The trio remembers the young core collectively putting its foot down.

"This is not up to the standard that we want," Alonso recalls them saying. "This isn't the standard that the fans deserve. We want to actively be a part of something great, and say why not make something happen? Why not have it be us?"

Watch the entire story above.

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Quick -- what's the lifestyle change that stings the most during the coronavirus lockdown? Mine is probably relaxing at a restaurant with my family.

For at least the next several months, if not until the advent of a vaccine, we will not be able to enjoy that. In some ways, it's harder now than it was at first.

As this isolation drags on, we are forced to deal with the reality that many of the little things we took for granted were luxuries enjoyed only in a healthy, highly functioning society. We won't be living in one of those for a while, and we are in the process of facing extended behavioral changes.

Danny Abriano, SNY.tv | Twitter |

In the last 25 years, the Mets have taken a middle infielder with their first pick in the first round of the MLB Draft just twice -- Gavin Cecchini in 2012 and Reese Havens in 2008.

Cecchini was viewed as a low-ceiling pick, and he never stuck with the Mets during his many chances in the majors. Havens was viewed as a potential star, but his career was derailed due to injury.

You have to go all the way back to 1985 to find a Mets first-round middle infield pick who actually panned out as an infielder in the big leagues. That was Gregg Jefferies.

SNY has accepted the ALL IN Challenge! You could have the chance to spend some time with Gary, Keith, and Ron at Citi Field.

Keith Hernandez explains...

On behalf of SNY we are honored to accept the ALL IN Challenge to help provide food for those in need during these very trying times. SNY invites you and three guests to meet met at Citi Field along with my cohorts, Ron Darling and Gary Cohen. 

See how Marcus Stroman and the Mets fare against the Pirates in Game 46 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

Ron Darling, SNY.tv

COOOOOLD! 

That is the first thing I think of when I am asked about Game 1 of the 1986 World Series. In fact, I wore a "dickey" under my uniform (a fake turtleneck) to keep my neck warm. I had never worn one before.  

Here is the Sports Squared crossword puzzle for Sunday, May 17, called The 1986 Mets...

See how Jacob deGrom and the Mets fared against the Pirates in Game 45 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

See how the Mets fared against the Pirates in Game 44 of the virtual season on MLB The Show 20.

Gary Cohen, SNY.tv

Here's a Q&A with SNY play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen with his thoughts on a universal DH, MLB players potentially sitting out this season, the 1986 Mets and more...

1. It seems more likely that there will be a universal DH this season. How do you envision the Mets taking advantage of a DH?

As much as it pains me to see any encroachment of the DH into the National League, the current truth for the Mets is that they are uniquely poised to take advantage, should this become a reality this season.

The Mets have multiple options for using the DH to their advantage, starting with Yoenis Cespedes. Watching Cespedes this spring, it was clear that Yo's bat was still an asset. The question was whether he could hold up to the rigors of playing the field. With the DH, that would no longer be an issue.