'This has been my dream': Meet Andrew Tredinnick, our new NY Mets columnist

It was a normal, bitter spring day in Syracuse, but the minor-league ballpark was packed with insulated fans.

A little less than 10 years ago, Bryce Harper was making his debut for the Syracuse Chiefs, then the Class AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

Harper was the 19-year-old wunderkind and Sports Illustrated cover boy, one of the top prospects of his generation, primed for launch into the MLB stratosphere.

Down in the core of the stadium, the local media gathered for a fleeting chance to interview the next big thing. It was one of my first chances to cover America's pastime.

Weeks later, Harper's Rookie of the Year campaign in the bigs began. And a year later, a fledgling sports journalism career got underway.

Only a small majority enjoy the quick, explosive trajectory of a Bryce Harper into the major leagues. Consider me a journeyman.

My winding journey opened with me traveling daily to a local police precinct along the Illinois River in Peoria. Then I shot back to New York City for another internship before finding my footing on nearby high school football fields and gymnasiums. My path, at one point, found me writing stories on Atlantic Coast leopard frogs and 12-point bucks as a highly-uninformed outdoors writer.

All the while, the mission was to acquire the tools necessary to get to the pros. And my first true crack at covering baseball came with the emergence of the Sussex County Miners, a new independent league team, which we at the New Jersey Herald, covered like a major league beat.

Then, the Herald's purchase and eventual merger with Gannett allowed me to spend the last year covering a wide variety of the metropolitan area's professional teams, including the Mets and Yankees last summer.

It has been my dream to immerse myself within a professional beat and uncover unique stories about the players and coaches who the fans devote themselves to. I hope I can provide a different perspective and an inside look to the state of the team and always keep the readers updated on the pulse of the players.

Thank you to the staff at The Record/NorthJersey.com for giving me that chance with the Mets.

I plan to dig into the stats to provide a deeper look at how the Mets are having success – or falling short – over the course of the season. And I'll offer my opinions as well.

With owner Steven Cohen pulling the strings, Buck Showalter in charge, and Max Scherzer joining forces with Jacob deGrom to give the team a combined five Cy Young awards, there's definitely some room for optimism heading into the 2022 season.

I cannot wait to share my first time out on the field and in the press box on Opening Day.

Andrew Tredinnick is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: atredinnick@gannett.com Twitter: @andrew_tred

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets writer Andrew Tredinnick takes over for 2022 MLB season