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| The Mets are willing to include cash in trades to secure better prospects, according to sources with knowledge of the teams thinking. Outfielder Jay Bruce, for example, currently is owed more than $5 million for the rest of the season a significant payroll bump for even a high-revenue club. Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, meanwhile, has a $2 million buyout on his $8.5 million club option. The Mets likely would pick that up, knowing they would pay it anyway. |
10th round pick out of high school.
goes on to tear up the lower minors with video game like numbers (other than the walks) and later switched to the bullpen and continued his dominance.
really hit the radar in A ball as a dominant 21 year old reliever/closer.
and then for some strange reason while dominating in A+ ball the Mets called him up for bullpen depth. From A+ to the majors.
he got shelled in his only appearance, really shelled.
they sent him down to AA afterwards and he was decent, the next year he struggled a little (not awful, but not the same dominance he had before) in AA then he was dealt for KJ.
I'm still not sure I understand how that all happened. I get there are 40-man crunches with who you can bring up, part of it probably had to do with Vegas being 6+ hour flight away and Bing closer to TOR (where he made his debut), but WTF?
good fastball, good changeup, and they dump him for a 37-year old journeyman? head-scratcher.
10th round pick out of high school.
goes on to tear up the lower minors with video game like numbers (other than the walks) and later switched to the bullpen and continued his dominance.
really hit the radar in A ball as a dominant 21 year old reliever/closer.
and then for some strange reason while dominating in A+ ball the Mets called him up for bullpen depth. From A+ to the majors.
he got shelled in his only appearance, really shelled.
they sent him down to AA afterwards and he was decent, the next year he struggled a little (not awful, but not the same dominance he had before) in AA then he was dealt for KJ.
I'm still not sure I understand how that all happened. I get there are 40-man crunches with who you can bring up, part of it probably had to do with Vegas being 6+ hour flight away and Bing closer to TOR (where he made his debut), but WTF?
good fastball, good changeup, and they dump him for a 37-year old journeyman? head-scratcher.
PJ, it was a very odd season for Morris this year too. The Braves have promoted several lesser options like Sam Freeman, Chaz Roe(traded), Jason Motte, Eric O'Flaherty's corpse, Rex Brothers, and Jason Hursh over Morris despite Morris pitching great in AAA.
It's a pipe dream but I wonder what Cleveland would ask for in exchange for C Francisco Mejia.
The Mets might just be trying to drive up Blevins' return by claiming he is no available. As for Salas there is no way any team is giving up anything of value for him.
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Yandy Diaz and Yu-Cheng Chang would be 2 guys I'd ask Cleveland about
It's a pipe dream but I wonder what Cleveland would ask for in exchange for C Francisco Mejia.
The absolute moon. He's a top 10 prospect in the game. I think he'd be close to untouchable for any realistic price.
I don't think he'd get a ton back in a trade to begin with, certainly not on his own, but in a package I'd include him in a heartbeat.
Not only did he turn into a pumpkin, he turned into a rotten, smashed pile of pumpkin sauce. He SUCKS. Edgin sucks. Ramirez sucks. Robles sucks. This is why no one should ever feel comfortable with a bullpen going into a new season. They're volatile and if I were a GM, I would ALWAYS be trying to stockpile good relievers.
I don't think he'd get a ton back in a trade to begin with, certainly not on his own, but in a package I'd include him in a heartbeat.
No one is untouchable except conforto and syndergaard
I trust Shecky when he says the 40-man roster is never an reason to trade someone.
the whole progression with Morris was bizarre from the call up to the trade and the fact they traded him for Kelly Johnson who likely had no other suitors was equally puzzling.
the Mets basically traded Morris, Whalen, and Gant for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. No stars in the trade (yet), but as Jay showed Whalen and Gant were flipped for other pieces or parts of packages flipped.
Sandy doesn't lose many trades, he lost that one.
Familia
Reed
Blevins
Robles
Salas
Sewald
Lugo
So what happened? Well. Injuries in the rotation robbed of us an excellent long man(Lugo was being heavily considered in the spring) we lost a top 5 closer that created a domino effect pushing everyone up a spot, Salas absolutely sucked, and Robles (still a top 50 reliever last year) gave us nothing.
A 1.2+ WHIP isn't what I want to see from a reliever I am relying on in leverage situations. The ERA isn't pretty but the FIP says it's not entirely accurate.
Sewald looks like he'll be a BP piece moving forward but I don't think he'll ever be an 8th or 9th inning guy - probably a valuable MRP. Which is fine.
A 1.2+ WHIP isn't what I want to see from a reliever I am relying on in leverage situations. The ERA isn't pretty but the FIP says it's not entirely accurate.
Sewald looks like he'll be a BP piece moving forward but I don't think he'll ever be an 8th or 9th inning guy - probably a valuable MRP. Which is fine.
Sewald basically got bombed twice. He's been much better of late. I agree he's not a closer but he should absolutely be a solid middle relief guy going forward and isn't that what we were talking about adding? A "Blanton type"?
As good as Bruce has been this year, he's still projected to barely be worth what the qualifying offer will cost in 2018. He's also having a "career year" of sorts, and certainly his first "good" year since 2013. I'd love to get any sort of prospect that we can for him.
The others would have cost more though in $$ or trades.
As it turned out the bullpen (my #2 concern coming in to the season - and they've been awful for a variety of reasons many already highlighted) was made irrelevant by the starting pitching injuries and poor performance.
The Mets are converting OF/IF prospect Jeff Diehl to pitcher full time. He made two appearances earlier this season and hit mid-90s.
Matz (NEVER healthy), Wheeler (at that point had missed 2 seasons), David Wright (nuff said) Jose Reyes (oft-injured, 34, long period of crappiness before coming back, fine as a total bench piece, not so much as the primary Wright insurance), Juan Lagares (always hurt), TDA (always hurt, not particularly good), Fernando Salas (solid run with the Mets second half last year, got him for free, was available as a FA in Feb), Seth Lugo (limited MLB success, not a knock just not a proven MLB talent at the time), Gsellman (similar though a pass on him as he was very, very good for a stretch), Robles (prone to stretches of being awful), Josh Edgin (oft injured, not particularly good in years), Matt Harvey...
Long story short instead of supplementing what they have the Mets like to "hope for the best" with these things. They acknowledged the need to improve the bullpen (tried for Brach) and then settled for a garbage back up option in Salas. They signed the fewest minor league FA's in baseball this past off-season (which left AA/AAA barren as well). They sit out waivers and Rule V. It's not always about money, it's about status quo and "good enough".
I just mean in addition to Sewald the Mets should have absolutely been in on guys like Holland as FA and some of the trade guys like Thornburg and it's not second guessing, Thornburg had TOS and missed the season. Didn't throw a pitch for the Red Sox. But my point is the approach.
It's overshadowed b/c of the other issues but I felt like the bullpen was an Achilles heel (if the starting pitching held up). We debated this all off-season and it's moot now.
Pitching is another story but we had the number one staff in baseball last year with a bunch of injuries last year too. We virtually went from first to last. Can you really fault Sandy for bringing back the number one staff top to bottom? Even if it was middle of the pack this year we are likely fighting for the wild card right now.
I think people always underestimate what losses to star players can do to a team. We had the head of the snake chopped off the rotation and the pen. Last year even the Dodgers meandered around .500 until Kershaw returned. It's just the reality of the game.
All due respect but Salas is 33 in May, Edgin 31 in December so that's not really a fair argument. They didn't exactly have a ton of young BP arms they rolled with and were wrong on.
Pitching is another story but we had the number one staff in baseball last year with a bunch of injuries last year too. We virtually went from first to last. Can you really fault Sandy for bringing back the number one staff top to bottom? Even if it was middle of the pack this year we are likely fighting for the wild card right now.
I think people always underestimate what losses to star players can do to a team. We had the head of the snake chopped off the rotation and the pen. Last year even the Dodgers meandered around .500 until Kershaw returned. It's just the reality of the game.
They could have had a better opportunity to tread water. This isn't revisionist either. People bitched about Ynoa and commented on Adam Wilk not being in the running for the pen because he was "needed" in case they needed SP. They even if the Mets were "more" healthy anyone with a brain saw SP depth being a real concern with Wheeler, Harvey, Matz all being injury concerns and very little behind them. Boscan? Wilk? Pill? Very strange inactive off-season and for some reason Sandy hates waivers.
Pitching is another story but we had the number one staff in baseball last year with a bunch of injuries last year too. We virtually went from first to last. Can you really fault Sandy for bringing back the number one staff top to bottom? Even if it was middle of the pack this year we are likely fighting for the wild card right now.
I think people always underestimate what losses to star players can do to a team. We had the head of the snake chopped off the rotation and the pen. Last year even the Dodgers meandered around .500 until Kershaw returned. It's just the reality of the game.
Other than defense, the lineup has been fine even through the injuries they've had, and if the starting pitching remained even close to intact I wasn't that concerned with the lineup.
I didn't expect league worst defensive infield but I did expect an OF shit show (until Conforto won a consistent role b/c I think he's more maligned defensively than he should be).
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Solid vet filler guys are usually worth about a half a win in a season. Something like that is what I expected from Salas if everything went right. Sewald' s on pace to clear a full win which would put him in the "top 50" range. His K/9 and BB/9 are excellent and like Arc already mentioned, his FIP screams he's better than his ERA. Obviously, it all counts, but outside of two performances Sewald has been excellent. Even with those appearances he's been pretty damn good for a rookie.
I just mean in addition to Sewald the Mets should have absolutely been in on guys like Holland as FA and some of the trade guys like Thornburg and it's not second guessing, Thornburg had TOS and missed the season. Didn't throw a pitch for the Red Sox. But my point is the approach.
It's overshadowed b/c of the other issues but I felt like the bullpen was an Achilles heel (if the starting pitching held up). We debated this all off-season and it's moot now.
The bottom line is they are reactive whereas a team like Boston is pro-active. Someone getting hurt and a gaping hole is when they decide they "need" to do something vs. adding depth for a rainy day and FAR too willing to hold onto crap for far too long.
The real issue has been 3B and SS. Cabrera is the biggest culprit. His regression was really bad this year and totally screwed us. Either way, you can't be too upset because Reyes could fill in and Rosario is on the cusp. Should get much better shortly.
The real issue has been 3B and SS. Cabrera is the biggest culprit. His regression was really bad this year and totally screwed us. Either way, you can't be too upset because Reyes could fill in and Rosario is on the cusp. Should get much better shortly.
Agree, the OF hasn't been bad, partly IMO because of Conforto, but the more I watch Cespedes in the OF he reminds me of a lesser hitting Manny Ramirez. He's quirky from a personality standpoint, but I'm not saying he's got the "manny being manny" vibe, but defensively he makes some awful reads and seemingly lazy plays.
I agree.
The fact that Gsellmen and Harvey stunk, along with Thor Matz and Lugo missing half of the season really hurt our bullpen depth too. We would've presumably had some extra depth with a healthier rotation.
It's really not clear where we stand asset wise right now because just about all of our pitchers are huge question marks. In a perfect world, Thor comes back and picks up where he left off. Gsellmen comes back and shows some of his 2016 form. Harvey comes back and looks good after having another round at rehab. Matz finds groove again. Familia comes back without diminished stuff. All of this stuff will affect the 2018 team a lot more than whatever marginal prospects we get in the next two weeks.
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Has actually been good defensively. Positive DRS and UZR. Duda has been fine at first.
The real issue has been 3B and SS. Cabrera is the biggest culprit. His regression was really bad this year and totally screwed us. Either way, you can't be too upset because Reyes could fill in and Rosario is on the cusp. Should get much better shortly.
Agree, the OF hasn't been bad, partly IMO because of Conforto, but the more I watch Cespedes in the OF he reminds me of a lesser hitting Manny Ramirez. He's quirky from a personality standpoint, but I'm not saying he's got the "manny being manny" vibe, but defensively he makes some awful reads and seemingly lazy plays.
I am prettty pissed off at Cespedes this year actually. You overlook those lazy plays in the OF when your hitting a wRC+ of 150. Not so much when you suck.
The fact that Gsellmen and Harvey stunk, along with Thor Matz and Lugo missing half of the season really hurt our bullpen depth too. We would've presumably had some extra depth with a healthier rotation.
It's really not clear where we stand asset wise right now because just about all of our pitchers are huge question marks. In a perfect world, Thor comes back and picks up where he left off. Gsellmen comes back and shows some of his 2016 form. Harvey comes back and looks good after having another round at rehab. Matz finds groove again. Familia comes back without diminished stuff. All of this stuff will affect the 2018 team a lot more than whatever marginal prospects we get in the next two weeks.
Holland got less money than Blevins I believe.
The fact that Gsellmen and Harvey stunk, along with Thor Matz and Lugo missing half of the season really hurt our bullpen depth too. We would've presumably had some extra depth with a healthier rotation.
It's really not clear where we stand asset wise right now because just about all of our pitchers are huge question marks. In a perfect world, Thor comes back and picks up where he left off. Gsellmen comes back and shows some of his 2016 form. Harvey comes back and looks good after having another round at rehab. Matz finds groove again. Familia comes back without diminished stuff. All of this stuff will affect the 2018 team a lot more than whatever marginal prospects we get in the next two weeks.
Joe Smith, Uehera, Storen... the point is they almost always "hope for the best" vs. gambling and being wrong. They gambled on multiple injury prone players suddenly being healthy. Wright/Matz/Harvey/Wheeler being the most egregious.
The Mets considering Blevins untouchable right now makes sense to me, not because Blevins is a remarkable player but because he is that much better than what they've been able to find for similar money.
The front office hasn't been the most proactive group. They havn't made too many serious blunders either and most moves are generally competent but I don't really get the sense that they have a real vision for the team.