NFT: Mets Jason Vargas

:)

In comment 13875018 ZGiants98 said:

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1.) Nimmo L 2.) Cabrera S 3.) Cespedes R 4.) Bruce L 5.) Frazier R 6.) A Gone L 7.) TDA/Plaw R 8.) Rosario R To me that's a "good" but not "great" lineup. Middle of the pack... If our pitching holds up that should be enough to carry us. The good news is by late May/June Smith may have replaced AGone, Conforto should be back and have pushed Nimmo to the bench making it stronger, and TJ Rivera could be a bench option again. The lineup has the potential to evolve and get better as the year goes on. Especially if what the catchers have been doing lately is legit. Im excited to watch this play out but Im betting there are some growing pains early.

Gonzalez bats 7th imo. I would say Bruce to 1B when Conforto returns but they just aren�t playing him there any.

Justin Turner hit by a pitch last night and broke his wrist. out indefinitely.

the Mets injury curse now extends to ex-mets. If I was Daniel Murphy I would watch my step today.

Is Dave in DC, right?

In comment 13875440 figgy2989 said:

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Is Dave in DC, right?

Is it? He absolutely hated me so if that's the case I know who to avoid. Not bout dat life anymore lol.

in the 6th spot. He shouldn�t even be on the team but if he has to, you bat him eighth.

for Las Vegas.

and get a placeholder like Lind

In comment 13875009 ZGiants98 said:

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But I just dont think any really offer more than the upside AGone and Smith provide. At this point, AGone needs reps to get ready for the season and Smith does too if he ever gets healthy. If the plan was to go with them then you might as well ride it out a little longer because 15 spring training games or so isnt really going to tell us anything. It would have been nice if it was a real competition but Smith's injury ruined that. Now Smith has to go to Vegas and start his spring training virtually from scratch and we'll see what AGone has left when the games start for real. Worst case scenario, we still have options in place like Bruce, Flores, and eventually TJ Rivera if everything completely bombed. I'm content riding it out for a little longer.

Not arguing that Adam Lind is the answer, but he did OPS .900 v. RHP last year. A-Gone is gone, he just looks shot, so I would be open to a Lind/Flores platoon until Smith is ready.

too, if anything get a RH batting veteran 1B (or just temporarily start Flores there, so should Dom breakout and either remain in the majors or warrant a call up you can at least have a lefty/righty platoon with Smith getting most starts there.

Having another LH batting 1B just means it's really one or the other. Or that Smith is really just blocked all year.

was the move that should have been made. Perfect fit. Oh Well.

In comment 13875589 DanMetroMan said:

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was the move that should have been made. Perfect fit. Oh Well.

He was the best gamble in FA. If he can ever get back to what he was a just a year and a half ago he would have been an awesome and versatile piece.

In comment 13875589 DanMetroMan said:

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was the move that should have been made. Perfect fit. Oh Well.

He was realllllly bad last year. Both of our catchers look OK in camp. I'm relatively optimistic that we'll get some production from that spot.

Would've been much better IMO to sign Carlos Santana rather than Jay Bruce IMO.

Re Lou Roy. FO always had a man crush on him, yet never seriously considered him this winter. Says everything you need to know.

In comment 13875615 Metnut said:

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In comment 13875589 DanMetroMan said: Quote: was the move that should have been made. Perfect fit. Oh Well. He was realllllly bad last year. Both of our catchers look OK in camp. I'm relatively optimistic that we'll get some production from that spot. Would've been much better IMO to sign Carlos Santana rather than Jay Bruce IMO.

Doesn't matter how bad he was last year. He was a 1 year 6.5 million gamble to split time at 1b/C and potentially platoon with Dom if Dom showed he was ready. Carlos Santana wasn't an option given the budget. Lucroy was.

in 2016 123 OPS+, maybe he's finished but one awful season at 31 doesn't = it's over. As bad as Lucroy was in 2017 he still outhit Gonzalez who is 36, lefty and can only play one position.

.

In comment 13876018 Shecky said:

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.

.

Jose dropped it :(

But a clean inning

Pound him outside, keeps going with the pitch, take what they give you. For an RBI.
With that said, I have no clue who this pitcher is lol

is Gone Gone, right?

No way they go into the season with that black hole at 1B, right?

Harvey gives up a HR to Dejong in the 5th.

A-gone HR, opposite field

A-Gone, goes deep, 2 run HR off a righty.

ditch A-gone, make Flores everyday 1B until Smith comes up.

Sewald off the hook. i think he's a lock for the pen, but I wouldn't be too comfortable if I was him.

But... �it�s only spring training�

In comment 13876264 pjcas18 said:

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A-Gone, goes deep, 2 run HR off a righty. ditch A-gone, make Flores everyday 1B until Smith comes up.

That makes too much sense.

Duck, incoming from TDA!!!

Officially fine. And no longer in his head either

Harvey with another nice game... Offense explosion today! :)

Monster spring. Is this finaly the year??

In comment 13876297 Section331 said:

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In comment 13876264 pjcas18 said: Quote: A-Gone, goes deep, 2 run HR off a righty. ditch A-gone, make Flores everyday 1B until Smith comes up. That makes too much sense.

Why not just platoon them for a few weeks. If AGone can�t hit that will sort itself out. He�s actually hit safely in 4 of his last 5 spring games.

we finally cut bait on Montero.

In comment 13876721 spike said:

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we finally cut bait on Montero.

He's had an awful spring after finally showing some promise last season at times but why is everyone so obsessed with him? He's like the 7th or 8th guy in the pen/long man at best. We have 3-4 quality starting pitching options after whichever 5 make up the "5"... the pen has about 5-10 guys in the upper minors that should be making an assault on the pen as the year goes on (Rhame, Bashlor, D Smith, Bautista, C Taylor, etc)

If Montero is our biggest problem, we are in for a hell of a good year.

Montero gets DFA or traded at this point and Gsellman and Lugo both have shots of making the backend of the pen. It will be interesting when Vargas gets back to see what they do.

Does Vargas push Wheeler to AAA or the pen and if its the pen does Lugo or Gsellman go back to AAA to start?

Does Wheeler show enough in a start or two for them to consider Vargas in a very expensive Darren Oliver role?

Familia
Swarzak
Ramos
Blevins
Sewald
Gsellman
Lugo

with Rhame a shot if they go with a 4 man bench until Conforto returns.

Ramos scares the shit out of me. He looks like garbage.

He was a top reliever in 2015 and 2016 and he has a ton of closing experience. Velocity and everything seem there this spring. If you dive into the numbers he's your typical tightrope guy. His ERA ALWAYS outperforms his FIP. He's just one of those relievers that's a little wild, will put a runner or two on but seems to get out of it when the pressure is at it's highest (John Franco). He's supposed to stress you out. lol

I'd be concerned if he was our closer like he was for the Marlins the last few seasons but we have Familia back and Swarzak was a top 10 reliever in the sport last year (including closers). At best, Ramos is a guy who can fill in and give Familia a blow from time to time but I really dont see him being much more than the 7th inning guy which is a massive upgrade from Salas heading into last season.

Ramos was bad when he came over here (1.632 WHIP is downright ugly) last year and he's been bad this spring.

Doesn't instill much confidence as a guy who is going to be pitching in high leverage situations on a regular basis.

If he can round back into form, great - but I haven't seen it so far this spring. He looks like the same crappy reliever that came over last year.

He gives up hits and walks guys. He's also a bit wild. That's never going to change. Yet he still finished his crappy year, which was a lost season for both the Marlins and then the Mets by the time he came over, with an ERA in the 3s. Something he always seems to do (or better). HIs ERA always outperforms his FIP. I'm an FIP guy all day but sometimes with relievers you'll find guys like this. Again, when I'm comparing him to somebody like Salas last year I'm pretty A.O.K.

You also have a ton of upside guys right beneath him. The pen is going to evolve as the year goes on. Ramos will dictate what happens with him. He'll either stay in the 7th inning role or he'll get replaced with a Rhame or somebody like that before long if he's struggling. What happens if Wheeler is back in the pen week 2? Is Ramos still the 7th inning guy? We'll see. The pen is something we are going to have to watch unfold a little bit but it has plenty of talent with some proven guys at the end which you want.

Im happy with it. It's also never that difficult to add another reliever at the deadline but with so many excess options right now I think it's prudent to see what we have. You cant really say the bullpen wasn't a focal point. We've added about 10 guys since the deadline last year for both now and the future.

TDA with a 1.147 OPS
Flores with a .992 OPS
Nimmo .946 OPS
Evans .932 OPS (legit shot to make team)
Cespedes .894 OPS
Rosario .876 OPS
Guillorme .863 OPS
Cecchini .833 OPS
Bruce .824 OPS
Cabrera .778 OPS
Plawecki .776 OPS


Really only hitters of note not having good springs are AGone, Frazier, and Reyes and even they have shown life lately. It's also completely normal for a few guys to be cold over a few week samp,e in baseball.

For the life of me I cant understand why. He had a brutal second half (4.99 FIP) and didnt perform well against righties at all (4.48 FIP).

He's another guy that's wild and puts a lot of runners on but get's out of it because he's a big K guy. I really don't see much difference between Holland and Ramos over the last few years. Only difference is Holland has a draft pick, IFA pool money, etc attached to him. There's a reason nobody has signed Holland.

When was the last Mets Spring Training without at least one pulled oblique?

In comment 13876572 ZGiants98 said:

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Why not just platoon them for a few weeks. If AGone can�t hit that will sort itself out. He�s actually hit safely in 4 of his last 5 spring games.

That's fair, my concern is that they will give A-Gone too much rope, and he'll still be starting in late May with a .400 OPS.

In comment 13876963 Shecky said:

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When was the last Mets Spring Training without at least one pulled oblique?

Kiss of death

he overslept one day, pulled his quad the next day, I haven't heard from him in a month since then.

Have i just missed him or has that quad turned into gang green or something.

In comment 13876966 PhiPsi125 said:

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In comment 13876963 Shecky said: Quote: When was the last Mets Spring Training without at least one pulled oblique? Kiss of death

Astros playoffs odds are the highest in the history of fangraphs 25.5%

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Anthony DiComo ‏Verified account @AnthonyDiComo Michael Conforto (rehabbing from shoulder surgery) just jacked a second homer in a minor league scrimmage, also off a lefty: Daniel Zamora, whom the Mets acquired this winter for Josh Smoker. This one landed just to the right of straightaway center field.

In comment 13877851 pjcas18 said:

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Quote: Anthony DiComo ‏Verified account @AnthonyDiComo Michael Conforto (rehabbing from shoulder surgery) just jacked a second homer in a minor league scrimmage, also off a lefty: Daniel Zamora, whom the Mets acquired this winter for Josh Smoker. This one landed just to the right of straightaway center field.

Fuck yes. I wonder if he'll be ready be mid-April.

I really hope that Bruce is getting time at 1B because we have a black hole their at the moment and if Nimmo looks the part to start the year in CF, we're not going to want to bench him.

but I havent seen or heard of Bruce doing much there.
Conforto has always been way ahead of schedule - team just won't talk about it. thats why it was mentioned over a month ago...
Coming into camp, they wanted Nimmo as the 4th OF. All this spring has done for some, is prove he is ready for the role. Others that are newer, want him in CF...
They truly expect Gonzo to be adequate at 1B, and dom has almost fallen off the radar unfortunately. Alonso is far from ready, but they got a great look at him...