Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo
News: The Mets have designated Darin Ruf for assignment. Tim Locastro wins the team's final bench spot.
How are we feeling?
Are we okay with Robertson being the defacto closer?
Do you think Buck will go more to a hotspot approach....more effective relief pitcher in high intensity/leverage situations in the 6th, 7th or 8th?
How do we feel about Alvarez, Baty & Mauricio as the season progresses? Do they get their shots organically if doing well in the minors or do they come up becasue of injury/bad play?
this is awful. Its going to be a rough year for umpires with all the new rules and pitch clock.
May OPS = .593
June OPS = .596
July OPS = .706
August OPS = .458
He was a baaaaaad player for most of the year and the biggest reason we didn’t win the division. It was fun watching him go nuts at the end of the season, but too little too late. If it happens again, they have to call up Baty quickly. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
the way he got there was maddening and right up until he got hurt we were saying he needed to be replaced, which he may have been had guillorme and baty not then also gotten hurt. but once he turned it on he had a number of big hits and for a team lacking power he hit 20+ homers as he'd done in his 3 prior full years. and he had a decent k-rate while hitting pretty close to his career average.
it ended up that he is what he was when they signed him, a slightly better than replacement level 2.5-3 war-ish placeholder. that's still a pretty high bar for any rookie, and maybe there's even some upside on what he did last year if he doesnt start as cold and tracks closer to the .250ish 23-35 homer player he'd been in 18/19/21.
like i said above, the guy who i think really stands to lose a prominent role is vogelbach because despite numbers that look better than escobars on the topline, his significant weaknesses make them worse than they appear. he can only hit against righties and in a career year where he was sheltered to the max he hit fewer homers, drove in fewer runs, had a slightly lower ba, struck out more, and obviously brings 0 on the base paths/defensively. some of his rates on those stats may have been slightly higher than escobars but as a met his isolated slugg% was lower.
so there was only 1 thing vogey was much better at and that was walking. but what good is a walk when the guy then gets stuck on 1b because he's as slow as vogelbach is? the odds of him scoring on base hits, even extras, are a lot lower than a typical player. his best role is probably an occasional DH against a tough righty and off the bench late game in the right situation where you can then pinch run for him if he walks. with some combo of baty/escobar/vientos fill most of the ABs at 3b/dh.
i didnt watch much wbc so not familiar with him, but this kind of screams cohen.
May OPS = .593
June OPS = .596
July OPS = .706
August OPS = .458
He was a baaaaaad player for most of the year and the biggest reason we didn’t win the division. It was fun watching him go nuts at the end of the season, but too little too late. If it happens again, they have to call up Baty quickly. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Buck mentioned that Escobar was dealing with a “personal issue” last season, and feels his Sept was closer to the player he is than he showed the rest of the year. I’m skeptical, but if he has a bad April/May, Baty will be up to at least be part of a platoon.
I would have liked to see Baty make the OD roster, but the most important thing for him is to get reps. I’m not going to lose sleep if those reps are in Syracuse for a month or two.
Quote:
RP Yariel Rodriguez has defected. Was very impressive in the WBC. I’d be very interested.
i didnt watch much wbc so not familiar with him, but this kind of screams cohen.
He’s now in DR. Presumably he will have to be granted residency/cleared before being declared a FA aka im unclear on his timeline but his stuff is pretty nasty
@MBrownstein89
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11m
Yariel Rodriguez posted a 39.3 whiff% in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
I believe he has already in the process of defecting (he’s in a third country) so wonder how quickly things can move?
Quote:
players can freely pay in Japan for a 10% fee paid to the Cuban government. Cuban players must first defect to a third country in order to play in the US. The prime Cuban/Japanese arm people have been waiting on is Livan Moinelo (played with Senga, legit MLB closer's stuff)
I believe he has already in the process of defecting (he’s in a third country) so wonder how quickly things can move?
I wouldn't claim to be anywhere near an expert on the process. It seems convoluted to me. I've reached out to Phil Selig on twitter (he's an authority on Cuban baseball) so we'll see what he has to say (if he responds).
He posted this earlier
"Cuba Dugout: Phil Selig
@CubaDugout
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1h
wasn’t sure if he was content w his role in NPB perhaps w all the shine after WBC performance now is the time to explore MLB. If he waits until next period bonus could lead but if signs when 1st eligible could be in bigs much sooner"
The K Korner, which will operate in the former McFadden’s location on Seaver Way, opens to fans on April 6 for the home opener! Fans can enjoy food and beverages at The K Korner before, during and after ALL home games this season.
Quote:
players can freely pay in Japan for a 10% fee paid to the Cuban government. Cuban players must first defect to a third country in order to play in the US. The prime Cuban/Japanese arm people have been waiting on is Livan Moinelo (played with Senga, legit MLB closer's stuff)
I believe he has already in the process of defecting (he’s in a third country) so wonder how quickly things can move?
hopefully as fast as cohen's g6.
@JeffPassan
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27m
Second baseman Andrés Giménez and the Cleveland Guardians are finalizing a long-term contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Giménez, 24, was a first-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner last year and put up 7.4 Wins Above Replacement -- a star-level season.
@JeffPassan
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27m
Second baseman Andrés Giménez and the Cleveland Guardians are finalizing a long-term contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Giménez, 24, was a first-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner last year and put up 7.4 Wins Above Replacement -- a star-level season.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
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20s
Andrés Giménez's contract extension with the Guardians will be for seven years and $106.5 million and includes a club option for the 2031 season, sources tell ESPN. The deal starts next year and covers Giménez's three arbitration years and potentially five free agent seasons.
I hated to see him in that trade. Don't regret getting Lindor, but would have loved to have seen them get it done without trading Gimenez. Then they likely never trade PCA for Baez as well
not monday morning QB-ing and again no regrets, but...
still a trade id probably do again. gimenez had his best case outcome rapidly and is still only = to lindor. his BABIP was .350 last year which likely isn't sustainable so he's probably due for a little regression offensively, and while he had already clearly showed himself to be a good SS who knows if he would have been as good as lindor is. so the mets paid more $ for an equal or better player who at the time was a much more certain bet.
the rest of that deal ended up pretty insignificant. i would think league wide rosario and carrasco are roughly comparable in value with some teams choosing one and others choosing the other. both were worth exactly 2.4 fwar last year, are entering the last year of their current deals, and even make comparable $. wolf isn't in FG's top 50 and green is #41 in the cleveland system.
so it ended up lindor @ 11x363m for gimenez on a 9x108m counting the years for both pre-extensions. in 3 or 4 years when lindor starts getting more into his 30's it may not look great so he's got to keep throwing up borderline mvp seasons now.
PHUQ!