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3/29/13

Mack Ade - Is 2015 the Real 2014?


Some thoughts on enhancing/speeding up the future:

          -timing is everything… program back the Santana announcement two weeks and the so-called cash rich Mets could have made a run at Kyle Lohse. The Santana, Marcum, and Mejia injuries should remind us just how much wear and tear there is on a pitchers arm that has reached this level. How many pitchers have they thrown since grade school? How many arm breaking curves?

          -we all know that 2015 looks bright with the likes on Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero added to the current due of Matt Harvey and Jon Niese, but that’s two seasons from now. Is Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner, Cory Mazzoni, Jenrry Mejia and Aaron Laffey going to be enough?

          - here’s where your free agent money comes in… continue to target outfielders, but why not step up and make the future a lot easier by signing a durable tested pitcher like Adam Wainwright (long healed from TJS), or Tim Lincecum. In addition, there are others with past injuries (Josh Johnson, Jacoby Ellsbury, Roy Halladay, Matt Garza) that could be offered an incentive laden shot term contract. What I’m saying is there will be talent out there to fill in the 2014 cracks while 2015 develops.

7 comments:

  1. I'm still bullish on 2014.

    The rotation will have its Top 3 in Harvey, Niese, and Wheeler. The FO will have a placeholder until Syndergaard is ready and will sign a Marcum-like for #5.

    The lineup will feature Wright, Davis, d'Arnaud, and Tejada. Over the next 12 months I really believe that with the money coming off the books, the potential for trade deadline deals to expand the talent pool, and the Mets' young depth (majors and minors) adding two very good OFers is not only reasonable, it should be expected. We should see a pretty substantial transformation of the roster coming up. I think whatever happens at the deadline will be a harbinger of things to come. If Sandy aggressively moves non-essential pieces for young talent, the 2013-14 offseason should be the most busy for the Mets in recent memory.

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  2. Mack - I tend to agree that 2015 will represent th"The Promised Land" more than 2014 because of emergence of Syndergaard, Fulmer, Montero & Tapia.

    We also need time to integrated free agents in 2014 & 2015, so the team looks more like a TEAM.

    Very sorry that Johan is done, but I'm just as glad to close the chapter on big, failed contracts on players with performance questions be they physical, like Johan, or mental, like Bay.

    It's actually quite nice to be looking at Omar, Madoff & ugly contracts in the rear-view mirror.

    In time, we'll learn to appreciate Omar for his actual contributions, such as bringing in Ike, Harvey, Murphy, etc... Over time, we'll see the wisdom of Sandy's draft picks, such as Nimmo & Cecchini.

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  3. Reason you don't go and spent big money on one of those players is because essentially you risk committing long term dollars to a player that will break down and not live to that contract, just as the Mets have done with Johan Santana and Jason Bay. It is best to stay the course and look for other options, maybe players that did not make other teams 40-man rosters, just as we got Hefner a few years back. The need to find short-term, low cost solutions until we are able to bring up our pitching prospects.

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  4. FYI - Wainwright just signed an extension with the Cards.

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  5. So did Verlander and Posey...

    the days of quality free agents may be over

    build from within

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  6. That's going to take savvy deal-making (check) and great scouting/drafting (not so good).

    What would it take for the Mets to just import all of Tampa Bay's scouting department?

    On a more serious note, there's a player development exec out there named Mike Arbuckle who I'd love to see the Mets bring in.

    I'm not sure how he'd mesh with Sandy and Co., but he's done nothing but oversee great farm systems. He's currently with Kansas City (Myers, Moustakas, Hosmer, etc.) and before helped build the Braves' player development in the 90's and then worked under Pat Gillick in Philly to help them grow their 2008 WS team.

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  7. Mike:

    My pick would have been an old Yankee player named Carlos Gomez but he was just hired somewhere else as the head of scouting

    we used to sit together at Grayson stadium 5-6 years ago

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