Mack Ade – Morning Report – 10-4-13 – Cleveland, John Sickles, Forbes, 1B, Mets Infield

 

Let’s take a look at the Indians, who have been eliminated from the playoffs:

Their 2013 payroll was $80,605,733, a 23% increase from their 2012 payroll of $65,430,300.

All of this was due to the addition of two long term contracts, 1B Nick Swisher and CF Michael Bourn.

SS Asdrubal Cabrera ($10mi) contract expires at the end of the 2014 season, as does IF Mike Aviles ($3.5mil) and P Trevor Bauer ($1.183mil). 2B Ryan Rayburn’s at the end of the 2015 season and C Carlos Santana ends the following year (2016 - $8.450).

Free agents this year include P Brett Myers, P Ulbaldo Jiminez, RP and ex-Met Joe Smith and LHP and ex-Met Scott Kazmir.

Prospect wise, their #1 is SS Francisco Linder who will be MLB ready in 2014, making Cabrera expendable. 

                Mack – A couple of things here… there actually is a shortstop situation here that could help serve the Mets. Either Cabrera or Linder could be available for the right pitching prospects. Also, free agent wise, there is no one David Wright would rather sit next to on the plane when the team travels than Kazmir. He could be a cheap 2-year plan.

 

John Sickles end of the year prospect ranking list –

                11) Noah Syndergaard, RHP, New York Mets. Pre-season 22, July 11. I can’t very well drop his stock given strong Double-A performance. One of my personal favorites.

                24) Travis D'Arnaud, C, New York Mets. Pre-season 13, July 22. Just needs to play.

                50) Rafael Montero, RHP, New York Mets. Unranked pre-season; July 50. Finished with a run of brilliance at Las Vegas; could rank higher when all is said and written.

                                Mack – It’s great to see Montero this high on his list. He impressed a lot of skeptics after  what he did in Las Vegas during the last 45 days of the season. As we’ve discussed ad nauseum, you will most probably not see him on opening day in Queens (March 31, 2014 vs. Washington Nationals). You will see Zack Wheeler, Dillon Gee, and Jon Niese and then some 2-pitcher combination of Jenrry Mejia, Carlos Torres, new guy, Johan Santana, Dice-K, another new guy. Montero should hit Queens at least a month before Syndergaard and, by the end of July, you could have quite a rotation going here, even with Matt Harvey on the shelf.

 

Forbes Magazine –

•The Mets’ woes at the gate continue. While there were initial glimmers of hope, the club finished down 107,146 in paid attendance over last season, 21st in the league.

Mack – This actually was a little better than I thought it would be. The Mike Piazza Day proved that there is a positive fan base for the Mets. You can fill up that stadium if you give the fans a quality product plus a team that competes for a playoff spot. The quickest way of paying for new ballplayers is the turnstyles turning.

 

Jorge Castillo –

                                But the most intriguing storyline is probably what the club will do at first base. There are two obvious options currently on the roster: Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. “I don’t think we’ll make a decision in a vacuum,” Alderson said Monday at Citi Field. “We’ll look at what our other options are. This is not about, well, Player A vs. Player B necessarily. It could end up that way. And there are certain scenarios where both of those players, Davis and Duda, would be back with the organization. I just can’t give you any sort of definitive answer.”

                                                Mack – Like the SP1, this is a mess that was supposed to be a solid, put-to-bed, positive situation. No one has any idea which one of these guys, if either, get another chance. I will tell you this… both of these guys are not going to be on the 25-mn come opening day. It will be one or none, with the other either in Vegas or traded.

 

Michael Scannell  -

With all the chatter recently, it seems the entire IF could be in for a facelift (much needed) sans Wright.  Talk about trading for Kendrick or moving EYJ to 2B coupled with the news that the Mets are willing to listen on Murphy puts Daniel's future in doubt.  If his trade value has truly increased dramatically over the last year, this might be a chance to sell high.

I'm wondering if Detroit would be a potential partner.  They have Infante hitting free agency and have had interest in Murphy in seasons past.  I'm thinking about a Murphy + (Familia?) deal for Castellanos.  The Mets could then use Castellanos in a package to Colorado for CarGo or Tulo (or BOTH) as it seems they want hitting prospects as well as pitching.  Castellanos is one of the top hitting prospects in the game and would likely entice Colorado a bit more than Flores or Puello.

If the Mets made a move like this, it would allow them to bring on an additional team to facilitate a Rox trade as well as use Murphy as part of a package to increase the power in the lineup, albeit in a roundabout way.  What are your thoughts?

                Mack – To be honest Michael, I’m not thrilled with anyone in the infield other than David Wright. I’m willing to live with Daniel Murphy or give Eric Young Jr. a chance here (you have to make room for someone that led the league in stolen bases, right?), and I’m expecting big things from Travis d’Arnaud, but so far it’s all talk.

You always have a great bunch of ideas and I love the ones involving young prospects like Joc Peterson and Castellanos, but the Mets need now a real baseball player to hit 4^th after Wright.

I want that deal done first and I really don’t care what it would cost the team in young pitching.

Troy Tulowitzki tables all these other scenarios. It’s going to cost you Zack Wheeler so consider it a Beltran for Tulo deal.

You’re taking on 100% of the contract, so it shouldn’t cost you much more. In fact, it coul be a nice place to dump a few duds like Tejada, Duda and/or Davis.

You still have Niese and Gee, Syndergaard and Montero coming in July, and Harvey in 2015.You also have plenty of money left now o go out and get an SP1 via the FA market.

Same horse beating.

 

Sam Dykstra –

Carolina League - Miss: Courtney Hawkins, Winston-Salem – The 19-year-old outfielder was pushed back to Class A Advanced ball for his first full season after reaching the level at the end of 2012. Though he exhibited some nice raw power with 19 homers, he struggled to make contact, striking out 37.6 percent of the time for Winston-Salem. He only put up a .178/.249/.384 slash line as well and is likely to head back to the Dash next season.

                Mack – See, I told you it was good that the Mets didn’t draft this guy  :)

 

Toby Hyde –

I no longer view Vaughn as a potential everyday contributor for the Mets. The move to AA really exposed him. His strikeout rate of 26.5% in AA this year was his highest at any minor league stop, while his walk rate of 8.2% was his lowest…

                Mack – I agree.

 

Mike Kerwick –

                As the Mets make their initial preparations for the 2014 season, the issue is how they plan to deploy those talented young arms. In Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom, the Mets have three men with the potential to crack the big league rotation before the end of next season. "We’ve got excellent pitching, as everyone knows, at the minor league level," Mets GM Sandy Alderson said earlier this week. "But I’d be a little uncomfortable relying on either the young guys or an injured player filling those last two spots at the beginning of a season knowing how you can go through starting pitching over the course of a season." - http://www.northjersey.com/sports/226415181_Well-armed_Mets_have_more_on_way_have_more_on_way.html#sthash.mDWvYzwo.dpuf

                                Mack – Beat reporters know in their gut that they need to keep these names out there just in case the Matt Harvey news is bad and Zack Wheeler is traded for a premium bat. Good strategy.

 

Kristie Ackert -

                Marlon Byrd would love to return to the Mets this winter, the Pirates outfielder tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.  After Byrd was traded to the Buccos in August, Byrd talked to Mets GM Sandy Alderson and told him "thank you for the opportunity at the beginning of the year and thank you for the opportunity to play for a winner.  I told him, ‘If you want me back, I would love to come back.’ ”  Byrd credits the Mets for giving him an opportunity to revive his career after serving a 50-game PED suspension last year. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/10/nl-east-links-cishek-byrd-ausmus-phillies.html

                                Mack – What do you think? One down, one to go?