According to Kristie Ackert of the NY Daily News, word out of Orlando from other GM's seems to be that General Manager Sandy Alderson has come out aggressive to start the GM Meetings. The club's front office has already sat down and discussed a potential trade between the Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Ike Davis. According to Andy Martino, No deal is imminent at this time as the Brewers will likely search the Free Agent market before the trade market. On the flip side, Alderson prefers to be patience and let the thin 1B free agent market increase Davis' trade value as the off-season wears on.
(Sounds like the same game plan Sandy had when he held onto Marlon Byrd at the trade deadline and then STOLE Victor Black and Dilson Herrera from the Pirates in August. This is the correct strategy and one that will pay dividends. The fact of the matter is that the 1B market is in fact EXTREMELY thin. Once you get past Napoli and Morales (both who require forfeiting a 1st round pick) the next best options are James Loney, Corey Hart, and Justin Morneau, all of which only possess 15+ HR power and/or are injury prone.)
On top of a potential Ike Davis trade, Adam Rubin reported that about 5-6 teams have inquired about fellow 1B Lucas Duda. American League teams view Duda as a wonderful fit to fill their DH role. Duda is arbitration eligible this off-season due to his Super 2 status and is expected to earn $1.8M which is still about half of salary that Ike Davis is expected to garner.
(This opens up an interesting scenario. If the teams receives offers for both Duda and Davis, do you trade them both and open up 1B for Wilmer Flores? It would save about $5.3M which could be used towards signing a front end pitcher looking to rebound such as Josh Johnson.)
Lastly, according to NY Daily News sources, RP LaTroy Hawkins is expected to return to the Mets for the 2014 season. The source states that "No numbers have been discussed, but Sandy Alderson made the call to Hawkins’ representatives.....Sandy usually makes the call when they are getting close to make a deal. Usually at the beginning they have other guys making the call. It’s a sign that they are serious about this.”
(This process is similar to what Mack stated yesterday so it sounds like Hawkins is a shoe-in for the 2014 bullpen as he should be. He'll bring extremely valuable experience to a 'pen that is expected to have a lot of young guys in it.)
31 comments:
I go back and forth on Davis. I'd really love to see him put it together here, and think that he could, but also feel like he really might need a change of scenery, and that a slow first week or two in NY in '14 could send him into another death spiral. I'd be listening to offers for him, but could live with giving him another shot - rather than give him away for next to nothing, if that's what it comes to.
Good news on Hawkins.
Leave him alone and let him play first base.
Leave him alone and let him play first base. Just sign two other guys to hit 4th and 5th and take the pressure off him.
What's with all the duda love? The guy hasn't done anything in his career.. At least Davis dropped 30+ bombs in a season. Lock up grandy man, peralta and swing a deal for cuddyer to play LF and you have a nice little team.
c. D'arnaud
1b. Davis
2b. Murphy
3b. Wright
Ss. Peralta
LF. Cuddyer
Cf. grandy
Rf. lagares/dan dekker
While I agree,
Grandy would not be in CF, Lagares has that on lock down. Only Ellsbury would replace him there.
I'm still not sold on losing a draft pick for Granderson. I'd prefer Choo or Cruz over him.
Grandys playing cf. lagares and dan dekker can platoon in a difficult right field at citi field
Plus choo is looking for 100mil+ and he's useless against lhp. Last time I looked, hitting lefties... Especially in the nl east is extremely important
ok but why would you replace a CF who's UZR was 21.5 in 819 Innings supported by an 11 Run Saved Arm with an OF who's UZR was -18.1 in 1364 2012 innings supported by a -1 Runs Saved Arm.
Makes absolutely no sense. You extrapolate Lagares' defensive metrics across a full year starting he ends up being worth 35.8 defensive runs saved. That alone is worth 4.0 WAR. You realize Lagares posted a 3.7 WAR this season just off of defense alone.
in 1364 Innings.
I have no idea what any of those numbers mean. Cool stats bro, but when you have a proven 30+ home run guy and he's play centerfield the majority of his career, you keep him there, especially in New York. Cue Carlos Beltran/mike Cameron debacle. Plus right field is bigger in citi field which gives lagares more room to roam free... That's if he's still with the big club by June. Good outfield defense comes at a dime a dozen. Defensives whizzes are fourth outfielders at best. Not starters on a playoff team. Name me one "UZR" heavy starting outfielder who didn't bring a stick to the table on a good club? Ya can't cause outfield defense stats are overrated
You obviously did not watch much baseball this season. Lagares was a defensive god send for the team this year and got to so many fly balls that very few OF could have gotten to.
Defensive Metrics overrated?
Tell that to Gerado Parra (+31.1), Shane Victorino (+24.0), Lorenzo Cain (+20.0), AJ Pollack (+17.4), Colby Rasmus (+11.2), Denard Span (10.2), Jacoby Ellsbury (+10.0).
All players who don't possess Big Sticks but are still worth above starter levels in wins due to their defense.
Trust me I watch and know more baseball then you ever will. Throwing useless stats out doesn't make you any smarter. Two of those guys were on playoff teams, victorino and ellsbury. Two guys who actually can swing it. Outstanding defense works behind the dish and at shortstop. Give me a mediocre defense of guys who can mash and get timely hits over "wizards" like lagares any day. Anybody can play defense in professional baseball, it's those who can hit who actually make a difference
This is far from the truth....these are not useless stats they are the primary ways front offices measure a player's defensive abilities.
You say you watch more baseball then me. Then tell me.....what was the two most important things that decided every postseason series. Hitting? Of course not. It was pitching and defensive play.
The Cardinals lost 2 World Series games to Poor Defensive play.
Davis will most likely be part of any deal to bring back Cuddyer. They're both not going to be here,
1. Usually when people start to talk about UZR and WAR and FIP, I start to nod off...I miss the days when people decided who was good at baseball by watching games...
2. You can't shift a great CF to RF and replace him with a shitty CF, just because the new CF is a better hitter. Thats crazy....The Cameron/Beltran thing was totally different. Both were still great in the field. Granderson isn't a good CF anymore. If they sign him, he will be in RF.
I miss your writing...
This is actually one area I still have faith in Sandy. He has two assets that the market apparently values, he'll allow the other options tick off first, leaving him in the catbird seat to get the best return for both. I agree with Hobie, I think Cuddyer will be the 1B next year.
If Sandy can get Cuddyer and maximize return on Davis and Duda then I think this is a win for the Mets.
For those who think Duda's terrible and can't understand why a team would want him - over the last 3 years he's an .800+ OPS when not playing the outfield. I would be shocked to see a decent return for him at all.
Lagares is not a cf on a playoff team period. He's a fourth outfielder at best. He can't hit the side of barn. Personally, I'd sign Cruz for rf and deal
With the defense. An outfield of cuddyer granderson and Cruz is better then any nonsense they want to throw out there with lagares. EyJ and dan dekker. Everyone says pitching and defense, pitching and defense.. You need to get to the playoffs before anyone worries about a pivotal play that may or break you defensively. Give me nine players with balls and who know how to play the game over anybody who has good defensive stats.
Defensive stats are just another way for pencil pushers to get into a game that they couldn't play their whole lives.
*wouldn't be shocked
Maybe they should move Duda to Center....He's a better hitter than Lagares....
I wouldn't mind Cuddyer at first...and I read somewhere that Cuddyer and the Captain are offseason workout buddies.
@craig. I mean what's the point of the sarcasm? Put out a team of grandersons against a team of lagares and we all know which team
Is going to be victorious. Lagares is not the second coming of griffey24
Anthony,
Sorry Man, Just having a little fun...
My point is that defense does matter.
When they finally pulled Duda out the the outfield rotation, and replaced him with EYJ, they immediately started to win more games.
Of course I would choose a team of Grandersons over a team of Lagares'...but the Mets are not going to sign 8 Curtis Grandersons...They will need affordable guys like Juan Lagares...and if they do indeed sign Granderson, and keep Lagares--Juan Lagares should start in Center Field and Granderson should be in right---Because he's better at it!!
Incidentally, I don't know how much stock you put in winter league stats, but Lagares is hitting over .400 for his winter league team.
Agree, Craig--although I've penciled in Puello in RF by mid-season with Granderson in LF, Legares/denD platooning in CF until one takes off or falls off.
This was a great day of comments, especially on this post.
Now... everybody sing along.... 'we are the world... " :)
I think you can get cuddyer without giving up Davis which is why I have him in LF. I don't like grandy in right because he's throws lollipops, and citiffield is a difficult rf to play which is why I say lagares plays there. Personally I'd rather dan dekker player regularly and lagares be the fourth outfielder/late inning replacement. If you're that conscientious about defense, sign drew for ss and forget about peralta.. Or you could sign peralta too And ship Murphy out. Now how about that team
D'arnaud
Davis
Peralta
Drew
Wright
Cuddyer
Grandy/dandekker
Dan dekker/grandy
Mack, you and I see eye to eye on Davis. I'd love to see him start the season as the regular 1B, but everything we are hearing indicates that Sandy feels he has better value as a trade chip. If he has to go, however, I would rejoice if it was as part of a package for Braun.
Alderson's wait and see philosophy has reaped rewards before. He seems to have icewater in his veins. He waited for the market on Beltran to develop and then held out until he got the best possible return. Similarly, with Dickey, he waited until mid December after Shields was traded and the market tightened up, and got both Td'A and Thor, an incredible haul.
Or maybe they should sign Peralta and let him play CF. He's had some experience in the OF. Then we could give Lagares a shot at shortstop. With his speed he'd sure cover a lot of ground. He could even reach those short fly balls that Peralta couldn't get to.
Anthony, I think you have to agree that you play the best defensive center fielder in center field, and put a lesser fielder in left. Similarly, you bat a slugger in the cleanup spot and a so-so hitter at the bottom of the lineup. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Actually, I don't think Granderson would be a bad option in RF. His range is not as good as Lagares, but I think his arm is still decent.
BTW, I apologize for the bit of sarcasm I posted above. It's just that it seems obvious to me that, because CF is the most critical outfield position, covering any deficiencies you have in either corner, that the best fielding outfielder should play center.
I think that the Mets need to try and go with Lagares in center this season. At the very least, he will provide solid D and hopefully develop into a league average hitter.
I think that the Mets need to move one of Ike or Davis since they should get something of value for at least one. If they move one and another trade comes along for the other and it makes the Mets better then I think they need to pull the trigger. They can always go with Flores or Satin at first to see what they have with them.
Soto,
There is zero chance that the Mets sould play Grandy in CF over Lagares if Lagares is in the lineup.
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