Mack Ade’s Morning Report – 11-19-13 – Stand Pat, Ruben Tejada, Ike or Duda, Phillies

 

(***late addition... I'm not sure what I feel right now about the loss of Hawkins. I really don't think he's worth what he signed for, but I could have lived with it just to get one under the belt. The one thing I am starting to feel is that things aren't going the way Sandy Alderson planned it. This could be a long and painful off season.)

Question from Jayson – Hey Mack… we’re you serious when you said that you want the Mets to stand pat and play the same players they had in 2013?

            Mack – Hey Jayson, thanks for the question.

No, I don’t want them to stand pat, but, at the same time, I don’t want them to give up on a couple of players that only 12 months had a rosy future with this team.

SS Ruben Tejada just turned 24 last month. His OBP in 2011 and 2012 were .360 and .333. It was .337 in Las Vegas last season. Maybe the kid got the message and will show up to camp this year lean and mean plus a month early.

(there still remains a fair amount of tension between Tejada and the team… MetsBlog reported that he is considering filing a grievance against the team that would hopefully allow him to be eventually eligible for free agency one earlier than he is now)

1B Ike Davis in not 24 years old, but we all know what he’s capable of doing (32-HR, 90-RBI), even in a bad year (.227). He also finished Las Vegas last year with a .424 OBP and 1.091 OPS.

They’ve proven they are talented enough to play in major league baseball and would it really kill us to give these two one more ‘half-season’ to show us they can turn this slide around?

We know we’re going to get a better return behind the plate and centerfield has settled down for now. Stay focused on the need for corner outfielders. One seems to be obtainable via a trade that can be accomplished by packaging Lucas Duda, one of the second base options, and one of the young pitchers. The other ought to be a reasonably talented FA player you could platoon with EYJ until Cesar Puello is ready.

If the Mets truly only have around $30mil to spend in this off-season, keep it out of the infield. Stay focused on the outfield please. That’s where we need the new blood. 

More on Tejada –

No one could figure this guy out. He seemed pleasant, he seemed serious, he was not at all a raging goofball like teammate Jordany Valdespin, with whom he sometimes socialized -- before, according to one mutual friend, becoming annoyed and disillusioned by Valdspin’s immaturity.  But his actions were unpredictable, including the firing and re-hiring of his longtime agents. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/2013/11/the-weirdness-and-complexity-of-ruben-tejada-and-the-ny-mets-yankees-cano%E2%80%99s-

Mack – The good new here is that Martino is reporting that Tejada is no longer a Valdespin disciple. I was told last year that they were chummy which eventually led to Tejada trying to emulate his buddy’s antics in the clubhouse.

I’m not sure (after the news that came out today) that my request for the Mets to give Tejada another chance in 2014 is going to happen. What a waste of natural talent. 

Marc Carig -

For now, one rival executive estimated that either Davis or Duda could be traded for low and mid-tier prospects, or perhaps even a higher-end risk-reward type prospect. But the Mets might also benefit from just letting the free agent market develop, in hopes that fewer power options might encourage more teams toward the trade market.

Of course, it's early, and market shifts could change this equation.

The Mets could also theoretically use either player as a smaller part to a much larger trade. All throughout the offseason, the Mets have paid close attention to the trade market, where they would be willing to absorb large contracts if it means returning some high-end talent. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/on-base-perception-1.3631854/ike-davis-vs-lucas-duda-mets-facing-decision-1.6454102

Mack – Everyone keeps writing about these two guys and will do so until one of them packs his bags. You know my feelings on Ike (read above) and I still believe the best deal for dealing Duda would be a PTBNL based on his 2014 output with another team. Potentially, it could create a far bigger return than he’s worth in today’s market.           

Andrew Marchand ‏@AndrewMarchand

It will be interesting to see how much FA market is held up by top players waiting to see if Yanks have extra dough from A-Rod decision

Mack – I didn’t think of this. There could easily be a handful of top players being advised by their agents to wait out the A-Rod situation. You know the Yankees have the most to spend here. And what if you’re a secondary free agent? Wouldn’t your value go far up if one of your fellow position players got the big bucks from the Yankees? This could easily be one of the reasons things are moving so slowly.

 One team that doesn’t seem to be shy in closing early free agent deals is the Philadelphia Phillies; however, critics will tell you that they continue to ignore the aging of their talented team. First, it was signing OF Marlon Byrd to a 2-yr, $16mil deal. Now, it’s a guaranteed $26mil to soon to be 35-yrs.old C Carlos Ruiz. Obviously, we can spend paragraphs on the age of these players, but not their talent and the Phillies know that their current system doesn’t rank high in prospect talent. For now, they choose to use the free agent system to sign short term veteran players to keep the team they send out on the field as talented as they can while not trading away what few prospects they have. I will say this… don’t tell me you can’t get a deal done early in free agency. Ruben Amaro is proving that wrong here. 

So, a couple of old guys signed short term deals and Robinson Cano and the Yankees are still around $150mil away from an agreement. I can’t think of a better way to end today’s report than the above absurd statement.