Mack’s Morning Report – 12-12 – Chris Young, Jeremy Hefner, Tampa Bay, Tyler Thornburg, Ike Davis

 

I love the Bartolo Colon signing.

This team desperately needed a solid, MLB-tested SP4 for the beginning of 2014, which allows them to take the pressure off of Jenrry Mejia and possibly bring up Rafael Montero into the SP5 slot

Colon pitched 190 innings last year for Oakland, which is exactly the kind of innings-eater the Mets need

Please feel free to go out and duplicate your 18-6, 2.65, 1.17, 30-starts.



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Hunter Stokes –

Chris Young hit for a 3 Slash Line of .200/.280/.659 – with 12 HRs and 40 RBI in 335 AB. This is a bad deal given for a guy that is not that much better than Ike Davis .206/.326/.661 with 9 HRs and 33 RBI – but at substantially more money for the 2013 campaign. The Mets are talking about selling low on Davis, and then moving Lucas Duda to 1st – in order to free up an OF spot for Chris Young.  The Mets would be better off with the Lagares/Young sticking CF, putting Granderson at LF – and using Duda in RF.  We shall see what they ultimately decide to do.  James Loney would be a perfect 1B for this club if they do trade Davis, as he hits for a high Average, and doesn’t fan at the same clip the rest of the 2014 Mets do.

Mack – I try to pass on to you what’s out there on the net. This is your basic anti-Chris Young article which, I guess, is easy to write. There was a lot of this going around when the Mets signed Marlon Byrd. Frankly, I wasn’t that thrilled with Young either but, we now have our outfield and it’s time to rally around it. Read this with caution.

 

We all know by now that the Mets did the right thing and agreed to resign starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner. ‘Hef’ will now spend the entire 2014 season on the DL next to his buddy, Matt Harvey and both should be ready for the 2015 season.  He’s under team control and doesn’t become arbitration eligible until 2016.

Look, the Hefner move falls into the ‘you can’t have enough pitching’ category. He pitched the entire 2013 season in Queens, producing a credible 4.4 ERA. He’s the kind of pitcher you love having on your AAA team in case injuries hit your rotation. Additional, you can’t count out a chance of him being converted into a reliever. He’ll pitch 2015 as a 29-year old.

 

The Mets continue to be linked to Tampa Bay about a possible trade for Ike Davis. For this reason alone, we need to check their shortstop situation:

            Yunel Escobar – $5mil/2014, opt out/2015… will play 2014 at 31.

            Ben Zobrist – starting second baseman… $7mil/2014, FA/2015… will play 2014 at 33.

            Hak-Ju Lee – #3 prospect on team… will play 2014 at 23… played AA in 2012 (.261), but spend most of 2013 on DL.

            Tim Beckham – ex-1^st overall pick who has been suspended twice for PEDs… career .266 minor league (6 seasons) hitter.Will play 2014 at 24.

The shame is that the only person that matches up here is the two-time loser Beckham. I want nothing to do with a shortstop that is a) over 30 and b) has only one year left on a contract.

I just don’t see an Ike Davis trade here.
 

I have to give Sandy credit. At this point he’s asking for an awful lot at the Winter Meetings. Now a report comes out that the Mets have asked Milwaukee for the services of RHP Tyler Thornburg for 1B Ike Davis. The 5-11 Thornburg came out of Charleston Southern as the 4^th round draft pick in 2010 and just flew through the Brewers’ organization. He was their number one prospect until he joined the parent club last year and went 3-1, 2.02, 1.18, in 18-games, 7-starts. Now, three more pitching prospects (Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann, Johnny Hellweg) are getting ready to make the leap. I’m not sure where he would fit in with the Mets, but it is a lofty request by Mr. Alderson.

Remember… the trading of Davis is all about replacing him with a minimum salary guy so the Davis money projected through arbitration can be added to an offer to either Bronson Arroyo or Stephen Drew. At least, that’s how I see it.
 

The only think we can walk away with at this point in the off-season is that Ike Davis will not be with this team on opening day. Some call it a salary dump, others say a trade involving him gets them more of a return than, let’s say, Lucas Duda. Sadly, in my book, I’m going to lose the one guy I feel has the chance of sticking as a long term first baseman, but I’m a realist and no one caused this other than himself. I still remember looking at some of those horrendous swings he made last year. My brother-in-law Dougie, who walks with a cane, could have swung better than that.

Logan Morrison has now moved on to Seattle and Sandy is running out of places to trade Davis. Alderson might have missed the boat on when to raise or fold and, if it is true that the Mets have no intention of returning home with Davis, I would think the return in a trade here will just be some team controlled player with a limited successful stat line.

In the long run, the 32 home runs Davis hit may turn out to be the aberration. I'm starting to believe his 'era' might be over and he will join his fellow first rounders that year, Reese Havens and Brad Holt, as players best forgotten.