What I’m hearing is
that certain Pittsburgh Pirates scouts have booked their rooms in Port St.
Lucie for the first five New York Mets pre-season games in town, which makes
one believe that the ‘Ike Davis to the Bucs’
scenario isn’t finished yet. A hot start here could make things a lot easier
for Lucas Duda.
I’m also being told
that the rumors that Wilmer Flores may be
reconsidered as the 2014 Mets shortstop may just be more than rumors. There are
people within this organization that want Flores’ bat in the daily lineup and
not at the expense of another key bat on the team, second baseman Daniel
Murphy. A potential 2-3-4-5-6-7- of Murphy, David
Wright, Curtis Granderson, Chris Young, Flores, and Travis
d’Arnaud does show some potential promise, but will sizably diminish the
middle infield defense. There’s going to be an awful lot of photographers
following Flores around once camp opens up so we should know immediately when
he takes his first turn at short. (I held this info back on Thursday for the
Friday morning report and it seems TC and Matt Cerrone bet me on this one… oh
well J
Kevin
Plawecki will start the 2014 season behind the plate for AA-Binghamton. Plawecki
will turn 23-years old on the 26th of this month so times-a-wasting
and the plan is pretty simple. He is on paper to move out west to Las Vegas
around mid-season and be major league ready by opening day 2015. The best case
scenario here will be a situation where fellow battery man Travis d’Arnaud had a spot on 2014 and word goes out
that one could be had for the right pieces to fit the Mets puzzle.
Beelzebot asked -
Hey Mack, I noticed in this article about Ike Davis that he mentions forgetting a meeting with Terry Collins and just going home, but that he would
meet with him "sometime". I
was thinking, if that had been Ruben Tejada missing a meeting, he would have
been publicly shredded by Collins. I
have no idea what goes on behind closed doors and maybe Ruben is a jerk or
something, but I still find it weird that the organization does not have some
coordinator to make sure some of these guys show up on time. Link to the article: http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/81115/ike-davis-little-bit-shocked-he-remains-met
Mack – well, you can’t miss a meeting
if you’re not even in camp… there is a real lack of communication here and a
disconnect between Tejada’s representatives and Mets officials. At this point,
I would uninvited him to camp and tell him to report around March 15th,
get a locker over on the minor league side of the field, and report to the Las Vegas
staff. I know there is no one right now to replace him, but I would play Flores
here for the month of April and see what develops. It would give the Mets some
time to look around at the market out there… but… I would be done with Tejada
Friday D-1 College Highlights -
Kentucky RHP A.J. Reed - 5.0-IP, 1-ER, 2-K, 3-BB, 1-0
Louisville RHRP Nick Burdi - 1.0-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 1-K, 1-BB
East Carolina RHP Jeff Hoffman - 6.2-IP, 3-ER, 6-K, 2-BB
Florida State RHP Luke Weaver - 6.0-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 7-K, 1-BB, 1-0
TCU LHP Brandon Finnegan - 7.0-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 13-K, 3-BB
Florida LHP Bobby Poyner - 5.1-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 5-K, 2-BB
Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede - 5.0-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 7-K, 1-BB
LSU RHP Aaron Nola - 6.0-IP, 0-R, 4-H, 6-K, 0-BB, 1-0
.
Friday D-1 College Highlights -
Kentucky RHP A.J. Reed - 5.0-IP, 1-ER, 2-K, 3-BB, 1-0
Louisville RHRP Nick Burdi - 1.0-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 1-K, 1-BB
East Carolina RHP Jeff Hoffman - 6.2-IP, 3-ER, 6-K, 2-BB
Florida State RHP Luke Weaver - 6.0-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 7-K, 1-BB, 1-0
TCU LHP Brandon Finnegan - 7.0-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 13-K, 3-BB
Florida LHP Bobby Poyner - 5.1-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 5-K, 2-BB
Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede - 5.0-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 7-K, 1-BB
LSU RHP Aaron Nola - 6.0-IP, 0-R, 4-H, 6-K, 0-BB, 1-0
.
13 comments:
I rember when Washingtons Ian Desmond was a pretty lousy defender at SS but the potential was there and it paid off to let him play. I hope Wilmer is our own "Desmond" so why not let him play in April there.
Michi L.
The report about Wilmer Flores officially made my day already.........
Maybe someone in Tejada camp should let him know that he is under team control, and can be stuck in the desert this year......
Any chance we can make first base even more complicated for years to come by having Plawecki play there? I think he played a little first base in the minors last year.
Ernest -
there are people in the Mets organization that see Plawecki as a better long term option than d-Arnaud.
I don't see them screwing around with positioning in 2014... play him first in Binghamton, then Las Vegas.
You can always play him in winter ball somewhere at 1B
Anonymous -
there also was a guy that let the A-ball league in errors when he played there...
Derek Jeter
Mack - if you're done w Tejada, and the Mets brass feel close to what your thoughts are on him, isn't signing Drew a no-brainer?? He is such an relaible upgrade imo and even if his contract is 3 years i dont think it would put Mets in a unflexable position. Althou i have a feeling ALderson has been dying to have some payroll flexabilty for a mideason trade..
I get being excited for Flores at SS but realistically i can't see it happening. Ive heard that next years SS free agent class is better (but dont know names) so i dont know if ALderson wants to wait that one more year, 2015 for Harvey Thor ect..but, im all for a relaible upgrade at SS with Drew...
Jambar -
no on is saying anything about Tejada
and yes, Drew is a perfect fit...
but I think the Drew thing is now all about ego and WANTING TO BE A MET... Boras and his client have never sent those signs...
Flores is no shortstop. No matter what the Mets say. He will not play ss.
I guess I will blindly continue my naive argument that Wilmer Flores was once the crown jewel prospect of this organization.......as a shortstop. ....as is human nature (and genetics) the kid grew a lot since he was 16, but still.
Lucas Duda would be the Mets corner outfielder right now if he hit the damn ball more last year.
While I feel that SS is the hardest position to play defensively (excluding catcher since its a completely different animal), I don't see why we don't let him get some reps and see how it works out.
We had this conversation a few years back about our very own Daniel Murphy playing 2B and considering I've played both SS & 2B in college, I was on the other side of the conversation thinking Murphy could never play the position, especially making the turn and just footwork in general to be a sufficient middle infielder.
He's proven me wrong to some extent and if Flores can play an adequate SS, while producing Murphy like numbers out of the SS position, he'll certainly improve his value in a potential trade mid season or possibly surprise us and turn into a solid major league SS.
I wouldn't expect him to have the range of most SS's but what if he can make all the routine plays and hit .280, 10-15 Hrs, 25-30 2B's and driven in 70-80 RBI's?
Those are all star like numbers for a SS and would at least get us to next years free agent class where we could upgrade the position defensively and either find another position for Flores or move him for another position of need next year.
We always have Tejada to play the position in the event it's a disaster, but I'm on the opposite side of the fence when it's comes to Stephen Drew, as I have no interest in signing him, under any circumstances. I watched the playoffs last year (6 out of 54) and Stephen Drew was an automatic out every time up, but he did play a solid defensive short stop.
Not worth the money he's asking and takes us out of next years class if we sign up, besides giving up a 3rd round pick as compensation, along with the 3rd round money for use for other draft picks. I'd almost rather sign a guy like Brendan Ryan since he comes at a much lower price tag and basically provide similar results.
Let Drew walk unless he's still around after the draft and wants to sign a 1 year deal, otherwise, no interest at all.
Closer -
The main problem I have about the lack of 'range' with Flores at short is the fact that we are already living with a lack of range at second.
The double play attempt could be a complete disaster
P.S. I'm aware Brendan Ryan is signed with the Yankees, mentioning as a point of reference since he's considered a defensive SS with a very light bat,,which is what I see when I think of Stephen Drew in 2014 and beyond.
Mack,
"Closer -
The main problem I have about the lack of 'range' with Flores at short is the fact that we are already living with a lack of range at second.
The double play attempt could be a complete disaster"
That's a fair assessment and I have similar concerns, but it don't expect to win this year anyway, why not let him get a chance in April and if proves unable, let Tejada get his job back. It not only gives Flores a shot, but likely motivates Tejada to know the job isn't just being handed to him. It's not like Tejada is Rey Ordonez either and until this time next year, we're not going to have a top flight ML short stop to refer to.
I for one do not want to waste our very limited payroll on Stephen Drew and would much rather either wait until next free agent class or work out a trade for guys like Chris Owings, Didi Gregorios, Dee Gordon, Cubs SS's, etc, which will require giving up assets, but would give us that bonafide SS to build around.
You know who would be a perfect fit to play SS and lead off for us? A guy that can play in New York and be a great fit in Citi Field considering he plays a great defensive SS, steals bases and will get 10-15 triples. A guy by the name of Jose Reyes!!!!!!
Closer -
You and I might be in the minority here, but I don't care about 2014 and I too think the Mets should use the season to work out their kinks
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