Morning Report – June 16th – Travis d’Arnaud, Jhoan Urena, Bartolo Colon, Payroll

                                                                                             

Coming Later Today –              

                                               

        9 30 am – Herb G – Minor League Report

        11 00 am – Craig Mitchell -- My Top Ten Baseball Flicks

        12 30 pm - Mack - Trading Deadline

         3 00 PM - Pick #40 (1195) - SS Dale Burdick - Summitt (TN) HS

         4 00 PM - Pick 30 (895) - OF Tucker Tharp – Kansas

         5 00 PM - Pick 31 (925) - LHP Kurtis Horne - Edwrad Miline SS (BC)

         6 00 PM - 2015 Draft Profile  -  LHP  -  Justin Hooper  -  De La Salle (CA) HS

Morning.

I decided once again to drop the option of allowing ‘anonymous’ comments on the site. My apologies for anyone that is prevented from leaving comments due to this decision.

Terry Collins went out of his way to say that it will be ‘awhile’ before C Travis d’Arnaud comes back to the parent team in Queens. I understand the logic to take the pressure off the kid and give him the time to get his act back together again when there is a bat in his hand.

However, two ‘problems’ have developed.

1.    Simply put, d’Arnaud is raking. He hit his fourth home run Saturday night and, through that game, his slash line is .421/. .522/.947/1.459. Whatever swing that was once lost seems to have been found real quickly.

2.   Anthony Recker really pissed off the manager by being thrown out of that Brewers game after being called out on strikes (yes, it just was in the corner of the zone). He went ape shit and, if Taylor Teagarden didn’t happen to still be available (only position player left), who the hell knows who would have caught the end of the game. How many Manager of the Year votes would TC get if Bartolo Colon had to suit up?

My guess is that d’Arnaud will be back the day after the Eastern League all-star game, which will feature his replacement in Vegas, Kevin Plawecki.

And then, the Mets are going to have let him play the lion share of games this season and prove to everybody that he deserves the starting job.

I love the guy, but it’s time.

The closest thing the Mets might have to a third base prospect, and an eventual replacement for David Wright, began playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones this week.

Jhoan Urena was signed by the Mets in 2011 as one of the international bonus babies. The figure, $425,000, was, at the time one of the highest bonuses the Mets had ever paid to someone out of the Dominican Republic.

He respectfully for the DSL Mets in 2012 (17-yrs old, 262-AB, .279) and turned heads last year as an 18-year old for the GCL-Mets (157-AB, .299).  As Toby Hyde pointed out this week, both Baseball America’s Ben Badler and Jeff Moore, (now at Prospectus) praised Urena last year for his size, strength and powerful swing.

Urena will play next to Amed Rosario in the Cyclones infield, which will definitely give many New Yorkers a reason to get on the subway headed in that direction rather than Northern Queens.

Bartolo Colon is 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his past five starts.

You can’t tell me this isn’t coming at the best and only chance this team could rid themselves of this contract. I’m not a fool. I don’t expect anyone will want a 41-year old (next year) starter, but I have seen crazier things come out of trades. The Mets could through in a secondary prospect under team control and make it a straight cash deal… or for one positional AA semi-prospect. Or for someone that could help redesign the fences at CitiField. Just a thought.

Ben Badler on -

        Ricardo Cespedes, OF, LHH, $725,000 - the biggest money signing last year. Turns 17 on August 24 so, also the youngest player we have in DSL.

        Quote: “Cespedes, who is 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, is a lefty with a good setup, a loose swing and a gap to gap approach. He has solid speed and should start his career as a center fielder.” http://www.baseball-reference.com/minor ... sped000ric

All-Star Games –

        A-Savannah:      June 17^th

        A+ - St. Lucie -  June 14^th

        AA – B-Mets -   July 16^th

        AAA – Vegas -   July 16^th

            Normally, you would expect some of the St. Lucie guys to be called up to Binghamton right after their all-star game, but where are they going to play? There are over 30 more days before the Eastern League has their all-star game.

        My guess is 2B Dilson Herrera will get the call this week. The only people in his way on the B-Mets roster are Brian Burgamy and Rylan Sandoval, both who could easily be either released or reassigned.

        Same with CF Brandon Nimmo. Darrell Cecciliani just went on the DL and technically, Binghamton currently have only two outfielders on their active roster (Travis Taijerson, Kyle Johnson).

        The third possibility this week would be SP Steven Matz. Only Greg Peavey has an ERA under four (3.49) and he should be pitching AAA. I could easily see Matz replacing Angel Cuan (6.48) in the rotation.

Adam Rubin ‏@AdamRubinESPN  - On payroll going up, Alderson said ask again after season.

        Mack – Is there a hidden message here? Like, if we get rid of contracts like Colon or Young, we may use that money before the end of the July trading deadline and…  no, even Alderson isn’t that slick.

        It sounds like even he’s getting sick and tired of the situation right now. No fans, no offense, a shit stadium, and a shittier payroll.

        I’m not sure he signed off on all this.

And lastly…

        The Mets (30-38... through end of games, Saturday) just finished playing the lowly San Diego Padres. Here are the teams and their win-loss records (through Friday night) that the Mets will play before the all-star break:

                3 games – St. Louis  36-32       

                7 games – Miami -  34-33

                2 games – Oakland – 41-27

                4 games –Pirates –  34-34

                7 games – Braves –  35-32

                3 games Texas – 34-34

                This represents 26 games against teams that are currently 22 games above .500.

                Moreover, there are only five teams with a worse record than the Mets:

                        24^th - Houston:         32-38       .457

                        25^th - Mets:              30-38       .441

                        26^th - Phillies:            29-37       .439

                        27^th - Padres:            29-39       .426

                        28^th – Cubs:               27-39       .409

                        29^th - Arizona:          29-42       .408

                        30^th - Tampa Bay -    26-43       .377

                 The end should be near...