6/25/14

Morning Report – June 25th – Chris Young, Daniel Murphy, Alfredo Reyes, Dan-Chat, Jeremy Hefner



                                                                                             
Coming Later Today –  
                                                                                             
        2 00 pm – 2015 Draft Profile  -  2015 Draft Profile - SS/3B John Aiello - Germantown Academy (PA) - updated 6-5

       12 00 pm - Reese Kaplan - Production Where You Least Expect It



AXS Entertainment on Travis d'Arnaud

         http://www.examiner.com/article/d-arnaud-s-return-prompts-rippling-effect-for-mets 





Bill Metsiac to me –

Let's start with Lag. His return means one of 3 things (barring trade or injury):

                1) Campbell returns to Vegas.

                2) Kirk returns to Vegas.

                3) CY is DFA'd.

I vote for #3, but with a twist---once he clears waivers (as he certainly will), ask him to do as Lannan and Trachsel did in the past, and accept assignment to Vegas. If he does, maybe he can regain his stroke and be tradable or called up in August or September. We're paying him anyway, so we've got nothing to lose.

        As for Travis, it gets more complicated:

One of our current catchers must go. Recker can be optioned, while TT would have to be DFA'd. Whichever one goes, though, unless it's TT and he doesn't accept Vegas, that will add a Catcher to the Vegas roster. But Plawecki  is supposed to be promoted there once Travis leaves. That adds TWO Catchers there, and Centeno and Gronauer are already there. Gronauer almost surely be demoted, but Centeno has done well there and deserves to stay. Who goes? It's anyone's guess. I pass.

Mack – An ‘unnamed Mets official’ told Mike Puma that there is no way that Chris Young will be cut. Technically, ‘designated for assignment’ is not being cut, so we’re going to have to wait this one out.

You are assuming that Lagares will return to the starting lineup at CF. Fine, I’ll go along with that. We can also assume that Curtis Granderson will play every day in the outfield.
Now, you have to decide who has the least value on this team this year.

I hate the Chris Young signing, but he still potentially has a more lethal bat than some of the other outfielders in the dugout.

As for d’Arnaud, I see nothing complicated. Cut Taylor Teagarden who basically has no future in this organization. He also has no options. Keep Recker around. The pitchers like him and he has a rifle arm.
Again, just opinions. 




The link to today’s pod cast (live at 10am) with Stephen Keane is: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wbar/2014/06/25/keane-on-sports--steve-keane

pic by Mack Ade 


Max Wildstein @MaxWildstein  -  #Mets Daniel Murphy has drawn interest from the #SFGiants and #BlueJays, according to @MartinoNYDN

Mack – We can only assume that Martino is writing about something that someone in both these organizations told him. Murphy would probably bring two quality players/prospects to the Mets.
Based on that, let’s take another look at some trading options from both teams:

Giants:

Outfield – Hunter Pence and Angel Pagan are going nowhere. This leaves Michael Morse (.286, $6mil/2014, FA/2015), Tyler Colvin (.267, ARB-1/2014), Gregor Blanco (.248, ARB-2/2014), and Juan Perez (.158, 501K). The closest thing to an upper level outfield prospect left in their system was the once top prospect Gary Brown, who is basically still floundering at the AAA level.

SS – Brandon Crawford was supposed to be the future shortstop for this team (.257, 560K, pre-ARB). Joe Panik is now being discussed as taking over short, instead of the projected second base (2-4, .500, pre-ARB, AAA: .321).

Toronto –

        Outfield – Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera are going nowhere. They are part of the 2014 team trying to make the playoffs. Beyond that, there are Cory Rasmus (155-AB, .245, $7mil/2014, FA/2015), Kevin Pillar (37-AB, .243, pre-ARB), prospect Anthony Gose (86-AB, .233, pre-ARB)
        There is no top level prospect outfield in the Toronto system.

        Shortstop – Right now, with a recent injury to Jose Reyes, there isn’t a viable shortstop option on this team.



Alderson and Company have signed a number of Latin shortstop prospects over the past three years. One we might want to keep an eye on is the current one competing with draft pick Milton Ramos for field time.

                21-year old Alfredo Reyes is now playing in his fourth season with the Mets. He signed for a $200K bonus and word from scouts was ‘Reyes showed gap power and an ability to control the strike zone at the plate.  His wiry-athletic frame allows him to project well at the SS position’.

                He played three seasons for the DSL team and, in 212 at bats, produced a .316 batting average.

                He’s off to a torrid start so far this season (5-11, .44).



Dan-Chat –

        Comment From Marlins Main Man - Does Chris Young (mets) get released?

Dan Szymborski: They’ve been rumored to be considering that. Of course, they said they weren’t, but baseball teams always deny something is in the works until it actually happens.



Jeremy Hefner


        At about 11:45 Sunday morning, inside an empty Marlins Park, Jeremy Hefner threw fastballs from the mound at full speed for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last August. He also reintroduced breaking balls to his repertoire. 

                Not too many people noticed. The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes. No reporters posted updates to their Twitter accounts. When Hefner finished, he walked past a small group of writers killing time in the dugout, flashed a thumbs up and disappeared into the tunnel. He didn't stop to answer questions about how he felt, mainly because nobody asked. http://online.wsj.com/articles/jeremy-hefner-the-elbow-everyone-forgets-1403572963

9 comments:

Mets Dreams said...

Good stuff as always Mack. Always better reading after a win.

Couldn't agree more with letting Teagarden go. It's time to focus on having Major League players on the Mets roster. While the grand slam was great, he really hasn't shown anything that would warrant keeping him over Recker or Centeno as potential back-ups.

And keeping with the let's start having at least a major league average player at every position can we stop with the trade Daniel Murphy for prospects theme. Murphy is an above average hitter on a team that struggle to score runs. The Mets have 3B, 2B, RF, and CF covered. I'm still on the fence with Duda, if he continues to show a more aggressive early count approach it's not hard to project him to 25 HR and 85-90 RBI. Catcher is not producing but we seem to have the potential with d'Arnaud and Plawecki.

So that leaves SS and LF to solve. Even if the team is out of it at the trade deadline, if there is a chance to trade for controllable SS and/or LF that have some potential, i.e. Chris Owings then make the deal for a young pitcher.

Finally, the next scoop that Martino has will be his first. I've never read anyone who continually states the obvious.

Mack Ade said...

Dreams -

One of the things I try to do with the Morning Report is to let you know what is being written out in Mets-World and then I do the research and look for possible players that could fit a trade. I have always been a pro-Murphy guy and I never understood why the Mets didn't tie him down with a long term contract.

That being said, I am told that he's not a big fan being here and will bolt as soon as free agency hits.

As for Martino, there's something wrong with someone that prides himself at being that annoying.

Anonymous said...

Hefner is such a valuable player and most people don't even realize it. Having him in the bullpen allows us to use Torres in a later inning role where he excels most.

In high leverage situations in his career, Torres has only allowed a .238 AVG and K's 25% of batters.

For Hefner, he is solid in the low to medium leverage spots posting .246 AVG and .250 AVG against respectively. With Daisuke possibly being traded for long term assets, Hefner could slide right into that swing role like he used too and be a solid contributor.

Plus he's under team control for another 3 years!

Dallas said...

I think its funny that we talk about Teagarden at all. Who cares? He is such a marginal player that does not look like he belongs even as a backup on a ML roster. I dont think other teams are clamoring for his services. Plawecki could come up now and probably be more effective.

I like the idea of sending CY to AAA to work on his swing. With those 2 HR last night we all know that isnt going to happen now. That just got Kirk demoted. They love CY and this is another excuse to keep him longer. I hope he can keep it going but I wouldnt bet on it.

Mack Ade said...

Dallas - I agree on Tea... err... see, I forgot his name already!

Re: CY... I'm not a fan of the CY signing, but, if the Mets chose to make a run for the playoffs, he does have more potential than other outfielders in Queens... no one is going to trade for him, so, I would send Kirk back to AAA until I was able to sell off Abreu

TP said...

@Soto,
Agree 100% on Hefner. Last offseason, I was taken back when the didn't offer him a contract, and glad to get him back in the fold on that less expensive deal. We tend to focus on the high end guys all the time, but if he should return at the level he was he is very valuable to the Mets and/or as a trade chip. He is clearly good enough to contribute to a MLB team in some capactiy, and should be entering his prime years.

Anonymous said...

@TP

The Hefner non-tender was just an operational move only. They just did it to remove him from the 40 man roster without putting him on waivers to be claimed. It allowed them to have an open spot in advance of the Rule 5 draft when all players on the 60 day dl had to be activated.

He still has the same pay (MLB Minimum).

Tom Brennan said...

Teagarden goes, he goes. Centeno and Plawecki could back up tomorrow in a pinch. Mack, any thoughts on Xorge Carillo? A guy who played little pre-2012, then skipped a level and hit well in Bingo in 2013 as a back up, and the same this year after a good winter ball season. Seems he can hit. Maron too.

Mack Ade said...

Thomas, I know nothing about Carillo other than the fact that he's been a very slow. As for Maron, somewhere along his career he must have been treated very badly by a sports reporter... I have nothing to say about him other than the fact that he wanted nothing to do with me.