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