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6/27/14

Morning Report – June 27th – Daniel Murphy, Jeremy Hefner, Tampa, Cam-Chat, CWS



                                                                                             
Coming Later Today –  

        12 00 pm - Ernest Dove - The Curious Case of Wilmer Flores.
    

        2:00 PM - 2015 Draft Profile  -  RHP  -  Nolan Kingham - Sierra Vista (NV) HS

       

RHP Casey Meisner working mostly 88-91 tonight; confidence in soft, slurvy breaking ball. Cross-fire delivery; long way to go w/ cmnd


Chris @tpgMets  - Update:
BAD Bartolo Colon: 3 G, 15.1 IP, 12.91 ERA, 2.283 WHIP, 23 R, 6 HR
GOOD Colon: 12 G, 85.1 IP, 2.00 ERA, 0.949 WHIP, 21 R, 5 HR



Rich MacLeod @richmacleod  -  Bartolo Colon is 6-0 with a 1.58 ERA in his last 7 starts. His ERA is the 2nd lowest in MLB during that span. #Mets



John Harper @NYDNHarper  -  You might be surprised how high some Mets' people are on Plawecki. They're hoping d'Arnaud hits now at least partly so he raises trade value


Daniel Murphy

“I like New York. The Mets have been good to me. I missed an entire season (with a knee injury in 2010), and they found a way to give me at-bats in 2011. And then I missed another two months, and since then, they have given me -- I’m flirting with like 1,500 plate appearances. So they’ve been good to me here. I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’ve enjoyed the guys I’ve played with. My wife enjoys it here.”

Mack – Andy Martino is flip flopping on the Murphy issue. First, he wrote about how two teams are interested in him. Now, he’s taking the extension angle.

It has always amazed me how many people never fell in behind this guy. All he ever did was play any position he was asked to and always hit in the .280-.300 range. Frankly, with runners on second and third, down one run, with two outs in the ninth… well, this is the Met I would want at the plate,

A three year contract that included his last arbitration year would make so much sense here. It would fall perfectly in line with the progress of prospects like Dilson Herrera and LJ Mazzilli, either one who easily could be ready to start in 2018.
Come on Sandy… get this one done for us before you leave town.


Christopher Soto 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!

       Mack – The Mets are going to have to make a couple of pitching decisions soon. The first will probably be Dillon Gee who will return Dice-K to a relief role. Then, Hefner would be your next addition. My hopes are that Dice and Bobby Abreu are dealt off for prospects, regardless whether or not the Mets try to make a run for the playoffs.

       Lastly, don’t expect to see either Rafael Montero or Noah Syndergaard in Queens this season. Montero is having trouble staying healthy while Thor is having trouble period.


Jayson Stark @jaysonst  -  Asked an exec of one club today who besides Cubs is already aggressively selling. His reply: "Tampa. They're definitely open for business."

               Mack – Okay… let’s see what they have here.

       Tampa only spends less than $77mil on payroll so there isn’t much here to go after. We’re going to avoid focusing on pitcher David Price here. He simply is too rich for the Wilpon’s plate.

       Add Evan Longoria. His contract goes into the next decade, something the current Mets organization would never take on.

       A good target could be SS Yunel Escobar. Escobar’s current contract is $5mil-2014, $5mil-2015, $7mil-2016, and $1mil (buyout?)-2017. He is getting a little long in the tooth (31-yrs.), but he would put to rest who would play this position through 2016. 

       1B James Loney - $8.667mil-2015, $9.667mil-2016 – never became the big power hitter – 30-yrs old – currently hitting .286

       OF Matt Joyce - $3.7/mil this year… ARB/3-2015 – 29/yrs. – currently hitting .262



Cam-Chat –

       Comment From Jeff in T.O. - Oh and after visiting your super helpful trade chips dashboard, Daniel Murphy!

       Dave Cameron: Given all the teams who need a second baseman, I think the Mets can get something pretty shiny for him.


Jon Morosi @jonmorosi  -  White Sox in last place now, and -- if they decide to sell -- have four bats to possibly move: Dunn, Beckham, Ramirez, Viciedo.    

       Adam Dunn – DH/1B - $15mil/2014, FA/2015 – 34/yrs. - .228, 12-HR, 33-RBI

       Gordon Beckham – 2B - $4.175/2014, ARB-3/2015 – 27/yrs - .267, 7-HR, 23-RBI

       Alexei Ramirez – SS - $9.5mil/2014, $10mil/2015 – 32/yrs - .302, 7-HR, 36-RBI


       Dayan Viciedo – LF – $2.8mil/2014, ARB-2/2015 – 25/yrs - .246, 6-HR, 23-RBI


And lastly... an email from one of our readers about the frustration of technical side of this site:


Steve Carhart

2:10 PM (1 hour ago)
to me
Hi Mack,

A lot of my comments are not showing up after posting.

Am I being inappropriate? Or did I make you upset in some way?

If I did, it was not my intention. I may have been letting my frustration with the team show.

Also, I’m presently waiting for a liver transplant. One of the side effects of a bad liver is the buildup of toxins in the blood, which can affect your mental functions. I had a serious problem with it – I had an attack of encephalopathy, which basically means I went out of my head completely. I totaled my car, was hospitalized, and forgot who I was and was unaware of where I was. Couldn’t remember my dog’s name, or my own. This lasted for three weeks before I came out of it. I tell you this so that if I do post something you feel is inapproiate, you will please let me know and let me know why. This board is your house, and I have no problem living by your rules.

I have learned a lot about baseball and this team from this site, and read it for a long time before I started posting. I was a little intimidated by it, as the people that frequent it are well versed in baseball and know this team in great depth. I wanted to learn before I spoke.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’ll be here as long at it exists, even if I’m lurking.
I'm opening up the 'anonymous' option again so some of you can post again. I keep closing it because the tolls out there get to me, but I'll try to live it and erase their moronic messages before you read them.

14 comments:

  1. Well, obviously, things are not going as planned for Montero and Syndergaard. But its ok. I say let them stay in Vegas for the year. Work on whatever needs to be worked on, and log a few innings in September for the main club.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mack,

    It's not hard to post here if you don't mind using Google. I keep my Google use to a minimum because of the way they gather information while you surf, especially using Chrome. But, opening a Google account is fairly harmless, and it lets you post with Blogger as an option. The anonymous option does seem to be how the few trolls that come here post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ernest -

    It will be interesting to see what this roster looks like come September

    ReplyDelete
  4. Christopher,

    I also think Hefner is a valuable asset for the team. The role you describe for him is kind of how Familia is now being used. I'd like to see Familia used more just as a setup man and backup closer. That leaves the 7th inning for Black, with Hefner filling the long man and stopper roles.

    Isn't it nice to have good enough pitchers in the pen to actually put them in a set role and have them get the job done?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mack

    Depending on trade value, and Hefner health, I wouldn't be sad if colon and dice k and torres were all gone and traded, replaced by thor montero and Hefner.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Steve -

    What amazes me is someone will visit a web site and say horrible things to someone they have never met.

    In my time we didn't have laptops to hide behind.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ernest -

    and we're forgetting about a role for Parnell...

    what I like about pens like St. Louis is they have 3-4 guys that throw at 96-97 for around 15 pitches. That's all you need in the last three innings

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, Mack---Glad I'm able to post again. I wish you could do as other sites do--require people to register before they post (eliminating anonymous trollers), while still allowing them to post using the "identity" of their choice.

    Any way, I just want to say I disagree with those who want us to be "sellers", dealing off the 3 "dinosaurs" who have been among the most productive players on the team. Abreu, in particular, is the guy who is the most desirable bat in a late-inning PH role, and can still do well in occasional starts, which Terry has been carefully offering him.

    Something MUST be done, however, about the 7 OFers/one backup MIFer situation. People can keep sceaming about how Terry "hates (insert player name)" because he doesn't give him playing time, but facts are facts. Over the last month plus, Ruben has an OBP of OVER .400, and playing solid (occasionally spectacular) Defense. Duda has been named the regular 1Bman, though he is sometimes platooned vs tough LHPs, and in the equivalent of slightly over 1/3 of a season's ABs has 12 HRs/39 RBI. That's a pace of 35/110+ over a full season, and no one will complain about those #s. Murphy (barring trade/injury) and Wright will be in there every day, as will (deservedly) Grandy and Lagares.

    Abreu should get a start about once a week to stay sharp, but that leaves both Youngs, Campbell and Kirk to share the other 6 days. Should Terry pick one and let the others rot on the bench? If so, which one? No matter which he picks, people will scream because the others aren't playing. If he gives them all a share of the time, he gets more crap from the fans of those not playing on a given day.

    He didn't make the roster, and I'm sure he'd like another MIF bench guy, but of course he can't say that publicly. As unsuccessful as he might be when playing every day, I'd actually like to see Q back. He can cover the defense more than adequately, and hit about .240. But then who goes? Kirk and Campbell are both playing well, and Alderson isn't about to cut either Young.

    It's a series of tough choices, but Terry can only play the hand he's dealt. He's not the dealer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Bill Metsiac,

    Duda has been kicked for a long time, and I think he is going to confound folks and emerge. He had two main offensive flaws:
    1) too passive in early favorable counts and awful with 2 strikes
    2) lousy in "late and close" situations where a guy is (or is not) most valuable

    He has gone a long way, it appears, to fixing # 1. He is much more aggressive in early counts, to his great benefit.

    For #2, he still needs to do the same thing. I missed most of last night's game. Walked in, 8th inning, Murph doubled. Came back in to see Young robbed at SS. Missed Wright's double, then, as Ron Darling said, Duda, Young, and Lagares all took first pitch strikes. In Duda's case, he needs to be aggressive there too. If he fixes that, the Duda / Campbell platoon may just provide surprisingly high caliber offense.

    To Mack's point on keeping Murphy, it all depends on what they can get. My brother Steve hates him for all the mistakes he makes, but I essentially agree with you, Mack, he is one of the few hitters who gets up late in games that you really feel can get a hit, rather than disappoint. if we had 5 Murphy-type hitters in the line up, we'd be in first place.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Regarding Duda - when everything comes to an end this season, he will hit around .250, play a decent first base defensively and hit around 20-25 home runs. I'll take that every day.

    Regarding Murphy - you have to weight whether you think the Mets have a chance to be relevant this year and 2015. He's gone via free agency past that. Right now, he's the hottest 'available' second baseman going into the trading market. Alderson trades very well and could probably negotiate two players in a deal here.

    What if you could get an 'A' chip high level SS AND LFer... and then put Flores back on second base?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mack, to your "What if you could get an 'A' chip high level SS AND LFer... and then put Flores back on second base?" I'd go for it

    ReplyDelete
  12. Richard Jones · Teacher at North Forney High School

    Looking at this years Mets team going into July I don't see them fitting either the buyers or sellers profile. They have been rebuilding for so long, that I really don't see them being sellers. Trying to move players to cut salary. Their not strong enough to be considered contenders so they shouldn't be buyers.
    They do need to be active. The should only make trades that will help them now and in the future. They don't need to move guys like Colon and Abreu just to move them. They're helping the Mets win to some extent. Now if a team offers the Mets a deal that will help them to improve in the future and at least break even for now then they need to make that deal. That just doesn't go for Colon and Abreu but every Met.
    I don't want to see any of Colon, Dice K, or Torres traded for low level mid range prospects. If they can be part of a package that brings a starting short stop then pull the trigger.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Richard -

    I agree...sort of.

    It's not whether or not the Mets can make the playoffs... it's whether or not the current team can make the World Series. That would have to take a lot of playoff shutouts.

    Trading Daniel Murphy sets off the panic button.

    But trading people that you don't have under a 2015 contract and have no future on your team does not.

    Trading Bobby Abreu and Dice-K make sense... and, both should bring you at least a AA prospect.

    And... (I've seen crazier things)... if the Mets pick up 2/3rd of his remaining 2014 salary, trading Chris Young also wouldn't set off the fire alarm.

    You would still have the nucleus of the 2014 team plus at least 3 more players you could possibly play in Sept.

    It would be Wilpon friendly because the overall salaries would go down.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Unrelated note: An excellent start today in GCL by Logan Taylor, so it looks like another recovering pitcher rejoining the prospect track. 6 inn, 4 hits, no runs or walks, 7 Ks

    ReplyDelete