Things that make you go hmmn…
Many of the proposals proffered to obtain Troy Tulowitzki
from the Rockies include Wilmer Flores with the rationale, “Well, they’ll need
a shortstop.” Don’t WE need a shortstop? If he’s good enough to play for them, isn’t
he good enough to play for us? If he’s
not, why would the Rockies take him?
The Mets are prepared to eat up to $2 million in salary in a
deal to move Bartolo Colon. Yet the same
team looking to save money while dealing from strength in excess pitching seems
unwilling to deal from strength at the 2nd base position to market a
guy who will likely earn Colon money next year.
No one seems to be talking about the left field situation
(other than the similar Carlos Gonzalez pipe-filled-with-Colorado’s-finest dream). As I wrote earlier in the week, with no help
coming from the minors until the latter half of 2015 if everything progresses
on an accelerated timetable, why is no one talking about the elephant in the
room?
Assuming Sandy Alderson does nothing (a skill at which he
excels), then the 2015 team should have as starting pitcher options Matt
Harvey, Bartolo Colon, Zack Wheeler, Jacob de Grom, Dillon Gee, Jon Niese, Noah
Syndergaard, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jeremy Hefner and assorted other warm bodies
who may or may not have a future in the big leagues. Yes, there are injuries that occur every
year, but 9 starting pitchers is excessive – like keeping 6 outfielders. Oh yeah, they did that, didn’t they?
What happens in the bullpen next year if Bobby Parnell is
touching close to triple digits on the radar gun? Did Jenrry Mejia Wally Pipp Bobby
Parnell? Does Parnell reclaim his
job? Does Mejia go back to the overcrowded
rotation?
At various times the Mets have given extended looks (more
than 3 days – defined vis-à-vis Terry Collins) at good glove men who can’t hit –
Wilfredo Tovar, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Omar Quintanilla, etc. – yet when they have
the rarest of Mets’ farmhand oddities – guys who can hit – they can’t seem to
find a way to get them into the lineup on a regular basis. Ask Eric Campbell or Wilmer Flores or Andrew
Brown about that. When they go stale
sitting on the bench, that’s then used as the rationale for why they don’t play
more often in order to give more opportunities to replacement-level wannabe
hitters.
If getting rid of the hitting coach helped the team perform
a little better, what would happen if you got rid of his boss?
Has anyone noticed that once Eric Young started being used
appropriately, the team started playing better?
Has Bobby Abreu done anything since May? During his June/July swoon he’s hitting
.203. If you take out his one outlier –
a 4-4 game – it drops to a .150 average.
For a comparison, the universally despised Chris Young is hitting but
.189 over the same period but trumps Abreu 4/14 in HRs and RBIs vs 0/6. Dump ‘em both and let the platoon happy
manager play den Dekker and Campbell if you can’t acquire someone better.
Where have all the Ike Davis apologists gone?
Reese, stop making so much sense, or I may have a beef with you...and I'm not a vegetarian. Yanks get a Headley...hitting well so far - if not a high-risk move for a Cargo, anyone else we can get? How about Marlon Byrd?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post Reece. .....
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately with grandy and Lagares slumping for a few games, Iim sure TC literally itching to start EY the 'sparkplug' again.
And dropping abreu and CY to give playing time to Campbell, kirk, den dekker and company make way too much sense for this organization to actually do it.
And, regarding the 2015 closer role: based on celebration alone, I choose mejia over a healthy parnell #rationale
I never have guessed on a TC lineup
ReplyDeleteWith apologies to Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets":
ReplyDeleteTerry, how do you construct lineups so well?
"I think of a plan, then remove all reason and accountability."
If I remember right Daisuke Matsuzaka is only signed for this year. Little to no chance he will be back next year. Assuming his elbow is healthy there will be teams that will sign him as a starter and that is what he wants.
ReplyDeleteI also think the Mets should go to a six man rotation. Harvey and Syndergaard will be on a strict innings limits and they will be done in September in a 5 man rotation. It also might prevent someone else from needing TJ surgery. I could see Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaard, deGrom, Niese, and Gee as a pretty nice rotation. Even if the Mets trade Gee or Niese they would have Meija, Hefner and Montero as options. Matz would be an option mid season. They should be able to go deeper so the bull pen would be reduced by 1.
As far as the closer situation goes I think Familia should be the closer if Meija gets move back into the rotation. Parnell would have to take the job from him. He does not automatically get it back. He is third in line. It would be a nice problem if Parnell does return to form.
Parnell absolutely gets his job back. he's making the most money so he'll be the first to go if the Met's fall from contention next year. He needs to establish himself as a mid to top tier closer to get the best return.
ReplyDeleteParnell will likely be traded as soon as he proves healthy enough. Too many moving parts and uncertainty about what happens to everyone else
ReplyDeleteLast night I had the strangest dream.
ReplyDelete..that Reese actually wrote a POSITIVE comment about the team.
Then I woke up.
Come August 1, if ther is no trade i think we'll see MdD/Campbell quasi-platoon in LF spelled by Ey and Cy is they dont cut him. II also see MdD stealing some starts in cf that could be a poss future platoon imo. Id like them to give MD a real look as he might be the last real OF prospect pre-2016, or maybe he's another AAAA but id like to see. Plus just having a feeling 2 players w a last name that starts w a lower case d will help the Mets.
ReplyDeleteId rather get Cargo with a contract thru 2017 then Tulo w a contract thru 2020 only becuase i see Tulo as a injury risk w a contract to hamper future.
I dont think 6-man rotations work but we will prob need a real 6th starter i agree we could see Harvey and Thor shut down early. i dont know if that means DeGroom can start 2015 in pen or maybe he's been so good that it makes pen a bad idea. But it seems Gee and Niese find the DL each year so i think it;;ll all work out.