The Morning Report - GCL/Rule 5, Rafael Montero, Daniel Murphy, Juan Lagares, The San Diego Padres

Rule 5 Eligible Players from the GCL Mets team - 

    Kevin Canelon, Jose Celas, Jose Encarnacion, Gabriel Feliz, Manuel Hilario, Miquel Leaf, Alvin Maracaro, Flabio Ortega, Natanael Ramos, Alfredo Reyes, Waldo Rodriguez, Lenny Rosario

Terry Collins on using Rafael Montero in the bullpen - 

     "I don't want to go to Spring Training and not have some knowledge of how Montero handles the pen. If he's never done it before, that's a lot to ask from a young man."

      Mack - Well, it sounds like there's a chance that I may be getting my wish.

      There are some of our writers here that feel that Montero doesn't have that one great pitch that would make him a great bullpen pitcher, but I do know he has four excellent pitchers could make him a very successful 'first up' reliever once the starter is being pulled.

I still would have Vic Black, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia as my velo guys, but you can't tell me that Montero wouldn't be a better alternative to Carlos Torres.

Forget trades... the Mets simply have too much good pitching, even if Sandy Alderson was successful in dealing off a couple of them. 

Right now, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom line up as the SP 1-3 for this team. Let's assume that Noah Syndergaard isn't traded and does become the SP4 sometime next season. Do you actually see Montero beating out ALL the other guys, like Dillon Gee, Jon Niese, and even Bartolo Colon?

The conversion of Montero to the pen simply makes sense, just like it did for Familia and Mejia.

Ernest Dove asked –

Mack, do you think the Mets will actually send Dilson Herrera down to the end of the bench when Daniel Murphy comes back?

Mack – Hey Ernest.

Yes I do, for a number of reasons, the most important being is the fact that Murphy is an all-star, was leading the league in hits when he was placed on the DL, and it’s his job to lose on his own, not have it taken away for someone who only was called up for emergency reasons.

I love what Herrera has done, and there is a good chance he has already proved that he is a capable replacement for Murphy someday, but the great part about depth is that no one has to be in a hurry. The Mets now look set at second base for the remainder of the decade.

I would want to give Murphy every opportunity to lead the league in hits even if it is only an outside chance. It also would give the Mets a chance to showcase him some more before the off-season trading season starts.

It doesn’t look like a long term extension is an option anymore for Murphy, therefore, Sandy Alderson must move in the direction of getting the maximum return for him via a trade.

    

Let’s face it… playing baseball in September when there’s no chance of making the playoffs really sucks, but it does give a team a chance of experimenting for the future by inserting certain players into different lineup or position situations. One example could be using Dilson Herrera on second base. Another would be Rafael Montero out of the pen. But the best one this fall could be the placement of Juan Lagares into the leadoff position and turning the green light on for his steal attempts.

Lagares is getting very close to being classified as an all-star in this game and doing all he does while hitting .280+ as the future Mets leadoff man just might do the trick.

I used to sometimes miss Carlos Gomez and the potential he brought to this game and position. Then I simply became pissed when he blossomed (late) and he no longer was a member of the Mets. But that’s all in the past now.

Lagares gives me everything I loved in Gomez but, more important, I have never felt so comfortable having someone play centerfield for the Mets before. I know in my heart that, if a ball is hit to centerfield, and it has a chance to be caught, it will be by this guy. He’s that good out there.

Now, the added addition of his leading off and becoming a steal threat is just icing on the cake.

We continue in our series at looking at each team, who their key players are all positions the Mets are looking to improve in (left field, shortstop, prospect relief pitching) and the chance of a future deal either through a trade or free agent signing.

Today, we look at the San Diego Padres.

According to Cot[i], the Padres 2014 salaries were $90,636,600, the same range as the Mets.

There are long term contracts here, but none considered out of the question to absorb into your organization. RPP Joaquim Benoit has one more year (2015) left at $8mil… LF/RF Seth Smith (12-HR, 42-RBI, .279) is due $6mil in 2015 and $6.75mil in 2016… RF Wil Venale (.221) has 2015 left at $4.25mil… CF Cameron Maybin (.242) is due $7.1mil in 2015 and $8.1mil in 2016.

Chris Denorfia had stepped in for the oft-injured Maybin; however, he was traded in July to Seattle for minor league OF Abraham Almonte.

Only 2B Jedd Gorko has an extended contract ($35,5109mil through 2019), but it is highly back-ended with payouts of $2mil in 2015, $4mil in 2016, and $6mil in 2017.

Everth Cabrera (.232) was their starting shortstop until he landed on the DL. His replacement is ex-UT/3B, Alexi Amarista, who may get a longer look now since Cabrera is now on the Padres shit list after being arrested Wednesday after driving while high on weed.

Free agents ready to depart at the end of the season are RHP Josh Johnson ($8mil) and RHP Tim Stauffer ($1.6mil).

Key prospect in the organization to target would be OF Hunter Renfroe, who hit 21-HR/75-RBI this past season at the A+/AA level.

Mack projection – San Diego is a tough team to predict.  It looks on the surface that they have their outfield tied up to some reasonable contracts, but none of these guys seem to hit at any decent level anymore. What if the Padres wanted to promote their prospect Renfroe to a starter and trade you one of their contacts? Why would you do this?

Lastly, they have no depth in their system at shortstop and now their current one is high in the drunk tank.

IMO… This looks like another team the Mets should take a pass on.

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[i] http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/nl-west/san-diego-padres/