The Morning Report – November 1 – Yasiel Puig, Daniel Murphy, Jose Fernandez, Chihiro Kaneko

Reece Kaplan will be travelling to Australia for a three week vacation from Mack’s Mets. There is a chance we may hear from him while eating Thai food, but, either was, we wish him a good time and look forward to his return.

ambrownie03 - I am the newest member of the Oakland #Athletics. I would like to say thanks to the #Mets for the last 2yrs. It was fun.

We did get some information yesterday that a couple of Mets minor leaguers have probably gone bye-bye. Agents for both Anthony Seratelli and Ryan Reid said they will take their services elsewhere.

Right now, with anticipated changes in the works (Seratelli, Brown), I have the Mets/AAA/AA outfield as follows:

            Mets – Granderson, Lagares, den Dekker, Nieuwenhuis, Campbell

            AAA – Nimmo, Taijeron, Cecilliani, Johnson

            AA – King, Gomez, Pina, de la Cruz

I was both surprised and upset to see that catcher Juan Centeno was claimed off of waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers. This happened after Centeno was removed from the 40-man roster.

I never expected him to become another Mike Piazza… or even a Travis d’Arnaud… but I’ve watched as a so called ‘defensive specialist’ bust his ass and become a pretty decent hitter in the minors.

We all know that both d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki aren’t going to wind up on the same team, so the Mets are going to have to find someone to be the future #2 catcher. I had hoped Centeno had a shot over Anthony Recker for that job, but so much for that.

It’s tough to find someone talented enough to catch. The last time I felt this way about the loss of a Mets catcher was Jesus Flores. I hope this time has the same result.

Cam-Chat –

Comment From Eric - Jacob DeGrom, Zack Wheeler, and Juan Lagares for Yasiel Puig — who says no?

Dave Cameron: The Mets, probably. They need quantity of talent more than they need to consolidate roster spots.

Mack – I agree. The Mets can’t afford to deal off three members of their 25-man squad for one player. Three minor leaguers maybe, but no deal can include more than one front line player.

Steve asked –

           Morning MACK: This is what I have learned this season/post season.

The Mets are very close to being a better team than San Fran has been the past 5 years!

The problem I see is the manager?

But watching the playoff teams, has me thinking they shouldn't have moved the OF walls in? Instead build a team around great pitching and Defense. The timely hitting will come, i hope?

But going forward seeing what I’ve seen the METS better start MDD in RF! I do like Flores potential with the bat, but at SS I want a shutdown player? I want a Crawford! How about that double play last night? Can MURPHY make that play at 2nd?

Anyhow I really hope Harvey's start to the season is delayed till May so he is the last one standing in 2015.

Take care Mack, look forward to your response

            Steve, it’s a lot easier to manager when you have the right ballplayers.

I wouldn’t worry about the walls coming in. Those adjustments were custom made for David Wright and Curtis Granderson, who are under contract and are going to be played every day in CitiField as long as they are healthy. No team is going to benefit more from these adjustments than they will.

I think Harvey will start the season on opening day and be limited to six innings per start. I also think that (at least) Noah Syndergaard will be part of the rotation for any playoff games that develop.

And lastly, a double play like that is instinctive. There is no time to think about what you are going to do in that situation. The more you play the position, the more something like that will happen, though there takes a certain amout of luck and praying that the ball is going to come out of the glove going in the right direction.

Yes, I believe Murphy can make that play at this point in his growth at second base.

Bobby wrote –

            People do not seem to realize that there is only one difference between the Giants and the Mets. The Giants hit more singles. THAT'S IT! All the Mets have to do is sign 27 year old Cuban 2B/3B Jose Fernandez  He is ALL the Mets need to get a wild card spot. NO OTHER MOVE IS NECESSARY! If he can play 2B, he can play LF. He does not strike out, and will HIT. Look at the MlB team stats.... The Mets do not need to hit a single home run more, not a single double or triple, or walk one more time. They just need to raise the team batting average. Flores will get them 20% of the way there. Hopefully D.Wright can raise his average 15 points, and then Jose Fernandez WILL do the rest!   Granderson... D'Arnaud.... and Duda can stay low batting average/ high strikeout Chokers in the clutch if we get this guy. You people seem to think Home runs win World Series. K.C. hit 35 less HR's than the Mets, but you know what K.C. did? They struck out less than any other team. Look back at the Teams who have gotten to the W.S. in the last 4 years. There are A LOT of low strikeout teams on that list. Matt Reynolds should back up at 2B, SS, and 3B next year. Plawecki should platoon with D'arnaud  ( You need TWO catchers! ). Then Cuddyer can back up at 1B, LF, and RF. Then sign LH RP Andrew Miller to an overpriced contract, but he's young, and throws hard. You could also just make Steve Matz the co-closer with Mejia/Parnell... which is what I would do. ALL throughout the HISTORY of baseball, young Pitchers have started out in the bullpen when their teams already had 5 starters. The Mets should not make a single trade, unless some team wants granderson, wright, Gee or Colon's contracts. Injuries happen all the time. The Mets strength is their DEPTH... don't just throw it all away!

Mack – First of all, thanks for your email Bobby, which I think will generate some comments here at Mack’s Mets.

I’m not sure what I agree or disagree with you here, but I will say that every second baseman or third baseman doesn’t make a good left fielder.

I do think you are right when you say a good percentage of the increased hits (batting average) must come from within the current team. In my case, I wouldn’t rule out Granderson, d’Arnaud, and Duda here, regardless of how many times they strike out.

Also, your ideas about Matz are interesting, but too early anyway. He needs to qualify Super 2 wise before you will see him in Queens.

Nicholas Stellini on Chihiro Kaneko -

Amidst all the hubbub, a different piece of news caught my eye, and it festered in my brain for a few days. A report surfaced last week that Japanese pitcher Chihiro Kaneko had come to America to view the World Series and get a feel for American baseball, and was eligible to be posted this winter. Kaneko’s numbers are shockingly good for someone whom I’ve never heard of. This season (184.0 IP, 25 starts) he pitched to a 1.91 ERA with a WHIP of 1.027, striking out 9.5 batters per nine, and only walking 2.0 in the same interval. If you’re looking for hard numbers, that’s 194 K’s to 41 free passes. What’s more, he only gave up 7 round-trippers. It’s no surprise, then, that Kaneko won Japan’s version of the Cy Young, the Sawamura Award. Upon being presented with the award, Kaneko dropped a bombshell: he wants to pitch in America in 2015. http://beisbols.org/2014/10/30/chihiro-kaneko-next-best-thing-maeda/

Marty wrote –

           Yours is my favorite Mets site. Hope you and your family are hanging in there. Agree that Baumgarner is one for the ages. Will you wife be baking anything special for thanksgiving and or Christmas

Mack – Hmm… good question. She’s up to her butt in baking cookies right now for the 9^th annual Cookie Contest she does for the local newspaper here, so I don’t expect anything other than the standard shortbread or brownies being offered for around a $25 donation.

Last question what will the Wilpons be announcing at the fence presser?

I don’t think you will hear anything about the movement of the fences from either the Wilpons of Sandy Alderson. The work has begun and they will probably leave it at that.