The Morning Report – November 10 – David Wright, Yasmany Tomas, Josh Reddick Troy Tulowitzki

I spent this morning visiting a number of sites, including Cot Baseball and, particularly, the current Mets salary page.[i] They’ve removed the 2014 numbers and, without them listed, the Mets page looks very simple. Only four members of the current team are under any form of extended contract, one of which is Bartolo Colon ($11mil/2015) who reached free agency in a year.

The other three are well known amongst Mets fans… Jon Niese ($7.05mil/2015, $9.05mil/2016, team option/2017)… Curtis Granderson ($16mil/yr/2015 & 2016, $15mil/2017), and David Wright, a contract with six years left on it that starts in 2015 at $20mil and declines to $12mil in 2020.

I also read a number of articles about how the progress of Wright’s should is actually improving[ii] and how we should all look forward to him returning to punching out the kind of numbers we have grown to become accustomed to, but I have to tell you. I read these articles… then stared at the stat line he put out this last season[iii]… and then went back to Cot to remind myself of just how much the team still owes this guy and I started to realize that this could easily become the worst long term contract in the history of either the Omar Minaya or Sandy Alderson era.

Look at the four year period of 2011-2014, where Wright is supposedly at his prime (28-31/years old). We’re talking a combined 60-HRs and 275-RBIs… compare this to the four year period of 2005-2008 (22-25/yrs old)… 126-HRs and 449-RBIs.

It’s one thing to look at this declining trend. It’s another to remind ourselves that there is six more years left on his contract.

Don’t get me wrong… no one loves The Captain move than me, but let’s hope for some extended good health here. Otherwise, you may never see a Mets contract past two years ever again.

Joel Sherman speculated that the Mets would be a great lading zone for OF Yazmany Tomas[iv] Sherman said –

The Mets have shown an aversion for spending on players they know a lot more about than Tomas, who could cost $100 million or more on a six- or seven-year deal. But here is the question I would ask: Are the Mets ever getting in the game or not?

Sherman knows this is never going to happen. $100mil? Six or seven years? What are you talking about, Willis?

Beyond the Box Score ‏@BtBScore  -  Highest first-pitch ball%’s in #MLB in 2014 (500 pitches min.) - N. Martinez (47.2%) - T. Lincecum (45.5) - J. De la Rosa (45.2) - Z. Wheeler (45.0)

@JimBowden_ESPN on Mets: "I'd be very careful not to trade the young arms...They built that strength I'd like them to take advantage of it"

From “Five Players The Mets Should Pursue”[v]

Josh Reddick - As I’ve broken down before, Josh Reddick would be a relatively cheap acquisition with extremely high upside. He’s hit as many as 32 home runs and driven in as many as 85 runs. Reddick is a lefty with power and speed, and he’s batted from second to seventh in the Oakland A’s lineup. He’s solid in the clutch, unafraid of the big moments and an excellent right fielder with a strong arm. He’s had a few seasons shortened by injury, partly due to his daredevil-style athleticism in the field — but if he can stay healthy, his defense alone would make him worth a shot. Best of all, he’s only 27, and his current contract is only $2.7 million. Think of him as Matt den Dekker with a stronger arm and more of a Major League track record. As for den Dekker, he’d make solid trade bait as part of a package deal — or the Mets could stash him while he cultivates his own interesting upside in triple-A or as a fourth outfielder. The A’s wouldn’t give Reddick away for peanuts, but the Mets wouldn’t have to sell the farm, either.

Possible Tulo trade to Mets - The match that immediately comes to mind with those parameters, of course, is the Mets. There’s an immediate need for a shortstop, they have two rotations worth of starters, with Matt Harvey on the fast track back from Tommy John surgery. What’s not to like? They’re even bringing the fences in again. The problem is that whole money thing, especially if Dick Monfort isn’t willing to provide financial assistance. The Mets are still working their way back from being swept up in the Bernie Madoff fiasco, and while revenue (and payroll) should start going up at some point soon, taking on Tulowitzki AAV of $20 million may be a tall order for almost any team. The Mets are also reportedly loath to part with their young pitching. The aforementioned stockpiling strategy seems to be their plan. If they did trade for Tulowitzki, it would undoubtedly involve Noah Syndergaard, and one of Rafael Montero and Steven Matz

. There would probably be some sort of position player involved too. That’s a genuine blockbuster for sure.[i]

Baseball Draft Ga Ga - In 2005, the Red Sox minor league system was ranked 21st among the 30 teams. Their top six prospects that year were: 1. Hanley Ramirez, 2. Brandon Moss, 3. Jonathan Papelbon, 4. Jon Lester, 5. Anibal Sanchez, 6. Dustin Pedroia. They’ve since gone on to accumulate 164.4 WAR. The Chicago Cubs were ranked 11 spots ahead of the Red Sox, at No. 10. Their top prospects were; 1. Brian Dopirak, 2. Felix Pie, 3. Ryan Harvey, 4. Angel Guzman, 5. Billy Petrick, 6. Renyel Pinto. They ended up being worth minus 1.1 WAR.[ii]

Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera (Washington Nationals) – New York Mets. This is it Mets fans, your big signing, Asdrubal Cabrera. The Mets are interested in two obvious positions: left field and shortstop. Regardless of how the front office and ownership phrases it, they will not be spending much this offseason. This is not to say Cabrera would be a poor signing, as he is at the very least a stopgap at shortstop, with flexibility to stick at second base. The Nationals might be in the hunt to retain him, but there is no definite answer at this point in time. At the very least, the Cabrera signing will

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[i] http://beisbols.org/2014/11/08/lets-try-build-troy-tulowitzki-trade/

[ii] http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-a-change-will-do-you-good-brewers-yankees-cardinals-astros-dbacks/

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[i] https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tfJWfaPG4VXbDyBscIZf1MQ&output=html

[ii] http://nypost.com/2014/11/07/david-wrights-shoulder-is-yeah-actually-improving/

[iii] http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=David-Wright

[iv] http://nypost.com/2014/11/08/hardball-looks-at-best-landing-spots-for-mlb-free-agents/

[v] http://throughthefencebaseball.com/five-players-new-york-mets-should-pursue/44454#utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter