11/5/14

The Morning Report – November 5 – Andy Ibanez, Kwang-Hyun Kim, 2015 Outfield, QO



There is a new Cuban that has defected… 21-year old 2B Andy Ibanez is on the way to America. 5-10, 183-LB, .267/.377/.435, 280-PA for Series and won a Gold Glove in his 2011-21 rookie year. He’s projected to start a professional career either at the A+ or AA level.
From Baseball America:

At 5-foot-10, 183 pounds, Ibanez doesn’t have one standout tool but he’s an athletic player who won a Gold Glove during his rookie year in 2011-12 and has posted solid offensive numbers given his age, including a .267/.377/.435 line with more walks (33) than strikeouts (28) in 280 plate appearances this past season for Isla De La Juventud. Given his current talent level, Ibanez, who turns 22 in April, would likely start his career either in high Class A or Double-A.

Ibanez has played only three seasons so he doesn’t qualify for unrestricted free agency.



26-year old Korean LHP Kwang-Hyun Kim is being posted by his KBO team. From the Korean Baseball Organization:

For years, Kim was one of the best pitchers in Korea, consistently posting elite numbers until (reportedly) injury issues derailed him from 2011 to 2013. He bounced back in a big way in 2014, when, despite the extreme offensive explosion in the KBO, Kim posted a 3.39 ERA. His peripherals, however, nearly matched his career marks, and they’re not overly compelling. For example, Kim sports a career 7.6 K/9 and an ugly 4.1 BB/9 – those numbers would undoubtedly worsen in MLB, and it’s virtually impossible to succeed in the big leagues with a K/9 under seven and a BB/9 well over four.




I have a question for those of you that leave comments.

We know ‘Plan A’ for the outfield… sign someone for one-year (good luck with that) to play left field until Brandon Nimmo can be slotted in on opening day 2016.

‘Plan B’ would be to spend nothing, give the job to Matt den Dekker (and some platoon buddy) in 2015.

‘Plan C’ would be to trade one of the excess pitchers to Boston for bad-boy Yoenis Cespedes.
And lastly, ‘Plan D’ would be to sign a 2-year deal with Michael Morse, slow down the progress of Nimmo until either an injury develops in Queens or opening day 2017.

Your thoughts please.



A qualifying offer is a one-year deal that a team can extend to a player on the club entering free agency. Some might view it as similar to the franchise tag in the National Football League, but with a draft pick attached. This one-year deal is an offer the team can make the player, regardless of skill level, to which the player can accept or decline. This year’s qualifying offer will sit at $15.3 million, an average of the top 125 salaries in baseball, so it is natural to assume this figure will continue to escalate, as it has in the past. By signing a player who rejected the qualifying offer, the new team signing the player must give up a top draft pick to the former team of the player. For example, if the Detroit Tigers lost Max Scherzer to the New York Yankees, the Yankees would have to give up their top draft pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, which would be the nineteenth pick overall. There are exceptions when it comes to draft picks. Teams with a top ten draft pick are protected from losing said pick, instead losing their next non-top ten overall pick in the very same draft. This qualifying offer situation has become a bit of a hindrance for players, as teams are reluctant to sign free agents because they value their draft picks so highly, which creates less of a free market battle for the player. This may force a team to sign a free agent after the draft, in which case they would lose no draft pick (i.e. Kendrys Morales in 2014) or alter the market in general (i.e. Ervin Santana a year ago). In order to receive a qualifying offer, the player must be on the team for the entire year, so this disqualifies traded players from being able to receive the offer.


18 comments:

Unknown said...

Free agency wise I would only give Rios a 1 year deal to play rightfield. I would bat him either 1 or 2 and let him steal bases. Hopefully we will trade Murphy this offseason and we will be in need of a 2 hitter.
I would rather stay with a platoon of MDD and Puello over a Morse signing or a carlos Gonzalez trade. I believe that platoon can provide 16hrs, 75 rbis with 30 or so stolen bases.
Also I think we need a rightfielder not a leftfielder. Granderson being moved to left helps the team out better defensively, with his arm.

Tom Brennan said...

@ John Zozo

I would like to go with a one year deal, but would be OK with a 2 year. Puello frustrates me - I don't know who makes the decisions, but why not put him in a different off-season league where they will give him playing time? If they were to do a Dekker/Puello platoon, I'd like to see more momentum out of Cesar. I think he was up 13 times thru Monday - waste of his time and management's ability to take a leap with him in 2015.

Mack Ade said...

Thomas -

The Mets don't make the decisions on which Latin league their players play in.

It seems to me that we're going to have to wait and see if the Mets play him every day in AAA for the first half of the season.

He really hasn't earned being in Queens yet, has he?

Unknown said...

Give me plan B, lock up Harvey, and Wheeler to long term deals instead. Giants 3 out 5, best argument.

Anonymous said...

He is not going to make it back to AAA because he is out of options and would have to clear waivers in order to be assigned to Vegas. He is either in Queens in April or someplace else. there is a chance he could pass through waivers, but it is more than likely that he would be claimed on a wing like FMart was by Houston. The FA is extremely weak for the OF this year and I don't like the trades for Cargo or Cespedes, so I would take a flyer on Puello as a platoon for April and May to see if he can fit against lefties and provide speed, pop and defense off the bench. It is not a matter of whether he has earned it because there are no options to keep him in the minors. I don't know and don't care what happened last year in Vegas, it was ridiculous not to let him play everyday to see if he could get it going. Giving his ABs to Allen, Serratelli, Vaughn and even Brown was mindboggling on every level. If he was such a bad clubhouse guy, they should have cut him or traded him for whatever they could get. that they didn't shows that they still have some ray of hope for him, so to give him erratic playing time was foolish. Bear in mind also that he was at least two years younger than league average, adjusting to a new level and showed flashes throughout the year, despite some slumps.

When I look at what is available, I would prefer to exhaust the final opportunity with Cesar and if he flops, try to replace him via trade in June with one of the Vets on his way out. One other things, I do NOT see Nimmo being ready for opening day 2016. He has had a half of year at AA with middling results and is not really lighting it up in AZ and has an alarming K rate
Anon Joe F

Mack Ade said...

Derek -

I like your idea.

Start signing the young starts like Atlanta did

Anonymous said...

You don't start buying our FA years until a player first hits and passes their 1st year of Arb. Let us see what Harvey does coming back from TJS before inking a big contract and also see what he gets in Arb next year. Wheeler is not Arb eligible until 2017 and deGrom in 2018, so there is no hurry to spend the cash now. Generally teams try to buy out final two years of Arb in return for 2 years of FA.

No need to ink players long term that are still under team control for 3-4+ years
Anon Joe F

eraff said...

For those of you who want to build around assumptions of young players and pitchers arriving READY TO PRODUCE and EXACTLY ON TIME..... let me remind you that It doesn't work that way...none of this works that way!!!!

Syndergaard, Nimmo, Conforto, Herrera---they will arrive as Struggling, Adjusting Youngn Players.... that should be the assumption.

There is pitching in place Now,,,it will not stay in place! With the assumption that your young OF prospects MIGHT be fully productive in a year and a half to 3 years from now, there should also be an assumptions of another pitching injury or two..... another decision on player retention...etc, etc.....

Make LF work NOW..... make it a good player with forward value---a guy who can produce in play or trade.

It won't be crowded...they won't be blocked...UNTIL they are crowded and blocked,

Mack Ade said...

eraff and Joe F -

what about signing Lagares through 2020?

Anonymous said...

I just don't see the inventory you are looking for via trade or FA, but I do see the type of solutions next year in Heyward or Upton. In years past, the Mets were not the most attractive candidates for big FA, but I think that changes beginning this year. A guy like Heyward will see a lot of young talent under control and a monster staff, so honestly, I think the Mets will be one of the most attractive spots for FA over the next 2-3 years. As much as I would love to solve LF in advance of Nimmo or Conforto, I just don't think it is vitally important to solve it in 2015. The team will still be assembling over the course of 2015 with inning limits, shedding Vet contracts, solidify the BP and get a full year out of d'Arnaud, Duda and Jlag

Anonymous said...

the players have no leverage right now and most will take the cash with two years of Arb left, so until they hit Arb (and you see what they get) there is no need to buy out. Contrary to popular belief, these players are NOT going to get huge payouts in Arb; Kershaw got $10M per year in each of his last two years, so use that as a benchmark. Furthermore, the Arb process definitely takes into account missing a season due to injury, so Harvey lost a lot of money and if one of the young bucks goes down with any sort of extended injury, it will severely depress their value. That applies to JLag as well, who has missed time due to injury. No need to extend him until 2017, assuming he continues to improve. The players almost always take the cash with two years remaining on Arb, so no need to shell it out early. I am all in favor of buying out final Arb years and a couple of FA, but timing is key and there is a pretty standard formula that teams follow
Anon Joe F

eraff said...

Mack... I'd like to think that the Mets have/will have some players that they deem as Cornerstones going forward. I believe that's part of any good player development/team development model now.

Lagares..there's some time available to consider an extension.

Duda?...does it make sense to "control him". It can make him more viable as a piece forward, and as a trade object.

They have seemed virtually incapable/unwilling of taking any committed financial position---will that continue?

eraff said...

Anon...

Pitching is in Place, as much as any team can say that. A "return to 85% Baseball Card" for Grandy and Wright, plus a legitimate, established LF Bat(350-500 ab's), make this an 86-88 win PLUS GET LUCKY team.

I don't see how you miss that!!!??

Arms don't stay in place----frankly, they WASTED 2014....and 2015 is much more obvious...at least to me!

Mack Ade said...

eraff -

I think you and I are on the same page...

the reality is that the Mets are NOT going to spend the kind of money needed to solve their needs.

They probably will bring in a new corner outfielder on a one-year contract, but that's about it.

This is a team built around it's young, talented rotational pitchers and they are NOT going to trade off the guys that can get them to the playoffs.

To me:

2015: Harvey returns... Thor and Matz second half of the season... fences in... full season of d'Arnaud, Wright, and Lagares... 85 wins

2016: another year of experience... Nimmo a corner outfielder... Herrera on 2B.... 90 wins

BUT...

that's what I see as the ceiling with this kind of operation... oh yeah... everybody has to stay healthy for 2 years (ha)

Reese Kaplan said...

I'd sign Rios for one year with an option for a 2nd, slot him into RF, move Granderson to LF and bat Rios leadoff.

Brian Joura said...

Plan B.

Let MDD leadoff and enjoy the fruits of his ultra-high OBP.

Tom Brennan said...

I wish MDD were playing this off season and cementing his case for what you wish for, Brian. Because I agree that he'll do well. Risky, so a Delmon Young would be a great add (right, Mack!?)

Hobie said...

I say Plan B. Grandy in LF, pleqse. Get as many RF AB's as possible for MDD & CP in the first 2/3 Mos. (MDD an occ start in CF or LF)

Kirk & Campbell are your L/R PH's.

IF Puello is DFA'd, maybe pick up Rios as a RHB, but I'd prefer to see what Cesar's got. In a meh post-suspension year, he still did quite well against LHP.