12/6/14

The Morning Report – December 6 – Winter Meeting, Back End Starters, Danny Muno, Matt Harvey, Didi Gregorius



One thing about the Didi Gregorius trade to the Yankees.

            Chris Soto estimated in the comments section of my morning report yesterday that this would be the equivalent of the Mets sending Rafael Montero and Matt Reynolds.

            If this is true, it may speak volumes that the inability of the Mets of pulling off a Gregorius trade probably was due to the fact that Sandy Alderson didn’t want to. It obviously didn’t break the Yankee bank.

            (Beat reporter Dave Lennon said that Noah Syndergaard was the name floated out to the Mets early on which, if so, would have quickly killed any chance for a deal).

             These were all team controlled players and no three way deal including players like Dillon Gee or Jon Niese would ever fit here. They make too much money.

            I’m fine with this deal. Gregorius was never high on my list and I wish him well with the Yanks. He should have no pressure there. It’s not like he’s replacing some legend.


The Winter Meeting begin on Monday.

I will try and be online throughout the day (and night) and ‘FLASH’ add as many major deals that come down during the meetings.

Obviously, I will especially keep my eyes and ears out there looking for anyone that the Mets bring aboard.

The Gregorious-to-Yankees deal yesterday, and the Mets lack of interest of including Noah Syndergaard in a deal for him, lead me more to believe that we’re not going to see much more develop this off-season via trades or signings.

The Mets seem set on adding Syndergaard at some point this season to their proposed lethal rotation of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom.

This is the Mets team we are being dealt… an overwhelmingly talented rotation, an above average bullpen, and an offense that could… I said… COULD… produce six 20+ home run hitters.

Let’s go back to what I have said over and over for five years…

            Find me a rotation that can give you six to seven innings for a 3.00 or below ERA…

            Add to that three relief pitchers than can close the game down for the last two innings…

            And score an average of four runs a game… that’s all… four runs a game

You will easily win 90 games a year.



What is the future of Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Rafael Montero, and Jonathan Niese?
Well, two will start the 2015 season as part of the Mets rotation. Two others won’t.

My guess right now is Colon is the safest to remain a Met. His contract is toxic and I don’t expect many teams to be trying to fill a back end starter slot by spending this kind of money.

My guess is Montero’s current winter stint (5-starts, 22.0-IP, 3.68, 1.18, 17-K, 7-BB) will help determine his future 2015 position on this team. If he continues to improve on his slow winter start (5-ER in 5.2-IP in his first two starts), turns out a few more gems like his last outing (6.1 scoreless innings), and pitches a strong camp, he could walk away with the SP5 slot and push Colon to SP4.

This leaves Niese, the only lefty starter on the team, and Gee.

Would Niese accept a transfer to the Mets pen? Could Terry Collins duck in time after telling Niese where he was going? And is the future of Gee a trade for International pool money?

It should be an interesting week.



Neil Chat –

Comment From L. Scott - Regarding the Mets, could Wilmer Flores, Matt Reynolds, or even Daniel Muno emerge as an obvious starter at SS in spring training? Is the Mets “need” for a SS being overblown by the media?

Neil Weinberg: They could. But I would not bet on that happening.

            Mack – Boy, we just can’t get past this shortstop issue, can we?

I wish Sandy Alderson would either throw a press conference and say that Wilmer Flores is going to be the 2015 Mets shortstop, or get a deal done for whoever is going to play here.

Maybe and only maybe then everyone can get past this issue.


Comment From L. Scott - Matt Harvey will be the number ____ pitcher in the NL in 2015

Neil Weinberg: ~10, and then top 5 in 2016.

Mack – Talking about Matt Harvey… now this is what I could do all day.
This is a good reminder of just how talented Harvey was before he went down and, this time, he gets to be followed by Zack Wheeler and Jacob deGrom.


As that guy on Star Trek used to say…. ‘Oh My’….

10 comments:

Ernest Dove said...

We already have Didi. We just call him Ruben.
Every trade of a veteran can't be for a Syndergaard, Black or Herrera. Trade gee niese or colon for SOMETHING and move on.
Without anymore moves, this team can still compete for the playoffs in 2015.

greg b said...

Agree. Didi was not a major upgrade over Ruben. I wouldn't be shocked if by mid season Yanks trade for another SS.

Tom Brennan said...

The Yanks could have had Muno, who would have made them all instantly forget Jeter. Just goshing, Mack, but if Danny sticks in AAA, he'll have a very big year there. And boost his value.

I am happy with Wilmer. At SS or at 2B. For all of 2015.

Niese is getting paid very well - if kept and put in pen, accept it, Jon.

Ken M said...

Hey Mack, I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I think the Metsies are in a good position as it relates to a potential SS deal. With the Yanks now adding Didi, I only count a few teams in addition to the Mets that might be interested at SS. However between free agents and teams with multiple SS's there seems to be 10-12 available. At some point teams will see the value in a Colon, Niese or Gee as the surplus of SS dictates the situation. Or a free agent drops in our laps as we approach spring training. Your thoughts?

Ernest Dove said...

True or False:
Matt Reynolds will pull a Lagares in 2015.

Follow up question
True or False:

At least one macks mets guy in particular will ABSOLUTELY lose his mind if it happens.

Anonymous said...

Patience people. Sandy is in a good position. Teams will be calling,just not at this time of year? Sandy is smart enough and patient enough to wait till spring training. When some pitcher will go down,who was counted on by a team. There is also patience to wait out the FA market. Teams are counting on signing FA, if they don't get the guy or guys they want then they might be willing to trade/
But for now lets have patience and watch how this plays out.
Knowing as of today December 6th-2014. The Mets will be starting Harvey-Wheeler-deGrom 3out of every 5 games. That is what im thankful for

Mack Ade said...

I agree with all of you regarding Flores and patience.

And I especially agree with Anonymous... this period of the Hot Stove season is not our time. Alderson should be able to move one of the excess starters when all the big names are off the board

Tom Brennan said...

Ernest - I was just trying to figure out what exact date 20 years from now it will be when Matt Reynolds is elected to the Hall of Fame on a unanimous vote.

He is a sure fire Top 10 All Time player in the making.

But I have to get off now - the nurse has returned with my meds.

Herb G said...

Asking for Thor in return for Didi is absolutely ridiculous. If Sandy wanted him at all, he could have rebuffed that request qith a guffaw, and moved on to a more realistic package. I do not agree with Chris that the package the D-Backs hot was the equivalint of Montero and Reynolds . . not even close. Robbie Ray is no Montero and Domingo Leyba, although a hot wunderkind, has not yet shown he can hold Reynold's jock. A more realistic comparison that the Mets could have sent to AZ would be Verrett or Bowman, and perhaps Tover, although I think that is a superior package to what the Snakes actually received.

Mack Ade said...

Herb -

It sounds like to me that a request for Thor would have been the first volley over the net and Sandy probably just didn't hit the ball back over the net