The Morning Report: 2.21.2015 |

Evan Grant | Dallas Morning News - "According to the Rangers, Jurickson Profar had been throwing out to 105 feet with no major discomfort. He has been having MRIs every 3 weeks to monitor his situation. The Rangers report that an MRI taken on Tuesday in Arlington showed increased strain on the subscapularis muscle in his right shoulder from a previous MRI...Profar will have shoulder surgery Monday." 

(Chris Soto: Well...disaster avoided for the Mets. There were a number of fans clamoring for the Mets to take advantage of the Rangers middle infield glut and buy semi-low on Profar. Injuries in this game are so cruel and from the sounds of it, Profar's career may be in jeopardy due to the fact that he can't seem to get this shoulder issue behind him. He is at risk to lose out on the entire 2015 season after missing the entire 2014 season.)

Announcement | WOR 710 Radio - "The New York Mets flagship radio station, today announced that Wayne Randazzo will join the radio broadcast team for Mets games broadcasts. Randazzo is a seasoned sports broadcaster from Chicago, with more than 10 years of experience and will join play-by-play announcer Howie Rose and Josh Lewin. He will host a 30-minute pre-game show before every regular season game and a 30-minute post game program."

(Chris Soto: I don't really have much to add here as i generally don't listen to games on the radio. I will say that I am happy to see that WOR was able to bring in a experienced person to pick up the role vs. saving money and pulling in a rookie like SNY did with Nelson Figueroa. That doesn't mean he will necessarily be better but sometimes experienced people are needed.)

Adam Rubin | ESPN New York - "There was a sharp pain in there...I don't know if I tried to rush into it without properly going through my long-toss program to get it in shape... and kind of screwed things up in there. I probably should have... taken the first month off last year and gotten it right. Hindsight is 20/20. [That said] "I haven't been this confident with my arm in probably three years. I feel really good. My long toss, I feel a lot stronger."

(Chris Soto: We all knew that Niese did not look 100% last season. His velocity was way down pretty much the entire spring and it did not get much better as the season went alone....Irregardless, this is the first news we have gotten out of camp about one of our likely starters and I'm glad it's on the positive side. A healthy Niese allows the Mets keep Steven Matz stashed in AAA all season rather than potentially rushing him to the MLB. Plus, the club is probably hoping Niese has a strong 2015 season to, not only help the team get back to the playoffs, but to also increase his trade value heading into an off-season.)

Adam Rubin |  ESPNNewYork   "Why does Kirk Nieuwenhuis have a decided advantage over Matt den Dekker for a lefty-hitting backup outfielder role? Nieuwenhuis is one of the handful of fringe players out of options. That means he must be exposed to waivers before being sent to the minors and other teams would have the opportunity to claim him. Den Dekker, on the other hand, can be freely sent to the minors without any risk of losing him. Nieuwenhuis isn't the only player with that out-of-options status. Among the other players in camp who must be exposed to waivers if they were to fail to make the team: Wilmer Flores, John Mayberry Jr., Jenrry Mejia, Nieuwenhuis, Cesar Puello, Ruben Tejada and Carlos Torres. That's why all are likely to make the team except for Puello."

(Herb G. It will probably take a dynamite spring for den D to push Captain Kirk off the bench, if that will even do it. I don’t think they want to risk losing Nieuwenhuis, and lose him they will, if he is exposed to waivers. I do not agree, however, that, save for Puello, they are all likely to make the team because they are out of options. Each of the others deserve to be on the team based on performance. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind it if Tejada was not asked to make the trek north, leaving room for Reynolds to show what he is made of. But we will have to wait until March to tell that story.)

Mack - I never understood the desire to hold on to players that have no chance in staring at the major league level

 Joe D. |  metsmerized online “Baseball America is expected to reveal their 2015 Top 100 Prospects later today or tomorrow. MMO has learned that the Mets will have seven prospects featured on the list as follows: No. 11 Noah Syndergaard, RHP, No. 33 Steven Matz, LHP, No. 45 Brandon Nimmo, OF, No. 46 Dilson Herrera, 2B, No. 63 Kevin Plawecki, C, No. 80 Michael Conforto, OF, No. 98 Amed Rosario, SS.”

 
(Herb G. We’ve been talking up the quality of the Mets’ farm system here on Mack’s Mets for some time now, but seven of the Top 100 is something to really crow about. The only mild surprises here are the inclusion of Conforto, who has not made other top 100 lists yet, and maybe how high some of our young ‘uns are. More and more I am believing they are creating something good for the long term here.)

 
 Adam Rubin |  ESPNNewYork “The last three primary left-handed relievers in the Mets bullpen all required surgery after heavy workloads. Yet Josh Edgin, who figures to receive extreme usage this season, offered no concern given the track records with predecessors Pedro Feliciano, Tim Byrdak and Scott Rice. . . . The Mets clearly are putting a lot of faith in the 28-year-old Edgin this season. They did not add any other left-handed relievers via free agency. "I haven't really read into it that much, and I don't really want to get into that," Edgin said about the lack of an established complement, and what that says about the faith him. "I would want them to have confidence in me." If Dillon Gee goes untraded, there may not even be room for a second-left-hander in the bullpen once Bobby Parnell is activated from a season-opening stint on the DL, since Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black, Carlos Torres and Edgin should be locks.”


 (Herb G.  Overwork should be a concern for Edgin. He could very well be the only lefty in the pen. Although the threat from left handed batters in the NL East is somewhat diminished from last year, there are still some formidable lefties, like Chase Utley, Freddie Freeman, and Bryce Harper. The big question to me is whether Terry Collins will be mindful of Edgin’s workload, and limit his exposure rather than leave him in to face right handed batters unnecessarily.)