3/5/15

The Herb G Morning Report - 3-5-15 - Gee on hold, Wright shows class, Murphy gagged, Wheeler's beef.



Spring Training Results
New York Mets 8 - 2 Atlanta Braves (Box Score)
  • CF Juan Lagares: 1 for 2, R, 2B, BB
  • SS Matt Reynolds: 2 for 3, 2 R, RBI(1)
  • C Johnny Monell: 1 for 3, R, HR(1), 3 RBI(3), K
  • LF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 4 for 4, R, RBI(1)
  • RHSP Dillon Gee: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB
  • RHRP Jon Velasquez: Win, 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K

(Chris Soto: It's nice to finally listen to a live game! We got a bit of a scare when Flores was HBP in the wrist but all reports say that he is fine and taking him out was precautionary. Nieuwenhuis made an early statement that he deserves that 5th OF spot with a 4 for 4 day and Reynolds also showed us that maybe he deserves to be Flores' back-up, not Tejada. Monell is going to give Recker a run for his money offensively, but, the back-up catcher position is more about being a solid defensive replacement and having comfort with the rotation. Recker definitely has a leg up in that department.)


Igor Mello |   cbssports.com Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters there's barely any dialogue between other clubs about potential trades for pitcher Dillon Gee, who was on the block during the winter meetings. Gee is scheduled to start Wednesday's Grapefruit League opener against Atlanta, though he's slated to start the regular season as a long reliever. "I think most clubs, including ours, are focused on what's going on in camp and evaluating what they already have," Alderson said, per ESPN. "If there's going to be any significant trade talk, I think typically it's going to happen later in spring training, unless there's an injury of some sort. By and large, I think that comes more in the second half of spring training."

 (Herb G.  So much for the Gee for Profar rumors! Or is it? If Alderson is anything, it is cagey. He just might deny that anything was going on while engaging in talks. If the Mets could get an elite prospect like Profar, if indeed you can still call him a prospect, it would be a steal. Sure, there is some risk with Profar, but as good as Gee is as a back of the rotation starter, he is excess baggage on a Mets team bursting at the seams with high quality young arms.)
 
 Kristie Ackert |  nydailynews.com “On Wednesday morning, David Wright apologized to Noah Syndergaard. The Mets captain made headlines Tuesday when he scolded the team's top pitching prospect for eating lunch in the clubhouse during an intrasquad scrimmage. Wright was not sorry for the message he sent, just that he delivered it "within earshot," of the press. "Now he has to answer questions, I have to answer questions, (Mets manager) Terry (Collins) has to answer questions, that's not the way that I like to handle things," Wright said. "I wasn't aware of my surroundings. As far as the content of it, I think that's something that I think Noah did an excellent job understanding the situation, he was very remorseful of the situation."


 (Herb G.  This really reflects well on The Captain. His handling of the situation when it occurred on Wednesday was totally appropriate. It will not only aid in Thor’s development as a player, it will extend to all the other young players in major league camp, whether they wind up on the team or not. But his handling of the aftermath shows true class. It takes a big man to apologize, when he knows what he did was correct, but the way in which it was done could have been different. Wright’s stature only increases in the eyes of his teammates as a result of actions like these.)

 Mike Puma | nypost.com   Former player Billy Bean made an appearance Tuesday at Mets camp in his new role as MLB’s ambassador for inclusion. Bean, who is gay, said his early retirement from the game was tied to never feeling fully accepted by teammates.
Bean, who is touring various camps this spring, wore a Mets uniform and participated in workouts. “I disagree with his lifestyle,” Daniel Murphy told NJ.com. “I do disagree with the fact he is homosexual. That doesn’t mean I can’t still invest in him and get to know him. I don’t think the fact someone is homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect.” Maybe as a Christian … we haven’t been articulate enough in describing what our actual stance is on homosexuality. We love the people. We disagree with the lifestyle.” 

Adam Rubin |  ESPNNewYork  New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy will no longer address his religious beliefs and will stick to baseball, a team spokesman said Wednesday.”

 (Herb G. Murphy is certainly entitled to his opinion. His stance may indeed reflect the views of many other ballplayers. However, the headlines - e.g. “Daniel Murphy Disapproves of MLB Ambassador’s Gay Lifestyle” - purport Murphy to be something of a redneck, a bigot. Obviously, someone in the front office spoke to Murph about his comments, and thought enough of it to issue the statement above, quoted by Adam Rubin. I hope this doesn’t carry over into the season or affect Murphy’s play. The Mets have great expectations for Murphy, hoping his bat will help propel them into contention and/or that he might bring a high return should they decide to trade him in mid-season.)

 
 David Schoenfeld |  espn.com   “To be fair, New York Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler isn't the first pitcher to complain about infield shifts. Back in September of 2013, A.J. Burnett exchanged words with shortstop Clint Barmes but told the assembled media the next day, "Listen, I did not have a problem with Clint! I do not have a problem with Clint! I had a problem with the f****** shift! We play people in the wrong spot!" Over the weekend, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke at the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference and mentioned a pitcher on his staff wasn't happy when shifts were employed. On Monday, Wheeler admitted he was the guy, telling NJ.com, "I don't want to piss anybody off but, honestly, I don't like it.”


(Herb G. Wheeler has a legitimate beef. He is a ground ball pitcher, and when he is on the mound and the shift is employed against left handed batters, his BAA is has risen, albeit with a very small sample. I am not a fan of the shift in general. I cannot understand why lefties don’t slash the ball to the opposite field, or even bunt hard down the third base line and take the hit that is being given to them. But I must admit, it seems that most of the sluggers, against whom it is used, continue to try to blast the ball to right field, and when it is on the ground, the infielders are well positioned to get the out. Nonetheless, if I were Collins, I would placate Wheeler and play the shift less frequently when he is pitching.)

18 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Gee's chances of being on the Mets at the start of the season? 50-50. Making it to August? 20%.

Murph vs the Media: not a place to be.

Despite getting hit by a pitch on his little finger, Flores has a pinky up on his competition.

Kirk N makes quite a statement on day 1. Gonna be an interesting race for back up OFs.

Dallas said...

Murphy should have just kept his mouth shut. Not sure what he was trying to accomplish with his statements. Just made him and the team look bad, regardless of his followup comments. Especially in NY people are going to find it offensive.

Anonymous said...

While Wright was getting praised for disciplining Syndergaard, I thought it was poor that he embarrassed the kid in front of the NY media.

Should have pulled him aside, IMO.

It didn't need to be a story in the papers.

Secondly, Flores had two chances in the field and neither resulted in outs. It's still possible that this kid is not a SS, despite our wishin' and hopin'. There is no way that he can be paired with Reynolds, who is also a weak glove. Alderson has created a situation, through his inactivity, that necessitates Tejada as backup and, further, gives Ruben a strong chance of ultimately taking over the job.

And that might make me cry.

Anonymous said...

@Anon

It was not Wright's intention to do it in front of the media...He was not aware that someone was in the clubhouse when you confronted Syndergaard until afterwards.

@Dallas

Murphy technically did not say anything wrong. He is a man of religious faith who stands for what he believes in. We saw that last year when he chose to be with his wife for the birth of his son instead of playing opening day and the media destroyed him for it.

LGBT friends that I have are actually ok with his statement. They understand that people are not going to agree with their lifestyle....as long as they are understanding and try not to be bigots like offering a way to "heal" them.

I see nothing wrong with Murphy's comments and I applaud him for accepting Bean for who he is despite disagreeing with it.

Zozo said...

Maybe we can trade Kirk to either the Angels or Blue Jays? They just lost an outfielder each. I want Puello on this roster in the worst way.
If our owners would spend some money I would trade for Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard for Duda, Synndy, Colon, Mazzini and Nimmo. Howard is going to have a better year than Duda IMO.
A better balanced rotation with
Harvey
Hamels
Wheeler
Matz
DeGrom

Anonymous said...

@Zozo

Oh god.....did you just really suggest that....

Hamels is nice but our rotation is already Top in the NL. It's the law of diminishing returns and I'm not giving up 6 years of Syndergaard for a guy a career FIP of 3.48. He's good but it's nothing that Noah Syndergaard can't match right now.

Ryan Howards is absolute garbage....He was the worst hitting 1B in the major leagues last season! Duda outperformed him by .140 OPS points!

Anonymous said...

You realize Howard is making $25M this year and (buyout included) $35M next year!

That is the worst case of dead money you can possibly have.

Tom Brennan said...

Duda is rising, Howard is receding. No thanks.

My favorite minor leaguer, Akeel Morris, pitched a scoreless, hitless, walkless 8th inning. Not bad for the kid from Savannah.

My second favorite (Mack knows who that is, I think - his initials are MR) was 2 for 3 with 2 runs and an RBI.

I understand the importance of fielding. I still want Flores as SS and Reynolds as back up. I am tired of 2nd tier offense. I want a top tier hitting squad. I'll tolerate some weak fielding for it.

Reese Kaplan said...

As long as the big acquisitions are of the Granderson/Cuddyer ilk, you will not have a top tier offense.

Anonymous said...

I am amazed by how many folks discount defense at SS and yet also love Lagares.

The jury is out on Flores. I am not saying he can't play SS, though I do suspect he'll be (at best) among the very worst defensive SS in baseball. It might get so bad that the Mets decide, for the second time, that he lacks the skill set of a ML shortstop.

All I'm saying is that his defensive ability is a very, very, very big deal for the 2015 Mets. It is the game's premier defensive position. It matters a lot.

Personally, I like this kid. I'm rooting for him. I'm even in favor of the experiment. But it's a strong possibility that it doesn't work out for him to play everyday SS. My bet is that Tejada is going to see a lot of time out there in 2015 -- until (or unless) the Mets make a trade.

James Preller

Anonymous said...

Christopher, I realize that now the Mets are saying Wright did not realize that a reporter was in the clubhouse.

I don't believe it.

I think he didn't realize it was going to blow up as big as it did, and humiliate the kid in all the NY papers. Now he's backtracking.

How does a long-time veteran like Wright not know a reporter is in the room?

I'm not killing Wright for it. I'm glad he delivered the message. I just think the better play was to do it privately.

James Preller

Tom Brennan said...

James, I have a lot of agreement with you on both points. Flores may play like a butcher at SS. But I want to see the experiment, because I am so tired as a Met fan of seeing what we saw early last year: the first 5 slots in the line up hitting, and the last 4 hitting a combined .150. It's painful, and I'd like to see a team that can hit top-to-bottom.

I can't imagine Wright could not have at least understood there are press everywhere. I think a selective chew out with the media within earshot can give him more clout as the Captain. It is a far cry from the Cal Ripken style of harassing rookie level guys, so an occasional so-called "mistake" like Wright's is OK with me.

Zozo said...

He was the worst and he still had about 96 RBI'S on a crappy team. His Achilles injury usually takes a whole year to get back to normal. I feel that he will provide more protection for Wright and also make his numbers that much better, he could be 120RBI guy on this team.
Also getting Hamels Veteran experience and playoff tested pitcher in the mix with these young guys can go along way to taking pressure off them and advancing them to the next level. I love Synndergarrd but I think this move could take us a little bit further sooner and not have us waste this year going .500.
I also love when there are at least 2 lefties in a rotation it in balances the other team quite a bit. Also when you get Hamels out of that ballpark he could be a below 3 era pitcher.

Herb G said...

@ James Preller

Although the jury is still out on Flores, many believe, as I do, that he will be adequate at SS. He has the potential to be an elite hitter, a rarity at that position. If he can give me an oWAR of 2.5 or more for a full season, I will gladly acept a dWAR of -1.0.

Re: Wright, we all believe (including David himself) that it would have been better to deliver the message in private. But it just didn't go down that way. Whether he knew there was a reporter present or not is irrelevant to me. Maybe he just made an error in judgement. Nonetheless, the way he AND Thor are handling the incident is admirable.

@ Zozo

Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard for Duda, Synndy, Colon, Mazzini and Nimmo? . . . UGH! I want no part of this. Over the next several years, Thor will outpitch Hamels, Dudu will outhit Howard, (and play a better 1B to boot) Nimmo can become a fixture in out OF, all at a fraction of the cost of either Hamels or Howard.

Mack Ade said...

Chris and Anonymous re: Wright comments

Morning... I peeked in before leaving for the Vet Hospital today.

The exit from the dugout into the clubhouse is in the middle of the back row of lockers where most of the stars are (Wright has a corner locker).

That leads to a second row of lockers on the inside side... and a half row of lockers on the outside side (mostly for catchers)... then comes the entrance to the kitchen area where the players get there food.... then the exit of the clubhouse to the parking lot...

on the side of the exit row is a room that players can sit and eat. It would be very uncomfortable to eat on a bench in front of their locker.

So...

if Wright finished up playing and headed through the maze and found Thor eating, it is hard for me to believe he wouldn't have seen the press gaggle at another locker.

Just my two cents.

SalmanBellow said...

@ Christopher Soto or anyone else who sees this

Do you have a link to the radio broadcast for today's Nats game? The Braves feed from yesterday worked great! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

@Salman

The Nationals will not be broadcasting today's game.

The Mets 710 WOR is broadcasting via air but I do not believe they will be broadcasting via internet.

Hobie said...

Re, Wright: If DW was looking to scold Thor, there might be some argument that the presence of reporters either did, or should have, registered on his journey through the clubhouse. If he was just looking for Thor, and his reaction was spontaneous to the encounter, I can see why reporters were just litter on the thruway.

Re. Murphy: I have no idea what question was asked of him, for what reason, or by whom. I assume his response was just that, a response, and not an unprompted announcement. I want doubles, not PC from Daniel--and remind me not to hire him as a life coach.

Both of these non-stories reaffirm my gratefulness for this site. The above is grafiti, what Steve G. was doing for us yesterday was reporting.