The Morning Report 3.11.2015 | No Interest in Gee, Reynolds Catching Eyes, Pitcher's Conditioning, My Kingdom for a LOOGY

Danny Abriano | Rising Apple “The Blue Jays lost starting pitcher Marcus Stroman for the season after a freak ACL injury on Tuesday, but the club reportedly has no interest in Dillon Gee. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Toronto doesn’t currently see Gee as a fit, and their plan at the moment is to fill Stroman’s spot internally."



(Chris Soto: Well there goes that idea. It is worth nothing that it was reported last month that the Blue Jays had already spent everything they had available in the budget for 2015 so perhaps they can't AFFORD to take on Gee's $5.3M salary. So far at this point, I get the sense that Gee may have more value to the Mets, as a injury replacement, then what he would return in a trade. There's still 3 weeks left in Spring Training though. A lot can happen in three weeks with other teams.)


Anthony DiComo | MLB.com “...With every swing he takes, [Reynolds] is nudging his way up the organizational depth chart. It's clear that he will reach Flushing at some point this summer, perhaps sooner rather than later. If Flores flounders, Reynolds is next in line to take his place. "There's a lot of things he does you like," manager Terry Collins said. "Everybody I've ever talked to that's had this guy … has said, 'Look, you're going to love this guy. He's a baseball player.' So we're going to play him this spring.""



(Chris Soto: I must admit....Reynolds is looking good so far this spring. Tom Brennan was certainly correct to buy the bandwagon early last year and now it's starting to grow. From what I have heard through the grapevines....Flores WILL be the primary starter for at least the first 8 weeks of the season. During this time Tejada WILL be the back-up and Reynolds will be assigned to AAA to play SS full-time. IF Flores is floundering, or his defense is just way to bad, AND, if Reynolds can prove that his 2014 is sustainable AND he can play adequate SS defense, then Reynolds would get the next nod to start at the MLB.)

 
Mike Vorkunov |  nj.com “The Mets dropped under .500 (Relax, it's spring and the results don't matter) with a 3-2 loss to the Braves here at Champion Stadium. Bartolo Colon is right on schedule, or so he says. The Mets starter allowed three runs in three innings, including a home run to Freddie Freeman. Colon isn't one for highs or lows and he said all is just fine as he prepares for the season after his second start of spring. "I was only scheduled to go three innings," he said through a team spokesman. "I'm right on schedule. I've got command of all my pitches. I'm hoping to go at least four innings in my next start. Overall, I feel pretty good."


(Herb G. We are seeing far too much of Mets starters fading in their final inning of work early this spring. With the Mets stress on good conditioning the past 2 years, with several players braving the wilds of Michigan to attend Mike Barwis’s fitness program a year ago, and with a much larger group taking up the Barwis regimen in St. Lucie this year, one has to wonder what effect all this fitness and conditioning talk has had on the organization. Are the players practicing what management preaches? OK. I realize that there is zero chance that Bartolo participated in Mike Barwis’s conditioning program, (to be fair, Colon was terrific in his first outing of the spring) and neither did Wheeler, to my knowledge. But I would have hoped that Mets pitchers would at least come to camp in shape to pitch their assigned number of innings in each start.)

　
Mike Puma | nypost.com   “If you are left-handed and can throw a strike, call the Mets. The team’s already precarious lefty-relief situation appeared even murkier Tuesday, when Josh Edgin was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on his cranky elbow. After highlighting lefty relief as a need heading to the Winter Meetings, general manager Sandy Alderson took a pass on veterans.... Instead, the Mets opened camp with Edgin, Scott Rice, Jack Leathersich, Dario Alvarez and Rule 5 draft selection Sean Gilmartin. “It’s way too early to say anything about anybody,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said. “I know [Edgin] has had trouble with velocity every spring, and we’ll have it checked out, Hopefully everything is good. We had it checked out last year, everything was good then”　

(Herb G. Having passed on bringing in an experienced lefty arm this off season, the Mets will find themselves in a real pickle if Edgin‘s cranky elbow proves serious. The Rule 5 selection, Gilmartin, reached AAA in 2012 at age 22 and acquitted himself well, but failed to progress from there in the Braves organization. I am not optimistic about his ability to stick. Alvarez looks promising, but he has faced mostly younger hitters in the minors since joining the Mets, so he may not be ready to face MLB talent. On the other end of the spectrum, Leathersich has been a K machine playing with bigger boys, but has been plagued with command issues which could keep him back. Rice may be the best bet of the four contenders, if his health holds out. He was a workhorse in 2013, with surprisingly effective results, but he had a poor 2014 before going down with an ulnar nerve problem. To no one’s surprise, Mets officials said that there was absolutely no chance that LH Starter and top prospect, Steven Matz, would be a bull pen option to make up for Edgin’s absence. Gorski anyone?)