(Chris Soto: Sounds like Edgin has dodged a bullet. Irregardless, it doesn't sound like he will be ready for the start of the season and is likely to open the year on the DL. The chances of Scott Rice and Sean Gilmartin making the team has risen significantly because of this despite both of them having 13.50 ERA's so far this Spring. However, don't sleep on Dario Alvarez. He has thrown well so far in his 3 IP striking out 4 along the way.)
David Lennon | Newsday- "That ain't fair," one Marlin said. "They need to give us aluminum bats or something." ...Wednesday must have felt like looking down the barrel of a gun for the Marlins -- from the wrong end. Syndergaard made...an impression, maybe because the Marlins previously were unfamiliar with the 6-6 blond giant who threw "thunderbolts." Syndergaard struck out five in his 2 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit.
(Chris Soto: Harvey was a bit sluggish yesterday and spent the afternoon working on his slider and curveball more than in his previous start but then Thor came in and absolutely stole the show. He was pumping fastballs in the zone between 97-99 mph and Marlins batters were beyond outmatched. In my opinion...the most impressive thing is that it's only March 12th and these velocities are already off the charts. By the time April 6th rolls around...everyone should have an extra 2-3 ticks on their respective fastballs.)
Mike Puma | New York Post- Dillon Gee still is getting used to the whole bullpen routine. “[Gee] is very awkward at it,” manager Terry Collins said. "It’s a whole different role for him and you could see it as he came in that inning; he hung back–to-back sliders, which he never does. It’s a new phase in his game and we’re going to continue to run him out there in those situations.” “I felt fine and I am pretty pleased the way it went,” Gee said. “I just wish I would have made a better pitch to that first guy.”
(Chris Soto: I continue to stand my ground when saying that Gee and Montero are not "natural" fits for bullpen roles. They both require additional time to warm up in the bullpen and neither guy possesses a "premium" pitch that can play up in the bullpen. For what it's worth though, Gee was hitting 91 mph in the bullpen yesterday which was his max last season. Based on that info it seems like Gee's fastball could play up to 93 mph out of the pen once the season gets going.)
Brian Joura | Mets 360- While most people fret about his defense, Flores has not really hit yet in the majors. In 375 PA in MLB, Flores has a .635 OPS and a lowly .264 BABIP. But, in his last 26 games, Flores posted a .290/.327/.500 line in 107 PA. In this stretch, 12 of his 29 hits went for extra-bases, including four homers. Our official forecast [.265 AVG/.310 OBP/.400 SLG, 11 HR, 55 RBI] leans much more to the optimistic side, [but] can Flores produce a .290 BABIP in the majors?
(Chris Soto: I think the Mets 360 group's forecast is actually pretty spot on...A .710 OPS would be amongst the Top 7 MLB SS in terms of offense and is far better than anything the team has had over the prior 3 years. The 11 HR and 55 RBIs though are based on only 484 Plate Appearance. If he gets a full season of 600+, I think he can reach 15 HR and 70 RBI.)
10 comments:
15 and 70 from Flores would be far better than the anemic production from Tejada last year. When the Mets were at their worst last year (around the May timeframe) as I recall they got almost no offense from slots 6 thru 9. You hit, you win. I'm happy Wilmer is at SS, and am starting to feel Reynolds may be ready to back up in lieu of Ruben.
Another good thing about Thor - if he throws inside, he'll hit someone, who might be stupid enough to charge the mound - until he gets about 30 feet from the giant who deadlifts 500 pounds, and thinks better of it and runs in the other direction.
Good to see Harvey dialed it back a bit yesterday - we want him to stay healthy.
Seems Mejia adapted to the pen nicely when asked last year, although at first he did not want it - Gee needs to adapt, period.
My dark horse LHRP favorite, if he can handle the pressure, is Dario Alvarez.
I don't know that Alvarez is a dark horse. After all, he's on the 40 man roster and Rice is not. Now things change dramatically if Edgin needs TJS as his move to the 60-day DL opens up a 40-man roster spot.
Good morning,
It seems like Edgin is not so luck after all. While they are playing wait and see, TJ surgery seems eminent. Alderson's gamble on LH bullpen strength seems to be coming up snake eyes at this point, but there is still time for someone to step up or dare I say a trade for a major leaguer (not sure Sandy knows how to do that).
Regarding Wilmer, I agree that his bat, while likely being better than Tejada's, is far from a proven. From the eye test, I'm still not sure whether he can handle good MLB stuff or if he gets his stats only by beating up weaklings. We should find out much more if he plays daily for April and May.
TP, the ball seems to be in Wilmer's court to succeed or fail. I'm happy to see him get that chance.
Reese, as a dark horse, I was less focused on the 40 man roster for Alvarez as much as the fact that he has thrown just 13 innings above mid-A ball in his career - so few people make that sort of a leap.
Public Apology Time
My most sincere and respectful apologies go out to Mr. Sandy Alderson.
In the absence of any official word from the Mets organization or Sandy Alderson himself, the exact extent of the Mets poor financial state has always been supposition.
Additionally, Alderson's knowledge of the financial situation he has been forced to deal with was never really known.
Where as it could be assumed Alderson did not know the exact extent of the entire situation, it could be easily he assumed that he would have much more insight than the average fan.
The "Alderson Plan" to revive the Mets must have been formulated with more detailed insight of just how many pennies needed to be pinched from year to year from the onset of devising his plan. Shouldn't it?
Well, according to an article published today at Capitalnewyork.com,
this is not even close to the truth.
The article references a book written with full cooperation by Alderson.
The article alone shines a stark light on quite an ugly situation.
It is crystal clear that Alderson had very little knowledge of just how terrible the Mets financial situation was when he was hired and as he devised the "Alderson Plan".
Apparently, Alderson was forced to alter his plan constantly from year to year and even month to month as a result.
This apparently accounts for much of the misdirections, half-truths, "lies", and contradictory actions that did not match up with words that were spoken over the past few years.
I can easily imagine that Sandy Alderson himself must have struggled with frustration far greater than mine as he was apparently mislead by the Wilpons or whoever might have controlled the Mets finances over and over again.
In fact I believe Alderson in fact has more than earned my ultimate respect in that he without reservation valiantly stood up and allowed myself and others to publicly place, if not all, significant blame on him for so much.
It is clear that was Alderson NOT TO BLAME.
In fact, Alderson was clearly a victim here that took the blame for those things that others tortured him with.
All while never once pointing the finger at the true culprits.
Mr. Alderson.......
I AM SORRY!
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/03/8563893/new-sandy-alderson-book-offers-revealing-view-madoff-impacted-mets
Howard Megdal wrote this article and a word of caution... anything Megdal writes is anti-Wilpon.
Mack
Does this mean my apology should be placed on hold?
the book,
"Baseball Maverick" was written by veteran sports journalist Steve Kettmann not Megdal.
Bob -
No, I understand that Kettmann wrote the book, but you're ready Medgal's spin on it.
Nothing wrong with Howard... we have followed each other for years... he's just a one trick pony when it comes to writing about the Mets.
BTW - I never believed that Alderson know about the Madoff mess... in fact, I don't believe that the Wilpons knew it WAS a mess until it blew up in Madoff's face
I'm thinking its possible that the Wilpons couldn't believe/ didn't want to believe it was/is as big of a mess as it has been.
Its possible that the Wilpons kept thinking they had everything planned out to be OK just to realize another mess/problem.
They could have been at fault of being too positive and hopeful.
Shame on them though for letting Alderson taking any of the blame for things he had to do as a result of reacting to changing situations he was misinformed about.
Bob,
Don't shed too many tears for Sandy - he has made millions of Wilpon dollars and will make million more before he leaves his role. Despite his statements regarding his own thriftiness, most if not all Met fans realize it is the ownership that sets the hard boundaries with the budget, and no one else. Sandy has done a fine job in some areas (stock piling prospects) and a poor job in others (procuring MLB talent). He should be judged on that, and while the team "seems" to be moving in the right direction, after 5 years of his stewardship they haven't had a winning season and are a clear underdog in their division this year.
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