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4/2/15

The Morning Report 4.2.2015 | No 'Mo 'Fro, Puello Placed on Waivers, Blevins' Value, Gee Wins 5th SP Role, Lagares Signs Extension.





(Chris Soto: No more 'fro for Mejia which is sad. I thought it really gave him character on the mound.)


  • According to ESPN's Adam Rubin, OF Cesar Puello has been placed on outright waivers in an attempt to option him to the minors. It is highly expected that some other team will place a claim on Puello as he has significant value off the bench as a bat against lefties, a late inning defensive replacement, and a pinch runner.


Tim Rohan | nytimes.com “The Mets welcomed (Jerry) Blevins on Tuesday, and they hope that he will become one of the final pieces of a contender. After making two trades Monday, the Mets have three promising left-handed relievers: Alex Torres, Sean Gilmartin and Blevins. Of the three, Blevins may be the most important, because he will be expected to match up against the best left-handed hitters in the division. Blevins made his unofficial Mets debut here, against the Nationals, facing Bryce Harper, whom he considers a friend. During the past few years, the Mets have overworked their left-handed relievers, from Pedro Feliciano, to Tim Byrdak, to Scott Rice, to Josh Edgin. All of them sustained arm injuries. But perhaps Blevins’s fate will be different. “I don’t throw quite as hard as Billy Wagner,” he said, grinning. In the N.L. East — where teams employ hitters like Harper, Freddie Freeman, Christian Yelich, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley — Blevins could become a valuable acquisition. “I evaluate the hitter, what they’re trying to do,” Blevins said. “Then you either try to exploit what they’re doing or play a little chess match and mix and match. Some guys guess, some guys don’t. It’ll be fun. It’ll be fun. I enjoy that."

(Herb G. There is little question in my mind that the Blevins acquisition will be a key to the Mets‘ playoff chances this year. His ability to get lefties out is critical in the NL East, and he has shown an uncanny ability to do just that over his entire 8 year career. I like the way he describes going about his job, the cerebral approach, and the fun in rising to the challenge. I don’t think there is too much danger of overuse in Blevins case, because I think Collins will use him differently than Feliciano or Rice, and certainly not like Wags. Blevins will get his lefty or two, and then be pulled, what with Alex Torres in the mix.)


Mike Puma | nypost.com “Rafael Montero gave it a good try, but Dillon Gee has clinched the final spot in the Mets’ rotation. A club source indicated Gee – the front-runner all along in the derby to replace injured Zack Wheeler – will get the ball for the Mets’ fourth game of the season, in Atlanta on April 10. Montero excelled in his final two starts of the exhibition season, combining to allow one run over 10 innings against the Yankees and Marlins. He will open the season in the bullpen, giving manager Terry Collins another young, power arm.”

(Herb G. I‘m not going to say that this is a travesty, because Gee pitched well this spring, and he has the major league track record, which Montero doesn‘t. But in my opinion, Montero deserved to get the nod. Just yesterday, Sandy Alderson was saying “There [was] a certain presumption that Dillon is the guy and I’m not sure that has changed, but Montero has done everything he possibly can to change that presumption, so we’ll have to see.” I guess Montero couldn‘t do quite enough to change Terry Collins mind. Collins has always seemed to favor experience over youth and potential, but I think he has made a mistake here. Not a fatal mistake, and not one that can‘t be rectified down the road. Meanwhile, Raffy will just make the pen that much stronger.)


Jeffrey Bellone | metsmerizedonline.com The Mets made their fans happy on Wednesday by signing all-world, defensive wizard, Juan Lagares, to a four-year $23 million extension. The deal will start in 2016, covering all four of his arbitration-eligible seasons, plus a one-year $9.5 million club option for his first year of free agent eligibility. At 26-years-old, the Mets have locked in a cornerstone player for the next four, or five, years, hoping that at about $5 million per season, while they may overpay in 2016 to what the arbitration process would have granted in salary, they will make out in the long run. Looking at what we could expect Lagares to make through the arbitration process, and perhaps being conservative, it appears the Mets found a good discount at 4-years and $23 million. Of course, they also get that 2020 team option at $9.5 million, which turns the deal into a real cost saver.”

(Herb G. This article is an interesting read and I suggest you look it over in its entirety. In it, Bellone compares Lagares to Brett Gardner and Andrelton Simmons, both of whom are strong defensive players who recently signed extensions. He points out, among other things, that the Mets have secured Lagares’ services for $5.6 million per season, while the Braves will be paying Simmons an average of $8.2 million and the Yanks will be paying Gardner $13 mil. No one knows which player will be more valuable to his team, but it seems to me that the Mets have gotten a bargain. My only regret is that they didn’t lock him up for a longer period . . . But that just isn’t the Mets way.)

9 comments:

  1. From after the Cuddyer signing to a month or so ago, I had this vision that the Mets OF would eventually shake out to a Cuddyer/Grandy LF and a den Dekker/Puello RF (with a mix of Cuddyer at 1B, den Dekker in CF & Grandy/Cuddyer as DH for some few dozen or so). I was pleased with that prospect.

    Signing Mayberry changed all that. The early ST success of Mayberry & Kirk (with the mediocrity of Matt & Cesar) changed all that. And now it's in stone and den Dekker & Puello are gone (well Puello going, going, ...).

    Don't know how I feel about this. Mayberry/Nieuwenhuis vs. Puello/den Dekker? I'm still not sure.

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  2. @Hobie

    Cuddyer and Grandy were never going to be platooned due to their respective salaries.

    The Mayberry signing was an excellent one and he is showing why. The guy absolutely DESTROYS left handed pitching.

    I think an OF bench of Kirk and Mayberry was the best thing for this team the whole time.

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  3. Morning, Chris

    "Where's my Jennry and what have you done with him? This man is an imposter!" He's gone from looking like the Predator coming off the mound to a guy straight out of GQ. Hopefully, it does not sap his powers a la Sampson.

    Great write up on Juan today in Post - expect BIG offensive things from him this year. Extension was a great idea.

    Montero will be ready to step in if Gee or Colon falter - beats the 2014 6th pitcher brigade.

    Puello may come back to haunt us, if he presumably is selected by another team. In another spring (say 2013) he'd have been made a starting OF, if not at least a bench player, based on his decent spring. Tough to cut down roster when virtually everyone is doing well this spring.

    Kirk still scares me, and I wish Nats took him and not Dekker. I was warming up to Kirk earlier this spring...hitting like heck and only 3 K's in his first 35 plate appearances.

    Then gravity set in, hard. Since then, a horrific 4 for 27, 2 walks, 15 Ks. Good grief.

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  4. Why do I have a feeling if Gee or Colon falter, then the call will go to AAA for Syndergaard or Matz and Montero will be lost in the shuffle?

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  5. Hobie -

    In my opinion, what I see in the outfield is a positive step about an untested minor league player with a bad history (Puello) and another who simply strikes out too much and never fully developed.

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  6. Reese -

    You may be totally correct about the MOntero shuffle.

    Let's all remember that Mejia, Familiar, and Parnell were all once starters.

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  7. This is my favorite Mets site. I was rooting hard for Cesar P, but thankfully the time for development in the bigs is over. I was there in '86 and I don't want that to be a once in a lifetime experience. I'm pushing 50 and I want my kids to see a Mets championship. #LGM!

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  8. Thomas,

    I agree with you. We traded the wrong outfielder Cap'n Kirk has always been a streaky hitter, and his flash of returned power may have come from the heat of competition. But, DDis definitely better defensively, and I think that may have been what the Nats were looking for. Span is a free agent at the end of the year, and DD may very well be their starting CF next year, depending on how he does with the bat. If not for the broken wrist, he probably would have been ours. Let's hope he gets the chance he wasn't going to get with the Mets, and hope he doesn't turn around and bite us in the rear end. See Carlos Gomez for an example.

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  9. We don't know what the Mets could have gotten for Kirkkkkk. Personally, I like MDD better; it would not shock me if the Nats felt the same way.

    The curious thing about the MDD deal is that when the Mets got Blevins, I figured that signaled that they were not satisfied with Gilmartin as LOOGY. He had failed the audition and so they made the move. Yet here are reports that the Mets might keep Gilmartin -- a player they can't trade, due to Rule 5 conditions -- so it's unclear to me exactly what's going on. They could have stashed MDD down in AAA in the event of an emergency.

    Kirkkkk, after his hot start, has something like 15 Ks in 27 ABs. My take is that the pitchers stopped grooving fastballs after the first 10 days, when Kirkkk really fattened up.

    All that said: I like Blevins and think he's a good addition.

    James Preller

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