5/27/15

The Morning Report 5.27.2015 | Give the Subs Credit, 1st Quarter Grades, Promote Castellanos but How?, Wright's Contract Insured



David Wright Injury Tracker | Diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis. In California to see specialist. 

Jared Diamond | Wall Street JournalWhen a baseball team leans on its farm system to carry it through a long season, it is typically out of desperation, not design. The Mets have already had seven players make their major-league debuts this season. But despite their overwhelming reliance on youth and inexperience, the Mets have stayed afloat. After Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, they have a record of 26-21, sitting 1½ games behind the Washington Nationals for first place in the National League East. For the Mets to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006, they’ll need their regulars to get healthy. But if it happens, they will owe their fill-ins a debt of gratitude.

(Chris Soto: Despite some guys being terrible beyond belief...there are others who are doing an unbelievable job filling into unexpected starting roles. Campbell, while inconsistent, has done a good job holding down 3B while Wright is out and Plawecki is showing that he can be a MLB caliber Catcher both defensively and offensively once he develops. In the bullpen, Erik Goeddel has really stepped it up and is beginning to warrant more high leverage appearances and in the rotation Syndergaard has forced his way onto the team and made Gee an afterthought.)


Mike Vorkunov | NJ Advance Media- After 47 games, the Mets are now more than a quarter of the way into their season. At 26-21, they're at second place in the National League East. But how are things going on an individual level. Here are some grades to give you an idea of who's doing well and who needs an improvement. 

Matt Harvey: A | He's been exactly as hoped for. Harvey has been mostly dominant and even found a way to pitch deep into games.

Bartolo Colon: B+ for pitching | A for fun

Wilmer Flores: B | He hasn't been perfect but consider Flores in context of the sport now. He leads all shortstops in home runs and that, despite his errors, seems like a worthwhile tradeoff. 

Jeurys Familia: A | What else could the Mets ask of Familia this year? He's made the transition to closer with ease. He's been a shutdown reliever and provided calm in the late innings.

(Chris Soto: For the most part a lot of guys deserve high grades. Others, like Cuddyer and Grandy, while not living up the contractual expectations, are more in the "C" then they are failing. Unfortunately, the team is missing some extremely valuable pieces and that is hurting them significantly both offensively and in the back-end of the bullpen.)


Matt Vavaro | Amazin Avenue- It's no secret that the Mets’ offense has been terrible lately. Last week, the team scored just 13 total runs in seven games against the Cardinals and Pirates. The most glaring hole has been that left by Wright. Eric Campbell  and Ruben Tejada have both gotten opportunities at third, but neither has hit enough to justify being a major league starter. While Muno has flashed strong on-base skills, he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in hitter-friendly Las Vegas. Given Muno’s limited offensive upside and the potentially long-term nature of Wright’s injury, maybe it’s time to give serious consideration to another 51s infielder: Alex Castellanos.

(Chris Soto: The Castellanos bandwagon is continuing to grow as sub after sub continues to struggle offensively to fill in for Wright at 3B. Castellanos certainly warrants the promotion; In 36 games he is hitting .278 with a .989 OPS on the strength of 9 HR and 14 extra base hits. The only thing that seems to be holding Castellanos back is the fact that he is not on the 40 man roster. In addition, there are no clear cut options for DFA nor anyone to transfer from the 15 to the 60 day DL.)



(Chris Soto: This is today's big news. While we are still 18 days away from reaching 60 days missed, the fact that the team will be able to recoup some salary is huge considering this spinal stenosis diagnosis has a chance of being a long term nuisance. To put it in plane terms, every day after the 60th day that Wright is out, the team will recoup $82,500 per day. Heaven forbid that this is a long term injury that he is unable to play with....across a full season that can support a salary of $15M per season. There are a lot of good players in that salary range.)

27 comments:

Zozo said...

I agree on Castellanos, who would be next in line to drop off the 40? How is Puello doing in his rehab, or is he even rehabbing yet? They probably will drop him once he is ready, but that might be along way away.

Christopher Soto said...

@Zozo

Puello is already off of the 40 man roster via being on the 60 Day DL.

Hobie said...

Castellanos should replace Mayberry IMO.

Zozo said...

I didn't know it was the 60, thanx. Then I don't know who to drop? Maybe a trade is in order?

Tom Brennan said...

I disagree on Castellnos, guys. He got off like a house on fire, but is 10 for 57 in May. Bring up TJ Rivera instead. Little pop, but he never slumps. Hitting .405 in his first 10 AAA games.

I'd like to say Taijeron, but his one every 3 plate appearance K rate is just too Kirk-like, even if he is hitting .330.

Wright will likely get to game 59 and return!

Matz pitched and hit like Babe Ruth last nite, in case no one noticed.

Reese Kaplan said...

@Chris -- are you watching the AAA Eric Campbell or the Mets' Eric Campbell? The former is an All-Star while the latter is hitting .181 with 18 strikeouts.

If I'm the Mets and I want to try Castellanos I would make the easy decision to DFA Recker. If he's nabbed by another team, so be it. Sub-Mendoza hitting catchers who strike out in 35% of their ABs are not that valuable, Collins' inexplicable fascination to the contrary.

Other candidates would include the aforementioned Campbell who, at 28, isn't likely to improve dramatically. He's a right handed Kirk Nieuwenhuis with less power.

Another one would be Danny Muno, but I feel a little bad he never got more of a shot. You could also DFA Ruben Tejada and promote Wilfredo Tovar into his seldom-used spot, thus freeing up a spot on the 40 man roster without losing anyone terribly valuable.

Reese Kaplan said...

Obviously I would wait until d'Arnaud is ready to return before I show Recker the door.

Joe F said...

I agree with Reese, Soup has been really bad and can't be in the starting lineup and maybe not even in the team. He started hot last year and then just simply was terrible and seems to be following the same pattern. AAAA all the way

Poster formerly known as Anon Joe F. I finally registered an account Mack

Hobie said...

Any word on Herrera's return? The IF should be Dilslon, Wilmer & Murph until further notice.

Christopher Soto said...

@Reese

I'm giving Campbell credit for holding down the fort Defensively at 3B and Offensively in terms of he has provided initial sparks in the line-up. After the 1st 5 games though, as to be expected, he's been getting overexposed again.

Christopher Soto said...

@Hobie

Herrera's finger is still in a splint. Broke it at an odd angle so it needs about 3 weeks to heal. Will probably not be ready to go until the 2nd week of June.

Christopher Soto said...

@Reese

Once d'Arnaud is healthy, I do not see the club keeping Plawecki in the MLB. They will probably send him down to keep playing everyday and heat his bat back up in case d'Arnaud gets hurt again.

The other guys you reference all have depth value to the club which is extremely important (As we are seeing now with all the injury). They aren't great or even average.....but they are holding the fort together and keeping this club above .500.

In my opinion, the club will wait until they hear back from the California doctor. If Wright's treatment plan is exstenive, they can move him to the 60 day DL retro'd to 4/15 and add Castellanos. If Wright's treatment is a quick thing, then Castellanos is SOL.

Anonymous said...

Quick thing Chris, I saw it from another source, forgot exactly where so can't post a link or anything, but regarding the insurance on Wright's contract, the way it was interpreted is Wright can't be doing any baseball activities for 60 days, meaning his time doing rehab doesn't count in the 60 days, he needs to be completely idle and not doing any activities, also needs to be 60 days straight, and not broken up into chunks of idle time. Just wanted to put that out there to see what's actually the case when it comes to this insurance policy.

Reese Kaplan said...

@Chris Plawecki could be the backup at the major league level and get to know these pitchers better. Inflated hitting stats from AAA don't mean anything as we've seen from Nieuwenhuis, Campbell, Monell (though a mere 16 ABs isn't exactly a fair trial), Muno (ditto), Bobby Abreu, Andrew Brown and others. I'm not sure what sending him to AAA accomplishes. I'd take his .214 with 20 Ks in 84 ABs over Recker's .161 (lifetime .195) with 12 Ks in just 31 ABs. Plawecki could get better. At 31 Recker is what he is.

Christopher Soto said...

@Reese

True Plawecki does not gain anything in AAA...but I also don't see gaining anything by riding the pain 6 out of 7 days a week. The back-up catcher position is such an irrelevant spot.

In my personal opinion, I'd just rather have Plawecki playing everyday rather than letting him deteriorate on the bench.

Christopher Soto said...

@Anon

I also saw that later this morning too.

Makes sense BUT that said....Wright never did resume "Baseball Activities" nor did he ever receive clearance from doctors to do so.

By that logic I'm still under the assumption that the June 15th range is when the insurance kicks in.

Mack Ade said...

Joe F.

Thank you

Mack Ade said...

Chris -

You can't have it both ways.

You need a more productive bench while, at the same time, you can't send your best bench candidates back to AAA 'to get more work'.

All you are left with on the bench are third level players.

Plawecki is the perfect bench player. More talent than most, can immediately step in when another ball goes off d'Arnaud'pinkie, can D when you play AL teams and is a credible pinch hitter.

In addition, other teams, their brass, and their scouts get to see him sitting there waiting for a phonecall

Christopher Soto said...

@Mack

The argument against that though is...Is the back-up catcher really a bench spot though?

You can't use him to pinch hit.
You can't use him as a defensive replacement.
Even in extra inning games...the back-up Catcher is the last one used.

All because....heaven forbid something happens to the starter...only the back up catcher can replace him.

Keeping Plawecki does nothing for the bench's strength or his development.

IMO....send him back down so that he can actually play/work with Matz.

Mack Ade said...

Chris -

Re: Plawecki

I didn't think about it that way... morphine fog... my bad

Tom Brennan said...

Call Matz up to join Plawecki here!

Too bad he's only caught and played a little 1B. Wonder if he played any 3B or OF in college.

If he goes back down, possibly convert him to 3B? He could catch when d'Arnaud needs days off or is hurt. He seems to profile as a good hitting 3B. Would not have to be permanent - he or d'Arnaud could always be traded.

Bob Sugar said...

Question- if we were able to make a good deal sending Dillion Gee or even Montero what would we look for in return. Very good prospects at the minor league level AA/AAA or a ready to go Major league player. If we get a guy who goes to the big club what positions are looking for to plug them in?

Mack Ade said...

Bob -

I never said Conforto should play Queens this year. I was just speculating about AAA.

If I was the Mets, I would try and concentrating on dealing off either Montero or Gee for a projected hig prospect corner outfielder at the current AA level. Someone we could finish off this year in Vegas and plug in for 2016

Unknown said...

Bob

I would like to see the Mets trade Gee and Niese to clear a spot for Matz. The downside of that is that it would leave the Mets thin if or when another starter goes down. I would want some pitching prospects at the AA or AAA level. One of those might already be with the Mets. We can't send Gilmartin to the minors without losing him. When Parnell, Meija, Blevins, and Black are ready I would like to see the Mets make Gilmartin a starter. They would need to make a trade with the Twins in order to do that. Gee to the twins for a prospect and Gilmartin.
The Twins aren't getting Gilmartin back if I were running the Mets. If they refuse the trade he sticks in the pen. So we have leverage. They have a deeps systems so it should be to hard to get a prospect that would fall between 10-15 and our system.

Bob Sugar said...

I read you wrong on Conforto. Thx for the reply

Bob Sugar said...

To your point you make you have to be careful when trading pitching, especially two in one deal unless your getting some in return. I haven't seen enough of Gilmartin to get a read. They seem to go to Torres I big spots over him right now.

Unknown said...

I didn't mean Gee and Niese in the same deal.
Gilmartin is young. I like what I have seen of him. I think he could still use time in the minor leagues especially because I see him as a solid back of the rotation starter. The Mets see something in him or they would not have taken him from the Twins. Once the pen gets healthy Gilmartin might not be the bst option there.
I would like to see the Mets offer Gee to the Twins for Gilmartin and Taylor Rogers or Tyler Duffey. The Mets already have Gilmartin but this would allow them to send him to AAA. Then you would have two starters at AAA who could step in as back of the rotation starters in case of an injury.
Try to trade Niese for a solid bat off the bench.