6/7/15

Mack’s Morning Report – 6-7-15 – Random Thoughts



Good morning.

There has been considerable press recently about the amount of pitches the Mets have limited Las Vegas prospect, Steven Matz, to this season. Some tend to feel that this is a preventative measure to insure that he doesn’t hurt his surgically repaired arm again. This isn’t true.

The Mets know two things about Matz. One, this is a true pitching gem and two, it may be the last front end starter their system produces in this continued decade.
I want you to take this to the bank… the Mets will work Matz into the rotation at some point this season… if… and, this is a big if… if the team is in contention and needs his talents in the rotation.

The ‘Catch 22’ here could be if other pitchers start blowing games and the Mets begin to fall from contention before Matz is worked into the lineup.

The ultimate goal here is to have a golden rotation of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matz, and Zack Wheeler. We’re going to have to wait until around this time next season to see Wheeler fill the last slot.

There are things called ‘team chemistry’ and you just can’t boot Jonathan Niese and Dillon Gee out the door. Both right now are determining both their own future as well as Matz.

As for Gee's comments yesterday, if you really don't care about all this anymore Dillon... and I can call you by your first name since I know you... why don't you just stop cashing the checks?  

I guess we should all cut him some slack for a couple of days and I hope Jay keeps the beat gnats away from him until he can collect his thoughts. We really could use his talent in the pen if his head is on straight.

Stay close to this story. It could be rapidly changing.


  
Okay, you’re the Texas Rangers.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre goes on the disabled list and they call up phenom prospect Joey Gallo to replace him.

So what happens if Gallo hits a thousand home runs while Beltre sits out ‘a month’ with a ‘strained thumb’ (poor baby? This follows a May where Beltre hit .293, 4-HR, and 16-RBIs in 123-AB).

Beltre is being paid $16mil this season and will be paid… by somebody… $18mil next year.

Thoughts?



There is a chance that last year’s number one overall pick in the draft, LHP Brady Aiken, could still be available when the Mets pick comes around in the second round. Aiken didn’t sign with Houston, wound up having Tommy John Surgery, and is now passing around mysterious medical information that only General Managers are allowed to receive (WTF?).

I would think that the last thing representatives for Aiken would have wanted to do was turn this into a media circus, but it does seem to be happening. I’ve never read anything negative about the character of this guy… I think, like Matt Harvey, had a certain figure in his head when drafted by Houston and it wasn’t offered.

Right now, his projected draft range per Fangraphs is between 10th and 60th overall. One team with a pick in the middle of the second round said they would take him sight unseen and offer him a slot bonus of $1mil.

Could this be the Mets?


Mack Ade 

I watched the San Diego game this past Tuesday night on the MLB-TV feed and caught the interview that the beat press had with David Wright in the clubhouse.
I also read, over and over, the comments Sandy Alderson had about the Wright situation and where he thought both the team and Wright’s direction was going.

As I’ve mentioned before, I suffered from lower back stenosis and had a successful operation when I was in my late 30s. I haven’t had any pain since, but I also haven’t played any third base or shot any hoops. The surgeons had to rebuild my spine, taking parts out and replacing them with a cage, and I was told to ‘cool it’ for the rest of my life (I did still try to play golf, but the ball kept going in the same lake).

The point I’m making… Wright can see the lack of progress and you can see the pain in his eyes when he discusses this. He knows he will never be the kind of player he demands of himself. And he knows his doctors are not going to allow him to put himself in that position.

I agree with Wright… he is too young at 32 to have the kind of surgery that is needed, but surgery is the only thing that will eventually take away this problem. Stenosis doesn’t disappear with pills, aroma therapy, or acupuncture. The canals keep closing, your movement keeps becoming more restricted, and your pain keeps getting worse.

Wright now knows this and he looked almost like he’s guilty of signing that contract extension and letting down the fans. I’m sure he feels bad, but it doesn’t matter at this point. The Mets are NEVER going to have the old Wright playing third base again and Alderson is already hinting that the only solution to that problem lies outside the team and its affiliates.

For now, I hope they make a deal for Ben Zobrist to finish out the 2015 season in a Mets uniform. This will give Alderson the time needed to structure a deal in the off-season for a more permanent solution (Murphy for 2/3 years?).

As for Wright, thank you David. I thought that the days you and Jose Reyes joined the parent team were going to create a World Series team for sure. I hope you do the right thing for you, your long term health, and your family. The last thing I want to see is you sitting on the bench like you were Danny Muno or someone.



25 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Danny (playing while David cannot) scratched out a bit last night, in another loss of the type my brother and I have seen 1,000 times with this team...one run early on a homer, 9 more hits, no runs, tons of futility. These kind of losses, while Yanks score 15 runs in 2 games, makes it very hard to remain a Mets fan.

I've been a Mets fan since Dr J. This year, I paid attention less than ever. It happens. THIS TEAM NEEDS TO GET HITTERS. LACK OF HITTING (TOO OFTEN TURNING TO THE MUNOS OF THE WORLD) HAS BEEN THE BANE OF THIS FRANCHISE.

Hidden in the loss was hitless Anthony. Perhaps a catcher who actually could hit, say,.230 gets a bit last night, and maybe that hit avoids this loss. Sorry, folks, I vote Recker off the island after today's game.

Win or lose, get Matz in the rotation ASAP. Get him really adjusted to bigs in 2015, so we can win next year.

bgreg98180 said...

Such a shame.
Poor Wright seems to be the victim of the curse that has gripped the Mets over the past few years.

Anonymous said...

It's time to stop worrying about how guys (Flores) feel about being moved around the infield, and start worrying about putting the best team on the field.

Dilson Herrera is a couple days away from returning. He's the 2B until Murph is back at least. Tejada is the SS for now, as he finally seems to remember how to hit. Flores to 3B for now. In the worst case that Wright's absence is extended, Flores has the potential to be a longterm solution there.

Ernest Dove said...

I still have a lingering thought on Matz situation. Pitch 5/6 innings and maybe 75-90 pitches next few starts. If called up, then what? Simply go right back to 6/7 innings and 90-100 pitches? Wouldn't that be risky to his arm?
Regarding David, what can be done here? I torture myself every game by keeping eye on Mets twitter (maybe its because its often more entertaining then the offense). Anyway, it truly is close to comical to see Mets blow late lead, then head to the 9th, only down a run, but the hitters are Muno, Campbell and Recker........I mean......I just named 3 guys who are most likely on all playoff teams benches or not even in a major league uniform. And that was a third of the lineup last night.

Tom Brennan said...

Ernest, expunge Recker. Start to make a statement that .150 hitting nice guys need no longer apply here.

Ernest Dove said...

I agree Thomas but Monell didn't look like the answer to that problem when he had his chance.
So if Mets don't keep Plawecki on major league bench when TDA comes back then might as well keep the guy with the strong arm and most knowledge of the pitching staff. Go find better bench players for the other positions.

Reese Kaplan said...

The difference is that Monell was (as is typical of whomever it is making the lineup decisions) buried on the bench. He was red hot and then when he was shelved and didn't set the world afire after a whopping 16 ABs he was sent packing.

Recker, on the other hand, has had over 350 ABs for the Mets to show what he cannot do. I'm ready to roll the dice on a change.

Mack Ade said...

Morning guys...

There isn't enough in the current lineup to make this work right now. The Mets run out of viable hitters after the 5th guy in the lineup.

The next home series is Toronto, Atlanta, and the Giants. This could get a lot worse very quickly.

I'm surprsied none of you mentioned Gee's comments this morning.

Zozo said...

I would bring up Monell, costenza and Reynolds already and DFA all 3 of Muno, Campbell and Recker. All three of them should pass through waivers if they need to go that route.

Zozo said...

I meant Castellanos

Mack Ade said...

Zozo -

I don't expect any 25-man changes until this team limps home and makes first a ecision on Dilson Herera and Travis d'Arnaud.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

I'm reading frustration in your comments that I've not seen before. The season is a true mess and the team does look like an American Legion team right now, but Washington and the rest of the NL are doing everything they can to keep the Mets in this race.

Last night should have been a win. It fit my scenario of quality pitching, less than 3 runs in the first 7 innings, etc.

There simply isn't enough hitter left in this organization. Hell, there were 4 guys in the lineup last night with a BA under 2 and Colon had the second best.

The only chance this team has for a victory is to play this kind of game... or dumb luck.

On to the next one...

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

Continuing...

On the other hand, Colon said last night's loss was his fault. He hung a bad pitch that resulted in a 2-run homer. Like a Harvey loss recently, this was a one-pitch loser.

The'horrible' Mets lineup did produce 10 hits, so this easily could have gone the other way.

IDK..

Steve from Norfolk said...

Here's the headline I expect to see when we get "help".

PAST LEADOFF MAN RETURNS TO METS

Eric Young Jr, recently DFA'ed by the Braves, was traded to the Mets today for cash considerations. Best known as an outfielder, he will play 2B for the struggling Mets.

This nightmare kept waking me up last night. It could Happen! I mean, they're talking about Aramis Ramirez, batting .208, to play 3B. Segura, maybe. He IS hitting .290 with 8 homers. Flores plays a decent 3B. He and Segura in the same lineup would be a step forward offensively, which is where we're bleeding to death.

Zozo said...

Since this team won't spend any money, they need to kick some major ass around here. And sending down or DFAing these 3 non producing bats will be a step in the right direction. All three of Castellanos, Monell and Reynolds deserve these spots more than those 3. If they are serious about this year you would bring the them up.
Also bring up Matz and trade Colon already before he goes down the shitter.

Mack Ade said...

Zozo -

The Super 2 is around JUne 20th so you are not going to see Matz until possibly then. Even then, he's pitching less pitches every game in Vegas and they aren't going to allow him to return to a 120+ pitch count.

I support your three moves short term but I'd still rather wait until Wednesday and then bring back Arnaud and Herrera

Mack Ade said...

Steve F. N. -

Ya know, I never thought I'd every miss EYJ but that's not a bad idea :)

Anonymous said...

I will repeat what I wrote in the Gee thread last night.......


Nice comments by Dillon.......way to put the team first! They are putting him where he is needed most, with all the injuries.
Instead, he whines about his value, etc. On the heels of his whining about the length of his rehab assignment in Bingo (wasting bullets).

Not the Mets fault that he has been injury prone and more recently, ineffective.

With a selfish attitude like that, the quicker he is gone the better.

Mack Ade said...

Anonymous -

The Mets handled this whole 6-man/5-man crap very badly, but Gee still should have had the sense to avoid any reporters. He now says his value has been lowered because of these decisions. He''s right, but so has his big mouth.

I see no future for Gee as a Met and I'm not sure how this works now. What do you do if he's a cancer on the team. Do you DFA him and what if no other team claims him? Do you just release him?

ZachBoyer said...

I wish we could use EYJ as a secret weapon pinch runner, the way the Royals use Dyson. Our SB numbers make me miss Reyes in his prime.

Anonymous said...

I think you put him in the pen and tell him he needs to show that he can consistently get batters out. That will go a long way towards helping the Mets and for his value. Then, the first solid offer and he gets dealt.......if not, then you et him walk at season's end.

Cutting him is a possibility, if he becomes disruptive in the clubhouse, for example.

Steve from Norfolk said...

Niese is more likely to stir up the clubhouse. He's already hiding something in his shoulder - just compare films from a couple of years ago with now.

Dallas said...

Sure I get Gee is human and has feelings but also remember that Gee is a very very rich human getting paid more than $5 million this year to play the game of baseball. Its hard to feel too bad about it. If he wasnt so injury prone and inconsistent then he wouldn't be in the position to begin with. I guess going to the bullpen lessens his chance of making $6-8 million next year but I'm pretty sure he will do ok for himself. I can understand that he was frustrated but he needs to step back and evaluate his comments because no good can come from them. All it does is lessen his value and make him look like he is not a team player.

Steve from Norfolk said...

Gee is probably just down over being moved around so much this year. Yeah, I know, he makes a bundle of money, but moving from one role to another, especially from reliever to starter. Physically, he needs time to stretch his arm back out, which he didn't have this spring. It could even have contributed to his injury. Going from starter to reliever, well, any starter worth his salt feels like it's a demotion. It's not easy mentally feeling like the sixth (or 7th) wheel on a 5 (ot 6th) wheel bus. Money's a factor, sure, but I think with Gee it's more just mental exhaustion.

Brian Joura said...

I co-sign on your last paragraph about Wright.