The Morning Report 6.15.2015 | Surprising Roster Moves, Syndergaard to the Bullpen?, d'Arnaud's Impact Return, Ceciliani Earning His Spot.

Roster Move Surprises | Chris Soto 

     Alright, first thing's first, the Mets surprised the whole world this weekend with a flurry of transactions  no one saw coming. First, the team decided to hold onto Kevin Plawecki and optioned Anthony Recker down to AAA. The team gave off the impression that this would be temporary, for at least the next 10 days, as the club continues to ease Travis d'Arnaud back into the 5-6 day a week catching role. Once he's settled we will likely see Recker and Plawecki switched to get Plawecki more consistent playing time. 

     Second, the Mets announced that they will be promoting RHRP Akeel Morris to the MLB straight from Port St. Lucie. While Morris certainly deserves a look at the MLB level, this promotion was more out of necessity than actual desire. With Gee's stinker last night burning 5 guys last night and the next off day still 7 days away, the club needs some additional support in the pen. A quick look at the 40 man roster will show that the Mets only have 3 RP left in the minors eligible for promotion (Vic Black, Dario Alvarez, and Morris). Black is dealing with an new injury he sustained last week and Alvarez is both left handed AND has not been good down in Binghamton. That said, Akeel Morris has been SUPERB down in A+ ball and could potentially hold his own. Now the really important thing is....who gets demoted? Gee?


Mike Puma | New York Post- The fragile state of the bullpen has the Mets concerned to the point there was recent discussion within the organization about Noah Syndergaard’s viability as a reliever.
But team brass remains committed to Syndergaard in the rotation and is unlikely to make the radical switch that would have involved promoting stud lefty Steven Matz to take Syndergaard’s rotation spot, according to an industry source.

(Chris Soto: What? No No No NO NO! How could anyone in the organization even think of this as a possibility? You ruined Jhenrry Mejia once, then you dicked around with Rafael Montero and look what happened to him! Whatever low level executive thought of this idea should be fired on the spot by Sandy Alderson for his incredulous thinking. Parnell is back now and is slowly being eased back in, the club just promoted Morris, and [even though he's dealing with another minor issue] Black should also be right around the corner.)


Bill Madden | NY Daily News- Amid all the trade speculation involving Milwaukee third baseman Aramis Ramirez and, to a lesser extent, Oakland’s soon-to-be-available handyman Ben Zobrist, the best “trade” Alderson made of late was a week ago when he activated Travis d’Arnaud from the disabled list. It is becoming more and more apparent the Mets are a different team when d’Arnaud, the center piece of Alderson’s Met rebuilding job, is in the lineup. As Mets manager Terry Collins said, just having d’Arnaud back and hitting cleanup behind Duda enables him to stretch out his lineup.

(Chris Soto: Man...having Travis d'Arnaud back just completely changes the whole look of this team's offense. Your talking about a guy with  .280 AVG, 15-20 HR power potential guy just suddenly reappearing in your line-up everyday, any team would kill to have that happen to them. When Daniel Murphy gets back, All of a sudden,  the line-up looks formidable again. Especially when you recognize the fact that the MLB average stat line right now is a .252 AVG with a .708 OPS. Everyone is close to or above that line outside of Lagares and the hodge-posh of guys who have been playing 3B. Lagares had been dealing with an injury so I'll give him a pass there and the front office is actively trying to upgrade at 3B with Wright out.

Granderson: .249 AVG, .350 OBP, .745 OPS
d'Arnaud:  .310 AVG, .901 OPS
Duda: .278 AVG, .876 OPS
Cuddyer: .268 AVG, .725 OPS
Murphy: .283 AVG, .749 OPS
Flores: ..249 AVG, .716 OPS
Lagares: .278 AVG, .674 OPS
Tejada: .268 AVG, .727 OPS


James Newman | Mets 360- Last season, it seemed that the Mets had plenty of depth for the outfield, as Matt den Dekker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis were given chances to play in the majors, but struggled to take advantage. Ceciliani [on the other hand] has the chance to be a special player for the Mets, even if it is off the bench. Hopefully he continues to improve and experience success when he is given the opportunity.

(Chris Soto: Ceciliani has been a god send for the bench since he was called up. Since his call up he is hitting .270 AVG with a .730 OPS, 1 HR, 3 SB, and a +4 Defensive Runs Saved Metric. This is EXACTLY what the Mets need from the classified "4th OF" bench guy. Someone who can provided both speed and defensive value off the bench as well as handle himself well when needed for a spot start.)