Anthony DiComo | Mets.MLB.com- Mets third baseman David Wright, the soul of a team that has lost its way at the plate in consecutive shutout losses, including Wednesday's 2-0 setback in 11 innings, is about to take the first steps toward a return. Manager Terry Collins spoke Tuesday with Wright, [and] according to Collins, Watkins could clear Wright to begin baseball activities on a "limited basis" next week. He is still a ways off from taking batting practice, and, ultimately, from appearing in rehab games, meaning a return is not imminent.
(Chris Soto: This is the best news the Mets have received in weeks. Yes...a return is not imminent, but now it is more realistic to believe that Wright can return which gives us at least some hope. Limited activity probably means things that wouldn't violate the terms of the insurance policy so if he can get through those initial workouts they'll start cranking him up. For now, I'll assume August 1st is his potential return date.)
Joe D. | Metsmerized Online- Lucas Duda continues to struggle mightily at the plate and last night’s 0-for-5 performance with four strikeouts might have been his worst showing yet. Since June 1, Duda is batting just .177 with one home run and 30 strikeouts and get this… a .264 slugging percentage and OPS+ of 86. He looks lost up there and he has to find a way to work his way out of this if the Mets are to have any chance to make some noise in the second half.
(Chris Soto: Let's just forget about June, ok? Duda has been flat out horrible at the plate and he is one of the primary reasons that the team cannot score runs right now. His horrid June has dropped his average with men in scoring position down to .233. The team can ill afford to have Duda continuing to struggle, and yet, they can't get him a mental break because the bench is already playing short handed due to the 6 man rotation and the Cuddyer non-DL injury.)
Aaron Gleeman | NBC Sports- Dillon Gee pitched himself out of the Mets’ starting rotation and then his $5.3 million contract went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment, so the 29-year-old right-hander stayed in the organization at Triple-A. And now he’s getting knocked around at Triple-A. Gee allowed six runs in his first start for Las Vegas and was even worse Tuesday, failing to make it out of the fifth inning while giving up eight runs on 13 hits. Las Vegas is an extremely hitter-friendly environment in a very hitter-friendly league, but yeesh. Prior to this season Gee had a 3.91 ERA in 640 career innings for the Mets, but between Triple-A and MLB he’s allowed 43 runs in 49 innings this year.
(Chris Soto: When your a guy who can't generate consistent swing and misses, your gonna open yourself up to the BABIP gods and Dillon Gee is finding that out the hard way. He also has the wonderful displeasure of being a flyball pitcher in the Pacific Coast League which is also never a good combination. Gee is certainly not this bad.....but he's honestly not that good either and has no trade value at this point. His new job now is to figure it out and serve as pitching depth in case one of our stud young arms hits their respective innings limits.)
Michael Baron | Just Mets- The 2015 international free agent signing period officially began early this morning, and it looks like the Mets are already busy in that market, as predicted. The Mets have signed SS Gregory Guerrero, his agent Matthew Marotta tweeted early Thursday. According to Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs, Guerrero was expected to sign for $1.8 million. “Guerrero has some of the same actions and swing mechanics as last year’s top player, Brewers SS Gilbert Lara, and, like Lara, also projects to move to third base eventually, but will play shortstop for the time being,” McDaniel writes.
(Chris Soto: Let the IFA market frenzy begin! This signing leaves the Mets with roughly ~$700,000 left to spend and that money may already be committed to another high profile signing in SS Andres Gimenez. As disappointed as the Mets are that Vlad Guerrero's son decided to play for Toronto, they will be happy to get his nephew Gregory and Gimenez as consolidation prizes.)
(Chris Soto: Let the IFA market frenzy begin! This signing leaves the Mets with roughly ~$700,000 left to spend and that money may already be committed to another high profile signing in SS Andres Gimenez. As disappointed as the Mets are that Vlad Guerrero's son decided to play for Toronto, they will be happy to get his nephew Gregory and Gimenez as consolidation prizes.)
Off the top of my head, Gee's last 9 major league innings resulted in 16 runs, and his first 9 in AAA resulted in 14 runs. Awful,but now in the past. Time to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteSeveral weeks ago, a lot of folks thought the Mets made a big mistake not going multi-year on Duda. How's that looking now?
Can Tejada go and anyone else come up?
Glad I did not see the game. Missing a squeeze bunt? Priceless.
Heading out for rehab this morning...
ReplyDeleteI've seen the instant funk players have when they are sent back to the minors. It happens far more than you think.
I really don't have anything to say about the Mets this morning.
I still really like Dillon Gee and I think this whole pipeline has been bungled beyond belief by Sandy Alderson. Now fans want to dump Niese. Meanwhile we're paying Colon $11 million.
ReplyDeleteAnd the truth is, both Syndergaard and Matz were ready in April, of that I have no doubt.
Assets squandered, veterans treated shabbily. Horrible.
Dillon Gee has been a winning pitcher on brutal teams. He's not this bad. He's a dog that's been left out in the rain.
James Preller
James (heading to the door)
ReplyDeleteTC's going to take the hit for this one but I don't know how much of this is is his fault, Sandy's, the injuries, karma, whatever.
I can't see him making the all-start break if the players don't stand up for him and respond with their bats.
The pitching remains excellent... in fact, it might be getting better. And, Mejia returns next week.
God, what I would do with 2 runs a game.
Here's the thing, there's a reasonable (but deeply flawed) narrative that says: Hey, a lot of bad luck this year, it's impossible to make quality trades mid-season, Sandy is doing what he can under tough circumstances. What do you want him to do? Flip Matz for a temporary bat and a bloated contract?
ReplyDeleteYadda, yadda, yadda.
The deeper thought is to look at the entire tenure. The years of inactivity. The winters of nothing. The lack of accumulating talent. He's sat on his hands. So, yes, now we're screwed -- for this season -- because he's done little to fortify the talent base. Years of neglect. So we're looking at Ruben Tejada again, and again he sucks, because he's always been a below-average player with little heart. We've got Kirkkk waiting in the wings because . . . it's the easiest thing the GM can possibly do. Nothing. Flores is a guy without a position, a medium bat, maybe. But we are going down with him because Sandy inherited him and, well, it's easiest just to run him out there. And on and on. How many years now of Terry Collins? Or is that Bud Black? Or is that Art Howe? This is Sandy's legacy.
Is he 100% awful. No, of course now. But he's flushing another year down the drain. It doesn't have to be that way.
James Preller
Terry Collins is not the reason this team's offense is as bad as it is.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the offense:
Is there even one position player to build around on this team?
Every single position player could be replaced.
Heck, even Delmon Young, who was just released would be an upgrade offensively with his .270 avg on the Mets.
All the while the Wilpons & Alderson sit. Inactive.
I know it was.joked about a few weeks ago here at Mack's Mets, but the team would be better off offensively if they allowed their pitchers to play positions on the field every day.
The only time the team scored.more than 2 runs in the past 2 weeks was when a rookie pitcher had 3 hits and 4 rbi!
Words just dont express enough.
The young pitchers are going to hurt themselves trying to be too perfect and over exerting.
More base running errors will occur as players press to make runs occur.
More fielding errors and bad plays will occur as players press and stress fearing that giving up one run will mean defeat in a game.
I hope any and all that have supported Alderson will finally stop insisting on how wonderful he has been for the Mets and that his brilliance will be unquestionable as "next year" rolls along yet again, and again, and again......
Realize this: organizations like the Pirates, Cubs, Kansas City, and the Astros look to have more promising futures then the Mets moving forward.
And none of them have 4 or 5 aces.
I was on the LIRR watching "Game day" on my trusty tablet just as they has 2 on, 2 out in the 11th. Game Day shows the pitch locations and speed. It showed Plawecki take strike 1 center plate, 6 inches above knees, the nest one center plate close to a foot above the knees. Taking for what exactly? Is this team again too timid and second guessing at the plate?
ReplyDeleteThomas
ReplyDeleteIt's all part of Alderson's "plan"
"Make hitters better by watching as many pitches as possible"
Guys -
ReplyDeleteI believe we're in the middle of another wasted year, but I don't call for any drastic changes because, frankly, there is no one in the system right now ready to come up and help.
Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo look like future Mets outfielders but I don't think they could do anything this season to help this team.
Travis d'Arnaud and David Wright could and I guess we have to light a candle and hope the team is still in some kind of race when (and if) they come back... but remember this.
1. The Mets are not going to catch the Nats now
2. And, to win a wild card slot, you have to have a better record that two of these three teams... the Pirates, the Giants, and the Cubs.
Frankly, it's my belief that the July schedule will quickly determine what direction this team is going.
Thomas, Plawecki's AB was criminal. He took all three strikes in a situation with two runners on, two outs, last ups.
ReplyDeletePathetic.
But a perfect ending to a lousy night.
James Preller
What exactly is the Mets hitting coach teaching these kids?
ReplyDeleteAlthough this year may be lost, I am against standing pat and just selling.
ReplyDeleteAlderson needs to start now acquiring position players that can be built around.
Just imagine how different the roster looks by adding Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun for example.
Or...
Go young. Go out and pay what it costs to get a Seager from the Dodgers.
Or other comparables.
Having no position players to build around is unacceptable at this point.
No more excuses.
What do you think has happened to Plawecki's stock based on his performance this year? Up, down, no movement?
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to read.
Seems to me that he might still turn out to be good, but that it's harder to imagine a team coveting him in a trade.
Thoughts?
James Preller
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ReplyDeleteBob,
ReplyDeleteYou're right about Gomez and Braun but I'd like to have Segura. High average, not a great SS but OK, and HUSTLE!. Gomez, Braun, and Segura will bring some badly needed HUSTKE to this team. Right now, our hustle seems to only last as long as our winning streaks. This three have shown that their fight will last as long as the season does. Question is, who do we trade? I know I'm going to get a ton of yelling over this, but I say Harvey. Biggest rep, shortest commitment to the team, and least likely to be retained when FA time comes. Offer them Harvey, Granderson, Tejada, Rosario and a couple of prospects (Nimmo, maybe). Braun even played a season at 3B in the majors, although it's been 8 years. I'm sure he could relearn enough to be an adequate backup. Totolly wacked out or feasible?
You guys (especially negative bob) crack me up! For one, it is BASEBALL....you know, a GAME, meant for entertainment. The level of negativity on this site (and all of the other ones for that matter) is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Do we need a suicide watch or perhaps, a help line?
ReplyDeleteBe happy.....we are all upright and reasonably healthy, right?
It is also en vogue to find a scapegoat (i.e. Sandy), which is also pretty funny. Take a rational look at the roster coming out of Spring Training and compare that to where we currently sit. This team has been DECIMATED by injuries and unexpected LOW PRODUCTIVITY (looking at you Lucas).
Sandy isn't perfect, but if this team stayed healthy and intact from April onward, we wouldn't be in the situation that we are in, would we?
How we got here doesn't matter now.......what can we do going forward is what counts. Sadly, unless we are willing to deal off a significant portion of our farm system OR one of the "golden arms" I don't see any moves that will have a MEANINGFUL impact in the short term (the rest of 2015).
Is there a trade out there that would make enough of a difference for this year that you would sacrifice the future for it? Desperate teams do dumb things....remember losing Scott Kazmir?
Some folks act like Sandy has crazy trade offers on his desk (like Dillon Gee for Carlos Correa) that he just refuses to make.
Hell, we can't even beat the Cubs or Pirates (combined 0-8 to date) in the regular season....if we somehow got into the playoffs, do you think we would do much against those teams, or the Cardinals or Dodgers?
The prudent move is hold onto our assets and try to get everyone healthy. Not what most folks want to hear, but I would prefer that (and a bright future) over a desperate trade that doesn't help the present enough and also diminishes our future.
Mike
No team stays healthy, except a very lucky, very few teams. Having a good bench I hw you prepare for that. That's where this team has been cheated - the FO won't spend any money on the bench, or select the right players when they do. We have two businessmen and a megalomaniac running this tea, but no baseball men. DePo and Riccaridi ae barely listened to, as as John Ricco. With all the proven GM's out here floating around loking for jobs, don't you think we could find a decent one??
ReplyDeleteMike.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully....
Sometimes, when you look around, and the majority is thinking/saying something other than you.......
You are the one that is wrong.
1) are you being entertained watching the major league team as a fan?
2) Health-wise. Is it really a surprise that Wright is injured this year? Maybe the specific injury is a surprise, but he is 32 and has missed significant time due to injury for each of the past 3 years! Including a fastball to the head and a fractured back.
Cuddyer? Please between his age, coming from Colorado, and his own injury history....is his lack of production a surprise?
Lagares? Injury history too in his brief time.
Murphy? Injury history too.
Granderson?.. best offense on the team...but is he able to carry a team?
D'Arnaud? Seriously, talent is there, but yet again is it a surprise he is missing time due to injury?
Besides, his name is not Piazza, he can't be thought of as the center of your offense.
3) please stop with the isolation "there are no trades to be made at this time" it has been Years. Y.E.A.R.S
4) Don't start with the "he doesn't have money to spend". Look at his track record when he has spent money.
5) What good does 4/5 aces accomplish without any offense? 2 weeks where the only time the team scores more than two runs is because the pitcher is the offensive star of the game.
Negative Bob you say? Really?
Really?!
What has the Wilpons/Alderson done to improve the winning on this major league team in the past 5 years?
Improve the starting pitching? Congratulations!!!!
The team still can't win.
And...
There are no signs at all that the offense will improve next year.
Yet, I'm referred to as being unreasonably negative?
How about looking back.
Most of what I have warned about for the past few years has come to pass.
I think you need to try the decaf! I feel bad for you if you get this worked up over a sport. I find baseball entertaining and I will always root for the Mets to do well.....I just don't live and die by their place in the standings.
ReplyDeleteThe point of my last post is simple and I think you missed it. I didn't say that there is NOTHING that can be done....my point is that there are SO MANY HOLES to fill right now, that any single move by itself would be insignificant and not worth the cost(s).
Let's say we pony up a significant package (Matz, Montero, Rosario and Fulmer) for Ryan Braun (and his monster salary) and say, Jean Segura. That package may not be enough, but for our sake, let's say the Brewers go for it.
We would be a bit better offensively, I suppose.....but would it make us a true playoff contender? I would say NO....but in a season or two, when Braun is declining and/or injured (see your David Wright quote) and Segura is just a solid SS, will we be a better team? Will you be OK when someone like Steven Matz is a Clayton Kershaw clone, pitching for the Brewers and not us?
Don't forget the Kazmir debacle.....if you can't learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it!
Is Sandy to blame for the current mess? Yes, I would say that he is. No different then when a GM gets the credit for a team's success. However, you cannot (rationally anyway) blame the Mets front office for everything that has gone wrong since the end of April (although I am sure you will find a way).
Mike
Mike
ReplyDeleteRespectfully. Again.
You are side-stepping the issue and point in order to try and mis-characterize me, my points, and what I have typed.
Of course nobody can be blamed 100% for any thing here.
That is a misleading approach to countering what I have expressed.
Secondly, you are so worried about 2-3 years from now while sacrificing now and the next 2 years.
How is that better?
Especially when there is nothing to point to that shows there is a reasonable expectation the offense will be improved after that time.
Believe it or not. There are actually ways to focus on the now and the later at the same time.
Hey Mike.
ReplyDeleteHow entertained were you with the 1 run the Mets managed today?
Or the fact it was 1 run in the past, what is it, 29 innings?