Good
morning.
Mets
have a day off today.
Rafael Montero got back on the mound prior to Terry Collins visit and threw two scoreless innings
(1-H, 1-K, 0-BB) while rehabbing for the GCL Mets. Many of us (especially Stephen Guilbert) are big fans of this kid and no one
would fit the teams need for a spot starter during the rest of the season more
than Montero. We’ll follow his (hopefully) ascent through the affiliates and
report it here each morning. Expect double coverage by the Brennan-man.
Matt Harvey –
"For us to come down
and do what we did, and continue what we're doing, is pretty important and
pretty special. We're not going to stop here. We've got more games to go and we
want to put the pedal down."
Mack – I
never expected to see Harvey as the positive spokesman for this team. I
pictured him the silent, sullen type, sitting alone at the end of the bench or
just with a couple of his fellow starters surrounding him sort of like a
protective shield. It’s nice to see he’s buying into all this Mets shit.
David Wright is expected to play in
a GCL-Mets game on Monday.
Bob Sugar asked –
Mack, Since the trades
and the recent surge in wins and excitement around Terry
Collins has been front and center in front of the mike and cameras. Has
your opinion of him as the leader of this club changed? Do you feel that he can
lead us to the playoffs?
Mack – An interesting question.
I think TC
now has the working pieces to get this team to the playoffs. Now all he has to
figure out is who to insert in the lineup every day.
There’s at
least more than one option at every position right now and I agree with his
philosophy of playing the hot bat. I also accredit to him 100% the resurgence
of Lucas Duda.
You can’t
fire a manager if they take you to the playoffs for the first time in a
thousand years.
The Jerry Blevens setback is unfortunate; however, I expect the Mets to survive
this one. What I did find interesting was the fact that Sandy Alderson was well aware of the
mishap before he signed LHRP Eric O’Flaherty
to a contract. What he didn’t know was the extent of the injury.
Tom Brennan will tell you who the
solution to this problem should be. We all know how difficult it is to deal up
goose eggs in Las Vegas but it doesn’t seem to be a problem to LHRP Dario Alvarez. His stat line for his
last 10 games are: 1-0, 0.00, 8.1-IP, 3-H, 15-K.
One last thought on Blevens. The trip on the curb could have
cost him a 2016 contract with the Mets. We’ll just have to wait this one out.
Fact: SS Gavin Cecchini led all Minor League players with 48 hits in the month of July. 29
July games: .387/.453/.532 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 2
home runs, 21 runs, and 18 RBI with 15/17 BB/SO
19 comments:
I, like Harvey, am hyped for the Mets to continue on, perhaps finally to break the record of 11 straight wins that tied earlier this season.
Mack, Dario wasn't ready when called up last year. Heck last year he only had 12 innings above Savannah when called up.
But he's dominated in all of his AA and AAA outings the past 9 weeks, so he seems for real and ready now.
Gotta run, but let's keep rolling.
Tom -
And on to Tampa... win the series.
I don't have problem with O'Flaherty. He got a lefty out in the 8th. Should have ended there. LOOGY dont face 4-5 lefties over two innings. .......
Anyway, 3 more big roster changes coming with David, cuddyer and Goeddel getting ready to join the party.
Who gets bumped to make room this month???
@Ernest Eric Campbell is the most vulnerable position player and will likely head out when Cuddyer returns. That solves a 25-man roster issue. However, both Goeddel and Wright require 40-man roster adjustments as they are on the 60-day DL and thus not on the 40. One no-brainer is to drop a AAA catcher in Johnny Monell or Anthony Recker. With Plawecki apparently here to stay, that's a luxury having two on the 40. The second would be dropping a AAA infielder -- sorry, Tom, but Danny Muno would be one candidate and Wilfredo Tovar would be the other. My money would be on Muno since Tovar has 29 SBs and plays better defense than anyone in Queens right now. He could be useful in September.
Question to Mack -- you said, "You can’t fire a manager if they take you to the playoffs for the first time in a thousand years."
However, what if he doesn't make the playoffs...fair game to change horses? How about if he's one and out in the first round? Dicier but possible?
Sorry, didn't finish the roster thought.
OK, so we cleared the 40-man roster space...what about the 25-man space?
Well, Hansel Robles is vulnerable and still has options, so he could go to AAA. That would answer the Goeddel question. Of course, they could simply keep Goeddel in AAA until the 31st and then decide.
The Wright question is a bit more difficult. Personally, I would address it by making an August deal to send Daniel Murphy elsewhere, but I don't think that will happen. If not Murphy, it may be another transaction involving an infielder from among Wilmer Flores, Ruben Tejada and recently acquired Juan Uribe.
On TC:
Terry does do something things that are important very well. he handles the media (he really does), the players seem to like him (bc he has their backs) and he seems to keep them engaged. Those are three very important things to being a successful manager especially in ny. Maybe the most important.
does it matter that he's at best a mediocre game tactician and that he seems to blow out at least one bullpen piece a year? i dont know. sure, id like it to feel like we didnt get out managed every game where it feels like the manager matters, but hey, at least he's not matt williams.
also you cant necessarily fire a manager after he takes you to the playoffs but you sure can promote him out of the position. I.e to an organizational development position.
I hope Conforto has a couple of 2 or 3 hit games before they get Cuddyer back. He's shown that he can succeed but needs to solidify his spot on the roster or else he's getting demoted in a few days.
I think this team is better and stronger with Cespedes, Grandy, and Conforto in the outfield with Cuddyer and Lagaras on the bench. That is a huge upgrade to the bench.
This team, to me, shouldn't have Cambell on the roster if they're serious about the post season. The problem is Cuddyer's contract.
This goes away in 2016 once Cespedes is gone. But by then, I hope Nimmo takes over center field with Conforto and Grandy at the corners.
I would imagine odds of having a successful team with all home grown talent is extremely low.
Nice, feel good thought, but proven free agents are necessary.
Cut Muno and Monnel from the 40. When Cuddyer comes back option/cut Campbell and when/if Wright comes back put Lagares on the DL if Conforto is hitting. Problem solved!
Reese -
I'm not a fan of TC but I can't see him being fired at the end of this season. I just don't.
Montero best option for spot starter? C'mon, Mack! He's basically just starting ST after not pitching all season. Gee, Verrett, and possibly Stauffer are all ahead of him.
As to clearing space on the 25 for David, I see that my friend Reese is still fixated on Tejada, who is not only fielding superbly but in the Top Ten offensively among all ML SSs with more than 250 AB in all categories except slg.and hitting around .320 in his last 30 games. Aside from the fact that the only potential replacement is Flores, who is NOT a SS, why would anyone but Reese choose to drop Ruben from the roster? Maybe Ruben shod change hjs name to Rodney. No respect.
I think Campbell is the clear favorite to be gone when Cuddyer is activated. Just no need for him. If/When Wright returns, there probably won't be much need for Kirk as there just won't be an opportunity for him to get ABs or even be a late defensive sub. I don't think losing Muno would hurt at all but Kirk would have to lose his 25 man spot.
@Mack...if TC misses the playoffs after being given the horses, then he deserves to be fired. The last remnant of a thin argument about no one being able to win during his first 4 years given the roster he had no longer holds water. Now it's all on him.
So if the team goes from 79 Ws to 89, but it's not enough for the PS, he should be gone?
Metsiac -
I take that back re: Montero.
I wish he would be back but, in truth, I don't even think we'll see him in September when the roster expands.
Something's wrong there. May be mental. May be mechanics. But something is wrong.
Reese -
You are absolutely the last person I would chose to debate the future of Terry Collins. And, you know I'm not a big fan of him.
What I can say is this (very political answer).
So far, I see nothing since the new players have arrived that lead me to believe that he isn't doing a good job as the manager.
Good enough answer ? :)
Let's not forget that the improvements came at the end of July, after months of sub-Mendoza lineups. Even if we just had a decent bench from day one, we'd be at least 5 games better by now.
Mack, IMO his BEST managing this year was BEFORE the new arrivals. Keeping the team motivated and in contention without the new talent was remarkable.
Letherisch will move to the 60 day for the first spot
Catcher is the 2nd
Muno likely the 3rd
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