2/2/16

Mack’s Morning News – 2-2-16 – Terry Collins, Doc Gooden, Curtis Granderson, Brandon Nimmo



Good morning.

Terry Collins

            “We’ve got to go back. Let’s win it all.

“We can do this. We talked last spring about the postseason and we did win. Now what are we going to do to get the ultimate win, to finish this thing off?
“You create your own expectations. How are we going to go about doing that? I’ll tell you exactly how: We’re not changing it up much, but we’ve got to run the bases this much better, we have to strike out this much less, play a little more defense in the World Series.

You got to have those expectations. If you are afraid of it, you are in the wrong sport. You talk about goals in baseball, there is no bigger goal, and until you get to the World Series, you don’t really understand how much fun it is.’’

We have to take a look at Kansas City and learn something. They made it a point, ‘We’re going to go back and we’re going to get this done.’ That was their mantra the entire year. We have to have a similar one.’’

            Mack – This was from a NY Post interview by Kevin Kernan.

It seems to me he said all the right things, at the right time. And, this seems to be the same kind of focus Kansas City had after they lost the 2014 World Series. It was important for them to pick themselves up and make sure they finish what they started in 2014. This seems to be what Collins is saying here.



Doc Gooden

            “With the pitching they have they can start a dynasty here. These guys are crazy good. No one wants to face them. I loved them re-signing Yoenis Cespedes, because even with those great arms, you have to score runs and he brings that fear to the middle of the order. All the attention is on him and the other hitters can just do their thing. I’m a fan of the game and a fan of the Mets and Yankees, and I look at the game totally different, but if I could, if I were the owner of the Mets, I would try to lock these guys up now. Buy out the arbitration years and two or three years of free agency. They are that good.’’

                        Mack – More from Kernan of The Post.

            I don’t know how much access Doc has to Sandy Alderson or the Wilpons, but I hope his thoughts on locking up the pitching gets to the front office.

Can you imagine having Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard under control through the three years AFTER their scheduled free agency period?

           
From Hobie  (Conrad Youngren) - 

Mack, let me share what has been rattling around in my corporeal attic, perhaps you could share & comment.

You know I was not in favor of the Granderson signing.  In the 13-14 off-season I was hoping Sandy would re-sign Byrd.  He wanted 2 years and SA bought 1 yr of Chris Young early in the shopping season.  Fangraphs, among others, thought it was a steal and I shrugged:  Ok, I understood (I thought) the 1 vs 2 year thing.  You & I discussed bringing Beltran back, but that would have had to been for 2 and evidently…  I mused about a RF platoon of den Dekker & Puello (ouch); play ‘em and see what they can do.

Then Granderson signs for FOUR years and I was (still am) clueless. 
The ’14 season came & went with CY, EY and Grandy not accomplishing—offensively or defensively—near what I thought a Byrd-Legares-dD/Puello would minimally give (not realizing that Cesar would spend the year playing mahjong with the East German manly-girl track team).

Granderson rebounds in fine fashion in ’15.  Batting LO by default, in retrospect he was an essential cog in the Series-reaching effort and eclipsing the 2015 M.Byrd of my scenario by some 80 OPS points.  Of course, with the 2014 Byrd in hand, a big-bat search would probably not have snared a RHB Cuddyer either.  Obviously, all that doesn’t matter now.

All of this as set-up to my essential question:  Is now the time to shop Curtis Granderson?.  OK, two questions: why do I keep hearing 3rd hand that Cespedes WILL not (not cannot) play RF?

I think the answer to the first question is yes.   Granderson in RF, Cespedes in CF with Legares & de Aza on the bench is a sum less than it’s parts.  Game 1 last Oct should have opened with Legares in CF, Cespedes in LF and Conforto as DH (I can envision arrangements where Grandy was DH too, but the sub in question is Legares bat/field vs Johnson bat comes up on the side of the defense --offense too as it turned out.)  I think it’s a toss-up whether Granderson’s year will be closer to 2014 than 2015, but, for the sake of argument, think of those as the upper & lower bounds.

So. What could we get for Granderson this spring?  And, is the point moot if Cespedes refuses to play RF.

            Mack – Hobie, thanks for the question.

Yes, you always try and trade a ballplayer that is over 30 years old coming off his best year. You are never going to get more back than you would now.

That being said, the pre-season 2016 Mets are not going to trade one of their poster boys right before what lines up as a magical season in the making.

Yes, the current Mets have too many decent outfielders (wow, did I just say that) and four of the five of them aren’t right fielders. Granderson also is the closest thing the Mets have to a leadoff hitter which is another reason he won’t be moved.

In my opinion, it’s not worth doing the math. He’s not going anywhere.


New York Mets OF ’prospect’ Brandon Nimmo has been diagnosed with a partial tear of a tendon in his left foot and will be in a walking boot for the next 10-days, after which he was be reevaluated.

            Mack – Another Nimmo setback.

There are some people that just never get to where they were heading in this sport because they can’t stay healthy. Nimmo may turn out to be one of them.

He’s been around for five seasons now and has a lifetime minor league average of .264. He only hit above .300 once (2014: St. Lucie, 227-Abs), but finished that season only hitting .238 for Binghamton. And, in 1,542 major league at-bats, he only has 25 home runs and a slugging percentage of .391.


Luckily, with the signing of Yoenes Cespedes, the Mets have the outfield covered pretty well for the next two seasons. Sadly, Nimmo could be, long term, out of the picture and the Mets might move on to Wuilmer Becerra as their next ‘home grown’ outfielder.

26 comments:

Ernest Dove said...

I've had the same opinion now for a couple years. Mets can and should extend 2-3 of their arms.
The entire baseball world assumes Harvey won't go near a contract until 2018. He did technically (and quitely) take care of the arbitration situation this offseason very smoothly, which could mean everything or nothing. Wait and see.
In my humble opinion Noah, if not extended before free agency, could pitch himself into a Greinke/Kershaw contract. Hes THAT good.
A healthy Nimmo was hopefully not needed anyway in 2016 and I wish him well in rehab and hope he gets a large number of at bats in Vegas.

Tom Brennan said...

For the ownership to follow Doc's advice, fans showing up in droves will keep this team intact and allow them to do that.

Tell Nimmo to make sure it is not the boot Ike Davis wore.

I hated Grandy in 2014. I loved Grandy in 2015. May he give us 2 more years of 2015.

Unknown said...

This is truly make or break for Nimmo - hopefully make as he seems like a truly great kid

Mack Ade said...

signing the young pitching to contracts for an average of three years past their arbitration commitment seems like the future for this team... I hope they can work something out here for at least two of the 'Big 3'

Zozo said...

Even next offseason may be hard (from a Mets stand point) to trade Granderson or Duda. In actuality if they preform like last year other clubs might be interested, but if Cespedes opts out we shouldn't trade them because we lose to much power in one offseason. Also it will be a weak free agent market I believe next year, which would have been good to trade at least one of them. So hopefully Cespedes doesn't opt out and we have more options.

bgreg98180 said...

The Nimmo news is very disappointing.
Add to this the disappointment of Cecchini's performance compared to his drafting spot.

At least Conforto is proving to be worth his draft position.
Michael Fulmer could be considered as providing value the the Mets for his draft position as well since he was used to acquire Cespedes. (Of course I am not sure he can be legitimately included since he was a supplemental pick and not one of the high draft order picks given to the poor performing team)

That makes an even 2 positive draft picks vs 2 very questionable draft picks over the past few years.

The pressure is now on Dominic Smith to succeed in order to make the high picks the Mets "earned" due to their poor performance over those 5 years into positive territory.

Come on Dominic Smith.......

Reese Kaplan said...

Is Brandon Nimmo the new Reese Havens?

Tom Brennan said...

Nimmo is not yet as good as Reese havens was before the rib did him in.

Mack Ade said...

I continue to question the Alderson drafts

Metsiac said...

So do I, Mack. What have 5 years of high picks produced? So far, Conforto. BAH!

Robb said...

relax on the nimmo injury. i tore ligaments in my foot, it heals pretty quickly or they go in and fix it if its bad otherwise its like 3-6 weeks. most of you have probably also torn ligaments in there but didnt know it. Obviously i dont know the severity, but its not a long term injury like acl or mcl surgery would be. or chronic, usually. get worried when someone has the same injuries over and over, ya know, like Matz did before he got healthy. (nimmo is still 2 years younger). patience is hard.

as for the drafts: they arent easy to get right. if you you average 1.5 mlb players per draft you are crushing it and that includes middle relievers. remember the mets when nimmo, cecchini, smith, conforto were being drafted were pitching rich and player poor. and so while you might have wanted other players the need to draft pitching was moot. I assume they will draft pitching this season to replenish that depth.

also 5 years is about the correct timeline for most draft picks begin to be reviewed. not sure who position player wise that was picked after nimmo id be clamoring for? CJ Cron? Also, sean gilmartin was picked at the end of round 1.

bgreg98180 said...

Robb

I believe, it is not so much overall drafting that is being scrutinized.

I believe the focus of interest is those top picks in the 1st round. The picks #13 and higher.

no definitive outcome yet.
just cause to be monitoring with some uneasy feelings.

Robb said...

in drafting there really are just a few sure shots. otherwise its kinda a crapshoot. especially when you factor in value/money when money can be used in multiple places.

Tom Brennan said...

On Cecchini, he may be good yet. Unlikely to be very good or elite.

But my brother was screaming for Lucas Giolito to be drafted instead. He was right. Giolito was a potential superstar type with a suspect elbow, so he was a risk...but now, the elbow's fixed and I believe despite missing a year, he is ranked in the top 3 of prospects in baseball. Moving up fast. And he is a Nat. That gamble was worth taking. If a possible superstar is there, be daring. Nats got him instead, and we may suffer many headaches due to this guy pitching for our rival in upcoming years.

Mack Ade said...

DC was traded to Toronto for $$$

Eddie from Corona said...

We cannot call the Draft a Crap shoot if the FO's game plan was to build from within... If that your plan you have to hit... Remember they Brought in 3 former GM's to form a (GM ALLSTAR team)... Well then these genius's need Hit on the draft... so if they miss on Ninmo, Cecchini and God forbig Smith, then that's 3 out 4 drafts you wasted a top 15 Pick... say what you want about OMAR but he did draft Harvey when he had the only pick that high...

Tom Brennan said...

Eddie, good point, but I think we'll see a hit with Smith this year. I bet he is future All Star caliber.

Anonymous said...

Why the disdain for Cecchini? I personally especially don't get bob's comment "Add to this the disappointment of Cecchini's performance compared to his drafting spot." What's disappointing about a 21 year old SS prospect with a line of .317 (AVG)/.377 (OBP)/.442 (SLG)/.819 (OPS) in AA on top of being a tough strikeout and knowing how to take a walk?
I'm not disagreeing on the side of wanting Giolito, but he was also passed by 14 picks other than the Mets, bringing down Cecchini because teams, including the Mets, were wary of the injury I'm assuming doesn't make much sense to me.

Eddie from Corona said...

personally I believe the FO targeted Russell Addison and when he was taken they felt they were all in on choosing a SS and that's why they selected Cecchini... however again since this FO acts as if they are the smartest men in the room they should have regrouped and drafter Cory Seager that year... Then we wouldnt be having this debate...
And before someone says that X number of teams passed on Him as well... I say the FO's primary job is to take the best player Available...

bgreg98180 said...

Please remember last year was the first sign that Cecchini was not a big disappointment.
Additionally, if I remember correctly, many analysts strongly believed that even if the Mets wanted Cecchini, he would have been available at their next pick.

bgreg98180 said...

You leave out his very disappointing fielding last year.

TP said...

Outfield? What outfield?

Grandy's 2015 was tremendous but at 35 odds are that his performance slips some. That said, he is the only viable leadoff hitter the Mets have, and with the bats behind him he should score over 100 runs in 2016 if he reamins healthy and sits against the occasional tough lefty. Lagares should see plenty of playing time, spelling Conforto and Grandy, and being inserted as a defensive replacement in close games with a late lead. It's all good right now...just keep these guys healthy.

Anonymous said...

Cecchini was seen as a top 20 guy in the draft by numerous analysts as well, so I never fully believe in the argument that some see he could have easily been landed in the next round. From what I remember some even had him above Russell in ranking of the big 4 SS that year.
Also I always struggle to put much weight into error totals in the minors, not comparing the kid to Andrelton Simmons, but at the same age season Simmons had the same number of errors. Not saying Cecchini is gonna become a defense whiz, the kid's best hope is probably slightly above average if even. I forgot the exact site but somewhere a fan uploaded each video clip of every one of his errors and numerous of them came on plays he rushed his throw/footwork or off a tough play not every SS gets to, or even a play a better defensive 1B saves him on. For how much Cecchini succeeded at a level like AA I feel it should be more proof that he's starting to become develop into a successful pick rather than a bust.

bgreg98180 said...

Well, I guess this year will go a long way in proving Cecchini one way or another.

Hopefully he will rise to the occasion and he will prove to have been a wonderful choice.

Or, the other thing could happen.

Mack Ade said...

FYI

Cecchini sealed the deal with the Mets when he was flown up to Queens for a private workout just before the draft.

Also, Giolito was NEVER in the mix, no much I and his father (who is a loyal Mack's Mets reader) wanted him to be

eraff said...

Nimmo, Cheech, Smith, Conforto... EVERY SINGLE GUY has progressed with Production and a fairly good showing of Talent and Quality. The HS Positional players are GUILTY OF NOT ARRIVING AS 20 YEAR OLD MLB SUPERSTARS!!!!....and That's IT!!!!

I have seen a combined 5 at bats(plus some video)...TOPS!!!....from the picks we are scrutinizing...

.... You guys are NUTS!!!! Every single one of those "Top Picks" is an actual Big League Prospect. There is no Grand Fail. There is NO Fallout. Theer is also NO 20 year old Wunderkind in the bunch---so...Bitch On!!!