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| pic taken by Mack Ade |
Good
morning.
Looks
like it might be a light day for The Morning Report.
It
looks like third base is going to get interesting.
David Wright’s back reared its ugly… err… back yesterday,
shutting him down for at least one game. My guess this is just the beginning of
a much bigger problem that will develop this season.
The
lineup had to be changed a few hours prior to the start of Tuesday’s game and
one would have thought that the obvious choice to play third would have been Eric Campbell, but Campbell was already in the lineup
scheduled to replace Lucas Duda for reasons
unexplained.
Now,
one would think if there was nothing wrong with Duda, he could have been
slotted into the lineup and Campbell could be moved to third. Instead, Matt Reynolds made his debut at third base.
Folks,
my guess Sandy Alderson is on the phone looking
for a solution to this problem. I don’t see a solution for a Wright fill in on
the Las Vegas roster and, though I wish Reynolds all the success in the world,
this team just may need a new reserved infielder that can play third base.
I
was thinking about the recent baseball fight, and waiting for the suspensions
to come down, and I don’t understand the desire of most fans for Odor to get
the biggest suspension. A fight is a fight and it shouldn’t matter if someone
throws a punch and it happens to land squarely on the face of another player.
Would you award less of a suspension for a bitch slap?
There’s
a rumor going around that the Chicago Cubs are putting together a five player
prospect offer for the services of Mike Trout.
Should the Mets do this, or could they even do this? Does our system even have
five quality prospects left right now for this kind of offer?
Trivia
Question – Who was the first New York Met to hit a walk-off home run? Hint… ask
‘Hobie’.
Ruben Tejada is hitting .167 with the Cardinals and has
a lower OPS than Matt Harvey and Steven Matz
A nice article on Milwaukee Brewers outfield Kirk Nieuwenhuis… http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/get-to-know-brewers-outfielder-kirk-nieuwenhuis-b99725893z1-379665851.html
Why would the Atlanta Braves fire manager Fredi Gonzalez now after they gutted the
team of most of the talent?
Baseball Wise @Baseball_Wise - Fredi
Gonzalez dismissed. A good lesson in life, when your GM takes all of your
players, quit before he makes you look stupid
OF Patrick Biondi was added to the St. Lucie Mets
Raphael Ramirez placed back on Brooklyn’s roster
Brian P. Mangan - Former Mets prospect Michael Fulmer (traded for Cespedes) with a 10.2 K/9 but ugly 6.52 ERA/4.91 FIP
in 19.1 MLB innings so far.
Mets gave Daniel Murphy his NL championship ring and Sandy Alderson told him that without him "none of us would be wearing
that ring today."
When DW missed a game in Colorado -- the day before an off day -- it told me that he was really hurting. What hitter takes off in Colorado? The Mets play three games there, and the team was struggling. Overall, my suspicion is that this has been a lot tougher than even David expected. The daily, relentless grind of it.
ReplyDeleteAgain: I never want to have my doubts and observations on his performance to ever be confused with my respect and admiration for him as a man and as a ballplayer. But I think his current strikeout rate is a huge, huge red flag. Nobody in MLB history strikes out that much and succeeds. He's kept it together so far, thanks to an unreal walk rate, but this is not looking good. FanGraphs recently ranked him the worst defensive 3B by a large margin.
I only have sympathy for the guy. But I do wonder about Sandy's Plan B.
Jimmy P
Id try and get in on the Trout sweepstakes. My gut feeling is that Wright retires after the season...I've felt that way since he was first diagnosed. The Mets are going to need another marquee player and I don't think Cespedes is going to be here long whereas Trout can be the new face of the franchise. I don't have a list of five specifically, but I'd include Dom Smith, Juan Lagares, and dip into the Rosario/Cecchini/Herrera pool. After that I'm not sure but I'd certainly be willing to listen on anyone else the Angels have interest in except Syndergaard and Conforto.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh-- off Spahn too.
ReplyDeleteI still dont see the 'need' for Trout. The problem is not in the outfield.
ReplyDeleteProspects are nothing but prospects until they succeed at mlb level but why conceivably trade away the possible future 1B, 2B and or SS for ONE guy who doesn't play a position of need?
Now if someone told me for sure that David was gonna retire AND Yo was opting out and signing elsewhere I'd certainly reconsider and literally give away the farm i guess.
The beginning of the end for Wright? Flores' injury very ill-timed. Amazing they beat Max last night with Matt and Eric in the line up. We need better.
ReplyDeleteTrout types are so rare...if Cubs are vying for him, so should we. Hard. Cubs with him would be VERY tough to beat.
Bartolo mess is also ill-timed. Next time hire an attorney.
Frank Thomas, Hobie?
ReplyDeleteThings ive never said before, hurray up and get healthy wilmer flores. I think the Wright stuff was going to be expected. they knew the long plane rides (as anyone with a bad back knows) were going to be a problem. I think this will help Wright know that he needs all those extra days off.
ReplyDeleteTheres no way wright retires yet. I think he gets through this year and next and maybe one more. basically the 20mm seasons left on his contract. I also wouldnt be surprised if like Zimmerman he ends up at 1st base sooner rather then later.
As for trout. you'd love him. id love him. what it would take t get him would make your head spin. in terms of prospects the cubs have what it takes if they want to get him more so then the mets. but honestly he's not going anywhere at least for another year of his team being terrible.
i glanced at the bartolo cover on the post. im surprised they only found 1 extra family. he's no shawn kemp thats for sure. he'll be fine. he does not care at all.
I'm going to spend a little more time tomorrow morning on the David Wright and third base issue.
ReplyDeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteNo, not Frank, Thomas -- Hobie. :-)
Hobie
Well I guess if there's anyone else who would pull a "Cuddyer" it would be David. I still can't believe he really did it but I don't see David playing that much longer in such a diminished capacity. You would figure such a class act would come up with some sort of deal both he and management could live with....time will tell.
ReplyDeleteJoe Christopher?
ReplyDeleteI still believe that Flores can be a above average 3rd baseman, if given the chance. I think that My next option would be to start playing Walker there, with an eye toward re-signing him, with either Wilmer or Herrera taking over 2B. Beyond that, I might explore whether Cespedes can play 3rd a little. I have a hunch that he could.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone be opposed trying to go after Donaldson in '18? RH power bat to replace Yo and Wright. With Ces most likely gone being that he won't stick in CF and I do think Wright will be retiring sooner rather than later. With the draft picks they've received from Murph and eventually Walker and considering our assumed late round pick in the 1st due to a decent record, I'd have no issue giving up the 1st rd pick for him. Dom, Dilson, Rosario, and Donaldson sounds like an exciting 2018 infield.
ReplyDeleteWe featured a lineup last night with Reynolds/Campbell/Plawecki...that really can't happen. We are playing the Nats with players that are AAA Players (Sorry Reynolds/Campbell). Plawecki at least has some upside but following those guys then going to the pitcher makes for a sad offense. I wasnt that worried about Wright before but I am now. It looks like he is going to miss 30-40% of the games, you need a solid 3rd baseman to deal with that. Our starters kept us competitive last year before the reinforcements came in but the NL East is more competitive this year.
ReplyDeleteMr. Landrith
ReplyDeleteIf it's a number two hitter the team is seeking to replace (which is what Wright has become), then TJ Rivera could do that or Dilson Herrera could play 2B with Walker shifting to 3B.
ReplyDeleteThe issue for the Mets is options and service time. They don't care about a guy like Rivera but for the people projected to have longer careers like Herrera or Cecchini (when off the DL), that's a major concern. There are also 40-man roster concerns though there is plenty of fat that can be trimmed, including Campbell, Reynolds, Dario Alvarez and Jeff Walters. Also, when will they know how long Travis d'Arnaud will be out? If he does eventually go to the 60-day DL (retroactive to his last date of play) then he would open up a 40-man roster spot, too.
I'm sure that they're hesitant with Herrera as he's had two options burned already in 2014 and 2015. To use him this year means he will be out of options come next season which makes him unable to be sent freely to the minors (and less valuable as a trade chip if they chose to go that route).
I thought option years are counted byte served in the MINORS (once on the 40-man). This is Dilson's 3rd option year by my count (unless he didn't accrue enough ML time in 2014 once promoted to the 40-man). In any event, this year is burnt option wise already.
ReplyDeleteI wanted Murphy for precisely this reason (3B/1B, not 2B). I had and have no confidence that David can produce on a regular basis, but was willing to start the year with Murph at 2B and see. If they had signed Zo, fine--2B to start the year, 3b eventually with a Dilson call-up
Gotta find out if Walker (or Dilson?) can play 3B, and have them both in the line up.