Tom Brennan - THE CASTAWAYS
The Mets ship has been broadsided by a barrage of injuries.
As Mack mentioned recently, the minors cupboard is bare.
This is the result of a wholesale disposal of talent, mostly in 2015 and 2016, that rendered the system devoid of immediate "ready now" help.
Who were these Castaways, who were shipped out of Metsville, or left voluntarily, and how are they doing?
Let's run it down:
STILL SUCCESSFUL MAJOR LEAGUERS:
DANIEL MURPHY: HUGE mistake. Say no more.
MICHAEL FULMER: dealt for the now-gimpy stud Yoenis Cespedes, Fulmer is 14-8, 3.00 in 198 innings in his career and is just 24 years old.
TYLER CLIPPARD: 15 G, 1.35 ERA for Damned Yankees.
CARLOS TORRES: in 88 games in 2016 and 2017, he is 4-6, 2.97 ERA. A very useful piece.
MATT BOWMAN: unprotected in the 2015 Rule 5 draft, he is a solid 3-6, 3.50 in 82 IP in relief, 1.14 WHIP career. Mistake.
DARIO ALVAREZ: a bit shaky as a reliever, but still fanning a lot of batters.
STRUGGLING MAJOR LEAGUERS:
BARTOLO COLON: If he had stayed he could have eaten innings for the Mets, as well as post-game buffets, but he seems to finally be in decline after 3 commendable years with the Mets.
GABE YNOA: who needs starting pitching, right? The Mets do, but they sold Gabe for cash in the off season. He has pitched one game for the O's, 6 shutout innings, after struggling in AAA.
LOGAN VERRETT: the homer-prone Verrett got a win against the Yanks in his sole appearance in the bigs in 2017. A broken clock is accurate every 12 hours, too.
ERIC O'FLAHERTY: 16 games for the lefty "specialist" with a 6.17 ERA for the Braves.
JOHN GANT: minor leaguer acquired by the Braves for 2016, and decent performance, but injured in 2017.
ANTONIO BASTARDO: 6.1 IP, 16.20 ERA in 2017.
ANTHONY RECKER: decent 2016 in limited duty with the Braves, 1 for 7 in 2017.
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY:
MICHAEL CUDDYER, JOHN MAYBERRY, KELLY JOHNSON, JUAN URIBE, JIM HENDERSON, BUDDY CARLYLE, JAMES LONEY, DILLON GEE, JON NIESE, ALEJANDRO DE AZA, ALEX TORRES, AND TIM STAUFFER (AND POSTER BOY JENNRY MEJIA): 13 guys who have all retired or currently not playing.
ERIC CAMPBELL, DANNY MUNO, JOHNNY MONELL: AAAA players who failed as major leaguers and may all be in Japan, or playing weekend pick up games somewhere.
HOT MINOR LEAGUERS:
BRAD WIECK - traded for Alex Torres in a moment of desperation, Wieck in 2016 and 2017 in the minors has tossed 72 IP, fanned 110, with a 1.47 ERA in AA.
LUIS CESSA: part of Cespedes deal, he has had a few cups of coffee with the Yanks; is 1.84 ERA in the minors in 2017.
ERIC YOUNG, JR.: hitting .345 in AAA, but only 1 major league at bat since leaving Mets in 2015 after a poor season.
RUBEN TEJADA: why he is with the stocked Yanks, and not a team that might actually need him, I am not sure, but in AAA in 20 games, he has a gaudy .319/.410/.580 stat line with 4 homers. How about THAT, Reese?
AKEEL MORRIS: in AAA for the Braves, he has tossed 12.1 innings, 13 Ks, 0.73 ERA.
STRUGGLING MINOR LEAGUERS:
Kirk N.: he was 2 for 25 with the Brewers with a typical 15 Ks, and now back in the minors. Probably for good.
MATT DEN DEKKER: 20 AAA games, .247. Ship's sailed.
BOBBY PARNELL: after a 2-4, 6.38 ERA final Mets season in 2015, he lingers on. BP is 1-1, 4.61 in AAA in 2017.
DILSON HERRERA: a great trade for the Mets, after all. Bruce is rockin', Dilson is hitting .242 in AAA.
JACK LEATHERSICH: the Leather Rocket must have been built in North Korea...in 4 IP in AAA, he has misfired, allowing 5 hits and 10 runs so far this year.
CONCLUSION:
I may have overlooked a few minor leaguers, but with few exceptions, the Mets deal in an awful lot of marginal mediocrity in its utility players, hoping for great results, and usually not getting them.
(Cue in to Adam Wilk and Tommy Milone. Who's next?)
Great post - lots of research -
ReplyDeleteRe your last line - (Cue in to Adam Wilk and Tommy Milone. Who's next?)
Gustavo Nunez
Exactly - the turnstile perpetually spins at Citifield.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to Familia may have happened whether or not he pitched Tuesday, as part of his Mon nite, Tues nite, Wed day trifecta of appearances. But for Collins to bring Familia in Tuesday instead of Sewald, with a 5 run lead, rather than seeing if Paul (the guy with the minor leagues 92% save rate) could get the Mets through the 9th with a FIVE RUN LEAD, is criminal.
Remember, Sewald had two straight excellent outings on Sat and Sun. Why the heck not with a 5 run lead on Tuesday?
And it may in fact have caused the clot...overuse....damage...way it goes. Nice going, Terry...did you sleep well last night?
I have no idea what pen guys are on the market right now, or what it would take to trade for them. Perhaps they sit tight and see if Matz and Lugo come back, and stick Lugo in the pen. Eddie Goeddel? No thanks.
I think I would promote PJ Conlon for the rotation, after 2 straight brilliant AA starts, and bump a guy to the pen.
Starting on the brew town in Milwaukee, I'd like to order a king size draft of Harvey Dark.
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion, but the kind of injury to Familia couldn't possibly be tied to Monday or Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right, Mack. But then Familia had to be feeling discomfort for a while...tell the manager...tell the medical team.
ReplyDeleteThese guys (like Cespedes, like Thor) have to realize that ignoring discomfort can really have bad consequences.
Dillon Gee had a fairly decent year with KC Royals last year, and is pitching in AAA for Texas, 6 starts and (for the PCL) not that bad. Trade for him?
ReplyDeleteDillon is a friend.
ReplyDeletePlease do not make him come back here.
Gotta promote from within as we have no one to deal for pitching unless someone's hot for Grandy....yeah right.
ReplyDeleteRe: Ruben Tejada -- remember that Eric Campbell, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Danny Muno, Matt Reynolds and others could hit in AAA, too. It's a big final step to do so in the majors.
ReplyDeleteAs far as pitching goes, I'm with Mack. Why would you want to come pitch here when Collins and Warthen are destined to ruin your career?
"Gee", guys, it was just a thought :)
ReplyDelete