Talkin' Baseball - Cespedes to the DL?

Good morning.

Here’s today’s question -

Here's a simple question with a possible complicated answer...

We all know that Yoenes Cespedes is playing every day with a bum leg.

We also know that the Mets are reported to have thrown in the towel and are now on the phones wheeling and dealing their expiring contracts.

Question:  Wouldn't this be a good time to shut down, for a while, Cespedes, put him on the DL and call up a possible trade chip like Victor Cruzado?

            Reese Kaplan says –

Right now, it's time to showcase the possible trade candidates.  That means you need Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson to play as much as possible.  With Michael Conforto coming back with a good series, there's ample opportunity to rest Yoenis Cespedes without trying to shoehorn Victor Cruzado into the lineup.  I'm not quite sure what the fascination with him is.  Brandon Nimmo who is a polarizing figure among fans – a future player, a bust of a draft pick or somewhere in between -- actually has more impressive numbers than does Cruzado and he got a late start playing organized baseball.

Tom Brennan said –

In full respect to Hobie, it is too soon to call up Cruzado.  Why they played him sparingly in AAA earlier this year is beyond me. Another 100 at bats early in the season would've been extremely helpful.

 Cespedes is hitting, with a slug % over .600.  Play him carefully.  But                play him.  Sit Wright instead...oh yeah, he already is sitting.

I would not pass up trades if the  right ones were to materialize. But, just like the Mets have endured numerous injuries, it could be the nationals' turn next. So, it just seems a bit premature to throw in the towel altogether.

Michael Maar said -       

 

At this point at the end of June, even though I agree it's appropriate for the Mets to put the "open for business" shingle out there, I don't think it's yet time to actually act on player moves that would constitute throwing in the towel.  Just start the conversations with other GMs, but don't yet shut the door on that once-in-every-decade miraculous run.  There's still good talent on the roster.  Don't pack it in yet and make a move like shutting down Cespedes or acting on any trades until we get to the second half of July in the same or worse situation in the standings.

Richard Herr said –

            There's several issues involved here. Let's handle them one at a time.

The Mets should be talking to everyone about trading for their expiring contracts.  Expiring contracts, as in the older players who are going to walk after this year.  They should be talking about Grandy, Bruce, Duda, Walker, Cabrera, Reyes, Salas, etc.  The trades should happen ASAP so we can sooner bring in the players we get from the other teams. However, I don't think that will happen. Sandy has a history of waiting-to-blink standoffs with other GMs to try to get the best value.

Other people, like Cruzado, are in a different category i.e. possible trading chip.  We should also explore those.  They include Cecchini, Nimmo, Lagares, TJ Rivera, Flores, Plawecki, d'Arnaud, etc. These are guys we want to plain, old trade; move them to get a piece of equal value that better fills a need on the ballclub.

Then we come to the issue of Cespedes' injury. Obviously he's still injured. None of us knows what the doctors' report is on his injury, but it appears we're in a very screwed up situation here. We also don't know what management's plan is, but I think management may be of the same mind. I think, since we're throwing in the towel on this season, send Cespedes off to properly heal with the knowledge that he's not going to do some more dumb-assed training that goes against the requirements of his occupation.

LOCK ON THE MONTH BET. Cabrera won't be traded in June. It will only be some time after his July 1 doll promotion night. (I'm writing this on the 26th, and I think it'll be posted on the 30th. However, I'm sure Mack will pass this hot tip on to all of his wagering friends.)

David Rubin says –

           I think that this is a much more complicated issue then it first appears to be.

In a "perfect" world, Cespedes would be riding the pine, healing, rehabbing, and working on strengthening his legs so that he doesn't have additional recurrences of the same injuries (and, by "strengthening" I do NOT mean going back to Barwis' methods) and come back when, and ONLY when, he is really feeling close to 100%. That, in and of itself, isn't realistic because over a 162 game, 7 month season (not including Spring Training nor play-offs) the body is going to feel less than 100% more than half the time. A baseball season is not one of homeostasis; injuries occur, major and minor, all throughout the season, enhanced and accelerated by things like travel, sleeping in various beds, diet changes and issues, daily wear and tear and emotional issues caused by both the length of the season as well as being away from the comforts and regularity of home. So what IS "normal" for Cespedes? Does he know what that feels like, as he's had minor injuries repeatedly throughout his major league career so far? He seems like he always wants to be on the field, and that's to be admired, but the team doesn't need "heroes" - it needs players who can stay on the field as regularly as possible, or, in essence, it needs to attempt to work towards the aforementioned homeostasis that will never arrive.

The second component to this question is what any extended absence means to the financial well-being of the organization. I know that i feel 1000% better, as a fan, when Cespedes is in the line-up, whether we are 10 games back or 1 game back.  He's exciting, he's a game-changer, and since he came up with the A's I was raving and ranting as to why a team in New York couldn't "afford" to bring in a talent like him as opposed to the stadium-imposed small market status of the team in Oakland!!!!! When we acquired Cespedes, I reluctantly purchased 2 t-shirts but wouldn't commit to a jersey, as my "retired players pile" of t-shirts and jerseys lately seems to outweigh my current pile. This off-season, I broke down and finally got his jersey, more t-shirts, and have since purchased 3 bobbleheads. What does this mean to the Wilpons??? MONEY - MONEY - MONEY!!!!!!!! With Noah "Thor" Syndergaard out for the majority of the season, the Mets' other main source of merchandising income, things like attendance (home and road) and merchandise sales tend to trend down drastically when stars aren't playing. I was recently at an Angels game, a give-away, "Christmas in June," and on a Friday night the stadium had maybe 28,000 fans in attendance (far less than the announced crowd of 38.000+.) At most Angels games I've been to (about 20 per year) Trout merchandise FLIES out of the 2 gift shops and the various portable stands. There are usually lines full of fans waiting to lay down some cash for Mike's t-shirts, hats, jerseys, bobbleheads, etc...and yet, on this Friday summer night, there were no merchandise lines and the fans stayed away due to Trout's injury. I can GUARANTEE you that, had he been playing, there would've been another 10,000 people in the stands, at the very least, and those stores would have needed restocking ASAP!

Considering the self-imposed financial situation the Wilponzi's have created, losing Cespedes' from the line-up for any reason means less $$$$$$$$$ in their pockets and at this point in time, coming off of 2 very relevant seasons, it's something that they just cannot come back from readily. This offseason there will be 7 players and over $60 million coming off the books; it would be nice (trying not to veer too much into fantasy-land here) for the team to put at LEAST that much back into the team, but with a sparse free agent market until after the 2018 season, we know it's not going to happen. Therefore, maximizing their revenue every game has to remain their number one priority and that means playing Cespedes, even at a health level of 80% would be, from THEIR standpoint, the way they want to move forward.

Look- I have been a RAVING METS FAN for nearly 50 years- I am going to follow this team religiously come heck and high water, happy, sad, mad or emotionally devastated. The difference between what I WANT (a fully healthy Cespedes, even though it's very hard to watch without him in the line-up) versus what the Wilpons want (Cespedes and all stars in there each and every day) is that I am not directly paying their bills, even though my merchandise and ticket purchases from over 3,000 miles away number in the thousands of dollars every year. Therefore, if Cespedes can walk recently well, he's going to be in the line-up. Terry wants to keep his job as long as he can; Sandy wants to work at keeping the organization together through the most extreme set of circumstances over the past 7 years one could imagine; the Wilponzi's want $$$$$$ - and that, in the end, trumps whatever it is that we think may be the RIGHT thing to do. Right, Ryan Church??????

Oh- and one more thing- Cruzado isn't the answer right now. We need to see Nimmo in the lineup if Cespedes is out; we need to see Conforto get an extended look in CF no matter who else is in the lineup; and we need, at this point, to get Grandy into the lineup while he's hot, even if it means moving Bruce to 1B in a rotation and moving Flores between second and third to keep his red-hot bat in the line-up daily, too. We have enough moving parts already in the bigs without needing to add to it, UNLESS we're talking about AMED ROSARIO- and THAT is a story for a DIFFERENT DAY!!!!!