7/12/17

Gary McDonald - Thinking Out Loud



Here we are at the "traditional" halfway point of the season and the Mets are not in the pennant  race.  Honestly, I thought they would be in better shape in the race but it is what it is. They can still make a run at the wild card, but being 10 ½ games back, even that seems to be a pipe dream.

So what to do:

 Bring up Rosario – what are they waiting for. I know all of Alderson’s excuses but they no longer hold any water.  Bring up Rosario and let’s see what the kid can do and let him get MLB experience. While you’re at it ,bring up Dom Smith.

Trade Bruce, Duda, Reed, and Granderson -  easier said then done but at least put them out there and see if there are any takers. I would also float out  Cespedes as well.

Tell Harvey, Syndergaard, and Familia see you in February – Why bother bringing them back Let them heal and tell them to come to Spring Training in “BASEBALL SHAPE”  not  beach body shape, same with Cespedes (if you can’t trade him) shut him down and tell him no more leg presses try stretching and getting flexible.

Evaluate training methods, medical staff, training staff , and the Manager and the General Manager.

Evaluate the offensive and defensive philosophy through all levels of the organization – to much emphasis on “power” power pitching, power hitting, and not enough emphasis on fundamentals, defense, and speed.

Will these ideas work?  Who knows but it’s worth a shot.  This team is going nowhere this year and have to plan for next season.

  
Get well soon, Brandon Nimmo.  In this year of injuries ,his has to rank as the weirdest as he suffers a partially collapsed lung.  Wow, that came out of nowhere but the doctors say it happens to certain atheletes.  Lets hope he recovers quickly and is back with the big club soon.


If you thought the Mets season was bad, the Brooklyn Cyclones year is even worse.  After 20 games (as I write this) the Cyclones own the worst record in the New York Penn League.  To be fair, they have played better of late since adding some of the new draft picks and the Mets #1 pick is on the way, but he will be on a pitch count and probably won’t make that big a difference. It’s going to be a long season.


Let’s all hope for a major down around and prove me wrong .  Until next time.

12 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Gary, nice one.

Speaking of Cyclones, draftee Carl Stadjuhar got beaned last night but walked off on his own, so another bad event.

I am all for trading guys, and Duda and Grandy to me are no-brainers to trade, but we need a strongly competitive team in 2018. We don't know for sure if Familia will be the same, so Reed may be good to keep if possible, and Bruce might be worthwhile to keep in 2018, although they may be better off signing a good CF.

Let's hope Nimmo is both active and ready on Friday - and that Cespedes plays like a $28MM per year guy after the break.

Tom Brennan said...

More on bad news on Cyclones:

Auburn (another NY Penn team) has hit 20 HRs, while the Cyclones' hitters (under .240) have hit 4.

Hard to hit homers in Brooklyn, you might think as a rationale? Well, the Cyclones pitchers have surrendered 20 homers on their way to a league-worst 5.35 ERA, so there goes that "can't hit homers" theory. The Mets don't draft power, by and large. They draft Nimmos and Cecchinis.

At least Kingsport is hitting (.291 in 17 games, with 7 HRs).

Reese Kaplan said...

Reed already earns $7.75 million. Familia trails him at $7.42 million. Now no one for sure knows if Sandy Alderson and company will return for 2018, but if they do I can't see them approaching $10 million for a setup guy (despite the success Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and others have had).

Reed is your biggest chip to trade right now. Duda and Granderson are no brainers, followed by possibly Asdrubal Cabrera.

Quite a bit further down is Jay Bruce who could be an asset next year if you are committed to Michael Conforto as your everyday centerfielder. If not, then Bruce should be up for grabs, too.

Tom Brennan said...

And I know drafting power is iffy, as Mack says, but when you get to round 15, what does a team with a different philosophy like the Blue Jays do? They draft a Ryan Noda, a 21 year old 6'3" 220 first baseman.

In the Appalachian league after 18 games he is hitting .508 (yep, not a typo,.508)/.587/.825. Does not mean he'll become a star, but if he develops, he will be a power hitter.

Tom Brennan said...

Reese, if you have a real plan to effectively replace Reed, trade him - but we cant go shopping for a bunch of Fernando Salas guys to fix the pen, which is their habit. They'll have to spend a lot to get legit pen arm(s)

Tom Brennan said...

Hey, I don't want to go nuts about this guy Ryan Noda, but amazing to note that in his last 10 games, he has 19 hits and 10 walks. On base 29 times in 10 games...Jeez. Never saw a guy get on base 29 times in 10 games before.

Reese Kaplan said...

Not even Tebow? :)

Tom Brennan said...

Miraculously, not even Tebow :)

Viper said...

No one is getting promoted until someone gets traded or until the roster expands. To me it is important for Harvey, Syndergaard and Familia to come back this year and show they are healthy. Otherwise, you risk not being prepared next year with possible replacements.

Tom Brennan said...

Viper, they have to make trades unless they come back from the break and win 10 straight; but I agree with you on when the call ups will occur and that our walking wounded need to come back in 2017 if possible and pitch a bit in September, if not sooner. Just make sure they are healthy!

Eddie from Corona said...

i am not for bringing back Bruce but if they do want to trade him anyway... reed too... you just have to be the guy to pay the most... they don't have to be on your team to resign...

Robb said...

You only have to trade one of granderson/bruce, but you need to trade 1 so that conforto plays everyday.

as for reed, youre trading him under the assumption that youre not planning on winning all your lose games for the rest of the year. certainly doesnt hurt you if you want to bring him back, he knows the talent on the team.

as for familia its not happening. there no value till hes healthy again, even then he was an elite closer for the last 2 plus years and they dont grow on trees and he has control remaining.