Injuries are a part of life and even more so a part of
professional sports when pushing one’s body to the maximum can eventually reach
a breaking point. Already in camp the
Mets have heard about issues with Jed Lowrie, Brandon Nimmo and there were even whispers about Juan Lagares’ less-than-impressive throws to the infield in
Saturday’s game before claiming that outfielders are being instructed to hit the cutoff man regardless of the game situation.
Brodie Van Wagenen -- Picture by Ed Delaney
In the past the Mets would be reaching out for either AAAA
players or sign castoffs from other major league teams that can’t find a job
anywhere else. This spring due to the
depth created on the roster by Brodie Van Wagenen no one is pushing the panic
button just yet.
J.D. Davis -- Picture by Ernest Dove
No third base reps for Jed Lowrie? Well, that just means more opportunities to
look at J.D. Davis, TJ Rivera and others.
No Brandon Nimmo? Well, that just
means more innings for Keon Broxton and Jeff McNeil to show what they can do
out there (not to mention the NRIs like Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco). Oh yeah, then there’s some guy named Tim
something or other who I hear used to play football. I think they can withstand some loss of
playing time for Juan Lagares as well due to the number of bodies in camp. Remember that J.D. Davis also plays the
outfield, too.
Corey Oswalt -- Picture by Ernest Dove
Where there is a definite area of concern is the starting rotation. Assuming you go into 2019 with the ending
rotation from 2018, you’re still looking at the likes of Walker Lockett, Hector
Santiago, Chris Flexen, Corey Oswalt and Drew Gagnon as the backups. While it’s possible one of them can morph
into a respectable MLB starter, most fans and pundits are whining for BVW to
sign another proven arm like Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel or even to take a
flyer on oft-injured Clay Buchholz. I’m
not demeaning the AAA rotation, but a team that claims to be in it to win it
must put the best team possible on the field and some of the available FAs are
markedly better at the MLB level.
Of course with a few outfielders ailing there are many
renewed calls for Bryce Harper to take one of the available outfield positions,
but with multiple reports of him having turned down deals in excess of what
Manny Machado just got from San Diego, there are also a great many folks who
realize it would simply be bad business to tie up that much money in one player
for such a long period of time. When you
factor in the horrific track record the Mets have had with free agent signings,
it’s almost understandable that they never even made any serious efforts to
make him a Met.
Of course, the best thing to come out of this spring
training opening weekend was not the victories or losses, but simply the fact that guys
in Mets uniforms were once again playing games.
For many of us we go through varying stages of withdrawal all winter
long in anticipation of the rites of spring.
Even though 7 or so pitchers may appear and at least 1 or 2 position
players will have you scratching your head as to their identity, the truth is
it’s baseball, the game we love and have missed so dearly since it ended last
September. Play ball!
I loved the Pete Alonso cannon shot on his first spring training pitch seen.
ReplyDeleteI may be the only person on the planet who thinks there is at least a possibility Jeff McNeil over the next 5 years could be as good as Harper, at a bare fraction of the cost. Why not?
Jeff, after missing almost all of 2016 and 2017, hit the following in the majors and minors: .337, 632 plate appearances, 107 runs, 90 RBIs, 37 doubles, 11 triples, 22 homers, 13 of 14 steals, 50 walks, just 66 Ks.
David Peterson had some rocky road ice cream yesterday. Disappointing, even if it was his first outing.
Let's hope Jed is not going to be able to play, but lessened by being injury-impaired. If so, though, like you say, there is more depth this year.
Hey, I saw the replay of Tim Tebow's drive to left being robbed by a great catch and slowed by the wind, preventing a 2 run double. The big boy seems ready to make a statement.
I still would feel better if the Mets sign a Keuchel type.
"CLAIMING" that OFers are instructed to hit the cutoff man? Unless you are saying that Calloway's word is not to be trusted, this is not a "claim". Mickey has said in a PC that this is definitely the plan for the early part of ST. It's as much for stressing fundamentals as for arm protection.
ReplyDeletePeterson put one down the pipe that the ump called a ball. Looked a bit peturbed by it.
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that Lowrie will be OK and that they are simply bringing him along slowly so he is not sidelined longer then necessary. However, it is nice to have some quality depth for a change (as you said).
ReplyDeleteI am so disappointed in how the Lagares situation has unfolded, from "wise" extension to now. What could have been, right?
Still hopeful that BVW can add another starter to the mix.
J.D. Davis now remains interesting to me because he annihilated baseballs in BP.
ReplyDeleteThe Wilpons adopted that spend now and worry later about how to pay for it philosophy in his case. They do that quite often with deferred money and escalating payroll levels. No matter when you pay the person, you still owe it, so you're borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
ReplyDeleteWhich is it--- are they "cheap" or foolish "overspenders" 😏
DeleteCan confirm the throws to cutoff men restriction in spring. Smart idea. Remember... spring games are not about team wins and loses. They are 100% player development stats.
ReplyDelete...Except Legares didn't het the cut-off man.
ReplyDelete??
Another reason to work on that aspect, right?
DeleteThey are both cheap and foolish overspenders.
ReplyDeleteIn the former category, name me one Grade A free agent who was not already coming off the Mets team they have pursued recently.
In the foolish overspenders, let's start with Jason Bay, Yoenis Cespedes, Jason Vargas, Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, and even David Wright when there was no money due to Madoff. They spend oddly and overpay often for mediocrity.
The other category is the weirdly escalating contract like Lagares and others. Just raise the payroll for the current year and spread the payments out evenly. It will balance out with lower payrolls in subsequent years but still make that player tradeable. If you were paying Lagares under $6 million per year he'd be a LOT easier to deal now than at $9 million.
Not Sorry
ReplyDeleteReese's Pieces...
I agree with you and most NY Mets fans about getting another starter arm in. Most Mets fans I have spoken to are weary with the four and five current Mets starters. They can be good, but they can also be bad and we have seen this from each one. The Mets cannot afford having this new 2019 ramped up team and then have the four and the five starters give back wins too often.
Pick one lefty and putting the other one in the pen may be a solution. Wouldn't it be something if Anthony Kay were ready now to start? Stranger things have happened. And then there is the idea regarding Buchholz on a MiLB contract too.