"SAFE AT THE "PLATE!" - with Tony Plate
The New York Mets are looking for pitching help due to
injuries to Steven Matz and Jason Vargas. Dallas Keuchel is still available and
remains a free agent.
The Mets are also interested in looking for a relief
pitcher. Craig Kimbrel remains a free agent.
If the Mets are interested, they
are better off waiting until after the June 5th MLB Draft to
sign Kimbrel or Keuchel, because if they try to sign them before the draft,
they will be forced to surrender a draft pick in the process. The pick that
would have to be given up by each team is determined by the amount the player
signs for or if the team received revenue sharing.
I’m very surprised
that both pitchers were not signed by teams during this past off season. Both
pitchers are established pros.
Keuchel is a former Cy Young award winner and
had a league-leading 34 starts for his former team the Houston Astros in 2018.
He also has playoff experience and as most New York sports fans know he historically
has been a nemesis and tough opponent for the NY Yankees.
It is rumored
that the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays may also be interested in Keuchel.
The Yankees
will not have Luis Severino back until perhaps after the All-Star break. The
Rays lost Tyler Glasnow for four to six weeks due to a mild right forearm
strain. He had recorded a 1.86 earned run average, a 0.91 WHIP with 55
strikeouts in 48.1 innings.
It is also rumored they are also interested in Kimbrel
who has been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball and also helped the
Defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox win the World Series last year.
He has 333 career saves with a 31-19 record thus far, which is fantastic.
Some of the media think that the Mets need some help
immediately, but in my opinion they will be fine. I still have confidence in
Corey Oswalt and also have David Peterson in AA to fill-in.
When the rest
of the starting rotation becomes healthy again along with the rest of the offense
doing their share, I think the Mets will be contenders the rest of the way. It
is only May so, there is no need for Met fans to panic at the current time.
In other sports news, tonight will be a huge night for the
NBA and all NY Knicks and Brooklyn Nets fans when the NBA holds their annual
Draft Lottery.
Will the Knicks win the lottery? They have a 14% chance to win
it. If they do it can provide such a huge boost into the right direction in
becoming a contender especially if the Knicks can sign two of the elite free
agents to Max contracts come this Summer.
I was never in favor of the draft
lottery and in my opinion the NBA should discontinue the lottery and just award
the team with the worst record the right to the first pick of the NBA draft
just like in the other major sports.
Oswalt?
ReplyDeleteYou may be the last one in baseball that has a high confidence level on him.
What Peterson and Anthony Kay do in the next couple of weeks could cause a promotion to ... at least... Syracuse.
BTW - Currently, Kay is on the Mets board to replace Wheeler when he walks
Can't keep 'em all. I'm a little surprised about Wheeler making noise about walking. Syndergaard wouldn't surprise me at all.
ReplyDeleteI guess when the time comes for both Wheeler and Thor, the $’s in FA will be very hard to pass up..... No doubt, the Wilpons will not be offering any more long term big buck contracts after deGrom..
ReplyDeleteI use my brother Steve as a barometer of Mets performance - he has a voice we don't often hear here. I told him about Oswalt's 1 hit, 6 inning, 8 K, no run performance the other day in AAA - his response? "He sucks."
ReplyDeleteOzzie is probably somewhere between Tony's view and Steve's view, but I definitely have little confidence in Ozzie unless he is pitching against a bottom 5 offensive team lie the Marlins.
David Peterson is behind Anthony Kay on the "call up next" list for starters - happy, though, that Peterson finally had 2 solid starts in a row in AA. He is NOT ready to face major league hitters.
We dream when Keuchel and Kimbrell are brought up as considerations for Mets signings. The Yanks will probably get Keuchel - they get everybody, don't they? And Kimbrell would be big bucks, which are stuffed in a vault only the Wilpons can open - and it ain't opening. If they persist in keeping K-K-Keon and not calling up Carlos Gomez, likely due to a "little" amount of $$, why think they'd splurge huge?
Knicks? Need lady Luck tonight. She's been outa town since Ewing got picked 35 years ago.
The balance between keeping your current rotation pitchers around vs. passing the torch to the next in line is always a risk
ReplyDeleteDeGrom is now under long term.
That leaves 4 future slots when contracts run out.
They were supposed to be Dunn, Peterson, Szapucki, and Kay