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12/17/19

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 12/17/2019



From MLB.com: Lifelong fan, Rick Porcello officially joins Mets. "This is a big deal for me,” Porcello said on a conference call. “I grew up a lifelong Mets fan as a kid. To get the opportunity to play for the organization that I cheered on for so many years is a huge honor."


The NY Post thinks Rick Porcello could bounce back in a big way.  “One viable theory: Porcello, after making 33 regular-season starts and five postseason appearances to help the Sawx win it all in ’18, experienced a 2019 hangover just like his teammates David Price and Chris Sale.”


Per MLB Trade Rumors: To make room for Porcello, Stephen Nogosek was Designated For Assignment.  Nogosek, 24, was the last of three remaining pitchers in the organization that the Mets had acquired when trading Addison Reed to the Red Sox back in 2017…The 2016 sixth-round pick posted an eye-popping 1.07 ERA in 50 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, although his control (4.9 BB/9, 12.8 BB%) wasn’t great and he benefited from a .155 BABIP in 31 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball.”

As noted in the re-cap of Syracuse’s 2019 heart breaking final game loss, Stephen put the fire out in the 7th to preserve a 7-6 lead.  Then after a long inning where Syracuse scored 6 runs, Stephen went back out to the mound in the 8th and did not record an out.  Homer, hit by pitch, walk, passed ball, walk and Nogosek gave way to Brooks Pounders with Syracuse still up 13-8.  The rest is history.



The NY Post’s Ken Davidoff says the Cespedes contract manipulation sets up unavoidable Bellin Betances chase.  He recommends upgrading the bull pen with Betances, Will Harris, and Daniel Hudson.


Reflections of Baseball has “Mets: Jeff McNeil is on the trade block (Report) Have they gone absolutely mad? “The Mets have to be joking. Jeff McNeil is the best hitter on the team, and one of the best in baseball.”

Faith and Fear in Flushing continues the best Mets of the 2010s with numbers 30-21. #30 – Angel Pagan; #29 – Carlos Beltran; #28 - Bandon Nimmo; #27 - Ike Davis;  #26 – Ruben Tejada; #25 – Dillon Gee; #24 – Zack Wheeler; #23 – Travis d’Arnaud; #22 – Steven Matz; #21 – Seth Lugo;

Speaking of Zack Wheeler, Kevin Kernan of the NY Post was at his introductory press conference in Philadelphia.  Speaking on Brodie Van Wegenen’s comments that “’I think the value for what we thought the investment was didn’t line up,’ Zack said ‘I don’t need any more motivation. I already got it…But that’s his opinion. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but yeah, that may help me out a little bit.’’’

Per Metsmerizedonline: They had this Zack Wheeler quote on Brodie - “He wasn’t there the whole time. He only knows me from last year. He watched me I guess when he was watching his other players on the team.”

Unbiased Sports network has rumors on the Mets and Wilson Contreras.  “According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the New York Mets are a team that could make a push in a potential trade for Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras.”

Mets 360 says the “Dream League” is a pipe dream. A thorough analysis of the issue. “Whether it wants to admit it or not, MLB’s proposed plan would effectively kill professional baseball in all but maybe a handful of the proposed “cut list” cities.”


12up.com says the Cubs and Indians should be embarrassed that are tearing down their teams just three years after being in the World Series. “The Indians and Cubs were supposed to be the Goliaths of baseball for the foreseeable future following their World Series showdown. Instead, they've fizzled into middling squads who would rather flip their stars for prospects than continue to compete.”

Lots of other moves yesterday from MLB Trade Rumors:
Reds to sign Wade Miley.  “It’s a two-year, $15MM contract with a club option for 2022. The pact could be worth up to $24MM for Miley…”

Rays Sign Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.  “Tsutsugo, who turned 28 on Nov. 26, has been one of Japan’s most prominent sluggers for the past four seasons, hitting a combined .293/.402/.574 with 139 home runs, 116 doubles, five triples, a 15.1 percent walk rate and a 20.4 percent strikeout rate.”







TJ Rivera signs a minor league deal with the Phillies.  As reported here, T.J. Rivera was playing in the Dominican league where he hit .200 in 19 games and now is doing better playing in Puerto Rico, .306 in 21 games, 1HR, 9 RBIs.


Last night in the Dominican league, Daniel Zamora pitched for the Toros Del Este in a 2-1 Toros win.

Daniel started the 6th inning and faced three batters.  He gave up a single to a right handed batter, struck out righty batter Hanley Ramirez, and gave up another single to a left handed batter before his night was over.  After Daniel was taken out, one of his runners scored giving him his first earned runs of the winter.

Overall, Daniel is 0-0; 1.93 ERA; 10 games, 4.2 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 Ks.

Ex-Met Jordany Valdespin also played in that game and hit his 5th homer.  Jordany is hitting .340 (1st in league) in 39 games, 5 homers, 22 RBI’s. 

Mack’s Mets blast from the past comes from December 2010: Mack looked at the top 100 prospects.  #1 Phillies Dominick Brown; #2 Bryce Harper; #33 Jennry Mejia.  Interesting read. 

UltimateMets has this date in Mets History:

Born on this date:
Transactions:

New York Mets traded Roger Mason and Mike Freitas to the San Diego Padres for Mike Maddux on December 17, 1992.


New York Mets signed free agent Jae Seo on December 17, 1997.

New York Mets signed free agent Todd Zeile of the Texas Rangers on December 17, 1999.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed Brian Buchanan of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 17, 2004.

Los Angeles Dodgers signed Angel Berroa of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 17, 2009.

Arizona Diamondbacks signed Henry Blanco of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 17, 2010.

Minnesota Twins signed Mike Pelfrey of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 17, 2012.

New York Mets traded R. A. DickeyJosh Thole and Mike Nickeas to the Toronto Blue Jays for Travis d'ArnaudJohn BuckNoah Syndergaard and Wuilmer Becerra on December 17, 2012.


Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

13 comments:

  1. Jon Heyman is now saying that the Mets are out on Betances.

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    1. I just saw that. No reason given for his opinion. Too bad.

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  2. Also just saw that Tomas Nido and Carlos Cortes just started playing in Puerto Rico. We will have details tomorrow.

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  3. I wonder if/when Diaz and/or Familia will pitch in the DR.

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  4. I will let you know as soon as I see them. I think as we get closer to the start of spring training they may show up.

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  5. Carlos Cortes along with Wagner Lagrange are my two sleeper picks for the 2020 milb season.

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  6. Teams like the Phillies know how to chase the Mets away from deals with free agents... throw money.

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    1. The Phils threw LOTS of money at FAs last Winter. Harper, Realmuto, Arrieta, et al. And it bought then 4th place. Behind US.

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  7. On The Minors (Mackade Today)

    I get the overall feeling that paying college players (at college and university level) will soon invade MLB, and that will become the new A Ball. Call it a hunch.

    MLB wouldn't be eliminating much of the MiLB if they were making decent profits of them. They obviously are not. There are several issues here as to why perhaps.

    1. MLB has not yet found a way to bring in the teenage fans to a formidable level of ticket sales, which are in most cities maybe a bit too expensive for many of these fans. MLB teams (like Boston) have definitely found ways to bring in the younger kids, through their excellent promotions and player programs in the community that encourage the little tikes to come out to Fenway in droves. The Mets are doing similarly now too, I have noticed. Which is outstanding. Maybe this could all be expanded out some more to like "Coffin's Water Park"?

    2. Then how really good is the talent level of A Ball players to begin with? These kid players are like 1-2 years out of school. To me, it's way too soon to make any realistic judgement on any of them at such an introductory level. Personally speaking, I don't follow any player below AA, because at A Ball I could still be playing probably at 203.

    3. Teams like the NY Mets probably already have a healthy investment in Dominican and Latino ball. But really here, if you do the statistics you'll find that about one in every 65 or 70 DR/Latino players signed by an MLB team are ever really good enough to attempt starting positional or pitching roles based upon consistent play in the bigs or even just stay beyond a few limping MLB seasons. Juan Lagares and Ruben Tejada come first to mind here. I can literally name all five Latino players that the Mets have had (over the past fifteen MLB seasons) that were above average enough to have MLB careers and not just a cup of coffee with a bamboo swizzle stick in it already!

    4. In my own opinion (and who should care I know) MiLB could all just possibly become the colleges, AA, and AAA Ball, with perhaps combining the top Latino players into that structure after they complete their dojo training.

    LGM!

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  8. For little it matters, I might be willing to trade either Steven Matz or Marcus Stroman in a package for Miranda Lambert's twin sister Jurisprudence Lambert.

    But that's just me.

    (It's late)

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  9. It Will Probably Be The Pitching.

    A lot of baseball journalists (often referred to as artistic instigators by some) here in NYC and elsewhere, believe that the potential 2020 NY Mets rotation is somehow and in someway (beyond my own reasoning) inferior to the likes of its NL Eastern competitors such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, and the DC Nationalists. Although admittedly very early on and with of course rosters not being set in even a clay bed, I feel that this could not be further from the truth.

    If you go and study these other teams, especially be attentive to each team's fourth and fifth starters. Some of the teams being bantered about as somehow "superior" do have nice one and two starters, but some have a very questionable three thru five also.

    The Mets are already in fine shape in their rotation, and if they can secure a well established closer type more, their bullpen should be very competitive as well.

    If money (the big kind of) is to be spent, it probably would be here at the later inning reliever point and that would be a most advantageous thing to probably do.

    Heading into the 2020 season with an ample amount of budget remaining makes good sense, so that in the event of any unexpected key injury the proverbial golden goose would not lose its feathers.

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  10. What about implementing six starters in 2020. We have them all here now. Wouldn't that be something?

    What would be eliminated could be one of the five utility players on the bench. It does make some sense I think, because how many at bats does the fifth utility player really get in a season. 61 actually in 2019, down from 67 in 2018, with a 246 BA and one homerun.

    I might be wrong here, but I think in 2020 the roster moves up to 26 players. So what the heck, go to six. It could preserve healthy arms, and allow the Mets too that special sixth man starter in game situation earlier on when things can often be a bit at times (well) nebulous.

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  11. NYM

    I forgot to mention Yoenis Cespedes for LF yesterday in my starting eight Mets fielders, my apologies. I just simply forgot that he is still a NY Met, I suppose. I eagerly await his return though. The man was truly an amazing and powerful hitter a few years back, and he deserves a strong welcome back in 2020. He is a "game changer" most assuredly.

    NYK

    I think Mike Miller is exactly what this team needs as their coach. Sign him for ten years Mr. Dolan! You found yourman bro!

    This guy reminds me of the NE Patriots' Bill Belichick, in that you can literally see both coaches thinking thru all the personnel possibilities pairings, and figuring out game strategies on the fly. They are both that smart.

    Last night, the entire Knicks team was into the game and it showed. And Coach Miller took in every single moment. Nothing got by him. Nothing.

    So pray tell, what is missing from this NY Knicks team right now?

    Like I said here weeks ago, the Knicks were fundamentally miss stepping and flawed under Fizdale. Under Fizdale the starters were overplayed and tired by the fourth period and had nothing left in the tank to win those games. They shot way too many threes and missed, and were not charging the hoop in critical parts of the game where just scoring two points would have sufficed. Their play as a unit and as a team was anything but swiss watch.

    Under Coach Mike Miller, I see a lot of changes all around, and a lot of inspiration in Knicks' play. The players already seem to believe in Mike, and it shows continuously throughout their games. Mike is their leader, he covers all the possibilities that great coaches cover. His instincts are right there.

    All that's left now, is a "really strong big man type center" who can not only score, but battle in the lanes and grab rebounds both ends. A guy like a Nikola Jokic on the Denver Nuggets would be perfect, although Mitchell Robinson really is one of the best sixth-men in the NBA game today. He can play a lot of minutes too, and at a high level.

    If the Knicks find someone like Nicola Jokic, I truly believe that this whole thing turns and makes them truly a playoff contender this season.

    I might consider trading PF Julius Randle (as the press have been suggesting) for this new center, and then start Marcus Morris Jr at the PF and a tandem of both Damean Dotson and Kevin Knox II at the SF.

    Dotson is a little older and further along right now, but with Knox II still in his "grooming stage" and not quite yet fully arrived this pairing down the road could be a most impressive one.

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