1/13/20

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/13/2020


Winter league updates below and Mets news from around the web.

Rising Apple had three predictions for Jacob deGrom in 2020: Writer Tim Boyle says that “Jacob deGrom wins 19 games, Jacob deGrom gets a pair of shutouts, and Jacob deGrom sets an even higher strikeouts per nine rate.”  I hope he is right. 

Metsblog’s Matt Cerrone looked at what to expect from Pete Alonso in year 2 with the Mets. “Experts in baseball that I know expect he'll have fewer home runs this season than he hit in 2019. And, while they all expect him to cut down on his strikeouts, they also expect a decrease in walks and OBP.”

Call to the pen had the top 10 projected first basemen in 2020.  Pete Alonso was ranked #6.

Mets 360 said that “The 2020 Mets need their bottom half of the roster to just not suck.” As always author Brian Joura does a very thorough analysis of Mets compared to the other teams in the division.  The simplest takeaway that I got: “Nimmo played 140 games in 2018 and put up a 4.5 fWAR. A year later, injuries limited him to 69 games and a 1.3 fWAR. On top of that, his replacements put up a (-3.4) fWAR.”

MLB.com previewed the next 4 free agent classes: Here are just a few - 2020-21: Catcher: J.T. Realmuto; Outfield: Mookie Betts, George Springer, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Brantley, Joc Pederson, Jackie Bradley Jr., Giancarlo Stanton (opt-out); Starting pitchers: Corey Kluber (club option), Robbie Ray, Masahiro Tanaka, Jake Arrieta (club option), Marcus Stroman, Jose Quintana; Relievers: Andrew Miller (vesting option); Notable free agents for 2021-22: Catcher: Salvador Perez, Wilson Ramos; Third base: Nolan Arenado (opt-out), Kris Bryant; Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Javier Báez, Carlos Correa; Outfield: Michael Conforto, Starling Marte, Kyle Schwarber, Christian Yelich (club option; Starting pitchers: Noah Syndergaard, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander; Relievers: Kenley Jansen, Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia, Zack Britton (club option). 2022-23: Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino (club option), Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, Sale (opt-out), Jacob deGrom (opt-out).

Related to that, Elite Sports NY said “New York Mets and Noah Syndergaard: Why a 5-year extension makes sense.”

And as we linked yesterday: Metsmerized said that the Mets should look to extend Michael Conforto.

MLB.com reviled the results of its pipeline poll, a survey to general managers, scouting directors and executives across all 30 teams.  Results include: Which team has the best farm system? 1. Rays (48%); 2. Padres (36%); Also received votes: Braves, D-backs, Dodgers, Mets.  Yes, I was surprised the Mets were listed here as well.  Which team uses the Draft best? 1. Dodgers (28%); 2. Rays (20%); 3. Cardinals (12%); T4. Padres (8%); T4. Rockies (8%); Also received votes: Astros, D-backs, Mets, Rangers, Red Sox, White Sox.  Hope this isn’t a case of the Mets voting for themselves. 

Metsmerized had “Early Draft Outlook: Four Prospects the New York Mets Could Target”. Writer Kyle Newman profiled:  J.T. Ginn, RHP, Mississippi State; Zac Veen, OF, Spruce Creek (Fla.) HS; Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Harvard-Westlake (Cal.) HS; Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota;

Metsmerized also asked if the Mets eliminated enough “What ifs” this Winter?

Reflections on baseball asked “Is Tom Seaver the first and last legitimate NY Met to make the HOF.” 

90 percent Mets looked at who may get into the Hall of Fame this year.  Besides the obvious choice of Derek Jeter, the writer likes Larry Walker, Scott Rolen, and Billy Wagner.

MLB.com had “7 strange milestones to look out for in 2020.” These include ”Anthony Rizzo and Shin-Soo Choo -- Top 20 all-time hit-by-pitches; Pujols -- First to ground into 400 double plays (Albert is already the all-time leader in double plays grounded into with 395. He's the only player to ever exceed 350 double plays -- Cal Ripken Jr. is in second with exactly 350); Miguel Cabrera -- Climbing the GIDP leaderboard (Cabrera currently sits in seventh all time with 318 double plays grounded into); Ron Gardenhire -- Top 5 in managerial ejections; Joe Maddon and Kevin Cash -- Race to the 300th career replay challenges; Dee Gordon -- 100 times caught stealing; Pujols -- Top 5 career sacrifice flies.

From a couple of days ago on MLB.com, “Babe the Brave? The weirdest faces in new places”. This link is well worth clicking because it shows Willie Mays getting a standing ovation when he returned to the Bay area in the 1973 World Series.  Wish SNY.TV showed more highlights from the 1973 post season but I guess because the Mets lost in the World Series, they don’t.  Oh and it was not Yogi’s fault.

Yahoo Sports had how the Yankees and Brett Gardner finalized their $12.5M, 1 year contract.

The NY Post reported: “To make room for Gardner on the roster, Stephen Tarpley was designated for assignment. The 26-year-old Tarpley appeared in 21 games for the Yankees last season and was mostly ineffective. He allowed six homers in just 24 2/3 innings and had an ERA of 6.93.”

MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Rangers signed Todd Frazier. “Frazier will collect a $3.5MM salary in 2020 with a $5.75MM option for 2021 that comes with a $1.5MM buyout, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.”

MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Dodgers signed Alex Wood.

MLB Trade Rumors says that the Cardinals and the Rockies have had preliminary Arenado talks.

Last night in the Dominican Republic, the Aguilas Cibaenas beat the Leones del Escogido 2-1 (box). 

Cesar Puello went 1 for 3 with a run scored, walk and a strikeout.

Carlos Gomez went 2 for 4 with a strikeout.

Dario Alvarez pitched a scoreless 7th inning to get the win giving up 2 hits while striking out one.

In the other game, the Toros Del Este beat the Tigres del Licey 6-1 (box).

Arismendy Alcantara was the only Met related player to appear.  The 2019 Syracuse Met came in to play right field as a defensive replacement and went 0 for 1. 

In Puerto Rico, the Indios de Mayaguez beat the Gigantes de Carolina 2-1 (box) in 12 innings.  In that game, former Binghamton Rumble Ponies Pitcher Joshua Torres pitched a scoreless 11th inning and got the win.  

Mack’s Blast From The Past comes from January 2012: Mack on Baseball Chapter 8.  Mack talked about the 1962 NY Mets and how the “four year period of 1958-1961 was very strange for old Dodger fans”. 

UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:

Born on this date:
Transactions:

 New York Mets selected Francisco Estrada in fifth round of free agent draft on January 13, 1971.

 New York Mets selected Herm Winningham in first round (ninth pick overall) of free agent draft on January 13, 1981.

 New York Mets selected Randy Milligan in first round (third pick overall) of free agent draft on January 13, 1981.

 New York Mets traded Mike Davis to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Torrez on January 13, 1983.

 Los Angeles Dodgers signed Lee Guetterman of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 13, 1993.

 New York Mets signed free agent Rob MacDonald on January 13, 1996.

 New York Mets signed free agent Masato Yoshii on January 13, 1998.

 New York Mets signed free agent Ronny Cedeno of the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 13, 2012. 

New York Mets signed free agent Dario Alvarez on January 13, 2013

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

Tom Brennan said...

Looking at the list of free agents coming up, we need to stop trolling in the Todd Frazier category and go with better if we want the Mets to WIN. Todd was OK - but OK does not WIN much.

Alonso may NOT hit fewer homers, as I've pointed out, because he hit just .218 at home - if he boosts that 50 points, he could hit as many HRs or more.

Nimmo may have his flaws, but getting on base more than almost everyone else in baseball is a MAJOR PLUS. Simply, if he can plus off a .410 OBP and another guy has a .330 OBP over 610 at bats, Nimmo will get on base FIFTY more times than the .330 OBP guy. That is simply huge.

January 13, 2020 at 7:59 AM
John From Albany said...

Tom - Pete actually hit more homers at Citi Field, 27, than the road, 26. He needs to work on reducing strikeouts and driving in more runs via outs.

January 13, 2020 at 9:13 AM
Tom Brennan said...

Hey John, Pete definitely needs to try to cut the Ks down. He did fan 13 more times in 19 fewer PAs at home. For a guy who, when he actually made contact in 2020, hit a HR 13% of the time, he'd hit even more HRs.

Remarkably, at home, 27 of his 62 hits (44%) were homers. 44%!! He may have simply been trying too hard to go LONG BALL for the home fans. As a veteran now, he may be able to temper that urge a bit, get more hits and thus hit more HRs at home.

January 13, 2020 at 9:42 AM
Anonymous said...

Albany John

Interesting post today. I am dream-weaving here some, it's early.

Both Stroman and Conforto free agents end of 2020. Include Gsellman and Gimenez with for Betts, Chavis, and NcGrath in a trade maybe? Numbers works both sides I think.

Why?

Sports franchises tend to have a "group mentality" towards certain top level players and where the decisions are made. Teams "fall in love" with certain players, for whatever reason/s they may have. We all have seen this and we all know this as fans as well. But it is not always in the very best interest of "the team" and trying to set up that team for a playoff run favorably.

Objectivity Rules

Michael Conforto (age 27 March 1) .253 career hitter, 109 homeruns, $8.0 million contract, sixth season in majors. Good player and guy, fans like, no distractions with him, cute chest for ladies. However, batting average suggesting this is what he is now. Never hit over .279 BA, decent but not great glove, solid arm overall, cannot man center field starting every game. Has not solved his MLB's "out pitch" to date, in order to hit for a more substantial batting average. May not.

Marcus Stroman (age 29 May 1) 51-47 career, 3.79 ERA, 695 strikeouts in 849 innings, 1.29 WHIP. Very decent stats, not a killer strikeout guy like others here now with less than one per inning average. Strange won/lost record in 2019, 6-11 mark with Toronto, then a 4-2 mark with new Mets team. Problem: Really isn't anything severe here accept that he is a free agent after 2020 and will be the "voodoo 30" year old player adding risk to longer term deal at that point. Stroman, Porcello, and Wacha (to me) are relatively comparable starters overall. All right-handed, all having decent pitch selection and records, all good. Might move one now and Stroman might make sense in the right deal with the Mets having several good starters being free agents after this season.

Andres Gimenez - Young 20 year old player, great defensive ability we have already seen. However, really has not hit that terrific to date even at AA Mets where he hit under .250 average. Currently, Amed Rosario owns the shortstop position here, with Robbie Cano and Jeff McNeil owning second base. The Red Sox do need an "heir apparent at second base, and it may not work with what they have currently behind the seriously leg injured Dustin Pedroia.

Robert Gsellman - Good reliever, soften dependable, Mets brass obviously like. However, to me the signing of Brad Brach indicated that they may like Brad slightly better in relief. With Dellin Betances added into the mix now, Gsellman in a trade like this idea above or with San Diego, may make some good old fashioned sense.

January 14, 2020 at 10:50 AM
Mack Ade said...

Anonymous

I expect Steve Cohen to throw buckets of money at George Springer and J.T. Realmuto.

My question to you.

Realmuto would take a contract much longer than our true catching prospect, Francisco Alvarez, matures.

Would you go the J.T. way?

January 14, 2020 at 10:59 AM

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