1/6/20

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 1/6/2020


Winter ball updates below and more on this Monday Morning which happens to be the one year anniversary of the J.D. Davis trade and the Kevin Plawecki/Sam Haggerty trade.

The Score had 1 prediction for each NL team.  For the Mets they say: “Win division thanks to baseball's best pitching staff.” Another interesting one for the Phillies: “Wheeler leads team's pitchers in WAR.”

213 Miles from Shea continued looking at their 2019 projections for each Mets player and comparing it to the actual 2019 results.  Yesterday they looked at Juan Lagares’s projection vs. result.

90 Percent Mets said that Jed Lowrie is a bullet the Mets need to bite.  Lots of great points in this one including not giving up Dom Smith just to get rid of Jed Lowrie. “If you said that investing in a 35 year old player who had literally only been healthy once in his career was unwise, well, I wouldn’t argue with you.” Plus, “Don’t gut this team of an asset because one of our GM’s CAA rescue missions went awry.”




Rising Apple looks at the possibility pf the Mets trading with the Rockies for relievers Jake McGee, Wade Davis, or Bryan Shaw. 

Rising Apple also says the Mets are leaning heavy on Justin Wilson’s left arm.  Justin Wilson…gave them a 4-2 record, 2.54 ERA, and an average of 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings…Because he was so effective last year, the bar has been raised for his sophomore season in orange and blue.”



Yahoo Sports talked about “Oscar Colas, the Cuban Ohtani, is coming to MLB and everybody's going to want him. Colas has already played professionally in Japan, hitting .302/.350/.516 over 66 games last season. He’s played pro ball in Cuba since he was 17. He didn’t pitch in Japan, but Colas is a left-hander with a 95 mph fastball according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.”


Last night in the Puerto Rican Winter League and in the Dominican League, no current Mets saw action.  Here are some notable ex-Mets that did:

In the Dominican, the Tigres del Licey beat the Leones del Escogido 10-8 (box).

2019 Syracuse Met Arismendy Alcantara came in as a defensive replacement and struck out in his only at-bat.

In the other game, the Toros Del Este beat the Aguilas Cibaenas 5-0 (box).

Carlos Gomez played center field and went 1 for 4, with a strikeout.

Jordany Valdespin played right field and went 1-4 with a run scored, an RBI, and a strikeout.

Tim Peterson pitched 1.2 innings for Toros Del Este.  Tim gave up no runs or hits with one strikeout.

In Puerto Rico, Juan Centeno caught, went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored as the Cangrejeros de Santurce beat the Atenienses de Manati 8-5 (box).

2018 Las Vegas 51, Bryce Brentz, went 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Ryan O’Rourke started and got the win for the Cangrejeros de Santurce going 5.2 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts. 

Mike Antonini pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout. 


UltimateMets has the date in Mets History:

Born on this date:
Transactions:

New York Mets signed free agent Braden Looper of the Florida Marlins on January 6, 2004.

New York Mets traded Vance Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for Anderson Hernandez on January 6, 2005.

Tampa Bay Rays signed Mike DiFelice of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 6, 2008.

Cleveland Indians signed Scott Atchison of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 6, 2014.

New York Mets signed free agent Taylor Teagarden of the Baltimore Orioles on January 6, 2014.

Washington Nationals signed Daniel Murphy of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 6, 2016.

New York Mets traded Scott ManeaRoss Adolph and Luis Santana to the Houston Astros for J.D. Davis and Cody Bohanek on January 6, 2019.

New York Mets traded Kevin Plawecki to the Cleveland Indians for Walker Lockett and Sam Haggerty on January 6, 2019.


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

6 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Long after we forget about J.D. Davis, we'll remember that Sam Haggerty deal - LOL.

Lowrie? Again, we don't know what he is health-wise. Is he 100% again? They know, we don't. Contrary to that article (which I did not read) he was an Iron Man in 2017 and 2018, the 2 most recent years before they acquired him. Poop occurs, sometimes when you can't anticipate it.

Jon B said...

If the Mets do trade both Smith & Lowrie, instead of backend starter or a,lefty specialist, I'd rather them trade separately in deals where Mets get back prospects to re-load the farm system.

Tom Brennan said...

Jon B, if you mean reload the farm system with guys who they really expect to have a major league impact, fine. But when they got all those relief arms in trades a few years ago, they've gotten very little to show for it where it counts - in Queens.

Of course, if it is a salary dump with Lowrie, they won't get much of anything for him then.

But Smith is very good, and cheap, so he would absolutely require real talent coming back in return. I'd say a top 30 MLB prospect.

Mack Ade said...

I sent you a link for tommorrow AM from an interesting story about the top 2019 injured players that could have bounc back seasons.

5 Mets were featured even without a Cano mention.

Hmm...

Anonymous said...

Freire Tuck

Good part on the "Squirrel" by you. Kudos.

NY Mets fans (and even the NY Mets press) need to understand one simple concept regarding this team's younger Mets batters heading into 2020. Simply it is that several of these Mets kids have not been up in MLB long enough to draw such hard-edged conclusions on. In other words, they have been through maybe the equivalent of one or slightly more than one season up with the parent Mets ball club, and they are still learning this level and going through the initial pitch selection adjustments by opposing teams.

A good example here (to me) is Mets shortstop Amed Rosario last season. Early on 2019, Amed struggled some with "that dastardly low outside pitch" like several other Mets batters did. However, and to Amed's credit early on second half, he had made his adjustment to that pitch (more often than not anyway) and regained his footing as a really prime hitter in MLB.

Another example (longer in duration) would be Michael Conforto. Michael will slam 30+ homeruns a season, no problem. However, MLB has learned how to pitch to him, they had to actually, and it has affected his batting average seasonally to date.

Michael came up "guns blazing" to start his career so that opponent pitching he faced had to make their pitch strategy adjustment on him quickly in order to corral him some especially because of his power.

What I am saying here is that after the initial adjustment by opponent pitchers, more adjustments will probably be required by the batter so that batters can remain highly effective from one at bat to the next.

This one on one confrontation of pitcher versus batter, is (to me) precisely what makes baseball such a great game to both play and to watch. LGM!

Anonymous said...

One Person's Opinion

Starling Marte - NO. Age. Contractual duration. And hidden injury/injuries not stated by Bucs at the time of the injury.

Mookie Betts - MAYBE, due to one year left on his contract an the willingness for the Mets to potentially re-sign him after 2020. Depends on the specifics of this trade.

Daniel McGrath - YES. If the Mets can lure him away from Boston somehow.

Darwinzon Hernandez - MAYBE. he struggled some up with Boston in 2019, but I see hope still there for him to "click" eventually. Throws hard fastball, may need to break down more though.

Michael Chavis - MAYBE, if Red Sox willing to part with. Has decent enough ability and the Mets need a stronger bench in 2020.

Bobby Dalbec - DOUBTFUL. I think Boston has him slated for first base starting. Just a hunch. He would fit in very well for them there.

JA Happ - DEPENDS. On what given back for him and on what very short term contract since he is 37 years old and everyone gets "old", even Tom Brady evidently.

Ali Sanchez - YES. Already hits better than Nido. Fall off defensively from Nido to Sanchez not so severe either. (Backup role.) Learn by watching Ramos won't hurt. Have another catcher (Alvarez) in the wings too.

Sneak In (Bad Boy)

NYK

Did anyone catch the last NYK vs. Miami game end of last week? See Fighting Illini center Myers Leonard? This is exactly what the Knicks need at center. Seven footer, big, strong, looks like he was brought up in a Fitness Center. But also quick, lightning quick like a guard. This is the new age NBA center to me. Myers averages 12-24 a game at current, but if Miami redirected more touches his way, he is a 20 pts a game center, easily. Has all the shots, can charge the hoop, mid-range, and a three-pointer almost as convincing as Porzingis. Just not so brittle.

Miami probably won't be willing to trade him, I wouldn't be. They have Bam Adebayo (6'9") too you know, age 22, and he is also going to be way/way above average big man upfront. The two are awesome.

The NYK "could still" make the playoffs if they get more aggressive at the center position very soon, and upgrade with size, power, and quickness. Mitchell Robinson's true worth (to me) is as an energizer sixth-man in, who catches opposing teams napping when brought into the game after the opponent's first string team has begun to lose wind but not yet removed. Mitchell is worth every penny the NYK pays him. This strategy of the two NYK centers I mention above, is the fix here.