10/2/24

MACK – Wednesday Morning Observations

 


MACK – Wednesday Morning Observations

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/10/projected-arbitration-salaries-for-2025.html?s=03

Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025

Mets –

Paul Blackburn (5.018): $4.4MM

Luis Torrens (4.105): $1.1MM

Tyrone Taylor (4.093): $2.9MM

David Peterson (4.089): $4.4MM

Alex Young (4.085): $1.4MM

DJ Stewart (3.144): $1.7MM

Sean Reid-Foley (3.133): $900K

Tylor Megill (3.031): $2.1MM

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/10/34-players-elect-free-agency.html?utm_source=twitter&s=03

34 Players Elect Free Agency –

 

Catchers

 

Alex Jackson (Rays)

Andrew Knapp (Giants)

Andrew Knizner (D-Backs)

Reese McGuire (Red Sox)

Jakson Reetz (Giants)

Ali Sánchez (Marlins)

Brian Serven (Blue Jays)

 

Infielders

 

Diego Castillo (Twins)

José Devers (Marlins)

Thairo Estrada (Giants)

Danny Mendick (White Sox)

Cole Tucker (Angels)

Jason Vosler (Mariners)

 

Outfielders

 

Billy McKinney (Pirates)

Cristian Pache (Marlins)

 

Designated Hitter

 

Willie Calhoun (Angels)

 

Pitchers

 

Phil Bickford (Yankees)

Ty Blach (Rockies)

Nick Burdi (Yankees)

John Curtiss (Rockies)

Kent Emanuel (Marlins)

Cole Irvin (Twins)

Casey Kelly (Reds)

Matt Koch (Rockies)

Steven Okert (Twins)

Yohan Ramírez (Red Sox)

Gerardo Reyes (A’s)

Trevor Richards (Twins)

Ryder Ryan (Pirates)

Kirby Snead (Mariners)

Touki Toussaint (White Sox)

Tanner Tully (Yankees)

Jordan Weems (Nationals)

Mitch White (Brewers) 

 

Bob Nightengale               @BNightengale

The finger pointing has begun:

In the aftermath of missing the postseason, Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick blasts the signing of starter Jordan Montgomery to a two-year, $47.5 million contract, blaming himself for making the recommendation to the front office late in

"Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It was our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I'm the perpetrator of that.''

Kendrick obviously is hoping that Montgomery (6.23 ERA) does not exercise his $22.5 million player option in 2025.

MACK – Let’s say Kendrick agrees to eat the majority of the monies owed to Montgomery… is this guy worth considering for an SP4/5 in 2025?


The Original Pete

            I was a big Ron Hunt fan. Back in the day, I thought he was the best second baseman in baseball. The problem was I was a minority of one.

            Pete Rose was the original “hair on fire” baseball pro. He made Ty Cobb look like Pope Paul. Of course, I hated him, but I admired him from afar and wished Hunt had a lot more Rose in him, especially when he came to bat. 

The banishment due to the gambling thing made a whole lot of sense at the time, but it sure seems watered down now, what with all the ways you can legally bet on these games; however, stemming from the final decisions after the Mizuhara/Ohtani rulings, players still can’t bet on ANY form of baseball games. 

Pro, college, high school, International, sandlot, pee wee, choose ups on 95th Avenue in Ozone Park… nuttin’ honey.

Rose went on to embarrass himself off the field. Making fans pay to shake his hand… being in total denial… and then there was that sad documentary.

Fans in Cincy loved him, but, looking closer, these were just the fans in the park when Rose played. They were as old as Pete was.

Is Pete Rose in Heaven? Sure, what the hell. Remember, God forgave a shitload of people that did a lot worse things than this guy did. Is he playing on God’s team with all the other legends up there?

I don’t know. I wouldn’t bet on it.

 

The Trades Of Those Two Aces

 

Chandler Rome                  @Chandler_Rome

Justin Verlander did not make the Astros’ Wild Card Series roster.

            Joe DeMayo            @PSLToFlushing

Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford

            Ernest Dove             @ernestdove

Max Scherzer & Justin Verlander officially not on any current playoff rosters.

Luisangel Acuña on one.

Top prospects Drew Gilbert & Ryan Clifford in Mets farm system.

Mets

In playoffs.

Job well done prior front office & Steve Cohen for money well spent/eaten.

 

Mack – I loved these deals from the get-go. Sell off two dinosaurs for three top 100 prospects. Who does this and how do the Mets pull that off?

 

metZZ 1986®️           @bkfan09

Mets IFA Prospect Rankings By Class

 

2025 Elian Peña #2

2026 Josua Chacoa Top10

 2027 Cam Gutierrez Top 20

 2028 Marlom Noguera Top 10

 

Francys Romero     @francysromeroFR

Sources: The New York Mets named James Kang as their new Director of International Scouting.

Kang previously worked with the Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers and lastly Guardians where he was the Senior Player Acquisitions Scout.

The Mets interviewed several strong candidates such as Felix Peguero, Roman Ocumarez, Brad Budzinski but ultimately moved in the direction of Kang.

Layki Uribe was also among the candidates interviewed.

 

 

Daniel Wexler    @WexlerRules

Danny Young gained 2 MPH on his 2 seam FB, as did Jeffrey Colon, Brandon Sproat + .4 MPH, Christian Scott down 0.2 MPH

            Mack – Interesting…

            You can’t tell me that the pitching lab isn’t making a difference here…

16 comments:

D J said...

Great column with information you don't see on any other sites.

D J said...

Regarding Montgomery, do we also look at moving a bad contract swap with Arizona along with them assuming more of Montgomery's contract?

TexasGusCC said...

DJ, you beat me to it. As I was reading the article on MLBTR, I asked myself: Montgomery for Marte, straight up…. Would I do it? I would.

Dan B said...

The mets have a nice crop of arb eligible players that aren't costing us a boat load going into 2025. Stewart is the only person to 100 percent cut loose. Blackburn is on the bubble, I'd be inclined to let him go but could be convinced to keep him as a 5th/6th SP

Mack Ade said...

At MUSC HOSPITAL for lymphoma tests

TexasGusCC said...

Dan, you have to keep him as you will need healthy arms. He is a candidate for the pitching lab and further, he isn’t expensive. Stewart is gone for sure, and I would only keep Foley because he’s cheap. Personally, I don’t really like him too much.

TexasGusCC said...

Good luck Mack! Bring back some good news!

Dan B said...

That makes sense with Blackburn. You've swayed me to put him in the "keep" column. I like Foley when healthy which is the ~$900k in this case. To your point, because he is so cheap I think he's worth retaining.

Mack Ade said...

Doing an updated Blow It Up plan tomorrow at 9am

Tom Brennan said...

Mack, hoping for good news on the health front.

Max Kranick I guess is not arb eligible yet. Liked hearing he was hitting 98 in relief.

I do not want free agent Ali Sanchez back, nor other ex-Mets: Mendick, Bickford, Curtiss, Koch and Ryan.

Montgomery for Marte? Why? Monty was brutal this year: hitters .310+, very high WHIP, very low Ks (15% of batters faced). Marte gets hurt, but he is still productive when he is not. SO unless you think you can convert Montgomery into an effective reliever? No thanks. Remember, he did not have to pitch against the highest scoring team in baseball - his team. Arizona scored 42 runs more than the 2nd highest scoring team.

If we did take Montgomery, Arizona can give the Mets $10 million to make a Marte swap work.

I'd much rather keep Marte until the All Star Break, to see if Gilbert is ready by then.

Dan B said...

Good vibes Mack.

Tom Brennan said...

Two more thoughts: 1) Amazing they are linked to an international kid for 2028, which would make him what, 13 now? And 2) Pete Rose and that Big Red Machine vs. Seaver backed by the Mets' pop gun offense? Seaver was 12-20 lifetime vs. Cincy. Had he pitched FOR Cincy his entire career, might he have won 400 games?

Remember1969 said...

Best Wishes Mack!

Remember1969 said...

My thoughts exactly

Mack Ade said...

Had blood tests

Sitting to see Doc

200 mile trip

Remember1969 said...

Great column Mack! A lot of good stuff here to digest - I'll hit some of them.

Montgomery: I really was hoping the Mets would sign him this spring. I did not follow him this year and did not realize he was that bad. I wonder if it was a pitching in the desert thing. For not much money I would take a flyer on him, send him to that lab and have Hefner do to him what Manaea, Quintana, and Peterson (fellow lefties) were able to do in the second half of the year. I'm a no vote on a Marte for Montgomery swap (Tom covered that well above)

Pete Rose: I'm bummed that he didn't live to see him get into the Hall of Fame. I have been on the Pete Rose for the HOF bandwagon now for many years. I get that he should not be INVOLVED in the game in any way as a player, coach, manager, or any other title, but they needed to give him his due as a great great hitter (which all (or most) happened before the betting). He is a baseball Hall of Famer. I am as sure of the heaven thing. There are a lot of bad people in the Hall of Fame. (For the record, I think the cheap 1973 all-start game 'slide' into Ray Fosse was bush and tainted his record. You can play hard without hurting someone in an inconsequential game.)

The trades: Yes, even though Gilbert had a down year, I make those 2023 trades every day of the year.

Arb-Eligible players: non-tender Stewart. Good argument on Blackburn in comments above. The rest are keepers at those prices

34 Free Agents: Geez I hope the final list looks better than this subset. Pass on all.