The Morning Report 12.1.2015 | Some Trade Interest in Juan Lagares, Mejia Expected to be Tendered a Contract, Mets Lose 2 More Minor League Free Agents

Brian Devine | Metsmerized Online- Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports that the Mets have received several trade inquiries on CF Juan Lagares recently. Lagares is still owed $22.5 million over the next three years and took a major step backwards this year as he hit .259/.289/.358 with a 80 wRC+ in 465 plate appearances. He eventually lost his starting job in centerfield after the team acquired Yoenis Cespedes over the summer.

(Chris Soto: It is very unlikely that the Mets will trade Lagares, however, they absolutely should entertain offers. As good as Lagares is defensively, his bat lags way behind his defensive abilities. If he had not lost his job and qualified for batting titles....Lagares would have ranked 22nd out of 24 qualified centerfielders in OPS only ahead of Washington's Michael Taylor and San Francisco's Angel Pagan.)



Danny Abriano | Rising Apple- The non-tender deadline is Wednesday and the Mets are planning to tender a contract to RH reliever Jenrry Mejia. Mejia was suspended for 162 games this past July after his second positive test for illegal performance enhancing drugs. At the time of his suspension, Mejia had recently returned from his first suspension for illegal PED’s that he received in March. The Mets are monitoring Mejia’s performance for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter Leaguein order to make a decision regarding whether to tender him a contract.

(Chris Soto: I've been saying it all winter long.....Since the Mets still own cost control of Mejia, there is ZERO downside to keeping him. He not going to get a raise from his 2015 salary of $2.59M; in fact, it is more likely that the Mets offer the maximum reduction allowed via arbitration and sign him for $2.076M for 2016. On top of that, since Mejia is suspended, the Mets don't even need to pay him until his suspension is complete on July 26th so he would truly only cost the Mets $692k in 2016. There is plenty of upside in him being a potential late inning addition to the bullpen that outweighs the moral desires of the fanbase to release him.)



HOT STOVE REPORT (courtesy of mlbtraderumor.com)

• In addition to C Anthony Recker signing with the Cleveland Indians yesterday, two additional Mets minor leaguers signed contracts with new teams. According to Baseball America's Matt Eddy, 1B Brandon Allen signed a minor league deal with the Cinncinnati Reds. The 29 yr old hit .273 AVG last season with 16 HR and 68 RBI for the Mets AAA Las Vegas team. 
• Mr. Eddy also updated the Baseball America MiLB free agent tracker. His update shows that 3B Josh Rodriguez has also signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics. The 30 yr old Rodriguez played most of 2015 with the AA Binghamton Mets hitting .282 with 19 HR and 76 RBI.

The Morning Report 11.30.2015 | All Eyes on Ben Zobrist, Recker Signs with Cleveland, Nationals Lose Zimmerman to Detroit, Arias Signs with San Diego

Maria Guardado | NJ Advance Media- The Mets appear to be making a strong effort to sign Ben Zobrist. According to sources, the Nationals along with Braves, SFGiants, others are also in. Per Ken Rosenthal, the Zobrist market likely will become more defined in next few days. A team's willingness to guarantee fourth year likely will be the deciding factor.

(Chris Soto: Ugh...I just don't like this potential move one bit. You've got a guy who's already 34 yrs old and his primary asset is "versatility." Versatility is only good if the defensively play at each position is average to above average. Unfortunately for Zobrist, his defensive metrics have been in decline the past 2 years and will likely only get worse as he continues to age. This is not the way to spend the first $12M+ of the off-season.)



Steve Schreiber | Amazin Avenue- After a disappointing final season with the Mets, Anthony Recker is headed to the Cleveland Indians' organization via a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training. Recker, who served as Travis d'Arnaud's backup for parts of 2013, 2014, and 2015, was removed from the 40-man roster on November 6 after clearing waivers. With Kevin Plawecki positioned as the backup for 2016, the Mets have no immediate need for Recker.

(Chris Soto: Say what you want about Recker...but the back-up catcher's main job is to be a solid defensive provider on days where the main catcher needs some rest. From that angle.....Recker did a great job during his time with the Mets as most of the starters praised his work behind the plate with some showing even better results with him over d'Arnaud. That said...despite providing the occasional super clutch HR...he struggled to stay over the Mendoza line on an annual basis. With Plawecki now MLB ready, it was time for Recker to go. GOOD LUCK in Cleveland!!)



Joe D. | Metsmerized Online- Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a deal with free agent RHP Jordan Zimmermann. The former Washington Nationals rotation mainstay will receive a five year deal worth $110 million dollars. He is the Nationals’ all-time leader in wins, innings, strikeouts and games started. He is also one of four pitchers to work at least 190 innings and make 32 starts in each of the past four seasons.

(Chris Soto: Here's the first big blow to the Nationals 2016 team. Zimmerman has been a major piece of the Nationals rotation for years and was the guy behind Scherzer and Strasburg that you could always count on to provide you with a quality start week in and week out. His replacement, Joe Ross, certainly has talent and the potential to become a solid arm himself....but the immediate downgrade from Zimmerman will likely result in 2-3 more losses in 2016 alone.)



HOT STOVE REPORT (courtesy of mlbtraderumor.com)

• Mets lost a minor league free agent over the Thanksgiving Break, RHSP Martires Arias signed a new minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. Despite being 25yrs old, Arias only reached A-ball Savannah with the Mets organization. Before 2014, Arias was statistically one of the worst arms in the Mets system due to his poor control. However, he finally was able to harness his stuff and posted solid numbers in Brooklyn, and Savannah including double digit K/9 rates.
• Nothing else......just Zobrist, Zobrist, Zobrist, Zobrist......

The Morning Report 3.31.2015 | Gee v. Montero, Monell's Strong Spring, Mets in Win Now Mode.

Kristie Ackert | New York Daily News- A day after Dillon Gee made his case, Rafael Montero made his pitch on Monday for the fifth spot in the Mets’ rotation. The 24-year old righty tossed six scoreless innings as the Mets beat the Marlins, 7-1, at Tradition Field. Montero gave up two hits, struck out six and did not issue a walk.“That is what everybody has been telling me about him,” Terry Collins said of Montero. “Last year… we did not see the command of the stuff that we had heard about. We’ve seen it the last two times, against two very good teams.“I think we may have to make the best judgement we can make as we get toward the weekend of who it’s going to be,” Collins said.

(Chris Soto: This is turning out to be quite the battle as Dillon Gee and Montero continue to match scoreless innings. Montero's command has significantly improved year over year and it seems like he spent a significant amount of time receiving instruction on how to improve his slider. In the past, we viewed the pitch as more fringe average as a complement to his plus change-up and fastball, however, this season it's looking like a legitimate 3rd plus pitch. I still think Dillon Gee will win the #5 SP job...especially now that the Mets have shored up the left side of their bullpen without sending Gee as part of the packages.)


Peter Kerositis | nytimes.com- “...known more for his left-handed power bat than for his glove, (Johnny) Monell has impressed the Mets this spring after signing with the club as an off-season free agent and arriving as a non-roster invitee. In Grapefruit League play, Monell had converted 42 at-bats into a .357 batting average and four home runs through Sunday. “We’ve been very, very happy with what we’ve seen,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said of Monell. “Johnny has handled himself very well, and he’s going to get some more playing time this week.” 

(Herb G.: Is there a real competition between Recker and Monell for the backup catcher‘s job? It would be nice to think so. Monell has had a stellar spring, while Recker has been so-so. If Recker is the backup, it would mean that we would only have one lefty hitter on the bench, while Monell could provide a second bat from the left side, something that could definitely come in handy late in games. Monell is more than 2 years younger. Their minor league stats are fairly similar (.273/.351/.461 vs. 264/.347/.448). Although his average hovers around the Mendoza Line, Recker has much more MLB experience. He has spent 2 years with the Mets, earning the trust and respect of the pitching staff, and his defense could make a difference in a close game.)


Mike Vorkunov | nj.com- Twenty four hours ago, the Mets bullpen lay with uncertainty. They had no definitive left-handed option. No healthy pitcher for the seventh inning. And three open spots remaining. By now, that has changed. The Mets made two acquisitions Monday. They traded for left-handed pitcher Alex Torres from the Padres and lefty Jerry Blevins from the Nationals. Each is penned in for the bullpen and will add about $1.9 million to the Mets payroll. In Blevins, the Mets acquired a pitcher who has allowed just a .594 OPS to opposing left-handed hitters for his career...And in Torres, the Mets now have a left-handed pitcher who has proven capable against right-handed hitters, allowing a .540 OPS to them for his career. "These two guys present a little different profile for us," general manager Sandy Alderson said. "On the one hand we have Blevins, who is a left-on-left, and we think Alex Torres is more of a guy who can go longer. 


(Herb G.: Kudos to Alderson. These are two fantastic trades. I am not taking any credit for the Blevins trade, but I did send Sandy an email on March 17 imploring him to give Montero a legitimate shot at earning the #5 spot in the rotation and suggesting Blevins as the best candidate for a trade for a lefty reliever, with lots of supporting stats. On March 19 he actually sent me a reply, saying merely “Thank you.” I don't, for one minute, think I influenced him to make that trade, but he has surely come through on both counts. Now, it looks like we go into the season with an extremely strong bull pen, with possibly 3 lefties where days ago it looked like we might have none.)

Position Battles Worth Watching- Week 1

With a week's worth of Grapefruit League games now complete; lets take a look at the status of the positional battles in camp.

Backup Catcher

So far, Recker has done nothing wrong to warrant losing his spot on the 25 man roster. In 5 games he is hitting .375 with a HR and 2 RBI's against Teagarden's .273 AVG with 4 K's. Recker also has the advantage of already knowing the sequences that the rotation likes to use in games having been the back-up all of last year. In the later innings, Centeno has also seen some work and is hitting .400 with no extra base hits but he's walking in as a long-shot to begin with as it is expecting he will start 2014 in AAA.

First Base Starter

This battle has barely gotten off the ground as both guys have been sidelined with injuries so far early in camp. Davis has only 3 games under his belt and has hit a HR in 1 AB and struck out in practically all the rest of them. His swing still looks ugly as his hands continue to drop. We may be counting the days till he is cut from the team. Duda on the other hand looked fantastic in his 2 games launching a long HR and rocket for a 2B. Striking out 33% less than your competitor generally helps too.

Left Field Starter

Through 1 week so far and we have ourselves a dead heat for LF. While Chris Young hasn't done anything wrong in the field, his .211 AVG with only 1 extra base hit in 7 games leaves much to be desired. Meanwhile, EYJ missed 3 games with an early camp injury and its affected him early on. While he is hitting .273 in the 4 games he's played, he's generally been facing lower level talent (AA and AAA). He's also committed 2 blunders in the field that have cost the team some runs and was even caught stealing. This battle is going to come down all the way to the last AB of Spring.

Center Field Starter

So far this spring, Lagares has done everything right in order to break camp as the starting CF. He's hitting .353 through 6 games and has already made 3 fantastic plays in CF including an OF assist. I'm sure the club doesn't like the 5 K's but the SB is a welcome site. Meanwhile Chris Young has his hands full just competing with Eric Young Jr. that so far he hasn't challenged Lagares so far in camp. Adding Drew at SS or anybody who can lead off would help Lagares' cause substantially as it would put a major dent in Eric Young's chances.

#5 Starter

Some interesting developments have occurred this week in terms of this position battle. What used to be a 3 person race between Matsuzaka, Lannan, and Mejia seems to have turned in a 2 man race due to serious shortfalls by Josh Edgin. So far Mejia and Matsuzaka seem to be on even footing. Even though Daisuke has the backing of Terry Collins, he's given up 8 hits in only 4 Innings Pitched and has struck out 3. Mejia on the other hand has those 3 K's in only 2 IP and has only allowed 1 hit. However he's also surrendered 2 BB's vs Daisuke's 0 BB. If Mejia can put together a 3 IP start with better control in his next start that will give him a much needed boost.

2nd Lefty in the Pen

The tide has really turned on Edgin so far in camp. In 3 IP so far he's given up 6 runs on 8 hits with only 1 K against mostly AA/AAA hitters. Not good at all. Meanwhile, Lannan has been almost exclusively facing MLB hitters and has only given up 2 runs thanks to an error while giving up 4 hits and K'ing 4 in 4 IP. While Lannan has certainly pitched well enough for considering in the #5 Starter battle he finds himself here because of just how bad Edgin has been.

Are the 2014 Mets a Better Team on Paper? (Catchers)

For the 1st part of our series we'll take a look at the catching corp and determine whether or not we should expect them to improve or not.

(***Note this takes into account the team as it is today. Steamer Projections are extrapolated out to 162 games for the starter only.)

2013

Players: John Buck, Anthony Recker, Travis d'Arnaud, Juan Centeno
Stats: .219 AVG/.288 OBP/.366 SLG, 22 HR, 84 RBI, 1 SB, 21 2B, 0 3B, 51 BB, 160 K
(24th in MLB OPS)

     The Mets entered the season with their catching led by John Buck with Anthony Recker as the back-up. This was the suppose to be the duo that would lead us to Travis d'Arnaud's debut in June, however, tragedy struck when d'Arnaud broke his foot only 3 weeks into the season. This led to increased playing time for Buck who surprisingly hit .249 with 9 HRs and 25 RBIs in the first month of the season. Buck quickly regressed in the months after though hitting .212 in May and .167 in June. Anthony Recker was not much help either posting a sub .200 AVG in April, June, and July. 

     d'Arnaud eventually arrived in mid August which led to Buck being traded with Marlon Byrd to the Pittburgh Pirates. While d'Arnaud was highly lauded for his pitch framing work behind the dish, his hitting was unfortunately not up to par. His .202 AVG with only 3 extra base hits was not indicative of what we saw in his time in the minors leagues.

2014

Starter: Travis d'Arnaud

Steamer Projections: .254 AVG/.320 OBP/.419 SLG, 19 HR, 75 RBI, 4 SB, 55 BB, 125 K

     Steamer projections have d'Arnaud improving based on a normalization of his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) and a off-season of work with the major league coaching staff and pitching corp. In terms of batting average, on base %, BB and K rates, d'Arnaud is expected to be a vast improvement over the duo that manned the tools of ignorance over the course of last season.

Verdict: Massive Improvement

Mack - Certain assumptions have to be made here and we can 't keep projecting d'Arnaud being on the disabled list. It's not like his injuries were genetic. The boy just couldn't get away from being hit by a ball.

That being said, my guess is that he will have a banner year especially since Curtis Granderson and Chris Young has taken the pressure off him to produce big time slugging numbers. d'Arnaud is going to be pitched to and balls will fall in the gap and go over the wall.

The actual #2 catcher (Juan Centeno) will play every day in Las Vegas and keep his batteries fresh in his I-Phone. No, this is a vast improvement and wait until Kevin Plawecki shows up in Las Vegas sometime after the all-star break and everyone starts talking about him.

The Mets may not be the last team d-Arnaud plays for, as soon as the trading season begins.

Mack Ade – AM Report – 8-28-13 – Draft Order, Dilson Herrera, MMs Writers, Anthony Recker, Matt Harvey, Benny Ayala, Dustin Lawley

 

2014 Draft Order – 1 – Houston  86, 2 – Miami  80, 3 – CWS  76, 4 – Cubs 76, 5 – Brewers  73, 6 – Toronto 73, 7 – Giants 73, 8 – Twins 72, 9 – Padres 72, 10 - Mets 71,  11 - Angels 71, 12  – Rockies 71, 13 – Phillies 71,  14 – Seattle 71

 

We have two new writers here at The Mack’s Mets Report.

                David Whitman joined us with his first post yesterday morning.

Christopher Wuensch also joined us and will be writing about baseball, in general, and baseball cards, in particular. Chris and I worked together as sports reporters (he was my boss) for the Morris News Service.

That’s now 21 writer here, something I am very proud of; however, many of them write somewhere between once a month and once a year. We can always handle more intelligent, adult writers that understand the game we all love (I’m particularly looking to expend on writers to cover other teams). Please email me at macksmets@gmail.com to discuss you joining our great site.

 

Re: Dilson Herrera - There is a month to go in the season. Any time you can trade for the 11th prospect in a team's chain, for players you are not going to sign next year... well, you have done a great job regardless of what level that new player is at. Sure we want somebody that was 2014 ready, but you put these players up on waivers and the Pirates claimed them. All you can do now is work the best deal you can with that team.

In this case, you got yourself a top level prospect second baseman, something the Mets simply didn't have in their system. LJ Mazilli is having a nice season in Brooklyn, but he's not a top prospect. Herrera is and it will be interesting to see if he plays St. Lucie or Savannah in September.

I'm thrilled as a minor league weenie... and Soto... you're going to have to update the rankings now :).

ETA: mid-2016.

Thoughts From Soto - I absolutely love this trade. Sandy Alderson demanded a Top 10 prospect for Byrd at the trade deadline and even though its almost 30 days later...he ended up getting what he wanted.  Dilson is a small rangy 2B who was listed as the Pirates #9 overall prospect. Surprisely, even though he's 5'10" 150lbs he packs some power in his tiny frame with 11 HRs in the SAL this season which is generally a pitching first league. He should have enough room to pack on another 30 lbs without reducing his speed which will add to power giving him plus power potential. No one is going to be ahead of him in terms of the organizational depth chart so he has a clear path to the MLB with an ETA of probably Sept. 2015. This is an absolute steal for 2 one month rentals plus there is still a PTBNL. Remember the last time Alderson had a PTBNL? Turned out to be Wuilmer Becerra, who has potential to be a Top 15 prospect in his own right.....Very Very Happy.

 

Dejan Kovacevic      ‏@Dejan_Kovacevic        -  Huntington on PTBNL: “New York’s going to get a pretty good second piece. The #Mets did a nice job.”

 

Dilson Herrera ‏@Dilson_H  - I'm also excited for this new chapter of my career in the @Mets organization #NewYork #Colombia

 

Jeremy Hefner     ‏@jeremy_hefner53 - Surgery in the morning! Get this thing fixed and come back stronger! Thanks for the encouraging text and tweets

 

From MetsBlog - The Mets will promote Anthony Recker, which could signal a trade involving John Buck, Adam Rubin suggests on his blog for ESPN New York.

I would like to keep Buck around as a mentor to Travis d’Arnaud and the primary catcher to Matt Harvey; however, with the recent injury, this just my not be in the cards anymore. The Mets have the money to do this, figuring Buck would probably accept a deal in the $3-4mil range. Then again, this may be a moot point and he could be traded by the time you read this. Either way, the Mets are going to need more than someone like Juan Centeno or Francisco Pena to replace  Recker as the #2 catcher. Let’s see how Recker  fairs the rest of the season.

 

Peter Gammons –

People all around baseball were sick at the news that Matt Harvey’s elbow may require Tommy John Surgery. “What makes it so bad for the Mets is not only that it denies them one of the best young pitchers in baseball,” said one general manager, “but look at the next couple of years. He will miss the 2014 season. He will be on an innings limit in 2015, like 140-150 innings. Then at the end of the 2015 season, he will be arbitration eligible.” http://www.gammonsdaily.com/matt-harvey-tommy-john-surgery/

 

 

Odds of Harvey Breaking Down -

Putting it all together, there were no glaring red flags pointing to an injury issue with Matt Harvey, just a couple of slightly pink ones. He was experiencing a small drop in velocity and may throw the ball too hard on a regular basis. Other pitchers do the same things daily and don’t tear their UCL. Additionally, he showed no signs of bad mechanics, inability to throw strikes, high work load, too many breaking balls or late game inconsistencies. His injury is just another example of a pitcher trying to do his best and his body not letting him. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-odds-of-matt-harvey-breaking-down/

 

 

Lost in all the meshugas of Monday was the horrendous performance of Noah Syndergaard for Binghamton… 11 runs in three innings pitched! Some are saying a missed rotation start could have caused this; however, something is really wrong here. This guy was hitless all season for the B-Mets. Hell, his ERA AFTER this outing is still only 3.00.

Can’t we just shut down him and Wheeler before something else goes wrong this season?

 

Zach Sanders – Roto:

Matt Harvey’s UCL is torn, may need TJ -  Outside of his shoulder literally falling off or some kind of vicious decapitation, Harvey having a partially torn UCL is the worst. Harvey has been put on the DL, and he will remain there for the rest of the 2013 campaign, and perhaps all of the 2014 season. Harvey is still being evaluated, and a torn UCL doesn’t always mean surgery; it usually does, but there’s still a chance that Harvey can rehab through it and be ready for 2014. Life sucks sometimes, and I really do feel for Mets fans. They haven’t been able to catch much of a break in a long time, and losing their best player is no way to turn things around. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/roto-riteup-august-27-2013/

 

Grantland –

Harvey is young and strong, with years of big performance likely still ahead. Whereas 50 years ago a torn UCL was usually a death sentence, today it's a procedure done on hundreds of pitchers, with very a high success rate. If he does end up needing surgery, missing a year of action is never an ideal situation. But with the Mets still rebuilding, this is as good a time as any for an injury like this to happen. A year from now, two years from now, five and 10 years from now, this could all seem a distant memory — a minor speed bump in what could end up being a spectacular career. http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/72614/lets-calm-down-about-matt-harveys-elbow

 

Benny Ayala -

I really think the greatest feeling in our world is that moment when you realize your dreams come true. As my plane touched down in Queens, it was like Christmas night in America – I felt so nervous because everything I wanted in life was about to be given to me. It’s a simple feeling but it’s very complicated, too. You’re being offered a chance that not everyone gets – what happens if you fail? What happens if this is only a cup of coffee rather than a lifetime of five-course meals in the big leagues? That’s what went through my mind as Luis Alicea (not the Cardinals player from the ‘80s), one of the men who worked in the Mets Public Relations department, yelled out my name as I made my way through the gate at La Guardia Airport. No more thoughts and what ifs. Now I had a job to do. http://www.instreamsports.com/alpha/node/340

 

Sam Dykstra -

Dustin Lawley, meanwhile, has been the best power hitter in a circuit that notoriously favors those on the mound. His 25 homers lead all sluggers and put him seven ahead of his closest competition -- a three-way race for second between K.C. Hobson (Dunedin), Nick Ramirez (Brevard County) and Kennys Vargas (Fort Myers), each with 18.The 24-year-old left-fielder, whose previous career high was just 14 homers last year for Class A Savannah, also ranks first with 90 RBIs, second with a .514 slugging percentage, tied for third with 31 doubles and sixth with an .826 OPS. He spotted a .257/.311/.514 line over 117 games with the Mets.