The Morning Report 1.26.2015 | Piazza's #31 to be Retired, Cespedes Projections for 2016, Mets Avoid Arbitration with Mejia and Duda

Associated Press | Sports Illustrated- Mike Piazza's No. 31 will be retired by the New York Mets this summer. The Mets said Monday the number will be retired July 30 before a game against Colorado, part of the weekend celebrating the catcher, who will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame on July 24. Piazza's joins Tom Seaver (No. 41) as the only Mets' players whose numbers are retired. New York also retired the numbers of two managers, Casey Stengel (37) and Gil Hodges (14) and No. 42 is retired throughout the majors to honor Jackie Robinson.

(Chris Soto: It's about darn time...to be fair though....the Mets played this perfectly. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time until Piazza made it into the Hall of Fame. So waiting till it was official to retire his number makes reasonable sense. The club has not been circulating his number either since he left.)


Mets Daddy | Metsmerized Online- It’s incredible to think that Yoenis Cespedes is back with the Mets. Everyone associated with the team should be thrilled and proud for how it all came together. Cespedes’ presence in the Mets lineup obviously makes them a significantly better team than the alternative Alejandro De Aza and Juan Lagares center field platoon. The question is, how much better? I took a look at three of the more popular projection systems and they all seem to think he’ll hit a little worse than his career averages in 2016:

Steamer: .266/.312/.463 with 26 homers and 72 RBI
ZiPS: .270/.312/.498 with 30 homers and 98 RBI


(Chris Soto: To get the full picture of how much more value Cespedes is going to bring to this Mets offense, one has to also bring in Juan Lagares' projections;

Steamer: .257/.297/.366 with 5 homers and 29 RBI
ZiPS: .261/.297/.369 with 6 homers and 49 RBI

We're talking almost almost 150 basis points of offensive improvement between the ZiPs projections between both players. That a MASSIVE boost to the line-up.)

HOT STOVE REPORT (courtesy of mlbtraderumor.com)

• The Mets avoided arbitration hearings with 1B Lucas Duda and RHP Jenrry Mejia by agreeing to 1 yr contracts with both players. Duda will make $6.725M this season which is 75k below the projection MLBTR had for him. Meanwhile, Jenrry Mejia agrees to take a pay cut down to $2.47M for 2016. This amount is 130k below what MLBTR had him pegged for. The only players left to sign via arbitration are CL Juerys Familia and 2B Neil Walker.
• The Mets are interested in RHRP Tommy Hunter. In 2015, Hunter was decent with the Baltimore Orioles but fell apart down the stretch when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs as he became a big victim of the long ball. He did post a strong 3.3 K to BB ratio that could provide decent value as a low to medium leverage guy.
• The Minnesota Twins are interested in recently DFA'd Carlos Torres. If the club decides to use a waiver claim on him, they would assume the full value of $1.05M contract that the Mets are on the hook for. They could also wait for the Mets to release him and then sign him via Free Agency which would leave the Mets on the hook for $175,000.

FLASH - Mets To Retire Mike Piazza Number

Michael Baron ‏@michaelgbaron  8 minutes ago

Official: @mikepiazza31 will have his number retired by the #Mets on July 30.

Winter League Results 1.24.2016 | Another Injury for Xorge Carrillo, Tigres Avoid Sweep In DR Championship, Barbosa Shuts Out Santurce

Mexican Pacific League Playoffs
Championship Series
- Aguilas de Mexicali 0 - 2 Venados de Mazatlan [Mazatlan Leads Series 3-1]

• C Xorge Carrillo: 0 for 1, K
• Trying to figure out why Carrillo was pulled from the game after the 3rd inning. Very possible that he was ejected for arguing after he was called out on strikes.
• UPDATE: The Inning prior to his last AB, Mazatlan DH Carlos Munoz collided with Carrillo trying to score from 2nd on a single to RF. Carrillo held onto the ball for the out and took his next AB but had to be removed from the game afterwards.

Venezuela Professional Baseball League Playoffs
Championship Series
- Navegantes del Magallanes 4 - 5 Tigres de Aragua [Navegentes Lead Series 2-1]

• LF Jairo Perez: 1 for 4, BB 

Dominican Baseball League Playoffs

Championship Series
- Leones del Escogido 6 - 7 Tigres del Licey  [Leones del Escogido Lead Series 4-1]

• RHP Rafael Montero: 0.1 IP, 1 K

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League Playoffs
Championship Series
- Cangrejeros de Santurce 0 - 1 Indios de Mayaguez

• 3B T.J. Rivera: 1 for 4
• PH Johnny Monell: 0 for 0, BB
• LHP Andrew Barbosa: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, Win(3-1)

The Morning Report 1.25.2016 | Cespedes Signing the Deal of the Off-Season, The DH in the NL Gaining Momentum, Mets Still Have Money to Spend

Ernie Palladino | CBS New York- If hope was heat, the signing of Yoenis Cespedes already would have melted away the snow mounds from Winter Storm Jonas. In agreeing with Cespedes, the Mets created the biggest storm of offseason hope in their history. Never, even in this era where the franchise has been blessed with outstanding young pitching arms in Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz has hope for a postseason berth been so high as with the re-signing of this one power hitter. The lineup, so explosive the last two months of the season thanks to Cespedes’ influence, went from shaky to fearsome overnight. The so-so signing of Alejandro De Aza doesn’t look so bad now that he’ll be coming off the bench with Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares, and Kevin Plawecki. And Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera will offer solid fielding at second and shortstop, and perhaps even more than a little hitting.

(Chris Soto: Ok....let's break this down. This was an absolute steal for Sandy Alderson. A) He gets one of the best power hitters in the MLB right now...for under $100M, B) the deal is front loaded, so whether or not Yoenis elects to stay beyond 2016, Sandy is going get some extra spending money for next off-season too, and C) Cespedes agreed to allow the Mets to place a Qualifying Offer on him if he chooses to leave next season, giving them an extra Top 40 draft pick in 2017 if he ends up leaving. This is an unbelievable sign....)



Derrick Goold | St. Louis Post-Dispatch- An annual question Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak faces from the fans at Winter Warm-Up is whether the designated hitter is about to intrude on the National League. It did Saturday. He said there’s “more momentum” for the DH in the NL. “I do feel like there were times I could look all of you in the face and say it’s a non-starter, it’s not being discussed at the owner level or GM,” Mozeliak said Saturday during an expansive discussion with the media at the team’s 20th annual fanfest. “But over the past year it has. I’m not suggesting you’re going to see a change but I definitely think the momentum (has changed).” Mozeliak’s comments echoes similar ones made this past spring by Major League Baseball Players’ Association chief Tony Clark, who said he has heard more discussion about the DH spreading to the NL than in years past.


(Chris Soto: Whether we agree with the idea of the DH in the National League or not...we have to recognize that from a player's union perspective....this move makes sense. Having a DH allows for players with big bats, but tiny gloves, to finally have a defined job role in the other half of the league. It expands the number of "jobs" available, thus increasing the amount of money that is available to players to earn. It also reduces the potential for injury among high profile SP such as what happened with Adam Wainwright last season.)

HOT STOVE REPORT (courtesy of mlbtraderumor.com)

• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe argues that former Mets RP Bobby Parnell could have some significant value as a end of the off-season signing. Parnell's velocity has reportedly returned to the upper 90's area that it was before his surgery.
• Meanwhile, it is being reported that despite the $27.5M addition to the 2016 payroll, that the Mets may STILL not be done with the off-season. Per Mike Puma, a team source at the BBWAA dinner indicated that the Mets still spend more money to bring in some additional help for the 2016 bullpen. 

Mack’s Sunday’s Thoughts - 1-24-16 – Antonio Bastardo, VSL, Long Term Deals, Niuman Romero, Yoenes Cespedes

  

Good morning.

You have to love the addition of LHRP Antonio Bastardo. He comes to the Mets after pitching 57.1 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out 64, and posting a stat line of 2.98, 1.13.

I also love the fact that it’s a 2-year deal. Two years is a great contract for + players that cost you in this range. It also gives you the opportunity to throw some prospects names (Josh Smoker, Akeel Morris) out on the telephones in hopes of producing a trade that can further help this team.

I’ll tell you this… Bartolo Colon will be moving to the pen during the season, Josh Edgin will fully heal, and Jenrry Mejia will also be back. You can’t fit all of these on a 25-man roster and some of the existing pitchers are going to have to go.

My guess is guys like Dario Alvarez, Edgin, Erik Goeddel, Smoker, Morris, and Carlos Torres are ripe for moving.

The Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) has shut down. They were down to four teams (Cubs, Phils, Tampa, and Detroit), but the Cubs decided to pull out this year and that toppled the blocks.

The Mets had a VSL team once but decided to double up in the Domincan instead and move away from the politically charged country. The sad part is two-fold… one, Venezuela continues to have a lot of prospect baseball talent, but two, people from these two countries basically don’t like each other.

Teams are going to have to work out a venue to feature some of thes players. I do expect the four above mentioned teams to probably add an additional DSL team, but there may be an opportunity here for the Mets to snatch away a few of the 16-year old prospects that will be available soon.

Gary sent –

Hi Mack, Liked your Podcast with Gary Mac the other day and although I agree with you guys for the most part I disagree when it comes to the current makeup of the club considering that the additions are O.K. But, to put a real exclamation point on this off season they should have also  signed Hayward and traded for Chapman no excuses. They said after the Madoff news broke that it wouldn't affect the baseball operations....yeah right. Then they said when we started to win they would add to payroll ....another yeah right.  So although I'm happy with last years results and I know the current ownership will last longer than I will it's really hard for me to get my head around not going for the throat when we had the chance. After all it wasn't that long ago that adding Beltran and Delgado were smart prudent moves by a club really going for it and even though it didn't work out the way we wanted it gave us exciting baseball deep into Sept. and filled the seats which had to make ownership happy so I guess I long for the "new old days" and hope they don't blow this golden opportunity. Thanks, Gary Seagren

          Mack – Thanks for the email, Gary.

          Gary, I truly believe that all the moves and non-moves the Mets did in this of-season take a back door to the resigning of Yoenes Cespedes. We could spend hours debating Hayward, Beltran, etc., but the bottom line is that the current Mets management and ownership is not going to offer anyone a deal past three years. It just isn’t the team we currently root for.

          My hopes are that the exceptions to this will be extended contracts to current Mets under team control (i.e. Familia, deGrom). We need to get back to building our team long term from within.

The Met signed 30-year old SS/3B Niuman Romero, who played SS last year for AAA-Nashville in the PCL (234-AB, .278). Just what we needed. Another AAA shortstop.

I would think there is a remote possibility that you’ll see him fill the third base slot left open in St. Lucie with the suspension of Eudor Garcia.

The three year deal with Yoenes Cespedes, coupled with the Bastardo signing, should put to rest any fan criticism that the team isn’t committed to the immediate future of this team.

I’m not sure what this means regarding the amount of games Conforto, de Aza, and Lagares get, but frankly, I don’t really care right now. It’s a rare day that the Mets have an abundance of ‘bat’ talent, especially in the outfield.

Herb G: Alderson, the Master Fisherman, reels in Cespedes - 3 Yrs/$75 MM

In a bold stroke of General Managership, Sandy Alderson pulled off what virtually all the pundits said was impossible; getting Yoenis Cespedes to sign a short term deal. As in numerous other situations, Alderson’s extreme patience payed off. While rumors continued to swirl that Cespedes was seeking a long term contract of 5 or 6 years in the neighborhood of $150 million, a stone faced Alderson held firm, insisting that he wanted Cespedes, but for not more than three years. Then, a few days ago, motivated by arch rival Washington’s offer of 5 years/$100+ million, Sandy pulled out all the stops. He was, of course, assisted by the fact that Yoenis deeply desired to return to the Mets, and therefore instructed his agents, Roc Nation, to approach the Mets when he was confronted with Washington’s bid.

As the two parties danced in the most unlikely mating ritual, Alderson found the keys to bring Cespedes home on his terms; an opt out clause after one year, and the second highest annual salary of any position player in the majors. Despite not getting the long term deal he wanted, Cespedes can brag about the fact that he can enter free agency again next year in a much leaner outfielder class, and that in the interim, he will receive $27.5 million, second among position players, only to Miguel Cabrera’s AAV of $31 million. And the Mets get that huge bat for the middle of the lineup they so sorely needed. The addition of Cespedes should clearly establish the Mets as the favorite (or perhaps co-favorite with the Cubs) to represent the NL in the 2016 World series.

The signing of Cespedes is a tribute to Sandy Alderson, not only for initiating this deal, but for creating a winning culture and assembling the group of players, coaches and a manager who established a clubhouse chemistry and camaraderie that a player like Cespedes felt he had to return to. He has made the New York Mets into a highly desired destination for any major league player to aspire. And it is a tribute to the owners, Fred and Jeff Wilpon, who approved the $75 million contract and a $27.5 increase in the 2016 payroll, when it was already at the point that Sandy had said it would be this year. According to my figures, the payroll for the 25 man opening day roster stands at $136.37 million. With an additional estimated $5 million for fringe players and minor leaguers to whom the Mets are committed, the opening day payroll will likely be something north of $140 million. I wonder if that will keep the many Wilpon detractors, those who have been screaming for them to sell the team, quiet for at least the next few days.

Reese Kaplan -- Shutdown Pen or Future Trade Bait?

Ernest Dove just penned a good analysis of the Mets bullpen for the upcoming season. Gone seem to be the days when the team would struggle to find 5-7 capable arms, turning to people like Pedro Beato, Blaine Boyer and Manny Acosta. Now, in addition to shutdown closer Jeurys Familia, the team can offer up Antonio Bastardo, Addison Reed, Erik Goeddel, Jerry Blevins, Hansel Robles and others. Even with the announcement that they've cut ties to Carlos Torres, the Mets still have Josh Edgin, Rafael Montero, Logan Verrett and Sean Gilmartin ready to step up should any of these stalwarts fail.

What's interesting to me, however, is not necessarily the depth of the bullpen, but the fact that in all likelihood Gilmartin, Montero and Verrett will be stretched out as starters in Las Vegas. On the surface it seems unlikely they will be needed with the stellar rotation of Matt Harvey, Jacob de Grom, Noah Syndergaard, Steve Matz and Bartolo Colon taking the ball every five days for the big club. What then does it mean to have this kind of depth at the front and back end of ballgames?

Last year's flurry of personnel changes in the second half that brought Tyler Clippard, Addison Reed, Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson and Eric O'Flaherty to the Mets came at a somewhat hefty price. It meant the departures of Casey Meisner, Matt Koch, Miller Diaz, Michael Fulmer, John Gant, Rob Whalen and Darwin Frias to acquire these players that (with the exception of O'Flaherty) helped propel the Mets to their first World Series appearance in 15 years. Given the resulting success of these moves, pretty much anyone would do it again in a heartbeat. However, all of these one-way tickets for prospects left the system a bit barren of future chips should the need arise to bolster the major league roster once again.

This time, however, the players the Mets have to offer up in trade may come at a higher level with a greater predictability for success. Take Rafael Montero, for example. Despite a rocky appearance in Las Vegas and health problems during the past year, his track record is undeniable. He soared through the farm system with ease and owns an impressive minor league record of 35-20 with a 2.72 ERA and 4 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. If he can get back on track then he opens up not only trade possibilities to begin his major league career elsewhere, but also the very real possibility of considering a Matt Harvey trade to shore up the offense with another organization's under-control bats with Montero stepping into the Mets' rotation.

A lot of space has been occupied with conjecture that the Mets would not be able to pony up what it would take to keep the young guns in Queens as they reach their free agency years. Consequently, it would appear they are also playing both sides against the middle, trying to bring other inexpensive arms into the mix should a trade need to be made. Zack Wheeler's return muddies the picture further. Yes, Bartolo Colon can slide to the bullpen where he performed well in the World Series last year, but that transition does nothing to help with the 2017 season and beyond.

The question I pose to the readers today is what would be considered an equitable return for Matt Harvey should he wind up on the trading block? Would it be a regular player with some proven track record such as Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts, or would it be some other club's top 2-3 prospects?   

Mack’s Morning Report – 1-23-16 – PEDs, Eudor Garcia, and Stupid Baseball Players

Good morning.

As I’m sure most of you have noticed, both contest and comments are down on the site. There really isn’t that much to talk about at this point in the off-season, beyond Yoenes Cespedes, and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to come up this weekend.

Then I read the news on Eudor Garcia.

It seems that our prospect third baseman tested positive for bumetanice and furosemide, two performance enhancing drugs on the no-fly list. This earned him an ochenta game suspension and change the roster projections for opening day 2016 (look for either Phillip Evans, Jhoan Urena, or Jeff McNeill to be held up at St. Lucie or JC Rodriquez to set up as a starter in Florida).

I’ve written about this subject a number of times in the past and the fact that it mostly is a ‘Latin thing’ due to the desire to turn one’s body into something that nature didn’t give them to start. Every kid from Columbia to the Dominican wants to grow up someday and look like Alex Rodriguez… the problem is he didn’t get to look that way naturally either.

The rules of the games regarding banned substances, testing, and suspensions started in January 2004. 49 major league players have been suspended, starting with Tampa Bay OF Alex Sanchez, 32 of which are Latin.

60 more players had major league experience but were busted while playing in the minors.  40 of them were Latin.

More importantly, the rules are getting harsher every year. Sanchez’ suspension was for 10 games. Garcia is for 80. 80 minor league games is like a full season lost and the complete loss of the team’s confidence in your future. Look at Garcia. He is a college kid out of El Paso. He hit .296 for Savannah last season and was ranked as one of the top ten Mets prospects. Was all that all smoke, mirrors, and PEDs?

This testing isn’t going to go away and I can’t understand why, especially minor league Latins, don’t understand this.

And another thing… you want to beat this system and not have anyone ask you to piss in a cup? Easy, go hit .198 in A-ball.

I’m really upset at losing Garcia for just about the entire 2016 season. He turns 22 in May and now pushes him back a year in a system that will need a third baseman in… wait a minute… this means Garcia won’t be ready for Queens until either 2019 or 2020, the last year of David Wright’s contract.

Hmm…

Winter League Results 1.21.2016 | Mazatlan Ties Mexican Championship Series at 1, Montero Blows Save in Dominican Championship, Monell and the Caguas Eliminated by Santurce

Mexican Pacific League Playoffs
Championship Series
- Venados de Mazatlan 4 - 2 Aguilas de Mexicali  [Series Tied 1-1]

• C Xorge Carrillo: 0 for 3, SB Allowed

Venezuela Professional Baseball League Playoffs
Championship Series
- No Games Scheduled



Dominican Baseball League Playoffs

Championship Series
- Tigres del Licey 4 - 6 Leones del Escogido  [Leones del Escogido Lead Series 2-0]

• RHP Rafael Montero: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER
• Brutal Day for Montero. 1st Batter he faces, he grooves a 90mph fastball that Diory Hernandez tattoos into LF. He then gets Joey Terdoslavich to ground out but then gives up back to back to back singles before he gets pulled. Luckily, his teammates were able to bail him out.

Jonrón de Diory Hernández para empatar el partido a 4 carreras en el 8vo episodio. Cortesía de @AFPSiembra pic.twitter.com/mZOI9ZwjaQ

— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) January 21, 2016

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League Playoffs
Sudden Death Game
- Criollos de Caguas 0 - 1 Cangrejeros de Santurce

• DH Johnny Monell: 1 for 3