August 2nd 2015 -- Mets 5, Nationals 2

Sunday night at Citi Field, The Mets behind Noah Syndergaard erupted for 5 runs in to bottom of the 3^rd inning as the Mets sweep the Nationals with a 5-2 win.  Syndergaard may be Thor, but the Mets offense brought the thunder. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third Curtis Granderson, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda abused mistakes by Jordan Zimmerman for a 5 run inning. Granderson clubbed a 2 run shot, his 17^th on the year to make it 2-1. Murphy followed immediately with a solo shot his 7^th for a 3-1 lead.  Next, Yoenis Cespedes singled to left for his first hit as a Mets and Duda struck again with a 2 run homer his 21^st on the year and 9^th in 8 games to give Syndergaard the 4 run cushion. The Nats scored their first run in the top of the first when Anthony Rendon hit a line homer to center that hit just above the orange line for a 1-0 lead.  In the 6^th Yunel Escobar connected for a solo homer, his 6^th on the year to make it 5-2.  Syndergaard went 8 strong innings allowing 7 hits 2 runs (both earned) and striking out 9.  He improves to 6-5 and his ERA falls to 2.66. Tyler Clippard pitched the 9^th for his 1^st save as a Met.  Zimmerman took the loss falling to 8-7. With the win the Mets sweep the Nationals for the first time since 2009. They are now 55-50 overall and 38-18 at him and are in a virtual tie for first place in the NL East. Monday the Marlins come to town. Bartolo Colon (9-10 4.96) looks to continue the streak for the Mets.  Tim Koehler (8-7 3.38) goes for Miami. 

ROSTER MOVES - METS

OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been placed on the disabled list

OF Michael Conforto has been recalled from AAA-Las Vegas

Mack’s Morning Report – 8-2-15 – Minor League SPs, Zack Wheeler, 2016 Mets

  

Good morning.

You know me. I love minor league players. Especially starting pitchers; however, I’m also old school and grew up rooting for a team (the Mets) that operated like a big market team and used it’s secondary minor league prospects to secure major league talent.

I’ll miss guys like Luis Cessa and Michael Fulmer, but, in my world, that’s what their true purpose was supposed to be. They have a ton of talent, but not more than the Fab Five ahead of you. If you’re not going to start for the Mets, you might as well help secure hitting talent by being a trade chip.

RIP to Chicago White Sox legend, Billy Pierce, who passed away Friday at the age of 88.

The Pirates designated Deolis Guerra for assignment


I thought it was great to see the Mets throw RP Bobby Parnell right back into the water last night. This whole pennant race will not work unless Parnell, Tyler Clippard, and Jeurys Familia can successfully pull off the 7th-8th-9th inning combo that is going to be needed as the Mets' young starters start to run out of innings left they can throw this year.

Bartolo Colon in July: 5 games, 27.2 IP, 36 hits, 17 runs (16 earned runs), 4 walks, 22 strikeouts, 3 HR, 5.20 ERA, .316/.344/.447 BAA

Jon Niese in July: 5 games, 31.1 innings pitched, 27 hits, 10 runs, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts, 3 HR, 2.87 ERA, .233/.276/.345 BAA

The Mets OF defense is sure looking good. The Céspedes/Granderson combo rank 1st among LF/RF w/ 11 DRS each in 2015 and Juan Lagares is 1st among CF with 58 last 3 years. And when was the last time you saw me quote DRS?

Zack Wheeler told Mike Puma :

“I’d like to be a part of what we have going on here in New York with the other guys on our pitching staff and other players as well. I’ve been here for a few years during the rebuilding stages. I’ve been working my butt off down here to get back to being a better and healthier athlete, and I’d like to stay until we get the job done.”

Mack – As much as I was looking forward to Carlos Gomez being a Met, I think I’m still thrilled that Wheeler remains a Mets and keeps the ‘Fab 5’ together.

There’s a lot of Mets followers (especially some here on Mack’s Mets) that feel that Michael Fulmer is a front end rotation prospect. I don’t. I think he’s back end at best and it could be years before the Mets develop anyone to replace one of these five.

I know you don’t have to be the most talented pitcher to be an SP5 but wouldn’t it be something to see five SP1-2 pitchers in the same rotation at the same time?

Michael Baron had an interesting spin why the Mets considered Wheeler expendable:

By the time Wheeler returns, it will be 2016. But the time he doesn’t have an innings limit, it will be 2018. That’s 2 1/2 years until the Mets can hopefully benefit from Wheeler’s talent again. He went from being a short-term solution before the season to the equivalent of a prospect in Single-A thanks to having Tommy John Surgery in March.

Of course he isn’t a prospect by definition, but he becomes expendable because of his timeline thanks to the quick rises of Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, plus their control of Jon Niese over the same span.

Mack – But, let’s remember one important thing here. Wheeler called Sandy Alderson and asked that he not be traded before the trading deadline, saying he wanted to remain a Met.

That goes a long way in my book and should in yours too.

So, the trade deadline is over and the 2015 version of the New York Mets has been vastly improved, but when do we start to worry about the 2016 version. Who’s going to play third base if David Wright doesn’t successfully come back? Does the team have to still look outside the organization for a starting shortstop? And, who will be the opening day centerfielder while Juan Lagares is still on the mend?

It’s too early to start breaking out the list of 2016 free agents available for these positions, but it’s not premature for us to start discussing where the Mets might go in these directions. Feel free to chime in.

DOWN UNDER: Mets Minor League Results - 8-1-15

 

August is here, and many Mets Minors pitchers have moved on.  Should be an interesting month.

DOWN UNDER: Mets Minor League Results - 8-1-15

 STARS OF THE DAY: Kevin McGowan and Casey Delgado, both with 7 shutout innings, and Matt Reynold with 4 hits.

HONORABLE MENTION: Paul Sewald and Dilson Herrera

SCORES:

Las Vegas (60-48) 10 - Tacoma 4

Binghamton (59-47) 6 - Richmond 5

St Lucie (53-52) 6 - Clearwater 0

Savannah (57-47)  3 - Asheville 0

Brooklyn (22-18) 3 - Batavia 10

Kingsport (18-20)  6 - Greenville 10

GCL Mets (20-14)  - Cardinals. Rained out again.

DSL METS 1  (26-27) 7 - Mariners 11

DSL METS 2 (33-20) 1 - Brew Crew  4

Now Here's the Scoop: 

Las Vegas played My-my-my-my Tacoma today. 

A newly added pitcher (Tim Stauffer) won his first start, allowing 3 runs in 5.1 IP, and Dilson had 3 hits and Matt Reynolds went 4-5 as DH.  Vegas had a 6 run first and never looked back.

 
Binghamton's Gabe Ynoa has moved way up the depth chart, with Fulmer, Meisner, Gant, Cessa and Whelan all being traded in the past several days. Some clearance sale. 

Tonight, Ynoa won, but did not pitch well, allowing 10 hits and 4 runs in five innings. Paul Sewald picked up the save, his 11th, and his ERA dropped to 1.47.  TJ Rivera, sadly back in AA, had 2 hits, and Gavin Cecchini (.315) also had 2 hits and 2 RBIs (49).

 

St Lucie sent Kevin McGowan out there today. Seven innings of four hit shutout ball, with Dave Roseboom tossing the final two scoreless innings.

Dominic Smith had 1 hit (.301) and added 2 RBIs (61). Jhoan Urena (.210 in just 52 games) trying to revive his injury- riddled season, with 2-4 tonight.

 
Savannah started Casey Delgado rose to the challenge of pitchers who show they have what it takes, in the absence of the guys just traded.  Casey threw 7 innings of 2 hit shutout ball, with 6 Ks, lowering his Gnats ERA to 3.48. Relievers Baldonado and Griffin completed the shutout and have sub 2.00 ERAs. 

Rodriguez, Tuschak, and Biondi drove in the Gnats' 3 runs from the 7th thru 9th slots in the order. The Gnats are 10 over .500 after starting out 7-16.

 
Brooklyn continues to try to climb further above .500 again vs. lowly Batavia.  The Batavian National Team (no, not really) performed like a gold medalist squad early in the game, scoring 6 runs in inning #1 against Andrew Church.  It was over right there.  

David Thompson and Tucker Tharp both hit their 2nd homers.  The Cyclones are hitting just .218.

 
Kingsport tried to get back to .500 with Harol Gonzalez taking the start. He got clobbered.  

Dash Winningham had 2-5, double, RBI, AND Ivan Wilson was 2-2 (.255). He is hitting .387 in last 10, so maybe he has figured some things out.  Hope so.

 
The GCL Mets have been rolling,Today, the rain was victorious.

 DSL METS 1: after a series against the 30 games over .500 Giants, they get the 15 games over .500 Mariners.  Life is tough sometimes. 4 errors only led to 1 earned run, but the Mets got clobbered nonetheless.

 DSL METS 2: this 13 over .500 squad faced a 9 under .500 team today. But lost. Can't win them all,

 GOAT: Andrew Church, Harol Gonzalez got pasted.

August 1st 2015 -- Mets 3, Nationals 2

Saturday night at Citi Field, Yoenis Cespedes arrived, but Lucas Duda carried the load going 3 for 3 with 2 homers and 3 RBI as the Mets beat the Nationals 3-2.  Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and had to struggle, but held the Mets in the game.  The Nats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1^st on a broken bat two run single by Ian Desmond.  deGrom and the Met bullpen held the Nats at bay the rest of the way.  Meanwhile, Lucas Duda chipped away. Duda stroked his first solo shot, his 19^th a bomb to center field, in the bottom of the 3^rd to cut the lead to 2-1.  In the 7^th, Duda connected with an opposite field homer, his 20^th on the year to tie the game at 2.  In the 8th Curtis Granderson led off with a double. With 1 out, Cespedes was intentionally walked to get to Duda.  Then against lefty Matt Thorton Duda hit a double to left scoring Granderson with the eventual game winner.  deGrom went 6 allowing 6 hits the 2 runs (earned) walking 1 and striking out 7.  Bobby Parnell and Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless 7^th and 8^th, Jeurys Familia pitched a 1-2-3 9^th to snap his save drought and notch his 28^th of the year.  Robles gets the win in relief he’s now 3-2. Thorton falls to 1-1.  Duda is scorching hot now with 8 homer in his past 8 games with 8 of his last 9 hits being the long ball.  Cespedes in his debut went 0 for 3 with a walk.  Kelly Johnson went 2 for 4.  The Mets have taken the first two games of this three game set with the Nationals, now pulling to 1 game for first place in the NL east. Overall the Mets are 54-50 and 37-18 at home.  Sunday night the Mets look for the sweep and a tie in the NL East. Noah Syndergaard (5-5 2.70) goes for the Mets, Jordan Zimmerman (8-6 3.36) goes for Washington. 

ROSTER MOVE - Binghamton

Please note the following transaction involving the Binghamton Mets.

August 1:

• INF TJ Rivera transferred from Las Vegas (AAA) to Binghamton (AA)

Reese Kaplan -- August Non-Waiver Trade Primer

With the non-waiver trade deadline having passed yesterday, perhaps it’s a good time to review the rules concerning August trades that can be made between clubs.   Some people erroneously assume that once the “trading deadline” passes then the rosters are pretty much set for the end of the year.  However, there is a provision that will allow trades to be completed, but it’s a little bit more complicated.

MLB allows a club to place a player on revocable (or what they refer to as “recallable”) waivers for the purposes of testing the market for player transactions.  If, for example, the Mets placed Jon Niese on this list and the Boston Red Sox put in a claim for him, the Mets have the right to pull him back off the list and are not obligated to let Niese move to Boston. 

The alternative is within two days to work out a trade with the Red Sox for players or money going back to the Mets for Jon Niese. 

Finally, the Mets could also simply let the Red Sox have Niese and transfer the responsibility for the current contract to the claiming team.  A good example might be someone like Andre Ethier of the Dodgers who is earning far more than he is producing.  Should a team claim Ethier the Dodgers would likely relinquish their rights to him to get out from under the salary still owed to him for the next few years.

If, after the waiver period, no one has claimed the player in question, the GM is free to trade him to any of the other 29 clubs.

Where it gets a little complicated is you can only play this game once.  Once a team exercises its option to remove a player from the waiver list, should they later list him again then the claiming team DOES get to keep that player. 

During the month of August it is not uncommon to put nearly an entire roster’s worth of names on these waivers since you do have the right of rescission.  Placing a player on waivers helps a GM know if another team is interested in that player and could lead to trade talks.    

Sometimes teams are known to put in waiver claims simply to block a player from going to a division rival.  For example, if the Cubs put Starlin Castro on waivers the Mets might claim him not necessarily because they want to take on his contract, but to prevent the Washington Nationals from getting someone who could be a long term solution for them at shortstop with Ian Desmond scheduled to hit free agency.

The last wrinkle to consider is post-season eligibility.  A player must be on the 25 man roster (or DL or bereavement or the suspended lists) prior to midnight on August 31^st.  Now in the case of the Mets, their only currently suspended player, Jenrry Mejia, wouldn’t have qualified anyway due to his first PED suspension.  However, suppose a player on the club had a temper tantrum and destroyed part of the dugout.  If the Mets chose to suspend him for 10 days in late August and it spilled over to September, he would still be eligible for the post-season.  

It’s a little more difficult to consummate deals come August, but the mechanisms are there to get things done if a GM is so inclined to improve his roster.  

Mack’s Morning Report – 8-1-15 - Q and A

Good morning.

Gary asks - Morning Mack, Quick question about forgetting another bat and instead going after either Kimbral or Chapman for Wheeler +. With Travis's return and maybe Wright at some point along with Matz and Blevins by the end of August the addition of one of those two relievers would give us a killer bullpen to go with our awesome rotation. Your thoughts, Thanks.

Mack – Morning Gary.

Gary, the trading deadline will be over by the time you read my response. In addition, I am preparing this answer while watching the game on Thursday, so what I write here is just a guess at this point.

I think the events in Milwaukee may put the kibash on any other deals being consummated with Sandy Alderson this week. (it didn't...) No one appreciates it when their dirty laundry is written about in newspapers and teams may stay away from SA until after the season is over.

For now, I consider the return of Travis d’Arnaud as good as a trade deadline acquisition. My hopes are that Kevin Plawecki remains on the 25-man squad and catches at least two times a week, keeping the odds of d’Arnaud getting injured again reduced for the remainder of the season.

As for Wright, Matz, and Blevins… sorry Gary. I’ll believe it about these guys when I see them in the lineup.

Harry asked –

Mack, the Mets have a need for a spot starter coming up soon. Any idea who it will be?

Mack – Well, it won’t be Zack Wheeler!

Also, don’t look for Steven Matz to be back by them either.

My guess at this point is Logan Verrett who is being stretched back out in Las Vegas. You will probably see him back in the 51’s rotation in the next few days.

Arnie asks –

Hey Mack, I would appreciate your take on the current Mets bullpen.

Mack – Thanks for the question, Arnie.

I was starting to feel that the Mets pen was rounding out when Tyler Clippard came aboard, but then Jenrry Mejia pushed the stupid button again and the team is still looking for a strong 7-8-9^th inning combo.

Bobby Parnell is just not looking like the old Parnell, Hansel Robles does nothing for me, and the Torres boys are underwhelming at best.

I still have hope that Vic Black will come back strong, but the pen may not improve until the playoffs when Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon could join in.

Reese asks  - 

Who are some of the names that might move during August waiver deals?  (Marlon Byrd would be one I'd suspect)

Mack – Byrd sounds like a good candidate though I’m not sure the Mets will be interested in obtaining another outfielder right now. Past him, I don’t have any thoughts on anyone else right now.

If the Mets get d'Arnaud back this weekend and Wright in time for Labor Day, is that enough offense if they fail to acquire another bat?

Mack – Well, things have sure changed since you emailed me this question. We have d’Arnaud back and Cespedes is the left fielder of choice. In one day this lineup has changed tremendously and, frankly, I think there’s plenty of offense, coupled with their ace young starters, to beat Washington in the division.

As for Wright, I continue to not count that chicken until he leaves the nest.

What becomes of shortstop next year?  Do they jump Cecchini?  Look to the outside?  Revisit Flores?  Hand the glove to Tejada once again?

Mack – As I understand, the Mets have fell back in love with Tejada so all bets are off here. Remember… the one thing you want from your shortstop is impeccable middle infield defense and Tejada has been churning that out lately.

Cecchini has been hitting, but we’ve learned before that hitting .300+ in the minors doesn’t always translate at the major league level. He also is a highly questionable defensive shortstop. Some even rate him behind Wilmer Flores in this area.

I will say this… someone has to make room for the Mets top shortstop prospect, Amed Rosario, to move up next year to AA. Things could get quite crowded down there.

Going into 2016 the Mets may have Lagares on the shelf, Murphy gone and Wright a big unknown.  Right now you can pencil in Duda, Granderson and d'Arnaud for certain.  That leaves the middle infield and 3B once again in flux as well as CF and LF.  How do you fill all those holes?

Mack – My second baseman would be Dilson Herrera, I would return Ruben Tejada to short, and Michael Conforto to left field.

If Wright can’t come back, the Mets will have to turn to the FA/trade market during the off-season to fill in both that position and a fill-in centerfielder until Lagares can return. I just don’t see Kirk Nieuwenhuis being the right fit here.

Michael Cuddyer would be a very expensive 4^th outfielder on my team.

(Doesn’t seem like a very strong lineup, does this?)

With the Mejia suspension does that increase the likelihood of Bobby Parnell returning to the team with a $4 million+ paycheck?

Mack – Tough question to answer. On the surface, it looks like the Mets should take a pass here, but the pen is turning out to look like a growing concern. I don’t expect Jenrry Mejia to be back and this might be a position needs to target in the off-season to secure some help. 

          As me this question again after the season ends.

DOWN UNDER: Mets Minor League Results - 7-31-15

 

DOWN UNDER: Mets Minor League Results - 7-31-15

The 9 squads entered today's play 

a combined 53 games over .500.
Five wins, 5 losses, still 53 over.

 STAR OF THE DAY: MATT OBERSTE, MICHAEL KATZ

HONORABLE MENTION: CYCLONE'S 0.00 RELIEF CLUB

SPECIAL MENTION: WILMER FLORES, SHOWING JUST HOW CLUTCH A FORMER MET MINORS GUY CAB BE.

SCORES:

Las Vegas  (59-48) 1 - Sacramento 5

Binghamton  (58-47) 1 - Richmond 6

St Lucie (52-52) YET ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT A TWIN BILL

 - GAME 1: Clearwater 4 - Mets 3

  - GAME 2: Mets 6 - CW 2

Savannah  (56-47) 8 - Asheville 3

Brooklyn (22-17) 3 - Batavia 1

Kingsport  (18-19) 3 - Greenville 4

GCL Mets (20-14) 5  - Cardinals 2

DSL METS 1 (26-27) 0 - Mariners 6

DSL METS 2 (33-20) 9 - Brewers 0 

Now Here's the Scoop: 

Las Vegas went with Logan Verrett tonight, who entered the contest at 3-1, 2.93. He ran into an old nemesis in the first, MR. LONG BALL,as he surrendered a 3 run bomb. Add another run and he allowed 4 runs in his 4 inning outing.  Brandon went 2-4, but it was Brandon Allen, folks, not Brandon Nimmo, who went 0 for 4 (.143).

 
Binghseasons Seth Lugo provided intrigue coming into tonight's game.  Could the man with the 3.20 ERA coming in, and just 1 earned run in his latest 4 starts, keep firing? Nope, 6 runs in 5.2 IP (4 in 1st). Morris 2 scoreless IP.

 

St Lucie has run into a lot of rain problems of late, something that evicerated the Queens Mets on Thursday.

Miller Diaz and Logan Taylor were tonight's starters, with both trying to take advantage of 3 starter departures (Meisner, Gant, Whelan) to show that they are as every bit as good as those 3. Miller allowed 2 earned and 2 unearned in 5 IP, with 7 K's, but got tagged with the loss. Phil Evans singled and doubled.

In game 2, Matt Oberste burst Clearwater's bubble in Game 2 with a 3 run pop. Taylor went 5.1 IP, allowing 1 run. 5 out perfection from Kyle Regnault to close it out.  In each of the 7 inning games, each team totaled 6 hits.

 
Savannah had Knapp Night tonight, with Ricky Knapp (5-2, 2.83) on the mound.  I for one love naps, and I'll sleep soundly tonite after his 7 IPs of 3 runs (0 earned) pitching.  
Becerra (.296) had double #20. Red hot Michael Katz (.280) had 3 hits & 2 RBIs (35 in 34 games).  Pat Biondi (3 hits, .295).

 
Brooklyn hoped to sweeten their record while taking on a Batavia squad that is 11 games below .500 already. Easy. 

Gaby Almonte threw 6 fine innings. And Conlon, Taylor and Palsha each have 0.00 ERAs almost 40 games into the season, spanning 37.2 IP, just 14 H and 37 K from the trio. 

Brosher (2-3, .194, RBI), and Hilario is only at .146 but his 2 RBIs tonight give him 9 ribs for the season in 41 ABs.

Kingsport found itself on the road in lovely Greeneville tonight. The tough Nabil Crismatt going for the K Mets. Tough again, with 6 strong innings of 2 run, 6 K ball. 
Seth Davis' first pro run allowed led to a 10th inning loss.  
Ivan Wilson went 2-3, .224.

 
GCL Mets took on the hometown Cardinals today, hoping for no rain. NO RAIN! Solid pitching, 3 hits by Ricardo Cespedes, Desmond Lindsay a hit and BB. Nice 20-14 mark.

 DSL METS 1:  4 errors and a 6 run loss.

DSL METS 2: A 9-0 shutout!  Nice.

 GOAT: