12/31/19

Reese Kaplan -- The Happy End of a Rough Year



Through sidebar comments and replies to others’ posts I’ve let it be know that I’m indeed going through a rather unexpected set of symptoms related to what would otherwise seem to be a fair typical circumstance.  

I was at home just after the company Christmas party and the following late evening I passed out in my home, smacking my thankfully bare face already without my eyeglasses onto the edge of one of the pieces of furniture giving myself more of a Halloween-appropriate shiner rather than a look and feel more appropriate for the December holiday season.  


After reviving me and getting me into bed I apparently kept drifting in and out of consciousness until my wife decided to call in the experts and off I went via ambulance to the hospital.  That was on December 7th and Sunday, December 29th, I finally got discharged. 

I don’t mean to make it sound overly simple or straightforward.  I went from an emergency specialty center for about a week onto a rehab hospital for almost three weeks, then onto a discharge into an outpatient center.  In between there was a brief moment of civility with a Sunday brunch at a local Mexican restaurant during which I felt “normal” for a brief interval for the first time in nearly 4 weeks.  

From there it was a quick drive to my next new home where a private apartment style accommodation was awaiting me along with a day full of interviews and forms to fill out.  All the initial slaughtering of trees has been done and I’ve inked enough puzzling responses to their questions that it should provide a few hours worth of mystery as they try to understand.


In the interim, it seems the Mets went into the Winter Meetings with a number of interesting if non All-Star level moves.  They added folks like Jake Marisnick, Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello, all of whom should help, though none who defined notable improvements over the current roster.  

The big one (and an act few of us saw coming) was the addition of former superstar reliever Dellin Betances from a near season-long disabled list stint into the bullpen.  Considering his close relationship with new manager Carlos Beltran and the rumored heavy bidding for his services, the transition from the beach towel, err, the Bronx to Citifield came as something of a surprise, but one that was greeted by universal approval by the faithful fans.


The roster is far from done, of course.  

There is no question about who’s playing first base, too much money in who’s playing second, a great stride forward by the shortstop and a big question mark about if it’s Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis or the nearly invisible Jed Lowrie at 3rd base.  

Then there’s the outfield question between Michael Conforto, somewhat reborn Yoenis Cespedes, semi-healthy Brandon Nimmo, remaining ex-third basemen Davis, McNeil and Lowrie, as well as newcomer Jake Marisnick.  

Is there room for improvement?  Absolutely!  

Will there be?  Probably not. 

So what’s been going on in your lives?

18 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Great to see you back and on the upswing. Upswings lead to lots of home runs, just so you know.

I think the team is like a risky investment, like, let's say, a ROKU...the team has high potential, but also a high chance to crash and burn due to injured players. Not too many Cal Ripkins in the team, Pete Alonso being one - Pete at all levels in 2018 and 2019 played 320 games, or an average of 160 per season. He does NOT like to sit.

John From Albany said...

Welcome back Reese. Best to you and your family. Happy New Year.

TexasGusCC said...

Glad to hear you are getting better and well enough to focus on this perplexing team. A-Rod last year said Cano can easily move to third as he has the arm and handles the drills well. Any thought on that?

Mack Ade said...

Texas -

I've take a stab at that question...

IF he passes the litmus test there, yes I would. I would then move McNeil to 2B and have an outfield of Conforto, Nimmo, Davis

Mack Ade said...

Tex -

By the way, I have a "Questions and Answers" post coming up on Sunday.

Please send me any questions you would like me to add to those kind of posts to: macksmets@gmail.com

Mack Ade said...

Reese -

A Cy Young winner... a ROY winner,,, a new Mets owner... and Reese is back.

An incredible year!

Mike Freire said...

Good to have you back in the fold, Reese.

On a side note, I like the Cano to third base idea quite a bit......it would solve some alignment issues and allow
Brodie to clear up some of the excess on the roster (Lowrie, for one).

Reese Kaplan said...

It felt good to be back more-or-less in the semblance of normal. I bailed out on the outpatient rehab place after they got the 2 days of evaluation done and hopefully I will get approval, but I'm not paying for it otherwise.

bill metsiac said...

Welcome back, Reese. I've missed my sparring partner. 😁

As for our team, the concerns about injuries is mitigated by the depth at all positions except Catcher, and hopefully that will be corrected soon.

Behind Alonso we have Smith and JDD. Behind Cano, McNeil and Guillorme. Luis also backs up Rosario, and at 3B we have JDD as fallback options. And it's already been mentioned that we have 6 OFers.

Other than Guillorme and Smith, all the reserves are proven in the majors, minimizing the need for all the AAAA callups of recent years.

We're in better shape than you are currently. 😉 Rest comfortably and get well soon.

bill metsiac said...

As ypu know, I've been advocating a Cano/3B swap since the end of the season. His loss of range won't hurt us as much there, and there's less risk of injury turning DPs.

As for the OF, don't rule out a comeback for Yo. He could be a big surprise on the plus side.

Reese Kaplan said...

I'd be in better shape after a glass (or several) of midnight champagne :)

Jack Flynn said...

Welcome back Reese! I'm so glad to hear that you're OK and that you're back to writing again!

TP said...

Reese, nice to see you are on the mend. All the best.

Tom Brennan said...

Reese, are rumors true that you are rehabbing on a certain ranch in Florida with a once-upon-a-time Mets player?

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

No... Reese rides hogs, not horses.

Zozo said...

Hopefully that bump knocked some sense into you and your rooting for another baseball team besides the Mets? Lol welcome back buddy

Reese Kaplan said...

I take plenty of abuse for my opinions 🤭

David Rubin said...

Welcome back, Reese!!!! As someone who recently spent 21 days in the hospital and another 3 weeks recovering, I know all too well how transient our health can be. Please take care because 2020 is going to be a great baseball year for Mets' fans!!!!