The Morning Report 5.18.2015 | Marlins Fire Mike Redmond, Flores Being Flores, Murphy on the Trade Block?, Campbell Provides a Spark

David Wright Injury Tracker | Scheduled to Resume Baseball Activities Today

Adam Rubin | ESPN New York- The Miami Marlins fired manager Mike Redmond on Sunday and plan to announce his replacement Monday at 11 a.m. ET. But they have not contacted the New York Mets about hiring Triple-A Las Vegas manager Wally Backman as Redmond's successor, two Mets officials told ESPN.com. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria reportedly was asking about Backman in April, when Miami was playing at Citi Field and the Marlins were stumbling to open the season. Las Vegas entered Sunday with a 25-12 record under Backman.

(Chris Soto: Boy...the favorites to win the 2nd Wild Card this season are really having a tough time so far this year. Honestly though, Can't really say I'm surprised by it. All off-season while the Marlins were getting so much love...pundits were quick to point out that the club's SP was probably the weakest in the division. With no Jose Fernandez until late June, damaged goods in Mat Latos, and injuries to Henderson Alvarez, who's periphals pointed to regression anyway, the Marlins were always pegged to struggle to limit runs.)

{UPDATE: The Marlins have hired their General Manager Dan Jennings as the club's new Field Manager.}

(Chris Soto: Huh.....ok.....talk about a shocker to top all shockers. Jennings has zero professional managerial experience and is coming into a situations were the Marlins need to turn it around and quick or else risks losing too much ground on the Wild Card race.)

Matt Turner | RantSports- When Wilmer Flores was chosen as the starting shortstop of 2015, the New York Mets knew exactly what type of player he was: one who could give you offensive production, while simultaneously giving you sub-par play in the field. Nearly a quarter of the way through the season, he’s fit the script perfectly. Although his .250 average isn’t quite what the Mets would like, he does lead the team with six home runs. In fact, he’s the only shortstop to be leading his team in home runs. It says something about the Mets’ offensive production, yes, but it also shows that Flores is no slouch at the plate. If he continues at this pace, 20 home runs by the end of the season is more than probable — it’s likely.

(Chris Soto: Thank you for pointing out what should've been pointed out weeks ago. This is Wilmer Flores folks. Anyone who was expecting anything different was kidding themselves. Flores currently T-1st in HR, 10th in Runs, RBI, K rate, and 5th in Isolated Power. The odd thing is that Flores still has a +2.0 defensive value.....but how? Well put simply, WAR stands for Wins ABOVE replacement. Surprisingly, SS around the entire MLB seem to be struggling defensively. Flores' +/- 0 Defensive Runs Saved is still good for an 11th place tie. The guys behind him, Didi Gregorius & Jhonny Peralta [-1], Starlin Castro, Alexei Ramirez, & Everth Cabrera [-3], Ian Desmond [-4], Elvis Andrus [-5], and Danny Santana [-8]. Be aware folks.....this is a problem not just affecting the Mets.)


Joe D. | MetsMerized Online- The Mets could eventually trade Daniel Murphy so that they could promote infielder Matt Reynolds to play shortstop and then have Wilmer Flores slide over to second base. Any change would not happen right away until a market for Murphy developed. Additionally it would all hinge on having a healthy  David Wright back in the lineup. The Mets have resisted promoting Matt Reynolds, mostly because they want to ensure he plays everyday, and with Murphy on the team it’s unlikely he would get enough playing time. One other potential concern is a divided feeling in the front office on whether Reynolds can be an everyday shortstop.

(Chris Soto: At this current point in time....I don't know how you can afford to trade Murphy with Wright and d'Arnaud still on the shelf. That said, if both guys come back healthy and producing...it becomes far more likely. I too though have heard the concerns about Reynolds as a full time SS. The difference between concerns for him and Flores though is that, Flores is defensive liability with the glove and his footwork. The concern with Reynolds is around his arm strength and whether he is able to gun down the speedier guys in the league from deep in the whole. )


J.P. Pelzman | NJ Advance Media- Eric Campbell got on a red-eye flight Friday night in Las Vegas and landed at LaGuardia Airport at 6 a.m. Saturday. But as you might imagine, he really didn’t mind the trip. "It’s better coming this way than going that way," Campbell said with a smile Saturday afternoon after being recalled by the Mets from Class AAA Las Vegas for the second time this season. Campbell said he made some "minor adjustments" to his stance during his stay in Vegas, but didn’t change his swing.

(Chris Soto: I was saying last week that the Mets needed to bring someone who was HOT down in AAA to provide a short term spark in the line-up. Campbell was cruising along with a .367 AVG and a 1.203 OPS during his latest stint in AAA so he was about as HOT as you can be. The Mets bring him up and what happens? How about 4 for 9, 3 runs scored, 2 doubles and 2 RBIs in his first 2 games back. Total Mets runs scored....19. Hang with em Soup!)

Mack Ade – AM Report – 9-16-13 – Protected Pick, Ulnar Collateral Ligament , Jeurys Familia, Noah Syndergaard, Tim Lincecum, Wally Backman

It’s far too early to speculate who the Mets might choose in the 2014 draft if they had one of the protected picks, but, for those of you doing the research and trying to learn more about who is going to be out there for the taking, forget these names…  NC State LHSP Carlos Rodon… NC State SS Trae Turner… East Carolina RHSP Jeff Hoffman… Rancho Bernardo (CA) HS catcher Alex Jackson… and Clovis (CA) HS SS Jacob Gatewood. These five will be long gone when the Mets get to pick their projected 7^th-9^th overall pick.

What this does do is leave a handful of very talented high school pitchers… Conway (SC) HS RHP Grant Holmes… Milton (GA) HS RHP Dylan Cease, Hilo (HI) HS LHP Kodi Medeiros, and Shepard (TX) HS RHP Tyler Kolek, two great college righties, Florida State RHP Luke Weaver and Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede and there is a good chance that no outfielder will be picked until the Mets are on the board. Right now, that would translate as either Virginia’s Derek Fisher or Gainsville (GA) HS Michael Gettys.

This will be an extremely talented first round and it’s going to be close to impossible to miss this high up the chain.

Long shot… the best college bat in the draft:  Notre Dame 3B Jack Flaherty.

 

Dr. Marcus Elliott, a Harvard-trained physician specializing in sports science -

"I'm certain we're going to look back on what we did here in 2012, 2013 and not too far into the future and think that it was really primitive. There are reasons guys end up tearing their ulnar collateral ligament or end up with repetitive trauma to a rotator cuff. There are mechanical explanations for all these things. And we haven't spent a whole lot of time trying to understand what those reasons are. Some of them had inadequate shoulder mobility or not enough trunk stability or hip stability, so it affected their release point. We took anywhere from three weeks to six weeks to keep working on these performance metrics so that they didn't have the pressure of going out to perform while they were huge injury risks. To people in the medical community, the right approach is to be about building systems, understanding the system of the athlete in front of you when you're exposing him to the risks of the game." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130913&content_id=60455388&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

 

RP Jeurys Familia has rejoined the Mets and will pitch for Indios del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League.

Familia is still only 23 years old, even though it seems like he’s been around for decades. Nobody has ever questioned his talent, just his command and accuracy with the sickness he throws. His limited 2013 included eight games in the minors (2-starts) for three teams (9.0-IP, 1.00) and eight appearances in the Mets pen (10.1-IP, 7-K, 7-BB, 3.48). He wasn’t supposed to be ready at this point of the 2013 season, but he is so why not start him back on the road to success. I’m sure the winter league time will be used to build up arm strength, but, in my book, any chance of a successful 2014 has to include a talented pen and the 6-4 righty would make the perfect 8^th inning ROOGY if he gets his shit together (note to readers… don’t be surprised that Bobby Parnell isn’t ready by opening day. I’ve had that surgery and it’s tricky for a person that doesn’t throw the rock every day at 95mph).

 

Baseball Prospectus on Noah Syndergaard -

Syndergaard’s fastball is an elite offering with premier velocity and life. His curveball plays well off of his fastball and has sharp break with bat-missing ability. Overall, Syndergaard is a future top-of-the-rotation pitcher with a near elite arsenal. He also has the ideal physical frame for a pitcher. The arsenal is complete with no major weaknesses, and secondary offerings still have room for projection moving forward.”

Mack – Thor represents the last of the ‘Big 3’ that we’ve been waiting to form. He should graduate to Queens around the same time Matt Harvey’s arm heals, but, for safety sake, let’s just say that it will be opening day 2015 when the Mets rotation features Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Syndergaard.

I’d like to think that the Mets will invest some of that available 2014 money into another starter like Tim Lincecum. Can you imagine the effectiveness of him being the SP4 in 2015?

 

Mets bloggers like Joe D at Metsmerized and Mark Healey on some satellite radio show have to stop pontificating about Wally Backman not rising to the role of Mets manager someday. It’s not going to happen and it’s simply not their decision. We writers are supposed to report on what is decided by the Mets, not spend useless time pontification our personal feelings based on how many times we have had dinner with someone. I come from an era where reporting was first waiting for the decision to go down rather than trash the possibility of something that hasn’t happened yet. Guys, you’re looking bad on this one, especially you Healey. Do you really think this guy would have any chance at this job if he didn’t play for this team once? Let it go, old friend, though you no longer consider me a current one (note: Healey paid me my first  fee for an online story… $50 for his site at Gotham).

 

Cutnpaste: - Jeurys Familia, Nick Evans, Wally Backman, Al Jackson, Octavio Dotel

10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965f  - Top five Met prospects -  Sunday, October 9, 2011 - The Record - 4. Jeurys Familia, RHP, turns 22 Monday (.228 batting-average against in St. Lucie and Binghamton): 132 strikeouts in 124 innings for the right-hander who has been clocked consistently in triple digits. He could switch to the bullpen in the majors.

10-13-11: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/season-review-full-season-1b - Nick Evans played 26 games at first for Buffalo, 10 at third and 31 in the outfield. Oh, and the 25-year old hit .313/.375/.462 overall in 249 AB and .338/.397/.544 against lefties in 68 AB. Will he ever hit enough to hold a job at the big league level? His .256/.314/.403 line in 176 AB this year which nearly matches his MLB career of .256/.305/.407 doesn’t offer much hope as an everyday player. And yet, he owns a career batting line of .295/.360/.489 versus lefthanders. If only there was someone who needed a platoon partner…

Wally Backman isn’t going anywhere- except maybe Buffalo. Backman admitted yesterday he considered leaving for a potential spot on Davey Johnson's staff with the Washington Nationals, but opted to remain with the organization that drafted him. "There was some thought," Backman said of leaving on WFAN Saturday. "It was a long-thought process. I started at 17 years old with the Mets and I'm gonna stay with the Mets." After managing the Mets' Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones team in 2010 and then Double-A Binghamton last year, the 52-year-old Backman figures to be in line to become Triple-A Buffalo's manager this season, replacing last year's manager at Buffalo, Tim Teufel, who was recently was moved up to be the Mets' third base coach. "We haven’t talked about that yet," Backman said. Backman interviewed for the Mets' managerial position a year ago after GM Sandy Alderson was hired, but Alderson chose Terry Collins. Still, Backman believes he has a future with the Mets. "I feel like there's unfinished business," Backman said. "The organization is going in the right direction. And I want to be a part of it." – www.newyorkpost.com

When the National League added the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s for the 1962 season, Al Jackson was a 25-year-old pitcher with 11 major-league appearances. And when he heard on television that he had been selected by that new team in New York, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Not because of any weird premonition about the dismal season the Mets were heading for. And not because he had secretly hoped to wind up in Houston. The Mets simply did not have a reputation for anything yet, good or bad. "How can you be excited about a team when you don't know anything about it?" said Jackson, now 75. "I was just happy for an opportunity to pitch in the big leagues." Jackson was one of 22 players selected by the Mets in that expansion draft, held 50 years ago this week. There had been expansion drafts before and there have been several since, but none remains quite as significant as this one. – www.wsj.org

Even 12 years later, the memory eats at Octavio Dotel. Ask Dotel, the St. Louis Cardinals reliever, about his biggest postseason moment before this season, and the conversation turns to 1999, when he was a promising rookie right-hander for the Mets. But Dotel considers it a slight as much as an accomplishment.  Dotel pitched the final three innings of the Mets’ 15-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. He gave up one run and struck out five, and picked up the victory after Robin Ventura’s apparent grand slam turned into a game-winning single when Ventura was mobbed before he could circle the bases. - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/sports/baseball/cardinals-octavio-dotel-hopes-to-erase-a-mets-memory.html

Why are Mets are looking outside for coaching help?

The big story surrounding the Mets this week has been their attempts, or lack thereof so far, to reach out to Jose Reyes to re-sign him. Another story flew under the radar, though. The Mets have analyzed their coaching staff and have not liked what they have seen.

They kept Terry Collins, Dan Warthen and Dave Hudgens. Everyone else has been either reassigned or not re-signed. They need a new bench coach, bullpen coach, first base coach and third base coach. Among these coaching positions available, bench coach is the most important. It is the right hand man to Terry Collins. It's the coach that takes over when Collins inevitably gets the boot for arguing with the umpires.

The Mets leaked the small list of potential replacements for Ken Oberkfel, Mookie Wilson and Chip Hale, who already has signed a contract to take over as bench coach for the Oakland A's. The list for the new bench coach includes four names: Jim Riggleman, Bob Geren, John McLaren and Larry Bowa. All decent names. All experienced at some level in the majors. Here's the question I have, however. Why these guys?

Why don't they give a Tim Teufel or a Wally Backman an opportunity. This time last year Backman was good enough to nearly beat Collins out for the job as manager, but all of a sudden he's not good enough to be considered for the second in command spot?

Does that logic make any sense? It doesn't to me either. The Mets will have primarily home-grown talent next year and in the foreseeable future.

Why not have as many coaches on the staff as possible that know these young players? Coaches that know their strengths and weaknesses and their limitations. That was the sole reason that Collins stood out over Backman last year. They said he knew the players coming up a little better.

That was good enough for them last year, but this year that doesn't matter? This year it's suddenly okay to go out of the organization? I understand that they want managers that can motivate and have major league managing experience, but let's take a closer look at these candidates, shall we?

Jim Riggleman will forever be known as a coach that bailed on his team halfway through the season. His resignation with the Nationals this past season was crippling to the team. I understand that the same argument can be made about Collins from his days with the Angels.

The difference is that Collins has had to pay his dues in the league before he was trusted again. So far it has worked out well for the Mets. What are the chances that they can catch lightning in the same bottle twice? Not good.

Then, there is Bob Geren. He has held one job as a head coach. It was with the Oakland A's for the past 4 1/2 years. He has a .471 career winning pct. Other than that, what does he know about this team? His only ties (and probably the only reason he is being considered) to the Mets is that he was a minor league coach for Oakland's AAA affiliate when some of the Mets brass were working there.

That's all. He doesn't have any ties to the Mets players or staff. He doesn't know the players' tendencies and reactions to stressful situations. The adjustment period would take longer with him than it would with an in-house option.

Next, there is John McLaren. His last stint was with the Nationals. He replaced Riggleman for three days until legendary Mets manager Davey Johnson took over there. After that, he went into scouting in the Nats organization for the remainder of the season. That has some usefulness.

He can tell the Mets what their minor league players weaknesses are and do it from the perspective of an outsider. He has experience at the majors with Seattle as well. He didn't do too well with a high payroll and professional egos when at the helm. He's never held the head coach position for a full season. That lack of experience as the head of the dugout at the major league level has to speak for something.

Finally, Larry Bowa. Bowa is a fiery manager. In a clubhouse where there is only room for one fire-starter, do they really want to add

another one? Especially one that doesn't know this team? The locker room is light, friendly and inviting. The players respect the man at the top. It's him they would run through walls for. It's he who they fear ridicule from.

If the team were to add a second influence like that, it would become too much noise to them. The players would stop responding to the one that actually matters. Bowa is a name in the sport, but in this case, not a good fitting name.

This all brings me back to my original question. Why not promote from within? It makes more sense to do this than to search for an option from the outside. The options within know the players better. They will certainly be named to positions in the organization and even at the major league level.

The Mets, however, have the chance to use their knowledge to the full advantage. Wally Backman and Tim Teufel would both be outstanding choices that the players and fans would embrace. That can only lead to better and brighter things for the future.

Cutnpaste: - Chasen Bradford, Andres E. Perez, Wally Backman, Johan Santana, David Wright

8-14-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/08/kingsport-mets-team-report-stretch-run-edition.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MetsMerizedOnline-GetMetsmerized-NewYorkMets+%28Mets+Merized+Online%29&utm_content=Twitter  - Chasen Bradford - Drafted this year in the 35th round, out of Central Florida, the RHP Bradford has gotten off to a quick start in the Kingsport pen. In 28 IP, he has given up 23 hits, only 1 HR, his K/BB is 33/6, opponents are hitting .221 against him. His record is 0-0 and his ERA is 2.22, and in 9 IP since Aug began, he has not allowed a run, given up only 3 hits, and is 11/1 in K/BB ratio.

8-23-11: - DSL 2011 End of Season Wrap-Up - http://www.nyfuturestars.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35808&sid=e8719b8eddffd9bc033d0ab708d8aff5  - Andres E Perez, 20, SP - Andres, also in his 3rd year for the Mets foreign rookie teams, pitched in 17 games and started 9. His ERA was 2.04 for the year, and in 61.2 innings he allowed only 46 hits while striking out 66.

Former New York Mets World Series champion Wally Backman has become a YouTube legend for his ejections while managing the South Georgia Peanuts. Now a days Backman is the manager of the Double-A Binghamton Mets where it appears he still has a hearty temper. This video is from the July 10th B-Mets vs New Britain Rock Cats game. Immediately prior, Binghamton designated hitter had been ejected for arguing a called third strike. Backman comes out to protect his player and gets run too, and after picking up the hat that threw, Backman kicks dirt at the umpire like a pro. - http://topprospectalert.com/  

The New York Post wrote on Thursday that while it hasn’t been ruled out, “it seems unlikely” that Johan Santana will return in 2011. With the Mets slipping further and further from contention, why rush him? “We’re starting to look at Instructional League and winter ball and all those sorts of things,” said Alderson. “But at some point, he’s going to need a good period of rest also.” - http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08/26/report-mets-johan-santana-unlikely-to-return-in-2011  - (didn’t I tell you this a month ago?)

8-25-11: - http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ycn-9021595  - David Wright - I love Wright. He's a warrior, a role model, and the kind of player you want desperately to succeed. While he displays glimpses of immortality, there aren't enough of them. I know he's missed many games, but in the games he has played, he's hitting .252…not good enough.