John From Albany - Breakfast Links 11/29/2019

The MLB Non-Tender Deadline is coming up next Monday, December 2.  

Already the Orioles placed Jonathan Villar on waivers (which the NY Post reported as a “soulless tanking move”.  We could see some new potential Mets targets emerge.

CBS Sports has a potential list that includes Jackie Bradley Jr.

MLB.com had potential non-tenders for every team including Kevin Pillar.  None for the Mets.

Rising Apple looked at the Mets getting Kevin Pillar. “Pillar fits the mold as a right-handed-hitting center fielder that plays better defense than Nimmo. His numbers in center field have regressed the last two seasons, but he was playing on turf in Toronto which is known to be bad on the knees…. This past season Pillar was worth -5 defensive runs saved and committed 4 errors in 133 games and 1,170 innings in center field.”

Speaking of potential Mets targets, Starling Marte says coming to the Mets would be a great opportunity.

Jim Duquette tried to explain his lopsided Mets trade for Starling Marte. Andres Gimenez, Franklyn Kilome, Mark Vientos or David Peterson for Starling Marte. 

Reflections of Baseball has some Black Friday Sales ideas for Brodie Van Wagenen.  Perhaps some good ideas like Marcell Ozuna, Lefty Jake Diekman, Daniel Hudson.  Perhaps some not, Joe Panik?

MLB Trade Rumors had how the Mets were the runners up to sign Josh Harrison.  Is it me or does that seem to be a recurring theme for the Mets over the years?

The Mets Police gives thanks to the Nice Things that happened in the 2010s.

The NY Daily News has a story of how the Mets should make Robinson Cano a utility player.  The writer makes some good points including how in 2019 “he batted just .256/.307/.428, including an unacceptably poor, punchless .215 against fellow lefties.” 

Metsmerized says how the Mets have a Michael Conforto problem.  “So, if the Mets are serious about improving as a defensive team and aren’t going to lock Conforto up through the prime of his career, they should trade him.”

Elite Sports NY looks at Mets Rotation options.  They also have a scouting report on 31 year old Korean Lefty, Kwang-Hyun Kim.

The Empire Writes back wonders if Carlos Beltran could be punished for his role in the Astros sign stealing controversy. “Whatever comes down from the league, Beltran can count on answering tons of questions about what happened and how he was involved. The new skipper will have to keep that issue and his managerial duties separate if he can.”

In Winter Ball Last night:

No games in the Dominican Republic on Thursday but Tyler Bashlor did pitch on Wedesday.

Making his fourth appearance of the Winter, Tyler Bashlor threw one inning in a 1-0 Toros Del Este loss (Box).  With his team behind, Tyler pitched a clean 9^th, inducing a pop out and a ground out before striking out the final batter to end the inning.  In 4 games this winter, Tyler has thrown 4.1 innings, not given up any runs on 3 hits total and 6 strikeouts, no walks, 0.69 WHIP.  With 29 walks in 54 innings in the majors so far in his career, it is good to see Tyler not give up any walks this winter.

The Auckland Tuatara where Mets Minor leaguers Jeremy Vasquez and Hansel Moreno are playing had their game on Thursday shortened after 2.2 innings.  Hansel led off in that game playing Center Field going 2 for 2.  They are playing a double header today.  No results as of the time of this posting.  We will have the full details tomorrow if not before.  

Empire Sports Media ran down some of the History related to the Mets on Thanksgiving Day.

UltimateMets has this date in Mets History:

Born on this date:

• Rick Anderson (1956)
• Howard Johnson (1960)
• Pedro Martinez (1968)

Transactions:

New York Mets purchased Al Luplow from the Cleveland Indians on November 29, 1965.

New York Mets traded Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tommy Davis and Derrell Griffith on November 29, 1966.

New York Mets traded Quilvio Veras to the Florida Marlins for Carl Everett on November 29, 1994.

San Francisco Giants signed Kenny Greer of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 29, 1994.

New York Mets signed free agent Billy Wagner of the Philadelphia Phillies on November 29, 2005.

Philadelphia Phillies signed Pat Misch of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 29, 2011.

Mack’s Mets Blast from the Past.  From November 29, 2010, The Mack Draft Report has lots of info on Players in the 2011 Major League Draft including Anthony Rendon, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Gerrit Cole. 

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 

Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

Happy Thanksgiving

Mack's Mets will be closed today.

Gobble gobble... 

OPEN THREAD: Jeremy Hefner

The Mets named ex-Met Jeremy Hefner as their new pitching coach.

Thoughts???

Reese Kaplan -- We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us

Hashtags have become a way of life.  Even among people who manage to avoid using Twitter, only the most insular among us are unaware of the descriptors like #SomeCrapWeSupport which helps index similar thoughts from others searching to reaffirm what they already believe. 

In the days before Twitter we still had the same mentality, but it was distributed differently.  One that sort of straddles the older generation and the newer one is the resurrection of the LOLMets moniker.  You wonder how these things get started, but when you sit back to ruminate awhile the answer becomes self evident.

When the season was drawing to a close, no one doubted that the Mets were going to make a change in the field manager.  After all, Mickey Callaway made innumerable lineup and bullpen decisions that were at the least head scratchers.  He didn’t seem nuanced in the National League use of substitutions and pinch hitters.  He didn’t seem to understand things like the double switch.  He sometimes left his pitchers get battered around like a fungo practice session and other times was he was Captain Hook.  

Consequently, no one other than the Callaway family shed tears when Brodie Van Wagenen decided he needed to bring in his own guy rather than continuing down the path with the one who actually delivered a winning record in only his second year on the job (something his predecessor took until his 5^th year to do so).  Obviously, BVW was going to look for someone with more experience to address the shortcomings of handing the reins to a rookie ill prepared for the job.  

Instead, he hired Carlos Beltran who not only had not ever managed before, but also had not logged a single inning as a coach.  So in terms of experience, he actually went backwards. It was not like he was held in high regard by Mets fans.  They all vilified him for leaving the bat on his shoulder in the playoffs against Adam Wainwright.  Then he took up with the Yankees. Then the cherry on top was his stealing of signs during the World Series while a member of the Astros. #LOLMets

Seemingly year after year the Mets need to address the firestarters from the previous year's conflagration in the bullpen.  First came the blockbuster trade to bring the AL’s Saves leader to the Mets in the form of Edwin Diaz.  We know how that worked out.  Then came the ill-advised signing of Jeurys Familia who had been traded away the season before.  The reason it was not a particularly smart move was because anyone who watched the Mets saw that Familia was one pitcher with the game on the line and another one entirely in non-save situations.  He flat-out sucked in them, yet BVW gave him $30 million over three years to do what he demonstrated he failed at again and again. 

Therefore, it should come as no surprise when he provided kerosene for the fire as the setup guy.  He did acquire previously effective pitchers in Justin Wilson and Luis Avilan but both missed huge chunks of the season due to injury.  Only Seth Lugo was a bright light out there, so naturally the Mets are talking about removing him from the bullpen to make him a starter, thus further inflaming their Achille’s Heel.  #LOLMets

About the only good thing that came out of the prolonged injury that destroyed David Wright’s career was the fact that the insurance policy covered 75% of his salary after he missed 60 games and could not participate in baseball activities.  The most expensive player they ever signed, Yoenis Cespedes, has also seen his career derailed by injuries, though in his case it was a multitude (not all of which were baseball related).  

So, earlier this month video surfaces of Cespedes taking batting practice against his buddy Endy Chavez.  While some were probably pleased to finally see the leader of the 2015 World Series team possibly becoming relevant once again, the front office was likely horrified as it’s hard to make the case he’s unable to play and thus due for a 75% insurance reimbursement if he’s out there all over Instagram showing off his prowess.  Now his full salary must be factored into the already difficult off-season budgeting.  #LOLMets

Pogo was right!

John From Albany - Breakfast Links 11/27/2019

Monday the Mets decided on Hensley Meulens as Bench Coach.

Tuesday they landed on Jeremy Hefner as pitching coach. 

Hefner, 33 is 4 years younger than Robinson Cano.  As assistant Pitching Coach of the Twins: “Hefner relied heavily on data to concoct pitch-mix strategies and mechanical adjustments for Twins pitchers, much as Mets pitching strategist Jeremy Accardo did upon joining the Mets’ big league staff in June.”

Mike Puma of the NY Post notes that Hefner is young enough to be Phil Regan’s grandson. “I think he brings extra credibility because he’s played in this decade,” said Twins special assistant LaTroy Hawkins, a former reliever who was a teammate of Hefner’s with the Mets. “He still relates to the players very well and his communication skills are off the charts. He gets all the analytical stuff, but understands there is a human element to it that needs to be addressed as well with the players.”

Don’t worry Phil Regan is expected to stay with the Mets.  As 213 Miles From Shea recently posted, Phil is coaching in the Dominican this winter for Toros Del Este where Tyler Bashlor, Chris Mazza, and Daniel Zamora are all currently pitching.  I am guessing if Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia show up in the winter leagues, it will be on this team. 

Mets Daddy wished Jeremy Hafner well when he left the Mets organization back in 2015. 

Mets Daddy says the Mets should extend Steven Matz now.  He notes that he moved to the middle of the rubber mid-way through the season: “From July 21 until the end of the season, Matz would make 13 starts going 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA, 1.181 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, and an 8.7 K/9. Over this stretch, he had a 3.65 FIP. It’s a small sample size, but it is notable his FIP over this stretch was better than what Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin had.”

One of the best, Metstradamus, has a new post. He offers a “creative” trade idea with Cespedes going to the Rockies.  (Your lips to God’s ears Metstradamus.)

MiLB has the reasons for National League fans to give thanks.  For the Mets it is Ronny Mauricio, Andres Gimenez, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos.

Mets.com has the best Mets wins of 2019 with video highlights included.

Yahoo Sports looks at Zack Wheeler’s Price tag.  At $100 million could it be too much for the White Sox?

Marcus Stroman raves about Carlos Beltran.  “Just talked to @carlosbeltran15 on the phone. Wow wow wow. The insight and knowledge is insane. Beyond excited to compete for and learn from this man in 2020!”

The Mets Police notes how Howard Johnson will be at the 2020 Queens Baseball Classic.

The Mets Police sticks up for R.A. Dickey.

Metsmerized discusses recent advances by women in baseball.

Metsmerized has an Ahmed Rosario report card.

Mestmerized profiles potential free agent target Brett Gardner. They say “The Mets should at least kick the tires on bringing in the veteran, who would provide depth to their lineup and rotate in the outfield with Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil, and Michael Conforto.”  I like Brett a lot, but the Mets already have a number of left handed hitters.  Depending on other moves they make, he could be a fit and provide that all important “veteran leadership”.

Mets Minors has the Mets All-Prospect team.  Great idea for a post.  As Franklyn Kilome is on the team they are looking at projected results and not 2019 results.

The Phillies signed Josh Harrison.

Mets fans may enjoy the Good Phight’s season review of Jason Vargas.

MLB reportedly free agent relief pitcher Sam Dyson under Domestic Violence policy.

Former MLB pitcher, Will Brunson, dies suddenly.

Reflections on Baseball asks if you’d like to be Pete Alonoso. He talks about whether or not a sophomore jinx might happen to Pete.

In Winter Ball Last night:

In the Dominican Republic last night, Daniel Zamora came in to get one out in the 8^th inning for Toros Del Este in a 3-2 Toros win.  With the game tied at 2-2 Daniel Zamora gave up a base hit and sacrifice bunt.  Then after an error by the Toros second baseman, Alen Hanson, putting runners at second and third, 6’2” righthander Keury Mella (currently a minor league free agent after pitching in Louisville last year as a starter 5.05 ERA, 6.17 ERA this winter) - came in and struck out the final two batters of the inning, so none of the runners who reached while Zamora was pitching scored. 

Former Met, 42 year old Raul Valdes started that game going 7 innings giving up 2 hits, 2 runs, 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.  In eight games stared this winter Raul has a 2.44 ERA. Happy Birthday Raul.

Jordany Valdespin also played in that same game for Toros Del Este going 2 for 5, and is hitting .323 this winter. 

Australian games will start back up on Thursday.  We will look how League both Jeremy Vasquez and Hansel Moreno did on Friday.

UltimateMets has this date in Mets History:

Born on this date:

• Bill Short (1937)
• Randy Milligan (1961)
• Raul Valdes (1977)

Transactions:

New York Mets traded Bill Denehy to the Washington Senators for Gil Hodges on November 27, 1967.

New York Mets traded Tommie Agee to the Houston Astros for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris on November 27, 1972.

New York Mets traded Brent Strom and Bob Rauch to the Cleveland Indians for Phil Hennigan on November 27, 1972.

Boston Red Sox signed Skip Lockwood of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 27, 1979.

New York Mets signed free agent Eddie Murray of the Los Angeles Dodgers on November 27, 1991.

New York Mets traded Jerry Dipoto to the Colorado Rockies for Armando Reynoso on November 27, 1996.

New York Mets traded Rico Brogna to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ricardo Jordan and Toby Borland on November 27, 1996.

Cincinnati Reds signed Ricardo Jordan of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 27, 1997.

Cleveland Indians signed Anthony Recker of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 27, 2015.

Mack’s Mets Blast from the Past.  From November 27, 2010, The Mack Report has lots of info on Mets minor leaguers at the time. 
Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 
Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

Fireflies Release Twelve Days of Christmas Schedule

MEDIA RELEASE

         

      

                       

Fireflies Release Twelve Days of Christmas Schedule

Fans who purchase a new ticket membership during the twelve days will earn an exclusive Fireflies experience

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia Fireflies today released the details of their Twelve Days of Christmas holiday ticket plans. With the purchase of any new ticket membership over the course of the twelve days, fans will earn an exclusive Fireflies experience redeemable during the 2020 season. Each of the twelve days will feature a different experience, with a limited number of each experience being available each day. The ticket memberships will go on sale each morning at 9am and will be available for purchase until 5pm or sold out.

The Twelve Days of Christmas will begin on December 5 and conclude on December 16. Each experience comes with certain restrictions which will be posted online in the description of each experience, so fans are encouraged to read the descriptions carefully before purchase. Each experience can only be redeemed on a day included in the purchased ticket membership.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Schedule is as follows:

• December 5: Have a pre-game catch on the field
• December 6: Join the Fireflies Manager for the lineup exchange
• December 7: A one-hour session in the Fireflies Batting Cages
• December 8: Throw a ceremonial first pitch
• December 9: Club Lounge Passes Upgrade for one game
• December 10: Join the Fireflies Broadcast OR be the Public Address Announcer for one inning
• December 11: Have Mason attend one of your events
• December 12: Receive a 2020 team signed baseball
• December 13: Be an honorary bat boy or bat girl for an inning
• December 14: Watch Fireflies Batting Practice from the field
• December 15: Enjoy an All-You-Can-Eat upgrade for one night
• December 16: Dance with the Fly Guys

Download the Twelve Days of Christmas Schedule Here

The sale of all ticket memberships will be online only. Membership plans start as low as $70. Fans who purchase a membership during the twelve days will be contacted by a Fireflies Account Representative to schedule their experience. Twelve Days of Christmas ticket memberships can be purchased online here.

Individual Tickets for the 2020 season will go on sale in February.

Where Will Zack Wheeler Sign for 2020? - Tony Plate

                                                                     

    

One question on the minds of the New York Mets is where will Zack Wheeler sign during the Winter? 

There have been rumors of the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and even the New York Yankees. 

In my opinion, the Atlanta Braves can be an option since Zack is from Georgia. The Yankees can really use Zack since they’ve had problems with their starting rotation being the weak part of the team during the last several years.

The Yankees have not been able to develop that frontline type of pitcher that can be the ace of their rotation in their farm system for many years.  Zack would fit in well with their starting rotation and would be the number three starter behind Paxson and Severino.

There is no way that the Mets would want to face Zack if he is a member of the Phillies or the Braves since they are in the same division. 

The Phillies are in dire need of help in their starting rotation and Zack would make the Phillies a wild card contender. It would make the National League East much more interesting.

The Mets would like to have Zack back, but he would come at a high cost and would be out of the Mets price range plus they are wary of being so close to the luxury tax threshold. 

The Mets would still be a contender even if leaves, because they would still have a formidable starting rotation. They would rather spend free agent money on their bullpen, centerfield or perhaps at third base.

Zack is due a very good paycheck. He is under thirty with talent and he is coming off of two straight productive years. I think Wheeler will pitch like the pitcher he was back in 2018 when he went 12-7 with a 3.31 Earned Run Average in 29 starts that season.

He really stepped up during the second half of that season. His last eleven starts of that year consisted of a 9-1 record with a 1.68 Earned Run Average and 73 strikeouts over 75 innings. He went 11-8 with a 3.96 earned run average last year.

In other baseball news Hensley Meulens was named the bench coach for the Mets. He was a member of Bruce Bochy’s staff last year.  Meulens had interviewed last month for the San Francisco Giants Manager position that went to Gabe Kapler.

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Mike Freire - So, Let's Talk Defense

There has been a lot of chatter since the Mets' season ended about their lack of defensive prowess and how it may have cost them a few ballgames in 2019.  Using the highly scientific "eye test", I would tend to agree that the team struggled to catch the baseball last year.  If you take a look at the statistics, the Mets finished 19th out of 30 teams with a team fielding percentage of 0.983, along with 98 errors so that seems to line up with our collective impression.

In addition, the Mets also surrendered 49 unearned runs which are usually the end result of giving your opponent extra "outs" if you will.  While no one is perfect, you want to minimize mistakes where you can since close games are usually won by teams who are better fundamentally, i.e. defensively.  Just ask the Milwaukee Brewers who were in position to eliminate the Washington Nationals from the NL Wild Card game before an error late in that matchup doomed their chances.

There are a ton of defensive metrics that you can use to evaluate a team's performance.  To keep things simple, I am going to use Fielding Percentage as a measure of defensive ability for the rest of this article.  I know that it doesn't necessarily account for things like each player's range, but it does measure how well a team makes plays that they SHOULD make.

If you take a look at the top ten teams in Fielding Percentage (FP) for the 2019 season, it would look like this;

St Louis, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Arizona, Boston, Oakland, San Francisco, Cleveland and Washington.

***Eight of the ten teams listed had winning records (bold) and six of them were in the playoffs, to include the eventual World Series Champions in Washington.

If we increase our sample size to include the last five seasons (2015-2019), 64% of the teams in the top ten for FP had winning records.  The lists are littered with playoff teams and past champions like the 2018 Red Sox.  So, it would seem that an important ingredient for winning teams is making plays in the field when you are given the chance.  While it doesn't guarantee success, it is MUCH harder to win consistently if you have a poor defense.

Despite the Mets' improving offense, they are still a team that is built around their pitching staff with a focus on "run suppression".  Pitching is intertwined with defensive ability as we all know, so if the team can improve their defense it should have a positive effect on their chances of winning more than 86 games in 2020.

I know, nothing written above is new information but it helps to explain how important a team's defense is to it's overall success.  A handful of teams appear on these lists every year like the Cardinals, Astros, Nationals, Braves and Red Sox.  It's no surprise that these teams are also playoff contention year in and year out (with two of them in our own division).

So, now that we have identified an area of weakness, how do the Mets go about fixing the problem?

Good defensive team are usually strong "up the middle" (C, 2B, SS and CF), so that would be a great place to start.  Ramos (C), Cano (2B) and Rosario (SS) are pretty much locked into their respective positions for the 2020 season, so changes are unlikely in the short term.  None of the players are likely to win a Gold Glove, but they have the ability to be capable defenders (which would be an improvement over 2019). 

The biggest void, in my opinion, is in CF and it is the most likely path for defensive improvement moving forward.  The free agent market for this position is pretty sparse, so help will need to come from internal options, or more likely the trade market.

What's your fix?