Catch As Catch Won't

[G-Fafif]

Mets angling to stifle what's left of Devin Mesoraco's career, reportedly prepared to place him on Restricted List rather than release him from his minor league contract. Meso would rather retire than go to Syracuse, sort of like Thor. Perhaps Scripto Pen is hiring.



Also, Mets in talks with Rene Rivera to be the designated veteran Quadruple-A catcher instead.

[Edgy MD]

I guess Nido and Colton Plaia at AAA won't cut it. Need a vet.



Stinks for Meso, but that's what a minor league contract is. On the other hand, refusing to release a guy who won't report is some serious hardball. I wonder if the league wants Brodie to play it that way.



Maybe Jarrod Saltalamacchia wants to un-retire and spent some quality time in lovely Syracuse. He's younger than Rivera, and he's currently a high school assistant coach.

[Fman99]

Syracuse is nice. Fuck all these haters.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I wonder why the Mets didn't want Mesoraco up to start the year while d'Arnaud is on the IL anyway? It doesn't seem they prefer Rivera, more like he's the reaction this Mesoraco mess. The dude should go to AAA as he signed a minor league deal, apparently with no "upward mobility" clause. BUT it doesn't seem too ridiculous for the Mets to just grant the man his release instead of restricting him. Where's the heart, Mets?

[smg58]

I could understand opting for Nido if you don't anticipate d'Arnaud being out for long, on the grounds that calling up Mesoraco briefly wouldn't justify the risk of losing somebody to a waiver claim. But I'm not sure I feel too much sympathy for Mesoraco if the contract he signed did not give him the option of insisting on a release if he didn't open the season with the club.

[LWFS]

Is Nido out of options?

[Edgy MD]

No, he's totally farmable.

[LWFS]

Then yeah, considering the d'Arnaud thing, it's a little odd that they're pushing Mesoraco overboard. Unless they considered him burnt as a major leaguer? Nido's great defensively, but... limited in terms of offensive ceiling.

[Ceetar]

No reason to put Mesoraco on the 40 man for a few days if they don't roll with d'Arnaud. If they inferred Mesoraco would have his spot if he couldn't go, I'm sure the Mets meant like, IL'd and hurt, not simply needing another week or two. He basically signed the contract betting Travis wouldn't be healthy. He lost.



But if they really value Mes (why, he's bad) why should they just release him to other teams because he's whiny about it? If he doesn't change his mind, once d'Arnaud is game tested they probably will release him.



Also, no one else wants him. And if they do, the Mets can entertain trade offers.

[A Boy Named Seo]

The upward mobility clause thing is funny. MLBTR says it doesn't look like Mesoraco had one afterall, even though Healy originally reported https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/devin-mesoraco-adeiny-hechavarria-luis-avilan-upward-mobility-clause-1.28738987that he did. If it was not spelled out in the contract, and it was a handshake/wink-wink thing, then the Mets clearly didn't communicate the handshakes and winks very well. It doesn't seem like Mesoraco has any other gigs lined up, so it is possible the Mets could have let the league know he was available, and no one in the league gave a shit. Hard to tell at this point what's real or not but the confusion seems pretty Metsy.

[Frayed Knot]

The last guy I remember who tried to enact an upward mobility claus(e) was Von Bulow

[A Boy Named Seo]

Devin Mesoraco - Forever trapped in amber and stored by the Mets at his house in Pittsburgh.

[Edgy MD]

The guy plays seven and a half years in Cincinnati but won't give Syracuse a try.



Ouch.

[nymr83]

He signed the contract so fuck off.



Correct personnel decision too.

[Fman99]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Devin Mesoraco - Forever trapped in amber and stored by the Mets at his house in Pittsburgh.

Good, fuck him. It's going to be spring here in like, what, 8 weeks.

[Edgy MD]

A theory: He was signed because deGrom liked pitching to him more than others. deGrom got some work in with Ramos, and suddenly he's thrilled to be pitching to Wilson. Plus, his bat in the lineup has a better chance of getting deGrom out of the position where giving up one run means a no-decision and giving up two means a loss.

[nymr83]

Definitely possible.



Another theory from the tin-foil-hat Wilpon haters - DeGrom signed long term so they no longer care about pleasing him, cut his "personal catcher"

[Ceetar]

Or maybe they got deGrom to concede that Mesoraco is in fact a bad defensive catcher and despite feeling 'comfortable' he was probably worse off with him.

[seawolf17]

=nymr83 post_id=5160 time=1553646753 user_id=54]
He signed the contract so fuck off.



Correct personnel decision too.

[MFS62]

Reading is fundamental.

Maybe his agent should have read the contract.



Later

[Centerfield]

I'm thinking this whole thing started with the decision to keep Travis over Plawecki. Plawecki is a perfectly serviceable backup catcher and was cheap enough that you could have used the Travis money on Gio Gonzalez.



Secondly, I hear you guys saying it's the right personnel move. Why? Nido was terrible. We talked about how the Mets needed to do something about catcher as the season slipped away last year. Mesoraco isn't that good, but he's Babe Ruth compared to Nido. So why wouldn't you keep him? If you lose him, then you're stuck with two injury-prone guys and Thomas Nido.



But that being said, Mes is dead wrong. You sign a contract, you have to honor it. If you're relying on some sort of handshake agreement with Brodie Van UsedCarSalesmanIReporttoJeffWilpon, then yeah. Lotsa luck buddy.

[LWFS]

Yabbut, Nido is probably worth more than Mesoraco with the glove alone.



Also, Plawecki was traded because Plawecki was more tradeable, I reckon.

[Ceetar]

That's unfair to Nido.



Nido hadn't even been to AAA. He was overmatched for sure, but that doesn't mean he's worthless, or that Mesoraco would be Babe Ruth to him this year.



Plus he's already a better catcher. Mesoraco is BAD at catching. If you expect any type of reasonable improvement from Nido as a prospect, he'll probably be a better option than Mes by like June.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: A theory: [Mesoraco] was signed because deGrom liked pitching to him more than others.

Possibly because they were born on the same day (6/19/88) and are actually covert twins with all that secret twin language between them and stuff.

Eh, probably not.





Nido (25 next month) being six years younger than Mesoraco (31 in June) is a factor in all this too.