Get Me a Cleanup Hitter Sandy

[Ceetar]

I know we need _someone_ and It'd be nice to get the top-tier talent type guys, but Kemp strikes me as one of those guys that's going to be overpaid to be merely decent and only somewhat healthy the rest of that contract.

But I dunno, maybe that's enough for this team.

[Edgy MD]

Stanton is reportedly in extension talks with the Marlins. He hits arbitration this offseason and has a second arbitrary year before being eligible for free agency. So it's conceivable that the Marlins could shop him if extension talks aren't fruitful.

I'm concerned he may never be the same hitter after his season ended with a pitch to the face.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Stanton is reportedly in extension talks with the Marlins. He hits arbitration this offseason and has a second arbitrary year before being eligible for free agency. So it's conceivable that the Marlins could shop him if extension talks aren't fruitful. I'm concerned he may never be the same hitter after his season ended with a pitch to the face.

Someone tell him to make sure the deal isn't backloaded.

[metsmarathon]

so, thinking about cleanup hitters, i was listening to mlb radio this morning. steve phillips and todd hollandsworth were discussing hte dodgers' ff season plans, and good ol' steve phillips suggested that if he were the gm of the dodgers, he'd be looking to trade away puig, big time. he's got "self destruction" written all over him, to paraphrase, and he's the only really marketable player they have in their outfield rotation, short of prospecty joc pedersen of course.

and so it occurred to me, that the mets could conceivably be a fit there, if we wanted him of course.

and so my question to you all is, what would you be willing to give up in return for yasiel puig, assuming you even want him and his exuberant, childish, and seemingly self-destructive baggage?

[seawolf17]

metsmarathon wrote: and so my question to you all is, what would you be willing to give up in return for yasiel puig, assuming you even want him and his exuberant, childish, and seemingly self-destructive baggage?

YES on Puig. What do the Dodgers want? Cost-controlled pitching? A bullpen arm? I don't know.

[Ceetar]

yes, I want all that.

The problem is I think the Dodgers downgrade Puig based on that stuff less than the Mets do.

[Frayed Knot]

Puig is signed for another five years and, because the Dodgers paid him a big bonus up front, his salaries are actually quite low going forward. On the other hand, while he apparently does NOT have the Cepedes-like deal where he can't be offered arbitration (effectively making him a FA before the standard six years), he can opt [u:tnxz66oa]into salary arbitration[/u:tnxz66oa] after year three (aka 2015) so those low salaries effectively get wiped out by market-driven corrections.

The only red flag with him -- y'know, except for the self-destructive part, and the part about not listening to coaches, and where he often runs until he's tagged out regardless of the situation -- is the power outage he had in the 2nd half of 2014. I was looking for the 2nd year slump from him as the league adjusted (similar to what Cepedes has gone through) and it looked like I was wrong until after the ASB when he hit all of 4 HRs in 215 ABs
Maybe that's a sign that pitchers are adjusting to him or maybe it's just a SSS variation. In all, year 2 saw a 23 point drop in BA compared to his 2013, a drop of 9 points in OBA (unlike the stereotyped Latin slugger, he does take his walks), and 54 in Slugging, most of that due to the 2nd half power slump: SLG 1st half = .522, 2nd half = .414

Edited November 5, 2014 by Guest

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm a little Steve Phillips on Pig myself. I think he's juicing and all that.

If we are going to make a trade let's look at Justin Upton.

[Centerfield]

Some speculation on what it would take to get Bautista.

Sheesh. Seems like a lot.

http://tipofthetower.com/2014/10/02/toronto-blue-jays-jose-bautista-being-targeted-by-mets/

I'd give up Murphy and Wheeler in a heartbeat. Plawecki OR Nimmo is fine, it would be hard to give up both. I'd rather give up Montero than Matz, but would try to push hard to give up Niese or Gee instead.

[Edgy MD]

This seems to be the Outfield 2015 thread now.

There's a lot of Alex Gordon talk a-bubbling. The Royals need pitchers and have a big spacious outfield for low-walk/flyball types like Colon and Montero.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm a little Steve Phillips on Pig myself. I think he's juicing and all that. If we are going to make a trade let's look at Justin Upton.

The Braves would have to be pretty desperate to trade Upton to the Mets no?

But I'd be okay with that.

[Frayed Knot]

One of the columnists was in the paper this morning suggesting Syndergaard for J Upton - but the problem with that is that Upton's only signed for one year and, at age 27, I can't see him forfeiting his first shot at FA-gency by talking contract during the season.
If I'm moving Syndergaard it's going to be for someone who'll be here for more than 162 games.

[Edgy MD]

The problem with that is everything.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That was John Harper, offering everything the Mets have for Upton. Synder, Wheeler, whomever. Whatever it takes!

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, spare me from the 'Whatever it Takes' line of thinking.
I sometimes think it's more like the 'Whatever it takes to get you to read my column' strategy as opposed to moves they believe in.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Yeah, spare me from the 'Whatever it Takes' line of thinking. I sometimes think it's more like the 'Whatever it takes to get you to read my column' strategy as opposed to moves they believe in.

Sometimes?

[Centerfield]

So the more I think about it, I think the signing of Cuddyer puts this pipe dream to an end. At the end of the off-season, Sandy et al. will cite to Cuddyer as the big bat they needed to get. This type of signing fits perfectly with the rumored philosophy of this regime, which is to build around young starting pitching while mixing and matching a few cheaper pieces to construct the lineup.

The buzz from the articles this morning is that the Mets are done upgrading the OF. Which leaves only SS as the possible upgrade.

Only Troy Tulowitzki fits the bill of cleanup hitter at SS. And I don't think this is realistic (too expensive, both in dollars and prospects).

I think we are done here.

[Edgy MD]

Not to pull you back in, but.

18 hours ago @JeffPassan Mets aren't done. They've talked with the Rockies about Troy Tulowitzki, sources tell Y! Sports. Fear they can't afford, but talking still.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Other bigger guys have said there's no serious discussion.

[Ceetar]

long way to go yet.

[Edgy MD]

Other bigger guys have said there's no serious discussion.

I certainly get that. Rubin just posted as much as I type.

Although I don't believe the notion that a maneuver is made and the front office congratulates itself and goes jet skiing. Trades almost have to take place this offseason. The redundancies they have clearly challenge them to do as much. A cleanup hitter? Well, that's always a tough throw.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: Not to pull you back in, but. 18 hours ago @JeffPassan Mets aren't done. They've talked with the Rockies about Troy Tulowitzki, sources tell Y! Sports. Fear they can't afford, but talking still.

I've heard that too. But do you really think that it is realistic? Tulo would cost at least Wheeler, and several other prospects (Matz, Montero, Nimmo). Plus he is signed for 19 per year over 6 years. He's from Colorado, and on the wrong side of 30.

I just don't see this happening.

[Edgy MD]

Realistic? Well, I certainly don't expect it. But the majority of the voices were telling me that Cuddyer was off the table last week.

If he gets traded, I don't think Wheeler, Matz, Montero, and Nimmo would all be in the package at all. That would be the Rockies being unrealistic.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: Other bigger guys have said there's no serious discussion. I certainly get that. Rubin just posted as much as I type. Although I don't believe the notion that a maneuver is made and the front office congratulates itself and goes jet skiing. Trades almost have to take place this offseason. The redundancies they have clearly challenge them to do as much. A cleanup hitter? Well, that's always a tough throw.

Oh, I don't think they are done making moves, we have too many starters, etc. And I think they will certainly explore upgrading at SS, but I think that the pipe dream of a cleanup hitter, and I realize it was somewhat unrealistic, is over on the first day of the GM meetings.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I am certain the MFYs wind up with Tulo.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Ceetar wrote: long way to go yet.

Yeah, unless they're done and we'll be talking
about a long way of nothing the end of February.

[seawolf17]

If we're going to go big on an established shortstop, it makes infinitely more sense (less money to take on + less prospects to trade + goodwill) to talk with Toronto about Reyes.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I am certain the MFYs wind up with Tulo.

/Points to nose

Given the injury risk-- hell, injury likelihood-- and his contract taken together, well, unless they're eating a LOT of salary, I'm very much against including more than one elite/major-league-ready prospect.

[ashie62]

Tulowitzki is perpetually injured. Gettem MFY's!

[Vic Sage]

yeah, that's my feeling, too...

Tulo is a good hitter but he has Coors-inflated numbers and a significant, chronic and recent injury history (averaging 120g/year, with over 126g in only 3 of his 9 seasons), and a mega-$ contract for 6 more years.

That's nuts.

If the Mets could take the risk on him (in money and prospects) and then just shrug off the $$ commitment if things don't work out with him, then maybe. But you KNOW that, if Tulo goes down (or, really, WHEN he goes down),l the contact would be an albatross that will handcuff this organization for a long while. And the only way the Rockies would eat any significant portion of that contract is if they're getting our very best prospects and major leaguers too. Wheeler & Syndergaard, and go from there. If we give up those kinds of chips, we need a blue chip in return.

And Tulo's not a blue chip... he's a red cross.

So no thanks.