Relief pitching

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Joel Sherman, who's been right about a lot of stuff, says the Mets are looking to acquire relief help, mainly because Mejia isn't eligible for postseason. It also sorta makes sense if we intend to be in it, Familia's recent stretch of unexcellence, and Parnell's shitty unwinding the other day. It's what teams in contention get from teams not in contention.

I hate the motherfucker but Tyler Clippard (A's) is on the list, as is Juaquin Benoit, now of San Diego. Any thoughts?

[TransMonk]

I gotta fever and the only prescription is more bullpen.

[Ceetar]

you pretty much gotta lean on Mejia heavily down the stretch right? completely burn him out?

[HahnSolo]

Not sure how Clippard is throwing this year, but he always seemed like a guy who could come out of the pen and have success against both righties and lefties and if you had to get more than one inning out of him you could.

Plus he owes us for the May '07 Sunday night start he had for the MFYs against us.

[TransMonk]

Ceetar wrote: you pretty much gotta lean on Mejia heavily down the stretch right? completely burn him out?

Oh yeah. Really, that is the rest of his punishment for getting caught using PEDs. If he's effective, he's got to be used as much as possible down the stretch.

Terry will need to figure out where that breaking point is to avoid injury and ineffectiveness.

[Edgy MD]

I tend to think Veteran Relief Help is something everyone is gunning for at deadline time, and nobody really gets an edge from. I mean, we've been through crunches with six or seven starters, and now they have three closers. Come October, the back end of the rotation lands in the bullpen anyhow.

Maybe they can trade Gilmartin for a veteran guy.

I'm curious about whether they really intend to go the distance without a left-handed specialist, while they have Dario Alvarez, Chase Huchingson, and Scott Rice totally getting the job done on the farm. Duane Below too before he went to Japan.

[TransMonk]

[Edgy MD]

A quick look at the Web and I learned that Clippard is going to be traded today to everybody.

[Edgy MD]

And suddenly, signs start pointing to TheMetsTheMetsTheMets.

Threatens to make our ex-Yankee factor dangerously high.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm concerned he'll continue fucking us over, just in a different way.

Wonder if Sandy can get Reddick to come along for the ride, that would be really nice.

[TransMonk]

I disliked him more in that Nats pen.

[Frayed Knot]

Clippard's annoying in that he slows down the pace of the game the second he comes in.
That said he's good a lot more often than not and he could slide in just about anywhere in the pen, including closer if needed.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Don't overpay, Mets. The shit is free all over the internet.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I'm concerned he'll continue fucking us over, just in a different way.

This. I just hate buying high on relievers (see: Putz, et. al.). Clippard is a great, versatile one (from multi-inning stints to closing), though.... for now. Even then, his peripherals scream "regression/decline" (lower K-rate, higher BB-rate, lower-GB-rate than last year, along with suspiciously high strand-rate and low BABIP). I'm hoping Alderson's driving a typically-hard bargain, 'cause this way, there be dragons.

[RealityChuck]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Don't overpay, Mets. The shit is free all over the internet.

He's dead, but his grandsons are still available.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

CLIPPY CAN DO, AND ZOBRIST TOO

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm concerned he'll continue fucking us over, just in a different way. This. I just hate buying high on relievers (see: Putz, et. al.). Clippard is a great, versatile one (from multi-inning stints to closing), though.... for now. Even then, his peripherals scream "regression/decline" (lower K-rate, higher BB-rate, lower-GB-rate than last year, along with suspiciously high strand-rate and low BABIP). I'm hoping Alderson's driving a typically-hard bargain, 'cause this way, there be dragons.

Yes me too. Hopefully comes cheap but given competition for him, probably won't; maybe (maybe!) we can get an edge by doing Oakland the favor of also taking Josh Reddick, or I dunno, SS Marcus Simien, who's almost a good hitter.

[Edgy MD]

Seems to me that we're in a world of options where, if we really want a reliever (and I'm not thinking we should, so much), there's a world of opportunities out there of guys with less name-brand juice but who who the Peter Brands in the front office have identified as justasgood.

How about Mark Lowe and his thimble-full of ERA with Seattle? Not old enough? Joe Beimel is like 100.

The Padres got Joaquin Benoit and Shawn Kelley setting up Kimbrel. That seems a little bit of overkill for a team with so few saves to build, no?

It's 2015. Capable veteran relievers can be hunted and trapped in the wild for free. Think offense, Mets. The only reason you should be looking for relievers is if Atlanta is demanding Hansel Robles in the little Andrelton Simmons package you're assembling.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Done apparently, we got our Tyler Clip Art. For a minor leaguer named Casey Meisner.

Mets Acquire Tyler Clippard By Jeff Todd [July 27, 2015 at 5:16pm CDT] The Mets have agreed to a deal that will land them reliever Tyler Clippard from the Athletics, Oakland announced (and as Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com first reported on Twitter). Oakland will receive righty Casey Meisner in return, and will also send some cash to New York in the deal.

Casey Meisner on BBRef -> http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=meisne000cas

[TransMonk]

I think this is another pretty nice deal.

My outlook on this team is much more favorable today than it was a week ago.

[Edgy MD]

Dang it all. Meisner was flying below the radar up until now, but was really having a breakthrough year. I was following him from start to start, and I liked to pretend that he was Randy Meisner's son, even though he looked more like Richie Cunningham's snarky hipster brother.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Hard to fly under the radar when you're 6'7".

[Frayed Knot]

Clippard will join the team just in time for the upcoming Nats series.

[dgwphotography]

TransMonk wrote: I think this is another pretty nice deal. My outlook on this team is much more favorable today than it was a week ago.

Favorable? I'm starting to get downright giddy.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: Clippard will join the team just in time for the upcoming Nats series.

DeLIcious.

[Tents fingers]
[Chortles to self]

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Meisner was also singled out by Frank Viola when he was asked about the top arms he'd seen in the org. But, hey. Been real, Gigantic Hatman.

[Frayed Knot]

Could we eventually get burned by this? ... Sure.
But the odds say that we won't, and if you operate with the attitude that you should never make a move you may regret in the future then you're never going to get anywhere.

With the super slim margin of error that our staff is operating on, one extra reliever could make a lot of difference. And it would be one thing if Vic Black wasn't sucking, or Montero were healthy, or Parnell had more of a post-surgery track record under his belt, pr if Mejia wasn't an idiot, or if Leathersich had flourished, or if Blevins & Edgin not gone down, etc. ... but those things didn't go our way this year so we are where we are.

[Frayed Knot]

A write-up of Meisner from John Sickels' site (although not by Sickels): http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/7/27/9052001/the-oakland-as-rebuild-continues-with-casey-meisner


From the outside looking in, it may seem like the Oakland As could have gotten more than a 20-year old right hander who has yet to throw a pitch in Double-A. Don�t be fooled, Meisner has the goods to succeed and make it to the big leagues. It just won�t be any time soon.
Meisner was selected in the third round of the 2013 draft. He put together a nice season with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2014 going 5-3 over 13 starts while posting a 3.75 ERA and striking out 67 in 62.1 innings. He finished the year with a WHIP a tad bit higher than desired at 1.36 but that didn�t seem to concern the Mets.

Meisner was amid a solid 2015 before being traded Monday evening. He sat at 10-4 over 18 combined Sally and FSL starts, with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has somewhat struggled with command since being promoted to St. Lucie, posting the highest walk rate (3.60 per nine) of his young career. He has also posted his worst strikeout per nine rate thus far in the minors at 5.91.
Despite receiving a C+ from John Sickels heading into 2015 [an above average grade], Meisner was still considered a top 20 prospect in the Mets system. He also came into the season with serious sleeper potential.
Part of the reason is his age and frame. At 20 years of age, Meisner has time to grow into his massive 6 foot 7, 190 pound frame and add some heat to his fastball and the rest of his arsenal. Meisner entered the league with a fastball that regularly sat in the high 80s and since his first season, has already added a few ticks to his velocity. His fastball now tops out around 94 mph, and he throws in the low 90s consistently.

His curve � which looks a bit more like a slider � has improved dramatically since his debut year and has become a useful secondary pitch, though as Meisner grows, so should the accuracy of the pitch. His changeup still needs some work in the consistency department, but Meisner is still a project and won�t be asked to fill any rotation spots in Oakland anytime soon.
As with most tall, lanky, young pitchers, Meisner is still working with consistencies in his delivery. The improvement he has shown since entering the Mets system is certainly trending in the right direction and he should find that repeated motion and be an able strike thrower.

It seems that he also may have to learn how to pitch around hitters as opposed to simply pitching to them. This adjustment may be a factor as to why he has seen an increased number of walks per outing. It�s quite possible that he isn�t necessarily more "wild", but instead learning the ins and outs of the strike zone.
While Meisner�s past few starts have shown some concern, it is important to keep in mind that the young righty has thrown a significant amount of innings more than he has in his first two professional seasons COMBINED. A combination of being at a higher level as well as his first full season has certainly shown his weaknesses, but by no means does it mean that he is any less the pitcher that he was at the start of 2015.

[Edgy MD]

I think the one-more-reliever concept of muscling up at the deadline is almost always an illusion � that one more doesn't typically widen the margin of error so much as make things more crowded. Improve the unit that's ranked at the bottom � that's where the room for improvement is.

But hey, if he's assigned to be the lefty-killer that �lex Torres was never going to be, maybe there's room for him yet.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

So, yeah, options be damned, it has to be El Gorro Grande getting sent Vegasward, right?