Shall we also discuss Jonathan Lucroy?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Word is Mets are offering Herrera and d'Arnaud, might also get reliever Will Smith or Jeff* Jeffress

* whatever his real name is

Now, this AND Bruce is how you take a crappy club and go for it.

[TransMonk]

If a deal with Milwaukee was struck, the day would essentially be d'Arnaud, Nimmo, Herrera and low pitching prospects for Lucroy, Bruce and ML relief help.

It would leave Sandy with work to do at 2B in the off-season, but I'd consider it a favorable day.

[TransMonk]

Will Smith to the Giants per multiple sources...so the plot thickens.

[TransMonk]

Andrew Susac came back from SF.

He is a near ready catching prospect, so it is no longer likely that Milwaukee would need d'Arnaud if (when) Lucroy is dealt.

[Vic Sage]

The TiTTS sayeth: "yea, verily, yea!"

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Word is Mets are offering Herrera and d'Arnaud, might also get reliever Will Smith or Jeff* Jeffress * whatever his real name is Now, this AND Bruce is how you take a crappy club and go for it.

Jeremy Jeffress, and he's good! Imagining him as the seventh inning guy, and we have a shut-down bullpen.

[G-Fafif]

Lucroy to Texas.

[Frayed Knot]

Lucroy to Texas.

Joe Gallo reportedly in that deal. That's crazy.


oe: and now it's NOT Gallo in the mix, but is Jeffress AND Lucroy for several prospects not named Gallo

[Vic Sage]

Lucroy/Jeffress: that's the package i wanted the Mets to get (rather than or in addition to Bruce)... I wonder what Texas gave for them?

[Frayed Knot]

Vic Sage wrote: Lucroy/Jeffress: that's the package i wanted the Mets to get (rather than or in addition to Bruce)... I wonder what Texas gave for them?

CF Lewis Brinson - #22 on BP's mid-season prospect report -- 22 y/o, currently in AA, 1st round draft pick 2012

RHP Luis Ortiz - #48 on BP's mid-season prospect report -- 20 y/o, also in AA, 1st round pick 2014


So basically it's the equivalent of Rosario (#15 on BP's list) and another prospect that we don't really have right now that's a cut below Rosario.
Or maybe just two random guys named Lewis/Luis would have done it, what do I know?

[TransMonk]

Doing OK these days.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com reports that the Mets have had "some contact" with Lucroy's agent.

https://amp.mlb.com/264332228-mets-considering-mike-moustakas-todd-frazier.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

[Edgy MD]

Sheesh, bouncing up old threads from old, failed romances seems to be a thing these days.

[nymr83]

This thread came back from nowhere, Lucroy - a recycled off-season name that does not excite me.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, I'd rather take my chances with d'Arnaud and Plawecki and spend the money that would have gone to Lucroy elsewhere.

[smg58]

Yeah, it seems like a waste of resources.

[Centerfield]

Am I crazy for being kinda excited about Plawecki’s strong finish?

It’s sustainable!

[nymr83]

I always liked Plawecki, but I've been proven pretty wrong so far.

[Edgy MD]

Centerfield wrote: Am I crazy for being kinda excited about Plawecki’s strong finish? It’s sustainable!

Both Plawecki and d'Arnaud finished strong. They may find themelves at an Ike-v.-Lucas point soon. I'd love to see them last together for years like Grote and Dyer, but that's not the way things tend to work out, and I expect one will be dealt off in a big Felix Hernandez deal or something.

[Centerfield]

We really only need one of them to sustain that strong finish, but if they both do, that’s a nice problem to have.

[A Boy Named Seo]

MLBTR sez the Mets might still be thinking about Lucroy as everyone seems to be ignoring him and his price could keep dropping.

T'dA and Plawecki both had a nice finish, but so did Lucroy after he landed w/ the Rockies.
Second half OPS: .777
August OPS: .862
Sept/Oct OPS: .868

Career OBP of .343 (was .345 last year in a decidedly bad year for him) and he turns 32 in June. He's also appeared as a 1Bman 47 times in his career, so he's a novice, but not a complete stranger to the big mitt anyway.

Travis and Plawecki's career OBP's are .304 and .306 respectively... I would totally take a stab at Lucroy on a 1-year deal, but per Edgy's roster spreadsheet, neither T'dA nor KP have options.

Lucroy made $5.25M last year and MLBTR predicted a 2-year/$24M contract for him, so I'm totally low-balling here, but what about 1 year, $6M deal, team option (or buyout) for 2019?? Try to sneak Plawecki to AAA? If Lucroy says no, then we say, "Best of luck to you, sir."

What sayeth the Crane Pool Forum?

[Edgy MD]

Mets Roster Central has been wrong about options before. Plawecki has split time between the majors and minors in three consecutive seasons. By the rules, he seemingly should be out of options.

But there are mystery rules in there also, because some guys get a magical fourth option year.

[smg58]

If we still have resources after pitching and the infield have been adequately addressed, and he can be had on a deal that requires him to earn his spot, then maybe.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Lucroy's power was down a lot last year, maybe simply because a bunch of his line drives and fly balls turned into grounders? If that reverts(?), he should be looking at 20+ doubles and 15+ homers again. Even if it doesn't, his .340 OBP would still look real nice anywhere in the lineup, sharing time with Travis (or KP when Travis inevitably gets hurt).

Speaking of Travis, look like exactly 55 runners each tried their luck against Lucroy and Td'A last year, with Lucroy throwing out 20, while the incumbent nailed just 9.

How about Td'A to Oakland for something? 2B/3B/SS Jed Lowrie get anyone's motor running? Lefty reliever Ryan "Rusty" Buchter??

[Centerfield]

I think I might be drinking the Kool-Aid here, but am I crazy for thinking Plawecki's improvement might be sustainable?

After his recall last year, he .303/.411/.476. OPS of .885. Only 76 AB's, but that's pretty good. His numbers in LV were great too. .328/.375/.514. Again, he started slow in April but then heated up as the season went on.

That's 300+ ABs where he was a very productive hitter.

And yes, I realize that the LV numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, but he improved on his production even in LV. He improved his LV OPS by 57 points from 2016, and by 281 points from 2015.

Sustainable!

[Benjamin Grimm]

I do think that the Mets might be reasonably okay at catcher this year. I'd like them to spend their free agent dollars elsewhere, unless (perhaps) the signing of Lucroy leads to a Travis trade that fills some other need.

[Ceetar]

Lucroy's bad year makes me suspect him anyway. His overall numbers look okay in the limited Coors time, but that's mostly because his swing % dropped and he walk rate doubled. His numbers with Texas last year are more in line with career. I doubt he randomly figured something out in Coors in limited AB.

Of course, he K% was down from career in both places. Career high contact%, career low swinging strike rate. I don't know if that's an indication of anything good. Does he just need a change of approach or did he lose the ability to identify the pitches he can make good contact on?

in any rate, I don't think the Mets could be fine how they are at C.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Centerfield wrote: I think I might be drinking the Kool-Aid here, but am I crazy for thinking Plawecki's improvement might be sustainable? After his recall last year, he .303/.411/.476. OPS of .885. Only 76 AB's, but that's pretty good. His numbers in LV were great too. .328/.375/.514. Again, he started slow in April but then heated up as the season went on. That's 300+ ABs where he was a very productive hitter. And yes, I realize that the LV numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, but he improved on his production even in LV. He improved his LV OPS by 57 points from 2016, and by 281 points from 2015. Sustainable!

Plawecki was my #Pick2Click Spring Training MVP last year, but he didn't quite do the thing. He's always hit really well in the minors (.815 OPS career) and this will be his age 27 season at cheap rate of pay. I think he could be for realz.

Td'A is gonna make $3.45M each of the next 2 years and this will be his age 29 season. Lucroy might completely suck nowadays, I don't know, but even in his most recent suck, he was still a pretty efficient OBP machine. I'd be open to taking a flier on him and trading Travis for something. The Pirates don't need a catcher, but the A's do. Maybe Travis for LOOGY Ryan "Rusty" Buchter and some minor league kid to be named later. Mets would save about $3 mils in that deal which will make daddy happy.

[Centerfield]

I know we have a lot riding on Smith and Rosario, but I feel like someone (or sometwo) from the group of Nimmo, Lagares, Plawecki, Rivera and Flores is (are) going to break out in 2018.

On Edit: And we shouldn't be giving these guys up for Josh freakin' Harrison.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I want to believe in super buff Juan Lagares 2.0. That would be awesome if both ends of that platoon ended up happening.