smg58

My guess is that we will see McNeil when Cabrera is traded. He might make a nice platoon with Rivera or Cecchini next year, even if he's not good enough to start full-time. I don't know if Rivera is taking any longer to come back than expected -- the recovery time for TJS is smaller for hitters, but it's still not that small and at any rate what's the rush. But Cecchini is yet another comically frustrating injury for this team.

Some people just take the fun out of everything.

Well most of the GMs in the Wilpon era, Alderson included, have had some success here. A consistent high payroll would be nice, but the only big-name free agent this year who's earning what he was signed for is JD Martinez, and Boston has the luxury of playing him at his natural position. If Darvish came here he would have sucked for a while and then gotten hurt -- not because that's what happens to all Mets, but because that's exactly what the Cubs have gotten from him. But the Cubs are hanging in due to enormous depth among their position players, which comes from great scouting and development more than anything else. The Phillies and Braves have also passed the Mets on the strength of their farm systems more than what they've spent on players. Carlos Santana is predictably not outperforming a host of other comparable free agent first basemen who got signed for far less, and Jake Arrieta hasn't been better than OK (with a strikeout rate that's a major red flag), but the Phillies are in far better shape than we are. Even the Yankees are where they are this year mostly due to home-grown talent. So everything starts with scouting and development. To be fair, Alderson has gotten some value out of the farm system, and Peter Alonso might or might not change the outlook on our system single-handedly, but other teams have done better and it doesn't require asking Fred and Jeff for more money and hoping they're in a good mood.

20/20 hindsight. People would have come after the Wilpons with torches and pitchforks if we didn't re-sign Cespedes, just like if we didn't re-sign David Wright. Both deals made perfect sense at the time. That's the risk that comes with a big contract, and you take the risk if you want the guy. (I'm for giving DeGrom that kind of extension.) I don't regret re-signing them, I regret that it didn't work out. That being said, I no longer think there is room for Cespedes on this team. An AL team in need of a DH would take two-thirds of his salary. Take that, get a centerfielder who can also hit, and let Nimmo and Conforto man the corners.

I think Moneyball has come full circle: the undervalued commodities right now are batting average, speed, small ball, and to some extent defense. Teams are starting to adjust to the all-or-nothing swingers. You pitch to keep the ball in the yard and put all the defense on one side of the field. The Todd Fraziers and Jay Bruces of the league might walk more as a result, but if you keep their averages below .250 and limit them to 20 homers instead of 30, you take it. I was under the impression that the whole bit about the third time through the lineup and going at least some of the time with eight relievers was Alderson's strategy from even before Calloway was hired. You could justify some of it on the grounds that the Mets had multiple starters returning from injuries, and like I said before, whoever runs the team next year will reap the benefits of how Matz and Wheeler were handled early on. But Alderson addressed an issue that required quality with quantity, and the results speak for themselves.

I think the biggest problem ultimately has been injuries. Alderson tried something outside-the-box with the bullpen that backfired spectacularly, and that's on him, but it's not on him that everybody he brought in this offseason (plus Ramos, and most of the rest of the team too while we're at it) has spent significant time on the DL. Calloway has had to manage with what he's been given. Yes, Gsellman is on pace for close to 100 innings and he's already showing signs of fatigue, but what are your options? Swarzak hasn't looked right since he returned from the DL, and neither has Familia. That's not on the GM or the manager. On the plus side, Calloway's handling of Matz and Wheeler is starting to pay some nice dividends, and whoever is here next year will benefit from that. Could he afford to be less rigid about when pitchers come in and for how long? Yes, although he's starting to be more flexible. He hasn't seemed willing to challenge his hitters to adapt, and that's a concern, but it's also a mistake a rookie manager can learn from. I'm not ditching him just yet. Of course, it is perfectly reasonable to ask if the Mets' relentless health issues are more than just bad luck. If we are doing something that other teams don't with regards to training, it has to stop.

It's actually one L at the end, not two.

I had all of 14 at bats in 2016, and less than 200 last year. At 26, I was completely off the radar. So how am I doing in 2018? In 214 ABs at Bingo, I had 16 doubles, 14 HRs, a 22/23 BB/K ratio, and a .327/.402/.626 line. Now I'm in Vegas, but I bet my stay there is short. Second base will be open soon in Queens, and that's my spot. Yes I'm old for a prospect, but Mets fans need someone too root for and I'm your guy.

Edgy MD wrote: The idea that you shouldn't press Rosario too hard about his strike zone judgment because you "don't want to take away his aggressiveness" is a floating taco turd of a cliche in the unflushed toilet of the organizational cocktail party. Amen.

Centerfield wrote: The Daily News confirming basically what we knew yesterday, which is that Sandy has been fired. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-sports-mets-alderson-harper-20180626-story.html. Bringing the subject away from cancer -- because, well, cancer -- and onto baseball, the author talked about needing to trade our big pitchers to replenish our badly depleted farm system, while mentioning two guys who had an OPS in excess of 1.000 at Binghamton (not a hitters' paradise). I'll take that kind of depletion in the farm system, thank you very much. And anybody who wants to fit DeGrom in pinstripes can (insert crude response of your choice here). That being said, some creativity is absolutely in order. Cespedes could help an American League team who needs a DH a lot. Nobody will pay $58M over two seasons for him, but I bet we could get out from under most of it. Give Nimmo and Conforto the corners, and bring in a real centerfielder (because, DEFENSE). The catch -- AJ Pollack would be a phenomenal fit for this team, outside of his tendency to get hurt. Trade Bruce for a similar contract. One such similar contract (outside of the signing bonuses which would presumably remain the responsibility of the signing teams) is Mark Melancon. Even with Hunter Strickland's embarrassing injury, the Giants have a loaded pen. They do not have a left fielder. (And won't have a right fielder going into the offseason.) Teams are adjusting to all-or-nothing swingers by pitching them to keep the ball in the park and shifting, shifting, shifting. Stay away from those hitters.

Does Calloway want Gsellman’s arm to fall off?

Proof that good form in back-of-the-bullpen guys can come and go very quickly.

Rockin' Doc wrote: Who was it that essentially told me strike outs are no big deal? All these strike outs are rally killers. A moderately deep fly ball or a slow roller gives Nimmo a chance to score the tying run. Watching 3 called strikes gives him no chance of advancing. Put the ball in play and force the defense to make plays. The Mets' cavalier approach to striking out and hitting into the shift would be acceptable if we had three or four guys on a pace to hit thirty home runs. As it stands, nobody is a lock to reach twenty.

Edgy MD wrote: I'm a little confused by so many frequent and maniacal swapouts from the back end of the bullpen. I mean, I understand being down on Robles, but I see no reason to think Flexie is obviously (or even suggestingly) the better choice. Get a hitter. I think the moves were in anticipation of, and then in response to, the bullpen being taxed this week. That being said, I hope Alderson appreciates that quantity is a piss-poor substitute for quality.

Vic Sage wrote: With Lugo continuing to pitch well in the rotation, i do think Vargas is the odd man out once Thor gets back, regardless of his contract. But there is no reason to think he'll be any more effective in the pen. He'll likely just sit there and only get used in blowouts and as an extra spot starter, not as a "situational lefty" to make up for Blevins. His platoon splits have never been noteworthy. I do think he's not 100% yet, so pitching fewer innings here would do him more good long-term than pitching more innings in Vegas. Plus, he couldn't be worse than a few of the Mets' relievers. Vic Sage wrote: Meanwhile, we should release Reyes and Bautista, and send Guillorme down, and bring up McNeil, Kelly and an OFer (Borenstein, Kazmarski, denDekker or Brentz). as for the bullpen, Its time for Drew Smith to join Tim Peterson in Flushing, while Robles is staked on a field of ant hills. I'd actually like to see Guillorme get more at bats. He's supposed to be a plus-plus defender, and our defense is flat out bad right now. Plus, a .196 BABIP has to improve, right? I'm encouraged by Peterson so far. Smith has also been holding his own in Vegas, which is good enough for a shot in the back of this bullpen. regarding Robles: what type of ants are we talking?

He got hurt and was brought back too quickly, and now he's in the long, slow crawl back to normalcy that Matz and Wheeler are happily further along in. The catch is that he's 35 and doesn't have much of a ceiling at this point. Barring an even bigger implosion from Lugo, which I really don't expect to happen, it's clear that Vargas needs to leave the rotation when Thor comes back. At this point, you have to hope he can work his way up to being an acceptable long reliever/spot starter in time for 2019. But I don't see getting any more than that from him.

smg58 wrote: I'm a bit concerned he's already had his best month of the season. I'll say .260/.350/.430, which is more than good enough for a fourth outfielder. Usually it's my optimism that is misplaced. I prefer it when my cynicism is misplaced.

The Mets are more likely to be sellers than buyers. Who, exactly, is surprised by this? Which GM doesn't listen to every offer that comes his way? That doesn't make you inclined to accept any of them, but how is it not in your interest to know what other teams want and whom they're willing to part with? As far as blowing the team up is concerned, you need to make a realistic assessment of how soon you can contend. If you think you can contend next year, that affects what kind of deals you will make. If you think the team is sunk past the time you have control over DeGrom and Syndergaard, that will affect what kind of deals you make. Personally, I'm optimistic. Any of the free agents should be available, and their value is greater if you move them now as opposed to in July. The only other player I think is necessary to move is Bruce, because I don't see any optimistic scenario regarding people being healthy that doesn't put him on the bench.

It was the right thing to do. Harvey may right himself some day, but he will hit free agency before that happens. Mesoraco has been a net positive, and will be a big positive if his BABIP regresses to the mean. If there was a mistake, it was that the readiness of Vargas to come off the DL and jump into the rotation at that time was overestimated. But Vargas will outperform Harvey the rest of the way.

Jay is a good enough fielder that that play should have been made. And the pitcher should not have let that get to him, but for once that's a different team's problem. Familia came into the game with a .342 BABIP, and today he gave up another infield hit (lately it seems he's been good for one of these an outing) and a very weak bloop to score a run. He's been the most unlucky guy on the team. But Nimmo is an All-Star.

The starting pitching is trending upward, at least. Matz very quietly has a nearly identical ERA and WHIP to Jake Arrieta. Lugo is auditioning for a spot on next year's rotation, and while his last start wasn't so good, the start against the Yankees was super. Vargas (like seemingly most of the team) is still working his way back from an injury, but he has been good more often than not over the last month or so. Familia comes back today, and that can't possibly hurt. The team only has three trustworthy relievers right now even with Familia, but Gsellman and Swarzak were both sharp yesterday and are decent bets to remain so if they don't get overworked. Other than some injuries, I have no good explanation for the offense. Mesoraco has a .214 BABIP since he got here, and Reyes (.169!) and Guillorme (.196) have actually fared worse than that, but most of the team is performing close to career norms. Maybe Conforto hits like last year the rest of the way. Maybe the couple days off does Bruce some good. Maybe Cespedes shows up at some point. Maybe Cabrera can snap out of it, assuming he's not playing hurt too. Maybe Rosario actually learns something about hitting. Or, maybe not. The only firm grounds for optimism is that there is only one direction for them to go right now.

The preview of the tonight's game on my Yahoo app said that the Mets' batting average over the last 10 games is the lowest that any team has had over any 10-game stretch since the live-ball era began in 1920.

Centerfield wrote: So, it's time to put Cabrera on the DL. I love that he has the heart to try to grind this out, but he's got a .339 OPS in June and moves around like he's been shot. Get bettter. Come back when you're ready to rip. Unfortunately, you could be describing the entire Mets lineup.

Rockin' Doc wrote: Roessler is either a poor ewxcuse for a hitting instructor or his pupils are lacking in talent and ability. I suspect it is a combination of the two. There may be other factors too. I suspect that Bruce's back did not just start bothering him yesterday. On the other hand, I was under the impression this time last year that Amed Rosario and Ozhaino Albies had similar skill sets. And Rosario was a better hitter in the minors.

I would have given Peterson enough opportunity to earn (or not earn) his trip back to Vegas. We have several other people in the pen who HAVE earned the demotion.