The Mets have re-signed starting pitcher Jeremy Hefner, reports Anthony DiComo.

The deal is for a minor-league contract and will allow the Mets to retain control of Hefner at a reduced salary while he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.

Hefner will likely miss a good portion if not all of 2014.

Great move though, nice to see Hefner back…

Original Post

Jeremy Hefner being non-tendered doesn’t sit too well with me.  It has nothing to do with performance.  It’s the human element.

I know it’s hard to feel bad for someone who had a half-million dollar a year salary, but of the five players that were non-tendered by the team on Monday, Jeremy’s cut is the one that stings the most.

Justin Turner, Scott Atchison, and Omar Quintanilla were arbitration eligible and are of sound mind and body to be able to seek gainful employment in 2014.  Jordany Valdespin… well, what’s there not to say about Jordany. He needed to go.  He can be “The Man” somewhere else… if anyone will have him.

But then there’s Jeremy.

Had he been a veteran player who had already made his fortune in the game when he hurt his arm and was facing a year of unemployment – I wouldn’t feel bad.  I didn’t feel bad when the Mets non-tendered Mike Pelfrey – he had already made more than $14 million in the game.  But Jeremy?  He’s a pre-arbitration eligible player that played in the majors in 2012 and 2013 with just under two years of major league service time.

So what? Injuries happen all the time, right?

Here’s where the bleeding heart liberal in me kicks in.  Hmmm… he got hurt on the job.  So rather than keep him in the fold and pay him the minimum wage when he’s rehabbing the injury he suffered while in your employment, you fire his rear end while he’s not in any position to be able to find work.

Now maybe the Mets will sign him to a minor league contract for 2014 so they can keep a close eye on his rehab to see what he has for 2015.  Even if they throw him a bone and do that, i’m sure it wouldn’t be at a major league salary – so he’d be getting a pay cut for getting hurt on the job.  Oh, and because he’d be re-signed on a minor league contract – he’s not racking up the major league service time.

Maybe another team will look to sign him to a minor league deal so they can have him in their fold for when he’s ready to return to live action in 2015.  Maybe he’ll even get another team to sign him to a major league contract for next year so they have him under control going forward.  Or maybe he won’t get another shot because a whole new round of hungry youngsters moved up the ladder while he was away.  Regardless, it just doesn’t sit well…

The post Mets Bring Back Jeremy Hefner appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets announced they have non-tendered Omar Quintanilla, Jordany Valdespin, Justin Turner, Jeremy Hefner, and Scott Atchison.

Interesting purge by the Mets on non-tender day…

The 40 man roster is now at 35 players.

Original Post

Today is the non-tender deadline and all teams have until 11:59 tonight to decide which arbitration eligible players they will or will not offer contracts to.

For the Mets, they have ten decisions to make, but the way I see it only two players are on the bubble; Scott Atchison and Omar Quintanilla. I suspect both will be non-tendered though Quintanilla could survive the ax given how the shortstop search has completely backfired on the Mets and caught them off-guard.

Daniel Murphy stands to be the biggest winner nearly doubling his 2013 salary to $5.8 million dollars according to MLBTR.

Arbitration 1

Dillon Gee – $527,375 (2013) $3.4 million

Ruben Tejada – $514,701 (2013), $1.0 million

Justin Turner – $504,547 (2013), $800,000

Eric Young Jr. – $492,000 (2013), $1.9 million

Lucas Duda – $504,000 (2013), $1.8 million

Arbitration 2

Ike Davis – $3.125M (2013), $3.5 million

Daniel Murphy – $2.925M (2013), $5.8 million

Bobby Parnell – $1.7M (2013), $3.2 million

Omar Quintanilla – $527,375 (2013), $900,000

Arbitration 3

Scott Atchison – $700,000 (2013), $1.3 million

The Mets have a long history of avoiding arbitration hearings with players, so I’m sure they’ll spend the next few weeks negotiating and reaching agreements with the players they’ll keep.

The post Mets Non-Tender Turner, Valdespin, Hefner, Quintanilla, Atchison appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

MLB Trade Rumors posted their arbitration predictions today. Daniel Murphy stands to be the biggest winner nearly doubling his 2013 salary to $5.8 million dollars.

Guaranteed Contracts

David Wright – $11.0 million (2013), $20.0 million

Jon Niese – $3.0 million (2013), $5.05 million

Arbitration 1

Dillon Gee – $527,375 (2013) $3.4 million

Ruben Tejada – $514,701 (2013), $1.0 million

Justin Turner – $504,547 (2013), $800,000

Eric Young Jr. – $492,000 (2013), $1.9 million

Lucas Duda – $504,000 (2013), $1.8 million

Arbitration 2

Ike Davis – $3.125M (2013), $3.5 million

Daniel Murphy – $2.925M (2013), $5.8 million

Bobby Parnell – $1.7M (2013), $3.2 million

Omar Quintanilla – $527,375 (2013), $900,000

Arbitration 3

Scott Atchison – $700,000 (2013), $1.3 million

Assuming each player is tendered and these arbitration estimations from MLB Trade Rumors are correct, that’s about $24.5 million in raises without adding any new players.

The total payroll for these 12 players comes to $48.7 million.

If you’re wondering what players could be non-tendered and added to the free agent pool this offseason after the non-tender deadline on December 2, here is a list from MLBTR.

The post Mets Arbitration Predictions and Non-Tender Candidates appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets 40-Man roster is now at 36 after the Angels claimed lefthander Robert Carson on waivers, the Dodgers grabbed outfielder Mike Baxter, and the team outrighted LHP Sean Henn and RHP Greg Burke.

Expect more purging as the Mets must make room for Ike Davis, Josh Edgin, Matt Harvey, Jeremy Hefner, Jenrry Mejia, Bobby Parnell, Scott Rice and Johan Santana who must all be activated from 60-day disabled list and placed on the 40-man roster.

So technically, the Mets now have 44 players which means four more heads to roll.

With Halloween around the corner, this is perfect timing for some tricks or treats…

Original Post

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports on the impending 40-man roster crunch the Mets will soon face after the World Series.

The Mets’ 40-man roster actually will be full even before the club adds farmhands eligible for the Rule 5 draft or signs any free agents this winter to major league deals.

That’s because eight players finished the season on the 60-day disabled list, where they did not count against the 40-man roster: Ike Davis, Josh Edgin, Matt Harvey, Jeremy Hefner, Jenrry Mejia, Bobby Parnell, Scott Rice and Johan Santana.

So the Mets, in essence, finished the season with 48 players on the 40-man roster.

Rubin adds that because the Mets only have eight free agents, the 40-man roster will be full once the players are activated from the 60-day DL no later than five days after the World Series.

David Aardsma, Tim Byrdak, Pedro Feliciano, Frank Francisco, Aaron Harang, LaTroy Hawkins, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Johan Santana will all become free agents after an exclusive, but short, negotiating window.

Who is the most likely to go?

You can be sure that Robert Carson, Sean Henn, Zach Lutz, and Mike Baxter may be the first to go. Guys on the bubble will include position players Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jordany Valdespin and Andrew Brown. and reliever Scott Atchison.

Prospects the Mets will have to protect from the Rule 5 draft include Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Darin Gorski, Jeff Walters and Cory Vaughn among others. They will need to be added to the 40-man by Nov. 20.

The post Baxter Claimed By Dodgers, Carson To Angels, Henn and Burke Ourighted appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Scott Atchison, who I still maintain looks great for 57, helped assuage the fears of those fans who still have faith in what this front actually says. They know that this is go time for Sandy Alderson, the moment for him unveil the big missing pieces in “The Plan” and with the green light from ownership, finally work to lead the league in the most important advanced statistic of them all, WOL.

Wins over losses.

Also known in certain scouting circles as VAD – victories against defeats – this crucial statistic shows with incredible arithmetic certitude a baseball team’s improvement year over year and provides a precise and measurable metric of a management group’s performance. If we hone in on this season’s performance and run some advanced regression analysis in Metsmerized’s famed sabermetrics lab (based in Corona, I’ve heard – but that’s just a rumor – I’m new in these precincts and some secrets are understandably closely guarded) we get this incredible result:

Mets after 161 games in 2012: 73-88

Mets after 161 games in 2013: 73-88

The formula is complicated and you’ll have to trust our analysts (but I will tell you that it’s been confirmed by Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing, which says a lot), but those results yields a WOL/VAD result that looks like this after 161 games for each of the last two seasons:

2012 WOL/VAD: minus-15

2013 WOL/VAD: minus-15

Alderson and his lieutenants (otherwise known as the “dream team” just three years ago) will undoubtedly be parsing these critical numbers in the coming weeks, performing more of their famed “evaluation” of these remarkably consistent numbers – right after handing a two-year extension to their field general, Mr. Collins.

Only one more game for the three-year evaluation portion of the Alderson Era, of course. We’ve heard that this off-season, it all changes. A massive infusion of talent, spending on free agents, and a return to the pursuit of winning would key the cooler months, leading to a team transformed in Port St Lucie come late February. All the big contracts are off the books – and heck, one wasn’t even offered to the greatest shortstop in team history, a crucial spot not surprisingly that remains a gaping maw on the Mets two years after the infamous “box of chocolates” negotiation.

But letting bygones be bygones – hey did you see R.A. Dickey won his 14th game, two more than any Mets pitcher? – the front office is clearly set to make runs at multiple major upgrades through free agency and clever trades. You know the names: Shin-Soo Choo, Hunter Pence (oh, wait a minute), Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Bronson Arroyo, Carlos Beltran (only the greatest offensive tenure in Mets history), Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson – heck maybe even a run at Robinson Cano, or Cuban defector Jose Abreu. Somewhere between two and four proven bats for the everyday lineup and a veteran arm to help bridge the gap till the youngsters are fully ready – or Matt Harvey returns from the eventual Tommy John surgery all the arm chair medicos seem to insist he’ll need, contra the ignorant and ill informed Dr. James Andrews.

Mix those proven players with keepers David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Juan Lagares and hopers like Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores – along with the young starters – and you might be able to turn that WOL/VAD from -15 (or more accurately, the -14 or -16 it will be after Piazza Day) to a +15 and post-season berth. As Joe D. pointed out, it’s all about “acquiring and developing talent” and “managing payroll.”

Today is the penultimate game in Sandy Alderson’s contractual penultimate year. There are big things on the way.

And if not, there are some other key metrics to study – like these.

The post A Mets Penultimatum appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Milwaukee Brewers (72-87) defeated the New York Mets (73-86) by the score of 4-2 tonight at Citi Field.

For all the hell I gave you in the beginning of the year, Carlos Torres… I respect the work you’ve put in for this team in 2013. A depth signing turned into a guy who really put in some solid hours for the Mets, finishing the year with a 3.44 ERA in 86.1 innings across a mix of work out of the pen and in spot starts. He turned in one more quality start for the Mets today, going six innings and allowing three runs.

He was taken deep twice in the first inning for two of his four hits allowed, but he really didn’t seem phased and breezed through the next five innings without allowing a run. The only other Milwaukee run crossed the plate when Martin Maldonado crushed a pitch off Scott Atchison for a solo home run in the seventh.

The Mets didn’t really show much offensive prowess out there tonight, although they did scatter eight hits. Their only extra base hits were doubles, one by Lucas Duda and another by Daniel Murphy. Murphy’s hit was his 38th double on the year, so he’s just two away from 40 doubles in a season — a nice little number. Turner had a two-hit game out there, including an RBI single that accounted for half of the Mets run production. Juan Lagares brought in the other run with a sacrifice fly.

Gonzalez Germen picked up four outs cleanly, including a strikeout, after Pedro Feliciano picked up an out of his own. This game was pretty much an open-and-shut case, as the Mets only had three at-bats with RISP the entire game. There are only two games left in the season now, with Aaron Harang on the mound tomorrow and Jon Niese toeing the rubber on Sunday for the finale.

The post Torres Spins Quality Start, But Mets Offense Falters In 4-2 Loss To Milwaukee appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets wasted no time getting things going in the top of the first. Eric Young doubled to lead off the game. Young stole third and was driven in by Daniel Murphy, and before Cole Hamels had recorded an out it was 1-0. David Wright then clubbed a homer to the opposite field and it was 3-0 before the Phillies had an at bat.

After a quiet second, the Amazins struck again in the third when Andrew Brown singled in Murphy to expand the lead to four.

Dice-K looked strong through three, but returned to familiar form in the fourth. Darin Ruf doubled down the line, clearing the bases and cutting the Mets’ lead to two. Hamels then helped himself out, grounding out to first base and bringing in Ruf.

After six, Dice-K was done. He actually had an okay line: 6 IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 6K. He was relieved by Scott Atchison, who tossed a scoreless seventh.

The Mets added one more in the seventh off a Josh Satin single.

Vic Black and Pedro Feliciano combined for a perfect eighth and LaTroy Hawkins earned his eleventh save of the season in the Mets’ 6-4 victory, their 69th of the year.

For Wright it was his 221st career home run, passing Mike Piazza for second on the Mets’ all-time homer list behind Darryl Strawberry, who has 252.

The series continues tomorrow at 7:05. Dillon Gee will take the bump and face off against Tyler Cloyd.

The post Wright Goes Deep, Bats Come Alive In Mets 6-4 Victory appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Struggling catcher Travis d’Arnaud delivered a two-out single with the bases loaded to give the Mets a 1-0 walk-off win in 12 innings on Sunday at Citi Field.

Dillon Gee started and pitched 7.1 shutout innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out eight. The bullpen followed up Gee’s brilliant performance with a tremendous effort as Pedro Feliciano, Scott Atchison, LaTroy Hawkins, Gonzalez Germen, and Vic Black combined for 4.2 scoreless innings as Black would get the win. Germen struck out five batters in his two innings of work.

The Mets were flat offensively and defensively all day until D’Arnaud, who had been struggling at the plate this season, came up with a bases-loaded single and his first career walk-off hit. TDA also made a nice throw to gun down Justin Ruggiano who tried to steal third base in the sixth.

Lets face it, it was two of the National League’s worst teams facing off in a meaningless game, but there was still some satisfaction in watching the Mets overcome some bad baseball and win this one in extras.

The Mets are off on Monday as they get ready for a three-game set with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night at Citi Field. Zack Wheeler will take the mound and oppose former Met prospect Yusmeiro Petit at 7:10 p.m.

The post D’Arnaud Gives Mets 1-0 Walk-off Win Against Marlins appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Perhaps this is the start of a trend — Wheeler Day will bring us the happiness that Harvey Day did for a little bit and we can all be happy with that. Wheeler took the mound tonight and pitched a solid game against the Nationals, holding them scoreless through five innings and striking out three batters overall. His only real damage came in the bottom of the sixth, when the Nationals took advantage of a single and a walk — his only one issued in the game — to get two runs across the plate. A sacrifice fly and a soft liner did the deed, but overall, it was another good start for Zack Wheeler. Locating his pitches and keeping his walk rate low is a big key to his success and lately he’s been sticking to that like white on rice. Wheeler’s overall line was 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 3 K. Wheeler induced nine Pedro Feliciano finished the seventh for him, and although Aardsma allowed two hits in the eighth, he got out of his self-made jam. Scott Atchison finished the game by allowing a run in a shaky ninth inning.

Of course, it’s a lot easier to pitch when your offense hands you an 8-0 lead by the end of the second inning, and the Mets were just locked in offensively the entire game. Eric Young, Daniel Murphy, Josh Satin, and Juan Lagares each had three hits, while Travis d’Arnaud picked up his second straight multi-hit ball game with a pair of singles. Each of Young, Murphy, Lagares, and Quintanilla drove in a pair of runs for the Mets in this offensive explosion, where they totaled a season-high 17 hits.

The only disappointing moment on offense came on an apparent oblique injury to Ike Davis. Hopefully Davis comes back soon, but oblique injuries can be tricky and he could miss the rest of the season.

In any case, the Mets banged out 11 runs without the benefit of a homer and handed Wheeler win his 7th win of the season as he lowered his ERA to 3.36. It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention the fact that Young/den Dekker/Lagares outfield is one of the best defensive alignments the Mets have seen in a long time — and Lagares picked up an OF assist by gunning down Harper as well.

With this win, the Mets secure a series win over the Nats and look for the sweep tomorrow. Jon Niese will take the mound for the Mets tomorrow at 8:05 as he tries to build on the complete game shutout he fired against the Phillies in his last start. Newly acquired Vic Black should join our pen tomorrow as part of September call-ups.

The post Mets Knock Around Haren Around For Seven Runs In 11-3 Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Matt Harvey was in no mood to talk to reporters yesterday, telling a group of them, “I’m good” after they approached him wanting to know more about his tweet heard ’round the world. The injured ace, who is hoping to avoid Tommy John surgery, was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, but tweeted Tuesday that he’ll be back on the mound next April.

I can’t say that I blame him for shunning the press after SNY and other media outlets decided to mock him for his optimism and poke fun at him all day… “Maybe he’s delusional”, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog quipped.

Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters that Harvey is in good spirits after talking to other pitchers who had similar injuries and decided against surgery. That includes former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay of the Phillies.

“It just sounded similar to what I had,” said Halladay. “I was talking to Terry Collins, and he asked if I’d talk to Matt. We just talked a little bit about some of the strengthening stuff I did. It sounded to me that it’s very similar to what I had.”

“I shared that with him and what I went through. Dr. James Andrews had told me that they felt like at some point they would have to go in and repair it. That was eight years ago, and I’ve never had an issue since.”

Halladay has won 16 or more games six times since he opted against surgery and finished in the top five in Cy Young voting for six straight seasons, actually winning the second Cy Young of his career in 2010.

Collins or Harvey didn’t reveal which other pitchers they spoke to who also successfully let the UCL tear heal on its own and went on with their careers.

The reaction to Harvey’s tweet was addressed by Sandy Alderson as well yesterday, “There is some possibility that surgery can be avoided,” Alderson said. “There is still some possibility that surgery will not occur and Matt will decide to do something else. We’re going to wait three weeks and test it, to see if he’s hurting.”

Scott Boras, who represents Matt Harvey, also agreed saying that is depends on how big or small the tear is and for now it’s too early to tell.

“When you’re talking about the term ‘partial tear,’ you’re talking about 5 percent to 95 percent. You have to get in and get the specifics and get more information medically before we can really make a determination as to what we’re dealing with. There’s a lot of swelling in there now. … I’ve had situations with no surgery.”

The one thing the drama queens, pessimists, and shock-bloggers won’t tell you, is what one sports surgeon told me yesterday after I reached out to get some outside opinions.

“The fact that there is no shooting pain and no mention of soreness or pain in the elbow itself, would indicate a very small tear. When your UCL ligament goes or ‘pops’ you know it… you feel it.”

“So far, based on what you’re telling me, all they know is that this player has a sore forearm which could be a precursor and indication of something worse or more significant like a UCL tear. But the fact his soreness is limited to just the forearm and not the elbow, bodes well for a small tear that can heal on its own with appropriate rest, rehab and strengthening exercises for the surrounding area in that elbow.”

“From what you’ve told me, the diagnosis itself sounds very preliminary and mostly inconclusive. It’s certainly not enough to say surgery is a slam dunk. Better imaging will give the doctors a clearer indication as to the extent of the tear and if it’s small enough, there’s no reason why he cannot avoid surgery and pitch to the same level as he was pre-injury.”

The Mets said no decision will be made until Harvey is re-examined in a few weeks after the swelling subsides.

Original Post 8/28

I’m officially in 2014 mode, what about you? Actually, I have been for some time now, but the Matt Harvey news and the purge that followed clinched it for me.

Speaking of Harvey, God bless that poor kid. After the news broke about his torn UCL, my heart went out to him and I tweeted him the following:

@MattHarvey33 Thanks for all the hope & optimism you've given Mets fans. Thanks for all the thrills too. Get well, get back, and God Bless.

— Metsmerized – Joe D (@MetsmerizedJoeD) August 26, 2013

Matt Harvey responded to the overwhelming outpouring of prayers and hope with the following:

Thank you everyone for the kind words and support. I may be done this year, but I will be back next year for April 1.

— Matt Harvey (@MattHarvey33) August 27, 2013

I responded back to him with yet more optimism and also a warning:

@MattHarvey33 Now that's the Met spirit! Ya Gotta Believe! Stay away from the naysayers & pessimists, stick with those who have your back!

— Metsmerized – Joe D (@MetsmerizedJoeD) August 27, 2013

Then 30 minutes later, this from MetsBlog:

Matt Harvey will be ready April 1?

Umm, what’s that? April 1? So, does this mean he isn’t having surgery? Or, maybe it means he thinks he isn’t having surgery? Or, maybe he’s delusional? I can’t wait to find out more…

Wow, delusional?

What is there to find out?

This is about a kid whose entire world was turned upside down after spending the last 18 months sitting on top of it…

He’s thanking his fans while showing some optimism, likely more for his own good than for ours…

What kind of reporting is this? Better yet what kind of show of support is this for our team’s most valuable asset and player who has thrilled like no other from the first day he burst onto the scene?

I hope to High Heaven that Matt Harvey never saw that post on MetsBlog calling him out for showing a little optimism… Calling him delusional…

This post is to commend Matt for his message of hope and wish him well as he faces one of the toughest decisions of his life…

Matt, do whatever your heart tells you to do… It’s gotten you this far already… Don’t stop now…

The post Harvey Speaks To Halladay, Doctor Says Surgery Can Be Avoided appeared first on Metsmerized Online.