Yoenis Cespedes at the 2013 Home Run Derby at Citi Field (Photo by Jim Mancari)

So another July 31 trade deadline has passed, and while the Mets maybe weren’t so active right now, some of the deals that occurred could actually affect the Amazin’s this offseason.

The Boston Red Sox completely overhauled their pitching staff by trading Jon Lester and John Lackey, as well as Felix Doubront and Andrew Miller.

In exchange, the Sox received two prominent outfielders: Yoenis Cespedes and Allen Craig. In looking at the team’s pitching however, it leaves must to be desired.

That’s where the Mets come into play.

It’s no secret that the Mets need a bat, and now the Red Sox could use a few arms, which the Mets have. So I wonder if these teams will be talking this offseason.

Starting with the Red Sox, let’s take a look at how their outfield would shape up next season. Shane Victorino is still under contract. Jackie Bradley Jr. – though he’s struggled with the bat at times – provides excellent defense in center field. Brock Holt has hit well in a limited sample, and Daniel Nava could be a solid option as a fourth or fifth outfielder. And don’t forget that the team has a big-time outfield prospect in Mookie Betts.

Naturally, one of the corner spots would be filled by either Cespedes or Craig. So let’s hypothetically say that next year’s outfield in Boston will consist of Cespedes or Craig in left, Bradley Jr./Holt in center and Victorino in right.

Since David Ortiz and Mike Napoli will still be around, that limits Craig to solely an outfield role, rather than playing first base or DH – though he could fill in at times in those spots but likely not regularly to warrant keeping him, given the team’s pitching holes.

If I were the Mets, I would inquire this offseason to see if Cespedes or Craig will be available via trade. Certainly, Cespedes would be the huge bat the Mets need for the middle of the order, but a guy like Craig coming off a tough year could be a smart gamble, especially given his versatility.

Cespedes has one year at $10.5 million remaining on his contract after this season. That’s a bargain considering his offensive production, not mention his ability to gun down runners at any base.

Craig meanwhile has three years left on his contract with a $13 million club option for 2018.

I’m not crazy about the idea of giving up a Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom type prospect for A) a guy like Cespedes who only has one year left on his deal or B) a lesser player like Craig who has too many years left.

But if the Mets could negotiate an extension with Cespedes as part of a trade, now we’re talking.

And as far as Craig, a package of lesser prospects along with maybe Dillon Gee or Jon Niese could get a deal done. Even a straight-up deal for one of the veteran pitchers may work.

Cespedes to me is the impact bat the Mets are seeking. Craig I feel is more of a stopgap player, and the team already has too many of those.

So let’s see if Sandy Alderson gives the Red Sox a call this offseason.

Let me post this to the audience: Would you rather see the team try to acquire Cespedes knowing it would take Syndergaard or deGrom (and other prospects potentially too), or would you settle for Craig for a package centered around Gee or Niese, rather than the young electric arms?

Certainly a tough call.

The post From Left Field: Mets Should Look To Red Sox As Trade Partners In Offseason appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Most pro baseball players long to have a few days off at the All-Star break in mid-July each year.

It’s a total grind to play almost every day for three and half months, so the four-day break is well-deserved.

But for the Mets this year, the All-Star break came at the worst possible time. The team was scorching hot, but that hot-streak has since flared out in the seven games after the break.

The Mets were the hottest team in the National League to end the unofficial first half at 8-2 in their last 10 games. They were only five games under .500, and the feelings around the team were very positive for a change.

The team was pitching and hitting well and finding ways to win games late. There were a few come-from-behind wins, and the team rose up to the challenge against some All-Star pitchers including Yu Darvish, Julio Teheran and Henderson Alvarez.

Sometimes, the best method to continue a hot streak is to keep playing continuously. You’re in the zone, and you just keep riding the wave of success.

But the All-Star break really crushed the momentum of this team. Yes, they’re on a difficult road trip, but they have barely touched the ball offensively after clicking on all cylinders right before the break.

They’ve scored only 15 runs in the seven games since the break, which averages to 2.14 runs per game. Even with a strong pitching staff, that amount of runs will rarely be able to sustain a long winning streak.

And on a night like last night where Dillon Gee implodes, there’s virtually no chance of winning.

Maybe this recent stretch is the team returning to normalcy. It could also signify the Mets being sellers at this year’s trade deadline.

But on the other hand, the Mets showed the potential that they have right before the break. Sure, basically everything has to be perfect every night, but if the team showed it could rattle off eight wins in 10 games, what’s to say they can’t do that again?

The All-Star break is usually the deciding factor of which teams are in the race and which are beginning to look ahead to the next season. But with the second Wild Card spot, teams on the fringe are hanging on to every possible hope of playing postseason baseball.

As of today, the Mets are 8.5 games out of the division and 7.0 games out of the Wild Card. There are plenty of divisional matchups left to make up some ground in the division, but earning a Wild Card spot would require jumping over five teams.

Really the next week before the deadline is going to be critical. If this team can find ways to win, maybe they look to acquire some help right now. But if the recent trend of an inept offense continues, it’s time to regroup towards next year, which would include bringing up some of the young arms to see what we’ve got.

The post From Left Field: All-Star Break Came At The Worst Possible Time appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Sure, the big club has been clicking on all cylinders recently, but in order to ensure sustained success, all the talk has been leading to the team needing one more big bat in the middle of the lineup.

The major areas for upgrade at this point are left field and shortstop. Even if a blockbuster trade is held off until the offseason, the Mets would undoubtedly have to tap into their well of strong pitching prospects in order to get the bat they so desperately desire.

So I’ve been thinking: Who would the Mets be willing to part with in a trade for the likes of Giancarlo Stanton (long shot), Troy Tulowitzki (long shot) or Starlin Castro (not as much of a long shot)?

Heading into next year, the following pitchers are all under team control: Matt Harvey, Dillon Gee, Jon Niese, Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero. Throw in the quickly rising Steven Matz, Darin Gorski, Logan Verrett, Cory Mazzoni, Hansel Robles and Gabriel Ynoa – and not to mention Jeremy Hefner returning from injury – and there are almost too many arms to choose from, though having too much pitching really never is a bad thing.

But rather than go into next season with all these arms trying to fill five spots, the team will look to package one or two of them in blockbuster trade for a bat.

So who’s the first to go?

We know Colon might be on the way out before this trade deadline, so don’t worry about him. Harvey’s not going anywhere, and even Wheeler would appear to be safe given his potential.

Having a lefty like Niese is essential, and it seems Gee turns in a solid effort every time out.

So that leaves Syndergaard, deGrom and Montero.

deGrom has dazzled since his call-up to the point where he’s a legitimate consideration for the rotation next year even when Harvey returns.

Montero struggled a bit in a few starts earlier this year, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be effective at the big-league level.

And “Thor” has had an up and down year, but we still have to see what he can do in the bigs.

What a difficult decision for Sandy Alderson?

I’m thinking any team would want at least two pitching prospects in a trade and maybe even a third from the group of lower-level arms.

It’s such a crapshoot here.

Does Alderson hang onto Thor given that he traded Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey to get him?

Does he keep deGrom given his string of dominant starts this year?

Or does he take the scouts advice in that Montero is a polished pitcher with a high ceiling?

Even if the Mets would be willing to trade Gee, other teams likely wouldn’t want him. It’s not that Gee is not a reliable pitcher – which other than some injuries he’s proven to be.

But the other teams would want the Mets young, electric, talented arms that could evolve into aces of a staff. Gee is stable middle of the rotation pitcher, even though at times he’s pitched like an ace.

At this point, are the Mets so invested in their pitching prospects that maybe they just hang onto all of them and continue to piece together the holes until a few position prospects (Brandon Nimmo, Matt Reynolds, etc.) are ready?

It’s unlikely that all the young arms are going to pan out as expected, but for the ones that do, I sure hope they’re wearing orange and blue.

What I’d hate to see is the two prospects that get traded for an impact bat become dominant starters, even if the hitter contributes for a few years.

It’s your call, Sandy. Much luck to you! You’re going to need it!

The post Which Pitching Prospects Go First In A Blockbuster Trade? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Wilmer Flores (Photo by Jim Mancari)

I was sitting on the edge of my seat at Citi Field last night in the top of the eighth inning with one out and runners on the corners for the Dodgers.

The dangerous Hanley Ramirez was up with the Mets only down by one run. Boy did we need a double play in that spot.

Ramirez likely would have been tough to double up, except maybe if he wound up hitting a sharp comebacker right to Jeurys Familia on the mound.

To my surprise, he did. Right off the bat, I’m thinking, “Wow, what a huge double play in that spot!”

But Familia all of sudden double clutches, and I see two guys – Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores – both hovering around second base and in each other’s way.

Naturally, the Mets fail to turn the double play and allow an insurance run to score. As if the script was written prior to the game, the Mets only muster one run in the next two innings – meaning the fielder’s choice off the bat of Ramirez produced what was essentially the game-winning run.

And it’s all because the Mets have trouble with the fundamentals.

In recent memory, the Mets pretty much have been in every game they’ve played. Yet they’ve now lost three in a row and 14 of the last 19 games.

How many times is this team going to shoot itself in the foot by making mental mistakes?

A slow trickler out in front of the plate with two outs, and Anthony Recker and Carlos Torres can’t communicate to get an out at first, allowing a run to score. And that was after a wild pitch that allowed the runner to move from second to third.

Another huge double play situation the next night, and Jacob deGrom induces the dangerous Brian McCann to hit a sharp grounder. Murphy throws to David Wright covering second due to the shift, but Wright makes a weak and wide throw to first. Of course, Alfonso Soriano follows that with the only run-producing hit of the game.

We know this team is not going to score five-plus runs per game. But the starting pitching has been better than the team’s record shows.

I’ve written about it already this season that the Mets can’t rely on playing “perfect games” every single night. But what they have to do is make the plays they are supposed to make – especially in game-changing situations.

On the play last night, there’s two ways to look at it. With a right-handed hitter batting in Ramirez, maybe Murphy and Flores communicated that Murph would cover on a comebacker. But the traditional play is that the shortstop takes the throw, since his momentum is already carrying him towards first base to complete the double play. They were already positioned in double-play depth, so it’s not like Flores had far to go.

Sure, Familia should have just thrown it in the general area, and hopefully one of the middle infielders still would have had enough time to take the throw and complete the play. But still, it should have been clear who was covering the base before the play, and the other middle infielder should have then backed up the play.

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda” at this point – and sadly, this phrase has been used way too often this season.

So after another tough loss, I left Citi Field discouraged. The silver lining: deGrom has looked great through two starts.

But without offense and with routine defensive miscues, his starts – and all the pitchers’ starts – will come to naught.

The post From Left Field: Sloppy Defensive Fundamentals Dooming Amazin’s appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Chris Young (Photo by Jim Mancari)

We were riding high on Monday and Tuesday. The offense was clicking, especially with the long ball, and the defense made a few key plays to increase the Mets winning streak to six games over the Yankees.

But then last night happened.

Before I get long-winded, Masahiro Tanaka is looking like a bona fide ace. Though games are never over until they are played, it was a tall order to think last night that Rafael Montero in his first big league start could outduel a guy who hasn’t lost a regular season game – albeit the majority in Japan – in nearly two full years.

But here’s the thing as we dissect the game: There were a few boneheaded plays that wound up costing the Mets big time.

Let’s start with the top of the second inning with two outs and Brian Roberts at the dish. He lines one to left, and Eric Young Jr. dives for it and comes up empty, allowing the ball to go to the wall and Yangervis Solarte to score easily.

I will never knock a guy for giving 100 percent effort, and that’s what Young Jr. did in that spot. But you have to know the situation there.

We all learned in Little League that you have to know what you are going to do if the ball is hit to you. You also always have to know who is up next.

In this case, Tanaka was on deck, so a single there really wouldn’t have hurt the Mets that much. Sure, Tanaka got a hit later in the game, but you’d rather take your chances in facing Tanaka with two outs then surrender a cheap run.

Again, it was a great effort by Young Jr., but it’s all about knowing the game situation at hand. That’s a lot easier said than done, especially in the heat of the moment, but he has to play that ball on a hop.

So then we move on to the bottom of the fifth. The Mets were only down 2-0 at that point, and Chris Young led off the frame with a single.

Remember, earlier in the game Daniel Murphy swiped second base as the Yankees were meandering around. That was a great heads-up play but one that happens so rarely that you can’t expect it to happen again.

Young however thought he could leave early and catch the Yankees napping again. But catcher Brian McCann signaled to Tanaka, who stepped off and threw to Solarte for the easy out.

Young was visibly mad at himself when he got up, and he should have been. There’s no reason to be making the first out in that fashion. That’s giving away an out to an ace pitcher who is already dominating you – which is not exactly the recipe for success.

I can understand a bit where Young is coming from. With Lucas Duda batting, anything on the ground is an easy double play. But in that case, why not just try a straight steal rather than a leave early play? It’s not like McCann is Yadier Molina behind the plate.

This team cannot afford to be making mental mistakes. Physical errors happen, but mental mistakes can be controlled.

If Young Jr. plays that ball on a hop, the Yankees have a much less chance of scoring that inning. And if Young was not caught trying to steal, who knows how that inning would have gone?

It wasn’t a great night to have “Young” as your last name. These plays were crucial, and though they didn’t necessarily cost the Mets the entire game, every play counts in the grand scheme of a baseball game.

Especially at home – where runs for the Mets have come at a premium – playing smart baseball is essential.

Sure it’s fine to take a calculated risk every so often, like Murphy did. But this team cannot afford to give opponents extra bases on defense and gift outs on offense.

The post From Left Field: Smart Baseball Is Key For Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Today is a much-needed day off for our Mets, who are now 1-6 in their last seven games.

That skid puts the team at 16-17 overall and fourth place in an NL East division that’s shaping up to be quite competitive.

We knew that the first month’s schedule was going to be tough, including the opening series against the Nationals, the early nine-game West Coast road trip, and tough series against the Braves and Cardinals.

So if you would have told me that the Mets would be 16-17 at this point based on their schedule, would I have signed up for that? I guess I would.

But honestly, with the way they’ve been losing games recently, I am forced to reconsider that answer.

Not too long ago, the Mets were sitting pretty at 15-11. Sure, a tough series at Coors Field was on the horizon, but a split and then taking two out of three from the Marlins would have been a great way to start the second month of the season.

But that’s not how it unfolded.

You have to always pencil at least one blowout loss in Colorado, but to lose a game after being up 6-0 is unacceptable.

Then on to Miami, the starting pitching in the series was great, but the bullpen and offensive woes cost the team a chance at salvaging the road trip.

A few losses this season have been beyond gut-wrenching – from Opening Day, to bullpen blow-ups, to walk-off losses, especially via the hit-by-pitch.

So would I sign up for 16-17? If I did not watch a single pitch this past month, then yes, I would have signed up for that mark at this point, given the question marks surrounding the this team in Spring Training.

But after following closely this year, there’s no way I’m signing for that mark.

It’s nice that the team has been alive in the majority of its games, but they have to be able to close out opponents.

When they have a three-run lead early, the offense can’t just shut down. But if it does, the bullpen has to be able to pick up the slack.

The starting pitching has certainly been a bright spot, but how many Jon Niese or Dillon Gee no-decisions is this organization willing to put up with before a change is made?

What that change will be, I do not know.

It starts with Wilmer Flores getting a look at shortstop. And maybe the next step is promoting some of the young arms to play a role in the bullpen.

Whatever happens, there’s still plenty of season left. Yes, giving away games in April and May is tough to swallow, but blowing what hopefully will be meaningful games in August and September just won’t cut it.

16-17 isn’t the worst thing in the world at this point, but it’s the way they’ve lost the 17 that has been tough so far.

The post From Left Field: Would You Sign Up For 16-17 At This Point? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

We’ve played about a month of the season, and already the Mets’ prized free agent of the offseason – Curtis Granderson – has appeared lost at the plate.

As a Met fan, I understand what patience truly is, but Granderson’s struggles are certainly alarming for a player who has not only experienced success but has also done so in New York.

With a $15 million per year price tag, Granderson is going to play every day. If that’s the case, please Terry, get him out of the No. 2 hole. All he does is kill rallies, so I’d say bat him sixth or seventh until he figures it out.

Granderson’s slow start in Flushing got me thinking that this organization really has no luck when it comes to bringing in high-profile free agents.

From Vince Coleman, to Bobby Bonilla, to Kaz Matsui and of course to Jason Bay – arguably the worst of them all – good players sometimes forget how to play when they arrive here.

Some guys, like Roberto Alomar, Mo Vaughn, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, were traded to the Mets before flopping completely.

And other guys, like Pedro Martinez, Frankie Rodriguez and Johan Santana, were productive for a time but will always be remembered for their injuries in New York.

Really, the only guys I can think of that played well after a free-agent contract were Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltran.

Piazza of course was acquired via trade and would sign a seven-year, $91 million contract. Sure, he wasn’t the same player the final few years, but his production during the prime of his Mets career lived up to that contract.

As for Beltran, he may have gotten off to a slow start after signing a seven-year, $119 million, but he very quietly put together a solid Mets career. The strikeout against Adam Wainwright may cast a dark cloud over his Mets legacy, but he did have some good years in orange and blue.

It’s an unfortunate trend that the Mets have had so much trouble striking gold on the free-agent market. If things don’t turn around for Granderson, he could be next on the long list of Mets free-agent flops.

But luckily for Curtis, his Mets tenure has just begun. Guys go through slumps to start a season all the time. Keep in mind, he missed most of last year, so he’s still trying to rediscover his stroke.

Frankly, I don’t even care about the low batting average or the strikeouts as long as he’s driving in runs. He’s not all of a sudden going to transform into a .300 hitter.

It’s all about making productive outs and driving in runs when given the opportunity. Striking out with runners on second and third and nobody is unacceptable, especially for a middle of the order type hitter.

Since the other Mets are struggling offensively as well, Granderson’s woes are that much more noticeable, since he was brought in to give some stability to the offense and some protection behind David Wright.

For Granderson, I’ve already been hearing the Jason Bay comparisons. Through the first few weeks, “The Grandyman Can’t,” but he still has some time before a change is necessary.

It’s not like Bobby Abreu is going to be playing right field every day…

The post From Left Field: Mets Have No Luck With Free Agents appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

We all know what a perfect game is.

27 up, 27 down.

But a “perfect” game can also be when a team excels in all aspects of the game in the same night: pitching, hitting and defense.

When a team plays a “perfect” game, they usually win. It’s pretty simple, since if all three aspects are perfect – especially pitching and defense – it means the other team didn’t score many runs.

With the way this Mets team is built, the only way for them to consistently win games is for them to play perfect games. The problem is that playing a perfect game is extremely difficult – especially multiple perfect games in a row.

Tuesday night in Atlanta, the Mets basically played a perfect game. They hit in timely situations, fielded well enough – despite two errors, one which could have been costly – to keep them in front and received dominant pitching by Bartolo Colon for seven innings.

Sure, Jose Valverde gave us a scare at the end, but the team hung on for the win and that’s all that mattered.

It’s a lot of pressure for a team to know it has to be perfect to win games. Unfortunately for the Mets, that’s the mindset right now.

They’ve received decent starting pitching so far, but this team’s offense is anemic. If they are only going to score three or four runs a game, it’s imperative that the pitching and defense be perfect.

Last night, Zack Wheeler pitched well for four innings, but he came apart in the fifth. The Mets mounted a nice comeback in the ninth, but did we really expect the team to make up a four-run deficit against Craig Kimbrel?

A one- or two-run deficit? Maybe. But we know this team has its limitations, so we can’t expect to come from behind every night.

If this team’s offense could ever click, then maybe a pitcher giving up four runs over five or six innings wouldn’t be so bad. The whole point of this game is to score more runs than the other team, so even if you give up 10 but score 11, you win.

The most runs the Mets have scored this season was seven, and it came in the Opening Day, 10-inning loss to the Nationals. The only other time they scored more than four was the Ike Davis walk-off grand slam game.

Sadly, we will likely see too many 2-1 or 1-0 losses this season. What that tells me is that even on days when the starting pitching and defense click, the offense falters.

We’ve got plenty of season to go, but the thought of having to play a “perfect” game every night is daunting to think about.

Nights like Monday could happen every once in a while, but the reality is that those nights are too rare for a team to live by.

The post From Left Field: Playing A ‘Perfect Game’ Is Too Much To Ask appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

So it’s looks as though the Mets will be carrying both Ike Davis and Lucas Duda on the 25-man roster come Monday’s Opening Day.

The injuries to both this spring precluded the team from being confident in naming a starter. It does look like though that Davis will get the first crack at the position.

If absolutely necessary, Duda could see time in left field, but let’s hope that never happens. He could be a nice lefty power bat off the bench however, along with Andrew Brown from the right side – if he makes the final roster.

So let’s say Davis gets the starting nod.

With Duda on the roster, Terry Collins has the option of playing the hot hand. But the problem with that is when you’re a player, a vote of confidence from the organization is huge to your performance.

I understand that this is a results-driven business. But imagine being in Davis or Duda’s shoes.

You go out there on Opening Day and go 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and four men left on base in key situations (hopefully not!). Not to mention you make an error in the field.

Not only would you hear the boo-birds from the fans the next day, but there may not even be a next day, since there is another first baseman – actually two if you include Josh Satin – on the roster.

If David Wright has that kind of day at the plate, he doesn’t have to worry about potentially losing his job. He forgets about it and moves on to the next day.

But for Davis and Duda, everything they do on the field will be highly scrutinized, and that’s a tough way to play.

Granted, the inconsistent performances of Davis and Duda, not only this spring but also throughout their entire careers, have put them in this situation. But still, when a ballplayer harps on a poor game, it undoubtedly affects him moving forward.

In a perfect world, Davis is given the nod and gets off to a great start. Duda fills in whenever necessary and maybe settles in to a pinch-hitting role. I do like the thought of Duda coming off the bench late in the game with the potential for some fireworks.

If Davis remains hot, trade Duda to an American League team where he could DH.

Now, let’s say Davis struggles out of the gate. I at least want him to be given the full month of April to show if he’s still got it. If after April he’s hitting .150, then make the switch to Duda on a permanent basis – or until he falters as well. Then go with Satin, who actually did a decent job last season.

But flip-flopping back-and-forth and game-to-game won’t do anybody any good.

The post From Left Field: Playing With A Short Leash Is A Tough Way To Play appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

I was listening to WFAN this morning, and Evan Roberts brought up an interesting point.

He said that the Mets two gaping holes right now are shortstop and leadoff hitter.

Hmm, not too long ago, the Mets had arguably the best in the game at both: Jose Reyes.

But of course, we know what happened there.

Granted, based on the Mets financial situation at the time, keeping both Reyes and David Wright would have been a pipe-dream.

But I can’t help but wonder what could’ve been if the Mets were somehow able to re-sign Reyes.

Things may have shaken up a bit differently, but imagine the current Mets roster with Reyes.

The lineup would be something like Reyes leading off at shortstop, Daniel Murphy at second, Wright at third, Curtis Granderson in one corner outfield spot, Chris Young in the other corner spot, Ike Davis/Lucas Duda at first, Juan Lagares in center and Travis d’Arnaud behind the dish.

The bench would be solid with Ruben Tejada as a defensive replacement, the speedster Eric Young Jr., the versatile Josh Satin, maybe the power bat of Andrew Brown and whoever the backup catcher winds up being.

That’s a pretty good team, especially taking into consideration the Mets’ pitching staff as well. Maybe not the Atlanta Braves or the Washington Nationals, but no doubt a contender for a wild card spot.

But now reality is setting back in, and it will become even more evident if I ever watch a Toronto Blue Jays’ game with Reyes penciled into shortstop and the leadoff position.

Reyes was a dynamic player for the Mets, and it’s just unfortunate that his free agency occurred at a time when the Mets had absolutely no money.

Maybe the team brings in Stephen Drew – though he’s not Reyes.

Or maybe Tejada surprises – though he’s not Reyes.

And depending on if the team can find a position for him, Young Jr. could be a leadoff option – though he’s not Reyes.

It just goes to show how difficult it is to find a quality shortstop and leadoff hitter, as the Mets are still searching for both going on three seasons without Reyes.

The post From Left Field: What Could Have Been If Mets Signed Jose Reyes appeared first on Metsmerized Online.