Original Post

Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports that 17 Mets minor leaguers are now free agents and can sign with any other organization. They are as follows:

Triple-A (11 Free Agents)

RHP Carlos Alvarado

RHP Greg Burke

RHP Matt Fox

RHP D.J. Mitchell

RHP Daryl Thompson

RHP Cory Wade

LHP Justin Hampson

C Francisco Pena

SS Brian Bixler

SS Brandon Hicks

OF Jamie Hoffmann.

Double-A (6 Free Agents)

RHP Dylan Owen

RHP Armando Rodriguez

C Jeyckol De Leon

SS Josh Rodriguez

1B Rhyne Hughes

3B Richard Lucas.

Almost all of these players were brought in from other organizations in the last two seasons when Sandy Alderson went on a minor league free agent spree to add some depth to the system.

The only players here that I could see coming back are 33-year old Justin Hampson, who has developed a good relationship with the team and is well liked. Hampson has been here twice before and was re-signed by the Mets both times.

It was already reported that the Mets may have some interest in bringing back reliever Greg Burke, but he has drawn interest from at least two other teams who may entice him with a major league deal rather than a minor league deal from the Mets.

Francisco Pena, who just turned 24 last month, could re-sign and return to the Mets. Given the scarcity of catching at the higher levels, the defensive-minded backstop is a good guy to have around as many of the Mets top pitching prospects make their way to Triple-A next season.

(Photo credit: Gordon Donovan)

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The New York Mets showed some slight improvement last season in the bullpen after having the worst bullpen in the major leagues in their two previous seasons.

The Mets ranked 27th with a .259 opposing batting average, 30th in strikeouts, 25th in WHIP and finished 22nd with a 3.99 ERA.

Among the 12 relievers to appear in 15 or more games for the Mets last season, righthander Greg Burke ranked last with a 1.83 WHIP and 5.68 ERA in an appalling 32 appearances. Opposing offenses torched the 31-year old for a .312 batting average, allowing 43 hits and 15 walks in 31.2 innings.

You would think that would spell the end for his short and disastrous Mets tenure, but in fact the Mets are interested in re-signing him to a minor league deal, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

The question of course is why? I didn’t realize we were that hard up…

The fact is that once the Mets started to play their own younger and internal options, the bullpen started to perform infinitely better in the second half of last season.

In addition to solid options like rookies Scott Rice and Gonzalez Germen, the Mets have some more great internal options on the way in Jeff Walters and Jack Leathersich along with promising holdovers Vic Black, longman Carlos Torres and Josh Edgin.

The good news is that Burke is also drawing early interest from the Blue Jays and Rockies and could receive offers from both of those teams soon.

Thank God for small favors…

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The top five teams in the NL in pitching all reached the postseason this year, and not coincidentally were the only teams in the league to reach or exceed the 90-win plateau. By contrast, two of the top five finishers in NL runs scored, Colorado and Arizona, finished well out of the running, finishing with 74 and 81 wins respectively. In the AL, the top pitching team was Kansas City, but the Royals fell short of the championship rounds by virtue of an anemic offense that wound up scoring more than 200 fewer runs than the league champion Red Sox. Outside of this exception, the remaining top six finishers in league ERA all made it to at least a Wild Card slot. On the offensive side, Baltimore was tied with Cleveland for 4th in the league in runs scored but failed to notch a playoff slot as their 10th-best rated pitching proved too big an obstacle to overcome. The Indians, a few notches better at 7th in the league, were able to get a brief taste of fall competition before being bounced by Tampa Bay in Wild Card play.

The takeaway? Pitching wins pennants, to repeat an old saw, although we should throw in the added condition of having at least a league-average offense. This being the case, how much would the Mets have to improve to achieve a top-five quality mound staff to go with at least a middle-of-the-pack group of batsmen? The answer is maybe not as far as you would think.

The Mets finished the season with a 3.77 team ERA, good for 8th in the NL. A more revealing set of stats are those for Quality Starts, where the team total of 94 was tied for 2nd in the league (with Cincinnati), and relief ERA where the team’s figure of 3.98 was good (or bad) for 12th in the circuit. Clearly the ongoing Achilles’ heel of the bullpen was to blame for much of what proved to be yet another go-round of mediocrity for the Orange and Blue.

While addressing the absence of Matt Harvey will be foremost in the minds of many when looking at the team’s mound-staff for next season, clearly finding someway to finally shed the albatross of an underperforming bullpen simply MUST be achieved for the team to have a real chance to compete.

On the offensive side, the Mets finished with a total of 619 runs scored, 30 below the league average and good for 11th in the NL. While this is decidedly uninspiring, it should be noted that the Pirates also finished below the league average in scoring with 634, but were boosted to their first postseason slot in decades by a pitching staff that finished 3rd in league ERA, due in no small part to their bullpen which led the league in saves and trailed only Atlanta in relief ERA.

So while looking to boost offensive production remains an important goal, it would seem that by putting even greater emphasis on pitching, particularly on the relief corps, Sandy Alderson and crew would be doing more to actually move the Mets closer to postseason play. Some solid pieces are in place or potentially available in players such as Bobby Parnell, Carlos Torres, Scott Rice, Vic Black, Jeurys Familia and (hopefully) LaTroy Hawkins. Improvement will be needed from those who play the role of workhorse middle men a la Scott Atchinson and David Aardsma, and abysmal showings along the lines of what was obtained from the inconsistent Greg Burke and the now-departed Robert Carson and Brandon Lyon will have to be eliminated as much as possible.

Building a solid relief corps has clearly been a challenge for this organization, but with the development of Parnell into an apparently solid closer and the improvement of the ‘pen over the second half of the 2013 season (3.68 ERA, down from a first half mark of 3.83), there will hopefully be enough of a foundation in place to make it less of a daunting task than usual.

The post The Fastest Path To The Post-Season Is Still Pitching appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Robinson Cano is a perfect example. He’s a top-three player in all of baseball and still in his prime, and his initial request of 10 years and $305 million will get his representatives laughed off the phone, but he’d likely end up signing something between teammates Mark Teixeira’s (8/180) and Alex Rodriguez’s (10/275) deals. I’d make a rough estimate at 8 years and $200 million dollars. Cano turns 31 next week and therefore would spend the bulk of the contract playing beyond age 34 than before it.

It’s apparent that the Mets hierarchy is adverse to such risks, and I applaud them for it. It’s clear that most of baseball is as well, which is why this conundrum exists to begin with. The biggest deals are going to the younger stars entering their prime, not the ones leaving it. But there are holes to fill and some supreme talent available.

According to Baseball Reference (who makes educated estimates on arbitration costs; Cot’s does not), the Mets will pay out $54.8 million to their players under guaranteed contracts and eligible for arbitration, as well as bought-out options and deferred payments. This of course includes arbitration players such as Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Greg Burke, Jordany Valdespin and other players whose return to the Mets is questionable. It’s safe to assume not everyone will return, so let’s round off committed payroll to $50 million for the sake of argument.

I don’t wish to get into a debate on just how much the Mets will spend over the winter. That’s not the point. The point is to come up with a way the Mets can sign free agents, but alleviate the overwhelming risks in doing so. Here’s the answer:

Overpay in money to keep the contract length shorter. Simple, right?

If Cano wants to have the highest AAV in baseball history, fine. Let him have it. Five years, $150 million. I’d even give him $175 million for five years. Is it that asinine? If he would get $25 million a year in a “normal” contract, wouldn’t you rather pay him an extra $5-$10 million a year to NOT have to pay him $25-$50 million over those final three least productive years? You could sell him on the idea that he’d get his $30 million a year and allay his issues with “pay cut” by pointing out he could still sign another contract at age 36. Signing Cano wouldn’t pigeon-hole the Mets into looking for a power bat from the left side in the outfield, because he would be their lefty power bat and allow them to simply find an outfielder, not necessarily an impact outfielder. He would also allow the Mets to shop Daniel Murphy in a package to bring back something to fill another hole.

And they should do the same with Hiroki Kuroda, in my opinion the best free agent starting pitcher available. It’s been widely speculated that Kuroda will play for either the Yankees or the Dodgers, or go back to Japan. He made $15 million pitching in New York in 2013, so why not offer him $20 million to do the same in 2014. Kuroda might possibly be the best free agent fit for the Mets (with apologies to Cano and Shin-Soo Choo) because he would only sign for one year, which is exactly the length of time it would take Matt Harvey to return. He would also be the veteran presence the young pitching staff needs.

While that wouldn’t be a sacrifice at all for Kuroda, who wouldn’t have to move and get a handsome raise for not doing so, would Cano make that sacrifice? He has every right to look for every last cent he can get, and if he chooses not to leave $25-$50 million on the table and try for the longest, richest contract he can get, then good luck to him. But achieving his desire to have the highest AAV in MLB history and still signing another contract at age 36 to make up for the money he “lost” in the deal are inherent positives in taking that hypothetical deal from the Mets.

Suppose this all comes to fruition. That leaves the Mets with a manageable $100 million payroll. To put that in perspective, it would have ranked the Mets 15^th in baseball if they sported that payroll in 2013 and would only be roughly $9 million more than their actual payroll. It’s likely Cano wouldn’t take that deal. It’s even less likely the Mets would spend $100 million in 2014. But it would get the Mets the best hitter and best pitcher available, fill a few holes, do it for a reasonable total payroll cost, and send one hell of a shockwave through Major League Baseball.

The post Xtreem Ideas: Mets Should Try Revolutionizing Free Agency This Winter 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.

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DEEP ENOUGH… CHOO WINS IT FOR REDS…

Aaron Harang went six strong and Duda had a day, but it was not enough as the Reds edged the Amazin’s 3-2.

The Reds struck first when (future Met?????) Shin-Soo Choo hit a grounder right back up the middle to bring around Todd Frazier. Harang then issued consecutive walks, plating Ryan Hanigan and giving the Reds a 2-0 lead.

The Mets hit right back in the third when Lucas Duda plated Harang on a sac fly. Duda made himself known again in the sixth, when he smacked his fifteenth homer of the year over the right field fence.

Harang settled in after the second, allowing just one more hit through the next four frames. He was pulled after the sixth with a great line: 6 IP, 5H, 2ER, 6BB, 1K. He battled with his command, but pushed through and actually had a really solid day.

Gonzalez Germen relieved Harang and pitched two/thirds of the seventh, and Pedro Feliciano capped off the scoreless frame.

The Mets threatened in the eighth after getting the two leadoff men on, but to no avail. After David Wright K’d looking, Lucas Duda grounded into a double play and in the blink of an eye the threat was ended.

Then it was the Reds’ turn. After a two-out single by Hanigan, stolen-base machine Billy Hamilton worked his magic and was in scoring position just like that (how do you screw up a pitchout?). However, Frank Francisco got his strikeout and it was on to the ninth.

After Aroldis Chapman made quick work of the Amazins in the top, Tim Byrdak was on to shut down the Reds in the ninth. He didn’t last long. Shin-Soo Choo smacked a double to the gap, and Byrdak was done. Aardsma was on to relieve him, but on his first pitch Choo swiped third on after Travis d’Arnaud‘s questionable throw to second base.

After the bases quickly loaded up, Aardsma really bore down and the game was off to extra innings.

The Mets offered another quiet top half, and Greg Burke was on for the bottom of the tenth. After he allowed a few seeing-eye hits, his night was done as he left runners on the corners for Sean Henn.

Henn only lasted two pitches; Choo blasted a ball to left-center and the game was over. It was the Mets’ 72nd loss of the year.

The series continues tomorrow at 7:10, when Jon Niese faces off against Mike Leake.

The post Choo Gotta Be Kiddin’ Me… Mets Seeing Red After 3-2 Walkoff Loss appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Spoiler Alert: This game was really, really ugly. Let’s get right to it…

The Nationals got off to a quick start off of Carlos Torres when Denard Span and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back jacks to lead off the game. Torres would settle down, but just for a while.

After a quiet second, the Nats struck again in the third when Jayson Werth took the first pitch he saw to left center for a three run home run. It was Werth’s 22^nd of year. The Nats went up 5-0, but that was just the beginning.

The fatal blow to Torres was a Tyler Moore solo bomb in the fourth. Torres final line was this: HORRIBLE.

Greg Burke relieved Torres, but fared about the same. Wilson Ramos smacked a dinger to left center, bringing in two other Nats and for the last time, expanding their lead to 9.

While this was a brutal game to watch, at least it was fun coming up with all these different names to call home runs.

Meanwhile, Gio Gonzalez tossed an absolute gem, allowing only three Met baserunners. Zach Lutz was the lone hero, leading off the seventh with a single ando, while this was a brutal game to watch, it was fun coming up with all these different names to call home runs.

The series continues tomorrow at 7:10, when Jordan Zimmermann and Dillon Gee will face off for game two of this four game series.

The dogs were out in full force at Citi Field tonight…

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The Mets announced that Aaron Harang will get the start on Thursday against the Washington Nationals.

Harang, 35, had his contract selected today from Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League and will wear uniform No. 44.

Recently, he pitched 6.0 innings, allowed six hits, three runs, earned, issued two walks and struck out six vs. Salt Lake in Game Four of the PCL semi-finals on September 7.

The veteran righthander was 5-11 with a 5.76 ERA in 22 starts this year for the Seattle Mariners. He was released last month and signed by the Mets to a minor-league deal last week.

Original Post

The Mets announced that they have called up outfielder Mike Baxter, starting pitcher Aaron Harang, and catcher Juan Centeno, following Sunday’s 2-1 win against the Indians. All three had been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas before they were eliminated from the postseason play on Saturday night.

All three will be on hand for the start of a four game series against the Washington Nationals, tonight at Citi Field.

Baxter, has seen some time this season with the Mets and has a .208/.325/.277 in 120 plate appearances with the big league team.

Harang, signed a minor league deal with the Mets last week after he was released by the Seattle Mariners. In 22 starts, the 35-year-old posted a 5.76 ERA. He’s expected to make one or two September starts for the Mets.

Centeno, 23, is a highly regarded defensive catcher who batted .305 with a .345 on-base with Las Vegas.

No word on 23-year-old Ruben Tejada, but he is expected to join the team Tuesday or Wednesday.

Yesterday, the Mets also called up relievers Greg Burke and Frank Francisco.

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The Mets dropped a heartbreaker to the Braves, 4-1, in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon after a blown call at first base gave Atlanta an extra out and Chris Johnson blasted a go-ahead three-run homer off reliever Greg Burke. Ugh…

Jon Niese started and delivered another solid performance allowing one run in 7.0 innings and racking up nine strikeouts. He was cruising along until the top of the sixth, when Niese gave everyone a scare and let one get away from him striking Jason Heyward in the jaw with a 90-mph fastball.

Heyward dropped to the ground and stayed down for a while until being walked off with help from his teammate and trainer. His jaw was fractured. Hate to see things like this…

The whole scene seemed to rattle Niese who followed that by allowing back to back singles to Atlanta who scored the tying run that would end up sending the game into extra innings.

The crucial moment in the game came in the bottom of the tenth. With a runner on first and two outs, Freddie Freeman hit a come-backer to reliever Scott Rice who picked up the ball and fired it to first base for what should have been the third out. However, Freeman was called safe by umpire Jerry Layne, prompting Collins to come out and argue to no avail. Collins was ejected from the game. Greg Burke then comes in to relieve Rice, and Chris Johnson greeted him with a three-run homer to give the Braves the 4-1 lead and that’s where this sad story ends.

SATIN ROUNDING THE BASES TODAY

Josh Satin had another huge performance against a lefthander and keeps proving why Ike Davis belongs on the bench when a southpaw is starting. All Satin did was crush a solo home run and was on base three times to raise his average to .303 on the season. He has torched lefties to the tune of a 1.120 OPS this season, the best mark on the Mets.

That was all the offense for the Mets who continue to struggle to score runs. It seems like it’s always feast or famine. Daniel Murphy had a pair of hits batting second, and Wilmer Flores got on base twice while batting seventh; once on a walk and the other on a single.

It happened again… Juan Lagares with yet another outfield assist as he nailed Andrelton Simmons at second base after he tried stretching a single into a double. Yes, this is why I’ve loved this guy… This is why I’ve been calling him the best defender in the whole damn system… This is why he should be our everyday centerfielder in 2014 and beyond… A stud in the making who will win his first Gold Glove…  Lagares is no longer just a Mets sensation, his elite defense is now common knowledge throughout the league.

So the Mets end up splitting the two game series and get a well deserved day off tomorrow. On Friday, the Detroit Tigers roll into town for a three-game set and Jacob deGrom Carlos Torres (2-2, 3.00) will oppose Doug Fister (10-6, 3.63) at 7:10PM.

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He unambiguously shot down the idea last night, and said that “DeGrom is not on the table.”

Instead, the Mets have decided to take Carlos Torres out of the bullpen where he has done a stellar job, and put him back into the rotation.

Torres has a 1.49 ERA in 19 relief appearances this season, and in three starts for the Mets he has a 6.54 ERA with 24 baserunners and ten earned runs in 14.0 innings pitched.

Here are the projected weekend matchups against the Tigers:

Friday: Carlos Torres vs. Doug Fister

Saturday: Matt Harvey vs. Max Scherzer

Sunday: Dillon Gee vs. Rick Porcello

Jake deGrom will still pitch on Friday, however it will be for Triple-A Las Vegas…

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Original Post

Despite the loss of Jenrry Mejia from the rotation, the Mets till intend on giving Matt Harvey an extra day of rest, as originally planned, leaving Friday wide open for a yet to be determined starter.

Terry Collins told reporters that Carlos Torres could rejoin the rotation and make that Friday start, but other options include Jacob deGrom, Giancarlo Alvarado, Chris Schwinden and Matt Fox.

I’ve been jockeying for a promotion for deGrom for two weeks now – ever since Jeremy Hefner became a casualty of war as well.

Matt Musico of MetsMinors.net and contributor here at MMO makes a good case for deGrom as well this morning:

If Jacob deGrom was auditioning for a MLB roster spot last night with Jenrry Mejia now on the disabled list, he did a good job against the Salt Lake Bees. The right-hander didn’t factor in the decision, but took a perfect game into the sixth inning for his third straight quality start. He ended up allowing two runs on two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts in six innings pitched for the 51s.

It will be interesting to see whether or not deGrom gets a start or two at the big league level sometime this season. He would need to be added to the 40-man to do so, and he’s likely nearing an innings limit.

After tossing 111.1 innings in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, the product of Stetson University has thrown 140.2 frames in 2013 between three levels of the minor leagues. The Mets normally have an organization-wide innings limit at around 30 innings more than the prior season, and deGrom is currently sitting at that limit.

To add to Matt’s points, deGrom needs to be added to the 40 Man Roster anyway as we first mentioned back in April. But here is my bigger point… I get the whole innings limit thing, believe me I do… But from what I’ve been told he is not being shutdown in from his next start on Friday for Las Vegas, so why can’t he be added to the 40 and make that start in Citi Field for the Mets?

Furthermore, I am fully on board with protecting the arms of our 19-23 year old pitching prospects, but deGrom is 25 and there’s no chance he approached anything close to to 180 innings this season if he maintains the same pace.

My point is that he should get the call, especially if he’s going to continue to pitch for Triple-A Vegas anyway. Lets see what he has and where he may fit in as we evaluate things for the 2014 season.

If deGrom only has three starts left in him, then let him make them in the big-leagues where we can better ascertain a future course of action for him.

Whether it’s this week or next month, he has to be added to the 40 man roster anyway. And with Cesar Puello and Jordany Valdespin on the Restricted List, we have two available spots on the 40 anyway… That’s right… The Mets have two open spots on their 40 Man anyway…

DeGrom is 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 12 starts for Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League. Not mind-boggling, but they can’t all be like Rafael Montero who is definitely not an option and doesn’t have to be added to the 40 and protected from the Rule 5 Draft anyway.

This is a no-brainer…

(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)

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