Official 2014 New York Mets Thread

['7']

Our production from the catcher position has been impressive this year as well. Recker has a poor average, but give credit to the guy all he does is hit big home runs. Combine Recker/d'Arnaud/Teagarden (well his 1 grand slam)  you're looking at 20 home runs and 68 Rbi's in 142 games. Pretty good.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

True re: Recker...occasional random HR and very little else...and a ton of strikeouts. Hope the Mets upgrade over him for the backup spot. I'm guessing if Sandy actually tries to play GM this offseason, Plawecki may get dealt in a package for something else...it wouldn't have made much sense to have him be a backup anyway, as it looks like he can be a starter for someone in the next year or two (though his D remains meh). But d'Arnaud's done enough to stave off Plawecki, which is a major victory for him in itself.

['7']

A rare 9th inning comeback walkoff win.

Wright had 2 extra base hits! A perfect 9th with a key d'Arnaud walk, followed by a clutch triple by Granderson and a very shallow sac fly by Flores to bring in Granderson with the winning run.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Awful throw on that sac fly too...a good throw probably gets Grander-Bay out.

 

Next step for Duda is to start doing better against lefties...it's simply too easy to bring in a lefty from the bullpen to get him out in big spots in late innings.  He's been slumping lately, but let's face it, even if he goes 0-for-the-rest-of-the-season, he's the Mets' first baseman in 2015 (he may regress, but I can't say a team with no money to spend shouldn't take the chance at this point). 

 

This from Sandy:

 

http://nypost.com/2014/09/08/alderson-dont-expect-mets-to-spend-in-offseason/

 

I can't really get that mad about this.  For one, Sandy's foray into FA last season was pretty bad, so I can't say the prospect of him misspending more of the Mets' clearly limited funds would've excited me.  It's also not a good FA class, as the article shows. 

 

I think the offseason is going to go about as I expected it to.  The Mets are going to try to fill as many holes as possible from within.  The big questions:

 

1) Do the Mets try to make Herrera a SS and keep Murph, do they trade Murph and hand the 2B job to Herrera, or do they keep Murph, send Herrera to AAA next season, then try to move Murph at the 2015 deadline?  And where does Matt Reynolds fit in all of this?  (I'm assuming Ruben Tejada is done as a Met after this season ends, though I probably shouldn't assume anything with Sandy running the show.)

 

2) Who out of Gee, Niese, and Colon gets dealt to make room for Syndergaard?  Right now, barring injuries or a deal, the arms that are locks to be in the rotation are clearly Harvey, Wheeler, and deGrom.  That's two spots available for Gee, Niese, Colon, Syndergaard, Montero, and longer shots Verrett and Steven Matz.  I really don't think Syndergaard and Montero have anything left to prove at AAA, even though both of them had uneven seasons there.  Verrett is kind of the 2013 deGrom...the guy no one's really talking about with Syndergaard and Montero around, but he did pitch pretty well the last two months or so.  Matz probably isn't ready yet.   

 

3) If the Mets really believe that Flores can be a SS at the major-league level, why did they give up on developing him as such in the minors?  This is going to be a very hard sell. 

 

4) Do the Mets give Familia a chance to close?  Mejia is too hittable to be reliable over the long term.  Does Parnell get a shot to get his job back if he's healthy?

 

Basically, 2015 will be a real wild-card year...no one can say what this team will do. 

Edited September 9, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

deGrom...just wow. 

 

Ditto Lagares.  Is there ANY ball that guy doesn't get to?

 

Passive and Wright to address the media after the game.  Hopefully it's to announce that Wright is done for the season.  There's nothing to gain for anyone to keep sending him out there.  Get him ready for 2015. 

 

Amateur Terry takes out deGrom after deGrom had retired friggin' fourteen hitters in a row (and continued to rack up the Ks) and had only thrown 100 pitches through 8 IP.  Of course he does.  Idiot.

 

Sad to think deGrom is going to screwed out of a win because his manager's a moron. 

Edited September 10, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

 

SportsCenter ‏@SportsCenter  4m

Jacob deGrom joins Tom Seaver, Doc Gooden as only Mets pitchers to have sub-3.00 ERA after 20 starts in debut season.

 

 

 

That's insane...for all the hype Harvey, Wheeler and Syndergard have been getting (and definitely justified with Harvey last year and Wheeler most of this year) DeGrom could be as good as any of them.

Edited September 10, 2014 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Gotta love the way Wheeler and deGrom are finishing up.  Hard to believe a .500 finish is suddenly in play again....it's still a long shot (they'll have to go 11-6, with seven games left against the Nats), and doing it or coming close to doing it means Amateur Terry gets yet another year to show why he won't get another job after he loses this one, but finishing with a non-losing record does give the Mets something to shoot for. 

 

Hope Murph moves to 3rd and Herrera gets the rest of the season to play second. 

Edited September 10, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Yes Wright is done with inflammation. Doesn't sound like surgery but who knows

 

Not mad about Terry pulling deGrom after 100...but Mejia has to do a better job. Too wild, bouncing curveballs, not a good enough fastball to blow anyone a way. He's found a way to do it for the most part, but he's really not closer material.

 

FYI deGroms last pitch today, #100 was 97mph. So yea he could've come out but I would rather not burn that arm

Edited September 10, 2014 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

TC has no problem forcing deGrom through six innings and 114 pitches in his last game, but when he's clearly not laboring, he pulls him out after 8?  I think deGrom should've been given a batter-by-batter leash in the ninth...the kid had a shot at a complete-game shutout.  Why not let him add that gem to his crown?

['7']

Awful throw on that sac fly too...a good throw probably gets Grander-Bay out.

 

Next step for Duda is to start doing better against lefties...it's simply too easy to bring in a lefty from the bullpen to get him out in big spots in late innings.  He's been slumping lately, but let's face it, even if he goes 0-for-the-rest-of-the-season, he's the Mets' first baseman in 2015 (he may regress, but I can't say a team with no money to spend shouldn't take the chance at this point). 

 

This from Sandy:

 

http://nypost.com/2014/09/08/alderson-dont-expect-mets-to-spend-in-offseason/

 

I can't really get that mad about this.  For one, Sandy's foray into FA last season was pretty bad, so I can't say the prospect of him misspending more of the Mets' clearly limited funds would've excited me.  It's also not a good FA class, as the article shows. 

 

I think the offseason is going to go about as I expected it to.  The Mets are going to try to fill as many holes as possible from within.  The big questions:

 

1) Do the Mets try to make Herrera a SS and keep Murph, do they trade Murph and hand the 2B job to Herrera, or do they keep Murph, send Herrera to AAA next season, then try to move Murph at the 2015 deadline?  And where does Matt Reynolds fit in all of this?  (I'm assuming Ruben Tejada is done as a Met after this season ends, though I probably shouldn't assume anything with Sandy running the show.)

 

2) Who out of Gee, Niese, and Colon gets dealt to make room for Syndergaard?  Right now, barring injuries or a deal, the arms that are locks to be in the rotation are clearly Harvey, Wheeler, and deGrom.  That's two spots available for Gee, Niese, Colon, Syndergaard, Montero, and longer shots Verrett and Steven Matz.  I really don't think Syndergaard and Montero have anything left to prove at AAA, even though both of them had uneven seasons there.  Verrett is kind of the 2013 deGrom...the guy no one's really talking about with Syndergaard and Montero around, but he did pitch pretty well the last two months or so.  Matz probably isn't ready yet.   

 

3) If the Mets really believe that Flores can be a SS at the major-league level, why did they give up on developing him as such in the minors?  This is going to be a very hard sell. 

 

4) Do the Mets give Familia a chance to close?  Mejia is too hittable to be reliable over the long term.  Does Parnell get a shot to get his job back if he's healthy?

 

Basically, 2015 will be a real wild-card year...no one can say what this team will do. 

 

I've hear the Mets don't think Herrera has a good enough arm to play SS. Though I think his offense would be good enough for SS. Certainly has a strong, quick bat for a little guy. He's worth a look there with perhaps Reynolds serving as his backup next year. Let's just sh!tcan Tejada already. And Flores is not hitting consistently.

 

Gee has to go. I would consider making him a reliever since he's very good 1st time through the order but they warm up to him quickly. I don't think he'd go into the pen so deal him. The return won't be great. I can't even speculate what it might be. Maybe a meh AA pitching prospect. Seems like guys like Gee are a dime a dozen.

 

I'd say give it back to Parnell if he regains his velocity, if not then Familia. But Mejia needs to be a 7th inning guy. I'd even entertain trading him if he finishes the season strong and somebody gets duped into thinking he can be a quality closer.

[NJDevs4978]

Yes Wright is done with inflammation. Doesn't sound like surgery but who knows

 

Not mad about Terry pulling deGrom after 100...but Mejia has to do a better job. Too wild, bouncing curveballs, not a good enough fastball to blow anyone a way. He's found a way to do it for the most part, but he's really not closer material.

 

FYI deGroms last pitch today, #100 was 97mph. So yea he could've come out but I would rather not burn that arm

 

I'm more mad they still have Mejia closing than for actually pulling DeGrom.  I mean Terry usually goes the other way and pitches them too long so the quick hook is a shock but it's more annoying they're worried about Familia pitching too many innings while Mejia keeps getting run out there pitching through multiple injuries and not being very effective at that.  The Sunday game really annoyed me cause I was waiting for the Jet postgame and the ninth inning took an hour 

Edited September 10, 2014 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I'm not really sure about Mejia's future here.  His health has always been iffy, and even with 24 saves, I have serious doubts about him being a long-term closer.  He gives up a lot of baserunners...his WHIP is over 1.50.  Not good.

['7']

I'm more mad they still have Mejia closing than for actually pulling DeGrom.  I mean Terry usually goes the other way and pitches them too long so the quick hook is a shock but it's more annoying they're worried about Familia pitching too many innings while Mejia keeps getting run out there pitching through multiple injuries and not being very effective at that.  The Sunday game really annoyed me cause I was waiting for the Jet postgame and the ninth inning took an hour 

 

another thought...kind of a chilly night. So an arm that's not going to be as loose on a muggy July/August day. Prob best not to push him above 100 when it's not warm.

[NJDevs4978]

Honestly assuming Parnell's healthy he should get first shot next year.  If not then Familia should be next up.  We know they're not bringing in a closer from the outside and Sandy's pen choices haven't been great anyway so it is what it is.  Just no more Valverde/Farnsworth/Dice-K retreads please.

Edited September 10, 2014 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I've hear the Mets don't think Herrera has a good enough arm to play SS. Though I think his offense would be good enough for SS. Certainly has a strong, quick bat for a little guy. He's worth a look there with perhaps Reynolds serving as his backup next year. Let's just sh!tcan Tejada already. And Flores is not hitting consistently.

 

Gee has to go. I would consider making him a reliever since he's very good 1st time through the order but they warm up to him quickly. I don't think he'd go into the pen so deal him. The return won't be great. I can't even speculate what it might be. Maybe a meh AA pitching prospect. Seems like guys like Gee are a dime a dozen.

 

I'd say give it back to Parnell if he regains his velocity, if not then Familia. But Mejia needs to be a 7th inning guy. I'd even entertain trading him if he finishes the season strong and somebody gets duped into thinking he can be a quality closer.

 

Re:  Herrera, so much of it obviously depends on Murph.  We know what the different scenarios are:  he signs long-term, he's traded in the offseason, or he's traded sometime during next season (but it's going to be hard to do that if he's playing well and the Mets are in contention).  I can't see the Mets coughing up $48 million or so over four years for him, so Sandy may ultimately get nothing for him. 

 

Reynolds needs to get ABs, not to be someone's backup...that's not going to help him.  You can find cheap veteran backups out there, and I wouldn't be opposed to Tejada coming back as long as it's 100% set-in-stone that he is here to be nothing more than the backup SS, or a guy who can fill in temporarily if the everyday SS is on the 15-day DL...think 150 or so plate appearances at the very most.  But the Mets do need to find a SS capable of playing 130-140 games that can man the position and isn't a black hole at the plate.   

 

Re:  Gee...really depends on what GMs see.  He's been better over his last three starts, so at least he's pulled out of his tailspin a little.  But yeah, it's hard to see Niese, Gee, and/or Colon bringing much back.  Colon would be a salary dump more than anything else...though we've seen that Colon often pitches well, he suffers from the Bronson Arroyo "When he's bad, he's REALLY bad" malady...which unfortunately kills his overall numbers and makes him less attractive to window-shoppers.  His 3.96 ERA is below league-average.  Though he's steady in his hits-allowed numbers, his ratio to IP is never impressive (as we know, he does make up for it in not allowing walks).  Niese has now allowed 82 hits in his last 65 IP, and though Gee has struck out 13 hitters in his last 13 IP, his K-to-BB ratio was heading in the wrong direction.  And as we know, both guys have trouble staying healthy and handling a full season of a normal starter's workload.  In a perfect world, one of them would be here to be the 5th starter, and the other two would be moved.  Do the Mets try to move Gee to the 'pen?  He's arbitration-eligible in 2015 and 2016, and is making $3.625 million this season.  Let's face it, we know a LOT of what comes down to how the Mets make decisions comes down to money and nothing else.  Would the Mets prefer to see a much-cheaper Syndergaard and/or Montero replace Colon or Gee (especially since there's a good chance they won't spend that freed-up money elsewhere)?  You bet.   

 

But talk about a potentially cost-effective rotation for the next couple of seasons:

 

deGrom...arbitration eligible in 2017, FA 2020

Harvey...arbitration eligible in 2016, FA 2019

Wheeler...arbitration eligible in 2017, FA 2020

Syndergaard...I don't have details on him, but suffice it to say he's under the Mets' control for quite some time.  Ditto Montero. 

Niese...$5 million in 2015, $7 million in 2016, $9 million in 2017, $10 million option for 2018 ($500k buyout), $10.5 million option for 2019 ($500k buyout)

[nmigliore]

Doesn't look like it'll happen but a Met win coupled with a Pirate loss would put them 4.5 out of a playoff spot. With a healthy Harvey and healthy/productive Wright and Granderson, this team would absolutely have had a shot at the wild card.

Edited September 11, 2014 by nmigliore

[NJDevs4978]

Even just a productive Wright/Granderson would have had us in the mix this year

[NJDevs4978]

And btw looks like more negative publicity for Jeff, and we probably found out the real truth behind the firing of the vp of ticket sales:

 

http://nypost.com/2014/09/10/former-exec-mets-fired-me-for-being-pregnant-and-single/

 

The first woman senior vice president in the team’s 52-year history claims in a federal lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Wednesday that Wilpon, the struggling team’s chief operating officer, canned her from her post heading ticket sales last month because he was “morally opposed” to her being pregnant and unmarried.

 

University of Pennsylvania grad Leigh Castergine, says in the suit, that Wilpon “frequently humiliated [her] in front of others by, among other things, pretending to see if she had an engagement ring on her finger.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wilpon told her that she wasn’t meeting ticket sales expectations for the out of contention team, but offered to let her remain through the end of the season if she promised to keep her mouth shut about the discrimination claims, the suit states.

 

But the disgusted mom rejected the deal and had her lawyer e-mail Wilpon to tell him that they were taking him to court. She was fired three minutes later, according to the suit.

 

Castergine took several shots at the team in the suit, noting it “failed to field a winning team in six years,” “fans had … pledged not to attend any games until there was a change in ownership,” and comparing her job “to selling deck chairs on the Titanic.”

 

Edited September 11, 2014 by NJDevs4978

['7']

Of course this comes out while the Mets are actually performing well on the field. Here comes that black Wilpon cloud to make our franchise look like a joke again

 

I don't know how much of this can be proven...the Wilpons have certainly proved elusive before (Madoff should've been their undoing) but I mean come on. What an enormous disgrace and a$$hole Jeff Wilpon is. Fred seems well meaning though out of touch...Jeff is just the boss from hell.

 

What will become of this? I don't know, probably a settlement. Doubt anything severe will happen to Jeffy.

['7']

Doesn't look like it'll happen but a Met win coupled with a Pirate loss would put them 4.5 out of a playoff spot. With a healthy Harvey and healthy/productive Wright and Granderson, this team would absolutely have had a shot at the wild card.

 

True true, but we're not the only one's. You have the Marlins who I'm sure wish they had a healthy Fernandez...Yankees with Tanaka. Braves with Venters, Medlen AND Beachy.

 

But yea, the 2nd NL wild card is going to be incredibly weak this year. Possibly less than 87 wins.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Doesn't look like it'll happen but a Met win coupled with a Pirate loss would put them 4.5 out of a playoff spot. With a healthy Harvey and healthy/productive Wright and Granderson, this team would absolutely have had a shot at the wild card.

 

A healthy Harvey would've meant no Colon, which would've meant more money to spend elsewhere.  Would've been interesting to see what that money could've bought. 

 

Re:  Wright...what's troubling is that he wasn't playing terribly well this season before he was having shoulder issues.  And we also knew that Granderson was fully capable of having a year like this without Yankee Stadium to bloat his HR totals.  Granderson's overall bad year really isn't far off from what the expectations were.

 

Nice for Montero in that he got a win, but I still want to know what happened to the guy who was supposed to be a strike machine.  He wasn't nearly as good as his line would lead some to believe.  Benefitted from some nice relief too, who stranded two runners for him.  But at least he's getting some major-league innings.  No downside to that. 

 

As far as the wild-card goes, I think if the Mets go 15-1 in their final 16 (final record of 86-76), then they get in.  That would give them a record of 22-2 over their final 24 games.  No, of course that's not going to happen...but it IS amusing (and a little fun) to see our Mets actually listed in the WC standings in various places.  The Nats will probably put an end to that in the next four days though.   

 

Re:  Jeffy...always goes back to the same thing...only reason he's a COO of a major-league franchise is that he had the right sperm and egg donors.  He's a complete clown.  So is his dad.  Even if this latest Wilpon embarrassment isn't true.  They are awful people.   

[NJDevs4978]

Telling her she could keep her job through the end of the year if she kept quiet is an incredibly dumb way to try to buy someone off Why would anyone agree to that for a few weeks pay when you're going to be fired anyway?!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Telling her she could keep her job through the end of the year if she kept quiet is an incredibly dumb way to try to buy someone off Why would anyone agree to that for a few weeks pay when you're going to be fired anyway?!

 

How many incredibly dumb things have the Wilpons done the past 10 years?  They seriously can't help themselves...they should just abstain from making decisions whenever possible.  They always find a way to make the worst ones.

['7']

The Mets will likely hire some PR firm to make this go away as quickly as possible, Fred would have a conniption of this gained steam and you had womens groups picketing outside the stadium. Remember, you don't want to disenfranchise a large chunk of your fanbase...the Mets cannot afford to lose any more fans or have their image sh!t on any more. This isn't a Sterling type thing...not on that level. But it's still pretty bad.

 

I'm guessing settlement, apology, and Jeff Wilpon is mothballed for a good while.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The Mets will likely hire some PR firm to make this go away as quickly as possible, Fred would have a conniption of this gained steam and you had womens groups picketing outside the stadium. Remember, you don't want to disenfranchise a large chunk of your fanbase...the Mets cannot afford to lose any more fans or have their image sh!t on any more. This isn't a Sterling type thing...not on that level. But it's still pretty bad.

 

I'm guessing settlement, apology, and Jeff Wilpon is mothballed for a good while.

 

In bold:  too late.  They already have.  Attendance rank by % of capacity since 2009:

 

2009 - 92.7 (4th)

2010 - 77.1 (11th)

2011 - 72.0 (12th)

2012 - 67.1 (17th)

2013 - 63.9 (18th)

2014 - 64.1 (19th) 

 

I can't see it going much lower than it is now, especially since there's guys like deGrom, Harvey, Wheeler and other youth...this fanbase is learning to like the team again (and even though the Mets insist on making David Wright the face of the franchise, I think there's fans growing tired of him, especially since it seems like he's often just as big a part of the failures and futility as anyone else, even though the numbers don't always make it appear as such.  No one thinks of him as clutch.).  The only way attendance continues to drop is if there's NO hope.  The Mets have far too many young pitchers for it to feel hopeless, and these guys are worth buying a ticket to watch.

 

But many Met fans still detest the ownership.  Jeffy needs to go away and hide...whenever he's mentioned in an article of any kind, it's rarely in a flattering light.   

Edited September 11, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976