2019 New York Mets Season Thread

['7']

Mets have traded RHP Bobby Wahl, RHP Andrew Hill, and infielder Felix Valerio to the Brewers for Keon Broxton

Where does this leave us with Lagares. Broxton is also a great fielder and has legitimate good HR power, but is an almost comical strikeout machine

Edited January 5, 2019 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Bleech, Mets could’ve just stuck with Sandy if they want hitters like that.  God I hate this kind of bat.  Not lovin this one even a little.  Feels like making a move for the sake of making one.

[NJDevs4978]

Yep guess it's back to shopping at Woolworth's and Dollar General

 

[NJDevs4978]

And Plawecki also on the move...not sure who the backup catcher's gonna be if TDA isn't ready for April.

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yep, same old Wilpons, same old Mets.  fvcking joke...only we never seem to get to the punchline.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

Probably some scrap heap catcher. I don't have any faith in d'Arnaud being ready or even lasting more than 30 games. Something always happens to him. 

Thing is while Plawecki is nothing special at the very least he has some chemistry and familiarity with the pitching staff as opposed to a new no name catcher

Would have rather kept Plaw and moved on from d'Arnaud

Edited January 7, 2019 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, '7' said:

Probably some scrap heap catcher. I don't have any faith in d'Arnaud being ready or even lasting more than 30 games. Something always happens to him. 

Thing is while Plawecki is nothing special at the very least he has some chemistry and familiarity with the pitching staff as opposed to a new no name catcher

Would have rather kept Plaw and moved on from d'Arnaud

Yeah, I think if I had to keep one or the other, I’d lean towards Plaw.  Sounds crazy, but Travis really brings very little to the table...he’s just SO awful behind the plate, and getting worse.

[NJDevs4978]

I was kind of surprised they tendered TDA (especially given after all of Brodie's carnival barker talk early they're pinching pennies again) but they clearly made their choice then, that it was him over Plawecki.

Edited January 8, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

11 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

I was kind of surprised they tendered TDA (especially given after all of Brodie's carnival barker talk early they're pinching pennies again) but they clearly made their choice then, that it was him over Plawecki.

Oh I agree that TDA was clearly their guy to be the backup or their #1 (in case they struck out trying to bring in another catcher)...and it seems to be strictly because he's shown some power in the past, because I can't think of another positive that he really brings at this point. 

And in other hot stove news, David Wright has been hired to be the assistant mascot to Mr. Met.  So I guess the big splashes this season were Cano, Diaz, and Ramos.   

Just a fan blog, but hard not to notice that BVW seems to clearing out the farm for questionable returns:

http://metsdaddy.com/2019/01/brodie-van-wagenen-creating-a-queens-dustbowl/

Clearly the hope is that just about ALL of the younger guys (Alonso included) are all going to step up or build off what they did last year.  Because no more significant help is coming from the outside.

 

['7']

On 1/7/2019 at 8:08 PM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah, I think if I had to keep one or the other, I’d lean towards Plaw.  Sounds crazy, but Travis really brings very little to the table...he’s just SO awful behind the plate, and getting worse.

d'Arnaud is the only catcher I can ever remember who airmailed one so badly to 2b that Lagares had to make one of his signature nice plays on it (I'm sure we've mentioned it somewhere in the archives here, you me or Has) I just remember thinking the only think that would make this moment more lolmets was if d'Arnaud threw out his shoulder and Lagares injured his hand. Of course both would get hurt a few weeks later I think

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets sign Jed Lowrie at 2 years and $20 million.  If they get the Lowrie of the past two seasons, they could’ve done a lot worse.  If they get the 2014-16 Lowrie, this could be rough.

Lots of names in the infield now:  Cano, McNeil, Frazier (remember him?), Rosario, possibly Alonso along with Lowrie.  Get the feeling Dom Smith is just about out of the picture.  

Edited January 11, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

On 1/9/2019 at 10:08 PM, '7' said:

d'Arnaud is the only catcher I can ever remember who airmailed one so badly to 2b that Lagares had to make one of his signature nice plays on it (I'm sure we've mentioned it somewhere in the archives here, you me or Has) I just remember thinking the only think that would make this moment more lolmets was if d'Arnaud threw out his shoulder and Lagares injured his hand. Of course both would get hurt a few weeks later I think

Definitely wasn't me since I'd remember that lol...can't say it surprises me though

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Mets sign Jed Lowrie at 2 years and $20 million.  If they get the Lowrie of the past two seasons, they could’ve done a lot worse.  If they get the 2014-16 Lowrie, this could be rough.

Lots of names in the infield now:  Cano, McNeil, Frazier (remember him?), Rosario, possibly Alonso along with Lowrie.  Get the feeling Don Smith is just about out of the picture.  

I didn't get why they were looking for another infielder when they were even rumored on Brian Dozier so this surprises me.  Ironic after the Wright settlement comes out now they suddenly have $10 million to spend.  I guess at this point McNeil could be a corner outfielder, but then you have three CF'ers with Lagares, Broxton and whoever plays there between Conforto and Nimmo.  Right now it seems like McNeil is this year's Nimmo, too valuable to trade but make all sorts of moves to actively block him from playing.  Alonso and Frazier are BVW's boys so I can't see him offing/bypassing them completely but there are only so many AB's to go around at first base if Lowrie, Rosario and Cano are 3/4 of your infield.

Edited January 11, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Definitely wasn't me since I'd remember that lol...can't say it surprises me though

I didn't get why they were looking for another infielder when they were even rumored on Brian Dozier so this surprises me.  Ironic after the Wright settlement comes out now they suddenly have $10 million to spend.  I guess at this point McNeil could be a corner outfielder, but then you have three CF'ers with Lagares, Broxton and whoever plays there between Conforto and Nimmo.  Right now it seems like McNeil is this year's Nimmo, too valuable to trade but make all sorts of moves to actively block him from playing.  Alonso and Frazier are BVW's boys so I can't see him offing/bypassing them completely but there are only so many AB's to go around at first base if Lowrie, Rosario and Cano are 3/4 of your infield.

I do think a move or two will be made to alleviate the numbers...they won't be anything particularly sexy (say Frazier for an OK BP arm, Lagares for a bag of balls just to get his guaranteed $16 million remaining on his contract off the Mets' book, etc).  As far as Lagares goes, I have no idea how the Mets rid themselves of him...he can't really hit (last year's sample is way too small to get excited about) and he can't ever stay healthy.  Maybe you can take on an expiring deal of a player who hasn't been playing well, but maybe has something left.  I have no idea how anyone can get excited about Broxton...he might have more oomph than Lagares, but the guy is about as Dave Kingman as the plate as it gets. 

Lowrie felt kind of a like a "BPA, we'll worry about the rest later" kind of move.  You are right, technically it wasn't a "makes perfect sense" fit. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets sign all of their arb-eligible players to deals...deGrom gets a huge raise to $17 million, Thor gets $6 million, Wheeler gets $5.975 million (he can become a FA after this season), Matz gets $2.625 million, Conforto gets $4.025 million, and d'Arnaud $3.515 million. 

Can't see the Mets ponying up for Wheeler if he's having a huge year...will be interesting to see if they consider dealing him even in they're in contention.

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

RIP Mel Stottlemeyer.  Obviously had a fine career as a pitcher (on some dreadful Yankee teams, after their huge run came to an end)...some say his tinkering with Doc Gooden did a lot more harm than good, but he spent several years as a pitching coach in MLB...you don't do that if you're no good at your job (unless the Cincinnati Bengals decide to dabble in baseball). 

 

[NJDevs4978]

Reading Davey Johnson’s book a while back I got the distinct impression that the whole changing Gooden’s motion fiasco was strictly a front office thing (re: Cashen) cause they were scared of him getting hurt   Suffice it to say in general Davey was NOT a Cashen fan - with good reason lol

As far as Mel he's one of the few guys who was respected by both NY fanbases (David Cone, Granderson, etc).

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

17 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Reading Davey Johnson’s book a while back I got the distinct impression that the whole changing Gooden’s motion fiasco was strictly a front office thing (re: Cashen) cause they were scared of him getting hurt   Suffice it to say Davey was NOT a Cashen fan - with good reason lol

And of course Doc wound up getting hurt anyway...and though some blame drugs, he was clean and had been for a while when he first started having shoulder issues...he didn't start using again until 1994, and he had his first injury scare in 1989 (he'd miss a good chunk of that year).  If anything Davey was partly to blame, because in Doc's memoir, he said that Davey would often have him throwing 120-130 pitches (if not more) in his starts...in that 1989 season, he had a start where he threw 146 pitches and another where he threw 143.  As for Stottlemeyer, his whole thing was trying to make Gooden more "complete", as he was basically a two-pitch pitcher when he first broke in.  So Mel wanted Doc to learn a change-up.

But Cashen didn't help...as we've been over, for some reason, more and more the Mets were sticking as many bats as they could in the lineup, and basically completely ignored fielding.  They had some real butchers in the field for a while...Doc said that in his later Met years, fielder were constantly costing him outs (and more hits allowed)...which meant he often had to work harder to get through innings. 

['7']

Haven't read any literature on this but wasn't it Mel that (I guess via direction from the front office) wanted Doc to perhaps take a something off his fastball and deliberately pitch to more contact at times...which I guess led to the butchers in the field mishandling things and thus making him work harder getting extra outs by rearing back and throwing harder when he should've been out of the inning. Their attempts to save Docs arm and extend his effectiveness ended up having the opposite effect. Sometimes if it's not broke you shouldn't fix it...or just roll with what you've got for however long you can have it and don't tinker

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

13 minutes ago, '7' said:

Haven't read any literature on this but wasn't it Mel that (I guess via direction from the front office) wanted Doc to perhaps take a something off his fastball and deliberately pitch to more contact at times...which I guess led to the butchers in the field mishandling things and thus making him work harder getting extra outs by rearing back and throwing harder when he should've been out of the inning. Their attempts to save Docs arm and extend his effectiveness ended up having the opposite effect. Sometimes if it's not broke you shouldn't fix it...or just roll with what you've got for however long you can have it and don't tinker

If you ever read The Bad Guys Won (Perlman's book about the 1986 Mets), he said that Doc's problem was that he listened to everyone, who for some reason all thought they had a way to make him even better than he was in 1985.  Have to teach him a changeup...have to get him to be more efficient...especially ironic in Cashen's case, because he didn't bother to put a decent defensive team on the field during Doc's remaining prime years.  And yeah, that led to Doc having to work harder as much as anything else. 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Cool it with the bullsh!t sales talk Brodie...say it with me:  "My bosses are cheapskates and are not interested in spending like a big market team."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/16/mets-stunning-reason-for-ignoring-bryce-harper-jeff-mcneil/

Mets will always Met.

[NJDevs4978]

lol I love Jeff McNeil but this is one of the Mets' big problems in a nutshell - pigeonholing people into positions they can't play or shouldn't play.  Nimmo or Conforto's gonna be in CF because they have to find AB's for McNeil and won't pay a guy like Pollock (who granted I'm wary of too with his injuries).  McNeil's gonna be in the outfield cause they acquired/have a million infielders.  Lowrie's a middle infielder shifting to his third position to make room for Brodie's 36-year old poster boy.  It's like a shell game where defense is not even optional.

Edited January 17, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Summed up perfectly Has.  Well said.

['7']

On 1/16/2019 at 7:09 PM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Cool it with the bullsh!t sales talk Brodie...say it with me:  "My bosses are cheapskates and are not interested in spending like a big market team."

https://nypost.com/2019/01/16/mets-stunning-reason-for-ignoring-bryce-harper-jeff-mcneil/

Mets will always Met.

It's unreal that it doesn't matter who they stick in the GM role they always end up peddling this type of BS. You don't need to explain to us why. You don't need to even answer us on social media as to why we're not even in the conversation regarding Harper. Any Mets fan with an IQ above room temperature knows. Just say nothing instead of giving such a lame response

I like Jeff McNeil. He looks like a nice little late bloomer of a player. But he also has less than 300 major league at bats. When you put him in a discussion with Bryce Harper, it's McNeil who turns into the punchline. And he doesn't deserve that

Edited January 18, 2019 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

11 hours ago, '7' said:

It's unreal that it doesn't matter who they stick in the GM role they always end up peddling this type of BS. You don't need to explain to us why. You don't need to even answer us on social media as to why we're not even in the conversation regarding Harper. Any Mets fan with an IQ above room temperature knows. Just say nothing instead of giving such a lame response

I like Jeff McNeil. He looks like a nice little late bloomer of a player. But he also has less than 300 major league at bats. When you put him in a discussion with Bryce Harper, it's McNeil who turns into the punchline. And he doesn't deserve that

Here's what we know about BVW to date:

1) He's still clearly very much an agent trying to be a GM.  The smug "I'm the smartest guy in the room; I can sell anyone on anything with my unparalleled brilliance" sales pitches are really getting tiresome.  Brodie, much as you seem to think that Mets fans aren't too bright and will fall hook, line, and sinker for your nonsense, we're all on to you and the Mets.  Yes, you've made a series of moves, but the jury's definitely out...especially on the Cano trade.  The fact that you were willing to give Grandal $15 million per season for four years is pretty scary...consider yourself VERY lucky that he turned you down. 

2) It's clear that a huge part of BVW getting the job was having to accept "I'm a baseball man" Jeffy as his non-official assistant GM (I'm almost positive that the other two candidates let Jeffy know that there was no way in heaven or hell that they'd ever agree to such a thing).  It's only a matter of time before this arrangement implodes, because Jeffy will only become more and more meddling as the months go on.   

 

As for McNeil, yeah, he's been a nice (albeit brief) story so far, so of course the Mets are going to apply their reverse-Midas touch to it and sh!t all over it. 

And like Has said perfectly, can this team for ONCE just put guys where they really should be playing?  Why does this organization forever act like defense is some insignificant aspect not even worth considering?  That apparently anyone can play anywhere?  How many Todd Hundley, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and Dominic Smith-types do the Mets have to force into playing positions that they shouldn't before this franchise realizes that it doesn't work, often with disastrous results...and with the unfortunate player taking much of the flak?  Hell, this is a fvcking "organization" that decided that poor Wilmer Flores (who was deemed to be inadequate to be a SS while in the MINORS) was suddenly capable of playing SS in the big leagues.  This fvcking broken record never stops skipping.

['7']

On 1/18/2019 at 10:03 AM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Here's what we know about BVW to date:

1) He's still clearly very much an agent trying to be a GM.  The smug "I'm the smartest guy in the room; I can sell anyone on anything with my unparalleled brilliance" sales pitches are really getting tiresome.  Brodie, much as you seem to think that Mets fans aren't too bright and will fall hook, line, and sinker for your nonsense, we're all on to you and the Mets.  Yes, you've made a series of moves, but the jury's definitely out...especially on the Cano trade.  The fact that you were willing to give Grandal $15 million per season for four years is pretty scary...consider yourself VERY lucky that he turned you down. 

2) It's clear that a huge part of BVW getting the job was having to accept "I'm a baseball man" Jeffy as his non-official assistant GM (I'm almost positive that the other two candidates let Jeffy know that there was no way in heaven or hell that they'd ever agree to such a thing).  It's only a matter of time before this arrangement implodes, because Jeffy will only become more and more meddling as the months go on.   

 

As for McNeil, yeah, he's been a nice (albeit brief) story so far, so of course the Mets are going to apply their reverse-Midas touch to it and sh!t all over it. 

And like Has said perfectly, can this team for ONCE just put guys where they really should be playing?  Why does this organization forever act like defense is some insignificant aspect not even worth considering?  That apparently anyone can play anywhere?  How many Todd Hundley, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and Dominic Smith-types do the Mets have to force into playing positions that they shouldn't before this franchise realizes that it doesn't work, often with disastrous results...and with the unfortunate player taking much of the flak?  Hell, this is a fvcking "organization" that decided that poor Wilmer Flores (who was deemed to be inadequate to be a SS while in the MINORS) was suddenly capable of playing SS in the big leagues.  This fvcking broken record never stops skipping.

 

Yea the smug Ken doll type act is wearing on me too. He is unbelievably cocky and will find out mighty quickly that we don't fall for this BS. He may have already found out. That kind of money to Grandal at 30 is scary. I look at Grandal and see a guy who yes gets on base, yes has some pop (will also K himself into oblivion) he's a guy who looked to me...Duda-esque. And he seemed prime to take a Lucas Duda dip in production after the big 3-0.

Curious how he handles man child Jeff over the next few years. Sandy I feel was kind of jaded. Bit dead on the inside, tired when he was here. He managed Jeff to the best of his abilities. I'm sure he let Jeff have his wins here and there on internal disagreements to keep him happy. How will Brodie handle Jeffs meddling? Because he doesn't strike me as a "diffuse the situation/concede defeat" type that Alderson was. Brodie I fear may actually butt heads with Jeff because of his own ego. And it could get ugly. And if it does his tenure here could end up being a lot shorter than we anticipate

And you're right about the defense. It's the situational baseball we constantly fail at. Properly positioning outfielders in later innings. Having absolute butchers on the infield with no range, who can't pivot, can't turn the big late inning DP when we need it, chucking balls into the outfield and allowing tying and go ahead runs to score. This happens way too often to us.

Edited January 22, 2019 by '7'