Mets could bring fences in again at Citi Field this Winter

By Steven Inman

Sandy Alderson recently discussed how the team could bring in the Citi Field fences again this winter. “I think it’s going to help us a little bit confidence-wise when you get in that batter’s box and say, ‘Hey, look, I can use the field and do some damage here,’ because that’s what a lot of guys in this lineup are paid to do, and that’s get big hits. I think it would be great for us.” -Alderson said to reporters recently. That full article of Alderson quotes can be found here.

Based on these comments I would bet the Mets do tweak the dimensions again this winter, especially in right field. The move would help Curtis Granderson and David Wright more than anybody. Sandy Alderson said the team believes the new dimensions, that haven’t been announced yet, would have given Granderson seven more homers this season according to an Adam Rubin article on ESPN NY.

When Wright is at his best he is driving the ball to right center.

Granderson has badly struggled at home this season. In 77 home games this season, the outfielder is hitting .200 with seven homers and 26 RBI. Compare that to a .259 average with 13 homers and 40 RBI in one less game on the road. The Mets should keep this a pitcher friendly park with all of their great young pitching but it could help the Mets offense a lot if the team brought in right field, even if it was just a few feet.

If the team doesn’t plan on adding offense by spending, it could make sense to add offense by moving the fences in a little.

Of all the Mets streaky players, Curtis Granderson is the streakiest

By Steven Inman

When the Mets signed Curtis Granderson they were hoping that the 33-year old outfielder could bounce back from a rough 2013 and provide protection out of the cleanup spot for David Wright. That obviously didn’t happen as Granderson played poorly for most of the season.

Terry Collins did all that he could to get the Mets big free agent acquisition going at the plate. He tried him leadoff, down in the order, pretty much everywhere. Granderson had initial success out of the leadoff spot but it turned out to just be one of his hot streaks. Granderson has given the Mets virtually nothing all season except for three or four hot streaks where he has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Like right now.

The Grandy Man is batting .366 (26-71 AB) with four homers and 17 RBI over his last 20 games. He had seven RBI over his previous 46 games. Granderson was going so bad for so long that the Jason Bay comparisons were started to pop up. During his recent hot streak Granderson has raised his season average from .210 all the way up to .230.

Granderson’s 17 RBI over his last 20 games is good for 4^th most in the NL in that span.

Granderson has now hit at least 20 homers in seven of his last eight seasons.

When you look at Granderson’s season a month or two from now you will think it wasn’t all that bad but for the Mets to improve their offense this winter it will start with getting more consistent production out of the Grandy Man.

Yoenis Cespedes could be a fit for the Mets

By Steven Inman

BrokeMets received an interesting tweet Wednesday regarding the Mets potential acquisition of Red Sox slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes could be the bat that could push the Mets into playoff contention but is he a fit?

The Mets will look near and far to add power to their outfield this winter. It will be the team’s #1 priority this offseason and Yoenis Cespedes, now of the Boston Red Sox will be a target for many teams in trade talks this winter. So why would the Red Sox trade their new acquisition? The Red Sox will first try to extend the Cuban Slugger who will be a free agent after 2015. If they are unable to do so they will likely trade him for a piece that can help them in 2015. The Sox hope to contend again next season. The baseball industry doesn’t expect Cespedes to sign an extension this winter.

The Mets have just 38 homers from their outfield this season (half of that from Curtis Granderson) which is 11^th best in the National League. The Mets clearly need another bat and Cespedes’ current 22 homers and 97 RBI would fit in nicely for a team that could desperately use a 100 RBI guy. If you remember the 2013 Home Run Derby you would know that Cespedes would have no problem hitting dingers in spacious Citi Field.

Cespedes could provide the protection that David Wright hasn’t had in the lineup since the Carlos Beltran/Carlos Delgado days.

Cespedes, 28, is not a great defender but he makes up for a lack of range with an elite throwing arm.

The Mets would like to move Granderson to left field this winter but a Cespedes trade would surely mean the Grandy Man staying in right field. Cespedes has never started a game in right field in his career. (275 in LF, 75 in CF)

With all that said, Cespedes is not a great fit for Sandy Alderson’s Mets.

Yoenis Cespedes impressed New Yorkers big time at the 2013 State Farm Home Run Derby at Citi Field

First off  the Mets aren’t paying Cespedes the $90-100 million he’ll be seeking as a free agent next winter. Also the Mets are looking for power but they are also looking for patience, guys with high on base percentages. That is not Cespedes. The outfielder has an OBP of .300 this season after a .294 OBP last season.

Remember Rusney Castillo, a Cuban outfielder who had never played a major league game at the time of his lucrative contract signed a seven year $72.5 million deal a few weeks ago with the Red Sox. Cespedes has established himself as one of the better run producers in the American League so he will be looking to shatter that $72.5 number. Neither the Mets nor the Red Sox would be willing to pay that.

The main issue for the Mets will be the asking price. The Red Sox would probably want Jon Niese in exchange for the 2-time derby champ. While Niese will be dangled for a bat this winter the Mets should only consider moving him for a inexpensive bat under club control for the foreseeable future.

The Mets should look elsewhere to fill their enormous corner outfield need.

The Cespedes debate is a good one and we encourage all fans to tweet @BrokeMets for the chance to turn good tweets into articles.

Mets eliminated from Postseason contention

By Steven Inman

The title of this article is a sentence Mets fans have become too familiar with over the past eight seasons… The Mets have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Mets are 74-80 this season after winning 74 games the previous two seasons. While the record isn’t much bfametter, the team has made a number of improvements with key players while learning that other won’t be part of the solutions.

2015 Pieces

Lucas Duda: The Mets best (and only) real power threat in the lineup in 2014 was the emergence of Lucas Duda. It has always been a confidence issue for the 28-year old but he has begun to fix that. The move to first base, his natural position certainly helped his offense and Duda should be a big part of the Mets offense in 2015.Duda’s power hasn’t really increased he is just getting his first real opportunity to play every day all season. The team may need to find a backup first basemen in the winter who crushes lefties. A player like Danny Valencia could fit in very well at first base. Valencia hit .324 this season against left-handers with an.813 OPS.

Jeurys Familia: Familia was flat out dominant in 2014. He neutralized even the greatest of right-handed batters and went from not being able to throw strikes in 2013 to being “effectively wild” in 2014. Whether he becomes the closer or stays as the set-up man Familia should be effective in the Mets bullpen in 2015 while making the league minimum, should he stay healthy.

Travis d’Arnaud: The 2014 season started as a disaster for the 25-year old d’Arnaud. Travis was batting .180 on June 4^th when the Mets made the wise decision to send him down. They called him back up around three weeks later. Since his recall the rookie backstop is hitting .273/.320/.482 with ten homers and 32 RBI. He has become one of the Mets better hitters and is now batting third. D’Arnaud has looked very comfortable in the #3 spot. The Mets have a very good problem with d’Arnaud’s offensive growth at the major league level and Kevin Plawecki’s impressive minor league season. The one issue with d’Arnaud is he has a hitch in his throws to second and has become very easy to run on. Keith Hernandez on the SNY broadcasts noted that it will be very difficult to get that hitch out over the winter and in Spring Training.

Other notable players are Juan Lagares and Jacob deGrom who should be a part of the Mets future for years to come. I’m going to have a separate post on both of these future award winners once the season ends.

Players that took a step back in 2015

Ruben Tejada: Tejada came to major league camp with something to prove. He instead proved that the Mets wasted another year hoping he could be the answer at shortstop for some reason. Tejada will likely be a non-tender guy and will join another team as a backup middle infielder, a role that he should be much better in.

Dillon Gee: Gee looked like he was on his way to another strong season before a lat injury took out a few months for the right-hander. Since Gee has returned he has struggled to the point that he could be on his way out of town. Gee will surely get a hefty raise on his $3.6 million 2014 salary through arbitration. With all the Mets pitching now up or near the major league level the Mets might find Gee’s increasing salary to be better used elsewhere. The Mets will shop around Gee along with Jonathan Niese this winter.

Bobby Parnell: To no fault of his own, Bobby Parnell threw in one game for the Mets before undergoing Tommy John surgery. Parnell’s velocity was down a lot in spring training but the Mets publicly said they were not concerned. Parnell will make at least $3.7 million next season in his final year of salary arbitration. Again with the Mets hamstrung for cash, it makes little sense to pay a reliever that kind of money coming off Tommy John. The Mets also have Jenrry Mejia and Familia to be the back end of the bullpen. It is far from a guarantee that Parnell will be ready to pitch in a big league game by April. The Mets would be much better off non-tendering their former closer and try to bring him back on an incentive laden contract.

Curtis Granderson: The Mets are hamstrung on Granderson’s huge back loaded contract. He hit even worse than he did when he broke his hand twice last season with the Yankees while the Mets thought he would hit much better. While the Mets would surely like a redo on this deal to get that money back to put into a corner outfielder on the upswing, no team will take on this 33-year olds deal when he has 3-years and 47 million left on his deal after this season with a slash line of .221/.322/.376. The Grandy Man’s 19 homers this season should go up a little when the Mets likely move the right-field fence in.

Wilmer Flores hasn’t shown enough to be the Mets shortstop

Wilmer Flores hasn’t shown enough with the stick to show that he should start in 2015 on what should be a contending team

By Steven Inman

Sandy Alderson recently said to some of the clubs beat reporters that he is “getting more comfortable” with the idea that Wilmer Flores could be the Mets shortstop next season. Flores, 23, is hitting .246 with six homers and 28 RBI in 224 at bats for the Mets this season. Flores’ defense has been much better than advertised to the point where he has shown he can play the position. That being said, his defense is still a liability and I don’t think he’ll hit enough to make up for the defense.

A potential Wilmer Flores-Daniel Murphy middle infield combo could be catastrophically bad.

There have been players who have improved defensively with experience at the major league level at shortstop. Jhonny Peralta, currently of the Cardinals was a player who was viewed within the industry as a very poor defender at short but is now viewed as one of the major’s best defenders to go along with an impressive bat.

Flores is out of options so the Mets will lose him to another team if he doesn’t make Sandy Alderson’s club out of spring training. Flores has shown enough that he should be the backup middle infielder.

Flores is only 23 years old with very little big league experience so while I don’t think he should be the Mets starting shortstop next year that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be down the road.

Flores is hitting .273 (15-55 AB) with a .305 OBP along with four homers and 12 RBI in 14 September games.

There will be plenty of quality shortstops on the free agent market such as J.J. Hardy, Jed Lowrie and Asdrubal Cabrera. Of course we wouldn’t be having this conversation if the Mets could afford one of these players plus fill their left-field need.

Shortstop has been the black hole on the Mets infield ever since the team elected not to pay All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes what he was worth. A move that both team and player both probably regret by now.

What should the Mets do at shortstop next season?

The Mets will scout Yasmani Tomas in the Dominican Republic next week

By Steven Inman

The Mets will be one of the teams in the Dominican Republic watching Cuban slugger Yasmani Tomas’ showcase next week. Tomas, 23, is expected to receive more money this winter than Boston’s Rusney Castillo. Castillo signed a seven year deal worth $72.5 million a few weeks ago from the Red Sox. Castillo is actually expected to make his major league debut Wednesday. If Tomas actually gets more money than Castillo then you can just forget about the Mets being involved in the bidding.

Castillo fits a huge need for the Mets which is enormous power from a corner outfield spot.  That being said, the Mets won’t risk money (that they really don’t have) on a Cuban prospect that hasn’t showed he can hit major league pitching before.

Some believe that Tomas could command nearly $100 million as a free agent.

The Mets are far more likely to trade one of their young pitchers for an inexpensive bat than go out on the international free agent market and buy a bat like Tomas.

The Mets are probably just doing their due diligence on a player who could become a superstar, but will no doubt be paid like one.

Jenrry Mejia Could Wind up Getting a Met Hitter Hurt

By Steven Inman

Jenrry Mejia clearly caught the attention of the Nationals after Friday’s contest

Jenrry Mejia has had a breakout year as the Mets closer in 2014 which includes 26 saves in his first season manning the ninth inning.
That being said Mejia’s over the top celebrations were garnering notice around the league before this week when Mejia began to add to his celebrations. Mejia seemed to do a miniature version of his dance after striking out Anthony Rendon for the second out of the ninth Friday night. Then the young right-hander struck out Ian Desmond and began taunting the Nats by pretending to reel in Desmond after getting him to swing and miss to end the game. The Nationals telecast caught Bryce Harper on deck staring down Mejia for an extended period of time after the game was over.

Bryce Harper and the Nats could make a statement to Mejia and the Mets Saturday that excessive celebrating will not be tolerated

Mejia, 24, is the youngest Met to accumulate 25 saves in a season ever but he clearly irked the big bad Nats and there could be consequences today. Daniel Murphy was already drilled in the wrist by a Matt Thornton pitch Friday and had to miss Saturday’s game with his wrist ailing. The Mets can’t afford to lose a key player for an extended period of time if they want to finish over .500 for the first time since 2008. The Nats drilling a Met during this series can be seen by Washington as a statement that Mejia’s antics are over the top, especially for a team that has been under .500 all season.
The Nationals definitely noticed the Mejia’s moves after the game. “That wasn’t called for” Denard Span said to D.C. reporters about Mejia’s antics. “No need for that.”
Jenrry Mejia didn’t believe he was over the top after the game. “I just go out there and it’s like adrenaline,” said Mejia, insisting his moves are unscripted. “I just do what comes naturally. I just struck him out, and I did something to finish the game.”

For whatever its worth, Mejia has made four appearances vs, Washington this season and hasn’t allowed a run.
The last thing this 72-76 team needs right now is to put the target on their back, especially against a team that has taken 11 of 14 games against them this season. That being said Terry Collins didn’t seem to have any problems with Mejia during the post game. “You’ve got to have some emotion in the game. We see it everywhere. I see other teams doing it. They can get mad, if it gives them more adrenaline. I want these guys to have some fun. I don’t want to corral them and worry about every move they make. We’ll try to settle him down a little bit. But, gosh, it’s a big win for us against a first-place team and there’s no reason not to be excited.” Collins told reporters after the game.

Was Mejia’s celebration over the top Friday night?

Believe it or not, the Mets aren’t out of the Pennant Chase

By Steven Inman

When Bud Selig put in the second wild card I don’t think he envisioned several average to below average teams competing for a playoff spot. Well that’s the 2014 NL Wild Card Race.

The Giants appear to be running away with the first wild card and still have aspirations on the NL West, They are a quality team but the teams below them in the wild card race are not. Believe it or not, the Mets are not out of the wild card race.

The Mets are 5.5 games out of the second wild card with 17 games to go. Yes that lucky 17 games to go always seems to find the Mets like in 2007 and 2008.

The issue is there are four teams ahead of them in the wild card race and the Mets just lost David Wright for the year Tuesday.

That being said the four teams ahead of the Mets also all stink. Let’s go over why.

Pittsburgh Pirates– The Pirates just can’t seem to gain any ground and have been very up and down recently. The Pirates won four straight, then lost four straight, then won four straight again before losing last night. They are just very streaky because they don’t have the offense to pick up the slack. This is the team that is most likely to win the second wild card.

Atlanta Braves– The Braves have been awful recently as their offense is one-dimensional. Atlanta just don’t seem to win when they don’t him home runs. The Braves are 22-50 when they don’t homer this season. The Braves have lost six of their last eight and they are now closer to last place then first place. The Mets also see Atlanta again one more time in what actually could be the Mets first big series in Turner Field in September in a very, very long time. The Braves may clean house if they finish under .500. The Mets can definitely catch them with a strong finish.

Milwaukee Brewers– The Brewers were leading the Central all season and just imploded two weeks ago. The team was 1.5 games ahead of the Cardinals on August 26^thand are now six games back of the Cardinals. The team has lost 13 of their last 14 games as their starters are 1-11 with a 6.69 ERA in that span. Ryan Braun isn’t hitting and is banged up, Carlos Gomez isn’t hitting and is banged up and the Brew Crew look done. They probably had their worst loss of the season last night and just look like they ran out of gas. The Mets can definitely catch them.

Miami Marlins– The Mets just saw the Marlins last week and took two out of three in South Beach. The game the Marlins won in that series when the Mets made six errors looms even larger now. This Marlin team is very mediocre, they have a fantastic outfield but they really just don’t have many strengths other than that. The pitching staff isn’t going to be able to carry this team over the other teams mentioned to erase their 3.5 game deficit. The Mets can definitely catch them with a strong finish.

NL Wild Card Teams	W	L	PCT	WCGB	WCE #
San Francisco	79	65	.549	+4.0	–
Pittsburgh	75	69	.521	–	–
Atlanta	74	71	.510	1.5	17
Milwaukee	74	71	.510	1.5	17
Miami	71	72	.497	3.5	16
NY Mets	70	75	.483	5.5	13

 

Are the Mets going to make the playoffs? Highly unlikely, but they have been playing much better and they have the pitching staff that could make a little noise down the stretch pass some of these fading teams. The question is going to be can they hit enough to go on some kind of run. The Amazin’s will have their work cut out for them with seven more games against the Nationals with just 17 to go but this could be the Mets first September where they aren’t just playing the string out. At the very least the Mets are trying to finish .500 or better for the first time since 2008. New York would have to finish 11-6 to finish .500.

When you see performances like Jacob deGrom’s Tuesday night and the offensive progression of Travis d’Arnaud it makes you think that the Mets are getting close to turning the corner. Now imagine what this deficit would be if this team had Matt Harvey this season.

What are your expectations for the Mets down the stretch??

Jay Bruce could be good buy-low candidate for Mets

By Steven Inman

As the Mets get ready for their annual winter search for more power hitters, an interesting trade candidate is emerging.

The Cincinnati Reds expected to contend this season but after the worst second half in the majors to date, (15-29) they have all but fallen out of the race. Now the Reds enter an offseason where their three huge contracts, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Homer Bailey missed significant time due to injury and their four best starters are entering their walk years.

Johnny Cueto, Matt Latos, Mike Leake, and Alfredo Simon are all free agents after the 2015 season. Reds GM Walt Jocketty has already mentioned that the team will not be able to retain all of them as free agents and could trade a few of them this winter. If the Reds sell off aces like Cueto and Latos, chances are they would be willing to discuss slugger Jay Bruce.

Bruce, 27, was an All-Star in 2011 and 2012 but is having his worst big league season. The slugger is batting just .219 with 15 homers. Bruce had hit 96 homers in the previous three seasons so the Reds must be shocked to see Bruce struggle so much this season.

Without key cogs like Joey Votto, Shin-Soo Choo and Brandon Phillips on base in front of him, Bruce has just 59 RBI this season. Bruce has struck out a rough 28% of his plate appearances this season, a career high.

The Reds will definitely listen on Bruce, who will be a free agent after the 2016 season if they decide now is the time to sell off their pitchers. The Reds could elect to go for it one last time with Cueto and Latos but it will only make their rebuilding efforts that much more difficult.

Bruce is owed $24.5 million through the 2016 season. The contract also has a $13 million club option for 2017. While that may be difficult for a team to absorb like the Mets, trading players like Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy could create room for this small revenue club. (The Mets are going to try and move those two players anyway)

Bruce has finished 10th in the MVP voting the past two season. He recently told Cincinnati.com that “this has been the most embarrassing year of my life,”

Bruce could cost a lot in prospects but nothing compared to what he would have fetched a year ago. This is definitely something the Mets must look into this winter as they look for more offensive help.

Dilson Herrera gaining valuable big league experience

By Steven Inman

Tim Teufel and the rest of the Mets coaching staff will be working extra hard to turn Dilson Herrera into a capable second basemen this month

It has been a very up and down beginning to Dilson Herrera’s big league career with the Mets. The youngest player in the big leagues hit his first big league homer Monday but has three errors on pretty routine plays in his first five big league games.

Herrera has shown a quick bat but is definitely a work in progress at second base like his predecessor, Daniel Murphy. Speaking of Murphy, the All-Star is not expected back anytime soon so Herrera will continue to play every day at second base.

Herrera can only get better with each big league game he plays. The Mets hope that he shows them enough offensively and defensively to plug him in as the everyday second basemen next year. BrokeMets has been reporting all year that the Mets are unlikely to pay Murphy’s $8.5-9 million in arbitration this winter and are far more likely to trade the second basemen.

Herrera is still just 20-years old and he should get much better defensively which is why it is so important that the Mets were able to get him playing time in what has become a lost season.

If the Mets can solve second base next season at the league minimum, that would give them a much better chance at filling their holes at shortstop and left field this winter.

Herrera is definitely a storyline to watch for the Mets for the remainder of the season.