New York Mets Winter Report 2012-13

[syam24]

Interesting discussions on Bourne, but without the return of Hairston, the Mets really need a righthanded bat for the outfield. My guess is that there will be a trade down the road either before of during spring training. Bourne is a decent player, but not worth whatever Boras will want to sign him, and not worth a #1 pick in the draft. I suppose Shawn Marcum is a reasonable signing, worth a gamble on him to eat some innings and hopefully provide some veteran leadership to some of the young 'uns.

 

[sonny10305]

Pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie in 2 weeks

Soo nothing much new, after hearing Alderson joke about the situation in the outfield most of us are wondering if maybe he has something up his sleeve or will he actually get the bourn thing done the latter being doubtful. If he does nothing we would have Lucas Duda as our everyday left fielder, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Collin Cowgill would platoon in center, and Mike Baxter and Andrew Brown would platoon in right. Now I am going to go on the record to say I am not terrified of that. If Lucas Duda were to match last year he'd rank above the average left fielder and as hard as I know he plans on working this spring he will improve and become well above average. The Nieuwenhuis-Cowgill platoon would have to be a strict platoon, since Nieuwenhuis is a left-handed hitter, and Cowgill's a right-handed hitter. Both boys have played decently in very limited time in center field. I was hoping for a platoon of Mike Baxter and Scott Hairston but with Scotty gone we will most likely see Andrew Brown the most likely candidate to replace him. Baxter who bats left-handed hit .275 against right-handed pitching. Brown, the right-hander has been crushing left-handed pitching with a .980 OPS over the past two years in the minors. So I am not as worried as some of my friends are and we could have something better than many think. Yeah I get it, not all that sexy an outfield but it probably won't be the worst one in the game either. I am more anxious than ever to get to spring training to see what these guys will give us. Hey, I am no fool I don’t expect to win a WS but I do expect from what I know of these guys,
as Syam called “Youg uns” (love that) will give us all they got and make for some really fun baseball.

In addition it looks now that Terry Collins plans to give righty-hitting Justin Turner and Zach Lutz looks in the outfield during spring training, again the Michael Bourn signing could change that but I don’t think it should, JT needs to show what he can do out there and make himself more valuable and allow more playing time and a big Turner fan is something I would love to see happen.

Our starting pitching is pretty much in place and we have Wheeler to jump in when we need him the sooner the better. The Mets signed Shaun Marcum on Thursday to fill a hole in their rotation. I am still a bit miffed by the lack in Wheeler support from Alderson; I mean has he watched him pitch? He is so ready to be 5th starter but I am going to bow to Sandy on this for now he is after all supposed to know more about that than I do. But the Mets seem like they don’t see Wheeler making the major-league team out of spring training, which is why they signed Marcum. I have nothing against the kid he is a good pitcher a useful starter, he went 7-4 with a 3.70 ERA in 21 starts last year for the Brewers last season. It’s just that I really really want Wheeler in and not wait till mid summer.

Our Bull pen is still a work in progress. Of course who will squat behind the plate remains to be seen, Mets coaches will have to figure all that out during spring training as they get a whole new catching staff introduced to the pitching staff, they’ll have to learn our pitchers. Gussin John Buck will start the season as the Mets’ primary catcher with Anthony Recker as his backup. Look for Travis d’Arnaud to get the primary spot at AAA Las Vegas (getta get used to sayin that), backed up by Landon Powell. My heart goes out to Powell who’s five-month-old daughter died Friday, The little angel suffered from a disease in which white blood cells can build up in an organ and destroy other cells. Poor kids liver had become so enlarged it caused her ribs to break. Seriously how sad is that it is too much to accept.

Our infield will be one to reckon with Ike, Murph, David and Tejada no worries there. Still waitin on news from Murph on his contract, the Mets have not budged on the off their offer which is about three quarters of a mill less than Murph asked for. If nothing happens the arbitrator will get it in about 2 or 3 weeks and make the decision as to whether to give Murph what he asked for or what the Mets have offered. Soon as I know you will know. Justin Turner would be our backup infielder, and Brandon Hicks will prolly fill in for Tejada at short the role Ronny Cedeno had.

I expect Jordany Valdespin and Omar Quintanilla will start in AAA Vegas. Valdespin needs to spend time with Wally Backman in AAA if anyone can straighten out that knucklehead it’s Wally. Quintanilla might make it onto the roster if Turner takes well as an outfielder and Brown fails to make the Opening Day roster.

For those of you who may be wondering how Josh Thole is doing with his new job with the Toronto Blue Jays he avoided arbitration yesterday and settled. Interestingly while most arbitration-eligible players settle for a one-year contract, the Blue Jays gave Thole a two-deal at just over 1 Million per season, with an option for 2015. if everything goes the way it looks now he is expected to begin the season in AAA, That is cause Josh is behind Arencibia and Blanco on the depth chart but it’s Blanco's job to lose. Still Josh could although not likely as of today finds himself in Toronto to open the year, But If Blanco has a good spring training, he will prolly open the season as the backup catcher behind Arencibia. Blanco has not been guaranteed the job at all, which explains the non-guaranteed contract.

Back to Wheeler for a sec if you wondered just how wild and crazy a guy Zack is check out one of his rides which he gave a last wash before he heads to camp

 

[Sausy]

Great update as always, sonny...Mets got Daniel Murphy signed to a one year deal at a little over 2.9 mil and avoided arbitration.Now everyone can just go into camp hungry and ready for a new season...many guys should be in Florida(certainly Murph living there has the jump on 'em) starting early next week to get a head start on the new year.

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Saucy actually it as lookin pretty good late yesterday afternoon pretty sure we had the deal. I always expected him to get just about 3 Mill Glad he avoided arbitration cause sometimes that leads to a messy situation and Murph did not want that.

As you said a lot of guys are planning to get in early this year some are already there, Lucas Duda, Anthony Recker, Matt den Dekker, Wilmer Flores and Brian Bixler. Matt Harvey will be there next week. Lucas took live pitching yesterday and felt on ill effects on that thumb He hit in the cage for 10 minutes with Dave Hudgens, and took fly balls.



Murph will be leaving soon it’s just a three hour drive for him as soon as Vickie lets him out that is

DWright heads down Monday his bats are leaving today



Jeremy Hefner still hoping to make team as long reliever otherwise he expects to go to AAA Vegas
Bourn and Alderson still talking they had dinner the other night. Perhaps Sandy will talk more about it when he hooks up with Burkhardt on METS HOT STOVE on Thursday at 7PM.

Hey Ike! Are you ready for spring training?

 

[Sausy]

Nice pics, Sonny! Have any idea where Ike is in this one? Ike's looking casual but classy here!

 

[syam24]

Well, I see the Mets have been picking in the dumpster again, having signed Scott Atchinson and LaTroy Hawkins to minor league deals. I think, from what I've read, Atchinson's elbow is being held together with bailing wire and chewing gum, and I've never been a fan of Hawkins. He usually has one good outing, then gets lit up like a Christmas tree for two or three outings. I'm hoping the Mets are just putting bodies into uniforms with these two signings. I know Hawkins did a decent job for the Angels last year, but that is probably an aberration.

 

[sonny10305]

Nice pics, Sonny! Have any idea where Ike is in this one? Ike's looking casual but classy here!

That is from a visit to Harvard law school here is the full shot

 

[syam24]

This has been probably the most boring off season I can remember for Major League baseball. The "hot stove" league has been tepid at best for me. It might lead to a lot of spring training changes for several teams, particularly as we get closer to opening day, just 2months away.

 

[Sausy]

This has been probably the most boring off season I can remember for Major League baseball. The "hot stove" league has been tepid at best for me. It might lead to a lot of spring training changes for several teams, particularly as we get closer to opening day, just 2months away.

God syam, I so agree....now we signed cheater Marlon Byrd to a minor league ccontract, finding every opportunity to go coupon shopping for depth and it sucks. I really hope some decent names are let go in spring training that can help us more than the crap we're settling for now.

 

[Sausy]

That is from a visit to Harvard law school here is the full shot

Nice shot, sonny! Any reason in particular Ike was in the area at the time? And oh yes, LOVING the trimmed beard he's wearing nowadays...rocks the look!

 

[sonny10305]

Yup Saucy Ike does indeed look good in that photo. His beard looks like that now while he is home in Arizona but that’s due to the influence of mamma Millie Davis, as soon as Ike gets back here to NY that will change and his beard as he would say develop a life if its own. Ike will be coming to NY tomorrow; he will be getting the Thurman Munson Awards Dinner on Tuesday at Grand Hyatt Hotel in the City. Then the next day weds he will be leaving for Florida to begin spring training and that’s almost two weeks early, Murph is driving down this week as well. DWright, Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey leave Monday to join Lucas Duda who is already there. These guys can’t wait to get started lots of enthusiasm and hope for the new season.

Syam, I hear what you are sayin but I am not surprised by what Alderson has done or not done I sorta expected it. While I may not completely agree with sandy all the time I want to trust he is going to get the job done over time. I love what he has done with our farm system; seriously you have to give him credit for what it going on there. I mean look at the mess the Yankees have to face now they have a very weak farm and it is going to bite them on the ass now.

I had hoped for some action in the outfield but as I have written before I am not willing to give up any draft pick for guys like Bourn, YOU HEARD ME BURKHARDT! But that could still happen if MLB will protect the Mets first-round draft if the Mets sign a player requiring draft-pick compensation. Then and only then I think that Bourn will sign with the Mets. Two things however, I understand Bourn wants a long term deal maybe as much as 5 years and that ain’t happenin, also ya have to wonder if the league will protect the pick because they don’t wanna set a precedent. Bottom line the Mets will not give up their top draft pick to sign Bourn. The Mets have also now signed outfielder Marlon Byrd to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training, but again I scratch my head, I have a real big problem with dopers and Byrd got a 50-game suspension for testing positive for some crap called Tamoxifen

The only other concern is of course the bullpen. We did add some middle relief with Pedro Feliciano, Scott Atchison and LaTroy Hawkins. But what about the closer, Alderson admitted himself he is uncomfortable with Frank Francisco, and so am I, the dude blew too many games for us last year and makes me nervous when he is on the mound. That elbow is a worry for me and we need for Alderson to look at other possibilities. I still think we will have another player maybe two between now and spring training, we hear perhaps it could be Valverde who saved 35 games for Detroit last year, but didn’t he crash and burn toward the end of the season.? His ERA came down to 5 in September, and he was removed from the closer role during the playoffs. So I dono about that dude I would prefer we keep looking.

Our infield is solid with DWright strong, Murphy will continue in his tear from last year but look for him to show more power this season with more homers, and Ike Davis will surpass his numbers this year and will show us what he can do against lefties. Tejada who is currently on Long Island working with Jose Reyes can be counted on to continue making us say JOSE who? Like I said a solid infield we can be proud of.

We have 4 excellent starters in our pitching and as soon as Alderson wakes up and brings Wheeler in we will have 5, so no worries there

As far as the roster goes it gets a little crowded With Byrd on a minor league contract, the Mets have fourteen non-roster invitees headin to spring training. All of em competing for spots on the 25-man roster for Opening Day, Keep in mind that the Mets will have 39 spots for the 40 man roster so what happens if more than one player makes the team out of spring training? Well they will have to clear a spot, so If they sign a free agent like maybe a relief pitcher to a major league deal, the only lonely ole slot on the 40-man roster will be taken before the non-roster invitees even get a shot, unless of course some player on the roster ends up on the disabled list making his spot available until he's ready to return, that will then hold up any decision about who would need to be cut. Finally If the Mets remove a player from the roster, the player would hit waivers and could be claimed by any other team. Sooooo it will all be very interesting and of course you guys can count on me to keep you up to date on what shakes out.

It is getting so close to baseball I can hardly think about anything else. Seriously it is the first thing I think of when I open my eyes in the morning and the last before I go to bed. I CAN’T WAIT!

Next week KB will have his last live show on Mets Hot Stove before headin down to Florida to cover spring training which will begin the following Wednesday on SNY and will air several days a week live from St Lucie and that’s is always fun.

So with just weeks away from the start of spring training we have some football first with the big game tonight If you wondered about some of the Mets picks I can tell you that Daniel Murphy,Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Dillon Gee going for the 49ers. Kirk Niewenhuis, Bobby Parnell, Mike Baxter, Ruben Tejada and David Wright are going Ravens

 

[Sausy]

Great update as always,sonny! Yep, baseball is almost here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm telling ya sonny...whoever you end up with better love baseball as much as you do!

 

[sonny10305]

I'm telling ya sonny...whoever you end up with better love baseball as much as you do!

That’s cause it’s in my blood Saucy I was born with a baseball glove on my hand. I had the advantage of two baseball payers in my life with my dad and uncle both having played ball. My Uncle Joe was a semi pro pitcher who taught me the art of that position at an early age. Thru little league, Jr high and high school I mostly played third base but then decided I wanted to pitch which I have been doing for a while now with a couple of local teams. Recently I have been a part of the Cyclone organization and spend all of my summer with the team. So It’s pretty much baseball all the time in my life and would not have it any other way.

Ike Davis is in town to receive his Thurman Munson award tonight at the Grand Hyatt then he will hang out a day to appear with Kevin Burkhardt on Thursdays Mets Hot Stove before headin down to spring training. Listen to Ike talk to Kevin about how well he is feeling and what he hopes for next year among other things live Thursday 7pm on SNY. If you guys caught the outstanding interview Kevin did with Murphy two weeks ago you know you can count on more of the same with Ike.

 

[Sausy]

That’s cause it’s in my blood Saucy I was born with a baseball glove on my hand. I had the advantage of two baseball payers in my life with my dad and uncle both having played ball. My Uncle Joe was a semi pro pitcher who taught me the art of that position at an early age. Thru little league, Jr high and high school I mostly played third base but then decided I wanted to pitch which I have been doing for a while now with a couple of local teams. Recently I have been a part of the Cyclone organization and spend all of my summer with the team. So It’s pretty much baseball all the time in my life and would not have it any other way.

Ike Davis is in town to receive his Thurman Munson award tonight at the Grand Hyatt then he will hang out a day to appear with Kevin Burkhardt on Thursdays Mets Hot Stove before headin down to spring training. Listen to Ike talk to Kevin about how well he is feeling and what he hopes for next year among other things live Thursday 7pm on SNY. If you guys caught the outstanding interview Kevin did with Murphy two weeks ago you know you can count on more of the same with Ike.

I had to find baseball on my own, my mom kind of liked it but my dad was a soccer fan,didn't like baseball at all....glad you have a dad and uncle who really nurtured a deep love of the game,sonny.

Yep., going to catch the KB interview with Ike Thursday. Will be working but I'll tape it....KB always has a great rapport with the players and can get you some really nice perspectives. Ike definitely is a great community guy and deserves the Munson award...a very high honor and as you know, what a great kid from a great family. Ike does his family and the Mets organization proud.

 

[Sausy]

One thing I'm reading that looks like a definite non-story is the crap about the casino pitched for next to CitiField...it was a proposal made two years ago that has virtually NO shot of happening anytime soon and representatives from the Mets are saying it's not happening, old news. The Wilpons have thought about it but it has no legs..too many restrictions already on gambling in New York and the working agreement the Mets have with the city on developing the area seems that it isn't going in that direction. The environmental review wouldn't allow for a casino in that area, and the Mets seem far more excited about a mixed use retail, entertainment, and residential complex center which makes far more sense for the neighborhood. Guess the papers just were looking for something to grab attention and that it certainly did. But c'mon, gambling is frowned upon as is by the powers that be in MLB and whatever pipe dreams the Wilpons had a few years back they aren't going anywhere near building a casino.

 

[sonny10305]

Ike Davis was honored at the Thurman Munson Awards last night and as Saucy wrote was well deserved he has done so much for kids and charities










Earlier he sat down with Kevin Burkhart for his appearance on Thursdays Mets Hot Stove which I encourage all of you to watch. No reporter knows how to get the most of an interview better than Kevin.Ike speaks frankly about the decision not to send him to the minors last year which he felt would have been a mistake he just feels working out his issues here was a far better idea and we all know how true that turned out to be.
Ike has said he has a lot of respect for the other members of the team a respect that goes both ways, he is after all now one of the top overall first basemen in the game. He feels great all his health problems behind he is stronger now than last year and he expects to outdo his strong second half last summer and turn that into a full season of success. Ike’s lungs are fine, and the spores he had on them are gone and have not left him with scars. He said he's stronger than he was last year a He expects to beat his home runs and RBIs from last year based on when he thinks ahead to the possible lineup with runners on base in front of him hitting fourth behind Tejada, Murphy and Wright, not to mention the possibility of having Michael Bourn ending up a Met which Ike wants to see happen and he is excited about that possibility. One of the reason for his optimism is he expects (and I agree ) to see more fastballs if Bourne is on the team, thinking that Bourn will help out the second-hole hitter, be it him or DWright, Ike sees Bourne a huge asset to the team as a defender out in center field.
Ike will tell you he felt the off season went by a lot faster since he didn’t get 8 months off like last year. Important in that I that he didn’t lose all his muscle as he did last year laying around so much.
Ike expects to have somewhere from 25 to 35 home runs, that’s his goal in fact he hopes to hit over 30 every year with an average anywhere from the .260’s to .300 which he thinks would be great for him Oh and yes…. that 100 RBI mark. In addition he wants to continue hitting home runs to left field something we saw him start to do late last season instead of hitting a lot of home runs to center field. He is a gap to gap hitter, for sure not pure pull, he does not hit as many down the left field line as he does the right field line.
As to the team Ike thinks they have a pretty good squad and truly believes the Mets will finish above .500 in 2013 as long as they all stay healthy and have the seasons they’re supposed to have. Ike felt the signing of DWright was huge and is excited David's going to be here for a long time, and he would love to join him in changing the culture a little bit.

Ike leaves for Florida today to join the team I will have much more on how he is doing in spring training in the weeks to come.

 

[Sausy]

Thanks sonny for the pics from the Thurman Munson Awards dinner and the tidbits from the KB interview airing tomorrow. As fine a player a healthy Ike can be for the Mets the best thing is he is such a decent, great person and look forward to him in the not too dstant future being locked up for a good while by the Mets.

 

[sonny10305]

I just watched the Ike Davis interview on Mets Hot Stove and I thought it was a disaster. First of all when Ike said he was going into the studio to do the show I assumed it was with Kevin and not Gary who I thought did not come close to the warmth and information filled interview we would have gotten from Burkhardt. Secondly was the editing with much of what Ike talked about never made it to air and what did was cut an mangled into one or two sentence answers, Ike’s was edited down to short abruptly cut responses he was never allowed to elaborate on anything. Including his illness which was cut to just a few words and you can actually see how he was cut off. The whole thing was a poorly edited and executed interview and I was highly disappointed in the final air cut. Perhaps Burkhardt will make up for it by doing a proper interview with Ike live in Florida over the next few weeks.
BAD JOB SNY!

 

[Sausy]

Got home from work a little while ago and saw your review sonny...thanks for the heads up on the interview. Gary and SNY in particular with Keith and Ron are great usually, this appears to be really bad if sonny thinks it was a terrible job. Gonna delete and not watch it as I set it to tape after sonny plugged Ike's appearance. It's puzzling how they can do such a lame job with all that editing and screwing up the interview.

Saw a report yesterday on how many Mets were already down there in Florida....there's a great Mets fans blog called Hot Foot that had a couple of nice pics of DWright and Ike in action on Thursday and the boys seem to really be having a blast....for sure we have a real great group of guys ready to help exceed expectations for this season and give Mets fans something to cheer about!

 

[sonny10305]

Saucy I would suggest you and everyone else watch the interview I did not mean to suggest otherwise. It’s just that I was irritated by the way the piece was edited not letting Ike express himself fully. There were things he told Gary that never made it to air and that was unfortunate.
As to the team currently in camp it is so very heartwarming to see how many guys have already gone down as early as this. It gives you some sense of how determined and dedicated they all are to making this season a success. How many teams can say they have such a big turnout so early…not many.