I'm still processing the Kumar Rocker debacle and I keep thinking about the famous 1983 NFL draft that included some of the greatest QB's of that era. Dan Marino was a highly touted star who fell to 27 b/c of rumors about his focus. Marino spent the next 15 years destroying the teams that took a pass on him (any Jets fans out there who remember those Ken O'Brien vs. Marino shoot outs?). I really do think the Mets will regret passing on Rocker. I just hope he doesn't end up in the NL East, like Marino vs. the Jets. At the very least, I believe Rocker was worth taking the risk.
The season all boils down to a healthy DeGrom IMO. With a healthy DeGrom we have as good a shot as anyone in the playoffs and simply have to hold onto our lead. I don't think it was worth gutting more of our system to gamble on DeGroms arm being healthy. If he is healthy having Baez might be that extra thump we need. McNeil can play 4 positions so I'm not sure why fitting him in the final 2 weeks would be hard. Thats part of his immense value, his versatility. Playing him over Dom or Conforto in the OF seems like a pretty big upgrade at this point not to mention having 3B.
There has to be a very serious issue for the Mets to not even offer any money at all. They certainly don't want egg on their face. The fact that they signed Ginn knowing he needed TJS for a good amount of money but wouldnt offer Kumar anything gives you an idea on the thought process. Different owner but largely the same scouts and draft guys right?
The Mets new FO and owner have only been installed for about 9 months. There might be some learning curves happening like having a backup for Kumar not signing but I still think they likely have a solid process going in their other decisions. I certainly don't think any of it is money driven. In the end we as fans don't have all the info and likely never will but too many(check Twitter) act as if they have all the info. With the Wilpons we had many trends and a lot of reporting. Anyone that thinks Cohen is trying to save a couple of bucks after shelling out 361m to Lindor over 11yrs and buying the club for several billions is really out of their mind.
I think there is a really good chance the reason the Mets did not go over the luxury tax this year is that they know for sure they will next year and probably several years in a row by a lot. With both a new CBA happening and repeat offenders having their drafts affected they probably did not want to go over this year unless they had a really compelling reason and Maeda/Donaldson were not enough to justify it. Its also entirely possible Baez money save was to also allow some other move that did not materialize in time.
In the end I think the Mets run under Cohen will make some mistakes but will learn from them and generally make the right decisions most of the time driven by metrics and forward thinking.
For the trade deadline, which pitchers should the Mets have gone after? After Scherzer and Kimbrel, was there anyone left to chase? What should have happened in your mind? As for Rocker, an awful lot of blame is being thrown the organization’s way but is it possible the untrustworthy Scott Boras was with knowledge selling damaged goods? It’s Steve Cohen’s first year as owner after 30+ years of organizational mismanagement. Maybe this is part of the learning curve. Even if we did screw up, it’s not permanent. I’m not trying to be Pollyanna but it seems the hysteria outweighs reality. Forget about the standings…are we a championship team right now? We’re not. We’re not even one or two players away. Not sure what the Mets could of or should have done.
On Rocker -- he is a generational talent. His record as a top pitcher in the NCAA's best conference shows that. He "may" also be secretly nursing a career-ending injury (although I would argue that EVERY pitcher is a ligament tear away from a career-ending injury). The Mets front office will have us believe that the 11th pick of next year's draft will be a better choice than taking a risk on Rocker now. I guess we'll see how that pans out. They'll probably draft an 18yo kid out of high school and we can all watch over the next 5-7 years as he develops. Maybe he becomes Brandon Nimmo (13th pick of 2011 draft)! Maybe he becomes Gavin Cecchini (12th pick of 2012 draft)?
If Rocker needs Tommy John surgery now, he'd still be in the big leagues before next year's draft pick, throwing 98 mph with a wipeout slider.
You have a good point: pitchers do very well with TJ surgery. Could there have been a personality conflict? Not with Rocker but with the Mets and Scott Boras? I'm just wondering if that was a factor in any way.
I agree, it’s really hard to see this team competing with the class of the National League in the playoffs, and so there would be a logic to holding steady at the deadline. This being New York, though, that was never going to happen. So you’d hope they’d go for quality pitching - whether that’s a reliever like Richard Rodriguez or Raisel Iglesias, a starter like Kenta Maeda or even Pineda, etc. Considering the team gave up a top prospect anyway, you’d hope it would go towards plugging in an essential hole. Either stay pat (and hold onto your prospects) or be smart about how you’re spending your capital and bring in quality at a place of need. Was Javy Baez (and his sub 300 OBP) really needed? Where will Jeff McNeil play in a few weeks? You’re right - it may not be disastrous long term (we’ll see how PCA pans out), but hard to say it was a great deadline week for this organization, either.
I am looking forward to the little things. Can Carrasco make a comeback? Is Tylor Megill for real? Is this the real Edwin Diaz? Will Noah ever be healthy? Will Lindor to Baez to Alonso be delightful?
Conforto looks absolutely lost. He has no sense of the strike zone at all, letting clear strikes go by and sitting down meekly. Whether he is trying to guess at pitches, thus looking so bad when he gets it wrong, or has other issues, he probably needs a long break. Maybe in Syracuse. I chuckled reading manager’s comment on giving JD time off to work on his swing. That sounds fine, but at least he has been swinging, not watching strikes with the bases loaded and no outs, as Conforto did the other day. Michale is a good player and great guy, but he isn’t a major league hitter right now.
Glad to see el Mago’s throw…but he missed two liners he should have had…
Two comments: 1) Another massive failure of the trade deadline was the Mets have a RF who hits .125 vs. LHP and they did nothing to provide an adequate RH bat to platoon. "Wish and hope" seems like it's been the plan for Conforto. I mean, a guy like Jake Marisnick would be so much better. 2) How much longer will Cohen tolerate the presence of Sandy Alderson? Wake him up from his nap and say goodbye.
How does anyone trust the Mets medical staff to make a decision on someone medically? The injuries that transpire daily gives no creedence to this organiztion to make a major decison based on thier medical non expetise. They had plenty of 'chips' at the mjor league level to trade for pitching and chose not to for A) Bad rookei GM being cluless B) new onwer like the old owner = CHEAP !
I'm still processing the Kumar Rocker debacle and I keep thinking about the famous 1983 NFL draft that included some of the greatest QB's of that era. Dan Marino was a highly touted star who fell to 27 b/c of rumors about his focus. Marino spent the next 15 years destroying the teams that took a pass on him (any Jets fans out there who remember those Ken O'Brien vs. Marino shoot outs?). I really do think the Mets will regret passing on Rocker. I just hope he doesn't end up in the NL East, like Marino vs. the Jets. At the very least, I believe Rocker was worth taking the risk.
The season all boils down to a healthy DeGrom IMO. With a healthy DeGrom we have as good a shot as anyone in the playoffs and simply have to hold onto our lead. I don't think it was worth gutting more of our system to gamble on DeGroms arm being healthy. If he is healthy having Baez might be that extra thump we need. McNeil can play 4 positions so I'm not sure why fitting him in the final 2 weeks would be hard. Thats part of his immense value, his versatility. Playing him over Dom or Conforto in the OF seems like a pretty big upgrade at this point not to mention having 3B.
There has to be a very serious issue for the Mets to not even offer any money at all. They certainly don't want egg on their face. The fact that they signed Ginn knowing he needed TJS for a good amount of money but wouldnt offer Kumar anything gives you an idea on the thought process. Different owner but largely the same scouts and draft guys right?
The Mets new FO and owner have only been installed for about 9 months. There might be some learning curves happening like having a backup for Kumar not signing but I still think they likely have a solid process going in their other decisions. I certainly don't think any of it is money driven. In the end we as fans don't have all the info and likely never will but too many(check Twitter) act as if they have all the info. With the Wilpons we had many trends and a lot of reporting. Anyone that thinks Cohen is trying to save a couple of bucks after shelling out 361m to Lindor over 11yrs and buying the club for several billions is really out of their mind.
I think there is a really good chance the reason the Mets did not go over the luxury tax this year is that they know for sure they will next year and probably several years in a row by a lot. With both a new CBA happening and repeat offenders having their drafts affected they probably did not want to go over this year unless they had a really compelling reason and Maeda/Donaldson were not enough to justify it. Its also entirely possible Baez money save was to also allow some other move that did not materialize in time.
In the end I think the Mets run under Cohen will make some mistakes but will learn from them and generally make the right decisions most of the time driven by metrics and forward thinking.
For the trade deadline, which pitchers should the Mets have gone after? After Scherzer and Kimbrel, was there anyone left to chase? What should have happened in your mind? As for Rocker, an awful lot of blame is being thrown the organization’s way but is it possible the untrustworthy Scott Boras was with knowledge selling damaged goods? It’s Steve Cohen’s first year as owner after 30+ years of organizational mismanagement. Maybe this is part of the learning curve. Even if we did screw up, it’s not permanent. I’m not trying to be Pollyanna but it seems the hysteria outweighs reality. Forget about the standings…are we a championship team right now? We’re not. We’re not even one or two players away. Not sure what the Mets could of or should have done.
On Rocker -- he is a generational talent. His record as a top pitcher in the NCAA's best conference shows that. He "may" also be secretly nursing a career-ending injury (although I would argue that EVERY pitcher is a ligament tear away from a career-ending injury). The Mets front office will have us believe that the 11th pick of next year's draft will be a better choice than taking a risk on Rocker now. I guess we'll see how that pans out. They'll probably draft an 18yo kid out of high school and we can all watch over the next 5-7 years as he develops. Maybe he becomes Brandon Nimmo (13th pick of 2011 draft)! Maybe he becomes Gavin Cecchini (12th pick of 2012 draft)?
If Rocker needs Tommy John surgery now, he'd still be in the big leagues before next year's draft pick, throwing 98 mph with a wipeout slider.
I guess we shall see ...
You have a good point: pitchers do very well with TJ surgery. Could there have been a personality conflict? Not with Rocker but with the Mets and Scott Boras? I'm just wondering if that was a factor in any way.
I agree, it’s really hard to see this team competing with the class of the National League in the playoffs, and so there would be a logic to holding steady at the deadline. This being New York, though, that was never going to happen. So you’d hope they’d go for quality pitching - whether that’s a reliever like Richard Rodriguez or Raisel Iglesias, a starter like Kenta Maeda or even Pineda, etc. Considering the team gave up a top prospect anyway, you’d hope it would go towards plugging in an essential hole. Either stay pat (and hold onto your prospects) or be smart about how you’re spending your capital and bring in quality at a place of need. Was Javy Baez (and his sub 300 OBP) really needed? Where will Jeff McNeil play in a few weeks? You’re right - it may not be disastrous long term (we’ll see how PCA pans out), but hard to say it was a great deadline week for this organization, either.
I am looking forward to the little things. Can Carrasco make a comeback? Is Tylor Megill for real? Is this the real Edwin Diaz? Will Noah ever be healthy? Will Lindor to Baez to Alonso be delightful?
Conforto looks absolutely lost. He has no sense of the strike zone at all, letting clear strikes go by and sitting down meekly. Whether he is trying to guess at pitches, thus looking so bad when he gets it wrong, or has other issues, he probably needs a long break. Maybe in Syracuse. I chuckled reading manager’s comment on giving JD time off to work on his swing. That sounds fine, but at least he has been swinging, not watching strikes with the bases loaded and no outs, as Conforto did the other day. Michale is a good player and great guy, but he isn’t a major league hitter right now.
Glad to see el Mago’s throw…but he missed two liners he should have had…
Two comments: 1) Another massive failure of the trade deadline was the Mets have a RF who hits .125 vs. LHP and they did nothing to provide an adequate RH bat to platoon. "Wish and hope" seems like it's been the plan for Conforto. I mean, a guy like Jake Marisnick would be so much better. 2) How much longer will Cohen tolerate the presence of Sandy Alderson? Wake him up from his nap and say goodbye.
How does anyone trust the Mets medical staff to make a decision on someone medically? The injuries that transpire daily gives no creedence to this organiztion to make a major decison based on thier medical non expetise. They had plenty of 'chips' at the mjor league level to trade for pitching and chose not to for A) Bad rookei GM being cluless B) new onwer like the old owner = CHEAP !