The New York Mets - Quest For October

[OmahaReynolds]

I'm re-booting this because I was a little unhappy with the format of my last thread. No more restarts, after this, I promise.

I'll reserve this first post for records as the seasons go by.

[OmahaReynolds]

2014 New York Mets
Ballpark: Citi Field, 45,000
Franchise Record: 3959-4325, .478

Front Office
Owner: Fred Wilpon (Demanding, Generous)
Budget: 140M (17th)
Payroll: 85.6M (23rd)
Free Agent Money: 17.7M
Extension Money: 11.8M

2013 Team Stats
Record: 74-88 (3rd in NL East)
Runs Scored: 619 (11th in NL)
Batting Average: .237 (14th in NL)
On-Base Pct.: .306 (12th in NL)
Home Runs: 130 (11th in NL)
Runs Allowed: 684 (8th in NL)
ERA: 3.77 (8th in NL)

[OmahaReynolds]

Starting Rotation

We have lost our ace Matt Harvey for the season after he had Tommy John surgery over the off-season. Determining the Opening Day starter seems like a bit of a crap shoot, but I'm going to go with Bartolo Colon as the ace of the staff this season. He's a control pitcher who's going to get a lot of contact, but I think we have the defense to back him up. Jonathon Niese would be good for Opening Day, but he's got elbow soreness and is out for 3-4 weeks. Mejia's numbers look great, but he doesn't have too many major league innings under his belt. Him and Wheeler should develop a little this season and by next year we'll have a better idea of their abilities. Gee is Gee, he's a good back-of-the-rotation guy. John Lannan is serving as a placeholder for Niese.

Overall, I think we have a good rotation. The addition of Colon with good sophomore seasons from Mejia and Wheeler could make up for the loss of Matt Harvey.

Bullpen

At first glance, the bullpen doesn't look good. Bobby Parnell is a lock for the closer role. Valverde may have gotten unlucky with home runs last season and we'll give him the benefit of the doubt with a shot as the 8th inning guy, until he proves me wrong. Gonzalez Germen will get the 7th, and the other guys will fill up the middle innings, with Scott Rice acting as a LOOGY. Carlos Torres is on the AAA roster in Las Vegas, but he'll probably get called up at some point this season. If Black or Familia have a terrible couple of months they'll get sent to the minors.

I think the bullpen is a big weakness on paper, but bullpens can be funny. This group might end up being pretty good. Only one way to find out.

[OmahaReynolds]

Catchers

Travis d'Arnaud is a top catching prospect and we're excited to see what he does over a full season. BABIP was not kind to him last year, but his walk and strikeout rates are promising. He also happens to be an elite defensive catcher. Recker is the backup by default.

Infielders

Ike Davis and Lucas Duda are essentially the same player. They both strike out a ton, but they draw plenty of walks and hit for power. Davis has a better glove, and perhaps more power . The problem is I can't really have both of these guys. It's like giving one guy two roster spots. Duda will start the year in Vegas, and I'll try to trade one of them as the season unfolds, for either a solid bullpen piece or a prospect of some kind. Satin will make up the right-handed side of the first base platoon.

Daniel Murphy and David Wright are fixtures on the team and are in no danger of losing playing time. Murphy's OBP could use a little work and it makes it difficult to find an obvious spot in the lineup for him.

Ruben Tejada will be the starter at shortstop, and I hope that his BABIP was just bad luck and not a sign that he makes extremely weak contact. He's an above-average defensive shortstop.

Outfielders

Chris Young, Curtis Granderson and Bobby Abreu were both signed in the off-season. Abreu can be dumped at anytime during the season for little cost, but we are basically stuck with Young and Granderson. Both are high-srikeout power hitters and all I can do is hope they have good seasons. If they can strike out under 25% of the time and hit a combined 50 home runs with an OPS over .750 I'll be happy. That's a lot of "if's."

Juan Lagares is a slick-fielding center fielder who hasn't figured out his bat yet. Hopefully he can work on his walk rate, because he has the speed to be a leadoff hitter.

Eric Young will serve as a 4th outfielder/pinch-runner. Andrew Brown will go to Vegas, and Bobby Abreu will keep the bench warm.

The Offensive Picture

The offense this year has question marks all over it. With almost none of these players having a full season of stats from least year, it's hard to know what anyone's true ability is. There might be a lot of lineup tweaking in the early half of the season

[OmahaReynolds]

We've got plenty of talented young players in the minors to keep an eye on this season. I'm only going to go into detail on players my scout sees as having a potential of at least 50/80, are under 26 years old and are playing at Advanced A or higher. Here's the breakdown, by minor league level:

AAA - Las Vegas '51's

SP Noah Syndergaard, 21

Noah's got a mid- to upper-90's fastball and is developing a plus changeup. He also throws both a curveball and a slider, both of which are above average. He looks like a future #2 starter and should debut in the majors this year.

SP Rafael Montero, 23

Montero is a flyball pitcher. He gets into the low-/mid-90's and boasts a slider and a changeup. He might be a little further along than Sydergaard, and his control, which should end up being outstanding, is still developing. Looks like a #3 or #4 starter in the majors, and could be in an eventual rotation of Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaard and Mejia in 2015.

2B Wilmer Flores, 22

Flores looks like he'll develop into a high-average hitter with some decent home run power, but the uncertainty surrounding his fielding ability has me worried. If he does end up a power hitter, he could be moved to first base. I'm in no hurry to call him up, and we'll see how he develops.

RF Cesar Puello, 22

Puello's got a rocket for an arm in right field and has some speed on the basepaths. He boasted a .950 OPS in AA last season, with 16 dingers and 24 swipes in 377 plate appearances. Could be an eventual piece in the big league lineup, but that would require moving either Chris Young or Curtis Granderson.

AA - Binghamton Mets

C Keven Plawecki, 23

Looks to be a solid hitter and defensive catcher. He's not at the level of Travis d'Arnaud, but he will make a good backup or could be used as a trade piece. He could be packaged in with a pitching prospect to try and bring in a decent bat later in the season.

SS Wilfredo Tovar, 22

Tovar has eye-popping glove skills at the shortstop position, but his offensive projections don't look too promising. If he can get his bat together, he could be a huge asset at the major league level. At this point he profiles a lot like Ruben Tejada at the plate.

OF Brandon Nimmo, 20

Nimmo is a toolsy outfielder who needs to work on cutting down his strikeouts. The first round pick in 2011 could be a big piece if he figures out his swing. Hoping that the power develops.

A+ St. Lucie Mets

SP Steven Matz, 22

Matz has his fastball going for him, which is a mid-90's pitch, but his secondary stuff needs some work as does his movement and control. To me he seems like a future bullpen piece, which is fine since we have so much pitching talent in the minors.

SS Dilson Herrera, 20

He's young enough to where his bat skills should hopefully improve, but he has enormous power potential. His glove ability in the middle infield is a little below average, but that may change by the time he hits AAA.

[OmahaReynolds]

I don't think we'll be sniffing October in 2014. It's not impossible, but it just doesn't seem very likely. That being said, I'm still going to try for it.

My plan is to turn this franchise into a perennial contender. I think that having an outstanding pitching rotation is an important piece of building a consistent winner, and we seem to have that framework in place. The bullpen is another story. What I might tinker with is taking some of the abundant starters I have and putting some of them in the bullpen.

Aside from the bullpen, the biggest weakness on this team is shortstop. It's an important position, and Ruben Tejada or Omar Quintanilla are not the answers there. We don't have to get a superstar, but we need someone with a nice glove who can hit. I believe that a championship team doesn't need a lineup full of all-stars, but can't have below average bats in the lineup. I want everyone in the lineup to have an obvious function. On-base percentage is important to me, because conserving outs is important in this game. As it stands we have one player, David Wright, who can get on base over 35% of the time. I'd like to have at least two other players who can do that, to make the top of our lineup a little stronger.

Plans for this season:

1. Get a shortstop. This might require trading someone like Syndergaard or Montero, possibly packaged together with Plawecki. Another option would be to move someone like Wheeler or Mejia.
2. Trade either Ike Davis or Lucas Duda before the deadline, for major-league ready bullpen help if needed or a high-minors prospect.
3. Be opportunistic. If Granderson, Colon, or Chris Young are having great seasons but the team isn't going anywhere, sell high at the deadline.

Wilpon wants the team to play .500 ball. I want to finish the season over .500. We are rebuilding, but we are going to try to find a way to rebuild without sacrificing major league wins in the present. Maybe that's asking too much

Now, I'm ready to start playing some games.

[OmahaReynolds]

Today is Opening Day for the Dodger, Diamondbacks and everybody who lives in Australia.

Scores:
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 3

Zack Greinke pitched 7.1 innings and fanned 6 in the Opening Day down under, holding the Diamondbacks to one run. Kenley Jansen got his first save of the season, and Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run single to put the Dodgers on top in the 8th.

League News:

TRADE! The Giants sent RF Mike Morse to Cleveland, getting CF Nyjer Morgan in return.

[OmahaReynolds]

Scores

Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 5

[OmahaReynolds]

TRADE PROPOSAL

The Giants want to make a trade with us. They are offering up CF Gregor Blanco. All they want are two prospects, CF Matt Den Dekker and SS Amed Rosario.

Trade... REJECTED!

I want to see what we have in Juan Lagares, and frankly I don't think Blanco is anywhere near Lagares in terms of talent.

[OmahaReynolds]

League News

TRADE: The Cincinnati Reds traded RF Roger Bernadina to the Miami Marlins for RF Reed Johnson.

TRADE: The Boston Red Sox traded RF Daniel Nava to the Chicago Cubs for CF Justin Ruggiano.

[OmahaReynolds]

TRADE PROPOSAL

Two trade proposals from the Nationals.

They offer a straight up trade, CF Scott Hairston for SP Dillon Gee.

AND/OR

CF Scott Hairston for SS Amed Rosario and 3B Brian Burgamy (Las Vegas)

I don't want a center fielder. REJECTED.

[OmahaReynolds]

League News

The Seattle Mariners signed free agent 1B Kendrys Morales for a 1 year/$3,490,000.

Scores

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, San Diego Padres 0

[OmahaReynolds]

Game 1/162

Washington Nationals (0-0)@ New York Mets (0-0)

New York
CF Juan Lagares
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
RF Curtis Granderson
LF Chris Young
1B Ike Davis
C Travis d'Arnaud
SS Ruben Tejada
P Bartolo Colon

Washington
SS Ian Desmond
CF Denard Span
3B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Bryce Harper
RF Jason Worth
1B Adam LaRoche
2B Anthony Rendon
C Wilson Ramos
P Stephen Strasburg

Finally, we make it to Opening Day. What looked like a pitchers dual turned into something completely different when Stephen Strasburg injured himself while pitching and had to leave the game in the third inning. Bartolo Colon pitched eight shutout innings, but was not credited with the win as both teams went scoreless until Ike Davis blasted a 417 foot home run in the bottom of the ninth to win it in walk-off fashion.

Bartolo Colon was mostly flawless. He got into a potential jam in the fourth inning. After getting the lead off hitter, Ian Desmond, to pop up to short, he allowed a bunt single to Denard Span. Colon proceeded to walk Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper to load the bases with one out. Jason Werth came up to bat and hit a line drive directly to Daniel Murphy, who threw to Ruben Tejada to complete the double play.

Ike Davis ended up going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and a two-run homer.

Final Score: Washington 0, New York 2

IN OTHER NEWS:

The Red Sox sent us a trade proposal. They would send 1B Mike Napoli to New York in exchange for Chris Young and minor league SS Gavin Cecchini. Napoli is a career .259/.357/.503 hitter who is good for about 20-25 home runs per year. He'd be an improvement for us at 1B, but losing Chris Young would mean we'd have to play Eric Young, which may or may not be a down grade. And then we'd have two first basemen to try and get rid of in Ike Davis and Lucas Duda. Not sure about this trade, but we have some time to respond.

[OmahaReynolds]

Game 2/162

Washington Nationals (0-1) @ New York Mets (1-0)

Washington
SS Ian Desmond, R
CF Denard Span, L
3B Ryan Zimmerman, R
LF Bryce Harper, L
RF Jayson Werth, R
1B Adam LaRoche, L
2B Anthony Rendon, R
C Wilson Ramos, R
P Gio Gonzalez, R

New York
CF Juan Lagares, R
2B Daniel Murphy, L
3B David Wright, R
RF Curtis Granderson, L
LF Chris Young, R
1B Josh Satin, R
C Travis d'Arnaud, R
SS Ruden Tejada, R
P Dillon Gee, R

Things got off to a rocky start for Dillon Gee. Ian Desmond took him deep in the 3rd inning for a two-run shot out to left-center. Desmond later tagged Gee up again, this time with a run-scoring triple in the 7th. Gee ended up pitching into the 8th inning before Jose Valverde took over.

Gio Gonzalez was brilliant for the Nationals, pitching eight frames and holding the Mets to five hits. He gave up a solo home run to Chris Young, but otherwise kept us scoreless. Rafael Soriano closed it out for Washington, picking up the save.

Final: Washington 3, New York 1

Player of the Game: Gio Gonzalez - 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR

[OmahaReynolds]

Game 3/162

Washington Nationals (1-1) @ New York Mets (1-1)

Washington
SS Ian Desmond
CF Denard Span
3B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Bryce Harper
RF Jason Worth
1B Adam LaRoche
2B Anthony Rendon
C Wilson Ramos
P Jordan Zimmerman

New York
CF Juan Lagares
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
RF Curtis Granderson
LF Chris Young
1B Ike Davis
C Travis d'Arnaud
SS Ruben Tejada
P Zack Wheeler

This was a wild one. It was a game ruled by home runs - seven dingers between both teams.

We got off to an early lead after Juan Lagares hit a lead-off home run in the 1st. A few innings later, David Wright also went yard, and it looked like we might be able to knock Zimmerman out of the game early. Wheeler was iffy through the first three innings, but was downright shaky when he gave up a two-run homer to Adam LaRoche in the 4th, erasing all the progress we had made.

The Nationals completely blew it open with a four run 5th inning, knocking Wheeler out of the game. Gonzalez Germen came in to clean up the mess but was battered all the same. Our bats came back around in the 6th, as we put up four more runs to tie the game back up.

Washington tacked on another two in the 8th, and we responded with another home run in the bottom of the frame (Ike Davis's second of the season), bringing us within one run. It wasn't enough.

FINAL SCORE: Washington 8, New York 7

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Adam LaRoche - 2-3, 3 RBI, 2 BB, K, HR

[Westheim]

Gonna read along here as a Mets guy. :-)

I ended up with Gregor Blanco in my first ever Mets dynasty. That was with PureSim, a few years ago in a 2008 start. He was quite good for my Mets then, and I still kinda like the real Blanco for that. :-P

Also, I don't get why everybody wants to ship out a young arm to replace Tejada. I like Tejada. He doesn't deserve all the hate mail he gets.

But it's your dynasty. Go ahead.^^

[OmahaReynolds]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Gonna read along here as a Mets guy. :-)

I ended up with Gregor Blanco in my first ever Mets dynasty. That was with PureSim, a few years ago in a 2008 start. He was quite good for my Mets then, and I still kinda like the real Blanco for that. :-P

Also, I don't get why everybody wants to ship out a young arm to replace Tejada. I like Tejada. He doesn't deserve all the hate mail he gets.

But it's your dynasty. Go ahead.^^

Glad to see you're a fellow Mets fan.

I don't really hate Tejada, but I think he represents the most significant weakness from an offense standpoint. He's not a power hitter, or even a gap power hitter. He can hit for contact, sometimes, but doesn't really get on base very well. All he has going for him is his glove.

He's still young though, and he's not going anywhere. If I manage to get an upgrade at shortstop, he could end up playing second eventually, or being a useful bench player/utility infielder.

[OmahaReynolds]

Game 4/162

Cincinnati Reds (2-1) @ New York Mets (1-2)

Reds Lineup
Billy Hamilton, CF
Brandon Phillips, 2B
Joey Votto, 3B
Jay Bruce, RF
Ryan Ludwick, LF
Zack Cozart, SS
Hernan Iribarren, 3B
Brayan Pena, C
Tony Cingrani, P

Mets Lineup\
Juan Lagares, CF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Curtis Granderson, RF
Chris Young, LF
Ike Davis, 1B
Travis d'Arnaud, C
Ruben Tejada, SS
Jenrry Mejia, P

Jenrry Mejia got off to a rough start, giving up three straight hits in the first inning and leaving us trailing 2-0. After crusing through the 2nd and 3rd innings, he hit a one-out single in the bottom of the 3rd. Juan Lagares struck out, but Daniel Murphy came through and blasted one out over the right field fence to tie the game.

With the score tied, the game went on for nine innings with no more scoring. Finallly, in the 14th inning, after using almost our entire 25-man roster, Josh Satin hit a walk-off solo home run.

Final Score: Reds 2, Mets 3

Jenrry Mejia: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 109 PI ***Player of the Game***
Josh Satin: 3-6, HR
Daniel Murphy: 1-3, HR
David Wright: 0-5, 4 K

[GXMarc]

So thanks for this Mets Dynasty Will follow it here every Day and hope you play it for a long Time.

[OmahaReynolds]

Game 5/162

Cincinnati Reds (2-2) @ New York Mets (2-2)

Bartolo Colon squared off against Alfredo Simon in the second game of this series. Colon ran into some trouble in the 1st, Giving up a two-out double to 1B Joey Votto, followed by a go-ahead single to RF Jay Bruce. The starter then got into a groove and cruised through the next 4 innings. A lead-off walk to Jay Bruce in the 6th set off a n unfortunate chain of events that allowed the Reds to tack on another three runs.

The Mets couldn't get their bats going until the 8th, when Daniel Murphy doubled in Bobby Abreu. We put another run on the board in the 9th, but couldn't muster anything more and lost this one.

Final Score: Reds 4, Mets 2

Player of the Game: Alfredo Simon, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Game Notes: Juan Lagares was ejected after arguing and then making contact with the home plate umpire after taking strike three called.