Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

bub said:
Vargas to Phillies for a minor league catcher.

That minor league catcher and his college teammate in 2015:

When the Mets got Diaz and Cano, I figured that the real target was Diaz, and part of the cost was absorbing Cano's big salary of $24MM per year for five years (through 2023).  

But watching Diaz implode yet again I wonder if they did not get rooked on this deal.  Sure, he is controllable through arbitration for another three years.  The Mets recently pulled him off the trade market, and it is an even bet as to whether they did this because his value was so crappy, or because they think he might recover his form this year or next year.

Sure, Diaz is being dogged by the incredibly poor Mets' defense behind him (none of the infielders has any sort of range, and Smith is playing ok in left for a first baseman).  But that does not belay the fact that he is getting hit damned hard far more this year than last year.  

His Fielding Independent Pitching stat went from 1.61 last year to 3.93 this year.  Fielding is not the only problem, clearly.  His HR/9 Innings has gone from 0.6 in 2018 to 1.8 in 2019.  His 2017 season was more similar to this year with a 4.02 FIP and 1.4 HR/9. 

Perhaps last year was a fluke and he is showing his true colors now.

But the most astonishing thing may be that the Mets seriously thought the Red Sox would trade Benintendi for Diaz.  That is yet another thing to make me wonder if the Mets front office has any clue.

They didn't deal Wheeler or Frazier? WTF? 

Soul_29 said:
They didn't deal Wheeler or Frazier? WTF? 

 when Bauer and Greinke went on the market, the price for Wheeler must have gone down

ml1 said:

Soul_29 said:
They didn't deal Wheeler or Frazier? WTF? 

 when Bauer and Greinke went on the market, the price for Wheeler must have gone down

 All in all, much ado about not a lot at the Trade Deadline. 

Soul_29 said:
 All in all, much ado about not a lot at the Trade Deadline. 

 I'm OK with them not conducting a fire sale. 

Soul_29 said:

ml1 said:

Soul_29 said:
They didn't deal Wheeler or Frazier? WTF? 

 when Bauer and Greinke went on the market, the price for Wheeler must have gone down

 All in all, much ado about not a lot at the Trade Deadline. 

 Unless you’re an Astros fan. 

I think they did okay, but sold Vargas cheap.  Not much for him, and they included a lot of money.  The Cano/Diaz deal looks horrible now, but it looked okay then.  Remember, they dumped Bruce and Swarzak in the deal.  Those guys were anchors last year.  Cano was suspect at the time, but Diaz seemed like the real deal.  The real head scratcher last off season was resigning Familia.  We were all glad to see him traded when he went the first time.

  I'm glad the Mets did not trade Syndagaard to the Padres for yet another second baseman.   I am surprised that no one wanted Frazier or Smith.  This team can hit some, but they need to move some guys over the winter to get people who can play their positions .  I think we have to hope that Diaz can get himself straight somehow.

  I was surprised that Wheeler didn't move.  I'd like to re sign him, but not at qualifying offer numbers.

What's the Cespedes story? Will he ever play for the Mets again?

Train_of_Thought said:
What's the Cespedes story? Will he ever play for the Mets again?

 unfortunately I'm not sure he'll play anywhere. He's barely had any at bats for 2 years now. 

I hope I'm wrong. He was a fun player to watch. It would be a shame if he's done. 

The biggest mystery to me is Jed Lowrie.  WTH???

FilmCarp said:
....  I think we have to hope that Diaz can get himself straight somehow....

 As I noted above, it is quite possible that last year was the aberration and that this year he has returned to his normal course of pitching.

sbenois said:
The biggest mystery to me is Jed Lowrie.  WTH???

"Lowrie, 35, is still doing baseball activities in Port St. Lucie, but there is no timetable for rehab games yet.

The Mets signed Lowrie to a two-year, $20 million contract in the offseason, but have yet to see the results of that deal as the switch-hitter has not played in a single game with the club after initially suffering a knee injury in Spring Training.

He came close to a return in May, but then got the hamstring injury previously mentioned and has not appeared in a rehab game since.

In 2018, Lowrie played for the Oakland Athletics and hit .267/.353/.448 with 23 home runs and 99 RBI to give himself a 121 OPS+ and 4.8 WAR."

mfpark said:

FilmCarp said:
....  I think we have to hope that Diaz can get himself straight somehow....

 As I noted above, it is quite possible that last year was the aberration and that this year he has returned to his normal course of pitching.

 Or possibly the opposite.

"Scooter and the Big Man bust the city in half!!" might be the best home run call EVER. 

Back over .500 ball...

What a run.  And nothing but optimism for the stretch run.  I would trade the Cardinals for the Mets in a heart beat.  

#LFGM

Was at first game.  Enjoying this tear but without Diaz and/or Familia kicking it into high gear, I'm not sure where this is going.  Diaz makes every appearance too interesting.  Not sure if Familia really is salvageable at this point.  Lugo is not going to control late innings by himself.

Two more with the Marlins to hopefully pad the win column a bit before the Nats come to Queens and then on the road to Atlanta.  If they come out of Atlanta still 2.5 back in the wild card race (or better) then you really gotta believe in this year.  All series are crucial, but the next two will be very telling.

As usual, much will come down to the bullpen.

That is a scary thought.

mfpark said:
Two more with the Marlins to hopefully pad the win column a bit before the Nats come to Queens and then on the road to Atlanta.  If they come out of Atlanta still 2.5 back in the wild card race (or better) then you really gotta believe in this year.  All series are crucial, but the next two will be very telling.
As usual, much will come down to the bullpen.
That is a scary thought.

that's a common issue across MLB, with only a few exceptions.  Headline right now on the Braves website is "Relief woes continue in loss to Twins."  And the Nats' bullpen if anything has been even worse than the Mets', and who knows if they guys they picked up last week will improve it.  And the Phillies were desperate enough to move Eflin to the pen last week.  He hasn't been great in the rotation, but they're missing enough relievers that it's probably a smart move.

It's likely to come down the to 21 games the Mets have with the three teams ahead of them in the division.  And given the relief pitching, it might just come down to how many innings each gets out its frontline starters in the head to head games.

You are spot on, ML1.  The Braves has the worst bullpen in the Majors, ranked #30 by WAR.  The Mets are 28th, Phillies 26th, and the Nats 22nd.

The Yankees are ranked #1, btw.

Alonso's got his power swing back! Another bomb today. And Conforto is putting together a pretty damn good season!

The next three games will tell us a lot.

FilmCarp said:

The next three games will tell us a lot.

 I will sign-up for .500 over the next six games right now. 

PS. Planning on going to the game on Sunday. Brilliant weather forecast and deGrom!

No Scherzer for the Nats this weekend.

so FanGraphs pre-season prediction for the Mets was 84 wins with a 40% probability of the postseason.  Now, 115 games later with all the ups and downs of the season their prediction for the Mets as of August 8 is --- 84 wins and a 42% probability of making the postseason.

Let's GOOOOOOO!!!!

I'm as wary of this series as I was of the Mets-Nats series at almost this point in the season in 2015.  To most fans, the first game of the series will be know as the "Wilmer Flores game."  But I also think of it as the Bryce Harper ejection game

I just hope it is known as the Pete Alonso game, and not the Anthony Rendon game.