NL East Discussion

[Giantmetfan07]

Post any little shit you wanna talk about it.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

The Marlins have agreed to sign first round selection Andrew Heaney, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports. The Oklahoma State left-hander obtained a $2.6MM bonus just one day after an agreement seemed highly unlikely.
-MLBTR

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Mets Interested in Ramon Hernandez and Kelly Schoppach

The Mets are looking for an upgrade behind the plate and they're rumored to have interest in Ramon Hernandez of the Rockies. According to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (on Twitter), they have considered Kelly Shoppach as an alternative if the price to land Hernandez is too high, however.

New York's backstops have produced a .244/.303/.298 batting line this season, the third worst catcher OPS in the NL. Shoppach has put up a .269/.358/.527 line while backing up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and he's historically done most of his damage against left-handers. As Gammons notes, a trade would allow the Red Sox to bring Ryan Lavarnway up from Triple-A, where he's hitting .306/.395/.455.

- MLBTR

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Many Scouts Saw Hamels

There were so many scouts behind the backstop at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon that you could have built a campfire and made smores.

Oh, wrong kind of scouts.

These were baseball scouts, you know, the kind with straw hats, stop watches, radar guns, and questionable wardrobes. All the relevant chapters were present: Texas, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, the Dodgers and Angels. There were more than that, in fact.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Batista will Start Saturday for Mets. Not Harvey

[twitter]KBurkhardtSNY[/twitter]
A lot from Sandy Alderson: Batista starting Sat. Harvey likely to be w Mets at some point this year. Wheeler will NOT be in MLB this year.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

MLBTR:

The Mets are "paying close attention" to Royals closer Jonathan Broxton, a source tells Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Broxton has put together a nice rebound campaign as Kansas City's stopper after his stock had tumbled due to injuries in 2010-11. Meanwhile, the Mets could use reinforcements for a spotty relief corps that is without closer Frank Francisco, who has been sidelined by an oblique injury since June.

To that end, the Mets are seeking bullpen help, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, although they're finding most relievers to be too pricey in terms of trade compensation or too insignificant of an upgrade. The Brewers, for one, are telling teams that former Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez is available but they are unwilling to eat any of the remaining $4MM owed to him. K-Rod, incidentally, was named Milwaukee's closer today.

The Mets are also looking for a veteran catcher, according to Heyman, and have talked to the Rockies about Ramon Hernandez, but New York is not willing to pay the $3.2MM owed to Hernandez through next season.

GM Sandy Alderson said all of the organization's scouts have been deployed to the Major League, adding "we are buyers," according to Rubin. Alderson also said pitching prospect Zack Wheeler will not pitch in the big leagues this season and will soon be promoted to Triple-A (Twitter links).

 

[cruzg24]

Its good to see the Mets are looking for bullpen help. I think it might be a little too late if they dont make a deal soon.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

but they can't overpay by making a trade too soon and jeopardize the team in 2-3 years from now.

 

[cruzg24]

I think they should take on a contract that is hefty with a team looking to shed payroll for its final year then we would have to trade a low level prospect.

 

[NV]

According to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com, rival executives who have spoken with the Marlins believe they've "never been more open to the idea" of trading Hanley Ramirez.

 

[Rios15]

The Marlins have been a huge disappointment this season and they are believed to be in full sell mode.

However, Miami isn't thinking about firing Guillen, who is in the first year of his four-year, $10 million deal.

Read more: http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/31722/20120724/marlins_arent_thinking_about_firing_guillen/#ixzz21bYGfQZ0

 

[NV]

Who would've guessed the Washington Nationals would be tied with the Yankees with the best record in baseball on July 27th. Amazing really.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

John Kruk, probably.

 

[cruzg24]

It was reported Monday the Marlins planned to keep JJ since the trade offers they were receiving weren't overwhelming. The Marlins informed clubs they see more value in keeping Johnson heading into his free-agent year in 2013 than trading him. Johnson hasn't been a dominant arm in 2012, going 6-7 with a 4.04 ERA in 21 starts. He did have a good run in June, posting a 1.87 ERA in five starts. However, he has had a 4.41 or worse ERA in the three other months.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Cole Hamels has been scratched from his scheduled start tonight against the Mets and as this tweet from Todd Zolecki of MLB.com shows the Phillies left-hander probably isn’t having a very good morning:

Cole Hamels will not start tonight's game against the New York Mets due to a gastrointestinal illness.

 

[Teagz]

In their never-ending quest to compile the most depth in baseball the Nationals have signed left-hander​

Will Ohman

to a minor-league deal,​

according to Bill Ladson

of MLB.com.​

Ohman spent last season with the White Sox, posting a 6.41 ERA in 27 innings at age 34, but he was a solid middle reliever in 2010 and 2011 with a 3.78 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 95 total innings.​

Washington’s bullpen is stacked with right-handers, but there could be an opening for Ohman as a left-handed specialist.​

 

[Teagz]

General manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins had slightly different public stances on​

Frank Francisco

‘s job security as the Mets’ closer recently, but now all of that might not even matter.​

Francisco told reporters today that his inflamed elbow is still an issue, causing him to be shut down, and when asked to put a percentage on how he’s feeling the right-hander replied: “I’m at zero.”​

If he has to begin the season on the disabled list that would open the door for​

Bobby Parnell

or recent signing​

Brandon Lyon

to take over ninth-inning duties. And then once Francisco gets healthy again … who knows. Presumably the old “can’t lose your job while injured” thing doesn’t apply to someone whose job was in jeopardy to begin with.​

Not a good sign for the Mets

 

[Teagz]

Mets prospect​

Jenrry Mejia

hasn’t reported to spring training yet because he’s stuck in the Dominican Republic and get can’t approved for a work visa due to an investigation into his age and identity.​

General manager Sandy Alderson told reporters today that he believes the investigation is random, saying: “I don’t think there was any reason specifically that they decided to do that. I understand that there is a new regime at the consulate and they wanted to do that review.”​

Before becoming the Mets’ general manager Alderson was a Special Consultant to the Commissioner for Latin America, which involved working to crack down on identify fraud in the Dominican Republic, among other countries. So presumably when Alderson says he thinks it’s a random investigation he has some pretty solid sources.​

Jorge Castillo of the​

Newark Star-Ledger

​

reports

that Mejia will work out at the Mets’ complex in the Dominican Republic, so assuming he’s eventually cleared for a visa the 23-year-old right-hander shouldn’t be too far behind the other pitchers in camp.​

 

[Teagz]

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson revealed that he offered​

Michael Bourn

basically the same four-year, $48 million contract that the speedy center fielder ended up signing with the Indians.​

So why did Bourn choose Cleveland over New York? Because the Indians also gave him a fifth-year team option for 2017 that vested at $12 million with 550 plate appearances in 2016 and Alderson was unwilling to include that in the Mets’ offer.​

“We viewed [it] as a fifth year in the contract at the levels we were talking about or that they were talking about,” Alderson told Jorge Castillo of the Newark Star Ledger. “And we weren’t prepared to go to five years and they had known that for some time so the vest was a big issue for us.”​

Trying to predict how many plate appearances a 33-year-old Bourn would get in 2016 is tough, but the fact that he’s racked up 703, 722, 605, and 678 in the past four seasons suggests he’d top 550 if healthy. Toss in the Mets’ reluctance to forfeit the 11th overall pick in the draft to sign Bourn and Alderson’s reasoning for not matching the Indians’ entire offer is pretty clear.​

 

[A.E]

Apparently the Mets offered Bourn the same deal as Cleveland but lost out b/c of the 2017 vesting option by way of the Indians. Does this mean the Mets were willing to part with the 11th pick or were they going to be given the exception? Next question, why the hell would the Mets even want a 30-year old Bourn for $48 million? Great player, big impact, but isn't his signing the type of deal that the Mets are looking to avoid under Alderson?