It’s almost to the point where we should feel sorry for John Ricco. The guy has been a loyal soldier and has been given just about every front office job there is, except the one he wants. Once again, he was bypassed for the role of general manager. But Ricco has a new position – senior vice president and senior strategy officer.

We’re used to hearing about a guy being “kicked upstairs,” or promoted to a position with a fancy title but little real responsibility. Is that what’s happened to Ricco? The AP story lists about 10 things that he’ll be involved with, including “oversight” on major league payroll. Try to think about that one for a second. Does he keep track of how much money Brodie Van Wagenen has spent and then run to Jeff Wilpon with daily/weekly updates?

It’s not like my preference was for Ricco to be the club’s new GM. Still, it’s difficult not to put yourself in his shoes and feel for him. Guess he’ll just have to console himself with that six-digit salary.

11 comments on “Monday catch-all thread (2/4/19)

  • Mike Walczak

    What a life. A fancy title with no real responsibilities and a large pay check.

    That is a dream job for some people.

    What it appears to be is that he will be Van Wags Gopher.

  • David Klein

    Guy got a raise and a promotion and was employed for 15 years and by four gms and never offered a gm job by other teams I can’t feel bad for him being gainfully employed.

  • TexasGusCC

    From MLBTR, discussing the bottom five bullpens and the approach for this year:

    (The Mets were third worst)

    “Mets (minus-0.6 fWAR; projected season-opening bullpen): Unlike the Royals and Marlins, the Mets are making a real effort to win in 2019. As a result, the bullpen has been a key area of focus for new Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who has swung a blockbuster trade to reel in arguably the best closer in baseball (ex-Mariner Edwin Diaz) and spent a combined $40MM on free agents Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson this winter. Diaz, Familia and Wilson will join Seth Lugo, who was outstanding in 2018, and Robert Gsellman to give the Mets no fewer than five capable relievers.

    Perhaps the Mets will also benefit from less heralded pickups in Luis Avilan and Arquimedes Caminero, whom they signed to minors deals, and Rule 5 pick Kyle Dowdy. Regardless, New York’s new cast of relievers looks a whole lot better than last year’s bullpen, which relied too much on the likes of Paul Sewald, Jerry Blevins, Jacob Rhame, Tim Peterson and Anthony Swarzak, among other ineffective options, en route to a 4.96 ERA. Sewald, Rhame and Peterson are still in the organization, albeit as depth pieces, while Blevins and Swarzak are now gone. All things considered, ZIPS expects the Mets’ revamped bullpen to end up as one of the majors’ best in 2019.”
    ———————————————
    Only three bullpens had a negative WAR, with the Royals (-2.2 WAR) and Marlins (-2.1 WAR) being much, much worse than the Mets. Fourth was Cleveland, which did very little this off season, and fifth were our buddies in Washington DC, both with +0.4 WAR.

    • Aging Bull

      According to Fangraph projections, the Mets BP is third best.

      https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=RP

      A projection that has them as third worst just doesn’t pass the reasonableness test, IMHO. Not after the major pickups of Diaz, Familia and Wilson, not to mention the lesser additions. Perhaps third best is a reach, but their BP is closer to the top than to the bottom. Do a scan of the pitchers stocking bullpen around the league from the link above and make your own conclusions.

      • Aging Bull

        FWIW, the Mets starting pitching ranked 7in 2019 projections. Cleveland and Boston are head and shoulders above and then a bunch between 3-7. A couple of assumptions in their model and the Mets would be 3rd. Yanks rate better than the Mets in both starters and the pen, just as a point of reference.

      • TexasGusCC

        Bull, that was their tanking for this past year.

        • TexasGusCC

          *ranking

  • TexasGusCC

    An exercise that started out just checking home vs away on Steven Matz and Jason Vargas. Here’s what I found:

    Run Support:
    JDG:
    0-2 Runs, 12 Games, 0-7 record; 3-5 Runs, 13 Games, 5-2 record; 6+ Runs, 7 Games, 5-0 record

    Matz:
    0-2 Runs, 9 G, 0-6 record; 3-5 Runs, 13 G, 3-3 record; 6+ Runs, 8 G, 2-2 record

    Wheeler
    0-2 Runs, 10 G, 1-6 record; 3-5 Runs, 7 G, 3-0 record; 6+ Runs, 12 G, 8-1 record

    Syndergaard
    0-2 Runs, 5 G, 1-3 record; 3-5 Runs, 14 G, 6-1 record; 6+ Runs, 6 G, 6-0 record

    Vargas
    0-2 Runs, 7 G, 1-6 record; 3-5 Runs, 9 G, 4-2 record; 6+ Runs, 4 G, 2-1 record
    ————————————————-

    By Catcher
    JDG
    TDA(1): 1.59 ERA; Lobaton(4): 1.05 ERA; Mesoraco(21): 1.60 ERA, Plawecki(8): 2.40

    Matz:
    TDA: 0.00 ERA; Lobaton: 6.39; Mesoraco: 3.86; Nido: 1.35; Plawecki(16 games): 4.52

    Wheeler:
    Lobaton: 12.60 ERA, Mesoraco: 2.98; Nido: 3.86; Plawecki: 1.88

    Syndergaard
    Lobaton: 2.84 ERA, Mesoraco: 3.21; Nido: 1.97; Plawecki: 4.60

    Vargas
    Lobaton: 22.09 ERA & 1.372 OPS; Mesoraco: 5.54 ERA & .835 OPS; Nido: 7.36 ERA & .996 OPS; Plawecki: 4.45 ERA & .720 OPS
    ————————————————-

    Home/Away
    JDG: Awesome, didn’t bother

    Matz
    H: 15 G, 1-6 record, 85.1 inn, .209 BA, 1.055 WHIP, 3.59 ERA, 11/13 stolen bases
    A: 15 G, 4-5 record, 68.2 inn, .257 BA, 1.485 WHIP, 4.46 ERA, 17/17 stolen bases

    Wheeler
    H: 15 G, 5-5 record, 97.1 inn, .244/.301/.331, 1.182 WHIP
    A: 14 G, 7-2 record, 85 inn, .201/.279/.308, 1.059 WHIP

    Syndergaard
    H: 13 G, 8-1 record, 78.1 inn, .258 BA, 1.264 WHIP, 9/10 stolen bases
    A: 12 G, 5-3 record, 76 inn, .241 BA, 1.158 WHIP, 23/25 stolen bases

    Vargas
    H: 8 G, 4-4 record, 39 inn, 1.154 WHIP, 43 K, 3.92 ERA, .654 OPS
    A: 12 G, 3-5 record, 53 inn, 1.604 WHIP, 41 K, 7.13 ERA, .932 OPS

    Where did Vargas pitch? One time each:
    Philly, Baltimore, Arizona, Denver, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, LA Dodgers, Washington, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Wrigley.

    Where he pitched well:
    Philly, Baltimore, Washington, Atlanta, Wrigley

    Where he got clobbered:
    Arizona, Denver, LA Dodgers, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, San Diego, Pittsburgh

    • MattyMets

      It seems the hot stove went from cold to completely switched off. I just bought the annual Street & Smith preview and it’s so frustratingly incomplete. Maybe if the Phillies can put their money where their mouth is they can finally make a move than will relight the pilot light. And I am really sick of the JT Realmuto trade speculation. Can the Marlins just pull the damn trigger already?!

  • Eraff

    So…is Washington still In on Harper? Between Them and Philly— if He wanted those teams, wouldn’t you think He’d have signed?

    Are the Dodgers really out?…. Pollock or Flounder, I believe they’d spend money if they want to spend money.

    The Padres?????? C’mon…that’s an American Legion Town. Even Bryce wouldn’t respect himself if He signs there.

    I believe that Leaves the Yankees and The Mets….. 4 years, 35-40 per with options out to 6?

    • Chris F

      Looks like the Gigantes are in on Harper.

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