Even though the kids are home from school, the shopping is mostly done and neighborhood lights are up, it still seems strange to me that Christmas is four days away. Seems like it was Thanksgiving just last week. Anyway, there’s one tradition sure to get me in the holiday mood. Move over child in the manger and guy in the sled with the reindeer – it’s time for my annual Christmas wishes for the Mets, where I give these guys what they really need.
Vic Black – Everyone complains about Wheeler’s inability to go seven innings or Mejia’s tendency to constantly put people on base yet Black’s 4.93 BB/9 goes unnoticed. Let’s give him the command to be a dominating eighth inning guy.
Bartolo Colon – In 2013, Colon was great in nearly every start. Last year he was very good in a majority of outings and lit up like, well, a Christmas tree in six or eight starts. So, he gets the ability to limit the blowout starts to one or two this year.
Michael Cuddyer – A better fate than last year’s free agent outfield signing.
Travis d’Arnaud – The concentration necessary to cut down on his passed balls.
Jacob deGrom – As dominating as he was down the stretch, somehow deGrom finished the year with a 23.2 LD%. Here’s hoping for a normal rate from him in the category this year.
Lucas Duda – Another year with 550+ PA.
Josh Edgin – A pitching coach/manager/GM/Owner (whoever is responsible) to let him be a real reliever and not a specialist.
Jeurys Familia – A pitch to throw to LHB, who posted an .821 OPS against him in 2014.
Wilmer Flores – A league average BABIP.
Dillon Gee – Continued success with his changeup, which might have been the most valuable pitch of any hurler on the staff last year.
Curtis Granderson – A quick start.
Matt Harvey – A drama-free season.
Juan Lagares – The green light to steal on a regular basis.
John Mayberry Jr. – A year against LHP like his dad had in 1975 versus all pitchers. Oh, and Happy Birthday!
Jenrry Mejia – The grace to handle a move from closer to set-up guy.
Rafael Montero – A catcher/pitching coach/manager (whoever is responsible) to call for pitches in a location besides low and outside.
Daniel Murphy – A double-digit walk rate.
Jon Niese – Every year there’s a pitcher or two on the team who doesn’t get run support. In 2014 that was Niese, who averaged 3.4 runs of support per nine innings, meaning he got less support while he was actually in the game. This year let’s give him some offensive backing. Perhaps people will consider him a better pitcher if he has the same peripherals but has a shiny won-loss record to go with them.
Bobby Parnell – A repeat of his 2013 numbers.
Anthony Recker – The chance to catch Harvey, which he didn’t get in 2013.
Ruben Tejada – The maturity to handle a part-time role and be happy and productive in it.
Carlos Torres – May he enjoy steady work without being abused.
Zack Wheeler – The ability to throw strike one much earlier in the count, say on the first pitch.
David Wright – The gene that allows him to tell management that he’s hurt or tired and needs some time off before an extended streak of sub-par play occurs.
*****
Sandy Alderson – A seven-figure book contract, so he can tell the truth (ha!) after he retires about how things really were in his tenure with the Mets.
Terry Collins – The ability to improve in just one area of the game, whether that be bullpen management, roster deployment, lineup construction, telling the GM to get his act together or 100 other things that drive us all crazy.
*****
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the readers here at Mets360! I’m very happy that you come to our site on a daily basis. And I’d like to give an extra special thanks to loyal readers like Pete, Name, Metsense, Chris F, TexasGusCC, NormE, JC, James Preller and AJ, whose contributions add to the site and make us all better writers. And finally, thanks to all of the writers at the site. May you have a wondrous holiday season.
All I have to say besides Merry Christmas (and Happy Chanukkah) to everybody is how many part time jobs pay 2 million a year?
Happy Holidays to you as well Brian thanks to all the writers for helping to keep an out of market fan informed about his beloved mets and providing a forum for discussion (or arguments) with fellow fans.
Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you Brian and your staff for some very interesting reads. Holiday wishes to everyone and may Moncada land on the Mets this year. (If you’re going to ask for something, go big!)
Is a Moncada a drink Gus?
Hey Brian – I always enjoy your end of the year Mets wish list!
I take notice that all you want for Duda is the high number of plate appearances, showing once again your faith in him as a hitter. Just get him up there enough and he’ll deliver! You always have been one of his biggest supporters.
The wish for Mejia is a good one, but I wonder how that’s going to work out.
The wish for Recker is a little thin, isn’t it? What the heck, he’s a back-up catcher. You don’t want to wish for him to have a lot of playing time.
Here’s one for you:
Brian Joura – Recognition for all the time, energy and good work he invests in the Mets360 website, in the form of a paying gig as Mets writer!
Collins thought that Buck had some magic juju or something when it came to Harvey and Recker didn’t get a single start with Harvey on the mound.
I don’t want Recker to get more playing time this year so it seemed appropriate to wish him a start or two with Harvey on the bump.
Thanks for your wish!
I got starting the Vet Buck with Harvey he has a real passionate personality and when he first came up I can see wanting Buck out there but personally I hope recker gets about one game in every 7 or 8 to rest Travis but not more because I’m sure we all wish the entire team Health this season. It would be nice to play a season without the injury bug killing us.
I would get this for the first few starts – pair the kid with the guy who caught a lot of games in the majors. But after he followed up his wonderful 2012 with an even better April and May, I wouldn’t have felt the need to do that anymore. Especially once it became painfully obvious in May that Buck was killing the team by being one of the “Terrible Trio” of automatic outs. Collins drove Buck into the ground by not giving him any days off.
The thing is Matt is so Hyper competitive, which I love. Sometimes I think the team (MGR, GM, Trainer, Catcher ect.) try to protect him from himself. Back then I just chalked starting the Veteran Buck up to that sort of thing.
I noticed you missed 2, including one of your favorites!
Matt den Dekker – The ability to hit for some power along with that great walk rate exhibited last season
Kirk Nieuwenhuis – More contact while keeping the power
I’ll provide the minor league portion of this wish list.
Noah Syndergaard – The ability to translate his minor league career 3.82 SO/BB rate at the MLB level.
Jack Leathersich – See Vic Black
Cory Mazzoni – To have the same unexpected breakout as Jacob deGrom
Darin Gorski – To reach the majors at least once
Sean Gilmartin – To stick on the roster the entire season and be not terrible
Erik Goeddel – Mets fans knowing how to spell his name without looking it up (sorry couldn’t come up with anything)
Eric Campbell – Not to suffer the same fate as Josh Satin
Kevin Plawecki – Being more like AA Plawecki than AAA Plawecki in 2015
Cesar Puello – magically being granted one more option to hone his craft in the minors a little longer
Matt Reynolds – Be an adequate backup when Sandy/Terry realizes Flores can’t play SS
Dilson Herrera – Continuing his rapid development
Gavin Cecchini – Gaining an above average skill in something
Steve Matz – To have yet another sub 3 ERA season
Brandon Nimmo – To become the first Alderson draftee to make the majors
Hansel Robles – To continue his bullpen dominance
Wilfredo Tovar – To get called up earlier than the last week of the season
Dario Alvarez – Hopefully not managed by TC if called up
Michael Fulmer – Leave injury issues behind him and follow Matz’s success
Dominic Smith – Develop power
Michael Conforto – Starting the year at AAA
and Scott Rice (dare I….?) – To hit the jackpot in Vegas 🙂
One more shout out,
Jeremy Hefner – A clean rehab this time.
Happy Holidays everyone!
It was a conscious decision not to include Kirk or MDD.
If I were to include them, I would have said:
Matt den Dekker – A move to an organization that values a .392 OBP.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis – Continued success in convincing people that he is an elite defensive outfielder. BABIP luck may come and go but a good defensive reputation can keep a guy employed in the majors for years. Keep cashing those checks, Captain Kirk!
Matt Harvey a Drama Free season; I love it!
Can someone please tell me who Milton Ramos is? They have him ranked as the #11 prospect on the Mets Pipeline and his nickname is Mr. Hands. I know he’s young and four years away, but #11 for a kid that has a 40 hit tool?
When MLB and the Player’s Association agreed to a slotting system for the amateur draft, the Mets decided to go cheap in the early rounds and use the excess money later in the draft in both 2012 and 2013. They broke that pattern in 2014, when they gave third-round pick Milton Ramos a bonus that was $98,300 over slot.
It was great to see the Mets step up and pay for premier talent in the early rounds. However, the player they chose to break the bank for may have you wondering. Ramos is an athletic shortstop who was noted for his fielding and his speed. If there was a question mark about him, it was his bat. Defense and speed are wonderful but are they worth paying a premium for?
Ramos held his own as an 18 year old in the Gulf Coast League, as he put up a .654 OPS in 185 PA in his professional debut. But it’s an indication of how suspect his bat is when the fact that a player with virtually no power was essentially lauded for having an 18.4 K%. There’s a lot of work to be done offensively with Ramos, but his high draft status and bonus show that the Mets think there’s something there.
Thanks Brian. It seems like the inexact science of drafting is more like quantum physics to our front office.
Hey Brian
I am newer to the site at least as a poster and I tried to post a response to the question about the young SS twice last night. I don’t think it violated any of the comment policy but since I’m not sure who moderates and deletes these things I thought I’d ask you in case you moderate your own articles. Its not my desire to do anything wrong let me know what it is so I can address the problem if one exists in my posting. If its not a problem from the web sites communities end then I know I botched or need to fix something on mine so just get me a heads up.
The first time you post to the site it goes to moderation. After your first post clears, every subsequent post should clear immediately. The only thing I can think of is if you have links in your post. If you have two links I think it goes to moderation. If it has three or more links I think it goes to spam. Did the posts that you lost have multiple links? If not, I can’t imagine what’s going on here, especially since you seem to post now without any problem.
Finally, I’m glad you’re here and sharing your thoughts!
thanks yes it had links to 4 different scouting reports thats probably what happened. I was just trying to provide Gus with a couple different viewpoints if he really wanted to go in depth on the 18 year old. That explains it Thanks again I’ve enjoyed the site and your writing. Looking forward to my first baseball season as a poster.
Thanks Brian and all the other readers and writers! Have a very happy holiday season, and a Happy New Year!
Eric Campbell – A working passport.
Happy Holidays to Brian and staff, have fun, be safe, and be well.
I looked at your Christmas Wish List for 2014 Brian and I guess you need to be a better Santa because only three of your wishes came true this year. Remember, it’s the thought that counts! Bartolo Colon had his walk rate drop to 1.33, TC also penciled in Lucas Duda to start in more than 140 games, and EY Jr was a professional and was content with a 250 PA role on the club.
Happy Holidays to the staff and thanks for such insightful articles.
It was a pleasure to take in a Sand Gnats game in 2014 with two wonderful writers ,Joe and Brian, and actually put faces to their printed words.
Special Holiday Cheer to Chris F and Name who always seem to be there to join me in the chatter, even for a late west coast game or a meaningless one in September.
To all the other posters, Season’s Greetings, as the personal civility in your posts encompasses the meaning of “good will to all men.”
Shoot, I’m not sure how I could be a better Santa! I think your beef is with the real guy.
Well said Metsense.