The wind must have been blowing out Sunday afternoon in Jupiter, Florida. How else do you explain a game where Adeiny Hechavarria and Luis Guillorme both hit homers? Even Dominic Smith, who most treat as their personal punching bag, left the yard. Spring Training stats are useless and all but Smith now has the highest AVG of any player in MLB with a .500 mark, going 8-16. With only 1 HR, he falls to fifth in the majors in OPS, with a 1.266 mark.
Brodie Van Wagenen has indicated that Pete Alonso has a chance this Spring to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. That’s a good thing. It would be nice, too, if that same opportunity was afforded Smith.
Looking back at Matt’s February 22nd article about the Opening roster I would like to update my thoughts today.
1.Nimmo CF 2.Rosario SS 3. Cano 2B 4. Ramos C 5. Conforto RF 6. Alonso 1B 7. McNeil LF
8. JD Davis 3B
Bench: Mesoraco, Smith, R. Davis, Guillermo, Broxton
SP: DeGrom, Syngerdard, Matz, Wheeler, Vargas
RP: Diaz, Familia, Lugo, Avilar, Gsellman, Wilson and (Bashlor, T Peterson or D.Smith)
Trade: TDA and Lagares
Injuries: Lowrie replaces Guillermo and Frazier replaces D. Smith
Lagares is better has Broxton but they are redundant. Guillermo is going to be short lived but he has a glove, and on the 40 man roster, and having a nice offensive spring, and cheaper than Hechavarria.
Mesoraco is defensively better than TDA and is similar offensively to him.
D. Smith is having a good spring and if Frazier gets back before opening day and Dom keeps producing then the Mets will have an excuse to stash Alonso for a few weeks in order to control him for another year.
I’ve gotta think they would use Dom as a placeholder for an injured Frazier and see what he can do in limited big league ABs to kick off 2019. Maybe he finally has the .300 avg for MLB pitching and we can do something with him.
Please explain why it would “be nice if the same opportunity was afforded to Smith”. My position is that Alonzo has earned his shot—Smith has Not.
Smith belongs in the Camp…and the team needs to do a Progress Check on Him. If he were not a fully invested top shelf pick, he’d probably be gone by now—so they are affording him the opportunity to earn another opportunity.
His last round in the Hitting Happy PCL was a 700’ish ops in overf 350 ab’s…that was Last Year!!! Combined with his lack of development in his all around game, and his inconsistent Conditioning and Readiness—-it would be nice if Dom Smith afforded himself the opportunity to be a Professional MLB Player—-Go Play and Hit and Make the Opportunity, Dom!
The fact he has a higher BA than anyone is the clear sign that spring training numbers have no meaning. I believe he will hit .500 as much as I believe Guillorme will hit 20 HR as a starting 2B on the Mets.
I mean its good for him to be sure, but remember March and September are very different than other months.
It’s a no-win situation. If a player does well in Spring Training, like Smith, the numbers are meaningless. But if a player gets knocked around in Spring Training, like Wheeler, then he’s in mid-season form.
As long as they’re keeping score, my preference is for the players to do well.
Admittedly, its a bit of a double standard. Pitchers are way ahead of hitter this time of year. So for starters to be trouble its a little worrisome. I was more taken aback by Wheeler’s lame predigested reply about I didnt want to walk him, so I let him hit a HR. All he needs to say is its spring, Im working on all kinds of things, and Im not even thinking about HRs as long as Im getting my work in. At least thats real.
Its great for Smith. But a couple weeks in March cannot replace a long history of ups/downs and a lot of self inflicted wounds. I cant understand the interest in Smith about as much as the interest in Tebow. I just hope Smith is building trade value.
I am not saying they should start and they are going to hit .300 and 20 homers. Both are having a nice spring so why not take them north until Lowrie and Frazier come back. They are your better options. The Mets would save some money and would be giving these internal options a well are deserverved promotion. (as long as they keep producing). I will venture to say neither will be dancing around the May Pole after April.
Remember Conforto had a big spring in 2017 when blocked by Bruce had a big season, and then Nimmo had a big spring last year and had a big year so sometimes big springs carry over.
I wouldn’t dismiss Smith… He may yet have unlocked potential—but He needs to knock down a door, and He’s going to get ab’s to do it, somewhere
Hit Play…Don’t?…go
I am with Eraff on Dom. He should not be dismissed. He has talent but hasn’t shown it I. The last two seasons. Alonso has passed him fair and square but he is no guarantee either. If Smith can’t win the 1b job he needs to play every day in Syracuse. While his value is down he is still an asset.
By the end of ST I think it’s worth looking at performance, but early on, based on small sample size, it’s fruitless. Some of these guys teed off on Wei-Yin Chen, who makes Jason Vargas look like Randy Johnson.
If Dom Smith keeps on hitting like this and Frazier remains injured, and it would be silly to promote Alonso ahead of schedule, why not put Dom on the opening day roster? If he does well, we wind up with a trade chip. If he flops, he gets sent to Syracuse.
I’m not a scout but just not seeing him hitting in bigsm if some of you are old enough to remember Steve Reed. He was spring training Hof. But could crack it at the big level.
Darren Reed and I remember him very well but he was never a prospect.
For all of you anti DH Guys…
…. 12 man pitching staffs are not enuff for the strategic mastery of the modern game…even DH League teams are featuring epic numbers of the beautiful and treasured “Pitching Move”. The “Two Way Player” is re-becoming a thing.
538 cites 3.92 pitchers per team per game (im sure the Median is closer to 5). as “recently” as 1990, it was 2 per game. That’s at least 4-6 more Bathroom Breaks per game, if you’re keeping score from your Couch….and don’t rush—they have beer and pizza to sell you. Each change is about 3 minutes…so you have about 15 extra minutes of Pitching Changes per game, versus 1990.
2 way Players….Talks of Roster Exemptions around protecting pitchers— Viva La Change!!!!
Remaining free agents of note:
Dallas Keuchel
Craig Kimbrel
Gio Gonzalez
Adam Jones
Carlos Gonzalez
Denard Span
Martin Maldonado
Evan Gattis
Chris Tillman
A bunch of so-so relievers
Very few teams in baseball can say they wouldn’t improve by adding one of those top 3 pitchers. Maldonado is one of the better defensive catchers, Gattis is a solid DH who can catch and Jones is better than any outfielder on the Giants or Indians. Some of these guys probably overshot with their contract demands but it’s hard to believe they’re still sitting there. Unless injuries create a need, I don’t see any of these players as a worthy target for the Mets at this time.
Of the names that you have written, the player I’d like to see on the Mets roster first is Maldonado. He brings something elite to the table and is reliable in his health. Mesoraco hit .223 last year, big deal. TDA is made of rubber bands and scotch tape. I don’t trust either one of them.
Kimbrel is still available because he got lit up in the World Series and his velocity was down. After the Cubs ignored Darvish’s trip-ups the previous year, I don’t see anyone giving Kimbrel a five year deal at big bucks. Want two years at 18 or so? Ok. Even three years at 17 per year makes for an uneasy feeling, but someone may bite. But, ask the Rockies how they feel about their 3/$51 investment in Wade Davis, who was also lights out the year before. As long as Kimbrel keeps asking for five years and Chapman money, teams will hold off.
Keuchel would be on someone’s team if he was realistic, meaning 3 years at about $50. No one else is even in consideration.
The Players need a “formula” in the new CBA that directs money toward the under control young players who are “replacing’ mid level FA Vets.
The tamping of Mid-Level salaries is driven by analytics every bit as much as The Shift and Swing Elevation.
The players need a calculus to puch money “down” to controlled players, and to maintain a fair share of revenue. This should include earlier FA rights that would fall within Prime Productive Years
yes for sure. Ive proposed that a number of times here.
1. Arb salaries need to be made on merit, not service time. Weve seen that with Diaz now, but same with Jake, Noah etc.
2. Arb should start earlier
3. Control length should drop 1 year
4. special dispensation for awards winners and placers. A RoY should make a lot of dollars. So should a second year guy that finshes third in MVP. And so forth.