OK folks, whatever the hell is inside of my chest made a strong comeback yesterday, but I think it is permanently on the wane now. Or will burst out like the Alien. At this point, I’d welcome anything that closes this episode one way or another. The B-Mets’ work overtime, and a rare win from an unexpected source. Other than that, it was a night to forget in the minors. Let take a closer look, shall we?
Syracuse 2, Buffalo 0
Garret Olsen pitched seven strong innings, giving up just one walk and two hits while striking out seven. Unfortch, one of those hits was a solo homer, and since the Herd were two hit on the day, that was all the Chiefs would need in this one. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda went a combined 0 for 7
Binghamton 4, Harrisburg 3 (12 innings)
Dustin Martin singled home Raul Reyes with two out in the bottom of the 12th to give the B-Mets the victory. The two teams combined for 27 hits and five errors, so this one was not a thing of beauty per se. Brad Holt, CJ Nitkowski (yes, he’s back), Ryan Fraser and Adam Kolarek combined for five innings of shutout ball in relief of Cory Mazzoni. Chein Ming Wang started for the Senators.
Clearwater 5, St. Lucie 2
An errant Aderlin Rodriguez throw gave the Thrashers a pair of unearned runs in the third, spoiling an otherwise strong effort for Angel Cuan, and the Thrashers touched up Jack Leathersitch for three in the eighth to put the dagger into the Lucies. Blake Forsythe, Alonzo Harris and TJ Rivera all had two hits in the losing effort.
Greensboro 5, Savannah 2
Jim Fuller gave up four runs in 4.2IP, and the Grasshoppers were in control of the game from then on out, pounding out ten hits in total. Camden Maron was 2 for 4 with a run scored for the Sand Gnats.
Connecticut 11, Brooklyn 3
The usually strong Cyclone pitching staff folded last night, and even though there has been a bit of an offensive resurgence the last few games, it wasn’t going to help them here. Luis Mateo gave up five runs on ten hits in only five innings of work. On the flip side, he didn’t walk anyone (though he did hit a batter) and struck out 10. Ernesto Yanez gave up four unearned runs in 1.2 innings of work thanks to not one but two Alex Sanchez errors at third base. Phillip Evans was 2 for 5 with a run scored. For the season, this team is 16-7 on the road, but only 10-11 at home. You figure it out…
Kingsport 7, Greeneville 4
I know, I did a double take too. The K-Mets win! Though Gavin Cecchini was sitting following being hit by a pitch last night, Jorge Rivero picked up the slack, going 3 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored. John Gant pitched effectively for the win, going 5.2IP, allowing two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out five.
21 comments
NJstuckinTX
8/3/2012-9:06am at 9:06 am (UTC -4)
Always nice to see the use of ‘wane’ in one’s post. +1
srt
8/3/2012-9:08am at 9:08 am (UTC -4)
Kirk and Duda don’t appear to be making any progress down there. Was hoping Duda would get some confidence back and start swinging the bat again.
Bryan
8/3/2012-9:21am at 9:21 am (UTC -4)
They just got sent down, give it some time, it wasn’t gonna happen overnight. Plus last night they faced Yuniesky Maya, a legit big league pitcher, who shut down what is now a pretty good looking Buffalo lineup.
srt
8/3/2012-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
That comment was more about Duda than Kirk – I should have made that clear.
IMO, Duda has too much talent to continue looking as bad at the plate as he was. Since there have been so many mentions of this, I think his poor defensive skills in RF was affecting his confidence at the plate as well. Not entirely his fault though as he’s a 1st baseman by trade and he’s slow. Being slow doesn’t lend itself well to any OF position. He does have a strong arm though – far better than Spin’s out there in the OF.
I truly believe they would have lived with his defense in RF this season if he was putting up better numbers at the plate.
Hope we’ll see him back soon at Citi. They need to get a handle on what Duda is so they can make a decision about this OF next season. I have to believe that at least one of Duda, Spin, Kirk will be involved in a trade this off season.
NJstuckinTX
8/3/2012-10:08am at 10:08 am (UTC -4)
I’m thinking that leg injury is still bothering him. He can’t be turning on the ball like he should be. This analysis brought to you by Uneducated Guess, USA, Inc.
srt
8/3/2012-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
You’re right, I forgot about the hamstring problem. You could be onto something…..
Bryan
8/3/2012-10:26am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
Ok, that makes sense cause Duda has had a few more games, but even in AAA he can’t just flip a switch and start hitting, but I think it’ll come. In retrospect perhaps they should have started the season with a Bay/Duda platoon in left and a Baxter/Hairston platoon in right, but we just didn’t know how good Baxter and Hairston would be.
I do think you’re right that they’ll be looking to trade Duda/Kirk/Valdespin this off season and you could conceivably add Den Dekker and Murphy to that list. I would favor trading Duda b/c I think he fits the AL much better and is not as useful defensively as Kirk or Valdespin, so it’s critical that he has a big September to boost his value some.
Trs86
8/3/2012-10:31am at 10:31 am (UTC -4)
I keep hearing it but at this point I am not trading Murphy. His defense is getting better and good hitting from 2b is a bonus. Also the offers like Murphy for a middle reliever? He is worth more to the Mets than other teams. You put him in the two spot and leave him alone and you will get more return than his value in trade.
Focus on what we actually need. A completely new OF.
NJstuckinTX
8/3/2012-10:44am at 10:44 am (UTC -4)
If Murph can be used to bring back a better OF, I think you have to do it. Depth at 2B is exponentially deeper with the Mets than OF.
srt
8/3/2012-11:04am at 11:04 am (UTC -4)
I’d hate to lose Murph as well, even for a good OF.
I guess it’s going to come down to do we retool the OF via trade or FA? Bourne is available, right? I fear though his price will be high b/c there’ll be quite a few teams looking for OF help.
Otherwise, Murph might be the best trade chip we have but dang….he’s looked better defensively and hate to lose his bat. Right now Spin’s bat doesn’t even come close.
Agree also with Byran. Duda will probably make the most sense to trade b/c of his defensive liability in the OF here on the Mets. He’ll need to really turn it around at the plate with these last 2 months if he’s going to be worth something though.
Trs86
8/3/2012-11:18am at 11:18 am (UTC -4)
Murphy’s trade value doesn’t seem to be what we think it is being that other teams are offering middle relief form him and think that is his value.
Stickguy
8/3/2012-11:19am at 11:19 am (UTC -4)
Thanks for the laugh of the day MF. Mets signing a popular FA like Bourne, that has multiple teams after him? That was a good one!
Murphy is expandable, but will certainly be back next year.
you may, maybe, see one of those 3 traded, though low probability of it. Since they aren’t making any trades.
NJstuckinTX
8/3/2012-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
Cheer up, Charlie. Maybe one day you’ll find that golden ticket.
Trs86
8/3/2012-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
Why are you basing everything on a trade deadline in a lost season. You could point to last off season but it isn’t like they spent no money then either. We have no idea how much they will spend this offseason with the fear of Madoff basically behind them. Stop overreacting and wait and see.
Also, I don’t want Bourne anyway if he is going to be really expensive and sign a 4 year or more deal.
srt
8/3/2012-11:26am at 11:26 am (UTC -4)
Hey stick, I can dream, can’t I? LOL.
I know we’re not getting Bourne….
trs….I think the trade offers off season will be higher than they were at trade deadline. Especially for a guy still under team control with a good bat who can play 3 of 4 IF positions. Would probably be in a package deal though.
That being said, I’d rather keep him, for obvious reasons. Rather not create a hole (2nd base) where none exists right now.
Trs86
8/3/2012-11:29am at 11:29 am (UTC -4)
Honestly SRT trade values are usually higher in season. I guess depending on which side you stand.
Stickguy
8/3/2012-11:30am at 11:30 am (UTC -4)
it is pretty obvious that the FO has no intention of being in on any FA that is more than a cheap 1 year filler deal. So list out any FA that falls in that category and eliminate them from your off season speculation.
beyond that, they can release Bay, and do what? Not a whole hell of a lot, so just continue with the “plan” to let contracts expire and payroll to drop.
since that is not happening after this year, the team you see is the team you will see next year, save for a few shuffled spare parts.
everything they have said and (mostly) done points to that. so the trade deadline was just an early jump on a do-nothing off season.
Bryan
8/3/2012-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
They don’t even need Bourne, they have options in CF, they need a right handed corner OF. I think they’ll look to trade Duda/Kirk/Den Dekker/possibly Murphy and maybe some pitching to try to get it during the off season, after cutting Bay loose. I do think that you can stick with Murphy at 2B long term if his trade value isn’t what the Mets think it should be.
srt
8/3/2012-11:59am at 11:59 am (UTC -4)
I fear Stick might be more right than most of us realize.
Even though the Madoff non trial is behind them, the Mets are still broke. No one has a clue right now what the payroll will be more or less set at next season. In fact, I haven’t seen any beat writer so much as ask that question yet.
Any improvements to the team might very well come more in the way of trades than anything else. We’ve got some nice talent in the minors for trade chips but we don’t have any depth. Harvey/Wheeler should be off limits for any trade, IMO.
NJstuckinTX
8/3/2012-12:19pm at 12:19 pm (UTC -4)
So trade for Bourjos or however you spell his name.
Yes, they may be broke, but we can’t just look at FA and that’s it.
I’m not letting anyone urinate in my cornflakes today.
I am not letting my dream of a good Mets team die because 2012 isn’t all that good and 2013 doesn’t look like it will be all that much better. This was not going to be turning around asap, and 2014 should see marked improvement*.
* (this means that Harvey and Wheeler pan out, Wright is re-signed, and the Bay/FF/Santana money has gone away and they have plugged a hole or two in the off season prior to the 2014 season with FAs.)
srt
8/3/2012-1:05pm at 1:05 pm (UTC -4)
Absolutely not….should not be looking at just FAs.
Considering I think they’re going to have too many prospects they’d like to lock up on the 40 man come this off season, I expect they’re going to try and trade a couple. Maybe we can get something useful for the big club with some prospect trades.