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Mets Activate Lucas Duda

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6:20pm: To make room for Duda on their 40-man roster, the Mets placed left-hander Jon Niese on the 60-day disabled list, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. Niese underwent knee surgery Aug. 24, and it’s possible he has thrown his last pitch as a member of the Mets. New York will likely decline Niese’s $10MM club option after the season, per Rubin.

5:26pm: The Mets have activated first baseman Lucas Duda from the 60-day disabled list, per a team announcement. Duda will now return after going on the DL in late May with a stress fracture in his lower back. However, Duda will likely only serve as a bench piece for the rest of the year, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Duda worked his way back at the Mets’ facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., but he didn’t appear in any rehab or instructional league games, as DiComo writes.

For the Mets, the activation of Duda comes on the same day they lost star right-hander Jacob deGrom for the season because of an elbow issue. Injuries have beset the Mets throughout the season, but the defending National League champions have still managed a 78-69 record and a two-game lead on the final wild-card spot. The absence of Duda has hurt the club, though, as fill-in James Loney has been among the majors’ worst regulars at first base this year.

Loney, whom the Mets acquired from the Padres as a result of Duda’s injury, has hit a meek .264/.305/.382 with seven home runs in 335 plate appearances. Duda was in the midst of a slow start before he landed on the shelf, having batted .231/.297/.431 in 145 PAs, but he still swatted as many homers as Loney (seven) in 190 fewer plate trips. The Mets are actually second in the NL in long balls (199), yet they’ve scored the third-fewest runs in their league (579). Only the bottom-feeding Braves and Phillies, two fellow NL East teams, have crossed home plate less.

Although he’s unlikely to fill a prominent role over the next several weeks, Duda’s comeback could help the 30-year-old remain in a Mets uniform past this season. He’s currently on a $6.725MM salary and is scheduled to make one more trip through arbitration, which will leave the Mets to decide whether to tender him in the offseason. That seems likely, as the powerful Duda combined to hit an easily above-average .249/.349/.453 with 97 homers in 2,340 PAs from 2011-15.

Mets, White Sox, Braves All Possible Suitors For Matt Wieters

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  • The Orioles are meeting with Matt Wieters’ agent Scott Boras this week to discuss a contract extension, though Rosenthal is doubtful Wieters will remain in Baltimore.  The Nationals will have interest in signing Wieters if their own notable free agent catcher (Wilson Ramos) leaves, and Rosenthal also cites the Mets, White Sox and Braves as possible candidates to pursue Wieters.  The Braves have perhaps a bit of a geographic advantage, as Wieters is from South Carolina and played college ball at Georgia Tech.

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Jacob deGrom Shut Down For Season, Likely To Undergo Right Elbow Surgery

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The Mets have shut down Jacob deGrom for the remainder of the 2016 season, GM Sandy Alderson told reporters (including MLB.com’s Barry W. Bloom).  DeGrom will likely undergo surgery on his right ulnar nerve, though Alderson didn’t consider the surgery to be too serious in nature (via ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin).

DeGrom has been bothered by forearm and elbow soreness for the last two weeks and hasn’t pitched since September 1.  He was tentatively scheduled to start tomorrow and went through a successful bullpen session on Friday, though after deGrom felt pain while shagging fly balls, it isn’t any surprise that the club chose to shut down the 28-year-old.  Since surgery isn’t confirmed yet, Alderson didn’t provide any timeline, though Rubin notes that the general recovery period seems to range from three to six months.

Needless to say, losing deGrom is a big blow to the Mets’ postseason chances.  The right-hander has continued to post good results in his third MLB season, with a 3.04 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 2.19 BB/9 and 45.6% grounder rate over 148 innings.  DeGrom had suffered a loss of velocity over his last couple of starts, which is quite likely related to his injury.

The Mets roster has been plagued by injuries to major names all season, and yet the team is still hanging steady in the postseason race, beginning the day with a two-game lead on the Cardinals for the final NL wild card slot.  The Mets have won nine of their last 12 games thanks to unexpected contributors like young righties Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, who may now be tasked with playoff starts should New York get past the wild card game.  Steven Matz could possibly still be a factor, though he is facing his own health problems in the form of a shoulder injury and bone spurs in his elbow.

Twins Interested In Mets AGM John Ricco; Have Interviewed Rob Antony

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The Twins have interest in Mets assistant general manager John Ricco for their front office leadership positions, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Meanwhile, the team has already sat down for an interview with interim GM Rob Antony for the open president of baseball operations role.

At present, Minnesota has not asked the Mets for permission to speak with Ricco, who is a top lieutenant of New York GM Sandy Alderson. The expectation, though, is that a request will be made. Ricco took on an increasingly public role in the Mets organization earlier this year, when Alderson was limited owing to cancer treatment.

As for Antony, he too has stepped into the fore at times in the past when former Twins GM Terry Ryan fell ill. Since Ryan parted ways with the organization just before the trade deadline, he has functioned as the full-blown GM on an interim basis. It is not yet clear how serious a candidate he is to take over the operations department on a full-time basis, or what his role could be if he isn’t hired in that capacity.

Other executives reportedly under consideration include Rays AGM Chaim Bloom, Indians AGM Derek Falvey, Cubs senior vice president of player development/amateur scouting Jason McLeod and Royals AGM J.J. Picollo.

 

Collins On Playing Time For d'Arnaud, Bruce

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Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton may be ready to return to the starting lineup as soon as this Friday, manager Don Mattingly told reporters, including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, following last night’s win over the Braves. Stanton hit the disabled list with a Grade 3 groin strain that was supposed to effectively end his season in early August, but Miami activated him from the disabled list last week in a surprise move. However, Stanton has been relegated to pinch-hit duties until this point. Frisaro writes that Stanton has been running the bases and performed fielding drills in right field without any signs of discomfort. At 73-73 on the season, the Marlins are currently four games back from an NL Wild Card spot with 16 games remaining on the schedule. Seven of those games will come against the fourth- and fifth-place Phillies and Braves, though, while another three will come against the Mets, who currently lead the Fish in said Wild Card chase.

  • Travis d’Arnaud is beginning to lose his hold on the starting catcher’s job, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post. Mets manager Terry Collins called d’Arnaud’s lack of home run pop in 2016 (four homers in 250 plate appearances) “frustrating,” writes Puma, and said he’s had extensive talks with the coaching staff to try to discern what has caused the downturn in d’Arnaud’s productivity, but to no avail. “You play the hot hand,” Collins explained in reference to starting journeyman Rene Rivera over d’Arnaud. “We’re in a situation now where we’ve got to go with, at this time last year or maybe a little earlier, hey look: The guys that are producing runs are the guys who are going to get in there.”
  • Interestingly, Collins is seemingly electing not to apply that same logic in the outfield. The Mets’ skipper stood by the slumping Jay Bruce, writes the Post’s Mike Vaccaro, making a not-so-subtle statement about his confidence (or lack thereof) in current bench options Michael Conforto and Alejandro De Aza in the process. “If I take him out,” Collins said of Bruce, “I’d better be confident that someone can do a better job.” Bruce is hitting .192/.271/.315 since being traded to the Mets and is in the midst of a 3-for-25 skid over the past week (29 plate appearances). The Mets will have a decision to make on Bruce’s $13MM club option for the 2017 campaign, which doesn’t look nearly as palatable as it did at the time of the trade.

Gsellman Playing Through Tear In Left Shoulder

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  • ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports that Mets rookie right-hander Robert Gsellman has been playing through some degree of a labrum tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Gsellman’s injury prevents him from being able to swing a bat, which obviously poses a problem for a National League pitcher — specifically one that has made three starts for the team late in the season. Per Rubin, doctors will wait until the offseason before determining if Gsellman needs surgery to correct the issue or if an offseason of rehab will allow the shoulder to heal. The 23-year-old Gsellman has a 3.92 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for the Mets since debuting earlier this summer.

Mets Notes: Wright, deGrom, Matz

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A trip to the doctor resulted in generally positive news for Mets third baseman David Wright, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. Wright’s surgically-repaired neck is said to be healing as hoped, though Wright will not even be able to do full-scale workouts until next spring. Still, it seems that he and the team have reason to hope that he’ll be able to attempt a comeback for 2017.

  • Meanwhile, the Mets are considering an interesting way of working injured starters Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz back into the major league mix, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to report. If both are ready to pitch, but not handle a full starter’s workload, then the pair could work in tandem in a single outing, skipper Terry Collins suggested. With wins at a premium, that ought to represent a potent one-two punch, especially since the righty/lefty combo would be hard to match up against.

Wally Backman Says Lack Of Respect Led To Departure From Mets

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Former Mets Triple-A skipper Wally Backman has long been said to have a tense relationship with the organization’s baseball operations department, and his recent departure has led to a public back-and-forth. Once viewed by some as a future MLB coach or even manager in the organization, Backman is now on the market looking for a new team after six campaigns with the Mets.

Things started when Backman left the organization recently, with GM Sandy Alderson stating that he had resigned. Reports surfaced suggesting that the former big leaguer — a member of the ’86 Mets World Championship squad — was actually relieved of his duties owing to a “pattern of defiance” in his handling of the Mets’ top affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.

Backman released a statement today (courtesy ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin, on Twitter) in which he thanked the ownership group but said he “didn’t see a future with the Mets at the major league level at this time.” Expressing a desire to coach or manage in the majors, Backman said he’d look elsewhere.

That all seemed peaceful enough, but Backman also stated in a WFAN interview that he felt “the respect wasn’t there” from the club (also via Rubin). He added that he “felt I earned more than I’ve been given,” citing his role in helping the organization to draw several big league contributors (James Loney, Rene Rivera, Jose Reyes). Backman further contested suggestions from reports that he had failed to follow organizational dictates to plug Brandon Nimmo in the leadoff hole and play Michael Conforto against lefties. “Whoever put that out there, the source within the system, they lied,” he said. “And that’s the part that pisses me off.”

Those comments did not include any particular vitriol against GM Sandy Alderson, who has reportedly never been a fan of Backman. The former 51s skipper said only: “I thought [Alderson] respected me as a baseball person. I guess I wasn’t the prototypical person that he liked.” But Alderson did not take kindly to the idea that Backman had been treated without proper regard in failing to earn a promotion to the MLB staff, as Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. “That’s disrespectful?” queried Alderson. “Yeah, right. Okay.”

Whether or not Backman will be viewed by other teams as a possible major league asset remains to be seen. He states that he is versed in and open to stat-driven approaches despite his old school reputation. Regardless, he’ll no longer be looked upon by Mets fans as a possible replacement for skipper Terry Collins, who has helped guide the club back into Wild Card position after some rough stretches in the middle of the year.

Mets Reportedly Fire Wally Backman

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson told reporters yesterday that Triple-A manager Wally Backman resigned from his post to pursue Major League coaching opportunities, but Newsday’s Marc Carig cites anonymous sources in reporting that Backman was actually fired from his position. Carig writes that there was a “pattern of defiance by Backman,” who made many player development choices that Alderson and the front office didn’t support. Namely, Backman continually sat Michael Conforto against left-handed pitching and didn’t bat Gavin Cecchini or Kevin Plawecki high enough in his batting order to afford them as many opportunities for at-bats as the Mets would’ve liked.

Injury Notes: deGrom, Holliday, Benintendi, Wright, Pollock, Kazmir

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The Mets are understandably anxious to get righty Jacob deGrom back on the big league hill, and with minor league seasons wrapping up, they may allow him to ramp up fully while pitching from the bullpen, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. DeGrom threw 35 pitches at full tilt today as he recovers from a recent bout of forearm tightness, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter, and it seems he could be back in uniform in a few days. It’ll be interesting to see how deGrom is deployed, but regardless, it’s obviously good news for the Mets as they battle for a Wild Card berth.

  • One of New York’s primary competitors, the Cardinals, appear set to welcome back an important piece of their own in outfielder Matt Holliday, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports on Twitter. The veteran reported that his injured thumb felt good after an on-field BP session today. It still seems unlikely that St. Louis will pick up its $17MM club option on Holliday for 2017, though team and player could always work out an alternative arrangement.
  • Likewise, the Red Sox will get back an outfielder for the stretch run. Rookie Andrew Benintendi may be ready to go by the middle of the week after making good progress following a knee injury, manager John Farrell told reporters including Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. The left-handed hitter is likely to return in a time share, despite his immense early production, as the righty-swinging Chris Young is hitting well since he was activated from a DL stint.
  • The news wasn’t as good for Red Sox righty Steven Wright, who is dealing with shoulder issues, ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber reports. The knuckler may be able to begin throwing soon, but Farrell suggested that it will be a “challenge” for him to return to full duty in time to play a role late in the regular season or even the playoffs. Wright, 32, hasn’t maintained his breakout first-half production, managing only a 5.06 ERA in 42 2/3 innings over his most recent seven outings.
  • Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock is expected to return at some point over the next few weeks, Jack Magruder of Fan Rag tweets. After working back from a broken bone in his elbow that took most of his season, Pollock went down recently with a groin strain. But it seems he’ll be able to log a few more plate appearances late in the year, with the training staff saying that he is ahead of schedule in recovering.
  • It’s still unclear what, if anything, the Dodgers can expect from southpaw Scott Kazmir, who has been diagnosed with thoracic spinal inflammation. Manager Dave Roberts says that he hasn’t been updated as to Kazmir’s status, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The entire campaign has been a struggle for the veteran lefty, but he has been hit harder (.277/.333/.493) in seven starts over the second half and it’s not at all apparent whether he’ll be a factor in the postseason. With two years and $32MM left on his contract, Kazmir seems unlikely to trigger his opt-out clause after the season.

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