Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up his first Major League save last night, though it probably isn’t going to be the start of a new career path for the veteran right-hander. Matsuzaka only got the call since Kyle Farnsworth had pitched in three of the Mets’ previous four games and was being rested, and as Fangraphs’ Paul Swydan points out, Dice-K doesn’t fit the traditional closer profile. Anything is possible given the Mets’ unsettled closing situation, however, so be sure to keep following @CloserNews, MLBTR’s sister Twitter feed, for the very latest on ninth-inning personnel changes.
Here’s some news from Citi Field…
- The Mets still haven’t decided whether or not to pursue free agent reliever Joel Hanrahan, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports. The team has been weighing its options for several days now since watching Hanrahan throw at a showcase last week. Almost 20 teams watched Hanrahan throw, so the Mets may face competition if they do decide to make the righty an offer, though an evaluator tells Martino that Hanrahan is still roughly a month away from being able to contribute.
- Also from Martino, there still isn’t anything brewing between the Mets and Stephen Drew, as “there is no momentum” between the two sides.
- Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog.com agrees that a Drew signing looks like a major longshot, and the Mets are more likely to promote Wilmer Flores from Triple-A than acquire a shortstop like Drew or the Mariners’ Nick Franklin.
- If the Mets do deal for a shortstop, Cerrone believes the Diamondbacks are New York’s best option as a trade partner. The two clubs at least discussed a trade during Spring Training and scouted each other’s prospects. According to Cerrone, the D’Backs liked right-hander Rafael Montero and catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki, though Plawecki alone wouldn’t have been enough to secure a deal. All three are ranked amongst the Mets’ top prospects by Baseball America, though Montero and d’Arnaud in particular would take major offers for the Mets to consider a trade.
Too bad for Arizona. That’s probably the only trade Kevin Towers would have won during the offseason.
Haha, no. The Mets would have never made the trade if the DBacks were going to ‘win.’ Sandy Alderson doesn’t work like that. He is a twist your arm until you scream mercy and hand over all of your top prospects type of guy.
The only trade that Towers completes is one where we lose. I can’t wait for the gunslinger to be gone from here.
Stephen Drew? I thought he retired.
He plays in a pickup league with Freddy Garcia and Kendrys Morales.
The fact that Hanrahan hasn’t signed yet is a bit of a red flag even if he isn’t ready for a month. It’s not like he’d be looking at a big deal.
I have enough faith in Sandy that he will not trade d’Arnaud or Montero…Plawecki I would be ok with, but if he trades either one of those for freakin Didi Gregorius I’d be upset
Being a Red Sox fan, I can’t see Dice-K being a closer. He throws so many pitches per AB. It would be dangerous constantly having full counts in the 9th inning.
With that said, I’m glad he’s rebounded and pitched well. He got a raw deal having to live up to a signing bonus, that he didn’t get a cent of. He pitched well his first two seasons in Boston, but had a bullseye on him from day one. Then when he fell apart in year 3 (due to arm trouble), the yahoos really came out.