The Dodgers have been aggressively pursuing bullpen depth and their search could well continue now that southpaw Paco Rodriguez has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained left elbow. Rodriguez will return to Los Angeles to visit with the team doctor and undergo an MRI this week to determine the extent of the injury. Rodriguez has a 2.61 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 2.67 K/BB rate over 10 1/3 relief innings this season, and he’ll join other Dodger pitching notables as Hyun-jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy, Brandon League and Joel Peralta on the injured list. Here’s some more from around the National League…
- The Pirates are getting on track after a slow start, in large part because of several fairly inexpensive but productive offseason additions have helped, Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan writes in a piece for FOX Sports. A.J. Burnett is throwing like a Cy Young candidate, Jung Ho Kang has been a power bat at short, Arquimedes Caminero and Rob Scahill are pitching well out of the bullpen and Francisco Cervelli has essentially replaced Russell Martin’s elite pitch-calling at a fraction of Martin’s price tag.
- Kevin Frandsen is excited to be joining the Giants, telling Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links) that he was eager to join a team that valued utility players. The veteran will join the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate after signing a minor league contract earlier today.
- As many as eight of the 15 NL teams could be trade deadline sellers, according to what the New York Post’s Joel Sherman has been hearing from league executives, though the Reds, Padres and Marlins may hold out from trades as long as possible out of a refusal to give up on the season. The Mets seems to be one of the buyers, and Sherman lists four big-name players (Aroldis Chapman, Martin Prado, Justin Upton and Ben Zobrist) who could help New York’s playoff chances. The versatile Prado and Zobrist could help all over the diamond given some of the Mets’ unsettled injury situations, Upton would add another big bat and Chapman’s addition would solidify the Mets’ bullpen and thus take pressure off the rotation. While any of this quartet would certainly be upgrades for the Mets, it remains to be seen, however, how much (if any) money the club is willing to spend for in-season additions.
Padres have a pretty easy 28 game stretch coming up that will probably decide whether they are buyers or sellers,Preller doesn’t seem like type to stand pat. They have played worse than their record/run differential indicates thanks to hit cluster but have the talent to legitimately start playing well and go on a run. Just 3 1/2 GB of second WC as is.
I found it a little odd that Sherman was already counting the Padres out also. Alonso is back this week, Morrow is a week or two away and hopefully Myers isn’t far behind. Sure they haven’t played up to their potential yet, hitting or pitching wise, but the team really took a nose dive because of injuries. Lets get everybody back before saying that Preller and Co. should throw in the towel.
This site like to quote the East Coast sports media. Their views on what is going on with teams in the West tends to be a little out of touch.
Sherman isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed….Padres are still very much in it and RP (i.e. Chapman) is WAAAAY down the list of needs for the Mets.
As a Mets fan, I would say Chapman/Famillia at the end of a game would be absolutely lovely.
I do agree with you though, there are more pressing issues than the BP.
If I were Preller, I’d look into acquiring a real CF because these guys aren’t cutting it. Just last night, I watched Venable turn a routine fly ball into a triple.
Yeah, we’re out of the wild card by like 3 games with a 3 game series with the Mets this week. Why the heck would we be sellers at this point. Just think if our starters actually start pitching well and Kemp shows his power.
Man, your team’s defense though.
What is a half season of Zobrist worth?
Why would the Mets be in the market for a reliever at all? They came into today with the 4th lowest ERA in the NL. That, despite missing some key contributors. Most of those contributors are due back over the next month, with two of them being experienced MLB closers (Mejia, Parnell). Chapman makes absolutely no sense.
The Mets do indeed need help. The bullpen and rotation aren’t where that help is needed. Personally, I’d rather Alderson targeted Carlos Gomez than Justin Upton.
Because you have a lot riding on the arms of Harvey, deGrom, and Thor, and you can never have too much pitching. Having another good arm in the pen will only help us hold down leads going into the 8th and 9th, and being that our offense is pretty dismal more often than not, we can’t let other teams score late in the game. There’s gonna be a lot of 1-0 / 2-0 games going down the stretch.
Also you can’t really expect Parnell to be the Parnell that we last saw 2 1/2 years ago. He’s been getting rocked in his rehab assignments…
I try not to pay too much attention to rehab stats. Most of the reports I’ve read over the past several days have noted that his velocity and control have been steadily improving. That’s a lot more important, IMO.
I doubt he’ll be back before the break, but the beauty is that there are multiple other options in house should he stumble. Don’t forget about Black, Blevins, and Carlyle.
Acquiring Chapman will not be a cheap endeavor. It will likely take some of that young pitching just to get him. That’s a zero-sum game.
The focus should be on acquiring hitters and improving the defensive alignment. The Mets have already lost multiple games at the hands of it’s defense and even more due to the lack of offense. Upgrading the offense and defense should be the only priority. All-around pitching depth is the one thing that is NOT an issue.
It would all come down to the package.
That’s pretty much always going to be the case, I just have a huge issue with the idea of the Mets using what few trade-able assets they have to fill an area where there isn’t even any semblance of need. Especially when other areas have such a glaring need.
It’s all debatable. I’d love to see Chapman acquired and then transitioned back to starting in the off-season. The Reds have done baseball a disservice by wasting him in relief.
While I’d love to add Gomez and add speed to the lineup, how are you gonna target Gomez when you’re stuck with Cuddyer & Granderson at the corners?
I have an evil little plan that involves moving Grandy, but that’s for another day.
My overall point was addressing the article pointing to Upton as a possible trade target. For that kind of cost, I’d rather just rather make a play for Gomez and his extra year of control.
Cuddyer to the bench, Grandy to LF, Gómez in RF. That improves the team’s speed all around, power in the lineup, and defense at both RF and LF. What it basically comes down to is that if the Mets were to acquire Gómez, an MVP-caliber player, they’d find a spot for him.
That would be a great plan, but I doubt they’d want a $9M guy on the bench.
Well, nobody wants to, but they’d make it up by getting closer to the playoffs. The thing about the Mets, unlike teams like the Rays, As, and Brewers, is that they play in NYC. If they win, they’ll make lots of money from ticket sales. By playing meaningful September baseball, they stand to more than make up for that extra bit spent on the bench.
In what universe in Martin Prado a “big name player”?
He’s not a big name player, but he’s a solid utility player and a good bat that helps good teams get better. He’s not the type of player that’s gonna change a bad team into a good team, but he’s a legit professional player and would bring a solid bat and flexibility to play pretty much anywhere we’d need him to.
3B/SS/2B are all in need of some help right now…
I was thinking the same thing, I’m glad you said it first. No disrespect to him though, he’s good at what he does and is a solid player, just not what I’d call big name.
Agreed, Prado doesn’t put the Mets in the playoffs, trading Matts or Thor for a top player might put them over the top. Nobody will give them anything for Gee or Niese
Gee might get an RP arm. Unfortunately they missed the window on both. Freaking rotator cuff issues for Niese…now he is a hot dumpster fire of suck. Gee…well…he’s a #5, which has value, but not much.
Joel Sherman should know better than to even suggest Mets would take back 27 mil in Brandon Phillips. Just so ridiculous for a team with many middle infield prospects and not into spending.
Absolutely. At 2nd, the Mets currently have Murphy, and have Flores, Herrera, and Reynolds, too. It’s difficult to understand why they would want Phillips.
The Mets definitely are not about taking on salary, the owners just can’t afford it (they need to sell the team but they won’t). But I would definitely love to see them go after Carlos Gomez and put him in RF. Lets just see what the Brewers want in return. Lagares in CF and Gomez in RF is a start of a very good OF.
Would have to include Lagares.
Gomez is also a hot head, might disrupt team chemistry and isn’t having good season.
Gomez has put up over 13 WAR the past two seasons. He’s a highly valuable player.
If they had to include Lagares, the move wouldn’t make sense for the Mets. And from what I understand, Gómez’ passion for the game is viewed favorably by his teammates and management, not as a negative. His class in responding to getting beaned by Noah Syndergaard was as good a moment as you see in this sport.
The only way the Mets can get better is by trading either Thor or Matts for a young position player.
That’s definitely not the “only” way the Mets could get better. Matz replacing Niese in the rotation is another way they could get better. David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud getting off the disabled list are two more ways the Mets could get better. Cuddyer continuing to knock the tar out of the ball would help the Mets get better. Jenrry Mejía coming back from his suspension would help the Mets get better. Jerry Blevins coming off the DL would help the Mets get better.
That’s six ways the Mets could get better without trading Syndergaard or Matz, and that took me less than a minute. There are many, many ways the Mets could get better without trading Matz or Syndergaard.
What you say about the Wilpons needing to sell the team is completely untrue. The worst of the Madoff scandal is over and the team right now is young, talented, and cheap. They don’t have as much financial flexibility as a New York team should have, but they can easily take on Carlos Gomez’ salary. That said, the Brewers would and should be asking a steep price for him.
The Mets ownership has as much financial flexibility as a small market team. The madoff scandal did and still does effect them when it comes to the Mets financial operations. This is a big market team being run like a small market team. The attitude of ownership is if you come out to the ballpark then we’ll spend more money. Meanwhile as the saying goes if you build it ( a winner) they will come. The Mets have a huge fan base but we’re not dumb we won’t come until you make a winner(and not be content on having losing seasons just to save money). The Mets would’ve probably been a dominant team this year if ownership would’ve made more aggressive and expensive moves on offense and defense in previous years.
“The Mets would’ve probably been a dominant team this year if ownership would’ve made more aggressive and expensive moves on offense and defense in previous years.”
This really could have backfired. We could have wound up with Bourn, Drew, an injured Tanaka, Shin Soo Choo, etc. I agree that we should have been more aggressive with IFAs – Céspedes, Chapman, and Kang are guys we should have been in on.
I agree with some of that but not all of it. The issue isn’t one of spending – it’s of spending wisely.
Theoretically, the Mets probably would love to add, but how much is their ownership actually going to be able to afford to take on? They’d have to get awfully creative in order to pull off anything spectacular, as even if they add more premium pieces to have some money consumed, they still may have a hard time with budget.
The Mets are not making any trades that will upgrade this team, they are going to hope that Wright and d’Aunard come back healthy.
Right and as far as both go, it’s gonna be some time
What could Dodgers give up for 2.5 years of Duke?
Probably Zach Lee or something. B- type. But they just signed Duke so they’d need to wait 6 more weeks or so before he was even eligible to be traded.
The LOOGY? They’d be better off going after Will Smith, I think.
I should be used to Sherman’s stupidity by now but;
Chapman makes no sense because starting pitching isn’t the problem. In addition the Reds reasonably will want a big haul for him and there is no way in hell the Mets are going to give Chapman the big payday he is looking for after this season.
NY media hacks always like to cite the Piazza trade when it comes trading in the division. Different GM, different owner and different times. Marlins wont trade in the division unless its with the Phillies or Braves
Like Chapman, Upton and Zobrist are FAs at the end of the year and are wanting to get paid and are going to cost a lot to acquire either. I personally would like Zobrist but unless Alderson can get an extension done before trading for him (like the Jays did for Dickey) I don’t see it happening.
While Chapman is on a 1yr deal, I believe he has 1 more arb year before he is eligible for FA following the ’16 season. That said, I HIGHLY doubt the Mets would trade for him, as they need a bat or two…not another arm.
Sherman is the worst when it comes to trade speculation.
Chapman isn’t a free agent until the end of next season, not the end of this one. I would also not be interested in a Zobrist extension considering his age and recent injury concerns.
we want Ichiro
Who is “we”? The Hanshin Tigers?
Let’s get real, the Marlins are not trading Prado to the Mets; one of their biggest rivals.
Not only that, the Marlins have NO ONE else to play third!
He’d be a great pick-up for the Mets…but I highly doubt the Marlins do ANYTHING w. the Mets.
Give the Pirates some credit. Jung Ho Kang, and to a lesser extent Arquimedes Caminero, are 2 of the fantastic finds of the offseason so far.
Yeah, how about Kang? He’s been fantastic. And the work Searage has done with Caminero is truly impressive.
Unless the Mets can move Granderson or Cuddyer, which I don’t see happening, I don’t know why anyone would think they’d go after Justin Upton. Where would he play?
Cuddyer knows his place. At his age and production level, he would be better served coming off the bench unless he starts hitting. By acquiring Upton, the Mets would improve more dramatically than they would be acquiring, say, Starlin Castro.
I agree Upton would be an upgrade.. But I don’t see the Mets moving Cuddyer or Granderson to make room for him. Not with what they are paying each of them. Freddie Coupons isn’t the type to give a big contract to a bench warmer. Look at how they kept playing Jason Bay.
Cuddyer started out slow but his bat is picking up now too.
Moving him to the bench is not the same as moving him to another team. With respect to “Freddie Coupons”, I’m sure you’re aware that the Mets had the highest payroll in the National League not too long ago and were still putting out a wretched product, right? Their careful spending over the past couple of years has been a blessing for this club, not a negative.
Also, this front office ate Jason Bay’s salary and released him. Same with Oliver Pérez and Luis Castillo. They DIDN’T keep playing them.
I’ve been a Mets fan since 1975.. There is no way they take Cuddyer or Granderson out of the every day starting lineup unless one of them gets hurt.
They did not sign either one of them to sit on the bench. Period.
And Upton won’t replace Lagares either.
How does watching the team since 1975 have any impact on whether or not they’ll bench Cuddyer if he doesn’t perform? Cuddyer and Granderson aren’t as good as Gómez and I’m not interested in debating that; there’s no room for it. And Upton is an LF, so of course he wouldn’t replace Lagares.
and Cuddyer is 3rd on the team in RBIs and hitting the ball well lately after a slow start. I don’t see a reason to bench him or give up any prospects to replace him in the lineup. If they could move Granderson, they should, but I don’t see anyone taking him and the 2 years he got on his contract
That’s a different discussion entirely, and I agree with you across the board.
Nowhere. Upton is everything the Mets can’t afford.
Doyers pitched Ryu knowing he had a torn Labrum for 2 years in a row. They deserve any and everything that is coming to them.
In their defense, he did pitch pretty well over that period.
That actually makes it worse if you think about it. Knowing he was compromised yet seeing that he was pitching well they decided to have him pitch the second year without having the issue fixed. Then seeing how he did his second year they were so desperate to keep his arm in the rotation they risked further injury by having him pitch a third season until his arm finally gave out in spring training. They made the problem worse and because he was pitching decent to good they just kept working his arm while KNOWING it had a tear from day one. Sorry but that is flat out despicable and extremely poor management of a players health for a win now mentality team. Karma is a B and this poor player just kept going out there knowing he was not right and did it for the team so I respect that. Dodger brass gets no respect for this one and could have ended his career and for what a second round exit?. I am a Giants fan so I may be a bit bias and concede that but you don’t have to be a fan of a rival team to see poor management in this situation. How this issue is not all over Sportscenter is beyond me. Even Mattingly said he knew about the tear from DAY ONE. Wow .. Just wow.
Asymmetric information. The Dodgers and their medical staff know a heck of a lot more about Ryu and his injury than we do, so I think it’s wrong for us to assume, as armchair commenters, that they “did it wrong”. How you think you know more than the Dodgers and their medical professionals is “beyond me”, to quote you. “Wow .. Just wow.”
Really? I did not say I knew more than the medical staff of the Dodgers. I am going off the fact of what was quoted and statements by the team. He had a torn Labrum from Day one even before he played a game for them. The Dodgers management and coaching staff were all aware of this injury and tear. That is a fact not something that I “think”. It was reported and even Mattingly admitted that they knew of the injury. Sure the medical staff knows more than me of the degree of the tear. But that is hardly Asymmetric information. My quote about “wow” was simply due to the fact that they Dodgers pitched a player for consecutive seasons with a torn Labrum. That is a fact. So my wow and astonishment is hardly misplaced.
You’re missing a major, major point. Surgeries never have a 100% success rate. A pitcher with a small tear who can still pitch, at the worst, is at risk for making the tear worse. Worst case, he gets surgery. Every inning he can get out of that shoulder pre-surgery is gravy. A pitcher getting surgery, worst case, never plays professional baseball again.
So as long as a guy can still pitch on it, he should. That’s extremely straightforward; surgeries are complicated, risky, and always a last resort.
I also think it is fairly obvious to non dodger fans that when a team pitches a pitcher with a torn labrum (results not withstanding) and does it for two years straight until finally his tear becomes so painful that he can no longer pitch through it ( all Ryus words and information given about this issue online by multiple sources) it is considered hands down as “doing it wrong” though I do not recall saying that but if I did it would make sense to say so. In no way is pitching someone with a compromised labrum for 2 years + be considered getting it right!
Again, you’re assuming you and casual fans know more about the injury than what the doctors recommended. I know I know less about shoulders than doctors specializing in athletic injuries, and unless you are a doctor specializing in that type of injury, you should admit the same.
So you are saying (assuming) that the doctors saw the tear in his labrum and suggested that he could “pitch threw it”? Again, I restate my previous comment that I do not know more than the medical staff about the specifics about the injury but you must concede that if a player has a torn labrum and you decide to pitch im 2 years + and never get the issue addressed simply because he can pitch through pain that it is a good idea. You want to play contrarian and thats fine… you want to use the fact im not a shoulder doctor who specializes in labrums as a way to discredit my opinion is also fine. What you cannot deny is that the dodgers brass, medical staff, and manager all knew he had a torn labrum yet decided to pitch him and put stress on that very labrum until it gave out and now he has two tears in his labrum (per research from multiple sources). I do not need to have a MD to qualify that as poor management of a player and a disregard for his long term health. Its pretty much just common sense.
Even if it was a slight or small tear the decision to have him pitch through it instead of just biting the bullet and having the surgery before it gets worse is clearly a poor decision. To you really thing that me not being a shoulder doctor changes that fact. I mean come on use some critical thinking here instead of just using the same “your not a doctor” lazy line. The man was hurt and had a tear in his shoulder. Do you really need to hear if from a shoulder specialist that it was not a good idea to pitch im 2+ seasons without getting it repaired? Wow.. just Wow!
I’ve already answered this. If someone can play through an injury without surgery, the worst case scenario is that the injury gets worse, requiring surgery. If a player gets surgery, the worst case scenario is never pitching again. It’s that simple. Surgery is always a last resort because it is never guaranteed. It’s not a magic pill as you seem to think it is.
Are you serious? So you are now saying that pitcher who has a tear in his Labrum, if he can withstand the pain it is better to have him pitch through it until it gets worse instead of “Maybe” ending his career with surgery? So you are saying you rather get some pitches out of his arm until you have to have surgery? How about just resting him until if heals naturally and not putting more stress onto a tear. Do I need to be a doctor and shoulder specialist to know that if you have a tear then perhaps rest would be best. I am not saying having surgery was the only choice but to be honest pitching him with a compromised shoulder should have been the last resort and it was the first resort in this case. Do i need to be a doctor to know that with a hurt shoulder you could be compensating your mechanics and other issues could be possible down the road? I never meant to say they should have had surgery done but my main point was that it was poor managment to pitch im 2 + seasons and even play off baseball with a torn labrum. NO way of spinning it that was a poor decision and that was my main point.
No instead of resting him and trying to have him heal they wanted to get the most out of his arm just as you said above and now his tear has turned to two tears and there is even talk about his rotator cuff having some issues when they went in to scope it. Do i need to have a MD to know that two tears is worse than one and do I need a MD to put 2 and 2 together to know that the 2+ seasons of pitching with his labrum tore had something to do with that?
What you’re saying is that somehow, you know more than the Dodgers’ medical staff. I’m saying I don’t know more than the Dodgers’ medical staff. There’s nothing more to discuss on this topic.