A bone bruise in his right wrist has landed Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on the DL, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The team is hopeful that Freeman won’t miss too much time, but Bowman adds that it would be “optimistic” to expect that he will return on July 3 when he is first eligible to be activated.
A few more items pertaining to the NL East…
- Though they’re 11 games under .500, the Marlins are not yet thinking of selling, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). The team could revisit that thinking if things don’t improve after facing the Cardinals, Dodgers and Giants on the upcoming homestand, he says. Still, the team could soon have a surplus of starting pitching on its hands, once Jose Fernandez, Jarred Cosart and Henderson Alvarez are all activated from the disabled list. Mat Latos could end up being the odd man out, Rosenthal speculates, adding that veteran righty Dan Haren isn’t likely to be moved.
- While reports of scouts watching a certain team/player can sometimes be overblown, there are a pair of NL East clubs scouting possible trade pieces tonight. The Nationals have a high-level scout watching the Athletics tonight, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports, noting that Washington has been linked to Ben Zobrist recently. Additionally, Jared Sandler of the Rangers Radio Network tweets that the Phillies have a scout in attendance for Chi Chi Gonzalez’s start tonight. Gonzalez’s name has been floated in rumors connecting the Rangers to Cole Hamels.
- Andy Martino of the New York Daily News joined SNY’s Mostly Mets podcast to discuss possible upgrades for the Mets’ offense (audio link). “They’re moving cautiously, because my understanding is that they have payroll flexibility, but essentially, Alderson has one big bullet to fire that way,” Martino said. Alderson may have the ability to either add a few lower-cost pieces or pursue one more expensive player, but Martino points to Alderson’s history of not parting with significant prospect packages to outbid other clubs in speculating that the ultimate result of the Mets’ trade efforts will be adding a few lower-profile pieces.
- The Mets announced today that Travis d’Arnaud has hit the DL with a sprain in his left elbow (Twitter link). At this time, there’s no immediate timetable for d’Arnaud’s return, though it’s at least positive that the injury is in his non-throwing elbow.
- In the wake of Maikel Franco’s scorching hot streak and his third homer in two games at Yankee Stadium, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweets that the Phillies beat the Yankees’ offer to Franco by a mere $5,000 back in 2010. Philadelphia offered Franco a $100K signing bonus, whereas the Yankees’ top offer was $95K. That’s probably another $5-10K that the Yankees wish they’d spent, though there’s little certainty when dealing with players of that age. (Franco was 17 at the time he signed with the Phils.)
Mets aren’t going to do anything we all know it. Ownership is broke (too bad only Howard Mengdal sees this) and Alderson isn’t know to outbid other teams to get what he wants. But hey MLB and Manfred have no problem with that as they have demonstrated.
Your definitely right the Wilpons are rich men but when it comes to the Mets ( one of their business) they’re broke. The mets should be a dominant team this year if they would’ve made better investments on offensive and defensive players. (Bidding on some of those Cuban Of’ers like Puig and better free agent players the last couple of seasons) This way you don’t have to deal your prized pitchers. I can’t blame it all on Alderson he can only do and spend what his bosses let him. And his job is to take the blame and make it seem as if these are his decisions not the owners. Mets ownership is still stuck on the idea that we as Mets fans have to spend our money first before they spend theirs! That’s like going to a restaurant and the owner tells the people if you spend your money on this crappy food then I’ll spend more money to get the grade A meat.
That’s not an idea, it’s what they see as the solution. They can’t spend much more money because they’re cash-strapped due to their debt and Madoff payouts. They can’t spend more money until they get more money, and they’re not going to get more money until they put people in the seats. So Alderson’s only real shot is fixing the offense without increasing the budget too much so the team can start winning games. That will increase revenue and give him a bigger budget to allow the Mets to do something in the offseason. That’s the plan, anyway.
Meh, if the Yankees would sign Franco they would trade him as well lol
A deal centered around Turner for Zobrist? Giolito would require more than Zobrist, and I don’t think the Nats would trade him. Not sure how they match up.
An utter joke I tell you. The fact that Terry Collins is on the hot seat with a triple A ball club playing major league baseball is a joke. Alderson should be on the hot seat for the team he put on the field, not Collins. Collins has had to deal with injuries and then spot starters to fill out the team from what Alderson is doing. Manfred needs to investigate the owners, despite the fact that the Wilpons paved the way for Manfred to take over after Selig. The young guns deserve some hitting in the line-up. Could you imagine what this team would be like with true mlb hitters?
Neither of them should be on the hot seat. If you’re giving credit to Collins for persevering despite injuries, then you need to give Alderson credit for that as well. If their were no injuries, the Mets would likely be in first place, and you wouldn’t be criticizing Alderson. Who do you think assembled the depth that Collins is using?
You are most certainly right in criticizing the Wilpons, however. Mets payroll should be higher. The Wilpons won’t allow that, which hamstrings Alderson’s abilities.
Which again goes back to MLB, Selig and Manfred allowing this continue despite their BS saying that they want a competitive NL club in New York. Does anyone seriously think this would be continuing if Wilpon owned the media darling teams? I seriously doubt it
Sandy Alderson does nothing. I honestly can’t tell why he is even employed. A potato could do as well as he has. A box of saltine crackers could as well. He doesn’t *do* anything. If your official baseball strategy is “do nothing” then thanks for the input and you’re fired. We can do nothing with or without you.
That’s not true, he gave up your guys 14th overall pick to sign Michael Cuddyer last year
He’s turned the organization around from the bottom up. The fruits of his labor are almost all at the MLB level. The pitching is ready, but the position players are on the way. I’d rather he not waste money on overpaid players past their primes and build a long-term contender from within. This constant babbling about how they need to make moves or trades…. who is out there to get??? Who can they reasonably acquire? This talk is insane. They have all ready shown signs of vast improvement and spent 98% of the season in first place, while showing considerable depth until injuries really destroyed them. Sure, Cuddyer was terrible, however the guy might have well have the word “Placeholder” on his back. They signed someone short term to hold the position until Conforto or Nimmo is ready. Who was out there that really was worth throwing loads of money or our best prospects at? Seriously man who?
Considering that he’s not the team owner, he doesn’t create the limitations that the Wilpons designate. His biggest trades have been winners. Ask Blue Jays fans if they’d rather have TdA and Thor back. Dilson Herrera for Marlon Byrd. The team is much better in the long run because of moves he made.
There’s no ‘Like’ button or upvote, so I’d like to manually upvote you, neverender82! So many Mets fans criticize Alderson even though he’s been pretty excellent given the limitations he’s had to work with. Conforto, Nimmo, Rosario, Dom Smith, and Cecchini are some good pieces on the way in the next few years.
Totally inaccurate. Sandy’s FO does 3 things well and 2 things poorly. They draft well, develop players well, and make good trades when moving big leaguers for prospects. The 2 things they do poorly are acquiring established offense through trades and acquiring established offense through free agency.
I think you’re right, however on those last 2 things – the jury is still out considering they haven’t made that many moves in that regard. Especially considering the odds of having deals like that go your way, and that the big right moves just weren’t there to be made for the Mets just yet, I’d say that Sandy deserves more leeway in that regard.
His trades to rebuild the minor league system have been stellar, and their draft strategy very sound thus far. I was angry watching the draft when they took Cecchini, however I didn’t really fully consider the value of a league-average or slightly above league-average shortstop. That’s an extremely valuable player, and hes playing very very well. Conforto, Nimmo, Smith, Fulmer, Plawecki – Sandy gets too much guff and not enough credit.
The Mets management took the wrong route, they have no position players. By the time they get them, their pitchers will be free agents. Hindsight being 20/20 the Mets should have let Wright walk, and kept Reyes and Pagan, Grandy and Cuddy were not such great moves either!
Come on dude, Reyes hasn’t been that great when he’s been healthy for TOR, and all these last few years the Mets were terrible anyways. the 2 extra wins MAX he would have provided wouldn’t have gotten us to the postseason. Now hes declining and Jays fans are really frustrated with his defensive work. I loved him too, but he made the right decision letting him walk. Conforto, Nimmo, and Cecchini look like they could be up as soon as next year. Our pitchers won’t be free agents yet. Alderson didnt set the budget. He made the right moves with the limited resources he had. Long-term contracts for overpaid players past their prime is what cost the Mets and left sandy with the dreck he had to work with in the first place. How about this – Nelson Cruz makes more than Jason Bay did. That contract wouldn’t look so pretty on the Mets. I’d rather him continue a blueprint for a long-term contender than shoot for a one-and-done playoff run or at worst an absolute disaster. At least this organization has strong pitching at the top level, and above average position players coming in the short term.
Reyes has been better than Wright, the 3 prospects are not sure things, with the Mets it’s always wait until next year, the owner won’t spend any money. You snooze, you loose!
Grandy and Cuddy were awful moves. The Pagán move made sense. Letting Reyes walk was completely the right decision and signing Wright to a hometown discount was also the right move.
If the Mets had resigned Reyes we wouldn’t have Kevin Plawecki
Drafting (B+) and Trades (A-)….but FA Signings….(D+).
Wright and d’Arnaud are accident prone, so adding one piece may not be enough, the Cubs and Pirates look to get the wild card spots. You snooze, you loose!
The Cubs were a lot worse than the Mets and therefore had several Top 5 draft picks. The Mets haven’t had one of those in a very long time. The Pirates had 20 straight losing seasons. Give us a break with your biased, inaccurate comments, slider.
I’m totally with you on all your comments, people dont seem to understand that its the Wilpons who set the payroll not the GM.
Everyone insists they should have made a trade for a hitter in April/May… you know those months when teams don’t trade such valuable players, knowing that they’re going to be in high demand at the trade deadline. Who’s the big time player that would have completely turned this offense from a bottom-5 one to a significantly better one?? Zobrist would’ve given us what, 2-4 more wins over the course of a full year? What magic drug are you taking when you think one hitter would have made the difference and that another team would’ve wanted any of our expendable parts??
I love these what a, could a, should a moves, these players are a crap shoot!
Reyes has NOT been better than Wright since he left: Reyes has hit .288/.338/.416 (107 OPS+) and Wright has hit .294/.368/.457 (132 OPS+).
Dont make stuff up man. It was a smart move. What player is out there now? What team trade difference making hitters before the trade deadline when they know how much more valuable they are in July? And what makes you think that said team would want our spare parts? I know you guys that make up this nonsense enjoy hearing yourselves talk without validating anything you say with evidence or logic.
(it wouldnt let me reply to you earlier in the thread where you nonsensically said that Reyes has been better than Wright since he left)
Only Mets fans… the team spends 98% of the year in first place after a near decade out of the postseason… and the GM is suddenly terrible.
Alderson is a puppet for MLB to keep their eyes and ears on the issue with the Wilpons. Let us not forget that is was Bud Selig who insisted that the Wilpons bring in Sandy Alderson. We can give him a report card grade for everything to do with this organization, but let’s remember, he didn’t draft Harvey or Matz! He acquired D’Arnaud, Syndergard, Wheeler – to get rid of payroll.
I have been calling for this guy to go since last year. But if it is the owners, then Alderson should just come out like a man and say this organization is doomed with the Wilpons – maybe that will wake up MLB office!
This is a joke post. Alderson hasn’t done a good job of acquiring Major League-ready bats but other than that, his work has been stellar. His front office developed Flores, Harvey, and Matz, in addition to acquiring TdA, Wheeler, Syndergaard, and Herrera. Alderson’s been rock solid and it’s pretty hard to defend firing him at this point.