The Mets did well with their series of trades before yesterday’s deadline, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes. The addition of Yoenis Cespedes significantly improves the Mets’ offense, and while the Mets did give up a fair amount of pitching talent (particularly Michael Fulmer), they have plenty of good young starting pitching and were trading from depth. Here are more quick notes from the NL East.
- After the collapse of their trade for Carlos Gomez, Friday couldn’t have worked out better for Sandy Alderson and the Mets, David Lennon of Newsday writes. Not making a deal could have resulted in a “public relations catastrophe,” which the Mets avoided by turning their attention to Jay Bruce and then to Cespedes, finally making a trade right before the deadline.
- In Philadelphia, meanwhile, Mike Sielski of the Inquirer wonders whether Ruben Amaro might have saved his job with his performance in the Cole Hamels trade. The Phillies got three top prospects in Nick Williams, Jake Thompson and Jorge Alfaro as part of their return for their ace. “In this day and age, teams are much more willing to dole out money than they are prospects,” says Amaro. “The value of the prospects has increased dramatically. I’ve had to make a personal adjustment on that, to understand that a bit better and make the adjustment there. I think we did that with this deal.” Sielski writes that it was also striking that Amaro was the one speaking to the media, and Pat Gillick and Andy MacPhail weren’t present.
- One player who wasn’t traded yesterday was Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes, and he wants to remain in Atlanta, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. Gomes also isn’t ruling out that the Braves can contend this year, even after trading a number of players (including Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, Alex Wood, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson and Bronson Arroyo) near the deadline. “In 2012, Oakland A’s were 14 1/2 games back in mid-August, and we were in first place for the last four innings of the season,” says Gomes. “[I]ndividual accountability, how we’ve got to play the game — that doesn’t change.”
Sure Cespedes was a good acquisition, but it’s not enough. That lineup has issues far beyond what one player can single-handedly solve.
Cespedes presence alone means a lot look what happened to the A’s offense after they traded him,Navigating the Mets lineup will not be as simple as pitching around Duda, hes also a very opportunistic hitter he drives in runs. Batting .323 and Slugging close to .600 with RISP.
He wont make them a power house offense of course, but you have to look at it as the addition of two bats Duda or him is going to get pitches and have chances to bring guys in. The Mets don’t need the best offense in baseball they need an offense that can compete with the Nationals, and I think this addition brings that gap much closer than people realize.
They also traded for Uribe and Johnson and got d’Arnaud back.
Funny how Gomes talks about winning yet is the worst player on the roster.
and worth negative WAR
How do you think he keeps getting signed? No one wants Debbie Downer on a roster hitting below the Mendoza. At least Jonny is smart enough to know the value of a bearded cheerleader.
Homes proved a lot of value during the recent A’s surprise run. Even an analytical guy like Beane saw his value. Of course, any intangible value is linked to actual production…but if people want to disregard intangibles simply because they can’t be measured..that’s shortsighted
Gomes
Someone going to have to tel me how Alfaro can be a top prospect at catcher, when he might not even play there. 28 PASS BALLS !!!!!!! He hit .260 or .250. That’s NOT stellar ! News flash to everyone, especially an idiot named Mike Sielski. 28 pass balls, you WILL NOT be a MLB catcher !!!!
trollolololololololol
I’m going to answer this at face value and ignore that it is most likely just trolling.
In 1993, Derek Jeter had 56 errors at Shortstop. Yet the Yankees stuck with him and he became a HOF player. By the time he reached the MLB the knock against his defense was his range, not his ability to field or make the throws.
Just because a player in the low minors makes a lot of errors does not mean they are incapable of improving. Alfaro has already shown improvement. He had 28 Passed Balls in 2013, then it dropped to 23 while catching more games in 2014. This year he only had 5 before getting injured, and was on pace for 12 if he played as many games as he did last year.
Is that too many still? Yes, but the player has shown improvement over time to demonstrate there may still be potential for him to be serviceable enough behind the plate to take advantage of his bat.
Amaro saves his job for making a deal he should have made last year?
There’s no way his job is saved. He doesn’t make crafty trades. He doesn’t get guys on great contracts. Only way he keeps his job is if he gets a photo of Andy and Pat making out and blackmails them.
MacPhail might want his own guy in the GM role. Its hard to blame one individual for an entire organization, but it also might be time for new ideas. I doubt that any of their deadline deals were done without being run through MacPhail/Gillick….and if a GM must run things through others…its time to look elsewhere….reassign Amaro within the organization and get some fresh air…almost all GMs and managers have a shelf life
Totally agree that you can’t blame one guy for an entire organization – for better or worse. I also definitely agree that there’s a shelf life before people lose their fire or go into a realm where their particular skillset isn’t as beneficial. I don’t think he should be kept within the organization, though. I think when you clean house, you should clean house, not just push the dirt to a new corner or under the rug.
Please reinstall the edit feature… My smartphone butchers comments