The Mets faced a tough last-minute decision on Yoenis Cespedes, as Tim Rohan of the New York Times details in an interesting story on the key deadline addition. GM Sandy Alderson decided to pull the trigger, parting with well-regarded young pitcher Michael Fulmer, after a somewhat nerve-wracking meeting with the organization’s key decisionmakers. You’ll want to give this one a full read if you’re interested in the subject. It also includes some discussion of the complicated matter of whether the team will make a real go at re-signing the streaking outfielder.
Here are a few more notes from the game’s eastern divisions:
- The Blue Jays will utilize righty Drew Hutchison out of the bullpen for the rest of the year, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. He’ll be used as a one-inning reliever down the stretch. It remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old will crack the postseason roster as a pen arm, but there’s not much time left for the year to be anything but a disappointment. Hutchison owns a 5.33 ERA in 147 innings, which won’t create quite the arbitration platform he might have hoped for heading into his first season of eligibility.
- Orioles outfielder/first baseman Chris Parmelee will need surgery to repair a broken left forearm that he suffered recently, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter links). Baltimore hopes to re-sign the 27-year-old, who saw relatively minimal time at the big league level but put up good numbers at Triple-A. He’ll be looking at another minor league deal, of course.
I question the Hutchison to the bullpen move. He’s been exceptional at home this year (granted utterly horrendous on the road) so it’s weird that they wouldn’t try to use him in the Red Sox/Yankees/Rays homestand. They must really trust Stroman coming back from his injury.
Despite his road/home splits, he has not earned the Jays’ trust in any ballpark. Long overdue move. Hopefully he can figure it out in the offseason. Don’t expect him to see ANY action unless it’s in a total blow out.
The NYT Cespedes article if very interesting. I agree with Jeff, that is well worth a read.
Not sure with Heyward and Upton and Gordon in the mix, I am not sure how much Cespedes will get, but perhaps he will take a bit of discount to play for the Mets.
Really doubt he takes a discount to play for the Mets. There’s no reason for him to unless it comes down to a place he really doesn’t want to play versus the Mets, and even then, the discount would have to be pretty negligible. The Mets, if they want to, can afford him.
They’re in one of the largest markets in baseball and have a mid-level payroll. Just through attendance, they’ll make an extra $20-30MM this season. They’re getting about 4,000-5,000 more fans per game than at this point last year (they played the Marlins at home at this time last year). Factor in increased concessions, memorabilia, and revenue from a playoff series (or two or three), and they have the money for Cespedes if they want him.
and don’t forget, NY taxes are higher.
Ah, that is an excellent point.
If there was ever a clearer example as to why the pitcher W-L record needs to be totally abolished and forgotten as a stat, look no further than Drew Hutchison and Shelby Miller’s seasons this year.