As we wait to hear about the consummation of a prospective deal that would send closer Jeurys Familia out west, the Mets have served up plenty of other noteworthy news. Here are the other topics of conversation in New York:
- High-priced outfielder Yoenis Cespedes homered in his return from a lengthy DL stint, but dropped a seeming bombshell after the game. Cespedes said that the root cause of his various leg ailments is in fact calcification in his heels, as Tim Britton of The Athletic and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links) were among those to report. The veteran says the only way to address the problem is a surgical procedure followed by an eight-to-ten month rehab, though it’s not certain that he’ll end up pursuing that course. For now, Cespedes could only say he’s not sure if he’ll be able to play through the rest of the season but hopes to be able to do so. Of course, the current campaign isn’t really the chief concern of the team. With Cespedes promised a total of $58.5MM over the next two seasons, his ability to play out the back half of the deal at a high level — whether in New York or elsewhere — is of much greater importance. At this point, it’s entirely unclear how that situation will shake out.
- Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera figures to be a fairly notable trade piece for the Mets. The veteran switch-hitter is drawing wide interest, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports on Twitter. While that market is not fully developed, it seems all but certain a deal of some kind will come together by the time the trade deadline arrives. Feinsand cites the Brewers and Diamondbacks as teams “believed to be among [the] potential suitors.” Cabrera placed fifth on our recent ranking of the top 75 trade deadline candidates, though some other infield possibilities could rise in the ranks if their teams move clearly into the selling camp.
- Cespedes’s situation did not represent the only poor injury news. Infielder T.J. Rivera, who is working back from Tommy John surgery, has been diagnosed with a right elbow sprain, as Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. For now, Rivera will finish a ten-day rest period after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, with the ensuing steps presumably still to be determined. The 29-year-old was hoping to reestablish himself as a solid infield piece, but struggled at the plate in six rehab games before this issue arose.
- Alarm bells rang this evening as Mets righty Noah Syndergaard exhibited a velocity drop (as documented on Twitter by Britton). Fortunately, both the hurler and his manager say there’s no real cause for concern. (See this tweet from MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and this one from DiComo.) Neither his recently problematic finger nor some other issue was to blame for the velo fade. Instead, the team’s viewpoint is that Syndergaard simply experienced fatigue.
- Blue Jays executive and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is emerging as an early potential front office target for the Mets, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Of course, that process is only in the preliminary stages at this point. It’s still not entirely clear just how the Mets will go about addressing the front office uncertainty that arose when GM Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence, leaving a trio of execs to handle things in his absence. Whether or not Alderson ultimately returns in some capacity, though, it seems the club will at least consider bringing in some new voices.
Syndergaard is under team-control via Arb through 2021, but might be the Mets’ most injury-prone Starter on their roster. This makes him trickiest Mets’ SP to trade. Buy or Sell?
He was called up in 2015 and made 24 starts (no injuries) made 30 starts in 2016 (no injuries) had a major injury in 2017 and management was criticized for letting him come back and pitch. Then he missed a month this year…..that makes him the Mets most injury prone pitcher? You do know that Matz, Wheeler, and DeGrom are on the team….right?
Steven Matz says hello.
The Brewers are interested, but hoping to get someone without having to give anything up really. Maybe a case of brats to go with Brad Miller…
That’s a ridiculous comment. Stearns has shown that he’s willing to give up good prospects for controllable players like Yelich. But no he’s not going to overpay for rentals when they’re not a legit contender. He knows how far he’s willing to go on Syndegaard (not a rental) and he’s not gonna go into a wild trading spree.
How is this team ever gonna get over that hump when they choose not to improve at the deadline. This must certainly be deja vu for their fans.
Brewers have a good front office. Not sure of your point as they will offer value for value
Thor’s fading velo will no doubt make him the subject of more trade rumors from the NY media.
De Grom should be in play as he’s the one who can bring back a haul, but in the Mets world as delivered by NY media that makes de Grom untouchable.
Now the question to ask is: Who will generate more rumors, Thor or Zack Wheeler?
Wouldn’t read a ton into a single game velocity drop for him. Sale had 1 game early season.. Think might have been vs the Chisox? He was barely cracking 90mph. It was cold that day, but still.. he was back to mid-upper 90’s next game and think same thing with Thor, as long as no injury.
Yup. Probably just an isolated case of “dead arm.” It happens from time-to-time.
Especially in cold weather as well as when’s pitcher has lots of innings on his arm in a season.
Of course neither of those are issues with Noah. The best is yet to come.
in the Mets case. hopefully the entire organization gets a reboot. whatever is going on in Queens is just not working. wishful thinking I know.
Reboot Steve with Abbott and Costello being embarrassed enough to sell.
Help your cause by NOT buying anymore tickets and NOT watching SNY.
If you watched the game yesterday, Thor was virtually throwing 2-seamers with Run & Sink which as a rule are not as fast as 4-seamers
He also threw a lot change ups at 88-89 with the same movement as the two seamers. The FB two seamers were as high as 95 mph. Prior to his injury he hardly threw two seamers. I believe he went to the game with that strategy.
8-10 months. They should shut Cespedes down now and perform the surgery so he’s not lost all of next year too. This team has no luck. This only happens to the Mets
Take away his golf clubs too
And maybe he should stop doing 1500 lbs. leg presses, and work on conditioning instead.
Come on…let’s not do anything until spring training so that it kills ALL of next season as well.
This will guarantee a career year in 2020 as he plays for a new contract.
That’s the “Mets’ Way”!
Only happens to the Mets? I think someone is forgetting the angels and rangers
Hey 0820-The Angels have their share of bad signings (Josh Hamilton and Albert) however they have an owner who will spend consistently to win, unlike Mutt and Jeff who only pretend to do so.
The angels have a franchise that is still attractive to sign and the Mets don’t.
Here’s what separates the teams:
Though they both have a high amount of injuries, the Mets distinction is the DRAMA. Can you imagine The Angels bringing back Cespedes who admits that they have been misdiagnosing him and will need surgery with an 8-10 month recovery during a lost season? I doubt that they would want to say to their fans, “wer’re
Feel bad about Cespedes’ situation… 8-10 month recovery timeline is a lot, and the guy is owed a lot of money.
Right.. why not get it done now with this season lost? 8-10 months puts him between March and May.. could potentially be ready for the start of the season
They didn’t say that they would pursue surgery tomorrow.
Here’s the Mets way:
Pretend that Ces is fine and go into the winter meetings trying to trade him. After rejecting the highest offer, a fruit bowl and non fat yogurt, they send him for season ending surgery after the first of the year.
Ballgame over.
2019 season over.
Look forward to 2020: his walk year!
I thought Rivera was a catcher, who am I getting him confused with?
Rene Rivera.
Rene Rivera
Rene Rivera, used to play for the Mets last year
His name was Rene Rivera. His name was…