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Better Building Block: Pete Alonso Or Yordan Alvarez?

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With just over a month remaining in the regular season, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and Astros designated hitter/outfielder Yordan Alvarez look like the clear-cut front-runners for Rookie of the Year honors in their respective leagues. Alonso has been brilliant all season, and his excellence this summer has helped lead the Mets out of despair and into National League wild-card contention. Alvarez, meanwhile, has given the already loaded Astros yet another tremendous hitter in a lineup chock-full of them since the club promoted him to the majors June 9. But which of the two would you rather have for the long haul?

At least in terms of home runs, the 24-year-old Alonso has enjoyed one of the greatest first seasons in recent history. The Mets have been around since 1962, but Alonso already holds the franchise’s single-season record for most homers in a year. Alonso swatted his 42nd of the year Tuesday, thus helping him to an overall line of .265/.367/.596 across 556 plate appearances. The right-handed swinger has shown no vulnerability while facing either same-sided or lefty hurlers, evidenced by a 147 wRC+ against the former and a 149 mark versus the latter. Alonso’s 148 wRC+ ranks eighth among qualified hitters, while his 4.2 fWAR ties him for 23rd with Cubs third baseman and former NL MVP Kris Bryant. Plus, Alonso’s .382 expected weighted on-base average falls in the league’s 92nd percentile, per Statcast, and doesn’t sit too far behind his real wOBA of .398.

Statcast has looked even more favorably on the 22-year-old Alvarez’s production, giving him an eyebrow-raising .421 xwOBA that ranks fifth in the majors among those with 100 or more trips to the plate. Only offensive luminaries Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, Nelson Cruz and Christian Yelich have outdone Alvarez in that category. Trout and Yellich have already won MVPs, while Bellinger could join them in the next couple months. Meantime, Alvarez’s actual wOBA (.456) outdoes every other batter’s by at least 10 points. His line of .329/.420/.703 with 21 homers in just 257 PA amounts to a 190 wRC+, which ranks first out of those with 200-plus trips to the plate, while he has already racked up 2.9 fWAR.

The lefty-hitting Alvarez, like Alonso, has brutalized pitchers of either handedness (199 wRC+ against righties, 170 wRC+ versus southpaws). Although Alvarez’s .367 batting average on balls in play seems unlikely to hold as he moves forward, it’s clear the stacked Astros have yet another world-class offensive building block on their hands.

MLB.com placed Alvarez 23rd among the game’s prospects at the time of his promotion, while Alonso was 51st shortly before the Mets elected to place him on their season-opening roster. It’s evident now they deserved better than even those high rankings. Alvarez seems likely to go down as one of the top heist pickups in recent memory, as the Astros acquired him from the Dodgers for reliever Josh Fields back in August 2016, while Alonso has been a steal of a draft pick for New York – which landed him in the second round in 2016. These two can already count themselves among baseball’s fiercest sluggers just a few months into their respective careers, and they’re likely on their way to ROY honors as a result. Who’s the better building block, though?

(Poll link for app users)

Robinson Cano Progressing Toward Return

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  • Mets second baseman Robinson Cano is making notable progress as he works back from a torn hamstring, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Cano – out since Aug. 5 – “appears likely” to return sometime next month, per DiComo, which would represent a best-case recovery for someone who was expected to miss six to 12 weeks at the time of the injury. The longtime star, 36, has posted weak production in his first year as a Met, with whom he has slashed .252/.295/.415 with 10 home runs in 346 plate appearances. But Cano’s bat seemed to be waking up in the days before his injury, which aided New York during a white-hot stretch in which it raced into wild-card contention. The Mets are now mired in a four-game skid, though, and sit three out of playoff position.

Mets Place Ruben Tejada On Release Waivers

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The Mets have requested unconditional release waivers on infielder Ruben Tejada, tweets Jon Heyman of the MLB Network. He’ll be a free agent in 48 hours if he clears.

Tejada, 29, returned to the Mets earlier this month — his first appearance with his original MLB organization since the 2015 postseason. He went hitless in nine plate appearances but has enjoyed a strong season in Triple-A Syracuse, where he’s posted a .330/.408/.476 batting line through 304 plate appearances. The majority of Tejada’s time in Triple-A this season was spent at third base, but he’s also logged innings at second base and shortstop.

Tejada, who bounced from St. Louis to San Francisco to Baltimore between Mets stints, is familiar with all three positions and has played each extensively in the Majors (shortstop in particular). He’s a career .250/.324/.317 batter in 2396 plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Brodie Van Wagenen Discusses Mets Roster

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With just over a month left in the campaign, GM Brodie Van Wagenen took stock of his club in a conversation with Jon Heyman and Josh Lewin on the Big Time Baseball podcast. (Audio link.) We’ll cover a few highlights here.

Van Wagenen wasn’t ready to declare victory, as there’s work left to be done to get into the postseason. But he did call it “very exciting and rewarding” to see the club’s mid-season turnaround. “Most importantly,” he said, “we’re playing meaningful games here in August and hopefully September.”

There aren’t many avenues available to improving the club from the outside at this point, but Van Wagenen suggested he’s bullish on the potential for impact from within. Brandon Nimmo, Robinson Cano, and perhaps even Jed Lowrie could return late. As the Mets GM puts it, “we’re getting back guys that we envisioned being core members of our starting lineup.” Notably, Cano is said to have “already resumed baseball activities to a pretty high degree of workload.”

Asked about how the organization was able to revive itself after a long skid earlier this season, Van Wagenen pointed back. “A lot of it … is related to what we tried to do in the offseason,” he said. The rotation is finally firing on all cylinders, while the bullpen has improved and the club has received contributions from some recent acquisitions (he cited Wilson Ramos and J.D. Davis at points in the interview).

Rookie sensation Pete Alonso has, of course, been an immense part of the success. He was “a key part of our offseason” plan, says Van Wagenen, who explains that the club “gave him a clear runway” in hopes of just this sort of breakout.

Likewise, utilityman Jeff McNeil is now a core cog after an offseason of uncertainty. Van Wagenen says that “we really never wanted to lose or give up” McNeil, even after pushing him off of second base by acquiring Cano. The club “never said yes” to any packages involving McNeil in talks on Cano, says Van Wagenen. The GM added, with respect to some other high-profile trade pursuits (e.g., J.T. Realmuto): “Some of those reports are more about which teams liked our players, and which players were of high priority to them.”

Brandon Nimmo Nearing Return

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Injured Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo could rejoin the club “by the end of the week,” Mike Puma of the New York Post relays. In the meantime, he’ll try to play consecutive full rehab games at Triple-A Syracuse.

Nimmo entered the year as an integral piece for the Mets, but he has since underperformed while dealing with a bulging disc in his neck. The 26-year-old only batted .200/.344/.323 (87 wRC+) with three home runs in 161 plate appearances before going on the injured list on May 22. Just last season, Nimmo slashed .263/.404/.483 (149 wRC+) and swatted 17 HRs in 535 PA to serve as one of the majors’ premier hitters and seemingly establish himself as one of New York’s top players.

To the Mets’ credit, they’ve certainly survived without Nimmo. The team has overcome no shortage of adversity in recent weeks to climb back into the National League wild-card race. Although the Mets are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the division-rival Braves, they’re still 67-63 and within a manageable two games of the NL’s second wild-card spot. The Mets are in this position thanks in part to outfielders J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith. But McNeil’s also needed in the infield, while the injured Smith hasn’t played in a month, which could make Nimmo an important reinforcement for the Mets as they try to break a two-year playoff drought.

Edwin Diaz Likely To Avoid Injured List With Trapezius Injury

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Sunday: Manager Mickey Callaway told reporters, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, today that Díaz is “slightly improved.” He’s unavailable for today’s series finale against Atlanta, but he should avoid a trip to the injured list.

Saturday: After Mets closer Edwin Diaz was removed from tonight’s 9-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves, manager Mickey Callaway indicated post-game that the embattled pitcher was dealing with “trap” tightness. When asked by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com if Diaz’s ailment was serious enough to necessitate a trip to the injured list, Callaway could only offer that it was “really hard to say” (link).

In speaking with Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News about the injury, Diaz struck the tone of an athlete frustrated by near season-long turmoil: “That’s the first time it’s happened,” Diaz said. “I don’t understand why it happened. Yesterday I felt good. When I felt like I was starting to finally get it going, something like this happens.”

It’s easy to feel sympathy for the 25-year-old hurler, who has posted the worst results of his career in 2019 after being propped up as something of a savior for the beleaguered Mets bullpen. In his final pre-arb campaign, Diaz has posted a 5.55 ERA (3.33 xFIP) through 48.2 innings. Public calls to remove Diaz from closing duties have reached near-cacophony at various points this year, but Callaway, perhaps realizing that the righty maintains solid underlying peripherals (16.2% SwStr rate and 14.79 K/9 rate), has maintained faith to this point.

If Diaz does indeed miss games, Seth Lugo would seem to be the logical choice for fill-in duties as the team seeks to gain ground in the NL Wild Card race–a race in which they are only 2.0 games back from first. Lugo has already chipped in 3 saves this year and had a 2.65 ERA as recently as Aug. 14–a date on which he was drubbed for 5 runs by the Braves. Since then, Lugo has compiled five consecutive scoreless innings, dialing back this season’s ERA figure to a tidy 3.14 in 63.0 innings.

Mets Designate Aaron Altherr For Assignment

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The Mets have designated outfielder Aaron Altherr for assignment, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.

It’ll be the fourth designation this season for Altherr, who was outrighted by New York in June after being cut loose by the Phillies and Giants earlier in the campaign. It’s been a season to forget for the 28-year-old, who’s slashed an ugly .082/.136/.164 (-22 wRC+) in 64 plate appearances. He did show signs of life in a brief stint with Triple-A Syracuse, slashing .274/.384/.565 in 73 plate appearances with the club.

It’s been a rollercoaster career for the longtime Phillie, who’s alternated sturdily productive seasons (2015, 2017) with outright dreadful ones (2016, ’18, and ’19) since his debut late in 2014.  Altherr still boasts a mostly even split vs righties and lefties over the course of his big-league tenure, so he’ll mostly need to work on cutting down the strikeouts if he’s to stick as a bench option at the MLB level.

Mets Sign Nick Rumbelow

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The Mets signed right-handed reliever Nick Rumbelow out of the independent Atlantic League this week, per an announcement from his now-former team: the Sugar Land Skeeters. He’ll head to New York’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and give the club some additional depth in the ’pen.

Rumbelow, 28 early next month, was released by the Mariners earlier this season on the heels of a disastrous performance at the Triple-A level. The former Yankees prospect pitched to an 8.17 ERA with a 22-to-15 K/BB ratio and two hit batters in 25 2/3 innings of work before being cut loose. However, whatever difficulties he had locating the ball in Tacoma have been largely remedied in his brief stop on the indie circuit. In 22 1/3 Atlantic League innings, Rumbelow posted a tiny 0.81 ERA with a brilliant 31-to-3 K/BB ratio.

Rumbelow also struggled in 17 2/3 MLB innings with the Mariners in 2018, but his numbers in Sugar Land are more in line with the sharp results he posted in Triple-A last year (17 2/3 innings, 2.04 ERA, 25 strikeouts, eight walks) and with the Yankees in 2017 (29 innings, 0.62 ERA, 30 strikeouts, eight walks). The righty’s career has been slowed by injuries, most notably including Tommy John surgery that effectively wiped out his entire 2016 season.

The Mets have been turning over the bullpen a bit with their recent signing of Brad Brach and the return of Paul Sewald (as Tim Peterson was designated for assignment for a second time this season). Right-hander Robert Gsellman, meanwhile, appears unlikely to return to the Mets in 2019 after reportedly being diagnosed with a partial lat tear. There’s no guarantee Rumbelow will get a look at the big league level, but rosters are set to expand next weekend.

Latest On Jeff McNeil, Marcus Stroman

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Mets infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports. McNeil went to the injured list Aug. 14 with a hamstring strain, making him eligible to return Saturday. It’s not clear whether he’ll come back this weekend, though, as the Mets first “want to see him ranging and running down balls just to make sure he’s totally healthy,” according to manager Mickey Callaway. Meanwhile, although right-hander Marcus Stroman left his start early on Wednesday with left hamstring tightness, he doesn’t expect to miss any time (via Tim Britton of The Athletic). “I’m going to make that start against the Cubs on Tuesday,” Stroman said of his next scheduled outing.

  • More from Zuckerman, who observes that the Nationals’ signing of Asdrubal Cabrera has worked out brilliantly for the club. The Nationals brought in Cabrera on a low-paying deal Aug. 5 after the Rangers released the 33-year-old infielder, who underwhelmed in Texas over the season’s first few months. However, since joining the Nats, Cabrera has slashed .324/.422/.622 with a pair of home runs over a small sample of 45 plate appearances. Cabrera attributes some of his success to hitting coach Kevin Long, whom he has reunited with in Washington after the two were with the Mets from 2015-17. “He knows me,” Cabrera said. “I played for him two years, and he knows when my swing is good or when it’s not.”

Mets Designate Ruben Tejada

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The Mets announced today that they have designated infielder Ruben Tejada for assignment. He’ll make way for righty Chris Flexen, who was recalled.

Tejada’s latest stint with the New York org has to this point been a feel-good reunion story. But the 29-year-old has only been given nine plate appearances over his brief time in the big leagues and hasn’t yet reached base.

It’s possible Tejada will remain with the Mets, but that won’t be up to the team. Every other team in baseball will have a shot at claiming him. If he clears waivers, Tejada will have the right to elect free agency.

Despite a scant recent track record in the majors — he was last a notable contributor in 2015 — Tejada has shown a bit of a spark this year in the upper minors. Over 304 Triple-A plate appearances leading up to his promotion, he slashed a hefty .330/.408/.476 with six long balls.

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