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Mets Could Demote Michael Conforto

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Mets outfielder Michael Conforto looked like one of the brightest young stars in baseball last season, his age-24 campaign, when he slashed .279/.384/.555 with 27 home runs and racked up 4.3 fWAR. Conforto piled up those stellar numbers over just 440 plate appearances before undergoing season-ending left shoulder surgery in early September, and because of that injury, the Mets went into the winter unsure of what he’d provide in 2018.

To Conforto’s credit, he worked his way back to the Mets’ lineup a few weeks earlier than expected, making his season debut on April 5. At that point, New York was amid a red-hot start that would see the team collect 11 wins in its first 12 games. Two months later, the Mets are a lowly 27-34, owners of the third-worst record in the National League and the NL’s second-worst offense by runs scored (235).

Even though he owns the majors’ 11th-best walk percentage (15.1), Conforto hasn’t really been part of the solution, having hit an uninspiring .219/.340/.365 line with seven homers in 212 PAs. The Mets even pinch-hit for him in the ninth inning of a one-run loss to the Yankees on Saturday, electing to sit the left-handed Conforto in favor of the righty-swinging Devin Mesoraco with southpaw Aroldis Chapman on the mound.

Unfortunately for Conforto, there may be a more significant demotion on the way if he doesn’t turn his season around soon. The Mets have considered sending Conforto to Triple-A Las Vegas to work through his issues, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. The likelihood of that has decreased over the past day, Sherman notes, given that fellow outfielder Yoenis Cespedes suffered a setback in his injury rehab on Saturday. Had Cespedes remained on track, New York may well have optioned Conforto upon the veteran’s return. For his part, Conforto – whom the Mets previously sent to the minors during a disappointing 2016 – doesn’t believe he’d benefit from another trip to Vegas.

“Triple-A is not an answer. I’ve been through that,” he said. “I have done all I can do down there. I play at this level, that’s it.”

While Conforto understandably wants to remain in the majors, the Mets may have an outfield logjam on their hands when Cespedes does come back. He and the emergent Brandon Nimmo will be guaranteed starting jobs, manager Mickey Callaway informed Sherman, leaving one everyday spot for the struggling Jay Bruce (in the first season of a three-year, $39MM contract) and Conforto. Both players are lefty hitters, so the Mets wouldn’t be able to simply platoon them, and Conforto has options remaining. As such, the Mets may send him down so he’ll continue receiving consistent at-bats.

In another scenario, Sherman points out that Bruce and/or Cespedes could see time at first, which would perhaps spell the end of the Adrian Gonzalez era. The Mets brought Gonzalez in over the winter as a league-minimum free agent, but it hasn’t worked to this point. They’re mulling how much longer they want to go with Gonzalez, Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista – three mid-30-somethings whose best days appear long gone. Moving on from some or all of that group instead of demoting Conforto would seem to make more sense for a New York club that doesn’t look as if it’s going to contend this season, though it seems Conforto’s going to have to make a case for a roster spot as the team awaits Cespedes’ return.

While Conforto’s bottom-line production has declined this year, his underlying numbers have also worsened. After running up a .385 expected weighted on-base average a year ago, he’s at .332 this season. That’s still above the .321 league average, though it’s not the borderline elite figure he posted in 2017, when he averaged a 95.2 mph exit velocity on fly balls/line drives and made 95 mph-plus contact on 43.2 percent of batted balls. This season, Conforto has posted a 92.3 mph mean on flies/liners and seen his rate of 95 mph-plus contact drop to 32.8. Further, Conforto’s line drive rate has dropped off considerably since 2017 (from 24.4 percent to 17.7), while both his groundball percentage (37.8 to 41.9) and infield fly rate (10.1 percent to 14.0) have increased to discouraging degrees.

All of the above has helped add up to Conforto’s subpar start and may lead to a minor league demotion sometime soon. For now, he and his team, losers of eight straight (all at home), are left to dig out of a deep hole. Having scored just 10 runs this month, during which Conforto has batted .080/.207/.200 in 29 PAs, the Mets sit 8.5 games out in both their division and a crowded NL wild-card race.

East Notes: Yankees, H. Harvey, Soroka, Cespedes

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It turns out top prospect Justus Sheffield might not be the next minor league pitcher in line to join the Yankees’ rotation, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in his latest video that the club nearly promoted 23-year-old Jonathan Loaisiga for a spot start during a doubleheader, until rain altered their schedule. Rosenthal notes that Loaisiga had never pitched above Low-A ball until this season. It seems like he’s met little resistance this year, though, as he’s posted a 3.13 ERA this season while striking out 10.96 batters per nine against an equally impressive 1.17 walks per nine. Of course, plenty could change by the next time the Yankees need another starter. It’s certainly worth noting that promoting Sheffield last Monday might have improved his chances of making the Super Two cut, had he impressed enough to stick in the rotation from there on out. There will certainly be some entertaining suspense surrounding this situation from here forward.

Other items fresh off the East coast…

  • Orioles prospect Hunter Harvey was scratched from his most recent Double-A start due to a shoulder injury, Dan Connoly of baltimorebaseball.com reports. Harvey’s dealt with plenty of injury issues in his career already, and this latest case (described as “posterior shoulder instability) has left him on an unknown timetable to return to the rotation. Harvey also had Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2016. Even when on the field, he hasn’t been particularly impressive this year. His 5.57 ERA across 32 1/3 innings on the season is an eyesore.
  • Rookie Mike Soroka is set to come off the DL and start Wednesday for the Braves, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. O’Brien adds that manager Brian Snitker plans to hold Soroka to a pitch count of 85-90. Soroka is widely considered to be one of the best right-handed pitching prospects in the game, and he’s backed that up by pitching to a 2.77 FIP in three starts this season while striking out more than a batter per inning.
  • Injury news isn’t looking so good for a division rival, however, as the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes reportedly left his rehab start tonight with tightness in his right quad. He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow, but even a small setback is certainly discouraging; Cespedes has been riddled with injuries since signing a four-year, $110MM pact with New York following the 2016 season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/9/18

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The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • Mets left-hander Buddy Baumann and infielder Phillip Evans cleared waivers and will be assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas, Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. The club designated both players for assignment earlier this week. The 30-year-old Baumann allowed 10 earned runs on nine hits and seven walks during 3 1/3 disastrous innings with the Mets this season prior to his designation. Evans, 25, has collected one hit in nine MLB plate appearances this year. Over a much larger sample size (165 PAs) at the Triple-A level this season, he has slashed .255/.321/.544 hitter with 12 home runs.

NL East Notes: Strasburg, Syndergaard, Phillies, Braves

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Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg left his start Friday after two innings with “a little inflammation” in his pitching shoulder, manager Dave Martinez told Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post and other reporters. Strasburg revealed that the issue began bothering him a few starts ago, and he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday. Injuries have long been a concern for the 29-year-old Strasburg, though he has always delivered terrific results when healthy. He has once again offered high-end production this year, having notched a 3.46 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.12 BB/9 in 80 2/3 innings. The Nats can ill afford to lose Strasburg as they seek a third straight division title, then, especially with fellow starter Jeremy Hellickson currently on the disabled list with a hamstring strain.

More injury notes from the NL East…

  • Mets righty Noah Syndergaard won’t come off the DL to make his scheduled start against the Yankees on Sunday, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Syndergaard, who has been out since May 26 with a strained finger ligament, experienced a setback after playing catch this week. It’s unknown how much more time Syndergaard will miss, but with him unavailable, the Mets will start fellow righty Seth Lugo on Sunday.
  • Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins could return from the DL on Saturday, Matt Breen of Philly.com reports. That would represent a quick comeback for a player who suffered a fractured jaw May 28. In other positive news for the Phillies, the club has ruled out the possibility of thoracic outlet syndrome for injured righty Jerad Eickhoff, general manager Matt Klentak announced. Still, even though the Phillies have “ruled out a lot of bad stuff” for Eickhoff, according to Klentak, they’re unsure what’s causing the numbness in his fingers. Both that problem and a strained lat have shelved Eickhoff for the entire season thus far.
  • Braves third base prospect Austin Riley is set to miss “several weeks” after suffering a sprained PCL in his right knee, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. The promising 21-year-old had been faring nicely in his first action at Triple-A, where he has slashed .284/.345/.431 in 113 plate appearances (with a 33.6 percent strikeout rate, however). It’s possible Riley’s injury could affect his chances at a major league promotion this season and influence the Braves’ trade deadline plans. Atlanta’s top two options at third are Johan Camargo and Ryan Flaherty, but both players’ numbers have fallen off as the season has progressed. In the event the Braves seek a veteran upgrade at the hot corner over the summer, there should be some proven commodities available, as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd and Steve Adams pointed out Friday.

Mets Place Jeurys Familia On 10-Day DL

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The Mets have placed closer Jeurys Familia on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the roster by right-hander Jacob Rhame.

Familia is said to be dealing with right shoulder soreness. There’s no further information available at this time as the underlying cause of the issue or the expected duration of his time on the DL.

Thus far in 2018, Familia has put a trying 2017 campaign in the rearview mirror. He’s carrying a 2.48 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 through 29 innings. Though Familia isn’t generating swinging strikes at quite his peak level (12.0% thus far), he is working in range of his career average in fastball velocity (96.7 mph).

For the Mets, they’ll be losing a closer who has been one of the few consistent positives on the field. It’s not clear how they’ll fill in for him in the 9th inning. A.J. Ramos has plenty of experience in that role, but he’s also been shelved with shoulder problems. Seth Lugo has been very effective, but he has been giving multiple innings. Perhaps Robert Gsellman or the recently-activated Anthony Swarzak will be seen as candidates, or the club may utilize a committee approach.

There is at least some more promising injury news to pass along from New York. The club also announced that star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will embark upon a rehab assignment beginning today. It’s not known just how long he’ll need, but presumably he’s not too far off from returning to the majors from a hip ailment.

Fernando Abad Serving Retroactive 80-Game Suspension

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10:24pm: FanRag’s Jon Heyman reports that Abad’s minor league deal with the Mets in late March was indeed axed when the Mets learned of his failed PED test shortly before the deal became official (all Twitter links). Importantly, he notes that Abad went through a lengthy appeal process that was ultimately unsuccessful. However, the beginning of his suspension is retroactive to the filing of the appeal, meaning his suspension will actually finish being served later this month.

Heyman also relays a statement from Abad in which he, like many suspended players before him, indicates that he didn’t knowingly take a banned substance.

3:50pm: Free agent left-handed reliever Fernando Abad has received an 80-game ban after testing positive for Stanozolol, the league announced.

The 32-year-old Abad was with the Phillies in Spring Training and, after being cut loose, agreed to a minor league deal with the Mets. Abad never appeared in a game with the Mets though, and his contract with the club seemed to have fallen through at some point (quite possibly due to the impending suspension). Any club that signs Abad now will do so knowing that he’ll have to sit out for 80 games upon the deal’s completion. At this point in the schedule, an 80-game suspension would put Abad out for the vast majority of the season.

Abad drew fairly limited interest this past offseason despite the fact that he turned in a solid 2017 season with the Red Sox. In 43 2/3 frames with Boston last year, he pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.82 HR/9 and a 45 percent ground-ball rate. Lefties hit just .224/.288/.348 against him, and it was his second consecutive season with an ERA well south of 4.00 in more than 40 innings of work. In fact, Abad has somewhat quietly worked to a 3.13 ERA with a 206-to-80 K/BB ratio in 233 innings from 2013-17. He worked primarily in low-leverage spots with the Red Sox last year, though, often pitching when the game was already out of hand and the team was behind.

In 317 2/3 career innings at the big league level, Abad has a 3.65 ERA with 38 holds, two saves,  7.7 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/7/18

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:

  • Mets lefty Aaron Laffey has decided to retire, according to Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal (via Twitter). The 33-year-old, an eight-year MLB veteran, had been pitching for the organization’s top affiliate. Laffey was struggling quite a bit, though, carrying an unsightly 11.77 ERA through 26 innings in six starts. He recorded only 11 strikeouts against six walks while surrendering a whopping 45 base hits and ten long balls. Over his 494 1/3 career innings in the majors, the last of which came in 2015, Laffey worked to a 4.44 ERA. He spent the bulk of his time with the Indians and also saw substantial action with the Blue Jays, along with shorter stints with the Mets, Mariners, Yankees, and Rockies.
  • Backstop Steven Baron has cleared waivers after being outrighted by the Cardinals, according to a club announcement and as tweeted by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It seems Baron will accept an assignment to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment recently after a brief MLB stint, during which he recorded his first hit in the majors. The 27-year-old is a .248/.307/.333 hitter in 455 career plate appearances at Triple-A.

Mets Deal With GM Sandy Alderson Runs Through 2019

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson is under contract with the organization through the 2019 season, according to a report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. The veteran executive is earning $8MM total in the two-year agreement.

Alderson signed the deal with the team last December, representing a long-expected continuation of his tenure at the helm of the baseball operations department. At the time, though, the duration and value of the deal were not announced or firmly reported.

When he agreed to stay in charge, Alderson cited a desire to complete “some unfinished business” after a disappointing 2017 season. After shipping out several veterans in mid-season trades, the front office oversaw a busy offseason, that featured a variety of veteran additions.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as hoped thus far in 2018. The club is mired in a six-game skid and has fallen 7.5 games back of the pace in the NL East. Alderson already sent out former ace Matt Harvey and could now face some tough roster decisions at the trade deadline.

Recently, Alderson suggested that the Mets organization does not foresee any major deals involving core players. He indicated ongoing optimism that the current roster can compete, at least once it’s back to full health. But the pressure is building as the struggles continue.

In any event, barring a surprise shake-up, it’ll be Alderson who leads the charge in setting the strategy through the current season and into 2019. Whether he and the organization desire for the arrangement to continue beyond that point remains to be seen. It has been reported that assistant GM John Ricco is seen as an eventual successor.

Mets Claim P.J. Conlon From Dodgers, Designate Phillip Evans

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The Mets have re-claimed left-hander P.J. Conlon off waivers from the Dodgers and designated infielder Phillip Evans for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the team announced to reporters following this afternoon’s game (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Conlon has been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Conlon’s time with the Dodgers, clearly, will prove to be abbreviated. Los Angeles only claimed him off waivers from the Mets last week, and the southpaw had yet to even pitch in a game with his new organization before being placed back on waivers. It’s nothing new for the Dodgers to claim a player and then try to run him through waivers themselves as a means of keeping him in the organization without committing a 40-man roster spot. It’s a move they’ve had a fair amount of success with in past seasons, though the Mets clearly didn’t see fit to let Conlon get away and seized the opportunity to reclaim the depth they lost last week.

Conlon, 24, allowed seven earned runs in his first two big league starts with the Mets this season, spanning just 5 2/3 innings. His struggles weren’t contained to the MLB level, either, as he posted a whopping 6.58 ERA in 39 2/3 innings spanning eight starts with Vegas this year. However, Conlon possesses solid numbers up through the the Double-A level and turned in promising K/BB numbers in Triple-A this year even while struggling with his bottom-line run prevention numbers. He’ll now return to the organization that originally drafted him and continue on as a depth piece.

As for the 25-year-old Evans, this’ll be the second time he’s been designated for assignment by the Mets in the past calendar year. He’s just 1-for-9 on the young season but hit .303/.395/.364 in a tiny sample of 38 plate appearances in the Majors last year. Evans is a career .273/.337/.445 hitter in 671 PAs at the Triple-A level and has experience at every position other than center field, first base and catcher. If he clears waivers, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, given that he was outrighted the last time he was designated by the Mets.

Mets Have Considered Releasing Jose Reyes

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The Mets have had internal discussions about cutting ties with veteran infielder Jose Reyes, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). With some upcoming roster decisions as players return to health, there could soon be added pressure to do just that.

Certainly, Reyes has done little on the field this year to stave off such a move. He’s slashing a meager .141/.208/.197, with just two extra-base hits through 71 plate appearances. While Statcast paints a slightly more promising picture — Reyes carries a .187 wOBA that’s well shy of his .250 xwOBA — the struggles can hardly be attributed solely to batted-ball misfortune.

While he brings defensive flexibility, Reyes hasn’t graded particularly well with the glove. Likewise, despite grading as a premium baserunner last year, he’s sitting at average in that regard so far in 2018. Just days away from his 35th birthday, Reyes has produced more negative value (-0.9 fWAR) than all but four other position players in the game.

Despite those less-than-promising numbers, Puma reports that there’s some hesitation from the Mets organization. Citing Reyes’s “roots” with the club, Puma says there’s a belief that he deserves a “proper sendoff.” That’s understandable, on the one hand, given that this is his 12th campaign with the club. That said, the circumstances under which Reyes came back to Queens — the Mets took him in when he was released by the Rockies after serving a domestic violence suspension — do not really speak in favor of any kind of preferential treatment.

Beyond off-the-field considerations, it’ll be tough for the Mets to hang onto Reyes given what he has shown thus far, despite the fact that he was a useful contributor over the prior two campaigns. As Tim Britton wrote today for The Athletic (subscription link), there’s a sense that the team is “teetering on the brink of another long, irrelevant summer” after it took a fifth-straight loss. While GM Sandy Alderson insists that he’s still optimistic and isn’t weighing a summer sell-off, climbing back into the postseason picture will obviously require the team to field a healthy and productive mix of players.

The Reyes question isn’t pressing just yet, but could be in the near-term. The team is carrying a five-man bench at present, with a roster that includes three catchers, four starters, and eight relievers. Upheaval is imminent, with Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, and Wilmer Flores currently rehabbing and perhaps not too far off from returns. With a wide variety of considerations in play, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

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