The Mets two best position players are Nimmo and Conforto... both LHH COF. There's less of a path to playing time in New York than Houston.
I did not know that (I have found myself paying minimal attention to the NL now). Wheeler and Lugo seem to me to be prime next offseason targets so they have the spring to work their coaching mojo. I'd think that if they trade for a starter this season it's going to be a guy who can start playoff games.
Nimmo can play CF. He's started 3 games this year and 41 last year. They even put Conforto in CF the last couple years. I don't see how Houston is an easier path for Tucker with Springer, Reddick, and Brantley locked up through next season and Alvarez crushing the ball in AAA.
Define near future. I agree on DH/1B, but I expect at least one of Reddick and/or Yuli to be on the roster next year.
??? White, Gurriel (for another season after this), Beer, Alvarez, Tucker, Reddick (another season after this), Kemp, Brantley (for another season after this), Fisher (he appears to be making more contact in a small sample so small dream), and Springer. That's more a broken bottle barroom brawl than open to me.
Alvarez will be somewhere by next year if not sooner, White is totally expendable. Tucker is Reddick's replacement. Straw is Marisnick's. Yuli is not a problem to either keep or trade. Fisher needs to keep mashing and make himself a proper trade chip. Huge but...if they really go after an ace-type starter later this season then Tucker is fair game, I'd rather they trade him than Yordan, frankly.
Huh? Yuli is not long term at 1B Nobody is at DH Reddick is fungible So, uh, yeah, none of those positions are really nailed-down in the near future, and by "near future" I meant 2020 or even later this year (DH) and not next month, in case that got anybody confused
I view Straw as Kemp's replacement and Alvarez as White's replacement. The Astros are in love with Marisnick's defense and clubhouse personality. If he hits even a little he's not going anywhere and is controlled through next season. Reddick or Yuli might need to be moved out of necessity for payroll purposes. Astros have 46 million coming off the books with Cole, McHugh, Smith, Rondon, Harris, Chirinos, and Miley after this season. The raises in AAV for Verlander and Bregman eat up all but 14 million in terms of salary cap numbers. That doesn't include the arbitration raises for Correa, Springer, McCullers, Stassi, Marisnick, Osuna, and Diaz. If we let all of our free agents walk and replace them with minor leaguers our payroll ( in terms of salary cap) will still be even higher than it was this year after arbitration deals are done.
They also have Cespedes whenever he gets healthy, traded for Broxton, are trying to get Dom Smith ABs, and have Lagares as their version of Marisnick. The Astros could conceivably give Tucker LF and move Brantley to DH. I didn't mean to get the conversation derailed about whether or not there's more room for him on the Astros or Mets, but I think it's fairly obvious that he's a clunky fit for the Mets. I don't they'd trade a premium asset for a player that isn't a great fit. I would guess if the Astros come calling about Syndergaard, they're asking for Whitley to headline a package. I don't think Syndergaard is actually availble though, as it doesn't make a ton of sense to trade 2 of your top prospects for Cano and Diaz, sign deGrom to an extension, and then trade away a young controlled TOR starter. If they're out of it, they'll probably move Wheeler, but Syndergaard seems more likely to get extended than traded.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets "Elsbury" Cespedes and keep him on the DL for the rest of his contract to get the insurance money. He's only signed through next year. I agree though, Tucker isn't a perfect fit. I would consider trading Whitley for Syndergaard at the deadline. One playoff run of Verlander/Cole/Syndergaard followed by 2 year of Verlander/Syndergaard might be worth Whitley. It's all just conjecture at this point. Just like talking about a trade with Pittsburgh for Taillon. Currently the Pirates and Mets are contenders in their repsective divisons. We don't know what's going to happen the next 3 months.
Open vs open competition are two different things to me. Open implies there isn't much competition that anyone that shows any hint of talent can waltz on and take. Astros situation is more an open competition as there are a lot of guys that will likely fight for position. I don't care if guys are fungible or not. Only care if they can play. If someone plays better, they get the position, but they aren't getting it by default. For near future, I generally assume next 2-3 years so rest of 2019 through 2021 at the latest.
Brett Conine, last year's 11th-round pick, allowed a run on a solo homer, two other hits, and struck out six over six innings for Quad Cities. Random note... his last name isn't pronounced like Jeff Conine. The stress falls on the second syllable in the way he says it, so it's cuh-NINE.
When he gets to the Show I'll change the pronunciation. I had no idea. You're a good man, and thorough.
Who are they going to cut loose if he agrees? They also talked long term with Singleton, Dominguez, and Grossman so I won’t let it affect my opinion much, but obviously not a bad sign for what Luhnow thinks of him.
Off the roster? Lance or Smith to the 60 I'd imagine. To me, just from what I've seen since last season in Corpus, he is a better hitter than Tucker. Better approach, better swing, better eye. Not that Tucker is bad or anything, but Yordan really impresses me. DH job is wide open unless Orca starts to eat.
It would be unprecedented for him to sign a long term major league contract without getting called up to the majors. It would mean White, Kemp, Reddick, Marisnick, or Gurriel would be gone, which is hard to see them giving up on White or Kemp this early and it’s hard to see them shipping out a player who is currently having success like Marisnick, Gurriel, and Reddick.
White is on borrowed time. He can/should do 1 thing well, and he's shown no consistency doing it throughout his career. He's replaceable.