Mets News
Disclaimer: This Mets news includes Yankees news.
MLB.com reported that the Yankees are pursuing Lucas Duda and Addison Reed. The skeptic in me whispers that this is a Brian Cashman ploy to lower Oakland’s asking price for Yonder Alonso. After all, Alonso has been a Yankee target since the first shots of the Fly Ball Revolution were fired. The Yankees are also in need of nominal A’s ace Sonny Gray to replace the injured Michael Pineda in their rotation. And by trading Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, the A’s indicated that they’re happy to package veteran assets for additional prospects. So Duda and Reed to the Yanks? Yes please, but don’t count on it.
Minutes before game time, the Tigers announced that they’d traded J.D. Martinez, the best bat on the trade market, to the Diamondbacks for a pu pu platter of mediocre Arizona prospects left over after the Shelby Miller disaster deal. Good on the D’backs for acquiring a superstar who might only play in a single Wild Card playoff game. But if that establishes the market for power-hitting outfielders, the Mets are going to be quite unhappy with the return for Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson.
And just after the game, news broke that the Yankees acquired Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox for Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, and Tyler Clippard, effectively precluding a Duda deal. Can a team lose a trade in which it has no stake? If the team is based in Flushing, yes.
MEANWHILE, the Mets fielded like a C-division over-40 softball team, digging their own grave early. They managed a measly three hits in a Michael Wacha shutout. Cardinals 5, Mets 0.
Punditry
After his May 25 start, we wrote that “fans may soon stop caring that the team can’t seem to rid itself of Rafael Montero and his 8.24 ERA.” Between then and last night, Montero pitched in four MLB games, starting two. He threw 18.2 innings and allowed no dingers, with a 21-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That’s good (!) for a 1.85 FIP. Montero’s 19.7 K-BB% over that span would put him between Lance McCullers and Masahiro Tanaka if he had produced that rate over a qualified season. That performance came on the heels of Montero starting three post-May 25 games for Triple-A Las Vegas, where he produced a 2.89 ERA over another 18.2 innings, which is rather great (!) for the Pacific Coast League.
Montero will still be just 26 years old until October. Some pitchers take a while to figure it out. Rare Mets Bright Spot Jacob deGrom was posting a 4.51 ERA in the minors at age 25. Then deGrom won Rookie of the Year at age 26. So what I’m saying is, Rafael Montero: Good now?
lol no.
Montero allowed three doubles and two singles in the first two innings. Four of those baserunners scored, helped across the plate by typically atrocious Mets defense. T.J. Rivera was charged with two errors, one on an inaccurate throw and one when he couldn’t bend low enough to field a grounder to his left. Jose Reyes could have also been charged with two errors. He failed to charge a slow-hit bouncer; by the time he threw to first, Kolten Wong beat out a “single.” Reyes also took far too long on the exchange on a potential double-play grounder. Sure, you can’t assume the double play. But the pitcher was running and Reyes triple-clutched. So Montero couldn’t overcome his defense. Wouldn’t be the first time we said that about a Mets starter.
Social Media
Market shift on a potential Jay Bruce trade: the Mets will have to trade a mid-level prospect just to get another team to answer the phone
— Patrick Dubuque (@euqubud) July 18, 2017
GKR-isms
I feel like I’m in the cone of silence here… except for you guys. — Keith, from the photo box
I’ve pitched in front of 55,000 fans. There are certainly not that many here tonight. — Ron
That’s five or six missed plays by the Mets’ defense in the first two innings. — Gary
Forecast
Time for Rare Mets Bright Spot Jacob deGrom to stop yet another losing streak. He’ll face Mike Leake, the Cardinals’ number two, tonight at 7:10.
Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray, USA Today Sports