Ryne Sandberg’s handling of Ryan Howard is becoming a key to the early portion of Sandberg’s tenure with the Phillies, Matt Gelb of the Inquirer writes. “I do think it’s important to have players who fit my type of players,” Sandberg said last week. “That’s important going forward. I think getting younger will be a step going forward.” It’s becoming clear that Howard, who Sandberg has repeatedly (and arguably with ample justification) benched, is not Sandberg’s type of player. Gelb notes that Sandberg’s years managing in the minor leagues impacted him, meaning that he would rather play a youngster than an unproductive veteran. GM Ruben Amaro, meanwhile, recently said that he was planning on Howard playing first base for the Phillies next year. A report last week indicated that the Phillies were considering releasing Howard, although Amaro has denied that’s the case. Here are more notes on the NL East.
- Two NL East starters who could be traded, A.J. Burnett and Bartolo Colon, will face off Monday, Tim Healey of MLB.com writes. Colon says that he’s ignoring the possibility that the Mets might deal him. “I don’t know anything about that,” he says through an interpreter. “Those are decisions for the upper management, and you can’t control that stuff.”
- The Mets are not likely to be buyers or sellers in the traditional sense, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. That doesn’t mean they won’t be on the market, however — they will likely approach it with the goal of improving in 2015. GM Sandy Alderson says he isn’t likely to deal prospects for rentals. At the same time, they do not seem to be chomping at the bit to trade Daniel Murphy, although trading Colon could be a possibility.
As a Mets fan, with a sellers market going on, and the Mets doing absolutely nothing thus far, I’m starting to get a little worried.
Most Mets fans I know are WAY past “starting to get a little worried.”
Colon will be traded at the end of August for a High ceiling single A ballplayer and a minor leaguer close to the majors which has been Sandy’s motto. My guess is the Dodgers unless Blue Jays get desperate. Not top 5 prospect but more like 7,8 or 9 plus a 15-25 prospect
Exactly. Sandy will just wait out the market.
colon is the only one that has to go need the 11 mil for next year
Typical Mets – noncommittal rebuild.
they didn’t do anything by the deadline last year either, and they still made an awesome trade with the Pirates after.
Why are you worried? They shouldn’t be doing much of anything aside from trading Colon (and Abreu/Matsuzaka, though no one wants them) and fielding offers for Murphy. The plan is probably to hold on to Colon as long as possible in order for his stock to rise (and to marginally lower the amount owed to him).
If Ryne Sandberg prefers younger players, why on earth did he sign on to manage the Phillies? It’s not a secret that their roster is filled with a bunch of players in their mid thirties. It looks like it’s going to be that way for a few more years too.
Limited number of big league manager openings. He probably didn’t go through much of an interview process. He took over mid-season and if I’m not mistaken he signed his managerial contract before the 2013 season ended.
It’s not a bad move. Phillies on on the brink of having to go young anyways. He probably saw an opportunity to be a part of effecting (and affecting) that change.
And realizing overall, there isn’t too much pressure with the job. If the team fails, it will fall on Amaro. Sandberg will have the chance with a bad mix of old guys and youngsters. If he succeeds, he will likely get praised. If he fails, then it’s basically to be expected with this squad courtesy of their inept GM.
If I were the mets I would sign Cabrera in the offseason he’s younger than tulo
It would be nice if Francona would stop playing unproductive veterans, like Swisher, Giambi, and Raburn. Then we might actually win more games. Think the Phillies would trade Sandberg for Francona?