Here’s the latest out of the National League East:
- The Phillies could well attempt to trade outfielder Domonic Brown in an offseason change-of-scenery swap, according to a report from Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Looking at Philadelphia’s options in the outfield next year, Gelb indicates that a return for Grady Sizemore could be attractive given the dearth of options on the free agent market. Meanwhile, the club could remake the rest of its mix if it were to deal Brown and/or veteran Marlon Byrd.
- “There seems to be genuine internal debate and uncertainty over what the [Mets] will do” regarding manager Terry Collins, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Martino spoke with another club official that thinks it’s difficult to get a feel for Collins’ job security, while another added, “I think we have a ways to go before that’s decided.”
- General manager Sandy Alderson is a different story, Martino writes. Not only is Alderson’s job safe, Martino reports, but there are signs that he’s likely to receive a contract extension from the Mets. Alderson, currently under contract through the 2015 season, has been the Mets’ general manager since taking over for Omar Minaya following the 2010 season.
- Alderson discussed some of the team’s current and future roster maneuvers regarding younger players in an interview with Lynn Worthy of the Press & Sun Bulletin (h/t to MetsBlog). The club will look to give both Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki a look behind the plate next spring, though Alderson noted that the latter does not yet need to be given a 40-man spot. Looking ahead at filling needs at shortstop and in the outfield, Alderson said he is still evaluating internal options — he mentioned Wilmer Flores, Matt Reynolds, and Matt den Dekker as younger players who had played well recently — before deciding on a strategy for the open market. “[W]e’ve got to assess what we have before we start going out and canvassing the free-agent market,” he said.
Terry Collins extension? I thought the suffering was coming to an end? Say it aint so.
I think they mean Alderson
There are two separate points covered by Martino:
1) Collins’s job potentially in jeopardy
2) “Not only is Alderson’s job safe, Martino reports, but there are signs that he’s likely to receive a contract extension from the Mets.”
I’d let next season play out before offering Alderson an extension. While he’s done pretty well restocking the farm – he will be entering his 5th season in charge of the Mets without even a whisper of meaningful September baseball.
That’s because of the Wilpons. That’s not on Sandy. He came into a disaster and his job was to fix it. Part of the problem is that the owners are still running the show. All the dead weight is off the books now, the farm is in great shape, they have quite a few pieces already in place on the team and are in a position to trade or hit the FA market now to fill in the gaps.
He’s built a VERY good looking product, in spite of the Wilpons, and it makes it all the more incredible because he’s done it with them still there. He’s been very underappreciated for what he’s done, but when they start winning again, he will start getting recognized.
I wonder where we’d be if he was allowed to actually do a real “rebuild”, instead of that facade of competitiveness the Wilpon’s required to pay back their bridge loan.
There are teams that do more with less payroll. While I agree that the Wilpons are the problem – Sandy has had the time and cultivated the resources to field a competitive team. If I were the Wilpons, I’d give him this upcoming year. Anything less than full year contention and he’s fired. If he complains of lack of resources, he should have never, ever signed Wright and Granderson to those boneheaded deals. You just can’t commit that % of money to players at those ages when you are a small market team (which the Mets certainly are now).
So you agree that the Wilpons are the problem, but if he doesn’t do more with the team, in spite of them, that HE should be fired?
Alrighty then…
Top 5 farm in baseball with a bright future isn’t enough, huh?
Well, since the Wilpons can’t be fired, and other teams have been able to consistency do more with less resources, then yes, Sandy would deserve to be fired after 5 years.
Woah woah, the small market teams that are doing more with less suffered thru horrible rebuilds to lay the foundation for their success. The Braves didn’t magically become dominate overnight or even over a few years.
Who is saying they have a top 5 farm? I’m not seeing that at all with the Twins, Cubs, Pirates, Red Sox, Astros, Cardinals, and Royals all ahead of them (per BP).
Rankings ARE rather subjective, but BR had them at #4 as of 3 months ago, right behind the Red Sox, Twins and Astros.
BA had them Top five as of a few weeks ago, if memory serves. Keith Law did, as well. They’re loaded pretty good and now have a wide variety of prospects, not just pitchers. Plenty at the upper levels to.
Ahh so more of the same for 2015 from the Mets it seems…..
I think it’s hilarious. The people who want to dump Dom and bring back Grady are largely the same group that complains the loudest that all we do is sign old, over-the-hill FAs and don’t develop our own talent. Do they not see the irony here?
Dom Brown is awful!
He should be ashamed of himself. Particularly for his effort.
I dont understand why people think Dom Brown is a good player, hes not. His “decent” season last year was the product of a 20 game stretch where he was really good, and thats it. Take out May 20 through June 8 and he has a slash line of .250/.304/.407. A third of his XBH came in that stretch, and 44% (12 of 27) HRs came during that stretch. No history of getting on base, doesnt put fear into pitchers when standing on 1st, and doesnt pose any power threat. Hes 27, and I dont see him turning around like Carlos Gomez did. Phillies would be smart to trade him for anything they can get right now, cause his value will only plummet.
Some teams have a five-year plan; the Mets have a five-to-however-m any-year assessment mode.
They hope and pray that the young talent will all emerge as solid major league players – baseball typically does not work that way. Even the core rebuild with the Yankees had some duds mixed in (Ruben Rivera, for example).
For most franchises, having too much of something is not considered a bad thing. If the Mets get a quality major league SS and Reynolds actually did develop into something – well, that is depth for stuff like trades, etc. But regardless of whether it is the Wilpons, Aldersonl, or some combination of the two – the Mets still need to get out of this “in between” mode where they don’t appear to know if they want to completely rebuild or hope to have a miracle contention year by signing veterans.
I was pulling for dom brown, but he lost me this year. His recent comments about how he feels the Phillies owe him playing time were disheartening and off-base. He is a great example of why the Phillies’ scouting strategies (drafting great athletes but not necessarily with baseball polish) should be adjusted. Dom Brown is an athlete, but not a professional baseball player. He appears totally lost most of the time. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
I feel the same way towards Brown. Had high hopes and defended him.
However your assessment of him being drafted doesn’t fit too well. Yes he’s an athlete but he was also drafted in the way late rounds. Regardless of the athlete part, you can’t say the Phillies did bad in drafting a once #1 ranked prospect close to the back of the draft.
If they’re our starting LF and SS, let’s cheers to another under 500 season. Alderson has built a farm system but cannot build a 25 man rusher. Man up and make a move for the sake of trying.
Sandy should be commended for rebuilding the farm and bringing in Wheeler and d’Arnaud. The Granderson and Chris Young signings were suspect but there wasn’t that much risk involved. But yeah – he definitely doesn’t force the issue. That works sometimes but on other occasions, it just looks like he’s sitting on his hands. He should be given the benefit of the doubt though; it was leaked that he offered Niese for Brad Miller and the Mariners refused – he’s certainly willing to make the moves.
Yes, he’s done great at getting players to build the team but not for the every lineup. They’ll need a big name trade, not another prospect move. Miller for Niese would’ve been nice though…