New lefties Jerry Blevins and Alex Torres have been issued jerseys No. 13 and 53, respectively, the Mets said Tuesday.
Blevins’ assignment was no surprise as he’s worn that number in previous stos in Oakland and Washington, while Torres takes a vacant number that follows his righthanded namesake’s 52. Bobby Abreu was the last guy to wear 53 for the Mets; before that it was Jeremy Hefner. Josh Satin was the last guy to wear 13 for the Mets.
It was only an hour or so after the news that the Mets had swapped for Alex Torres that it was announced they’d traded Matt den Dekker to Washington for a true lefty specialist, Jerry Blevins. This appeared to put the Torres acquisition in perspective as a more general bullpen depth addition which given the shaky health of Bobby Parnell and Vic Black — not to mention the performance of Jennry Mejia over the last six months (you could look it up, but don’t) — seemed to make sense.
Despite it reminding me more of Billy Wagner than I want to be reminded, Blevins can step right into the No. 13 jersey which has been unissued since Josh Satin took it off a year ago. Just as significantly, the trade reopens No. 6, to which den Dekker brought relative stability, having held it down since July of 2013. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see No. 6 next on the back of Daniel Muno, the presumptive middle infielder if Daniel Murphy can’t make the squad.
From a baseball point of view I liked den Dekker but it was obvious his opportunity to be significant in New York was receding as Juan Lagares’s star was rising and other than the luxury of a decent reserve in AAA, he’s better off getting a chance to play. As for Blevins, the numbers suggest he’s a terrific lefty-killer and will be called to demonstrate as much vs. Bryce Harper and Freddy Freeman. His arrival makes me wonder how the Nats will manage to retire Granderson or Duda when they need to.
Win-win.
Jeff McKnight, a two-time Mets utility infielder made semi-famous on these pages for having worn five different uniform numbers for the Mets, passed away Sunday at his home in Bee Branch, Ark., newspapers reported.
McKnight, who’d just turned 52, had been battling leukemia for 10 years, his family said.
I first wrote about Jeff McKnight some 16 years ago, after inadvertently uncovering details revealing he was the first and still the only of the nearly 1,000 players in team history to appear in five different uniform numbers for the Mets.
While on the one hand his feat is an odd curiosity, five uni numbers is also something else entirely. It’s not the kind of record that a player who is secure in his big-league status can possibly generate, and at the same time, it’s a testament to McKnight’s persistence and versatility, finding a way to be needed even as his teammates were needier.
As detailed on my article featured here, Jeff McKnight had a long road into Mets history, logging six seasons and nearly 1,800 at-bats as a minor leaguer before getting a freak shot at the majors in 1989 when three Met infielders went down with injuries at once. His stint — then wearing No. 15 — ended as soon as the first one returned and he didn’t even get an invite back in September, becoming a minor-league free agent destined for two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles organization.
He resurfaced with the Mets three years later, making the 1992 club as a reserve out of spring training wearing No. 5, then spending nearly all of 1993 with the Mets, this time wearing No. 7, since the Mets had subsequently reserved No. 5 for rookie comer Jeromy Burnitz. However, his run as No. 7 came to an end in May when manager Jeff Toborg and his staff were fired — it was the Worst Team Money Could Buy, after all — and McKnight switched to No. 17 when new coach Bobby Wine claimed No. 7.
In 1994, he made the club again but this time wearing No. 18, as superstar pitcher Bret Saberhagen demanded, and received, 17. Whether McKnight was ever even compensated for his selflessness wasn’t even remarked upon; his was the lot of the 25th man, and he took what was offered.
McKnight, then at the advanced age of 31 and battling a nagging injury, was sent to minors to rehab but recalled again shortly before the player deadline to strike in August, a move engineered not for McKnight’s benefit but to keep young players demoted to take his place in AAA busy in the event of a strike. The strike would shortly end that season, and McKnight’s career along with it.
Finding out Jeff passed away this evening was something of a shock and a disappointment; I meant to — and should have — reached out to him in person a long time ago, but the trail of my Internet sleuthing invariably went cold. I think I knew he was in Arkansas; and that he worked at a TV station.
I figured I’d always have a chance. I had no idea he was sick. I sometimes wondered if he even knew this site existed. I always hoped that if he’d read my lighthearted tribute he’d understand the respect behind it.
Rest in peace, Jeff.
Travis d’Arnaud at #Mets camp: pic.twitter.com/K7NnCOJtXX
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) February 27, 2015
So there’s Travis d’Arnaud, aka “Shoeless Aud,” wearing his new No. 7 jersey. Could you also see him in a new lineup position?
Let me begin by saying I’m generally if not wildly optimistic for the Mets chances this year. I like the additions of Cuddyer and Mayberry. I believe that David Wright could still rebound, and I think Wilmer Flores is a bold choice in a year where offense is going to be hard to find. I think a solid starting staff and bullpen might be constructed just from what *doesn’t* make the opening-day roster this year. That’s all very encouraging.
Where I’m concerned is that they don’t really have an ideal leadoff hitter, and I worry especially that they’ll try to shoehorn Juan Lagares into that role. It’s not that I don’t believe Lagares could ever become a leadoff guy (though I have doubts), it’s that given his low walk rates and seeming luck on balls-in-play (he BABIPped at 340 vs. a league average of 300) I’d prefer he demonstrate whatever nascent leadoff skills he possesses as a 7th or 8th place hitter and let someone generally more qualified garner the extra trips and run-building opportunities that come with the role.
I’m not arguing that Travis d’Arnaud should be a leadoff hitter either, but I might be tempted to try him there sooner than I would Lagares. His walk rate is better and BABIP ought to improve, and his superior extra-base power could get us some early leads in road games, which I’d prefer over whatever advantage you might realize from Lagares’ stolen bases. Actually the club would seem to favor Curtis Granderson (or let’s face it, Kirk Nieuwenhuis) leading off, but I can see the argument for getting Grandy’s bat more in the mix off all those middle-of-the-order righties – yet another consequence of the Mets not having gathered in a lefthanded hitting shortstop over the offseason.
Who leads off for your 2015 Mets?
@mcuddy23 Doug Flynn, Pat Mahomes, Dave Schneck, Mike Baxter and the rest of the #Mets 23 Family welcome you to this most exclusive club.
— Jon Springer (@Springer66) November 12, 2014
Oh for the days I used to be the first person to report on this (and one of the only to care). Hey guess what! Cuddyer will wear No. 23!
When I think of 23, I think of Doug Flynn, the slick fielding infielder who arrived in the Tom Seaver trade. Flynn was never any kind of hitter but could turn the pivot, and lasted longer than any other occupant of the number, amassing more appearances, turns at bat, and overall hits (an even 500) than any other 23.
But perhaps a better parallel to Cuddyer was the mercurial Bernard Gilkey, himself a veteran right-handed hitting corner outfielder when he joined the Mets in 1996. Gilkey famously went on to have one of the best single seasons of any Met — 23 or not — and probably the best debut season for a new arrival in team history. His marks for home runs (52), RBI (223), doubles (90), stolen bases (29) and runs scored (226) easily top his peers in 23, and most were accumulated during that freaky ’96 year. His marks would eclipse those of Joe Christopher, the Virgin Islands-born standout of the 1962-65 Mets. Along with Ron Hunt, Christopher in 1964 was the first Met regular to hit. 300 in a season.
The less said about Brian Schneider, the better. Most recently, 23 belonged to briefly visiting reserve catcher Taylor Teagarden, whom I believe is again a minor league free agent looking for a AAA catching job and a spring training invite.
Only four pitchers have worn 23 for the Mets; the noteworthiest being Pat Mahomes, the versatile swingman of Bobby Valentine’s teams. Mahomes was a magical 8-0 in 1999, almost entirely in long relief bailout situations.
So I was away in Europe the last week of the season and so completely missed the surprise re-emergence of good old No. 70, Wilfredo Tovar. I also missed the decisive sweep of the Braves that helped us to not only spoil whatever playoff hopes they had left to but catch them in the standings, and Lucas Duda’s heroic capture of the 30-home run mark, and Bobby Abreu’s feel-good retirement, and Sandy Alderson’s new contract. On the positive side, I missed all the incessant Jeter hype.
I further forgot to investigate the suggestion below that at least while David Wright remained active the Mets were running Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 out there on a regular basis, maybe for the first time ever. I didn’t note that the best career ERA ever recorded by a No. 48 now belongs to Jacob deGrom, a deserving Rookie of the Year candidate.
I guess the message of this season might be, It Wasn’t All Bad If You Were Actually Paying Attention. Sure the next step will require a club that makes a lot fewer execution errors than this one did, while scoring a bunch more runs, but its not unrealistic to expect a few good decisions this winter and the continued evolution of the emerging core could accomplish that.
Nobody asked me, but my guess is that we’ve seen the last of both Dillon Gee and Daniel Murphy. Gee, who had a poor year and a lengthy injury this season, probably doesn’t have enough talent to fit into the staff next season. Everyone loves Murphy, but given his rising price and the fact that we’ve got some Flores and then Herrera waiting, it only makes sense to move on. Perhaps he goes in that big trade for that outfielder and/or shortstop and/or leadoff hitter this club needs. Stay tuned.
Another rough stretch, another few victims, another media crisis, more angry fans in a panic.
So it goes for the Mets, who unexpectedly whacked hitting coach Dave Hudgens — and predictably cashiered gasbag reliever Jose Valverde — following a disheartening Memorial Day debacle. It wasn’t long after Hudgens took leave that his opinions concerning the effect of fans booing and criticisms from team broadcasters were speeding around the circuit, and he followed that up this afternoon by remarking on the team’s “purse strings” — a fresh serving of red meat for stimulated fans who’d somehow convinced themselves that Sandy Alderson hasn’t been deftly splitting hairs for years now when he’s asked about financial constraints governing the ongoing turnaround.
That all the issues — the booing, the Keith, the money, the hitting, the bullpen — are at some level related is the story of the season so far and the burden the Mets are dragging around everywhere. And there was certainly a whiff of Wilponian sneakiness to the Hudgens affair. He was quite obviously one of Sandy’s pet hirings, and replaced by a guy, Lamar Johnson, who’d been hanging around Mettown for a decade. On the other hand, maybe parting with Hudgens was Sandy’s offering to the bloodlusters — dopes in the press eager to link the offensive struggles to the organizational hitting strategy as part of an ongoing effort to bring down Sabermetics and prove the Earth is flat — and an acknowledgement that despite the process, the results called for a change.
So Lamar Johnson is here, the first No. 57 since Johan Santana — and Hudgens has turned in No. 51. Valverde has turned in 47. Elsewhere we’ve seen the return of Matt den Dekker in No. 6 and Josh Edgin in 66, and Vic Black, still No. 38.
It’s harrowing at times, and probably not entirely by design, but hats off to the threadbare Mets for demonstrating how inconsequential the whole notion of the closer role is this year, seeing as they’ve essentially stashed their worst pitchers there since the early injury to Bobby Parnell and are still hanging in there.
And as though to prove it, after Wednesday’s game (and Monday’s so-called “save”) they cashiered closer-of-the-moment Kyle Farnsworth so as to call up their own questionable relief talent (Josh Edgin) and save a few bucks. Who’s next in line? Who cares? It’s clear that without a true standout, and by avoiding the total gascans (or reassigning and or releasing them when appropriate) Whomever Pitches That Night will convert saves at about the same rate as That Other Guy. It’s true the Mets have had an abysmal conversion rate on saves this year (47%) but the leaguewide average isn’t much to look at either (64%) and you figure the process of competition and tinkering — particularly at the dawn of a wave of incoming pitching talent — will improve the performance over time. Right now they could turn to veteran mediocrities like Jose Valverde or Daiskue Matsuzaka — or promising-but-erractic performers like Jeurys Familia or Jennry Mejia. I have confidence that can all get about 64%. It really doesn’t matter.
At any rate, I’m not losing sleep over the whacking of Kyle Farnsworth, yet another complete disaster to have worn No. 44 for the Mets. Seriously this shirt from Jason Bay to John Buck to Lastings Milledge has belonged almost exclusively to losers and disappointments. Josh Edgin, last time we saw him, was the Mets first and still only No. 66.
All pumped up again over the Mets who badly beat a hilariously old and ineffectual Yankee squad last night as word came the club was on the verge of the first wave of player promotions that hopefully improve the performance and outlook of the team. Wednesday’s starter will be Rafael Montero, whom we saw this spring wearing No. 50.
Similarly, Jacob deGrom wore No. 48 in spring, which has also remained available. Not certain on the corresponding moves yet, although Gonzalez Germen is hitting the disabled list to make room for deGrom. Just guessing now but would be great to cut loose Kyle Farnsworth while we’re still ahead. Unlike many Mets fans I never had a strong opinion of the whole Mejia thing but he looks like he’s having fun here so let’s keep it going.
You gotta have somethin if you wanna be with me.
So, so long, Omar Quintanilla, and thanks for being the first No. Zero in 14 years. Your frequent and repeated DFAs have made you a kind of Nelson Figueroa of Met position players, and I fully expect we’ll see you again, especially if and/or when this whole Wilmer Flores-to-shortstop experiment ends in a failure or injury.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m glad the Mets are trying this. Flores has a nice record as a minor league hitter, and he’s still very young, and the Mets need young position players who can hit. And Ruben Tejada just isn’t getting it done offensively, the Mets aren’t good enough hitters otherwise to carry a bat like that, as though the last batch of games hadn’t illustrated that.
That this move will also likely test the limits of what we can accept defensively from a major league shortstop will be interesting in and of itself. Flores last time wore No. 4 and we’d expect to see that again tonight.
Elsewhere, I’m troubled to see the spate of recent articles and fan sentiment hovering around this absurd notion that the nascent organizational turnaround under Sandy Alderson is some kind of setback from the Omar Minaya Era, in which the Mets appeared to possess no ovearching philosophy other than to create the illusion they were headed in the right direction by paying full retail for other team’s players.
Joel Sherman, whom I usually like, today is trying to sell the idea that Alderson has failed because Omar-acquired ballplayers remain at the heart of his club, conveniently leaving out the idea that the even bigger disasters of Alderson’s years until now were even more influenced by Minaya, and that any administration’s third year will still include rubble from the prior occupant’s closet (he may as well have argued Minaya’s ineffectiveness given the benefits he derived from Steve Phillips’ charges like Wright and Reyes). In reality though, several Minaya legacies have failed Alderson badly (Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada) and/or were foolishly traded (Carlos Gomez, Joe Smith) and/or handicapped him with lardy contracts (Johan Santana, Jason Bay, Francisco Rodriguez) and/or aren’t around to help when he could use them (Bobby Parnell, Matt Harvey). I’m not trying to bury Omar Minaya, whom I believe did his best despite being frequently overmatched at the trading and negotiating tables and too easily interfered with by the Wilpons and the press, but painting him as even a comparative success vs. the current administration is, um, bullshit.
In the meantime, what was basically a gut-renovation of the system by Alderson is turning around opinions and results on the minor league level already, and other than it turning out to be an inviting target for lazy critics and columnists, there ought to be nothing wrong with acting in a manner of a club that’s going to win 90 games if that is indeed the goal. If it were easy to rebuild a club while slashing payroll by 35% in an inflationary market, everyone would be doing it.
