2019 Mets: My Agent Is Now My GM

jon abbey

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Callaway is 'safe for now', tomorrow they start a series with WAS and this time they draw all three of Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin. Good luck, Mickey, but if you make it until Thursday, I will be quite surprised.

Also the Cano thing from the other night about him not running because he said the scoreboard said two outs is still percolating:

"Regarding Robinson Cano and his repeated lack of hustle: His claim that the video board showed two outs during his double play Friday is false, according to a ballpark video feed that shows an accurate video board display (one out) during that play."

Then today he did this in a 0-0 game:

 

jon abbey

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First time the Mets had consecutive games with 2 hits or less since 1967.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Mickey Callaway was an excellent pitching coach. I don't follow the Mets closely, so I have no idea how he is a manager, although it's hard to see anyone succeeding under the Mets dysfunctional leadership and lack of offense. It looks like they don't plan to give Callaway the opportunity to at least offer Chili Davis up as a sacrificial lamb first. I'm kind of surprised that anyone still hires pitching gurus to be managers though. Outside of John Farrell's World Series title, when's the last time a really good pitching coach went on to be a successful manager?

*
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, I don’t really know either. Terry Collins was obviously way over his head from early on, but Callaway may just end up as a scapegoat. On the other hand, some people have said his ongoing presence gives Brodie a buffer so we’ll see. I’m only posting so much because it’s amusing to follow from afar.
 

jon abbey

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Today's update (so far):

The Mets announced the SP for tonight would be Drew Gagnon, who hasn't thrown more than 26 pitches in a game in a month. They later announced it would actually be Wilmer Font, who got shelled by this same Nats team 5 days ago.

Seth Lugo, one of their crucial relievers, went on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.

Robinson Cano is benched tonight against the lefty, which will at least allow him to avoid some hometown booing temporarily. It's unlikely this is punitive by Callaway for his non-hustle, as he is rocking a .133/.204/.133 split line against LHP so far.

Brodie is having a press conference at 3:45 and Callaway has one at 4.
 

jon abbey

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I thought I might be overdoing this, but this is as entertaining as any HBO show. The latest:

"BREAKING: Yoenis Cespedes fractured his ankles during an accident on his ranch in Florida. He is in New York to see doctors. The Mets don’t know what this means for him in 2019 and beyond. “That’s the story from his standpoint,” Brodie Van Wagenen said."
 

jon abbey

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Funny tweet from David Roth:

"Being named manager of the Mets is like if there were only 30 tugboats on earth, and you'd always wanted to be a tugboat captain, and there was an open position as a captain on one of those boats, but that boat is made of paper and there are wolves on it."
 

jon abbey

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Jon Heyman‏Verified account @JonHeyman 7m7 minutes ago
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen gives Callaway a vote of confidence. “Mickey’s our manager,” BVW says. Also says he told coaches and team they support Callaway.
Jon Heyman‏Verified account @JonHeyman

Van Wagenen says Callaway will be the manager for the “foreseeable future.” Followup questioner points out that’s pretty ambiguous. Van Wagenen doesn’t amend the wording when it’s asked if that means the whole season.
 

joe dokes

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Jon Heyman‏Verified account @JonHeyman 7m7 minutes ago
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen gives Callaway a vote of confidence. “Mickey’s our manager,” BVW says. Also says he told coaches and team they support Callaway.
"He's our manager" is a "vote of confidence" like "you've got a bunch of weeping, oozing sores all over your body" is a "medical diagnosis."

Jon Heyman‏Verified account @JonHeyman

Van Wagenen says Callaway will be the manager for the “foreseeable future.” Followup questioner points out that’s pretty ambiguous. Van Wagenen doesn’t amend the wording when it’s asked if that means the whole season.
Since nobody can "foresee the future," Mr. Callaway should probably not, as they say, buy any green bananas.
 

jon abbey

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Now they're saying it's just one ankle with Cespedes, that is much less entertaining.
 

jon abbey

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Going back to the original topic title:

“If the Mets go after Cespedes' contract, I was told it's not out of the realm of possibility - depending on how the agreement is written - that Cespedes' agent from the deal would have to forfeit part of his commission. That agent would be Brodie Van Wagenen.”
 

MakeMineMoxie

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God, what a shit-show.

https://thesportsdaily.com/2019/05/20/managerial-change-isnt-enough-to-save-the-new-york-mets/

One of the underlying problems here appears to be that Van Wagenen is loyal to a fault to former CAA clients, who are up and down the Mets roster. Vargas, Frazier, Lowrie, and Cano are all CAA clients, and Van Wagenen appears to have prioritized players he was personally familiar with even if they were not the best fit for the Mets roster. Cano’s underperformance has made the trade look like a disaster since the Mets have to pay him through 2023, but the key evidence of this is how Frazier’s return from the injured list was handled.

Once Frazier got hurt in spring training, J.D. Davis got the bulk of the playing time at third base and was effective, hitting .273 with an .876 OPS, but once Frazier came off the injured list he was handed the third base job without question. Frazier is a better fielder than Davis, but he has hit just .183 with a .556 OPS in his first 24 games, and the Mets have gone 8-16 since Frazier came back.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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I think I've seen this one before, isn't this the part of the show where Cespedes doesn't talk to the team, but tells the media he's going to wait to have surgery, only to then talk to the team, after which he announces he's having surgery?

*
 

jon abbey

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A brief update:

After the sweep in MIA, the Mets have run into the biggest underachievers in baseball, NatsTown, and NY has won three straight with the finale tomorrow. Cano was benched on Monday, because of the tough lefty but also because of his conspicuous non-hustle, so when he came in and pinch-hit a double, he was clocked at his fastest time to second base since 2016.

Cut to tonight, Cano hits a relatively routine grounder up the middle, but he digs hard for first anyway, something he would not have done last week. 3/4 of the way down the line he pulls up lame and he has to leave the game with left quad tightness.
 

YTF

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A brief update:

After the sweep in MIA, the Mets have run into the biggest underachievers in baseball, NatsTown, and NY has won three straight with the finale tomorrow. Cano was benched on Monday, because of the tough lefty but also because of his conspicuous non-hustle, so when he came in and pinch-hit a double, he was clocked at his fastest time to second base since 2016.

Cut to tonight, Cano hits a relatively routine grounder up the middle, but he digs hard for first anyway, something he would not have done last week. 3/4 of the way down the line he pulls up lame and he has to leave the game with left quad tightness.
These things tend to happen when guys are asked to do things they are not accustomed to. Steven Wright shouldn't pinch run, Blake Swihart shouldn't play left field and Robinson Cano shouldn't be haulin' ass down the first baseline. :eyeroll:
 

OurF'ingCity

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God, what a shit-show.

https://thesportsdaily.com/2019/05/20/managerial-change-isnt-enough-to-save-the-new-york-mets/

One of the underlying problems here appears to be that Van Wagenen is loyal to a fault to former CAA clients, who are up and down the Mets roster. Vargas, Frazier, Lowrie, and Cano are all CAA clients, and Van Wagenen appears to have prioritized players he was personally familiar with even if they were not the best fit for the Mets roster. Cano’s underperformance has made the trade look like a disaster since the Mets have to pay him through 2023, but the key evidence of this is how Frazier’s return from the injured list was handled.

Once Frazier got hurt in spring training, J.D. Davis got the bulk of the playing time at third base and was effective, hitting .273 with an .876 OPS, but once Frazier came off the injured list he was handed the third base job without question. Frazier is a better fielder than Davis, but he has hit just .183 with a .556 OPS in his first 24 games, and the Mets have gone 8-16 since Frazier came back.
Gosh, who could possibly have seen that coming?
 

jon abbey

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Back on Mickey watch:

Their 6-1 week against WAS/MIA was followed by a 2-5 road trip at LAD/ARI, and then tonight they came back home to play SF. The Mets were up 3-2 in the 7th, Sandoval reached on an infield single to lead off (heh), then Syndergaard got the next two guys. He was at 103 pitches, but Callaway decided to pull him anyway, against his very obvious wishes. Lugo came in and gave up two hits, tying the game and only keeping it tied because Longoria got thrown out at the plate. It went to extra innings, the Mets gave up 6 in the 10th and lost 9-3. I wonder if the tabloids have anything to say about this?

 

jon abbey

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No one loses games quite like the Mets lose games...

Ace DeGrom on the hill last night against the struggling Cardinals, scoreless game in the 3rd, Bader on 3rd with 2 outs and bluffing down the line. DeGrom gets Carpenter to hit a five hopper to SS, but the Mets are shifted, Rosario is towards second and Frazier has had to move closer to 3rd because of Bader's bluffing, so it goes through, 1-0 Mets. DeGrom threw his glove in the dugout and knocked over some stuff, he was furious.

Nevertheless, he exited after 7 with a 4-2 lead as the rain started to get heavy. It was pouring in the 8th inning but it didn't seem to affect play, still 4-2. So they go to the top of 9 and the grounds crew is out trying to fix the infield, and the umps tell them to put the tarp on, they're officially in a rain delay, which they proceed to do. But the Mets violently protest, led by Peter Alonso, their stud closer Diaz is already warm and they just want to finish the game. Somehow this actually works and convinces the umps who proceed to have the tarp removed and the game continue, 9 minute delay.

So Diaz walks the first batter but gets the next two, one out away. Then Wong hits a ball off the wall, the runner scores but the LF was playing so deep that Wong only gets to first. That's OK because Bader was up next and he rips one into the corner, they send Wong despite the terrible running conditions and if Rosario hadn't dropped the relay, they get him by 10 feet. But he did drop the relay, so, tie game. Meanwhile Bader falls down between second and third and they tag him out, end of half inning, and then they decide to actually delay and later suspend the game, so they will pick it up today at 6 PM, 4-4 and the Mets batting in the bottom of the 9th.

So that just happened, Mets go out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and then Callaway brings Diaz back out after throwing 20 pitches the night before. He gives up a bloop single, a SB when Ramos drops the ball, a grounder to 1st to move the runner to 3rd and a single through a drawn-in infield. 5-4 Cards, Mets go 3 up, 3 down again, ballgame.

DeGrom is now 1-6 with 5 no decisions in his last 12 starts, shocking that he is frustrated.
 

jon abbey

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Oh, and this David Lennon column is amazing, definitely the best thing I've ever read by him. The lead:

"Edwin Diaz is so good at being the Mets’ closer. Not being a closer, as we expected from a guy that was untouchable last season for the Mariners.

A Mets’ closer, like Jeurys Familia before him. Or Braden Looper. Or Armando Benitez.

To have the uncanny ability to be dominant one moment, but then completely, utterly soul-crushing the next. Not every closer has that. But for some, slipping on the blue-and-orange gives them that special skill, a talent they didn’t know they had. Because it never happened to them before climbing the mound for the Mets. "

https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-edwin-diaz-1.32353660
 

Gdiguy

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eh - blowing leads by giving up rockets to the wall is normal crappy closer. You're not a Mets closer until you're blowing games by balking in the winning run or walking the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches
 

jon abbey

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Bumped for this awesome quote (Jed Lowrie has yet to play this season after being signed to a 2 year deal in the winter):

Brodie was asked if Lowrie has a new injury delaying him.: “I think at this point his left side has caused him problems. The knee, to the hamstring, we want to make sure that the kinetic chain is working together and that his posture and his functionality is working.”
 

Murderer's Crow

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"His posture and his functionality is working."

Things that are very odd to hear about an athlete but not very odd to hear about a trauma victim.
 

YTF

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Bumped for this awesome quote (Jed Lowrie has yet to play this season after being signed to a 2 year deal in the winter):

Brodie was asked if Lowrie has a new injury delaying him.: “I think at this point his left side has caused him problems. The knee, to the hamstring, we want to make sure that the kinetic chain is working together and that his posture and his functionality is working.”
Your head bone connected from your neck bone, Your neck bone connected from your shoulder bone, Your shoulder bone connected from your back bone, Your back bone connected from your hip bone, Your hip bone connected from your thigh bone, Your thigh bone connected from your knee bone, Your knee bone connected from your leg bone, Your leg bone connected from your ankle bone, Your ankle bone connected from your foot bone, Your foot bone connected from your toe bone,
 

joe dokes

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"We're going to be cautious. We'll only agree that his functionality is working when and if we can also demonstrate that his blood is sanguinous, his skin is dermal and most importantly, that his head is cranial.
 

jon abbey

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"The Mets have called a full-blown team meeting this afternoon -- not exactly standard operating procedure before a game. Appears to be a bigger roster shakeup than just Daniel Zamora, as well. The team has no reserves or bullpen arms listed on its clubhouse lineup card right now."
 

jon abbey

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Sorry to keep bumping this but the Mets are too funny. Here are two tweets 12 minutes apart from one of their beat writers just now:

"Mickey Callaway, asked if he's sure Jeurys Familia is healthy: "It seems like his stuff is in the right place. We'll have conversations with him daily. We'll see how he bounced back today from last night, and continue to do our daily due diligence on everybody on their health.""

"Source: the Mets plan to place Jeurys Familia on the injured list today with a shoulder injury."
 

jon abbey

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Mets fired Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chick Rodriguez. Replaced Eiland with 82-year-old Phil Regan and Ricky Bones is the new bullpen coach. 82 years old? Only the Mets.
Regan faced Ted Williams once (he walked him) and his first manager was born in 1896. Tom Verducci just listed a bunch more on MLBN, but that is enough.
 

jon abbey

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Regan does seem like a badass reading this piece from a few days ago but maybe keep him in that roving pitching coach job and bring in someone a few generations younger if you are making the midseason move. You can't try to think along logically with the Mets, though, you need to just sit back and enjoy the ride, assuming they are not your team.

https://www.syracuse.com/mets/2019/06/the-vulture-swoops-in-to-help-syracuse-mets.html
 

jon abbey

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Wow, he is where the baseball term 'vulture' originated, Sandy Koufax gave him that nickname. Crazy history connected to this guy...

""Sandy pitched a game in Los Angeles against the Phillies, and Jim Bunning, he went 11 innings, gave up one run and struck out 16. They took Sandy out for a pinch hitter. I came in, pitched one inning, we got a run and I got the win. Four days later we went to Pittsburgh. Sandy went seven innings, struck out nine, gave up one run. They took him out for a pinch hitter. I came in, we scored and I got the win.

"(Koufax) came in the clubhouse and said, 'Regan, you are a real vulture. Give me my win,' and some reporter heard it, and that's the way it started.""
 

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deep inside Guido territory

jon abbey

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Mets blow a 4-1 lead and lose to the Phillies again, 7-5. They have the worst bullpen by ERA in MLB for June, 7.44, behind even the Orioles, and are in 13th place out of 15 teams in the NL, ahead of just SF and MIA.
 

jon abbey

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Yesterday in game 3 of the series, the Mets were up 4-0 in the 6th, pulled Vargas after just 77 pitches with a 4-1 lead and the bullpen blew it 5-4.

Just now, a great pitcher's duel between Wheeler and Nola was 1-0 PHI into the 9th, the only run on a Harper HR. Todd Frazier hits a go-ahead two run HR and the Mets add a 3rd run and take a 3-1 lead, and they can finally use DIaz in a normal closing role.

BB
game-tying HR by Franco
K
BB
single
walkoff 3-run HR by DIaz's Mariners teammate Segura, 6-3 final PHI and a four game sweep.
 

jon abbey

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Taken in a bar named Standings in the East Village tonight:

 

jon abbey

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Mets lose their 7th in a row, this time up 3-2 in the 8th and Lugo gives up back to back HRs to Markakis/Riley, then they strand the tying and winning runs at 2nd/3rd in the 9th, but the Metsiest moment of the day was that in their big 50th anniversary celebration of the 1969 title team, they listed two players on the Memoriam list on the scoreboard who are still alive.

https://twitter.com/MazzYahoo/status/1145178705012150272
 

jon abbey

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Just saw this awesome stat on ESPN: the Mets are the first team in MLB history with 8+ blown saves in back to back months. Go Brodie!
 

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The Mets had a ceremony yesterday celebrating the 1969 Mets. Such a happy time to celebrate a great team, given what is going on with the team currently. Nothing could possibly go wrong on this day.

Well, nevermind, because the Mets included two living members of the team on the Dearly Departed video reel instead of bothering to see if they were alive and inviting them.
 

Average Reds

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The Mets had a ceremony yesterday celebrating the 1969 Mets. Such a happy time to celebrate a great team, given what is going on with the team currently. Nothing could possibly go wrong on this day.

Well, nevermind, because the Mets included two living members of the team on the Dearly Departed video reel instead of bothering to see if they were alive and inviting them.

Only two posts too late ...