Downsizing Applesauce: Mets Announce Layoffs, May Have "No Shot" to Sign Reyes, Process Will Take A Long Time

by Steve Schreiber on Nov 5, 2011 9:00 AM EDT in Applesauce

Meet the Mets

Jose Reyes Watch: Joel Sherman spoke to some sources with the club who expressed only negativity regarding Reyes' trip to free agency. One source said that he thinks Reyes "will be blown away by someone else". Another official said his instinct was that the Mets have "no shot". Sigh. What shouldn't be a surprise in all of this is that the process will be drawn out, with a conclusion not likely until December's Winter Meetings at the earliest. Yes, the next month should be boatloads of fun.

It probably won't be fun for 15 Mets employees, or should I say "former" employees. The Mets announced on Friday that they've laid off 15 of their approximately 180 employees. Obviously, times are tough for every business (believe me, I know) but it seems like things continue to get worse for the organization. VP of Business Operations Dave Howard stated that the layoffs were made in order to "operate more efficiently" and that they were "unrelated to the Madoff situation." Of course, it was Mr. Howard who famously stated, once upon a time, that there were no obstructed views in Citi Field and later on, that the Mets were "not for sale, in whole or part", so I advise you to take this news as you will.

Baseball America released the list of minor league free agents that were set loose on November 2nd and the Mets let go of 19 of their own minor leaguers. Nobody really surprising was let go as part of this group, although Val Pascucci and Chin-Lung Hu were the only two to accrue big league service time with the club in 2011.

Jose Reyes, R.A. Dickey and Lucas Duda each took home an inaugural MLB.com Mets award. Hooray!

Toby Hyde digs into the mailbag and answers questions about Wilmer Flores playing 2nd and 3rd base in winter ball and the difference in competition between the Short Season New York-Penn League and the Full Season A South Atlantic League.

Howard Megdal delves deep into the recesses of the free agent market to take a look at former Orioles utility man Jake Fox as a potential bench fit for the 2012 Mets. Fox's big draw, besides a few years of AAA offensive dominance in the Cubs organization, is that he's incredibly versatile, as he can catch along with playing first base and the corner outfield positions.

Around the Majors

The Phillies announced the signing of veteran ~~first baseman~~ slugger Jim Thome, who will begin his second tour of duty in Philly as a pinch hitter, or something like that, considering he hasn't played 1st base since 2007. They are also said to be in hot pursuit of former Twins utility man Michael Cuddyer.

The MLB All Stars won their third straight in Taiwan, beating the Chinese Taipei national team 6-2.

The Cubs began the managerial interview process by bringing in Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin, while the Cardinals brought in former Gold Glove winning catcher Mike Matheny to interview for their open managerial position.

Over at Fangraphs, they take a look at two Braves players who are on the trade market. I'm kind of surprised the Braves are interested in dealing Martin Prado with Chipper Jones' injury issues and pending retirement after 2012. I am not surprised that Jair Jurrjens is on the block, considering his injury issues and underwhelming peripheral numbers. I am even less surprised that Royals GM Dayton Moore is rumored to be first in line, waving one of his best prospects in outfielder Wil Myers. Come on...it's Dayton Moore and an Atlanta Braves player. You know the meme.

Finally, should the Giants trade Tim Lincecum for some offense? Um, yeah. That seems like a crazy idea to me.

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Comments

Who are these idiots telling the press they think they have no shot at Reyes?

Sounds like they’re begging to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am so sick of Anonymous Mets Sources, those guys are such assholes.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 5, 2011 9:22 AM EDT reply actions

They're assholes for saying something you don't want to hear?

by EricAColucci on Nov 5, 2011 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Perhaps What They Should Be Saying...

Is that next year’s payroll is $75 million. Or $40 million not including Santana and Bay.

by WT Economist on Nov 5, 2011 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions

They shouldn't be saying anything.

This organization is filled with people who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut, from the ownership group down to the janitors and kitchen staff.

Mets, Jets, Islanders, Knicks.
GO RANGERS! Get Endy a ring!

by piazza62 on Nov 5, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Bingo

I don’t care if what they’re saying is true or not, they just shouldn’t be saying it on the record. It extends to the players even, during the season Pelf was saying some very negative stuff on the record and it pissed me off even though the substance of what he was saying was completely right.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 5, 2011 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I don't think the substance was right

It’s their job to win ballgames, and if they don’t think they could do that, they shouldn’t be here at all.

Imagine how different Met history would’ve been if the ’73 Mets had folded it up halfway through the season.

Mets, Jets, Islanders, Knicks.
GO RANGERS! Get Endy a ring!

by piazza62 on Nov 5, 2011 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

All I remember him saying is that the '11 team wasn't great and wasn't going to reach the playoffs or whatever

which was perfectly true, just something to remain unsaid. I don’t remember (or care to remember) the whole thing. But yeah, he demonstrated a bad attitude. Fortunately I never got the sense that the team as a whole was folding it up, at least not that early.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 5, 2011 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I still don't really see the point.

I want officials and players to speak honestly. People complain about how players and GMs never say anything of substance, and then when they do, people say that they should have kept their mouths shut. And it’s not like this anonymous official just stuck his head out of his window and yelled, “I don’t think we’re going to sign Reyes!” He was asked a specific question by a reporter and answered it honestly. Yeah, we probably don’t need to read about this subject every day, but that’s on the reporters, not the people answering questions.

by EricAColucci on Nov 5, 2011 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

If you have to speak anonymously

you shouldn’t be speaking.

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Nov 5, 2011 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions

This, simply

I want them to speak honestly too. But more importantly I want them to shut up and leave well enough alone when they ought to. If they aren’t willing to have their name attached to their statement, there shouldn’t be a statement. Alderson at least seems pretty good about speaking openly and honestly while censoring himself when he knows he shouldn’t speak. Most of the rest of the organization is kind of exasperating.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 5, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

ouch!

by anonymous on Nov 5, 2011 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions 6 recs

i'm sure "Ogre" wasn't talking about you

I can see that this Reyes thing is going to spurn an outpouring of displaced anger around here, sometimes masked as rational argument. During the winter it always seems to me that posters get more emotional about press articles that put the “sad sack” mets down, a stance they might accept weeks earlier when the team is proving their mettle on the field. Hope springs eternal even in mom’s basement.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Nov 6, 2011 8:35 AM EST up reply actions

Personally, I will only be irrationally outraged

If Reyes ends up in Phi—… I can’t even type it out, it’s so awful

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 6, 2011 12:19 PM EST up reply actions

If they exist

Which I seriously doubt in most cases.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Nov 5, 2011 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

that was supposed to be part of the subtext of my calling out the "Anonymous Mets Sources" as assholes

(the subtext of this post, for those wondering, is that i suck at subtext)

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 5, 2011 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

But the thing is, everyone complains about anonymous sources when it's bad news.

Like, that’s the thing to do now. If an anonymous scout doesn’t like Wilmer Flores, then that scout is either a jerk or imaginary. Most officials and scouts aren’t supposed to talk to the media, and so they have to be quoted anonymously. Of course, you have to trust that the reporter is talking to a real person with actual knowledge. But I think a lot of people are just using that as an excuse to disregard anything they don’t want to hear.

by EricAColucci on Nov 5, 2011 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I would agree if we ever heard anonymous sources used to praise anything.

Like is someone printed that “an anonymous familiar with the team just can’t get enough of Matt Harvey” or “an anonymous source familiar with the situation doesn’t think it’s so bad”. We don’t though because that won’t sell papers.

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Nov 5, 2011 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Anonymous scouts are quoted on players they like all the time, actually.

Otherwise it’s probably just the nature of the questioning. Reporters don’t need team officials to say things like, “Yeah, the team is playing really well right now,” because they can get that from the manager or the GM or the players. Also people are less likely to get in trouble for saying something positive, so there’s less of a need to be anonymous. But for scouts, I think every team forbids them to talk about players to the media, so their quotes will pretty much always be anonymous. I don’t really see a problem with that, considering I wouldn’t know any of these scouts anyway; their names wouldn’t mean anything to me.

by EricAColucci on Nov 5, 2011 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions

oh great

Now we need a subtext font.

www.haikuboy.com

by murdertron3000 on Nov 5, 2011 8:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

"If they exist."

I still say they’re probably to be found amongst the fifteen who got their walking papers. (Sour grapes, and all that.)

by Curtis3331 on Nov 6, 2011 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions

I hadn't even thought of that, but it seems quite possible

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Nov 6, 2011 1:42 AM EDT up reply actions

ive got 20 bucks in my wallet

Jose, its not much, but it yours if you stay.

I hate Philadelphia so much.

by the caveman on Nov 5, 2011 9:44 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

All we need is another 1,000,000 Met fans like you and Reyes stays put.

by Putnan Prince on Nov 5, 2011 8:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Chin-Lung Hu

And to think that we actually had a press conference for that guy.

Oddly enough, Sandy’s second base signings for last year all turned out to shit, which forced us to go with our org guys (guys that Omar brought).

Dear friends, please temporarily stop your footsteps To our website Walk
around A look at Maybe you’ll find happiness in your sight shopping heaven and earth You’ll find our price is more suitable for you.

by Coolpapabell on Nov 5, 2011 9:56 AM EDT reply actions

I'm not really sure what you mean. Hu was always going to be a backup if anything, and he was aquired in a trade.

The only other second baseman Alderson brought in was Emaus through the Rule 5 Draft. The plan all along was to go with Emaus or one of the other internal candidates.

by EricAColucci on Nov 5, 2011 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Howard Megdal on Jake Fox

I’m all for it for the right price, provided that he’s not a defensive train wreck behind the plate.

__________________________________________________
"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Nov 5, 2011 10:29 AM EDT reply actions

sigh....

At this point, I’m beginning to accept the inevitable with Reyes in sort of the same way that I’ve accepted the inevitable with my 96-year-old half-blind wheelchair-bound grandmother. One day pretty soon, Reyes and my grandma won’t be here anymore.

Of course, my grandma won’t come back to be grandmother to some other dude who roots for the Phillies. So Jose, if you’re going to leave, please sign with Detroit or Milwaukee or another team I don’t hate. Don’t go to freakin’ Philadelphia.

Mark Cuban for owner! Save us from the Wilpons!

by Greenpoint Ian on Nov 5, 2011 11:43 AM EDT reply actions

will this be the most depressing news ever?

Id say yes. But untill I see hard evidence of his leaving I believe he’s gonna stay

I hate Philadelphia so much.

by the caveman on Nov 5, 2011 12:11 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

The Question Is...

Would the Mets, and should the Mets, really pack it in if Reyes leaves. Decide on Pagan, Capuano and Pelfrey vs. the alternatives bases solely on money, going with the cheapest available alternative.

And trade Wright, Bay and Santana at the deadline if they are doing well a la K-Rod and Betran last year, the former for a good prospect (like Beltran), the latter two just for salary relief (like K-Rod).

The Mets aren’t going to sell season tickets signing Joe Schlabotnick for $4 million after losing Reyes. And they aren’t going win many games that way either.

by WT Economist on Nov 5, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

Joe ran out a popup last season.

by Curtis3331 on Nov 6, 2011 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Always and forever

Mind full of intoxins
My thoughts shadowboxin'

by Brian. on Nov 5, 2011 4:08 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs

Excellent

Can we get an embiggened version, please?

"And that's why anybody who invested with Lenny Dykstra should really call that number. Lawyers are standing by."

by BobbyV_Incognito on Nov 5, 2011 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Or an Omar, maybe?

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Nov 5, 2011 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions

How will people feel if Reyes leaves because of Sandy's preferences

Imagine we can know for sure that it was Sandy’s decision to spend the $ elsewhere and Reyes is not resigned. Is Sandy going to take a hit here?

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Nov 6, 2011 8:44 AM EST reply actions

Personally, I trust Sandy's judgment.

Believe me, I won’t be totally happy about it because I love Jose Reyes and I want to see him play his whole career in NY and have #7 retired on the left field wall in 10-15 years but at the same time, I have confidence that Sandy has an actual plan and that he knows what he’s doing here. To me, it looks like the plan is stockpile as much young, top of the rotation pitching as you can get, let it develop and then reap the benefits, which seems like a perfectly solid strategy, assuming you develop enough pitching and that you can piece together an offense later on.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!
You might know me as mistermet.

by Steve Schreiber on Nov 6, 2011 11:58 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Yes, if he signs for something that seems like it would have been doable for us,

then I might wish I could give Mr. Olderson a piece of my mind.

But he’ll either sign for too much/too many years, or he’ll sign here, I’m confident.

by SuperT on Nov 6, 2011 12:12 PM EST up reply actions

If it's simply some spare parts instead of Reyes

absolutely.

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Nov 6, 2011 3:02 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe If The Anonymous Sources....

… had some catchy moniker, instead of just being called “an anonymous source”, then what they say would be okay.

Well, “Deep Throat” is taken, that can’t be used again. Anyone have any ideas?

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgment." Friedrich Nietzsche, "Human,All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Nov 6, 2011 12:24 PM EST reply actions