There was a lot of fluff, but also some interesting comments in Friday's presser.
Sandy Alderson met the press at Port St. Lucie today and answered some questions regarding the offseason, possible trades, as well as the current roster. A lot of his comments were things that we've heard before, but there were some new bits as well. Here's a recap in case you forgot to record SNY this morning.
- David Wright is in the best shape of his life. His shoulder is feeling great and there will be no limitations on him in spring training.
- There are very few deals in spring training, so Alderson does not see the Mets actively pursuing a trade involving Dillon Gee. I'm thinking that nothing happens unless another team incurs an injury, gets desperate, and calls the Mets with a decent prospect in hand.
- There are no plans to use a six-man rotation. The Mets will use spot starters and off days to limit Matt Harvey's innings, but there are no plans to go with a large rotation that would also limit the output of Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler
- Speaking of Harvey, Alderson doesn't want to put a number on the amount of innings the Mets have planned for him. It will be a fluid situation depending on how the season goes. A reporter asked him if 180 was that number, but Alderson said if he gave a figure, the media would obsess over it. That sounds accurate. Later Adam Rubin tweeted that 200 was a possibility, and that includes the postseason.
- During spring training, Harvey will be treated like a normal pitcher.
- Alderson isn't too worried about Bobby Parnell, who will miss the first two or three weeks of the regular season due to Tommy John surgery. He says the bullpen was fine without Parnell for the last two-thirds of 2014. Besides, there are plenty of young arms in Triple-A that are capable of helping out if the bullpen struggles.
- One of those helpers could be Rafael Montero. Of his top three pitching prospects (Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz being the other two), Alderson said Montero was the most likely to pitch in relief this season.
- Kevin Plawecki may play some first base in Las Vegas this season in order to enhance his flexibility in case he needs to be called up in a pinch. The young backstop could be one of the first position players that the Mets call up in 2015.
We're getting closer and closer to real baseball and seeing for ourselves how the Mets handle their many issues. Alderson asserted on Friday that New York is "capable of" winning 89 games this year. Even if the players don't live up to that expectation, this could be the most exciting season of Mets baseball we've had in some time.