Overall, I do not find these games very interesting, even the “big” 8-2 stretch. Talk about too little too late. But there are individual items of interest, and so a few quick hits from the last few days.
– About a week ago I wrote about some nice individual stories from 2014 and didn’t mention Jake deGrom. The fact is deGrom is not a nice story from 2014 he is the big story of the year. Last night he added to it with a dominating performance for six innings against the Marlins. Sadly he was nicked up literally and figuratively in the seventh, but hopefully he continued to garner national attention. The numbers are piling up for Jake and they are very impressive. Rookie of the Year impressive.
– Bartolo Colon is old and getting older every day. We are getting close to the end of the year and his season has been, in a word, fine. Not special, not terrible by any means. But when you look at his salary for 2015, combined with the age, I don’t see him as much of a commodity this winter. I expect Colon back, which is okay, but it would be a lot more okay if this team had a larger payroll. When Colon was signed I compared it to when Omar Minaya signed Orlando Hernandez, as a signing that made sense for a big market team trying to win right away.
It’s funny, Omar Minaya used to get killed (understandably) for giving extra years to players when the market didn’t dictate doing so. Sandy Alderson has a reputation for being prudent because he doesn’t spend money that he doesn’t have, but when he had a few bucks he did two “Omar type” deals with Colon and Granderson.
– Mejia’s antics, which got some ink this weekend, aren’t for me. Honest emotion in a huge 
spot is one thing, but clearly this is not that, it is choreography. But I also know we live in a “check me out” world and it’s not going back. So, I’m not outraged or anything when Jenrry does his thing, and if Bryce Harper was, well, that’s just silly. I just think the coolest guy is the one who walks off the mound like it was nothing special, because he has so much confidence he expects to blow everyone away. It’s all a matter of taste.
– Eric Young Jr. was dusted off and used for a few days. The thing is, den Dekker was out with an injury, and the rules state you must play three outfielders. Is it really important whether Kirk Niewenhuis, 27 years old, gets a few more at bats? And Eric Campbell, seriously, what do you think he is? Just let Terry, or Sandy, or Jeff, or Saul, or whoever is making out the lineup card have this one. Life is way too short to get upset about it. I can’t make a compelling argument that any of the above gives the team a better chance to win. As for 2015, this is how it is going to go down. Young is due to make more than the league minimum, and Kirk is out of options and only due the league minimum. So Kirk will be on the 2015 roster, and EY needs to be working on his resume. Just ask Justin Turner.
– Rafael Montero was moved to the bullpen. I hope he sees some work there, which is not a new point of view for me.
– Vic Black might be done for 2014 with a fatigued shoulder. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but all the more reason to look at Rafael in the pen. We might really need another arm or two out there next year, and do any of us really want to see the 2015 versions of Farnsworth and Valverde?
