Noah shows off his stuff; time to let Matz do same
THIS was a move the Mets had to make to show they are serious.
They are in first place in mid- June, and by designating Dillon Gee for assignment Monday, they opened the door for top prospect Steven Matz to be promoted shortly fromTriple-A Las Vegas.
They are eating $ 3.2 million in salary. For the frugal Mets, that’s serious business.
Sandy Alderson is looking at getting his best players on the roster.
Line up the young arms and let them rip. And Monday night Noah Syndergaard gave his former organization, the Blue Jays, a peak of what they are missing as he set a career high with 11 Ks over six innings.
He surrendered a home run in the first to Jose Bautista, and Jeurys Familia did the same in the ninth as the Blue Jays tied the game, but the resilient Mets pushed across two runs in the 11th to win, 4- 3, on Lucas Duda’s RBI bloop single and Wilmer Flores’walk- off single to snap the bashing Blue Jays’ 11- game winning streak.
“We’re in the mix and we are trying to put the best roster we can on the field every day and give ourselves as many resources as possible, and Terry [ Collins], to win the game,’’ Alderson said.
As for Gee, Alderson noted, “We’ll see if there is interest in him from other clubs.’’
No one is going to take the money off theMets’ hands, so theMets aremaking a financial statement here.
TheMets will soon needMatz to chew up innings in the Great Innings Limit Chase.
“He’s filthy,’’ said Michael Cuddyer, who scored from first on Duda’s two- out bloop in the 11th.
“Does this represent a move up for Steven Matz? Probably,’’ Alderson said. “I’m not saying how long will it be.’’ Won’t be long. “He will be a starter when he gets here,’’ Alderson added.
Forme r GM Omar Minaya, who works for the Players Association, was at Citi Field. Under his watch, the Mets signed Matz, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Familia, Flores and other key players.
“[ Matz has] always had real good arm speed. He’s easy,” Minaya told The Post. “When we drafted him [ second round, 72nd overall in 2009,] we never thought he was going to be there. We thought he was a late first- rounder. He had late firstround stuff and when he fell to us, we were like ‘ Wow.’ ’’
As for the success of players drafted during his tenure Minaya said, “I don’t think of them as my guys. I think of them as the organization’s guys and I think Sandy and [ assistants] Paul [ DePodesta] and J. P. [ Ricciardi] have done a great job of developing these players. It’s an organizational victory.’’
Another bat is essential, but there is nothing out there right now for Alderson. He said lastweek he basically has one trade bullet andwants to make themost of it.
The Mets know they will be getting Daniel Murphy ( quad) back soon and are hopeful of having David Wright ( back) after the All- Star break. But that remains, wait and see.
Wright’s old buddy, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes, said he has textedWright.
Back in 2006, Wright and Reyes and theMets made it to Game 7 of the NLCS. They haven’t made it back to October since.
“It’s very sad to see [ Wright hurt,]” Reyes said. “He’s a great guy, a hardworker and a good friend. I wish all the best for him. Hopefully he can come back and play again the way he did it before. “They need David. He means a lot to the young guys here.’’
The Mets sure need his bat.
“I’m 32,’’ Reyes said. “I want to go to the playoffs and the World Series. I just want to have that feeling of playing in the World Series, man. Hopefully this year, we can make it to the next level.’’
The Mets are trying to do the same.
Getting the young pitching in line was a big move.
AddMatz— and maybe another bat — and there might be magic.