The Mack Attack - 1-8-9

The Future of the Mets – Catching

Probably the biggest draft and international signing failure in the system. The Mets have developed one major league catcher in the past five years and they let him go in the Rule V draft a few years ago (Jesus Flores). Four current Met catchers in the system show some promise. Francisco Pena has excited no one in his first two seasons at Savannah, but the boy will play this year at 19 years old, so there is still time. Josh Thole is anon-prospect kind of player that continues to turn in prospect-type numbers, while Dock Doyle had a nice initial season in Brooklyn. The wild card is Tyler Howe, who barely got his feet wet in 2008 for GCL (36 at bats), but turned in 5 doubles, 6 RBIs, and stats of .306/.444/.444/.888.

The rest are fill ins.

AAA - Mike Nickeas, Gustavo Molina, Robinson Cancel, and Rene Rivera

AA - Thole, Rafael Arroyo, and Jason JacobsA+ - Doc Doyle, Luis Allen, Jordan Abruzzo, and Sean McCraw

A - Pena, Ralph Henriquez, and Tony Macanni

Low-A - Cesar Cordido and Jean Luc Blaquiere

K-Port: - Howe, Juan Centeno, and Kai Gronauer

GCL - Juan Martinez and Orlando Rodriquez

It’s my opinion after doing this for a number of years, is the Mets have an uncanny ability to draft catchers that hit .188. This just might be apposition they should never draft from again. Just sign someone that has already played well for some other major league team and leave it at that. Potentially the 8th hitter in the Mets lineup for the next century.

MLB – NY Mets:

Ken Davidoff: - While the Mets believe they've significantly upgraded their bullpen by adding Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz, they'll nevertheless send a scout to California to watch free agent Chad Cordero throw tomorrow. Cordero, who will turn 27 in March, underwent right shoulder surgery last July. Minaya, while general manager of the Expos, selected Cordero in the first round of the 2003 amateur draft, and Cordero served as a successful closer from the middle of 2004 until his injury slowed him down. Arizona, Detroit, Milwaukee and Texas are among the teams that will join the Mets at the Cordero workout.RP Pedro Feliciano will play for the Puero Rico team in the WBC.

Mike Newman on: - Francisco Rodriguez: With nowhere to go but down after a 62 save season, K-Rod will likely be the first closer off of the board in many fantasy drafts. However, with the Mets potent, but streaky offense, will K-Rod have anywhere near the same amount of save opportunities as with Anaheim? As a K-Rod owner, I doubt it. While still a relative lock for 35-plus saves if healthy, Rodriguez will continue to be a premiere source for saves, but may wind up finishing just outside of the top five closers statistically. Remember, one of the first rules of thumb in fantasy baseball is to not pay big dollars for saves with the closer role being so volatile by nature. Overall, the real Mets are much similar to the fantasy baseball Mets as player roles and expections are pretty well defined. With Jon Niese and Daniel Murphy not expected to be fantasy baseball factors and no true talents coming off of major injury, the Mets regulars make up a solid, but unspectacular bunch unless you are an owner of Reyes, Wright, Santana, or Beltran. Just remember, “homers” don’t win fantasy leagues (and I don’t mean home runs!) If you play fantasy baseball, leave your Mets fandom at the door! Just three years ago, I had the second pick in my own dynasty keeper league and nabbed Albert Pujols after a Mets homer tabbed Pedro Martinez with the top overall pick. Don’t be THAT guy!

From MLBTR: - Mike Fitzpatrick of the Associated Press reports the Mets have made an offer to Tim Redding and are readying one for Randy Wolf. The Mets need two starters and are also looking at Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez to fill out their rotation. No details on the offer to Redding. Fitzpatrick cites an unnamed source. In 2008, Redding won 10 games for a team that didn't win 60, finishing with a 4.95 ERA and in 33 starts and 182 IP. In November he had foot surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training.

Hardball Times on CitiField: - Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, is poised to become MLB's new Grand Canyon. City Field is a vast, cool weather, sea-level stadium, and those factors will have a hugely negative impact on home runs. Johan Santana and the rest of the Mets pitching staff will like the new park, but the Mets' front office should sign their power hitters now, before the word gets out. In spring 2009, baseball fans are going to get a live demonstration of what happens when a team sets out to design a pitcher's park, and overdoes it.

Fan Graphs on A-type SPs and where Oliver Perez fits: - Oliver Perez seems to be the odd man out of this group, not just because he is the only pitcher of the four under 30 years old, but also because he projects to be worth under three wins. Using FIP, Perez looks like a 4.60 pitcher in 180 innings. This would deem him +1.6 wins. Even if we amend the FIP to be closer to his projected ERA of 4.30, he is merely average, at +2.1 wins. Perez is not anywhere in the vicinity of Sandy Koufax, as Scott Boras has claimed, but he does have value. A 3-yr/$28 mil deal would make sense for Ollie, though I can see that deal upping itself to 3-yr/$36 mil when Lowe inevitably signs his 3-yr/$45 mil contract.

Associated Press: - Still looking to fill out the rotation, the New York Mets are ready to make their push for a proven starting pitcher. Mets executives set up a face-to-face meeting Wednesday with agent Scott Boras to talk about two of his free-agent clients: right-hander Derek Lowe and lefty Oliver Perez. The team is interested in both pitchers, and Boras was in the Big Apple for Mark Teixeira's news conference Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The Mets have offered Lowe a contract worth about $36 million over three years. The club also has had discussions with Boras on the parameters of a potential deal for Perez, who spent the past two seasons in New York's rotation. "In my discussions with teams, I don't really talk about offers that I have received and not received," Boras said at Yankee Stadium. "I read about these things, but I don't really acknowledge them." Lowe and Perez aren't the only free-agent starters that interest the Mets. New York extended an offer to Tim Redding and is close to making an offer to Randy Wolf, according to a person familiar with the talks.

From MLB.com: - In one of his final acts as President, George W. Bush on Tuesday named Mets general manager Omar Minaya to his Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for a term spanning the next 16 months. The council is an advisory committee of volunteer citizens who advise the President about physical activity, fitness and sports. Through its programs and partnerships with public, private and non-profit organizations, the council serves as a catalyst to promote health and fitness through participation in physical activity and sports.

A – Gnats: The Sand Gnats are also pleased to announce that R.C. Reuteman will be joining the team in the newly created role of Team President. With over 37 years devoted to baseball, Reuteman brings to the Sand Gnats a wealth of experience and a tremendous track record of success, having twice been honored as Minor League Baseball’s Executive of the Year. The Sand Gnats will not be Reuteman’s first experience in the New York Mets farm system. He spent seven years as Assistant General Manager of the Mets Triple-A team in Tidewater (Norfolk, Va.) from 1984 through 1991, served as the Vice-President and General Manager of the Mets Double-A franchise in Binghamton, N.Y. from 1991 through 2000 and was chosen to lead the launch of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ record-setting New York Penn League affiliate.

From Baseball America: - Even some of the best athletes in the world have their limitations to how much they can improve, and in baseball that might be especially true at a position as physically demanding as catcher. Certain aspects of catching—agility, footwork, hands, body control—can improve to various degrees, but scouts say that there’s a limit to how much room for growth they feel comfortable projecting a player in different areas. A 19-year-old catcher with a 40 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale might be able to improve his arm strength a tick or two, but he’ll almost never develop a 70 arm. A big, lumbering young catcher might be able to make some strides with his lateral mobility, but he probably won’t get much more agile with age… of the 54 prospect catcher’s ranked for their defensive skills, C Francisco Pena ranks 52nd and Josh Thole ranks 22nd.

Alumni:

Guasave 7, Hermosillo 2 - Francisco Mendez hit a three-run homer and Cristhian Presichi singled twice and scored twice as the Algodoneros stayed alive in their first-round series. Wilton Chavez pitched six innings and combined with two relievers on a seven-hitter for Guasave, which trails, 3-2. Former Major Leaguer Karim Garcia chipped in two hits, including a solo homer, for Hermosillo

C Vance Wilson has signed a minor league contract with the Royals

Mack
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