10/25/10

Mack Report – Brad Holt and The Future of Third Base


Brad Holt pitched against yesterday in the Arizona Winter League.


It was reported that he hit 95 in the first inning and was throwing a new cutter in the “high eighties”. It ended with three nmore scoreless innings,keeing his AWL ERA at 0.00 in three outings.



I have a theory here… I was in sales for 30+ years. One thing for certain is, when the Sales Manager is fired, it lights a fire under the ass of the sales staff and they go out and close a higher percentage of sales the next thristy days.



Don’t be surprised this isn’t a pleasant “shit or get off the pot” reaction to the loss of his guru, Rick Waits.


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Every year I do this, I get a breather when third base comes up. I mean, what am suppose to say here? Okay… let’s see… err… Zach Lutz will hit 35 home runs in the first half of Buffalo’s season, will be promoted to the Mets, who move David Wright to first base and trades Ike Davis for… nah… ain’t gonna happen.


It doesn’t matter who the General Manager or the manager is.  Wright is the face of this team as well as being the face of the ownership.

Mets:  Wright. Nick Evans stands the best chance of sticking as all the other utility players because he originally came up as a third baseman. Did you notice he played a bunch there last year before being called to Queens? He’s no dummy. But, let's not forget that, if you keep Chris Carter on the team, you don't need Evans.



Buffalo: I guess, for starters, you have to decide what you are going to do with Luis Hernandez and Mike Hessman. Remember, if Evans, Daniel Murphy, and Ruben Tejada all make the team, you have plenty of different combinations of backup infielders.Hessman proved his swing had more holes than a Dunkin Donuts franchise and, as well as Hernandez played, I still have no idea why he was called up. In my book, Lutz owns the Buffalo franchise at this position, with Hessman being the backup. This will allow Hessman also to play first base, and Hernandez could be the backup at short and third. I don’t know. Too many bodies here and I didn’t even mention Andy Green and Mike Cervenak.




mrzeising
 Binghamton: - Three players to fight it out here… the disappointing Richard Lucas, the winter ball playing ageless Jose Coronado, and Matt Bouchard.



St. Lucie: - Here’s one of those situations which, if it was an election, would be called “too close to call”. Who plays Lucy, Aderlin Rodriquez or Jefry Marte? You can’t send either one of them back to Savannah because there’s other guy there who have earned that role. In my book, there’s no race at all. Marte has not impressed me at all in the two years he has played in Savannah and Aderlin may just be the best pure hitter the organization has. Play A-Rod.



Savannah: - On paper, Brian Harrison gets this job, but both Joseph Bonfe and James Schroeder may have something to say about that in spring training.



Short teams: At least one of the three guys I mentioned in the Savannah portion will play Brooklyn. Brandon Brown and Josh Dunn will play either as a backup for the Cyclones or for K-Port.



Draft: The Mets do need to sign or draft a couple of players here.I don’t see anyone getting a visa from the DSL teams of 2010.



In summary: As we said earlier, this is David Wright Land. Zach Lutz is a great player, but he has no chance of taking this job away from Wright. Look for Lutz to be major trade bait in 2011. Now, as for Rodriquez, he will be ready, latest in 2014, and that could be an interesting situation.

3 comments:

Hobie said...

>> But, let's not forget that, if you keep Chris Carter on the team, you don't need Evans. >>

Obviously both could be trade bait, but since trades are impossible to predict, I’ll ignore that possibility for the sake of argument and claim both will be your primary PH asset (R&L). We have 2 CF in the outfield + Bay—a flexible arrangement for an R&R day here and there.

Tejada may well win the 2B job in ST hands down, but if he doesn’t, I’d rather see him play SS every day at Buff during Jose’s walk year than as a back-up MINF in Queens. That could very well go Turner (Murphy the semi-regular 2B) and someone who can fill in occasionally at SS (Hernandez? Russ Adams!).

Then the Buff infield is: Lutz, Tejada, Satin & Duda.

At Bingo there’s Campbell (you didn’t mention him. Is he headed for the OF?), Valdespin, Havens & Flores (as the non-SS-Wilmer tries to find a position in some corner). Would love Backman at Bingo to see if (1) his persona works with other than first year pros and (2) he can pound some sense into Jordany’s skull.

The rest, as you said. 111 days 'til pitchers & catchers!

Mack Ade said...

I do have Campbell in the outfield, because I have no idea what the heck they will use him as... all I do know is he can hit...

I'm going to use this post as the beginning of a Q&A involving what the new management should do about changing some Omar philosophies regarding utility players.

David Rubin said...

Hobie- I totally agree with your thoughts about Tejada, as too often, this organization destroys player development in favor of immediate need, and we all know how well THAT goes for us!! I don't think Duda will be a first baseman in AAA this season- I think that either he makes it with the big league club, is traded for a pitcher or goes back to starting in the outfield for Buffalo. Turner remains a very, very intriguing possibility for 2B next season, and is a better version of Alex Cora (younger, better hitter) who is deserving of a chance in the bigs (besides, we need the space in the middle infield at just about all levels at this point). I love Carter's bat, but he's such a mediocre (at best) fielder that Evans becomes far more valuable as a utility player. It's a shame we probably can't keep both, because there again they are both deserving of a chance at sticking in the bigs. Evans has a ton of potential still, and if his mind isn't shot from being bounced around like a ping pong ball in a Chinese Tournament, he could still be really valuable. Omar certainly has left far more questions in his wake then he's answered...