Mack Report: - Robert Carson and the Future of First Base

The Mack Report – 10-22-10



I talked to SP Robert Carson today and he did confirm that he is still pitching in the Arizona Winter League. Hopefully, I’ll have some stats for you by the time you read this.


(update... 3 scoreless innings on Thursday...) Carson is so close to the level needed to make it in the pros and, in my opinion, all he needs to do is to work more on his control, both with the arm and inside his head. No, he doesn’t have blazing speed, but he has great movement on a fastball that sits in the 90-92 range. He throws four pitches… FB, change-up, cutter, and a curve. The change-up sits 75-80, while the curve comes in around in the mid 70s.

Sand Gnats

I’ve seen this guy pitch a lot and he reminds me of two other pitchers, Emary Frederick and Rhiner Cruz. All three of these guys, when on, cannot be hit, but they each seemed to have a second agenda when their on the mound. Cruz only pitches lights out when he’s in a closing situation, while Frederick (who has since been released) and Carson have to be in the right mood.

He was handled very badly in Savannah, in 2009, and should have been promoted to Lucy well before the season ended. Instead, they let him finish out the season with the Gnats, thus, frustration, thus, bad ending on the season.



Former minor league pitching coach Rick Waits is now gone, and I hope the replacement is a rah-rah, young, positive kind of guy that can relate more to the 21st century ballplayer. We’ll see.
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Michael G. Baron

 Every year around now (for the past five years) I break down the state of the Mets minor league system, by position. Others now do the same; however, why should I change, right?



My first position is always first base, which for three years was simply: find a backup for Carlos Delgado and be done with it. A lot of pretenders came along, led by Mike Jacobs, Mike Carp, Craig Brazell and Michel Abreu, but it wasn’t until Carlos v2.0 went down did we all start to realize that someone was needed to step up in the organization.



I’m sure some of you remember how unhappy I was with the Ike Davis pick. First of all, I never believe a baseball team should draft a first baseman in the first couple of rounds. They chronically are only playing that position because they suck as an athlete and the only thing keeping them around is their bat.



The Mets have always bought their first basemen in the past and I wasn’t that thrilled that the Mets passed on SP Gerrit Cole. As it turned out, Cole never signed with the Yankees and we all know how wrong I was about Issac.


On the surface, it looks like the Mets aren’t going to have to worry about developing a new Queens first bagger, but ya never know, what with a complete management overhaul in the making.





Mack Ade

 For now, things look rosy. Davis was one of the top rookies in the league and played his best ball in the fall. He also is a superb defender. His backups, Chris Carter and Nick Evans, both made the Queens team for their ability to pinch hit and play multiple positions.



Still, you just can’t have enough talent down on the farm, right?



For now, no one in particular is standing out, but players like Stefan Welch, Jeff Flagg, Traivs Ozga, and Alex Sanchez have showed signs of life.



Buffalo looks like the 2010 home for Marshall Hubbard, a good organizational player; but it is interesting that second base prospect Josh Satin has been playing some first base recently as well. Either way, they will back each other up so the Bisons look to be in good shape here.



Binghamton will go to Welch, who earned the bump after going (496-AB) .267/.327/.402/.729 for Lucy. I’m not sure what to make of Michael Fisher, the ex-Brave that the Mets picked up last year. He has played all four infield positions in the past, hit .277 for St. Lucie last season, and will play 2011 as a 26-year old.





Sand Gnats

 On paper, St. Lucie looks like a battle between  Ozga (.265 for the Gnats is 2010) and Luke Stewart (.255 for Kingsport); however, my money is on  Flagg (.252 for Brooklyn) staying in Florida after ST. That would send Ozga and Stewart back to Savannah. Additionally, the Mets still have to make room for Sam Honeck who went down early in Savannah after a horrendous slide.



The closest thing to a prospect would be 20-year old Alexander Sanchez (.269 for GCL), who will probably start Brooklyn.



There is no trade bait here. Right now, it’s Davis, period.



Draft wise, as I mentioned before, you just don’t waste a top draft pick for this position.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…