Mack Stuff – Las Vegas, Mets Organization All-Stars, Brian Wilson, $100mil, RA Dickey

Ted Quarters http://tedquarters.net/words/doing-right-by-the-people-of-las-vegas/) pointed out an interesting fact about the guys recently signed by the Mets:

The other mildly (or not at all) interesting thing about the signings is that every guy besides Mesa has recent experience in the Pacific Coast League, home to the Mets’ new Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. Bixler, Hicks, Recker, Rice and Torres all spent some time in the PCL in 2012, and Burke and Hoffman both played there from 2009-2011. That could easily be a coincidence: Most of these guys, after all, have been bouncing around Triple-A for a few years, and half the Triple-A teams play in the Pacific Coast League. Or they could all have come to the organization on the recommendation of one particularly adamant West Coast scout. Or it could be that Sandy Alderson and the SABRos feel there’s some value in bringing in guys who understand the particulars of PCL play — the light air, the hard ground, the massive offensive output — to a Triple-A club set to feature some prized prospects with only International League experience on their resumes.

A very interesting point taken. We all remember the horrible teams fielded in 2011 and 2012 in Buffalo. Granted, there were multiple early injuries that forced players to be prematurely sent to Queens, but still, they were weak teams in a city that was used to past success.

Las Vegas will only have two true prospects, SP Zack Wheeler and 3B Wilmer Flores. Others, like SP Darin Gorski, 2B Reese Havens, C Juan Centeno, and RP Armondo Rodriguez could blossom, but adding seasoned AAA players that have a history in playing in this air can’t hurt.

I like the way Quarters thinks.

Robert Emrich http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121112&content_id=40262694&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb wrote a very interesting ‘Mets Organization All-Stars’ article, breaking out the top player position wise in 2012. Visit the site for the details, but the ‘team’ was:

Catcher -- Camden Maron, Savannah (93 games):

First base -- Josh Satin, Buffalo (131 games), New York (one game):

Second base -- Alonzo Harris, St. Lucie (116 games):

Shortstop -- T.J. Rivera, Savannah (64 games), St. Lucie (66 games):

Third base -- Wilmer Flores, St. Lucie (64 games), Binghamton (66 games):

Utility -- Aderlin Rodriguez, Savannah (83 games), St. Lucie (42 games):

Outfielders

Cory Vaughn, St. Lucie (126 games):

Fred Lewis, Buffalo (108 games), New York (18 games):

Matt den Dekker, Binghamton (58 games), Buffalo (77 games):

Right-handed starting pitcher -- Zack Wheeler, Binghamton (19 games), Buffalo (six starts):

Honorable mention -- Rafael Montero, Savannah (12 games), St. Lucie (eight games):

Left-handed starting pitcher -- Darin Gorski, Binghamton (25 games):

Relief pitcher Adam Kolarek , St. Lucie (44 games), Binghamton (six games):

Matt Tuiasosopo has signed a MILB deal with the Tigers

Jeff Keppinger suffered broken fibula at home… the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Rays were all interested in him before the break

Francisco Pena hit his 3rd Home Run of the Dominican Winter League season

It you ever had any doubt about this sport becoming a business, go read one of the stories coming out of San Francisco that RP Brian Wilson is going to be non-tendered. The dud has put up 171-saves since 2006 and has represented the team in three all-star games (not mention the 100 or so commercials), but none of this means anything if you’re coming off TJS and you have to be paid $6.8mil to be invited back. Think Mike Pelfrey here and expect the Giants to try and sign him to a short-end contract with a bunch of performance incentives, but it’s amazing how quickly the Giants now fall in this game business. Word is Wilson has no desire to do this so we’ll have to wait a see another week how this pans out.

The Mets made a 6-year, $100mil offer to David Wright, which matches the terms of the Ryan Zimmerman and Evan Longoria extensions. This seems reasonable on the surface, but it won’t be enough to close the deal. My guess is we’re getting down to the short hairs here and Wright will counter with what might be the end of this mess.

Marc Carig‏ - @MarcCarig -  Dickey says Mets have given him a formal offer and he has countered. Waiting to hear back. Says he didn't expect pace of talks to be slow.

                                -sounds like Alderson is past the turkey dinner and wants all this done by Christmas… stay tuned.