1-30-13 – Darin Gorski, Bobby V, Michael Bourn, The Latin Elephant

IF Ronny Cedeno signs a 1-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Noah Syndergaard‏ @Noahsyndergaard - Today I attempted a knuckle ball... It was not pretty

Rob Castellano -

LHP Darin Gorski - After a breakout 2011 in the High-A St. Lucie rotation (2.08 ERA), the 25-year-old struggled against more age-appropriate competition at Double-A in 2012 (4.00 ERA). He doesn't feature an overpowering fastball or much of a jaw-dropping repertoire, but his change-up is more often than not a plus offering. He'll have to take a big step forward to reach his ceiling as a back-end starter; however all signs point to a Spring Training audition for the second LOOGY role. And with a markedly better resume against lefties since 2011 (.193 opponent average) he's got a fair shot against the crop of journeymen the club will be looking at this March

I don’t remember who said that Gorski was going to be used as a LOOGY in ST next month. I think it was TC and I remember thinking how cute that was. I think his chance of this happening has now diminished with Pedro Feliciano coming to camp and I know Robert Carson has a different plan here. Gorski had a magical season in 2011, so may do at the A/A+ level, but I just don’t see the ‘stuff’ here for, first, a LOOGY role in the majors, or, a starting role in the majors. There will be nine pitchers battling it out for the five starting slots in Las Vegas. Gorski deserves one and I hope he gets it.

NYDN

The possibility exists. MLB sources say SportsNet New York brass has reached out to Bobby Valentine to discuss a possible studio role on Mets telecasts. Valentine, who managed the Mets (1996-2002), would be featured on about 20 games, mostly marquee matchups like the Subway Series. He would be seen on SNY’s new pre-pregame show. Valentine would also fill in for Bobby Ojeda, SNY’s No. 1 studio analyst, on his off days. Sources said the fact SNY execs have already contacted Valentine means the Mets organization has approved the idea of giving their controversial former manager a TV platform

I was in broadcasting for 32-years. Bobby Valentine was made for the microphone and television camera. A move like this would make so much sense and I bet even Valentine has learned he needs to play the game a little more conservative. Anything he did along with Ojeda would be Mets magic and could turn SNY into the most watched local New York sports channel.

Joel Sherman

Keep in mind Boras is the King of The Opt Out (think Alex Rodriguez, J.D. Drew and Rafael Soriano). So it is possible, for example, Bourn could trade length of contract — perhaps accepting three years — in exchange for being able to opt out and re-enter the free-agent market a year from now if he desires. The Mets could be amenable to that, determining Bourn could help them in 2013, give them another season to incubate a center fielder such as Matt Den Dekker and — should Bourn opt out — provide the Mets the chance to tender him a contract and recoup a June 2014 second-round draft choice if he were to sign elsewhere.

                              It was interesting that Sandy Alderson did fly down to Houston and have dinner with Bourn and his agent. That was the right thing to do. I really don’t care who plays CF for the Mets in 2013. My concern is 2014 and beyond. At this point, my “current” future outfield is LF Lucas Duda, CF Matt den Dekker, and RF Kirk Nieuwenhuis. The quicker you play them, the sooner we’ll know what we have.

Regarding the new reports on illegal use of drugs out of a Miami clinic… is anyone going to mention the Latin elephant in the room? It is obvious that the vast majority of ballplayers caught cheating are Latin. And, let’ remember this… you’re not suspended the first time you test positive, so, you have to be stupid to take the drug, get caught, and then be more stupid and take it again. Anyway, the one thing on this particular story is most of the players named seem to live in South Florida during the off-season, but once again, Latin surname after Latin  surname. Carlos Gomez (the scout) told me once that there is a lot of pressure in countries like the Domincan Republic to follow in the footsteps of players like Alex Rodriquez and Pedro Martinez. Jose Reyes’ brother told me that the primary reason many Latin players can’t wait for free agency is this is when they will receive the kind of money needed to take care of all the members of their immediate family. The natural body size just isn’t there and a specimen like A-Rod is the exception to the rule. ‘Buscons’ have been the sports worst enemy, telling these kids that they never will make it to the States without doing whatever it takes to build up strength and muscle. Sadly, this may start as bad people around innocent kids.