Mack Ade – Morning Report – 5-4-13

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.  -  Abraham Lincoln (via Chase Bradford)

Eric Simon posted an interesting fact Thursday night… ‘Brandon Nimmo is hitting .125/.176/.125 in 17 plate appearances against lefties this season’. Immediately thought of my interview in April with Brandon and the one thing he said he wanted to accomplish this year was to get more at bats against left hand pitchers. In 2012, he had a .594 OPS vs. lefties. He didn’t play again Thursday which, I believe, is the third game in a row he hasn’t played due to a hand contusion. It’s obvious that Nimmo is not a finished product, but I still feel they have something here. Frankly, I didn’t realize his numbers make him look like another Kirk Nieuwenhuis. I wonder what his high school numbers were… oh yeah… never mind



Free Agent Target – OF Hunter Pence – San Francisco – Pence is coming off a bad year (2012 – 219-AB for Giants - .219) after 5.5 productive years for Houston and Philadelphia. He did have a combined 24-HR, 104-RBI stat line last season for Philly/SF, but his BA declined from 2011. He’s also bats from the right, which, as we all know, is a big need in Queens. Will play 2014 as a 31-year old. 7-yr MLB totals: 143-HR, 531-RBI, .285/.338/.474/.812. We could do a lot worse



.Looks Like Mickey Mantle Used To Cork His Bat. Even one of the greatest hitters of all time wasn't above cheating to get a little extra bat speed. There've been allegations before that Mantle, as he got older, turned to corking his bats to get around a little quicker on those fastballs. Now we've got some hard proof. A game-used Mantle bat from 1964, which will go up for auction later this month, was x-rayed—and there's a little chunk of something illegal in the barrel. link

It will be interesting to see what the press does with this one. Will they discount the story because it came from Deadspin? The Mick. I’m old enough to have been turned down for an autograph from him, have him walk away from me without a peep, basically have smoke blown in my face, and have him roll a car window up in my face. This was one mean son of a bitch when the camera lights weren’t on and he gave Billy Martin a good run at King Yankee prick. Corking his bat?  Makes sense to me.

Bill Madden - Unfortunately, Cashman’s Mets counterpart, Sandy Alderson, applied the same “blackboard” theory to his annual bullpen problem, with the same discouraging results. Over the winter, Alderson replaced last year’s failed bullpen recruits — Miguel Batista, Manny Acosta, Ramon Ramirez and Jon Rauch — with Brandon Lyon, Greg Burke, Scott Rice and LaTroy Hawkins, and with the exception of Rice, the new corps has been equally ineffective. The Mets’ 4.87 bullpen ERA is 14th out of 15 teams in the NL. link

                I was curious to see how last year’s foursome is doing this year:

                                Miguel Batista – Colorado – 6-G, 1-2, 9.00, 2.71

                                Manny Acosta – OOB

                                Ramon Ramirez – San Fran – 8-G, 11.25, 2.13

                                Jon Rauch – Miami – 10-G, 7.30, 1.54

My Thoughts on Round 1 continue. Pics so far:

                #1 – Houston Astros – 3B/OF Kris Bryant – San Diego.

                #2 - Chicago Cubs – RHSP Mark Appel – Stanford

    #3. Colorado Rockies – RHSP Jonathan Gray – Oklahoma

    #4. Minnesota Twins – OF Clint Frazier – Loganville H.S. (GA)

    #5. Cleveland Indians – LHSP Sean Manaea – Indiana State

    #6. Miami Marlins – SS Oscar Mercado -  Gaither H.S. (FL)

Today’s picks:

7. Boston Red Sox – Draft Pool: 10 picks - $6,830,200 – 2013 Team Salary: $154,555,500 – It really doesn’t matter if you need another catcher. The fact is there just isn’t 30 great ones n the game and when someone comes along like this, you have to scoop him up. This is a no-brainer for Boston – C Jonathan Denney – Yukon H.S.

8. Kansas City Royals – Draft Pool: 11 picks - $8,290,700 – 2013 Team Salary: $ 81,871,725 – This player was considered the top pick in the draft early on and, though he has dropped in the mock polls, he won’t get past the Royals. Another future star outfielder out of Georgia – OF Austin Meadows – Grayson H.S. (GA)

9. Pittsburgh Pirates – Draft Pool: 11 picks - $8,884,600 – 2013 Team Salary: $ 66,805,000 – The Pirates simply can’t compete in the baseball world, so this is the only place they can shine. They failed to sign Mark Appel last year but it wasn’t because they didn’t offer him enough money. They went big time with their first three picks in 2011 (Gerrit Cole, Josh Bell, Alex Dickerson) nd they’ll do it again with their two picks in the first round – RHSP Ryne Stanek – Arkansas

10. Toronto Blue Jays – Draft Pool: 10 picks - $6,398,200 – 2013 Team Salary: $119,277,800 – It seemed to me that Toronto did everything they could to NOT draft any prospects last year. I know, I’m exaggerating. There was Marcus Stroman (1st  rd.), Matt Smoral (1st), and Anthony Alford (3rd). They had four first round picks and frankly, dumbed up the proceedings which could have been a day this team solidified their future for ten years. D.J. Davis with the 17th overall pick? Mitch Nay (who?) at 58? Now, rumors have started that the Blue Jays will be sellers come the all-star break, which is all the more reason to shit-can their 2012 draft philosophy and go big pick this time. – 3B Collin Moran – North Carolina

There are your top 10 picks, ATM (according to Mack).

Tomorrow… the Mets pick.