Mack Ade – Morning Report – 6-15-13

Jim Callis‏@jimcallisBA12s - Definitely. @tpgmets: Do teams sometimes deliberately hold back signings? Curious why so patchy. (And impatient for Mets news).

The promotion of SP Rafael Montero fits perfectly into the Vegas slot that opens up when Zack Wheeler goes to Queens. There still is one too many starters in Nevada and I expect D.J. Mitchell to be released this week. Regarding Binghamton, Darin Gorski started the day he came off the DL so there is a good chance that Noah Syndergaard isn’t going to be moved up yet.

Either way, the team is now perfectly set up for a 2014 opening day rotation of Matt Harvey, Wheeler, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, and Montero.

Add to that ‘core’ players David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Travis d’Arnaud, Bobby Parnnell, Jack Leathersich, and ‘my’ core players Ruben Tejada, Ike Davis, Scott Atchison, Omar Quintanilla (UT), Justin Turner (UT), Juan Lagares (UT), and Lucas Duda… and that’s 17 down, 8 to go.

I read all about the Wally Backman stuff these past two days. I’ve mentioned before that I would name Backman my interim manager if TC was let go, but I never said I would give him the job permanently. It just wouldn’t’ work, what with his personality, his inability to keep quiet, and the noise that comes out of the Mets fans and beat press. Can you imagine Andy Martino putting his mike in front of Wally’s nose every day (BTW, why does Martino think trying to be Skip Bayliss is a good thing?). No, the Mets (especially working for the Wilpon family) needs a more polished General and Field Manager. We can only assume that Sandy Alderson will deal up Terry Collins first and I still say there will be no reason to rush naming his permanent replacement this season. As much as I’d like to see Alderson gone, he most probably won’t be and the basic organization and direction of the future will remain under Alderson’s control. You don’t need a 2014 field manager until earliest January 2014 when mini-camps start, or February when pitchers-catchers report. A quieter and more Gil Hodges-like option would be third base coach Tim Teufel, but I’d love a few months of Wally-ball in this crazy season.

From Steven Goldman -

The Mets, going nowhere in a hurry, have a veteran to deal in ol' John Buck, a free agent at the end of the season. John Buck hit 10 home runs in his first 25 games, hitting .263/.294/.611 along the way. Since then, he's hit .175/.259/.227 with one home run in 108 plate appearances, and one gets the sense his persistence in the lineup is largely due to Travis d'Arnaud being hurt. Buck isn't much of a hitter, but with .234/.301/.406 career rates, he could be an offensive upgrade for a team in even worse straits. It seems doubtful he would bring much. D'Arnaud is recovering slowly from a broken foot, but at some point in July he should make Buck's expendability a practical reality. LINK

I’m not sure what the Mets can get for Buck right now, but, the more someone writes about him, the more interest it will generate. Oh yeah, one other thing with all this youth movement in Queens. Don’t be surprised if Francisco Pena doesn’t accompany Travis d’Arnaud when he comes north. Frankie may not have the AAA reps, but his game has been remarkably solid there (.328) and his bat could be a help off the bench.

From Derek McKnight –

Would it be possible to list your opinion on the three short season team starters?

I'm curious on a GCL team with a lineup of Lupo, Rosario, and Becerra and maybe Dom Smith. Do you see Miller Diaz in Brooklyn? Do you think A. Morris and J. Urbina will ever make it to full season even as relievers?

Sure, but this is all guesswork (don’t bother to look at what is loaded on their web sites…  they are inaccurate)

Brooklyn – SPs Diaz, Darwin Frias, and John Gant… RP John Gant, Craig Missellman, David Wynn, Ernesto Yanez… 1B Matt Oberste… 2B J C Gamboa and Richie Rodriguez… SS Gavin Cecchini… C Colton Plaia… OFs Jared King, Julio Concepcion, Michael Bernal, and Jorge Rivero

Kingsport – SPs Chris Flexen, Cory Oswalt, Zack Dotson… RPs (frankly, there are around 30 guys to pick from)… 1B Jeyckol DeLeon and Jonathan Leroux, 2B Brandon Kaupe and Yeixon Ruiz, SS Anthony Chavez and Luis Guillorme… 3B Elvis Sanchez… catchers Manuel Hilario and Tomas Nido… OFs Jeff Diehl, Eris Peguero and Joe Tuschak.

GCL – SPs Andrew Church, Casey Meisner, Ricky Knapp, Lenny Rosario…RPs (undetermined)… 1B Dom Smith, 2B German Rosario, SS Ahmed Rosario, 3B Pedro Perez, catchers Adrian Abreu and Jose Garcia, OFs Wuillmer Becerra, Vincente Lupo, Patrick Bioni, and Champ Stewart.

BA Prospect Hot Sheet –

No. 11 Rafael Montero, rhp, Mets -  Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern) -  Age: 22 -  Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 SO, 1 BB - The Scoop: Montero made a spot start for Triple-A Las Vegas on May 21, but following his return to Binghamton he’s been nearly unhittable. He hasn’t allowed a run in three starts, spanning 20 innings, while opponents have collected just 11 hits in 71 at-bats (.155), while striking out 18 times and hitting zero extra-base hits. Montero’s 0.90 WHIP ranks sixth in the minors, which is no fluke given that he finished second in the minors in that category last year.

Joe –

              Mack, how important are these summer/showcase leagues?

Mack –

              Joe, in the real world of prospect baseball, these may be more important than their regular season, especially for the high school  players. You are guaranteed the opportunity to play against the best here and players (Brandon Nimmo, Sean Manaea, this year, Michael Gettys) come out of nowhere. It is obvious that the Mets draft list was highly influenced by the Cape Cod League, which just started up. Other key leagues are:

Evoshield Canes - http://canesbaseball.net/

NorCal Basebal - http://www.norcalbaseball.org/

Marucci Elite - http://maruccielite.com/

Orlando Scorpions - http://www.orlandoscorpions.com/#!home/mainPage 

Team Elite - http://www.teamelitebaseball.org/