Mack Ade – Morning Report – 6-3-13

What a weekend after the high of the Yankees. This one is hard to take at all levels, but I especially thought that TC made some bad decisions this weekend.

I'm going to keep the wild card race up on site (right side), but I will take it down if things start to become embarassing.

Swept by the Marlins. Wow.

Checking up on…

AAA – 2B Reese Havens – Havens has been placed on the DL again with recurring back problems. This is just one in a series of health issues that have prevented him from ever achieving the potential he had when the Mets drafted him in the first round in 2008. Havens was playing sporadically for Las Vegas, hitting .237 in 37 games. This is his 6^th year in the organization and my guess is both he, his agent, and the Mets will cut fish at the end of this season. I thought this guy was going to be something special and, frankly, at this point, I hope he just stays on the DL, works out in Florida, and quietly goes away. I wish him well, but he is not the answer to any problems the Mets have right now and there is a good chance that the current Met that is playing second base will be on the all-star team. Team wise, this is the second infielder (Omar Quintanilla) lost in the last week. Eric Campbell and Josh Satin play both 1B and 2B, Wilmer Flores (out for inflammation after being hit in hand – no DL) is the starting 2Bman. Brandon Hicks and Rylan Sandoval play short and Campbell slides over to 3B.

A+ - OF – Travis Taijeron – Taijeron has always been a streaky hitter during his short professional career and he particularly got off to a slow start (.228 – April) this season. He’s currently hitting .295 which was bolstered with a 10-day stat line of: .417/.410/.639/1.049 (no, I have no idea how your on-base percentage can be lower than your batting average). Travis is also one of the few members of the Mets organization that offers power potential. He hit 19 home runs last season for Savannah and St. Lucie combined. This year, he’s got five in 50 at-bats. Let’s see… 500 at-bats… hmm. (update since writing this... 3 more home runs on Sunday!!!)


A+ - SP - Luis Mateo - Mateo got back on the horse yesterday and the horse didn't like it. He gave up four runs in the first inning he pitched, which included four hits and one walk (2-K). The good news is he's off the DL. Let's give him some time to get his legs back.


A - SP - Gabriel Ynoa - What we have here is an old fashioned nine inning complete game. Stat line for this gem: 9.0-IP, 5-H, 1-R, 4-K, 0-BB. Seasonal ERA down to 2.87 and I expect he will follow Rainy Lara to St. Lucie very soon (10 starts now). 

From Gary Seagren -

Good morning Mack, Ah our New York Mets and what a sad turn around after such an exhilarating 5 game win streak and 4 of those against the Evil Empire no less. So now what do we do Mr. Alderson? Well for starters can we please stop the Wheeler nonsense and bring Zach up already. Holding him back at this point only goes to prove the late N.Y. Giant GM George Young's theory that "whenever they say it's not about the money.......then it's definitely about the money because what other reason besides the super 2 issue would still have him in Vegas? After that lets bring up Josh Satin and send Ike Davis down because it's becoming more like that movie Groundhog Day where we keep reliving the same day over and over so let’s stop the insanity and do it  already because he will survive and maybe even thrive in Vegas and if not then we'll really know what kind of player he is. Speaking of Davis I heard Peter Gammons on Fransessa's show the other day and he mentioned the sorry state of the Royals and the disappointing Hosmer as a trade possibility and wondered what you thought of him like in a package with Gordon who you mentioned a while ago? I read Madden's piece in the Daily news and totally agree with him. If we've learned anything in the past 40 years of free agency it's that "buyer beware". Sandy was brought in to hold the fort until we can get beyond those terrible free agent contract's and now that we're almost there don't tease ( Freddy can u hear me) us with the thought that we have $$$ to spend when there's only one free agent that's MAYBE worth it in Choo.  Please stay the course and if there's one thing we learned from the Yankee series (agreeing with our talk Mack) like Keith says: baseball hasn't really changed because it's still about pitching, defense and timely hitting so continue to draft pitching much to the dismay of many because that's the most tradable commodity in baseball. Think of it this way: if we had used that theory we could have picked Jose Fernandez instead of Nimmo in 2011 and Michael Wacha over Cecchini last year. Can you even imagine a rotation of Harvey, Wheeler, Fernandez, Wacha, and Niese? O.K. Slap me and I'll wake up LOL. Have a great day, Gary Seagren

Mack – Okay, lot’s to cover here and, in no particular order:

-No one had Jose Fernandez as an early or mid-1^st round pick. He’s a complete surprise at this level, this quickly, and even the Mets can’t be faulted for not picking him. Applaud the scout in Florida that convinced the Marlins to go this pick.

-additionally, Wacha was a late first to mid-second round pick by most draft pundits. The Mets were supposed to go outfield here and most ‘experts’ had Courtney Hawkins as the Mets pick. I did too. So did Courtney after his private tryout at CitiField. Them they brought in Cecchini which made no sense until I got a firsthand look at Phillip Evans this year. Nice kid, but is hitting below .200 and plays shortstop like Wilmer Flores did. Obviously, the Mets realized that they still needed to work on replacing Jose Reyes and, though Cecchini still hasn’t hit a pitch this year, we’re going to have to wait a few years to see if this pick was worth it.

-the point you need to stretch is the fact that the Mets spend no time on drafting players that can work their way through the minors in yes than 2.5 years. That’s the kind of players the Mets need to start drafting.       

-regarding Zack Wheeler, I can’t see the Mets giving in to your request this deep into the Super 2 mess. You’re going to have to wait until around June 10-15^th.

 -you're not going to get your wish re: Ike Davis. He 3-10 and coming out of his slump. His home run Sunday was a tape measure job to deep center. The confidence is back and, coupled with the natural ability, he will rebound and end the season hitting around .250.

-yes, I expect the Mets to sign Choo, who has said he would love to play in front of the NYC Korean born fans of the Mets. I also think the Mets will sign a top pitcher. They are not going to wait for their kids to mature. The 2014 rotation looks very close to being one of the best in baseball; however, the best of what’s left in the Mets organization (Tapia, Mateo) are not going to be ready. However, put someone like Matt Garza in between Harvey, Neise, Wheeler, and Montero and you’re in a position to immediately trade a blue chipper like Dillon Gee as well some of the kids down on the farm. That’s how you get the Joc Peterson’s in this league.

-Lastly, turn the TV off for four out of the five games played for the rest of the season, even if Wheeler comes up. I don’t expect much from him until next year anyway. Just put it on when Harvey pitches and enjoy it. Past that, watch Game of Thrones.