Mack Ade – Morning Report – 10-11-13 – First Base, Colorado, David Price, Johan Santana, AFL

Andy Martino –

                “Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores and Josh Satin are a flawed group, but there are enough of them to push the Mets into using their resources for other positions.” - http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/2013/10/why-ny-mets-dont-expect-to-pursue-robinson-cano-jose-abreu-and-why-thats-w-0

Mack – This was the last line of Martino’s ‘Insider’ report on Wednesday evening. I’m not the biggest fan of Martino, but I agree with him here, other than the fact that I would take a legitimate run at Mike Napoli in the $13mil, 3/yr. range. If he can get more, fine, let him seek employment elsewhere. I still would like to find a way of getting Flores at least 300 at-bats in a platoon with either Duda or Davis. Frankly, you have to let the other two seek a future with a different club. You can’t carry four first basemen.

A couple of things that could develop here:

                First of all, a couple of them did play other positions but the majority of their games were on first base and their combined 2013 stats were 28 home runs and 96 runs batted in.

                There could be some off-season interest in Flores, even though he under-impressed when he was promoted to Flushing. Insiders liked the way he had the knack of driving in runs even though he wasn’t producing the overall stat line they had hoped for. Then, he came up lame and basically the season was over for him.

                The other scenario is what if Duda or Davis start the season off hot? Do you shit can the platoon?

All of this will make  lot more sense once Napoli signs somewhere. It definitely will if that somewhere is… here.

 

More Martino -

Ten years, $305 million (Cano)? When Alderson heard about his request from the Yankees, he must have said "no thanks" in considerably less time than it takes Cano to jog to first base. We're talking about a GM who wrestled with the decision to give face of the franchise David Wright an eight-year deal. People who know Alderson well say that was a tough commitment for him to make, even to a player he likes. So don't expect him to play that game with some other franchise's guy, sources say.

                Mack – Let’s understand something. Sandy Alderson hates long term deals. The Wright deal came down from the Wilpons and wasn’t his idea. He signed off on it because his bosses wanted it done.

                There is no way anyone is going to get a 5-year deal out of this guy… if… he really is in change, and right now, I believe he is. The front office believes that, with an assit by Omar Minaya, they have solved the long term pitching situation with this team. They will slot in selective free agents if and when players like Matt Harvey go under the knife.

                They also believe that their pitching almost got them to the playoff, even with the rag-tag group they put on the field. Yes, they need to replace the loss of Marlon Byrd, but I’m sure you will see at least three new every day field players to join Wright and Travis d’Arnaud.

                But, forget your five year contracts. They aren’t happening.

 

Colorado –

                Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort said that he will not consider trading either SS Troy Tulowizki or OF Carlos Gonzalez.

Mack – In fact, he said he plans on spending more money for another big bat. I’m sort of happy about this. I never expected the Mets to be able to make a deal for either of these guys and, if you have to have them on a National League team, it might as well be a bad one.

The bad news is we probably just lost about 25% of the comments that will be listed on my site, but it seems like our best bet right now would be either Carlos Beltran or Marlon Byrd, or both.

 

David Price –

                David Price told reporters Wednesday night that he expects to be traded by the Rays this offseason.

                                Mack – I know we discussed Price before, but let me remind you just how bad things are financially in Tampa Bay. This team has less attendance than Miami. Do you know how hard that is to do? The city of Tampa Bay simply doesn’t support this team and the owners can not afford to stock their 40-man with anybody but pre-arbitration eligible prospects. The team that secures Price through a trade will be the team that offers the most talented young and cheap players, not established starts. Tampa Bay also has a shit load of players hitting free agency including three other pitchers. Look, make the phone call. Offer Rafael Montero, Jeremy Hefner, Wilmer Flores, and Jordany Valdespin. What do you have to lose? They may not hang up and just say, no, take out Valdespin and “add in Juan Lagares and you got a deal”.

 

                                Johan Santana -

Everybody knows that Johan Santana missed the entire 2013 MLB season due to surgery on his throwing elbow, the second time he’s had that procedure done on the same arm. All signs are pointing to the New York Mets buying out the rest of his contract, which would be a $5.5 million buyout. Even after the buyout, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said he would “possibly” look to sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner on the cheap. http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/10/10/even-if-johan-santana-comes-back-to-the-new-york-mets-how-effective-is-he-going-to-be/?0sMtcepG3ZdaRRyW.99

Mack – First of all, define cheap. Would Santana give the Mets a home team discount and sign for $5mil more than the buyout, $10mil for one season? And exactly what would be Santana’s incentive to sign for only one season?

This is a first class gentleman who fully understands that the Mets paid him $25,000,000 to basically eat at Duffy’s last season, but he’s always been a ‘business only’ kind of guy a la Carlos Beltran.

I will tell you this… if his arm isn’t heals, Alderson will know about it. That’s not Santana’s act. He’ll be up front about his health.

If I could only crystal ball this and know that the Mets could get two quality years from this guy, just imagine the 2015 rotation.

 

AFL –

                The Mets had big hopes that OF Cory Vaughn could draw a line in the sand and begin to stat out in the Arizona Fall League. So far, he is 0-9 in the first two games, has one error, two strikeouts, and was benched for game three. 3B Aderlin Rodriquez has also started off hitless, going 0-7 through Thursday. Only Cam Maron has produced a hit, going 1-3 in Thursday’s loss.RP Cody Satterwhite earned the save in game one after a scoreless ninth inning. (Satterwhite was signed by the Mets after being released by the Detroit Tigers. He has suffered multiple years of shoulder problems and has, at time, watched his velocity go from the mid-90s to low-80s. He signed on with Indy Sioux City Explorers where he pitched in 19-games, 2-1, 0.65-ERA, 27.2-IP, 31-K, 7-BB. His overall minor league affiliated ball stat line is: 4-yrs, 6-8, 3.44, 1.55, 102-IP, 109-K, 66-BB. This looks like a quality sign and watch for the 26-yr. old to move on to Binghamton next season.)He pitched another scoreless inning on Thursday. In addition, fellow reliever, Chason Bradford has pitched 0.1 inning of scoreless ball.