Mack’s Morning Report – 11-20-13 – Jay Z, Posting, 1B, Jhonny Peralta, Ruben Tejada, Brandon Allen

 

LaTroy Hawkins ‏@LaTroyHawkins32  -  Thanks to the #Mets organization and there great fans for the opportunity to pitch in a such a great city

 

I woke up Wednesday with the news that Sandy Alderson met Monday night with Jay Z over the possibility of signing Robinson Cano (no, I didn’t say Curtis Granderson). Was he just in the neighborhood and thought he’d stop by? And what’s next, Eminem representing Mike Piazza over his number retirement? This has got to be so embarrassing, even for Alderson, who has seen his share of shady reps in this business. I would love to know when this meeting was scheduled (update – Cano’s people called for meeting). Was it something already on the calendar or did it happen after losing Latroy Hawkins to Colorado? It’s no big secret that Alderson would like to get one signing down so that both #MetsTwitter and the beat press would get off his ass. We’ll see how the day develops.

 

RP Joel Carreno’s winter stats so far: 2.16 ERA, 8.1 IP, 11 K, 2 BB

 

Japan wants to come back to the table and put back in place the posting system for players that want to play baseball in the United States. This never made any sense to me. I remember trying to do the math when Boston had to pay a $51.1million dollar fee for Daisuke Matsuzaka. This allowed the Red Sox the ‘privilege’ of giving Dice another $52mil over 6-years as his own contract. These are the kind of things that prevent me from feeling any sympathy for the baseball owners in this game. All it would take is one simple unanimous vote at the GM/Owners meeting and Japan could take this policy and put it where the sun never sets.

 

There’s one more thing I want to say about the David-Duda debate and first base… this is the only position where bad defensive ballplayers can earn a living in major league baseball. DH is not a position. It is something the American League invented so they can have two bad defensive players in their lineup every game. This being said, there is no 2013 New York Met more suited for first base than… Wilmer Flores. The kid (he will play 2014 as a 22-yr. old!) has a lifetime .290 minor league batting average and hit .321, 15-HR, 86-RBI in AAA in 2011. No one would be debating this move if he had been plying first base for the past three or four years, but instead, the Mets kept him at either shortstop or third base hoping things would get better. They didn’t and they won’t, but his ability to drive in runs lines up perfectly with the four years needed for top prospect Dominic Smith to mature.

Listen guys… you’re taking all these telephone calls on Duda and Davis. One thought might be to trade both, and have Josh Satin and Daniel Murphy spell Flores at first. I’m just saying…

 

Johnny Peralta –

We touched on Perlata a bit in our preview of the third base market, stating that:

Before a 50-game PED suspension last year, Peralta was on his way to the best season of his career, hitting .303/.358/.457 (good for a 123 wRC+) with 11 home runs in just over 100 games. While he's not the prototypical bopper some think of at third, he has a career .152 isolated power and health permitting he should hit 15-20 home runs next year. In the field he's not a plus defender by any stretch, but the defensive metrics have pegged him between slightly below average and slightly above average over the past three seasons.

Some may actually prefer Peralta to Drew, citing more power, a stronger track record of health, and no draft pick compensation, but I'd rather have the former Boston shortstop given the choice. Drew is younger and when both are at their best he's the much better defensive player. He also draws more walks, and Peralta's perceived advantage in power is just that -- perception -- as the two have isolated power figures of .158 and .160 respectively over the past three years. Regardless, both are miles ahead of anyone else freely available and there should be several teams interested in each of them. With question marks at both third base and shortstop, the New York Yankees seem like the perfect match for Peralta, especially on say a three-year, $$36 million deal. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2013/11/19/5120862/stephen-drew-free-agent-mlb-trade-rumors-jhonny-peralta-shortstops

 

Ruben Tejada

 One day short of a season

 Yes, a bad season 

Ruben Tejada

 Fell one home run short of one

 He shouldn’t complain 

Ruben Tejada

 Should hope he is still playing

 In 2016

Or 2014

 His season was terrible

 How can he fight this?

Ruben Tejada

 At least they called you back up!

 You cost them a win

Or a third of one

 Depending on which site’s WAR

 Can’t we all agree?

Ruben Tejada

 If you file a grievance

 I think you may win

But really you’ll lose

 Because no one will sign you

 Not that they ought to

Ruben Tejada

 Why did your walk rate collapse?

 This is the last poem

Wait — How you say poem?

 It’s one syllable, or two?

 Whatever, I’m done.   -   http://www.fangraphs.com/not/haiku-about-ruben-tejada-and-service-time-manipulations/

 

Brendon Allen –

            Just what does the Mets have against 1B Allan Dykstra? The Mets signed 27-yr. old Brendon Allen to, I assume, play 1B in Las Vegas. Didn’t Dykstra just hit 21-HRs and drive in 82 runs in Binghamton last year. Isn’t he also hitting .395 in winter ball right now? And wasn’t 2012 a repeat year at the AA-level? Won’t Dykstra also play 2014 at 27-yrs old? Doesn’t all this add to the ‘glut’? I’m confused.