Mack’s Morning Report – 1-28-14 – 2014, Bud Selig, Miguel Socolovich, Jeurys Familia, Kevin Gregg

Later today –

            11am – Herb G – The Mets Are Not Finished – Jeff Wilpon

2pm - Matt Gad – The Battle For the New Utility Man

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Jared Diamond ‏@jareddiamond -  For the record: Steamer projects 24 HR from Granderson in 2014. Oliver projects 19. Marlon Byrd hit 21 for the Mets before September… That said, I do believe that the Mets are better than 2013. But I wouldn't rest your hopes on finishing above .500. They won 74 last year.

Jim Callis - Wilmer Flores, INF, Mets. Yes, he can hit, but he lacks a defensive home and still has to prove he has the pop to be a regular at first base or left field, his most likely destinations.

Jim Callis - Dominic Smith, 1B, Mets. My gut keeps telling me that he, and not the Astros’ Jonathan Singleton, is the game’s best first-base prospect (though Singleton obviously has a much longer track record of success).

Matt asked –

Hey Mack, I read your prediction over the weekend. Is that the best you could come up with?

Mack - Matt, I’m not in control of the players the Mets put out on the field and, as I said in that post, I can’t stand here and predict someone is going to hit somewhere between 50-100 points higher than they did last year.

Yes, I think Ike Davis, Chrs Young Jr., Ruben Tejada, and Travis d’Arnaud will have a better year in 2014, but ‘on paper’ they stunk up the joint last year.

Remember, ‘on paper’ is what has been done, not what you wish was done.

Right now, this is, at best, a third place team.

Bud Selig –

Yet worries are beginning to mount, because Selig's retirement is converging with several other forces that could mean trouble over the horizon:

• Mounting tension between large-market and small-market clubs over mammoth local TV deals, new draft rules and issues such as the Japanese posting system.

• The tragic death of Michael Weiner and what that portends for the future of the players' union.

• The timing of the next labor talks, and concerns over how differently they might proceed without Selig than they might if he remains in the job to remind everyone of the irreparable damage that previous work stoppages have inflicted. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10349245/bud-selig-final-year-mlb-commissioner

            Mack – Most  baseball executives believe that Selig will go down in history as the best Commissioner in the history of baseball.

What I’m going to find interesting is the next labor talks and any changes that come out of it. I really hate the loss of draft picks for certain aging free agents, the restrictions placed on slotting, and the limitations placed on international signing bonuses.

Frankly, these are the only way small market teams, like ours (sic) can compete with the big boys in Seattle and Arizona (sic sic).

Miguel Socolovich –

RHP, Age 27 - With recent success pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and making progress in multiple Triple-A seasons, Socolovich hopes to finally break through this spring. His fastball ranges from 90–95 MPH and, like Reid, he looks to be very hard on right-handed hitters. With a slider and changeup at his disposal, Socolovich has interesting potential and could surprise some people in camp. 

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2014/1/27/5348842/2014-mets-bullpen-joel-carreno-ryan-reid-miguel-socolovich

Mack – Don’t know anything about Socolovich so I’m pretty excited to see what the Mets might have found here. What bothers me is he’s 25 and this is his sixth pro organization in his career. Things like this scream of character issues.

Jeurys Familia –

I'd like to see Familia work more on developing his changeup. I think it's a pitch that could ultimately be a difference maker in his arsenal. But Familia can't throw it if he isn't confident in the results. That seems to be the case.

There is a great deal of mechanical inconsistency in Familia's delivery. He has to smooth out the motion, using less effort with repeated, clean finishes in his arm action to find rhythm.

Cleaning his delivery, finding the fringes and corners of the strike zone with consistency, finishing his pitches and adding a pitch to his arsenal seems like a laundry list of flaws to correct.

For now, while Familia has been a starting pitcher for most of his career, I think he fits best in the back end of the bullpen. I believe Familia will ultimately command a dominant role on the Mets' pitching staff. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/nym/familia-shows-potential-to-dominate-with-power-arm?ymd=20140127&content_id=67159242&vkey=news_nym

Mack – I’ve always seen Familia as a back end reliever. In fact, my ‘dream’ back end pen is Familia, Jennry Mejia, Rafael Montero, and Marcos Camarena. This would be , IMO, some serious sizzle.

Kevin Gregg –

Gregg could be an ideal candidate for the Mets. He has experience as a closer, but he’s not the kind of elite closer that’s going to steal the job away from Bobby Parnell assuming he's healthy. The Mets could certainly rely on him to be a late-inning reliever until some of their younger pitchers grow into that role. http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2014/01/27/6-pitchers-new-york-mets-could-add-to-bullpen-before-2014-season/?MtEZrMXR7bL7syVQ.99

Mack – A good article on six possible retreads that the Mets could add to their pen.

MLB Draft –

What if we shifted the draft into an auction? Teams would be limited to certain overall bonus allotment, let's call it $50 million, but it would likely be lower at first. The draft would then proceed in two stages; the auction and the draft. Players would be nominated and then each team would submit anonymous bids up to the total remaining amount of their bonus allotment. So when Carlos Rodon is nominated in June, every team could presumably bid $50 million, or any other number they choose. If two or more teams tie for the top bid, the team with the worse record during the previous year would win the auction. If one team alone had the highest bid, they would pay something like the second highest bid plus 10%. If only one team bid on a player, they would pay the player 90% of the bid. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/1/27/5347496/replacing-mlb-draft-auction

            Mack – This is almost creepy.