1/31/14

Mack's Morning Report - 1-31-14 - Prospect Elevation, John Lannan, Phillies Steamer, Cameron-Chat




Word I’m getting is that the Mets are going to accelerate their prospect progress throughout the chain. In the past, you had to wait your turn regardless of talent. As I understand, that’s going to change, starting with the Savannah 25-man.
1B Dominic Smith, and starting pitchers Chris Flexen and Robert Whalen are rumored to jump to A-ball. Flexen and Whelan look to be joined by Robert Gsellman, John Gant, and Miller Diaz in the rotation. The Mets are also considering promoting 2013 3rd round draft pick Casey Meisner (GCL: 1-3, 3.06) to Savannah.

Meisner is one of the very raw, extremely talented high school stars that the Mets drafted last year. Draft experts told me that they were highly impressed with the choices the Mets made. Matt Eddy particularly told me that he thought the Mets had the best draft in baseball.

Kids like Meisner, 1B Smith, P Andrew Church, CF Ivan Wilson, and SS Luis Guillorme all project as pro-level talent someday. We’re going to keep a special look at these guys as they go into the season. I expect the rest of them to remain in extended camp come April; however, the Mets do have one pressing problem they are going to have to deal with before the season starts.

Both SS Gavin Cecchini and Amed Rosario have two things in common. They are not ready for A+ ball but, at the same time, they have progressed past Brookly and the other rookie ball teams. You can’t assign both of these guys to Savannah and take away reps from the best two shortstop prospects in the system. One of these guys has to move on the St. Lucie ahead of schedule and, if it is true that guys like Flexen and Whelan are moving up a couple of levels, so should one of the shortstops.



Recent free agent signee, SP John Lannan, seems quite serious about winning the SP5 out of camp. One thing I particularly like that Sandy Alderson is doing is bringing in certain amount of ‘local boys’ in with minor league contracts and an invite to camp. Long Beach’s Lannon, and Edison, New Jersey UT Anthony Seratelli are perfect examples of taking advantage of the extra adrenalin that can be generated when a player get to run on the field of the team he grew up rooting for. Smart move by Sandy.


For some reason, Terry Collins has decided to stir up the shit again, just when Alderson has learned to stop doing it. Now, as I understand, he is telling people that Eric Young Jr. is his centerfielder, not Juan Lagares. Is this all necessary right now? There sure is an awful lot of drama for a team that never finishes in second place or beyond.

And now, we end the day with Alderson telling reporters that Wilmer Flores will be considered to return to SS in spring training.

Excuse my french, but I’m getting ready sick and tired of all this mind fucking this spring.


The Mets’ owners appear to be on the verge of finally putting the team’s financial problems behind them, The Post has learned.
Cash-strapped Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who faced perhaps an insurmountable spring principal payment on their $250 million loan, are close to refinancing the note, sources said.
“This will be oversubscribed,” a source considering investing in the Bank of America refinancing said.
The re-fi — the biggest off-field hurdle the team faced this off-season — will likely close in February or March, the source said.
   http://nypost.com/2014/01/30/new-loan-could-end-mets-money-problems/ 


Steamer Projects: Philadelphia Phillies Prospects - 


#NameAgePOSPABB%K%BABIPwRC+BsROffDef*WAR
1Maikel Franco213B5504.5%13.9%.280970-221.9
10Tommy Joseph22C4505.5%19.8%.267810-1081.4
9Cesar Hernandez242B/CF5505.9%16.0%.31985-1-911.0
7Aaron Altherr23OF5504.9%25.4%.271530-29-2-1.4
8Roman Quinn21SS5504.5%21.3%.24740-1-376-1.4
3J.P. Crawford19SS5504.6%15.9%.235380-396-1.5
11Andrew Knapp22C4504.1%23.2%.213200-418-1.9
6Carlos Tocci18CF5503.4%18.4%.237310-432-2.4
12Dylan Cozens20RF5504.6%23.9%.221310-43-6-3.2

#NameAgeHandIPK%BB%kwERAkwERA-WAR
5Severino Gonzalez21RHP15018.4%7.5%4.001031.6
15Adam Morgan24LHP15018.1%9.1%4.231091.2
2Jesse Biddle22LHP15023.3%14.6%4.271101.2
14Shane Watson20RHP15010.8%8.4%5.02130-0.1


Cameron-Chat –

Comment From Insert Clever Name Here - Draft-pick valuation seems hard. Do we have any sense of what a second-round pick is “worth”. As in, what deal for Drew would make sense for the Mets, given the pick it would cost?


Dave Cameron: It depends where in the second round it is. The pool money is worth more than the pick itself, and the amount varies by where the pick is. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-chat-12914/

Eno-Chat –

Comment From GrandyMan - Hey Eno, what’s Curtis Granderson worth in Otto points?

Eno Sarris: By steamer, $10 or so. Could be more though.

Comment From Isaac - Daniel Murphy was in a group with Goldy, Hosmer, Cutch, and Trout as guys that had hit >.285, 10, 75, 75, 10 in 2013. Meaningful?


Eno Sarris: No, those cutoffs too random. Also, his steals should regress this year.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This Re-Finance has HUGE implications for the future of this team.

The old loan was coming due in a few months for $250M, a sum the Wilpons did not have the liquidity to afford at this time.

Reportedly the interest payments are to remain the same, so what is the benefit?

Basically from what is being reported, the legal terms in the old loan capped the amount of money the Mets could spend on player salaries whereas this new one will have no such language.

If this is true then it explains why in the past 3 years Alderson has been very hesitant towards FA signings.

tommyb said...

Great sign that they are going to be more aggressive with the burgeoning talent in the lower minors...and i'd put Cecchini in St L and Rosario in Savannah...seems too big a jump for Rosario.

That will be some formidable Savannah pitching staff...after having an excellent one last year.

Collins should totally keep his trap shut at this point - the players will dictate who should start with their play in spring training games and the early season. I still feel Lagares got a lot of adjustment under his belt and is primed for a move towards the .280 range this year - that and his superlative D, and you'd sit him for EY Jr? If EY hits .220 in spring and Lagares hits .320, let's see Collins put juan on bench.

Ernest Dove said...

Funny how management has brought in about 50 pitchers in order to bring 'competition', but when it comes to position players, we keep getting leaked information/rumors about who is starting at first base, centerfield, SS and batting leadoff when its not even February yet.

Anonymous said...

@Ernest

At this point I feel its all speculation by the beat reporters in an attempt to stir up some website hits.

The past few weeks have been very dead.

Just look at Metsblog....they've been recycling articles the past few days.

Reese Kaplan said...

I pointed out Collins' lunacy when the story broke and my friends said I was wrong. Today there are several pieces about how wrong he was.

Also, remember Ankiel? Collins will play a vet over a younger player any chance he gets. Lagares is toast with Terry in charge.

Bob said...

Mack

is this aggressive shift a result of a philosophical change in player development?
or
a coping mechanism in response to overcrowding at certain levels?

Tommyb said...

Bob - Mack would know better than me, but my take is that it is a shift that is brought on by Fernandez and Wacha excellence, and Cecchini being in a short season, and getting hurt to turn it into a REALLY short season. I also think it is a coping mechanism, as you say, in response to overcrowding, a nice problem for the Met farm system to have.

tommyb said...

Hey Reese

Regarding Ankiel comment, I agree with you there - but Lagares had enough at bats last year to qualify as a "veteran lite" now, so Terry needs to really consider that...Juan's 2013 training wheels are off.

Anonymous said...

I think Terry is insane if he thinks EY is a better option in center then Lagaras, if only the leadoff dilemma is the reasoning behind it.

Let's face it, Juan´s glove alone will save them at least five games this year. I think it's a travesty and speaks to the ignorance of the man helming this battleship.

My hope, is that Terry threw this out there simply to keep a fire under all of these guy´s asses, with the hope, that none come into spring training thinking they don't have to play hard to win a starting role on the team.

This team will only succeed if they pitch great and are borderline exceptional up the middle with their defensive. Lagaras brings exceptional defensive to center field.


Charles