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 3^rd 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 - 

#	Name	Age	POS	PA	BB%	K%	BABIP	wRC+	BsR	Off	Def*	WAR
1	Maikel Franco	21	3B	550	4.5%	13.9%	.280	97	0	-2	2	1.9
10	Tommy Joseph	22	C	450	5.5%	19.8%	.267	81	0	-10	8	1.4
9	Cesar Hernandez	24	2B/CF	550	5.9%	16.0%	.319	85	-1	-9	1	1.0
7	Aaron Altherr	23	OF	550	4.9%	25.4%	.271	53	0	-29	-2	-1.4
8	Roman Quinn	21	SS	550	4.5%	21.3%	.247	40	-1	-37	6	-1.4
3	J.P. Crawford	19	SS	550	4.6%	15.9%	.235	38	0	-39	6	-1.5
11	Andrew Knapp	22	C	450	4.1%	23.2%	.213	20	0	-41	8	-1.9
6	Carlos Tocci	18	CF	550	3.4%	18.4%	.237	31	0	-43	2	-2.4
12	Dylan Cozens	20	RF	550	4.6%	23.9%	.221	31	0	-43	-6	-3.2

#	Name	Age	Hand	IP	K%	BB%	kwERA	kwERA-	WAR
5	Severino Gonzalez	21	RHP	150	18.4%	7.5%	4.00	103	1.6
15	Adam Morgan	24	LHP	150	18.1%	9.1%	4.23	109	1.2
2	Jesse Biddle	22	LHP	150	23.3%	14.6%	4.27	110	1.2
14	Shane Watson	20	RHP	150	10.8%	8.4%	5.02	130	-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.