Mack’s Morning Report – 2-12-14 – SP5, Vic Black, 1B, Mets OF

Coming up Later -

            10 am – Christopher Soto – Mack’s Mets Top 25- #19 1B Jayce Boyd

              12 noon - Mack's Mets Writers Interview with 1B Dominic Smith

   2 pm – Christopher Soto – Position Battles Worth Watching:          So....Who's the Starting 1B?

              

Dan Plesac ‏@Plesac19  -

Two young pitchers I'm expecting breakout seasons from ? A.L.: #royals LHP Dan Duffy. N.L. : #Mets RHP Zack Wheeler. Both have the stuff.

Camp Update –

Cory Vaughn, Travis d’Arnaud, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Daniel Murphy have arrived at camp… per Kevin Kiernan: Dice-K wants 5th spot, EY wants leadoff, Hef is workout buddy4Harvey, Niese wants OD start again, lots of players come early

Who wins the fifth starter’s spot? -

Typically, the veteran gets the nod early on, with the prospects with options (or not even yet on the 40-man roster) heading to Triple-A. If that is the case, Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lannan should slug it out in spring training for the fifth spot, with Jenrry Mejia also a candidate. That means Jacob deGrom and Rafael Montero much more likely start in Triple-A. Both Dice-K and Lannan are in camp on minor-league deals. They have June “outs” in their contracts if not promoted to the majors by then. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/80995/pitching-preview-well-armed-minus-harvey

Mack – This story does open up a different scenario that we haven’t considered before. Maybe we should stop looking at the 5^th starter as someone that is going to be replaced after the all-star break by either Rafael Montero or Noah Syndergaard. Maybe we simply shouldn’t look past the June ‘out’ that the winner of the Dice-K, John Lannan ST battle becomes qualified for. Obviously, if the results of this camp battle tanks by the time June rolls around, Jnerry Mejia could take over then (after joining Montero and Thor in the Vegas rotation in April). If the winner is doing well in June… well, just one more positive pitching option.

Vic Black is an intriguing character. When the Mets received him as the Player to be Named Later from the Marlon Byrd/John Buck trade, he immediately stepped into the New York bullpen where he put up a 3.46 ERA in 13 IP, struck out 12 and walked only 4. It was a nice sign from a guy who had an average fastball velocity of 95.5, and who can ratchet that up when needed. He appears to be a future setup man or closer, but a detailed look shows that there are some questions marks about this new Met sensation. http://mets360.com/?p=20629

Mack – I remember the day before Black was named as the PTBNL that the General Manager of Pittsburgh reassured the Mets fans that they would be very pleased with the player they wound up with. You’re going to see a lot of him in spring training, especially since Bobby Parnell told reporters yesterday that he’s around ‘two weeks behind’ in his schedule. I expect Black to break camp as the 8^th inning setup pitcher and I hope the Bucs’ GM was right.

1^st Base –

First base is without a doubt the biggest question mark of camp, and to be honest I'm not 100% sure its much of a question at all.  The Mets appear set to offer Ike Davis 80-100 at-bats this spring in an effort to "win" the job.  It begs the question, when will Lucas Duda get his reps?  If this is truly a competition, I would expect each player to get his equal share.  There certainly haven't been any references to Davis playing some other position he's fair from suited to play.  I'll let you in on a pretty poorly kept secret...  If Ike Davis is still with the team come March 31st, unless he has just a simply awful spring, he will be the team's first baseman on opening day.  He provides the higher upside, has the higher salary and still remains the distant front runner to assume the role. http://effingmets.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-biggest-questions-of-mets-camp.html

Mack – I agree that first base is Ike Davis’ to lose this spring, which should leave Duda without a team to play for. Josh Satin is an adequate backup and Daniel Murphy can step in during an emergency. As for Las Vegas, nobody jumps out there (Alan Dykstra, Brandon Allen, Eric Campbell, Matt Clark), so Duda could go back there and beat up on the thin air until some deal is made with another club (Jayce Boyd won’t push the Vegas roster until 2015). Yeah, I don’t see any more decisions to be made here… Davis in Queens, Duda in Vegas.

Mets OF –

                       Curtis Granderson, Chris Young, Juan Lagares and Eric Young Jr. will compete for the starting outfield, which will mostly be determined by who hits best in spring training, Sandy Alderson told WFAN in Tuesday

Mack – I expect everything about this team will be based on offense especially since the general consensus is, no matter what combination they come up with, the team on the field will be in the upper half of defensive skills in the league.

As important, the starting rotation looks to have the talent to produce three or less innings in the first six innings they pitch. Add these two facts together, and you got yourself a ballgame, every game.

I’m sure Curtis Granderson and David Wright will get their bats, but everyone else’s participation will be based on the temperature of theirs


MiLB Lawsuit

From the “I’m surprised it has taken this long” department, three former minor leaguers – Aaron Senne, Michael Liberto and Oliver Odle — have filed a putative class action lawsuit against Major League Baseball alleging that minor leaguers are underpaid and exploited and that the Uniform Player Contract unfairly takes advantage of them.

The upshot: excluding bonuses which only a few minor leaguers get in any real size, Major League Baseball often pays minor leaguers less than $7,500 for an entire season and requires mandatory overtime in violation of state and federal wage laws. The Uniform Player Contract they are required to sign binds them to a team and keeps them from shopping their services elsewhere. Though they are only paid during the season, they are required to perform duties such as training, meetings and the like all year long and their duties and obligations to the club extend on a year-round basis too.    -  http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/11/three-former-minor-leaguers-file-a-class-action-suit-against-major-league-baseball-over-low-wages/ 

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