Morning Report – 2-27-14 – John Loopy, Picture Day, Kevin Plawecki, Jenrry Mejia, Chats

Coming Up –

            10 am – Christopher Soto - MM's Top 25- #8 LHSP Steven Matz

            12 noon – D Whit - A Wild Week Already in Mets-World and it’s Only Tuesday Morning.

             4 pm – Herb G - Jonathan Mayo would rather trade for Franklin than sign Drew!

               4pm - Top 10 Catchers in 2014 MLB Draft - Revised 2-24-14

              6 pm – Chris Ellis, Joseph Gatto, Trea Turner, Isan Diaz

              8 pm - A Quick Look - RHP - Alex Lange - Lee's Summitt West (MI) HS

I reported last night here on Mack's Mets that the Mets are monitoring Chicago Cubs SS Starlin Castro. This is a professional credible source that I feel comfortable in reported. I didn't say the Mets have signed him. I didn't even say they are dancing on Lakeside Drive.Those o you 'in the know' understand where the word 'monitoring' comes from. Yes, I said I was out of the source info, but I feel a need to pass on what I hear. Nothing will probably happen here, but, trust me, phone calls and assignments were here to 'monitor'. 

Fresh on the addition of the Kingsport Mets’ Josh Lawson, we have also added another new writer. John Loopy joins us today, first as a guest writer at 4pm, and then a future member of the Mack’s Mets staff. John comes from ‘down under’ (Australia) so his posts will have to be read only during overnight hours…  just kidding. Please welcome John aboard.

Wednesday was Photo Day at spring training. God, do I miss this day. This was when ‘we’ media types were allowed to photograph every member of the team as they came out of the clubhouse and on to the practice fields. This is where I took most of my great shots, like the one on the top of this post. All the guys wearing uniforms with high numbers (I got a great pic with Dillon Gee with a number in the 60s) would come first and, back in those days, the heavyweights (David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes) were the last to come out. Strangely, they were also the most patient and friendliest, letting even a small dude like me take his time and focus. These were the kind of days that made you feel how special you were to be part of this community.

Kevin Plawecki –

Still, Plawecki was a high draft pick for a reason. He has been playing catcher since high school. As a freshman at Purdue, he called his own games. He was a starter there for three years and worked on refining his swing. His coaches emphasized limiting his strikeouts and getting on base, which he had a knack for.

In three seasons at Purdue over 638 at-bats, he struck out only 29 times. In his junior year, in 2012, he had a .445 on-base percentage. And he was named Big Ten player of the year after helping the Boilermakers to their first regular-season conference championship since 1909. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/sports/baseball/a-luxury-for-the-mets-two-promising-catchers-in-darnaud-and-plawecki.html?ref=baseball&_r=0

Mack – This was a good story in Wednedays’s NYT about the Mets catching depth. What you want to do as a reader is to read this and stay with Mack’s Mets throughout the season as we highlight and keep tract of players like Plawecki, who could alter the 25-man squad of this team in 2015.

Plaweck not only has the ability to make that squad… he also has the ability to be traded for someone that plays another position, to make that squad. He’s that valuable.

I truly feel that Travis d’Arnaud is the designated future Mets catcher, making it even more important for Plawecki to keep growing.

Stay tuned.

Jenrry Mejia –

                       What changed for Mejia? Maybe nothing. He finished his season with a 2.30 ERA and a sparkling 6.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he also finished with only five starts and yet another trip to the disabled list. It was a minor procedure compared to his Tommy John surgery, but it’s easy to see why the Mets made a point of building considerable rotation depth behind him during the offseason.

But maybe something did change. For one thing, Mejia showed up with a new and devastating slider that garnered a swing-and-miss 27 percent of the time (in a very small sample, this was almost double the rate of Matt Harvey’s notoriously filthy slider). His overall command improved significantly as well, throwing 67 percent of his pitches for strikes in 2013 up from 60 percent in 2010-2012. Fastball command, a nasty breaking ball, these are the hallmarks of the kind of pitcher Mejia was expected to become. http://metsblog.com/metsblog/the-curious-case-of-jenrry-mejia/

Mack – This is a good piece by Maggie Wiggin, but it just strengthens my belief that Mejia should be coming out of the Mets pen for the rest of his career. His past has proven his inability to hold up while throwing over 30 balls a game. Why fool with Mother Nature? You have a devastating 8^th inning guy here for 4-5 years easy.

Sit him next to Vic Black, Bobby Parnell, and Jeurys Familia and your late game is put to bed.

Jose Valverde –

                       If Valverde has an explanation for his struggles last season, he isn’t saying. But an industry source who has watched Valverde said the pitcher’s workload in recent years is probably a significant factor. Three years ago, he led the American League in appearances with 75, and he appeared in 71 games in 2012.

                       “What happened in the past will stay in the past,” Valverde said when asked about last year’s struggles. “It’s no big deal. I think everybody will have a back and forth, up and down. If somebody is perfect, they will make a lot of money. Nobody is perfect.” http://nypost.com/2014/02/26/mets-dominican-mafia-benefiting-from-valverdes-presence/

                       Mack – A good story, by Kevin Kiernan, about the ‘Dominican Mafia’. Something happened to Valverde last year that was more than just getting old and tired, but no one is talking and no one cares if he can return to the way he pitched a few years ago for the Tigers. Another stay tuned.

After Dark Chat –

            Comment From bdhudson - I have four picks left and no catcher. I could probably have Yan Gomes or TDA. Gomes, right?

            Jeff Zimmerman: yes.

            Paul Swydan: I might roll the dice on d’Arnaud, since he’s probably going to get more PT.

            Comment From Sandy Alderson - What would it take to get Reyes back to NYC?

            Paul Swydan: Toronto punting their season? Which I don’t see happening.

Sully-Chat –

            Comment From Guest - Would you rather see Franklin stick around as a super utility guy or traded for Lagares and a pitcher?

            Jeff Sullivan: Lagares and a pitcher would be wonderful. I’ll also take just a pitcher. There’s some sense in hanging on to Franklin as depth/insurance but he just makes more sense elsewhere and the M’s ought to cash in on that

            Comment From Brad - Seems like Zach Wheeler is being overshadowed by the other young pitchers. Is it because his walk rate is high? I don’t mean to compare him to Kershaw, but his was really high too initially. What are your thoughts on Wheeler? Thanks

            Jeff Sullivan: Wheeler, at 23, had 11% walks and 20% strikeouts. 

Kershaw, at 20, had 11% walks and 21% strikeouts and a far superior FIP in a lower-strikeout league. Wheeler’s been a 61-62% strike-rate guy and that’s a little low for my likings when you have a guy who isn’t throwing unhittable stuff. Obviously, Kershaw’s going to be the best-case scenario of a guy who comes up and doesn’t throw enough strikes out of the gate, but for every guy who takes a leap forward like Kershaw, there’s the rest of baseball. Big upside for Wheeler if he boosts that strike rate a few percentage points, but the same could be said of Matt Moore.

            Comment From Jon - Boras says Drew would be willing to play 2B during an interview with Toronto sports network. This has to happen, right? Protected picks and whatnot.

            Jeff Sullivan: Pretty obvious fit, but it’s also pretty obvious to see Drew in New York or New York. And Toronto might not actually trust him as a 2B, necessarily, or maybe they have their sights set on another guy who wouldn’t cost as much future value or who would provide more future value

            Comment From Slack Schmeinke - are you less high on Nick Franklin going forward than you may have been a year ago?

            Jeff Sullivan: More high. Now he’s dominated Triple-A

            Comment From Blend - What is your take on Franklin — possibly acceptable defensively at SS or sure-fire 2B like Dave believes?

            Jeff Sullivan: I mean, it’s all about what a team is willing to accept, right? Franklin could play shortstop every day. He wouldn’t be very good at it, but he could do it. Derek Jeter has done it. Franklin will never be more of a shortstop than he would be in 2014-2015. Eventually, I suspect any/every organization would shuffle him over to second or third

            Comment From Guest - What’s a fair return for Ike Davis? The O’s seem to have balked at the idea of giving up Eduardo Rodriguez.

            Jeff Sullivan: Ike Davis is a not-cheap first baseman who last year was worth -0.1 WAR. Rodriguez is a top-100 pitching prospect.  Logan Morrison fetched Carter Capps. Davis couldn’t get much more than something like that right now.

           

Mack's Mets ‏@JohnMackinAde   - @JSully12 - I've got Marcus Wilson as long shot for Mets at #10 (Dom Smith loved my choice :) 

 Jeff Sullivan ‏@JSully12  - “@JohnMackinAde: @JSully12 - I've got Marcus Wilson as long shot for Mets at #10 (Dom Smith loved my choice :)” Love Marcus! Those tools😳🙌