Coming Up –
10
am – Mack - Davis or Duda: Let The Trade Wars
Begin
12
noon – Craig Mitchell -- Nickels and
Dimes......the 2014 Mets
2
pm – Mack - Loopy Questions
4
pm – BTBS - Top 30 Prospects - Baltimore Orioles
6
pm – Sport City - Mock
8
pm – Jacob Gatewood, Slade Heggen, Matt Chapman,
Matthew Rainey, Nick Gordon
10
pm - 3B/SS - Matt Chapman - Cal State Fullerton
Mack's Mets writer Craig Brown became a daddy yesterday when his lovely wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy... Alexander Stephen... yes, he named his son Alex.
Mack's Mets writer Craig Brown became a daddy yesterday when his lovely wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy... Alexander Stephen... yes, he named his son Alex.
Catchers –
Ranked 19th - While d’Arnaud is a question mark,
it’s interesting that the projection systems are in agreement. Steamer projects
a 99 wRC+. ZiPS projects a 97 wRC+. Oliver projects a 99 wRC+. The Fans project
a 117 wRC+, but that’s about the same after you make the usual Fan adjustment. Everyone
agrees that d’Arnaud will continue to walk, and everyone agrees that d’Arnaud
will start to show some more of the power he’s only so far shown in
hitter-friendly environments. It isn’t known whether d’Arnaud will end up all
right or legitimately good, but this is a position of promise for an
organization that needs more of them. In the short term, d’Arnaud will blend
discipline with defensive skills. If he hits for this much power, the Mets will
be happy. If he hits beyond this, the Mets will be thrilled. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-positional-power-rankings-catcher/
Mack – It will be interesting to see where Fangraphs
ranks the Mets catchers next year after a season of d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki added to the mix.
DeGrom –
Jacob DeGrom sat in the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York one morning
nearly three and a half years ago, anxiously awaiting the results of the
magnetic resonance imaging test on his right elbow.
A right-handed pitcher, then 22 and in his
first year in the Mets organization, he had four months earlier partially torn
his ulnar collateral ligament – critical to the strength and stability of the
joint. He had attempted to rehab it to avoid an operation, without success.
Finally, at 7 o’clock that morning, David Altchek, the Mets’ medical
director and an orthopedic surgeon, told him he needed Tommy John surgery.
With no agent, he called a Mets official and
his parents for advice. He spent two hours Googling the procedure. That
afternoon, he underwent surgery.
Mack – I interviewed Frank Viola two seasons ago around
3-4 weeks into the season and wanted his thoughts on his staff. He was talking
about another pitcher when he caught himself, his face lit up and he said “oh
yeah, we got this new kid in this week… DeGrom… wait until you see him.” It was
obvious that this was Viola’s first look at who would wind up being the first
pitcher that year to go on to St. Lucie.
Puig –
Now, only two games into the 2014 season, we see a little
more faith erode. Before Sunday's game, Mattingly playfully compared Puig to
the boy who cried wolf, saying he never knows when he is actually hurt because
he grabs a different body part every time he strikes out.
After the game, a 7-5 Dodgers win that Puig left in the
ninth, there was nothing playful about Mattingly's tone.
"Shoulder yesterday, back today, so I'm not sure if
they're going to get him tests or get him to the MRI Monday or a bone scan on
Tuesday, maybe," Mattingly said sarcastically. "I'm not quite sure
what we'll do. We may not do anything. I'm not sure." http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-report/post/_/id/9067/mattingly-is-running-out-patience-with-puig?src=mobile
Mack – This story brings you up to
date with the Mattingly-Puig fiasco that has developed out in LA. You might
want to read it to keep up to date on someone that will be on the trade block
soon so matter how talented he is.
Feller –
Sometimes,
it seems like people confuse the “what if” story of someone like Bob Feller with the “what if” story of, say, a
brilliant young pitcher like Herb Score. Feller
and Score were both extraordinary young pitchers who, at an early point in
their lives, had their careers derailed. Feller was 23 and the best young
pitcher in baseball when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He
enlisted in the Navy the next day and did not play in the big leagues for the
better part of four years. Score was 23 and the best young pitcher in baseball
when he was hit in the face by a Gil McDougald line
drive, causing him to miss the rest of the season — for various reasons he was
never quite the same pitcher after that. http://joeposnanski.com/joeblogs/no-48-bob-feller/
12 comments:
Congrats, Craig...hopefully, a future first rounder. Looking forward to the 10AM "War" update, Mack.
DeGrom should be interesting if they hold onto him...I'd just as soon they put Flores at SS and not trade that sort of talent off at this stage, unless a deal really floors us - like DeGrom for Puig!
Craig...... Congratulations!
Off--topic......
mack
I know your position previously on Flores at ssh
but
has his play this spring opened you up to re-evaluate his worth as a ss when you balance out offense and defense?
I remember reading that Jeter early in his career had scouts claiming he was the worst defensive ss they had ever seen
@Bob
Update posted via article.
Flores has been re-assigned to AAA
Congrats to Craig!
IMHO I see Frank V. as the successor to Dan Warthen with the big club, so I really like that he will be in Vegas this year. I am torn in that Mejia has certainly done enough to earn the #5 spot, but his injury history and lack of innings means there is no way that he will stay in the big league rotation the entire year. So many good young arms with innings limits makes it tough to solidify the top 5, it will be quite fluid this year. DiceK will need to prove it each time out, which isn't a bad thing.
Thomas -
Craig is writing a post tomorrow morning.
deGrom has stepped up to become the Mets major trading chip
Chris -
Yeah, Jeter may still have the record for the most errors in A-ball for one season at SS... but I watched Flores kick it around in 2007 and 2008... that was 5 years ago. I know he is still young, but he's had ample time to learn the position.
No, I understand where you are coming at... I would have probably kept him in Queens and made him my power SS.... let Tejada go utility. Yes, Flores would lead the league in errors but he would probably have 80+ Ribbys
If Craig really wanted to show his Mack's Mets credentials, instead of Alex he would have named his son Andrew. :)
I was only mildly surprised at the Flores move today and rationalize that he, like Mejia, probably will benefit from being as far away from Terry Collins as possible. I'm assuming, of course, that unless Matsuzaka has something like a 6 run first inning, they'll make the announcement official for what we knew all along. Even then they would probably rationalize it as "fatigue" much like they did Ike Davis.
That den Dekker can hit .350, Lutz can lead tie for the team lead in HRs, Flores can tie for the lead in RBIs and Mejia pitch to a 2.89 ERA and NOT make the team should send a powerful message to draft picks that the Mets select. Why would you come to a team that doesn't reward success and instead actively embraces mediocrity (from the Manager on down)?
Reese -
Good point Reese, especially if you are picked straight out of high school.
@ Reese
I understand the disappointment in Mejia not starting in the bigs, that one is debatable even given his reliability and innings limit. But, who would you boot off the 25 man roster heading north to add Lutz and Den Dekker? Lutz plays 3B and we have an all-start there. He can also play 1B, but Satin has solidified his platoon role and is out of options. Do we want to lose him to reward Lutz? Regarding Den Dekker, aboth he and Kirk have had good springs. I would like one of them to be on the big team, but there are two problems here. First is that the loser of the Ike/Duda battle will make the team, so that likely means carry Duda as the "5th OF" lefty bat off the bench. That nixes Kirk and Den Dekker. Second, and this mostly applies to Den Dekker, these guys are still rather young and need to play every day, espcially with Den Dekker missing a lot of time last year. If he can ever solve LHP, or at least hold his own, he can be a valuable asset as a platoon or even backup[ to Lagares should he falter or get hurt. Having guys come to spring and look good may be disappointing when they don't make it, but it is good for the team. When was the last time the Mets had an AAA team with upwards of 8 pitchers that deserve a shot in the show, along with multiple OF and some INF? This is a good thing, and hopefully some of these guys can keep performing well and push management into making room in Flushing.
With extended injuries over the past few years to Wright, Davis and Duda there should have been ABs for Lutz. He had his own injury bugs earlier in his career but you'd think a team would want to see what they have instead of giving playing time to Justin Turner, Mike Baxter and other players of that ilk when they struggle so mightily to score runs. Lutz was one of the few in the system who, given the opportunity, could probably top 20 HRs.
The point in my comment is that the team simply buries certain players without giving them the equal opportunity to win a job. They had no plan for Flores since 2011. They signed scrubs to minor league deals for the rotation instead of giving chances to Mejia or Montero.
Having Davis or Duda on the bench is as unrealistic as Lutz because they are so one dimensional. You're much better off with a den Dekker who can play stellar defense, hit with some power and run a bit, too. The only reason I think they should keep Eric Young around is for the occasional foray at 2B. As an outfielder he's inferior to Lagares, den Dekker and probably Nieuwenhuis. What good is a leadoff batter who can't get on base? Hell, Josh Satin with all of his Ks is a more effective player at getting on base!
As far as the Mets having a good thing with all of their pitching in the pipeline, that's true if and only if the GM chooses to make trades. Whether it's Niese or Colon or Gee leaving or one of the prospects going is debatable as to which approach is better. What's NOT GOOD is inertia.
I understand it's a business and parlaying a few good months of Dice-K into an A-ball prospect while concurrently delaying Mejia's service clock makes good sense from an accountant's standpoint. However, creating a winning atmosphere where FAs want to play and stands full of fans, newspaper headlines that are not fodder for late night punchlines...that's also good for business. The old approach has not worked since before the arrival of the dynamic duo in charge. It's time to try something else.
Reese,
I totally agree on the inertia. It is time to pull the trigger on a move or two that improves tis team, not selling off for prospecs. The marketplace will always be demanding, and there will always be another team that is targeting the same player that the Mets are. Alderson needs to do someting positive to give the fans and the players a reason to believe they have a shot THIS SEASON as well as next.
TP and Reese -
I understand what you are saying and I risk saying this knowing that Herb isn't going to agree with me... but TC and Sandy Alderson aren't paid and could care about what the fans think. All they care about is winning baseball games and they believe that the players they are putting on the 25-man on 3-31-14 will be the best to start the season off... period.
I don't agree with every one of their picks and I voice that here, but I trust their judgement because they are professional baseball people.
Who isn't 'professional baseball people' are Fred and Jeff Wilpon, who will always limit the levels of success this team could reach with a representative payroll for a market the size of NYC.
THAT's the problem... not whether Dice-K or Mejia will go north to shovel snow.
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