Morning Report – 4-5-14 – B-Mets, Savannah Radio, Daz Cameron, Ike Davis

1917 Comiskey Park  

Coming Up –

      

         12 noon –   Top 10 LHP In 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 4-4-14

          4 pm –   Top 10 RHP in 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 4-4-14

         6 pm -   Jacob Gatewood, Bradley Zimmer, Milton Ramos, Zach Shannon, Touki Toussaint

         8 pm  -  OF - Derek Hill - Elk Grove (IL) HS

Dan Kirby ‏@DanMKirby  -  LHP Brady Aiken with a no-no yesterday. Now has 40 K/3 BB over 20.2 shutout innings, allowing four hits

Mack's Mets @JohnMackinAde - @kranepool so, wadda ya think? wanna ditch this Mets shit and do a blog about the Cosmos? - 03 Apr 

Stephen Keane - @kranepool - @JohnMackinAde The Franz Bekenbauer Society has a nice ring to it




By the way, I see that Brandon Nimmo is off to his usual fast start, this time in St. Lucie. Nimmo has only had problems when he hurt his wrist. Past that, he has consistently been a .300+ hitter and plays this game far past his age. I can easily project him finishing the year in Binghamton, and then, who knows?  Alo, good firs A+ game for SP Steven Matz:  5.0-IP, 7-H, 2-R, 1-BB, 5-K... excellent debut considering.

Excellent outing for Savannah's John Gant: 6.0-IP, 5-H, 1-ER, 7-K, 1-BB. Nice.

B-Mets Preview –

Binghamton Mets 2013 record (86-55) The B-Mets were the class of the EL last season, posting the best record in the league by nearly 10 games over Harrisburg. Binghamton looked to have a clear path to wearing the EL crown before they were upset and swept by the Trenton Thunder in the ELDS in 2013. With prospects like Syndergaard, Montero, Dykstra and Walters promoted to Triple-A, 2014 may be a tough year for Manager Pedro Lopez to duplicate his success of a season ago. Catcher Kevin Plawecki will make his Double-A debut and will asked to be carry the offensive load for the Mets. The Purdue product hit .305 with eight homers and 80 RBI in 2013 and is ranked by MLB.com as a top-10 catching prospect in baseball. Southpaw Dan Gorski returns to Binghamton to anchor their pitching staff after a stellar 2013 that saw him go 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA. http://www.highheelsonthefield.net/my_weblog/2014/04/2014-eastern-league-preview.html 

It was absolutely pitiful how the Savannah local sports radio station, WZAT-FM, 102.3 ESPN Radio, spoke about the Sand Gnats and Grayson Stdium live on-air on opening day. One day after woofing down all the free hot wings he could eat, the host of the live afternoon show sang a made up song ‘take me out to the ballpark that smells of urine and feces…”. He completely trashed the team, the ownership and the organization and said he couldn’t wait until the team leaves the city of Savannah next year. Did he bother to educate himself with how all this works with the city of Savannah? I think not, but I’m sure the glorified disc jockey would gladly take another free meal in between smoking cigarettes just outside the stadium. Boy, do I miss radio.

Looking ahead to the 2015 MLB Draft…

       The number one pick currently projects to be Georgia prep outfielder, Daz Cameron. The 6-foot, 185-pound Cameron has some notoriety of his own as he is the son of Mike Cameron, who accumulated 278 home runs and 297 stolen bases in a 17-year big-league career, and was a three-time Gold-Glove winner in center field. The younger Cameron possesses a lot of his father’s natural talent and may actually have more raw power potential with his exceptional bat speed, though may also be a step slower on the bases.

My wife flew off for four nights in Long Island to have a family reunion with her 83-year old mother and her four siblings. I’ve been distracted by the preparation and wasn’t able to post up the opening day minor league recaps in a timely manner. In addition, Herb G had grandfather responsibilities at his grandson’s bar mitzvah, so bear with us here. We’ll get our together.

Comment From Gabe - I’m not sure of your allegiances, but in my ~15 years of being a Mets fan this is the most dispirited and depressing the fanbase has ever felt this close to the beginning of the season. Any chance that this Mets season will give me and my fellow fans something to not be depressed about?

Brad Johnson/Fangraph: I think the NL East is extremely terrible. That’s good news for Mets fans. The bad news is that they aren’t in a place where they can leverage that opportunity. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/brad-johnson-baseball-chat-4314/

My comments about the minor league teams and players usually lag a day behind because of when I write vs. when the games are played and end. Las Vegas won’t end before I’m long tucked away and I’m pretty mentally wiped out by the end of the other three games. Therefore, please bear with me throughout the season on this. Regulars are used to it, but some of you new readers needed an explanation.

It’s going to be a real challenge to get some play time in Las Vegas. And, who will get the first call to Queens to help jump start their offense. There’s already nine runs scored after one game… but… here’s the down side on these guys… 12 strikeouts. I was especially disappointed in Cesar Puello’s beginning (0-3, 3-K), but, it’s one game, right?

Andy Martino and Rotoworld are still trying to trade 1B Ike Davis. The teams that showed interest over the winter were the Pirates, Brewers, and Orioles; however, Sandy Alderson wasn’t happy with what those teams offered back. Well, the job of Mets left handed hitting first baseman was given to Lucas Duda today by Terry Collins, so if you’re not going to play Davis, you’re not going to get a top prospect for him. Let’s take another look here and offer up a name from two of these organizations that might fit the bill:

Brewers: - RHRP David Goforth – 5-10, 25-yrs. old – AA – ETA: 2014 – has started but now projects to back of the bullpen. Occasionally hits 98, but sits high 90s. Full arsenal of secondary pitchers.

Orioles: - RHP Mike Wright – 6-6, 24-yrs. old – AAA – ETA: 2014 – currently still a starter but many scouts say he’d serve a team better coming out of the pen. Fastball touches 95