Coming Later Today –
12 noon – Baseball America - New Mock Draft
2 pm - MLB Pipeline - Mock Draft
4 pm - MLB Draft Tracker - New
Mock
6
pm - Foster
Griffin, Joey Pankake, Chase Vallot,, Jacob Gatewood, Tyler Beede, Sean
Reid-Foley
Cincinnati Christian (OH) H.S. RHP Cameron Varga pitched 5.0-IP, 0-H, 16-K… that’s every
batter plus one got on base when catcher dropped ball so Varga struck out another
one. How do you project someone like this? He’s obviously talented but he’s
also obviously pitching in a weak league (school is ranked 280th in
state, 7075th in country). Varga is projected to be a mid to late
first round pick on June 5th which could bring him a $1mil+ bonus.
It’s crazy out there.
Joc Pederson in Class
AAA: 1.123 OPS in 155 at-bats, 32 walks, 50 strikeouts.
Josh Kosman[i] of the New York Post doesn’t want to let the
Saul Katz rumors die. His spin Sunday was that
Katz tried to convince his brother-in-law, Fred Wilpon,
to sell the majority interest of the Mets, but Wilpon balked because he wants
to leave the team to his son Jeff to someday run.
The
story, if true, seems to make sense. Katz is simply a businessman and anything
invested in Mets ownership is dead money. The story also makes sense because
I’m sure Fred wants to keep this in the family to make sure Jeff has something
to do every day. I’m also sure it’s not that fun being one of the owners of the
Mets. I mean, imagine how rough it is for Katz to be chauffeured back and forth
to your mansion with this kind of burden over his head?
Thomas Brennan asked -
Hi Mack. I
do not know why they won't try Flores for 2-3 weeks straight. What if he hits
.300 and plays passable D? Tejada has to be in bottom quintile of starting ML
SS's, if not the worst. What on earth could you lose?
I didn’t want to address this until after you read how I feel
about Alderson selling Collins out as the season continues.
First… I want to keep reminding everyone… the lineups come from
the General Manager’s office, not the field manager. Any decision whether to
play or not play someone is an Alderson decision.
It seems to me that New York teams make much more out of
decisions like this. Normally, teams with a limited amount of talent, go with
the ‘hot’ player until he cools off. Only then do they turn to the bench for
solutions.
The Mets seem to invent a problem. It’s like, ‘OMG, what if
Flores goes 14-20? What are we going to then?
I hope most of you read Ike Davis’ comments Sunday about playing for a team that appreciates what
you do. It is so difficult to play in a city like New York, for a for team that
operated so strangely as they do, in a stadium no ‘bat’ wants any association with.
You will never find a free agent slugger sign here. If the beat reporters don’t
get to you every time you strike out, the dimensions of the stadium will.
Davis pointed out that he went into a slump in Pittsburgh and no
one seemed to write about it or care. Everybody just let him alone and let him
work out his problems. What a strange option.
Thomas, I would stop worrying about Flores at this point in his
non-growth for this team. He’s been so mind-fucked that I believe his only
chance will be sold off to someone that would give his a new lease on his
baseball life.
I’ll tell you this… don’t walk up to him and ask him if he
enjoys being a Met.
In my continued theme that
‘2014 is really getting ready for 2015’…
This might not be a bad time to consider sending Zack Wheeler back down for a little AAA
R&Rehab when Dillon Gee comes back. There’s obviously something going wrong here, be it
control or mental.
Hold a press conference and tell everyone that you are sending
him to New York for an MRI (a la Gio Gonzalez this week). Just shut him down
for at least one outing and make sure everything is structurally okay. Then,
put him on the 7-day DL for some reason you can get away with and ship him off
to the extended camp complex in Florida.
The Mets are trying to build a world class 2015 rotation here
and Wheeler is supposed to be part of it. Address the problems now when you can
afford to.
Fangraphs -
Jenrry Mejia got his
first career save on Saturday, tossing a scoreless inning against the
Nationals. A popular starting pitcher sleeper headed into the season, the
24-year-old righty struggled out of the game and was moved to the bullpen after
mediocre strikeout and walk rates led to iffy results. He immediately
transitioned from sleeper starter to sleeper reliever as his big-league slider
has the potential to be a shutdown pitch in the land of misfit relievers (more
commonly referred to as the Mets bullpen). His velocity has certainly played up
in relief, so there’s a very real chance he’s the guy who comes out of the
committee on top. Pick up in all deeper leagues and/or if you are in need of
saves. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/bullpen-report-may-18-2014/
I hear you on Flores, Mack.
ReplyDeleteIf Flores does hit, trade him for something good and go back to Plan A, B, and C, which is Tejada as our everyday SS. Or Sandy's 90-72 will become just another 72-90.
Interesting timing today is Kevin Kernan's column, which basically says "enough with the years of Mets sideshows....how about as of today onward, Mets management, making it all about WINNING." Let's hope this mgmt team wakes up - they are close enough to first place, just brought up two fine pitchers, may have a closer added to pen in Mejia, too. So things can change if they get serious about winning now.
Also, you know I am passionate about fences. I read Alderson (in "Alderson-speak", which is kind of like Jay Carney doing an Obama press conference) say between the lines that the fences will come in this off season, just let's not talk about it now.
So Sandy, if you are reading this, bring them 10 feet all around, to compensate for dead air - then a free agent slugger may actually WANT to join these elite arms next year. Having a team record of 41 HR after 50+ years is actually awfully embarrassing.
Well Thomas, you just hit on the real issue re: the stadium
ReplyDeleteIt has nothing to do with Duda shots that fall short.
It has all to do with free agents that want to sign contracts that have incentive clauses based on the amount of times they go yard or produce runs in.
Your OBP, slugging %, and OBP go down if someone catches a ball you hit. No hitter, without a home town appeal (Granderson) would ever choose Queens to play half their games.
Good morning Mack. Hope you're sleeping OK.
ReplyDeleteKernan hit on something in his piece. This FO seems to have an ability to suck the joy and passion out of the game for these guys. Passion, almost as much as talent, is what endeared that '86 squad to the city... long before they were really winning. You could tell that there might be something forming at the end of '83, and by mid-'84, it was clear that the town was deep into that team.
I was no fan of Davey as a game manager, and perhaps things were actually a little TOO loose with that squad, but those guys came to beat you... it's what they were about. This team, under this regime, looks like it's got too many complicated things on its collective mind, (especially at the plate) and no space for that kind of joy and passion in competition. **See the ball, hit the ball.**
Also, I have a question. Does every team need to "commit" themselves to a certain number of at bats in order to get guys to sign contracts? Even with a guy who hit .200 the prior year? Or is it just us? And, at what point in a sub-.240 season are we "allowed" to sit the guy who got that promise? Or, in the case of Grandy... how many years in? Just asking. Sigh.
I read Wilpon a week ago said he does NOT think the fences should be altered, with the young pitching coming in and being able to take advantage of it. Hopefully, someone wakes him up.
ReplyDeleteHitting more is more exciting to fans than having a strong staff be overly advantaged to be able to pitch like they do in Savannah's huge park. Make it fair for hitters, and be able to attract a true slugger who will want to play with elite arms - to do that, fences have to come in. But I do not want to repeat all the arguments here. I hated seeing Seaver lose so many winnable games when he was a Met because of lack of hitting.
Ike was right - this city, unlike Pittsburgh, puts failing hitters under a microscope. David is there now. Grandy is there now. In large part due to the fences. Move the fences in and throw the microscope in the trash can.
Ive been plesed with Mejia in the pen, he seems engaged and pumped and not sulking even thou he wants to start.
ReplyDeleteMack , what if Montero struggles tonight, say 5 ins, 5ers, lot of pitches and hits,,would you still send down Zack over Montero ?? Or is this Montero move likely pretty permanant ?? IS Zack hurt or should we let him work thru his funk up in bigs??
The Dfference btwn the 2 games played and Yankee Stadium vs the 2 games at Cit Field tells quite a story about differences in stadiums. I really think DWright would have 30+HRs at Yankee Staium and just be so much better, when he's driving it opposite field they are just outs at Citi. I wonder if the Mets could have the first to have retractable outfield walls..adjust them per season based on personel...
If you are set with a stadium that's death to power hitters, why go looking for power hitters? Maybe what you need instead is a lineup filled with Murphy types who rack up huge numbers of doubles and keeps the averages above .300? It seems that signing known K-machines like Granderson and C. Young was ill-advised at best, particularly when the only good part of their game -- power -- is not likely to play well in the home ballpark.
ReplyDeleteIn Granderson's case, I think there were three motivations:
1. He has proven he doesn't crumble under the spotlights in NYC
2. He was signed at a mid-tier price point
3. It's a thumb to the nose at your cross-town rivals who, in turn, picked former Met Carlos Beltran
I'm still puzzled over the Chris Young signing when they were running a similar 32 HR hitter out of town for failing in one year whereas Young had multiple years of failure. Granted Ike Davis didn't have speed in his game, but the results were similar.
Right now you have three guys who could probably play for other teams' lineups -- Murphy, Wright and Lagares (who can't even get into his own lineup). That's it. You don't win games with a three-man lineup.
I couldn't agree with u more, we need to build a team like the 80's cardinals did. With speed pitching and defense. Murphy is doing great on the base paths and he isn't even known for his speed. We don't need to attract home run hitters just the right guys that put the ball in play. If Reyes stayed healthy he would have been tremendous if was still here.
DeleteHey Jambar -
ReplyDeleteRe: Mack , what if Montero struggles tonight, say 5 ins, 5ers, lot of pitches and hits,,would you still send down Zack over Montero ?? Or is this Montero move likely pretty permanant ?? IS Zack hurt or should we let him work thru his funk up in bigs??...
I would leave Montero and deGrom in the rotation for at least 5/6 starrs, then re-evaluate the situation. This is how things like this used to be done and I see no reason to change them.
As for Wheeler, he is obviously lost out there and, if the Mets approach him correctly with a plan of action to help him, I think even he'd go along with a short 'demotion'.
Reese is correct -
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how large or small your stadium is if the guy you send to the plate strikes out 200 times.
Adam -
ReplyDeleteI actually got up today at 8am for a 200 mile drive to the Veteran's Hospital. The woes of healthcare in America.
Kiernan has really turned the corner is completely one of the anti-Mets front office writers out there tight now. He used to always play it safe down the middle. Good for him.
I remember him and I talking when I was in the press room at spring training and Jay had been approached by a couple of the beat reporters and asked for me to be removed from the press crew because I was 'a blogger'.
I still wrote for Morris then so my pass was safe, but Ed came over to me and said 'don't worry about them... they're just scared that someday everyone will figure out that all any of us are anymore are just bloggers."
Good guy.