Morning Report – May 24th - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Eric Campbell

Coming Later Today –

                10 am – Reese Kaplan  -  With the Game on the Line, Who You Gonna Call?

                 12 noon  - Sports Illustrated - Mock

 2 pm–  Top 13 RHP in 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 5-23-14

                 4 pm -  Top 13 OF in 2014 MLB Draft - revised 5-23-14

 6 pm -  Matthew Railey, Max Pentecost, Ryan Castellani, Michael Chavis, Tyler Beede, Matt Imhof

8 pm - Top 11 SS in 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 5-23-14

College stat lines –

     Chris Oliver – Arkansas – 6.2-IP, 0-ER, 1-K

     Sean Newcomb – Hartford – 7.0-IP, 2-H, 0-ER, 14-K

Savannah pitchers Akeel Morris (41.9%) & Dario Alvarez (40.8%) rank #1 & #2 respectively in all of minor league baseball in K% (min 20 IP).

Juan Lagares is hitting .356 (16-45) when batting 1st in the lineup.

Here’s something if you are one of those fans that think the cup is half empty again and you’re waiting for the all-star break to rid the team of some dead wood, Daisuke Matsuzaka remains unhappy as a relief pitcher. The good news for you is the current 2.14 ERA he’s producing in this limited role. There always is a handful of teams looking to add a backend rotation starter to their pennant push and the Dice-man just might be the one guy that could get you a decent return this summer.

Terry Collins seems to be falling in love with general, all-around good guy, Eric Campbell and I would expect him to start playing all the postions he has played well, in the past, in the minors.  They include 3B, 1B, both middle infield positions and both outfield positions. In fact, a story could be made for developing a plan for him to play every day in some capacity. I wouldn’t worry about his bat. His defense, even in the outfield (as proven Thursday night) is not a liability either. He’s on a good three year tear: 2012 – Binghamton: .297… 2013 – Las Vegas: .314 … 2014 – Las Vegas: .355.

One caveat… don’t look for two much pop here. He projects out with a top of a potential 10-HR per season.

I’m being told that the new policy of using ‘the kids’ in Queens may translate into moving up some of the better players in the system, both based on how well they are playing right now, but also based on projected ceiling and future positional need. The problem is that the vast amount of positional talent that needs to be moved is clogged up behind both AAA and AA players just filling a AAAA capacity. Draft time will bring you in a bunch of new faces but no one that can immediately play at that level.

Some suggestions:

     Work Darin Gorski into the Las Vegas rotation, at the expense of either Dana Everland or Giancarlo Alvarado. Replace Gorski in Binghamton with Steven Matz.

     Promote Jack Leathersich and John Church to Vegas, demote back to Binghamton Buddy Carlyle, and release John Lannan

     Promote Kevin Plawecki to Vegas and return Xorge Carillo to Binghamton… then deactivate Kai Gronauer when Travis d’Arnaud is activated and send Juan Centeno back to Vegas.

     Get the SS train moving… Matt Reynolds to Vegas, Phillip Evans to Binghamton, Gavin Cecchini to St. Lucie, and Amed Rosario to Savannah, Release either Omar Quintanilla or Anthony Seratelli.

Promote Brando Nimmo to Binghamton and send Cory Vaughn back to St. Lucie (or packing).

There are more at the Savannah level, but they aren’t going anywhere unless some of the above mentioned moves don’t come first.

ODDS OF DRAFTING MAJOR LEAGUE CONTRIBUTOR, BY DRAFT PICK
Draft Pick	Chance of 10+ WAR Player	Chance of 3+ WAR Player
1-5	35%	55%
6-10	25%	43%
11-15	23%	41%
16-20	17%	32%
21-30	11%	23%
31-40	7%	15%
41-50	7%	15%