Morning Report – May 4 – Colorado, Brady Aiken, Sandy-draft, Decade-Rotation, Collette-Chat

Coming Up Today:

      11 am – Top 10 1B in 2014 MLB Draft - revised 4-28-14

        2 pm – Top 10 LHP In 2014 MLB Draft  - Updated 5-1-14

        5 pm - Top 10 SS in 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 5-1-14

       8 pm –  Braxton Davidson, Brandon Finnegan, Grayson Greiner, Jeff Hoffman, Branden Kelliher

I know everybody is real bummed out about what’s going on in Colorado this week (written after the first two games), but teams go through these ups and downs all season long. You can’t count on winning a series against a team just because on paper they look bad. The Mets looked bad next to St. Louis and Atlanta.

       Let’s stay focused with the long term goals here for the season. You want this team to finish the first half of the season at .500 and less than six games back in the loss column for a wild card spot.

       As I write right now, the Mets are two games over .500 and tied in the loss column for a wild card spot.

Jim Callis on LHSP Brady Aiken -

“The best left-handed pitcher available isn’t Rodon, it’s California high-schooler Brady Aiken. Aiken’s velocity has increased this year, and so has his command. I’d probably take Aiken No. 1, and I think if you asked 30 teams, 15-20 would say Aiken. He has taken a real step up. He’s more consistent, he has a good body, good arm action, three plus pitches at times.”

Mets starters went 26 straight games with at least 5 IP to open up the season. It was the longest streak in team history.

At 95.9 mph, Jeurys Familia has the highest average fastball velocity of any pitcher on the Mets

Bob Sugar asked -

One thing. What's Sandy and Co. track record of MLB drafts with the NYM? My sense is that it has been middle of the road. I know it all needs more time to play but…

Mack – Well, actually, you have answered your own question. ‘Sandy & Company’ has had only three drafts and it’s far too early to determine the degree of success.

Remember… players drafted are not just thrown out on the field and told to show us what they have. They continue to learn the game and strengthen the things they do well, correct mistakes made in how they approached the game in the past, train properly to ‘build out’ and rise each level and tackle new challengers. The true test is really not over until around three years at the major league level. Then, and only then, do you know what you have.

I always use OF Carlos Gomez as a great example of a late bloomer. Always had the high ceiling, but didn’t master this game until two years ago.

The Mets, under Sandy Alderson, tend to draft a certain type of player that has excellent athletic skills first, and baseball results second. They also like to go high ceiling high school which can really be a high reward, high failure crap shot.

No one represents this policy more than OF Brandon Nimmo, who looks, right now, to be a great draft pick. Perfect examples of those ‘hidden gem’ high ceiling late round high school players would be RHP John Gant (2011 – 21^st round – 2014/Savannah: 3.00) and RHP Robert Gsellman (2011 – 13^th round – 2014/Savannah: 1.48).

2011 was Alderson’s first draft, so it’s the best one to take a glance at. It includes possible future major leaguers like RHP Michael Fulmer (1^st round), RHP Cory Mazzoni (2^nd), RHP Logan Verrett (3^rd), LHRP Jack Leathersich (5^th), 2B Danny Muno (8^th), SS Phillip Evans (15^th), OF Travis Taijeron (18^th), and OF Dustin Lawley (19^th).

I could only guess right now, but I see the potential for, at least, two star players here. Trust me… if a team could draft two players every year that turn into stars, and add them to their current roster each year (plus have some luck in the International market, trade season, and free agency), they would be thrilled.

Ernest Dove said –

     Meanwhile, this whole money issue only shows that the 'dream rotation' of Harvey, Wheeler, Thor, etc. Will only be around for 2-3 years anyway…

           Really?

     Let’s look into this just based on none of these guys being signed to extensions and all of them going away when free agency kicks in for them, if it does, in this decade:

     Matt Harvey – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

     Zack Wheeler – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

     Thor – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

     Rafael Montero - 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

     Dillon Gee -  2015, 2016

     Jon Niese – 2015, 2016

     Jenrry Mejia  - 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

     Steven Matz – 2018, 2019, 2020

     It seems to me that the Mets are pretty set, rotation wise, though the decade.

     It also seems that both Niese and Gee are expendable, possibly as early as the next off-season.

Collette-Chat –

      Comment From John - Any signs Zack Wheeler is improving his command this year?

       Jason Collette: He is getting more called strikes, but batters are also not chasing his pitches at the same rate they were last season. It is good to see a guy’s K% up 5 percentage points while his O-Swing% drops at the same rate. That means he can work in the zone to get misses and not have to worry about getting dudes to chase.

Comment From Operation ShutDown - How much longer can Kyle Farnsworth hold on to the 9th? Who takes over for him?

      Jason Collette: I predict 7 different Mets relievers will have saves this season

Comment From The_madden_curser - Would you rank Noah Syndergaard as the hottest pitching prospect / most upside right now?

      Jason Collette: He or Heaney