Morning Report – October 21 – Rob Whalen, PLAYER A/B/C/D, Javier Baez, Grandy, Familia, Tapia

Rob Whalen on using ‘the clock’ (being used in the AWL) -

“We played our first game at Salt River so we experienced the clock right away. Honestly, didn't seem to make a difference. Guys weren't in any more of a rush between pitches or between innings taking their positions. I'm not a fan of it. The game was still fairly long and slow due to walks and tight strike zones. I think if the zone opened up a little bit you would see less walks and more contact which would lead to the game speeding up a little bit. I don't believe it's going to stick around and make it to the bigs. It failed in college games and will fail in pro ball. If it were to stick, it shouldn't be on when runners are on base, they can just time the clock. Pitchers need more time with guys on holding the ball to freeze the runners is part of a pitchers strategy to keep guys from stealing, especially if they have slow moves to the plate when delivering a pitch.”

Mack – Let’s remember… Whelan is pitching in the Winter League for one reason and that is to build up innings and arm strength loss that became limited in the 2014 season due to his injuries that included an infection in his throwing hand. I like his comments because he’s not afraid to give an honest assessment at this point and he doesn’t seem to be looking over his shoulder wondering if one of the Mets execs is going to yank him off the band box (and if that came from jay, it could be quite the yank). Another fellow in the cap of a very talented, confident, almost cocky starter. Maybe we’ll soon see him rooting hard at New Your Ranger games.

Question… there were two players:

Player A – 399-AB, 

.346/.431/.529/960, 11-HR, 65-RBI

Player B – 331-AB, .326/.403/.547/950, 16-HR, 73-RBI

Player A is Mookie Betts and his combined AAA/AA 2014 stats.

Player B is Cesar Puello in 2013.

Betts has been called the best outfield prospect since Ted Williams while Puello couldn’t even get a top 100 prospect ranking before he made an appointment with Biogenesis.

Am I missing something here?

Let’s add two more

            Player C – 478-AB, .343/.405/.454/859, 6-HR, 61-RBI

            Player D – 453-AB, .349/.388/.446/834, 5-HR, 75-RBI

Some additional at-bats but comparable stat lines.

Player C is Matt Reynolds.

Player D is T.J. Rivera.

It’s obvious that ‘stat lines’ do not define the ballplayer, but I thought you’d find all this interesting.

Javier Baez, IF: The 21-year-old Baez was aggressively pushed through the upper minors and into the Majors in 2014 despite the Cubs’ losing season. The Puerto Rico native had a chance to make fans salivate for his 80-raw power but the 95-15 K-BB rate in 52 games helped to underscore just how raw this talented hitter really is. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/a-minor-league-review-of-2014-reds-and-cubs/

Mack – We just recently did a breakout on super-prospect Addison Russell.             Then we have all-star Starlin Castro and his bloated contract. And now there’s Baez. The Chicago Cubs system simply can’t sustain all this talent at one position. Frankly, my money would be on Baez being potentially the most talented, leaving either Castro or Russell for the trading block. 

Curtis Granderson, right field  -  The nicest thing you can say about Granderson is that he wasn’t Chris Young. The move from Yankee Stadium to Citi Field meant 30 home runs was no longer a possibility, but he did hit nine more doubles in 2014 than he did with the Yanks in 2012 (his last full season). But $60 million should do more than buy you a .227 average and 1.3 WAR.  Grade: C–  http://www.metro.us/newyork/sports/mlb/2014/09/30/mets-2014-report-card/

        Mack - Oh, let's get off the back of this guy. I don't think anyone in the history of this game managed to play worse in the first month of this past season and still keep his composure around all the beat guys, fans, and teammates. He worked his way up,  being knocked around the lineup and hit .299 in September (87-AB) with 4-HRs and 17-RBIs. Prorate that out even with no fence movement and you arrive at 24-HR and 102-RBI. This is just about what his current contract is worth at this point in his career and, numbers like this win additional baseball games

Like I said, let's stay off his arse and give him another shot here. We may be pleasantly surprised..

Jeurys Familia - Familia is obviously a keeper; in fact, he may have the best pure stuff of any pitcher the Mets have. Now that he's established himself as a confident and effective late-game reliever, the Mets may give him a chance to compete for the closer's job in spring training. Of course, regardless of what inning he's pitching in, Familia is a huge asset in the Mets bullpen and should be for years to come. http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2014/10/10/determining-fate-for-each-member-of-new-york-mets-bullpen-in-2015/#slide_25

            Mack – Familia is now on my very short ‘keeper list’ with guys like David Wright, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. I said years ago, long before there was ever a mention of the other three pitchers I wrote in this paragraph, that Familia was the kind of pitcher you build a staff around. He was a young Mets starter than, but his talent hasn’t changed. I believe in the long run he will become the Mets closer before 2015 ends and will star in the 2016 All-Star game in that role.

The Tumbler: Domingo Tapia, RHP: Tapia can hit triple digits with his fastball but his control has always been less than ideal. Things went from bad to worse in 2014 and he walked 51 hitters while striking out just 59 in 109.0 innings of work. He needs to find a more consistent secondary offering to help put batters away. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/a-minor-league-review-of-2014-marlins-mets-nationals/

Mack – Boy, we haven’t talked about this guy for a long time and it may be a long time before we talk about him again. I remember how excited Frank Viola was to get a look at his 97mph… slider… but, control wise, he makes Jack Leathersich look like Tom Glavine.

‘On paper’, he’s scheduled to pitch in the Binghamton rotation, but so is Matthew Koch, Kevin McGowan, Luis Cessa, Michael Fulmer, and Luis Mateo. My guess, due to Fulmer’s surgery and Mateo’s rustiness, he’ll get one more chance in 2015.