The Morning Report – November 6 – Free Agents, Luken Baker, Seattle, LAA-SS, Roberto Baloquin, Robin Ventura

From the ‘Can’t Hurt’ department…

Mets OF Curtis Granderson is very happy to be reunited with new batting coach Kevin Long.

This is the time of the year that most baseball writers come out with a post or article about the ‘top 20 free agents out there unsigned in the market and where the writer thinks they are going.

Once again, most of these lists do not have a single player projected to become a Met in 2015.

I’m really getting sick of this and wonder out loud how much of this is because of past contracts like Jason Bay, Frank Francisco, David Wright, and Curtis Granderson. Did you notice how fast a 4-year, $60-mil deal become a 3-year black shroud on top of the Mets head?

Cot[i] updated their Mets page and it’s pretty clean. It lists a pre-Arbitration total payroll of $54.05mil, which many project out to a $90mil+ payroll without signing another single player.

Teams like the Cubs and White Sox don’t seem to have an operating limit. They just want to win.

I wish I could find a list of the total monies spent each year, in the last five free agent seasons, verses where that team finished in the standings at the end of the next season and how much all those signings helped their team.

Top 15 Pitchers in 2015 Draft –

5. Luken Baker, RHP, Oak Ridge HS (Tex.) — Baker is one of the few true two-way prospects in this draft, and is a candidate to go in the first-round both with his bat (which we’ll discuss in a couple of weeks) and as a hurler with excellent size plus huge arm strength. Most that I’ve spoken with believe he likely ends up in the field, but his ability — and the lack of depth in the class — earns him a spot on this prestigious list. http://www.drafttotheshow.com/top-15-in-15-high-school-pitchers/

Mack – I’ll be throwing in some more draft information and names now that we moving closer to the 2015 draft.

Hot Stove Conclusion – Seattle –

           In the end, the M’s need a lot of help. Most of their needs are in the everyday lineup where there boast merely two solid to very good hitters joined by a bunch of ‘we hope he hits’ options. Outfield, perhaps times two, and either first base or designated hitter are the obvious spots in the field to add such offense. Whether it’s free agency or the trade market, the Mariners have a number of roster spots to upgrade which may include adding a premium starting pitcher. There are few untouchables in the organization from the big leagues all the way to their top prospects and they have no business worrying much about protecting their first-round draft pick. Expect a lot of rumors, but a lack of action by the Seattle Mariners would surprise the entire league. The M’s are motivated from top to bottom, ownership to field staff, and they aren’t all that far away, particularly if they’re lucky enough to get marked improvements from a few of the young players in addition to a few key winter acquisitions. http://prospectinsider.com/where-the-mariners-need-help

Let’s update the SS situation in Anaheim –

           Erick Aybar - $8.75mil/yr, 2015, 2016

           Roberto Baloquin – Cuban 20-yr-old - $8mil signing bonus

How crazy is all this getting? Well, the 20-year old Baloquin hasn’t played an inning of baseball in a Cuban professional baseball league for… FIVE YEARS. That’s right, since he was 15-years old.

Robin Ventura –

                       Ventura’s best days were with the White Sox. But he was still pretty good when he signed with the Mets prior to the 1999 season. With apologies to Wright, the Mets have not had as good a glove at the hot corner in their history as they had with Ventura from 1999 to 2001. “Ventura made everything look easy,” said former Mets first baseman John Olerud a few years ago. “You'd see a ball hit in the hole and think, boy, that's gonna be a tough play, or you'd see a fast guy bunt -- but when Ventura was at third, not only would he get to the ball quick, he'd get it to you quick." http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/96041/top-10-best-mets-defenders-part-i


The complicated LA Dodgers outfield - 

	2014 stats							2015
Name	PA	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	wRC+	WAR	Steamer wRC+	Age	Remaining Contract
Yasiel Puig	640	16	.296	.382	.480	147	5.1	145	24	4/$24m*
Scott Van Slyke	246	11	297	.386	.524	160	2.8	110	28	pre-arb
Carl Crawford	370	8	.300	.339	.429	119	2.5	107	33	3/$62.25m
Matt Kemp	599	25	.287	.346	.506	140	1.8	128	30	5/$107m
Andre Ethier	380	4	.249	.322	.370	98	0.7	109	33	3/$56m
Joc Pederson (MLB)	38	0	.143	.351	.143	68	0.1	105	23	pre-arb
Joc Pederson (AAA)	553	33	.303	.435	.582	164	n/a

The signing of C Johnny Monell Jr. to a minor league contract does (assuming he sticks) settle down the catcher position a little in the organization. He has had some considerable AAA experience and his 20-HR, 64-RBI stat line in 2013 for AAA-Fresno is probably something the Las Vegas 51 players remember vividly.

My guess is you can slot him immediately into the locker left empty by the departure of Juan Centeno and he will compete with Anthony Recker for the backup job in Queens behind Travis d’Arnaud.

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[i] https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tfJWfaPG4VXbDyBscIZf1MQ&output=html