Mack’s Morning Report – 6-6-15 – Q and A

Good morning.

The Dangerous Mabry asked - @keithlaw Is there any reason for Dominic Smith to still be in St. Lucie?

Keith Law - Still only 20 and hasn't even played half a season there yet.

ESPN 

Ty asks –

          Okay Mack, we all beg every night for some more offense, but it simply isn’t going to happen with this team. That means, as you’ve been pointing out to us all year, the Mets can only get to The Promise Land through its pitching staff. Any thoughts now that June has begun?

Mack – Thanks for the question, Ty.

I’ve always been one to deal with strengths and I really don’t care home many pitchers there are in the Mets rotation. What I care about is the quality of pitching and nothing more.

Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard are locked solid in my rotation for the remainder of this season… no, this decade. Yes, there will be bad outings once in awile, but these are three great pitches and they will surely win more games than they lose.

I can’t be more thrilled from the results of Bartolo Colon. He’s been one of the most consistent pitchers in the rotation and now he’s even producing runs with his bat (I love the Mets pitcher hitting, but maybe someone could spend some time teaching these guys how to bunt also).

My fifth starter would be Steven Matz. June is the Super 2 month and it’s time for him to arrive and claim his spot behind Syndergaard.

As for Dillon Gee and Jonathan Niese, I really have no home for them right now. I have more confidence in Gee as a long man and he would accept the role much more easily than Niese. Niese should also be able to bring some decent 4th outfield prospect.

So, in my world, five man rotation with Matz, six man if you want to use Gee, and no changes until Zack Wheeler comes back next season.

ESPN 

Frank P. asked –

          Mack, you’re always talking about the players that are going to make it big someday in this organization and I remember getting an email from you when I applied to become a writer an one of the primary prerequisites was to never personally slam a minor league player.

That being said, there’s got to be some guys out there that you just know are never going to put on the New York Mets uniform in Queens.

Come on… share some of them with us. I won’t tell anyone what you said.

          Mack – He he, Frank.

          First a general statement… you have minor league teams with an average of 30 ballplayers (active and DL) on each team… that’s 270 players trying to find one of the handful of opening that come open each year on the Mets 25-man squad. Is this fair? Absolutely not.

I’ll take a stab at four here.

    1.     Some fail because there simply are two people playing the same position they play… better… either in Queens of the combination of Queens and AAA-Las Legas. This is where SS Matt Reynolds has fallen into. A very young SS Wilmer Flores has been given the job in Queens while another very young shortstop, Ruben Tejada has been anointed his backup. All of this has nothing to do with Reynold’s talent. The opera’s sold out and the ticket booths are closed.

    2.     OF Cory Vaughn has had a number of times to impress the Mets during his 6-year career as a Mets minor league outfielder. His pinnacle of success was leading the FSL League in 2012 for a while with 23 home runs, but his success was always preceded with dud results (2011: FSL - .219 and followed by even duller (2014 – Binghamton: .190 – 2015 – Las Vegas: .213). Vaughn is now playing a young man’s game at 26 and names like Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto will most probably take away what field time he has left for the Mets.

    3.     There was a time before last season started that some Mets pundits speculated that LHP Darin Gorski should be moved to the bullpen so he could find a quick road to Queens. This wasn’t done and Gorski remains a part of the Las Vegas rotation. In a town where Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard have mastered, Gorski has not and currently ois producing a 5.00+ ERA. I would DFA him when either Rafael Montero comes back or when the next promotion comes in from Binghamton.

    4.     It’s only a matter of time that Brandon Nimmo comes off the Binghamton disabled list and joins Michael Conforto in the B-Mets outfield. When this happens, it should be the the time to cut the chord with ex-prospect Gilbert Gomez, who has done nothing other than disappoint since signing with the Mets.

Joel asked –

          Mack, I know you’re not some kind of offense guru, but do you have any theory on why the Mets always seem to come up short when it comes to building an offensive team around their pitching staff?

          Joel – Thanks for the question, Joel.

          I honestly don’t believe Sandy and Company go out of their way to sign new ballplayers that they want to under-perform.

          What I do think is that all the trades and free agent deals under the Alderson administration have been determined by cost first and projected performance next.

          I also think that the David Wright extension was based on emotion rather than common baseball sense that here was a baseball player that was going to start that slow but steady road downhill. The Mets decided that not signing Wright would be a death warrant for the fan base… something they may have been right about… but, it’s quickly looking to be that this money could have been spent better on another player.

          I love the Bartolo Colon deal, but neither the Curtis Granderson or Michael Cuddyer signing looks like it will eventually be worth the paper it is printed on.

Cuddyer is hitting better this week, but it's a long season and I question whether he will hold up due to his age and past injury history.

Were these the best players available at the time of their signing? Did the Mets pass on anyone they should have signed. Well, there was always Stephen Drew (sic).

No, the problem here was money. Teams that sign Cuban super-prospects or players like Nelson Cruz do not do this with money being the deciding factor. They chose talent first and then work out the money.

Let me put it this way, in spades, and without any emotion. Replace the Wright signing with Cruz and stick him in the lineup since day one, batting fourth behind Lucas Duda. I guarantee you the team would still be in first place, and in a much more comfortable position.

ESPN 

Bob Gregory asked -

Hey Mack, I hope things are going well.

Interesting debatable question.

Given D. Wright's situation, just what do the Wilpons vs Alderson vs fans vs Mr. Mack believe the Mets owe it to Wright to provide him with a team that is FAVORED to play in the post season?

To what extremes do you see each party willing to go in order to accomplish such a goal? Have a great day

Mack – Hey Bob.

I would hope that everything you pointed out first starts with what the doctors want for Wright.

As an old businessman, I would go the insurance option if I was the Wilpons. I owe Wright nothing more than his last check, a retirement of his number and a tip of the hat. He was a great Met and will always be The Captain.

If I’m Wright, I need to understand that I have to step aside and let this team do whatever it has to, to make it a winner. If that means retirement, so be it.

And regarding the fans… well, they aren’t going to be happy under any scenario, are they?