Mack’s Morning Report – Q and A

 Good morning.

Gary sent –

Hi Mack, Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in on this off season.

A lot of talk about trading for the Braves Simmons which I wouldn't do because it would take Harvey to get a deal done and I would much rather use that chip and go to the Sox and get CFer Betts who's only 22  and could help fill an impressive outfield along with Conforto and Grandy.

 I still think Flores deserves more time as he's just 23 and has only really played SS full time this year with the big club.

Heyward and Cespedes are NOT happening so lets move on please. Smaller deals for the likes of Zobrist, Parra, Span, (if my suggested deal doesn't happen)

O'day or Sipp make sense as I feel the FO will only make smaller deals and probably go into the season with the fab four (till Wheeler's ready then the fab five) see where we are in July and then make trades accordingly.

 I would also trade Duda as I don't see him ever turning into the player we were all hoping he'd be. His hit selection is poor at best even with all the extra hitting and coaching help and at 30 he's not likely ever going to get much better and as an old saying goes: You can send a duck to eagle school but he'll still be a duck.  Your thoughts please, Gary Seagren

            Gary – Always thrilled to hear from you Gary.

You and I are on the same page about a lot of these ‘issues’, but Wilmer Flores is not one of them. I’m an old third baseman known for his defensive skills and Flores will, in my book, never be a major league shortstop. I do think his game plays better to second, but Dilson Herrera is a pure second baseman with ++ defensive skills.

He continues to make huge mental lapses in the field, his feet are too small to waste much time out there after making the catch, and his throws repeatedly pull Duda off the bag. And, I haven’t even brought up the errand throws to first trying to turn a DP.

He had a great year… for him… and I can live with the combination of Flores and Ruben Tejada for another year, but I will never be happy until a ++ shortstop, like Simmons, plays this position for the Mets. I’m an infield defensive purist and I know that additional games are won during a season if you have top defense there. Flores is a great guy and tries his heart out, but he’ll never win a glove made of gold out there.

As for Simmons, the Mets never had the chance to match the kind of deal the Angels came up with. We would have had to trade them Flores plus two top AA prospect starters that no longer exist in our system.

You know I’m a fan of Starlin Castro, but that too would cost the Mets a starter. The whole league knows that the Mets are a little short right now on quality trading material, so frankly Sandy Alderson is going to have to continue to build from within and fill in with free agents and mid-season trades.

Let’s be grateful that we are already ahead of the curve. We start 2016 with a healthy David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, plus Steven Matz and Michael Conforto.

(yeah, I know… I’m leaving myself open here for some criticism in the comment section on the future health potential of both Wright and d’Arnaud, but it’s my opinion both will stay on the field if the Mets come up with a proper fill-in for the rest time each one will need)

Moving on…

I also don’t see any big time outfield move other than a possible platoon partner in centerfield. I would love Heyward, but his street value is way out of Wilpon’s league. 2016 is going to be the year that Brandon Nimmo has to prove to all of us that he was worth a first round draft pick. Past that, I see no reason not to give Juan Lagares a chance to play fulltime again. The power is going to come from Wright, d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and Conforto.

Relief wise, O’Day may already be lost via free agency.

Gary, I’ll say the same thing I’ve been saying since the season ended. I don’t look for any sexy moves here… my wishes would be a better defensive middle infield, a healthy throwing arm for Lagares, one more backend quality reliever, and two quality college junior top draft picks (Mets #1, Murphy’s QO pick) that could move through the system as fast as Conforto did.

I truly believe that the Mets pitches will lead the league in both lowest ERA and WHIP. I also believe that Matt Harvey will win the Cy Young after having an almost unhittable sophomore season since his TJS.

You add this pitching to the team you already have in the field, and you will make the playoffs.