Mack’s Morning News – 12-4-15 – Billy Wagner, Chris Young, 2016 Draft,Wilin Rosario, Bob Geren

Good morning.

I feature this  Fangraphs article here so a reader of Mack’s Mets, Billy Wagner, can link to what they are saying about him -

Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm are in the Hall of Fame. It’s a given that Mariano Rivera will be enshrined once he’s eligible. Trevor Hoffman is likely to reach Cooperstown as well.

Billy Wagner is expected to remain on the outside looking in. That’s wholly unfair, as no list of the greatest relievers of all time is complete without his name. Few lefties have thrown harder, and his numbers are eye-popping.

Wagner was as overpowering as anyone. He allowed just 6.0 hits per nine innings over his 16 seasons, and his K/9 was 11.9. His 422 saves rank him fifth on the historical leader board, and his ERA was 2.31.

Mack – There’s no way that Wagner shouldn’t be in the HOF, but these things do tend to become popularity contests and not everyone was a personal favorite of this guy.

          Sorry Billy.

The Boston Red Sox signing of ex-Mets, ex-Yankee OF Chris Young, to a multi-year contract was an interesting development this week.

Young was a complete bust as a Met, but did bounce back to some degree with the Yanks. He no longer is considered a candidate for centerfield, which is no problem to Boston, who has three of them already (Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Rusney Castillo).

JBJ is a Golden Glove centerfielder who would be the perfect platoon partner for the dead pull ball hitting Young, but this is a lot of outfield talent for one team (his one downside is his reverse splits last season… .306 vs. LHP, .222 vs. RHP).

A bunch of us here at MMs recently discussed a mock Harvey trade that included Bradley,

My guess is nobody goes anywhere here and the Red Sox find a way to get everyone enough at bats (a la the Dodgers) to keep them from bitching.

Thoughts?

Baseball America http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/groome-pint-debate-headlines-class-16/ came out with their top 100 high school prospects for the 201 draft –

Rank Player	Position	Ht.	Wt.	School	Commitment	Video
1. Jason Groome	lhp	6-4	224	Barnegat (N.J.) High	Vanderbilt	Video
2. Riley Pint	rhp	6-5	195	St. Thomas Aquinas High, Overland Park, Kan.	Louisiana State	Video
3. Blake Rutherford	of	6-1	176	Chaminade College Prep, Canoga, Calif.	UCLA	Video
4. Josh Lowe	3b/rhp	6-4	190	Pope High, Marietta, Ga.	Florida State	Video
5. Mickey Moniak	of	6-1	167	La Costa Canyon High, Carlsbad, Calif.	UCLA	Video
6. Delvin Perez	ss	6-2	165	International Baseball Academy, Ceiba, P.R.	Uncommitted	Video
7. Ian Anderson	rhp	6-3	175	Shenendohowa High, Clifton Park, N.Y.	Vanderbilt	Video
8. Matt Manning	rhp	6-5	194	Sheldon High, Sacramento	Loyola Marymount	Video
9. Reggie Lawson	rhp	6-3	213	Victor Valley High, Victorville, Calif.	Arizona State	Video
10. Nolan Jones	ss/3b	6-4	194	Holy Ghost Prep, Langhorne, Pa.	Virginia
11. Will Benson	of	6-5	225	The Westminster Schools, Atlanta	Duke	Video
12. Braxton Garrett	lhp	6-3	190	Florence (Ala.) High	Vanderbilt	Video
13. Jesus Luzardo	lhp	6-1	209	Stoneman Douglas High, Pompano Beach, Fla.	Miami
14. Alex Speas	rhp	6-4	187	McEachern High, Powder Springs, Ga.	Auburn	Video
15. Forrest Whitley	rhp	6-6	253	Alamo Heights High, San Antonio, Texas	Florida State
16. Brandon McIlwain	of	5-11	199	Council Rock North, Newtown, Pa.	South Carolina
17. Alex Kirilloff	of	6-2	195	Plum High, New Kensington, Pa.	Liberty
18. Carter Kieboom	ss/3b	6-2	185	Walton High, Marietta, Ga.	Clemson	Video
19. Kevin Gowdy	rhp	6-2	171	Santa Barbara (Calif.) High	UCLA
20. Luis Curbelo	ss	6-3	187	Cocoa (Fla.) High	Miami
21. Joe Rizzo	3b	5-11	215	Oakton High, Vienna, Va.	South Carolina	Video
22. Cole Ragans	lhp	6-4	190	North Florida Christian School, Tallahassee, Fla.	Florida State	Video
23. Cooper Johnson	c	6-0	200	Carmel Catholic, Mundelein, Ill.	Mississippi	Video
24. Hudson Sanchez	ss/3b	6-2	195	Carroll Senior High, Southlake, Texas	Texas A&M
25. Zack Hess	rhp	6-4	210	Liberty Christian Academy, Lynchburg, Va.	Louisiana State	Video
26. Erik Miller	lhp	6-4	224	De Smet Jesuit High, St. Louis	Stanford
27. Daniel Bakst	ss	6-1	183	Poly Prep Country Day School, New York	Stanford
28. Ulysses Cantu	3b/c	5-11	225	Boswell High, Fort Worth, Texas	Texas Tech	Video
29. Austin Bergner	rhp	6-4	190	Windermere (Fla.) Prep School	North Carolina
30. Tyler Baum	rhp	6-2	170	West Orange High, Winter Garden, Fla.	North Carolina
31. Carlos Cortes	2b/of/c	5-9	190	Oviedo (Fla.) High	South Carolina	Video
32. Zach Linginfelter	rhp	6-5	220	Sevier County High, Sevierville, Tenn.	Tennessee	Video
33. Nicholas Quintana	ss/2b	5-9	185	Arbor View High, Las Vegas	Arizona
34. Todd Peterson	rhp	6-5	205	Lake Mary (Fla.) High	Louisiana State	Video
35. Matt Cleveland	rhp	6-3	189	Windsor (Conn.) High	Florida Southwestern	Video
36. Bo Bichette	2b/3b	5-11	201	Lakewood High, St. Petersburg, Fla.	Arizona State	Video
37. Thomas Dillard	c	5-11	224	Oxford (Miss.) High	Mississippi	Video
38. Mario Feliciano	c	6-1	195	Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, Florida, P.R.	Uncommitted
39. Davis Daniel	rhp	6-1	175	St. James School, Montgomery, Ala.	Auburn
40. Dustin May	rhp	6-6	180	Northwest High, Fort Worth, Texas	Texas Tech
41. Rian Haire	lhp	6-3	205	South Caldwell High, Hudson, N.C.	South Carolina
42. Avery Tuck	of	6-5	188	Steele Canyon High, Spring Valley, Calif.	San Diego State	Video
43. Charles King	rhp	6-5	201	Coppell (Texas) High	Texas Christian
44. Max Kranick	rhp	6-3	185	Valley View High, Archbald, Pa.	Virginia
45. Ben Rortvedt	c	5-9	185	Verona (Wisc.) High	Arkansas
46. Tyler Benninghoff	rhp	6-4	180	Rockhurst High, Kansas City, Mo.	Arkansas
47. Gavin Lux	ss	6-0	167	Indian Trail Academy, Kenosha, Wisc.	Arizona State
48. Akil Baddoo	of	6-1	195	Salem High, Conyers, Ga.	Kentucky
49. Alexis Torres	ss	6-0	170	Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Gurabo, P.R.	Uncommitted
50. Cole Stobbe	ss/3b	6-1	183	Millard West High, Omaha	Arkansas
51. Ryan Zeferjahn	rhp	6-4	188	Seaman High, Topeka, Kan.	Kansas
52. Bryse Wilson	rhp	6-1	215	Orange High, Hillsborough, N.C.	North Carolina
53. Adam Laskey	lhp	6-2	194	Haddon Heights (N.J) High	Duke
54. Taylor Trammell	of	6-2	195	Mount Paran Christian School, Kennesaw, Ga.	Georgia Tech
55. Jonathan Gettys	lhp	6-3	220	Gainesville (Ga.) High	Louisiana State
56. Jaren Shelby	of	5-11	185	Tates Creek High, Lexington, Ky.	Kentucky	Video
57. Karl Kaufmann	rhp	6-2	200	Brother Rice High, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.	Michigan
58. Jack Gillis	lhp	6-3	241	Wilmington (Mass.) High	Vanderbilt
59. Joey Wentz	1b	6-5	209	Shawnee Mission East High, Prairie Village, Kan.	Virginia
60. Skylar Szynski	rhp	6-1	198	Penn High, Mishawaka, Ind.	Indiana	Video
61. Bo Weiss	rhp	6-3	190	Regis Jesuit High, Aurora, Col.	North Carolina	Video
62. Will Ethridge	rhp	6-5	195	Parkview High, Lilburn, Ga.	Mississippi
63. Keenan Bell	of	6-2	215	Episcopal School, Jacksonville, Fla.	Florida
64. Tyler Fitzgerald	ss	6-2	175	Rochester (Ill.) High	Louisville
65. Walker Robbins	1b	6-3	210	George County High, Lucedale, Miss.	Mississippi State
66. T.J. Collett	c	6-0	225	Terre Haute (Ind.) North High	Kentucky
67. DeShawn Lookout	ss/3b	6-2	188	Westmoore High, Oklahoma City	Oklahoma
68. Mike Amditis	c	5-10	185	Boca Raton (Fla.) Community High	Miami	Video
69. Ben Baird	ss	6-1	176	Agoura High, Agoura Hills, Calif.	Washington	Video
70. Easton McGee	rhp	6-7	187	Hopkinsville (Ky.) High	Kentucky
71. Miles Sandum	lhp	6-4	215	Granite Hills High, El Cajon, Calif.	San Diego
72. Francisco Thomas	ss/3b	6-1	204	Osceola High, Kississimmee, Fla.	San Diego State
73. Tyler Mondile	rhp	6-2	170	Gloucester Catholic High, Gloucester City, N.J.	Florida State
74. Jeff Belge	lhp	6-4	235	Henninger High, Syracuse	St. John’s
75. Robbie Peto	rhp	6-4	193	Monroe Township (N.J.) High	North Carolina
76. Blake Sabol	c	6-4	193	Aliso Niguel (Calif.) High	Southern California
77. Brandon Martorano	c	6-2	165	Christian Brothers Academy, Marlboro, N.J.	North Carolina
78. Alek Manoah	rhp	6-6	245	South Dade High, Homestead, Fla.	West Virginia	Video
79. Christian Jones	1b	6-1	212	Federal Way (Wash.) High	Washington
80. Will Proctor	ss	6-0	176	Mira Costa High, Manhattan Beach, Calif.	Georgia
81. Spencer Brickhouse	1b	6-3	225	Bunn (N.C) High	East Carolina
82. Josh Stephen	of	6-0	185	Mater Dei High, Santa Ana, Calif.	Southern California
83. Thomas Jones	of	6-3	195	Laurens (S.C.) High	Vanderbilt
84. Jack Little	rhp	6-4	205	Bishop Gorman High, Las Vegas	Stanford
85. Andrew Baker	of/lhp	5-11	185	Ridge Community High, Davenport, Fla.	Florida
86. Noah Murdock	rhp	6-7	181	Colonial Heights (Va.) High	Virginia
87. Brad Debo	c	6-0	221	Orange High, Hillsborough, N.C.	South Carolina
88. Drew Mendoza	ss/3b	6-4	195	Lake Minneola High, Minneola, Fla.	Florida State
89. Drake Fellows	rhp	6-5	205	Joliet (Ill.) Catholic Academy	Vanderbilt
90. Greg Veliz	rhp/3b	6-1	195	North Broward Prep, Pompano Beach, Fla.	Miami	Video
91. Austin Langworthy	of	5-11	180	Williston (Fla.) High	Florida
92. Tobias Myers	rhp	6-1	180	Winter Haven (Fla.) High	South Florida
93. Andrew Schultz	rhp	6-3	180	Greater Atlanta Christian School, Norcross, Ga.	Tennessee
94. Austin Shenton	3b	5-11	208	Bellingham (Wash.) High	Washington
95. Kobie Taylor	of	6-0	175	Portsmouth (N.H) High	Vanderbilt
96. Mason Thompson	rhp	6-7	185	Round Rock (Texas) High	Texas
97. Bryant Packard	1b	6-3	196	DH Conley High, Greenville, N.C.	East Carolina
98. Graham Ashcraft	rhp	6-2	208	Huntsville (Ala.) High	Mississippi State
99. Andy Yerzy	c	6-3	223	York Mills Collegiate Institute, Toronto, Ont.	Notre Dame
100. Dalton Feeney	rhp	6-3	200	Century High, Bismarck, N.D.	Missouri

Print the list out and hold it for a June reference.



Does former Colorado Rockies 1B-C Wilin Rosario offer a short term alternative to Lucas Duda while, at the same time, playing third catcher to Travis d'Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki. Would this give the Mets an opportunity to structure a deal of Duda to Colorado for help somewhere else?

Rosario has had some great years in Colorado, including 2012 (28-HRs, 71-RBI) and 2013 (21-HRs, 79-RBI) when he was their starting catcher; however, his 2015 season was split with the Rockies AAA affiliate and he only produced a 79 OPS+ in his 242 major league at-bats.

Rosario played 2015 as a 26-year old. 



I hate change.

Bench coach Bob Geren is moving back to the Left Coast and taking over the Bench gig for the Dodgers. My guess he has a promise to be next up for the manager's job some day.

My hopes are my buddy Tim Tuefel moves to the bench from third base and is replaced by Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez.