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2/16/16

Mack’s Morning Report - 2-16-16 – Wilpons, Beat Press, Matt Harvey, Yoenes Cespedes, Patrick Mazeika

 Good morning.


I got home Sunday night from Florida and noticed that the Donald Trump lead in the South Carolina pole actually went higher for him, even after his highly embarrassing appearance on CBS. Is this how it works in politics and baseball? Does Trump and the Wilpons have this similar approach?

In my book, the Wilpons did everything they could to piss off the fan base and send this team back into the dark ages. The call for a 90 win season resulted in the father and son basically disappearing into the darkest corners of their luxury box.

Sure, the season eventually turned around after Sandy Alderson got permission to sell off 11 minor league pitchers for the players needed to get this team, but I smiled when I read the new CBS polls about Trump. What a perfect Mets fan.



Jared Diamond ‏@jareddiamond  - Some personal news: After three years with the Mets, I'm sliding over to the Bronx to cover the Yankees for @WSJSports.

          Mack – I never understood why the newspapers do this. Just when you get used to someone writing about your favorite team, they up and make you cover the other team in the town. Plus, they don’t announce it until camp is about to open.

I don’t particularly like the beat press but Jared is one of the ones I do have a lot of respect for and I will miss his writings.



Matt Harvey told reporters down in Port St. Lucie that he hasn’t been approached by the Mets regarding an extension for his contract. He also said that he hasn’t ‘shed away’ from the idea of it.

I’m a big believer that there are two Matt Harveys. The first is the macho-like guy he outwardly shows to most of the Mets world, hiding behind his almost arrogant approach to the game.

The other Harvey is just your basic teammate that likes to surround himself with guys he likes and respects plus wants to play for a team that’s a winner.

Once Mets prospect Matt Durkin told me that once you sign with agent Scott Boras you take away your decision process in where you play and what you play for. If that was true then when Durkin signed (2004), I don’t believe it is true now, especially in the case of Harvey. Harvey doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy that anyone can push around if he doesn’t want it to happen.

Hopefully, this won’t be some ego game waiting for who calls the other guy first (Jose Reyes).



 David Cameron wrote a feature on what he felt were the top transactions of the 2016 off-season –

#5: Mets Bring Back Yo - Acquire: Yoenis Cespedes - Cost: 3 years, $75 million; opt-out after first year

All winter, the Mets told anyone who would listen they weren’t re-signing Yoenis Cespedes. They even signed Alejandro De Aza to serve as outfield depth, signifying that they were moving on, but as his price began to drop, the Mets found themselves in a position where they simply couldn’t ignore the benefit any longer. Cespedes isn’t a great fit as a center fielder, and Juan Lagares probably would have been just fine out there if given the opportunity, but you don’t get too many chances to sign an above-average player with this kind of limited risk. Clearly, the market didn’t love betting on Cespedes’ future value as he aged, but with just a three-year commitment — and the dangled carrot of the opt-out as motivation — it’s hard to see this deal going too terribly wrong. And if Cespedes continues to hit for power the way he did last year, this could end up being the free-agent steal of the winter. For a team with elite pitching and a chance to get back to the World Series, $75 million to bring Cespedes back to New York was just too good of a deal to walk away from.

Mark – Look, there simply is no down side on this deal. I give Sandy Alderson 100% credit for waiting and letting the prize fall in his direction. I’m a big critic of Sandy and Company’s ability to draft ballplayer, but he does seem to have it down when it comes to trades and free agent signings.




                  Drafted out of Jacob deGrom’s alma mater, catcher Patrick Mazeika knows how to get a bat on a ball. While he was old for the Appalachian league, Mazeika showed how well he hit by leading the league in doubles while being one point off the top in batting average. The player has a great left handed stroke that produces line drives to the gaps, and will not strike out. He also employs a patient approach that will walk and grind out at-bats. The main issue is that his frame is too big for catcher, and he doesn’t move very well behind there. His arm is strong enough to throw out quite a few, but he’s going to have to work hard to stay at catcher. If not, he’ll be a contact-first first baseman.

Mack – It seems to me that Mazeika is going to wind up being a first baseman anyway, so why not make the move now.

Mazeika will play 2016 as a 22-year old and I see no reason he can’t jump both St. Lucie and Dash Winningham, who will only be 20 this season.


I know… we seem safe at this position with Lucas Duda and Dominic Smith, but, trust me… nothing is ever safe. Just ask the Ike Davis fans amongst us.

9 comments:

  1. As much as i yap about my love for dom smith im certainly rooting for Mazeika and Winningham to succeed at every level. As always its the players, not us fans or media, who truly determine their future.
    ..........although I REALLY like dom smith ;)

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  2. I am with Ernest on Mazelka and Dash. Two potentially potent bats. And Mazelka is not old, so push him up, let's see what he has got.

    If I am Mets management, I keep a low profile on pitcher extensions until we are rolling in spring training and the guys to be extended prove they are 100% healthy. No reason to believe they are not 100%, but Wheeler and Ervin weren't last year, and we're talking mega millions here.

    Pitchers and catchers, oh my.

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  3. Trump would make a fabulous player- manager. Fabulous. But he'd send Cespedes back to Cuba.

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  4. Is it the height or weight that concerns you about Mazeika? If it's weight, you can lose pounds and re-work your shape. But not a lot you can do about height. But there are no shortage of tall catchers recently. Matt Wieters, Joe Mauer, Salty, Evan Gattis, Tyler Flowers and others are all taller than Mazeika's 6'3.

    I want guys to stay at C as long as possible. It's just such a huge advantage to have a real hitter at the position, as we're learning again with TDA.

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  5. Brian -

    it's so tough for some of these guys to stay at catcher... you can really wear out a body (knees) much quicker staying behind the plate

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  6. The guy I was hoping would have a huge season as a catcher was Brozer. He made a great first impression a few years ago before he got a hurt and the Mets aggressively put him in Brooklyn last year and he didn't impress.

    In hindsight, considering the injury, they probably should've placed him back in the Appy league and if he did great, this is the year they could have aggressively placed him in Savannah or Lucie.

    In any case, he's got huge raw power and I hope he has a great year.

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  7. I disagree, Mack. Trump screams Yankee. Jeffie is much more like Jeb B, wants dad's toys.

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  8. I cant speak for trump himself, but i can tell you his sons are yankees fans.

    as with boras. for some of the guys its only about the money. given his chance boras would put all his guys in major media markets if they have any star power. As the money made on marketing deals is both a game changer and more profitable for the agency. agencies can take a bigger cut of the marketing deals then the mlb/mlbpa allows on the contracts. substantially, from i think less than 5% on mlb contracts to 15-20% on marketing deals. That being said an offer of 50 mm more is going to out weigh that as its the public deal. if Milwaukee offers harvey 165/5 and the mets offer 162/5 he'll stay if they offer grienke's deal which was an extra year and 35 mm in a state with lower taxes, then he's going to go.

    Im starting to believe that the chance harvey stays with the Mets is increasing.

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