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.
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.
ReplyDelete..........although I REALLY like dom smith ;)
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.
ReplyDeleteIf 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.
Trump would make a fabulous player- manager. Fabulous. But he'd send Cespedes back to Cuba.
ReplyDeleteIs 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
Brian -
ReplyDeleteit'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
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.
ReplyDeleteIn 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.
I disagree, Mack. Trump screams Yankee. Jeffie is much more like Jeb B, wants dad's toys.
ReplyDeleteHobie, good analogy
ReplyDeleteI cant speak for trump himself, but i can tell you his sons are yankees fans.
ReplyDeleteas 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.