Good
morning.
Kevin Davidoff
wrote what I felt was a very disturbing story about 1B Lucas
Duda.
Davidoff
started the interview by saying that, it was in his (Davidoff) opinion that
Duda is the most hated, under-appreciated player in New York.
Is
that good? Being hated but
under-appreciated at the same time? And is it the job of Davidoff to try and be
the Woof Blitzer of the NY Mets beat press and
set back this fragile soul after all the time it too for Duda to build up his
confidence?
The
rest of the article tried to stroke Duda but, trust me, I have met this guy and
knew about his confidence problems that were heightened with his slow, inward
personality.
You
don’t motive guys like Duda by telling them that people think he sucks. Duda is
a guy you have to massage his back not stick a bat up his ass.
You
watch.
Slow
start coming up.
Continuing
from yesterday, Baseball Prospectus
mentioned another young player we should keep an eye on in 2016 –
Ricardo Cespedes, OF -
When I was first sketching out this list in late Fall, I had a great “The Mets
still have a Cespedes” quip queued up here. But then the team re-signed Yoenis,
so it's no longer relevant. The younger Cespedes very much is. He was the Mets
big signing out of the 2014 July 2 class, and although Ali
Sanchez is the better prospect at present, Cespedes will show you plenty
to dream on. He can show you some pull pop that should spread to all fields as
he ages, and like many of the Mets younger prospects, has a better plate
approach than most teenagers. If you were more confident he's a center fielder
long term, you might even be able to find a spot for him above, but he doesn't
really have the straight-line speed to profile there. Neither does the older
Cespedes, mind you, but he does have some other things going for him.
Mack – I wrote a
lot about this kid in the past two seasons and, frankly, I expected much better
numbers than he has put up so far (2014, DSL: .227 – 2015, GSL: .224). He’s
still very young and will play 2016 as an 18-year old. I’d either hold him back
at the GCL level which gives him the chance to also work with the organizational
coaches there, or send him to Kingsport and see what happens there.
Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo - Matt Harvey
described Terry Collins as "sparky" in
delivering his annual fire-and-brimstone speech this morning.
Matt Harvey reported that his slider is
back.
Adam Rubin @AdamRubinESPN - Terry Collins told
Mets today about subtle areas they can improve, including baserunners taking an
extra base and pitchers advancing runners… said deficiencies with the Mets may
be the youth of bench and the need to identify another late-inning reliever…
said Mets' pitchers were good driving runners in. He wants hitting behind
runners/bunting to improve… says he sees
polished slider and late life on fastball with Matt
Harvey that didn't exist last year. Sees another this year… Collins also
mentioned pitchers holding runners and catchers retiring base stealers as an
area for improvement.
Zack Wheeler will throw off the mound for the first
time today.
Craig Edwards
wrote about contract extensions and Jacob deGrom -
Perhaps the most ideal
candidate for an extension on this list is Jacob deGrom. He is a year away from
arbitration, but will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2020
season. He is older than others on the list (27), but not too old to be
considered for an extension. There’s also the relative modesty of his original
signing bonus, and the fact that he’s stated publicly his willingness to
consider an extension.
Mack – This
seems like a no brainer and even deGrom seems to think this is a good idea (“I’m
a little bit older, so I might be more willing to do something like that”).
Let’s get it done.
3 comments:
Harvey is going to win 20 games this year...
Harvey and deGrom and Thor all candidates for 20.
Idiotic article on Duda. All he has to do is swing at first pitch meatballs and he should have a big year. Davidoff needs to write about politics instead.
Extend Jake. Best wishes for Wheeler today.
Duda is Under appreciated, not hated. doesnt seem to be a thing to hate about him. Quiet guy, streaky, but a monster when hot. I think its just that if you count on him to look like the guy leading you come up disappointed, but as a complimentary piece he's great. Personally, i like him. think kevin McReynolds.
As for DeGrom give him the corey klueber deal plus a first year at 2 mm. so that it equates to service time. fair deal.
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