Mack’s Morning Report – 3-10-16 – Amed Rosario, Minor League Salaries, Mike Piazza

Good morning,

Evaluating New York Mets Prospects – SS  Amed Rosario -

In the field, Rosario has shown good instincts and a plus arm, giving hope that he can stick at short. Based on his footwork, he probably fits better as a third baseman, but he has the arm strength to make up for plays his feet couldn’t with an average arm. He has a similar defensive future to Corey Seager in my opinion, where he could probably play an average shortstop in the early going before transitioning to third.

Add to the mix a strong feel for putting the bat on the ball and at least above-average speed, and the excitement around Rosario starts to really make sense. The power is the farthest away of his tools, but I’m more confident in his athleticism getting him there than most young hitters with untapped raw power. He has room to improve his plate discipline, but again, it comes back to his youth relative to the opposing pitching. There’s enough promise at the plate to give him some leeway as he starts to mature.

Mack – Rosario has now played three full seasons for the Mets past the DSL teams. His lifetime stat line is: .257/.303/.350/.653. He’s only hit five home runs in 903 official at-bats. He also has only 52 errors in 318 plate appearances.

His game has a way to go but let’s not forget that he’s going to play AA ball this season at the ripe old age of 20.

More anti-establishment fodder by the 

Mets Press -

                  In 2015, the top 50 players in baseball were responsible for roughly 28% of the total on-field value created by players yet received only 10% of total salaries, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of player performance, salary and team payroll data.

Player value was quantified using the Wins Above Replacement statistic (WAR), which estimates how many more wins each player was worth than a league-average replacement player, as calculated by the website Fangraphs.

By contrast, the 50 highest-paid players received 29% of total salaries yet produced only 11% of the total on-field value created. Never in the sport’s free-agency era have so many players appeared to be either vastly

Mack – This isn’t going away as long as newspapers have interns in their offices that can dig up stat shit like this.

This reminds me so much of the Republican establishment now trying to jockey around the inevitable nomination of Donald Trump ( their eggs were in the Bush basket, Cruz was supposed to be the outside bad guy, and Trump was still supposed to be running his hotels).

Minimal salaries and ‘years under control’ is how the baseball system works. Take that away and you take away what separates what makes a good team a better one.

I wish these guys would back off and leave this issue to the individual agents.

Mike Piazza with some thoughts on The Hall Of Fame –

"It's the first time in a long time, and it's so incredibly powerful," Piazza said. "This whole year for me has been so euphoric. It's such an honor to be put in the Hall of Fame, but it's also the amount of people who have reached out and given me their good wishes. When you come here and you see the history and you see the exhibits -- the players you played against and with as a kid -- it all circles back here today."

Mets vs. Yankees on TV on Wednesday –

          Different coverage today on Mack’s Mets because game is on national TV.

          Jacob deGrom looks just fine in the first inning, turning a quality DP and ending the inning with a backdoor fastball. Gives up leadoff single in the second… then third hit to Chris Parmelee throwing only 92-93… strikes out Cesar Puello… ground rule double and single in third produce first Yankee run… 3-IP, 1-ER, 5-H, 91-93 fastball, 2-K, 0-BB

DeGrom - “I threw a ball halfway up the backstop, and that wasn’t what I wanted to do. That’s my second time facing hitters. I threw the one live BP. And the other one got scratched. So I was just getting out there and getting the feel for things. You get a little amped up when somebody steps in the box.”

          Curtis Granderson leads off the first with a single… Yoenis Cespedes also singled in the first, but Granderson went down in a double play…

          A rare base running error by Alejandro De Aza ends the second… ran off third base on botched ground ball to pitcher… you don’t get charged an error on a play like that but you should…

Jerry Blevens in to pitch the fourth… one to three in fourth…

T.J. Rivera – excellent defensively play at third in fourth…

Addison Reed in to pitch the fifth… 1-2-3 inning for Reed

Mets threated in fifth… De Aja walked and Kevin Plawecki pinch it single.. Rivera doubles in two runs… Rivera scores on error… Cespedes single scores Granderson (4-1)…

Mack – It sure seems to be getting harder each day to not consider keeping Rivera on the 25-man squad

Seth Lugo in for the sixth… hangs a change-up for a two-out double… inning ends…

DePodesta - "He's (Lugo) certainly showing right now he has the stuff to start."

Akeel Morris in for the seventh… gives up lead-off double… wild pitch scores second Yankee run… long out ends inning… not a good one for Morris

Jim Henderson in for the eighth… excellent defensive play by Gavin Cecchini at short (though un-needed double pump almost cost him)… had some trouble finding zone but still had an impressive inning…

Singles by Dominic Smith and Johnny Monell start eighth inning rally… Ty Kelly’s walk loaded them…

Antonio Bastardo gives up two ninth inning home runs… tied 4-4

There will be a tenth inning… Stomly Pimetel will pitch… excellent tenth inning..

Bottom of tenth… bases loaded for T.J. Rivera… fly out to center… end of game: 4-4 tie.