3/5/16

Mack’s Morning Report – 3-5-16 – Shannon Forde, Jacob deGrom, John Church, Lucas Duda, Jenrry Mejia



Good morning.


Everyone of my clubhouse passes came from Shannon Forde. Sure Jay Horwitz had to approve them but it was Shannon that did the hard work and made you sign the agreements and fill out the passes.

She always was as sweet as Jay wasn't and was always there to help the writers in any way needed. She lost her long battle to cancer yesterday, leaving behind her two children to grow up like I had to without my Mommy.

This will hold over the Spring Training camp all spring. There will be clouds over Tradition Field even if the sky is blue. The Mets  finest employee has passed.



Jacob deGrom seems to be taking on both the baseball establishment and the New York Mets front office by refusing to sign his 2016 salary.

To my knowledge, no one has ever done this before at this point is someone’s professional career (not even Bryce Harper). DeGrom is due to be paid $607,000 this year, which is $100K above the league minimum that most of the other baseball players are paid at this stage in their carrer. A similar issue rose in Pittsburgh with the agent for pitcher Gerrit Cole and he and his agent signed for $541K.

What this does is return deGrom to his 2015 salary level of $607K for 2016 season, even though he hasn’t signed the deal.

deGrom says this is a matter between his agent and the Mets and he wants to stay on this team ‘for a long time’. He, and his agent, just seems to think he’s worth more than $607.5 to play baseball.

I woke up to this story and found it quite disturbing. Frankly, it makes no sense to me. Players ‘under control’ of teams are paid a limited amount of money. That’s what makes it attractive to have them around.

I haven’t lived in New York City since 1980 so I don’t know what it costs now after federal, state, and city taxes, plus paying your agent. Can you still afford an apartment in Manhattan on what’s left of this offer?

Or could this just be a roundabout way to get contract extension talks going in the right direction (deGrom’s agent played Golf yesterday with Jeff Wilpon).



Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo  - The Mets have yet to approach any of their starting pitchers about contract extensions. Sandy Alderson says they still may later in spring.

Marc Carig @MarcCarig  - Alderson leaves open possibility of discussing extensions. But also mentions there's plenty of time to resolve.



Buster Olney @Buster_ESPN  - Playoff picks. NL: SF, Cubs, WAS division winners, STL, PIT WC



 Rotographs on Lucas Duda

Home Runs - Lucas Duda was ninth amongst first basemen in home runs and fourth in slugging last season, so he should be ranked much higher. However, according to our Rotographs January rankings average, he is ranked 20th. A lower batting average and a tendency to go hot/cold doesn’t place him among the elite first basemen. If you are able to nab him late, thirty home runs is not out of the question. A better home run park would help his value. The only thing holding Duda back was his historical struggles against lefties, which he overcame last year. Wilmer Flores and Travis D’Arnaud will more than likely be his back-ups and will get some starts against lefties, but not too many. In an OBP league, don’t expect him to drop too far.

Mack – I too have Duda in the 30 home run range because I think he’s get the maximum about of at-bats at first this season.



Anthony DiComo @AnthonyDiComo  - Awesome sign: original Met Al Jackson, who suffered a significant stroke last May, is visiting Mets camp in a wheelchair. In good spirits.



Our prayers go out to ex-Mets pitcher John Church’s mother, Debby, who is being treated for breast cancer. BTW… John signed with the Cardinals this season.



Starting lineup for Friday’s game - Lagares CF, Cabrera SS, Cespedes DH, Duda 1B, Walker 2B, d'Arnaud C, De Aza RF, Rivera 3B, Kelly LF, Verrett P


BTW…
          Scheduled weekend pitchers –

                   Saturday:  Gsellman, Lugo, Smoker, Robles, Bastardo
                   Sunday: Gilmartin, Pimentel, Reed, Henderson
                   Monday vs. Detroit: Colon
                   Monday vs. Matz


Friday’s game –

Logan Verrett gets through a scoreless first that includes a Cabrera-Walker double play… Destin Hood hits 2-run homer in the second…2-0 Marlins…

Juan Lagares led off the first with a double… basically a single that he turned into a double due to his speed and intelligence on the field… stranded at third.

Error for Lucas Duda in the second…

Mets down 1-2-3 in the second and third…

Akeel Morris in to pitch the third… Marcell Ozuna had a 2-out double but, other than that, a scoreless third for Morris…

Addison Reed pitches the fourth and gives up only a walk…

Jerry Blevens pitched the fifth… and looked 100% healed

Astrubel Cabrera (here comes the Twitter critics) botched a routine back-handed grounder to allow the third Marlins run to score…

Ex-Met 3B Zach Lutz comes in for the fifth…

First Mets run goes to T.J. Rivera with single in the fifth… Ty Kelly singles in second run… Wilmer Flores walks to load up the bases but Matt Reynolds ends the inning with a double play.

Jim Henderson on to pitch for the Mets… excellent inning in the sixth that included two strikeouts… 91-94 fastball.

Dilson Herrera singles in the sixth… but inning ends with the Mets down 3-2.

Duane Below in to pitch the seventh… strands two by striking out Lutz.

Travis Taijeron triples in the bottom of the seventh… then scores on a wild pitch (3-3)…

Chasen Bradford throws a scoreless 1-2-3 inning in the eighth…
Buddy Carlyle comes in to pitch the ninth… and sadly, he gives up a fourth run.

Dilson Herrera hits an inside the park home run in the bottom of the ninth,… 4-4 tie.

Game ends in 4-4 tie.

          Hero – Herrera
          Flop – Carlyle
         

Jenrry Mejia told The New York Times the following -

Mejia, 26, said in an interview Thursday that he was guilty only of the first doping offense. After the second positive test, which he said was somehow inaccurate, he was pressured by Major League Baseball officials to share information about his doping connections, he said. Mejia said that baseball officials told him that if he appealed the punishment for the second doping offense, “they will find a way to find a third positive,” Mejia said through an interpreter. “I felt there was a conspiracy against me. I feel that they were trying to find something to bring me down in my career.”


Mack – I promised I wasn’t going to talk about this asshole anymore but that doesn’t mean I can’t report the news about him.

9 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

if there's any chance that what was said about Mejia is true, and can be proved, that would be some story. seems doubtful though.

Just before TJ's hit with bags full, he ripped a ball with home run distance foul. Interestng.

Herrera exciting finish. Taijeron showing his pop. Verrett showing his propensity to giving up the long poke.

"A better home run park would help (Duda's) value"...that, after they already moved the fences in twice. Ain't that a shame.

Donald Trump said longer is better...extend Jake ASAP.

Ernest Dove said...

Hey didn't buster olney state like a month ago that Mets had the best rotation in baseball "and its not even close" ? So the team with #1 mlb rotation doesn't even make playoffs? SMH.

Tom Brennan said...

Ernest, skimmed over that ... Buster was wrong last year, and 2016 will make it 2 years in a row.

Ernest Dove said...

Quote from Buster Olney espn blog from 1/14/16
"The Mets have the best rotation in baseball now, and there really isn't a close second."

Obviously I understand how social media works and buster is just saying this new playoff prediction nonsense to create content and get clicks but I just thought it was silly to say the team with best arms in the sport can't even make the league's playoffs.

Mack Ade said...

Buster can be Buster...

Jeff said...

Buster Olney picks for 2015:

Playoff predictions: AL Orioles, Indians, Mariners; DET, NYY. NL Nationals, Pirates, Dodgers; Cardinals, Marlins. PIT to win WS over SEA.

4 for 10 on playoff picks

More bulletin board material.

Stubby said...

Conspiracy theories aside, the fact is that the substances Jenrry tested positive for can stay in the bloodstream for as long as 18 months from a single usage. So it is entirely possible that he's been punished three times for a single incident. The more I've thought about this, the more I am coming down on Mejia's side of the argument. And its not because I want to see him pitch for the Mets again--I think that ship has sailed. It's simply (to me) a matter of justice in labor relations. Mejia, I hear, has hired a labor attorney. All he has to do is present experts who can testify that those substances linger in the body for more than a year (which they do). Then the burden will be on MLB to show that the later tests had a higher concentration than the earlier tests. If its simply a positive/negative test, MLB is going to be overturned and should be. Think of it this way. Marijuana, we know, remains in the bloodstream for a minimum of 30 days (btw, you'll also test positive for marijuana if you eat poppy seed bagels or hard rolls). So if your employer suspends you for testing positive on Tuesday, they can't then fire you for also testing positive on Thursday. They can try, but any court or arbitration is going to toss it since the result is a foregone conclusion and that does imply malice on the part of the employer. Three positive tests of Mejia within a year, by itself, does not prove three incidents of use. MLB will need better evidence than that to sustain a lifetime ban. Ordinarily, the courts would prefer for baseball to police itself. However, the process they and the Players Association have agreed to is fundamentally flawed in many ways, not the least of which is not providing an avenue for appeal on a third strike. Labor law won't sustain that. An appeal--especially on the employment version of a "death penalty"--is a requirement of an employee's due process rights. No due process equals no "just cause" in labor law. Please note that this only applies to unionized labor; if you are not a union worker, they can fire you for whatever they want whenever they want, pretty much.

Tom Brennan said...

Great analysis, Stubby

Tom Brennan said...

Great analysis, Stubby