Mack’s Morning Report – 4-15-16 – Terry Collins, ‘Borderline Reckless’, The Future

Good morning.

Terry Collins seemed to survive his first bonehead play this season by pitching Jim Henderson a day after throwing 34 pitchers, and bringing in Jeurys Familia for a five out save, which was his third straight day on the mount. The Henderson outing blew up in the Mets face but he was saves by Hansel Robles and Jerry Blevins. They’ll add Rafael Montero to the mix this weekend verses Cleveland.

 Mike Vaccaro called Collins’ moves ‘borderline reckless –

Managers? Put it this way: it wasn’t just curious game managing but borderline recklessness for Collins to insert Jim Henderson in the seventh inning, one night after throwing 34 pitches and two years after shoulder surgery. Henderson was a good 5-6 mph slower Wednesday, but on the bright side his elbow stayed attached to his arm as he loaded the bases with none out in the seventh.

(As an important aside: much like almost every move he made during last year’s pennant push — well, right up to sticking with Matt Harvey, anyway — this worked out, thanks to brilliant work from Hansel Robles and Jerry Blevins. Collins keeps drawing to an inside straight.)

Mack – Sometimes I wonder how the manager, coaches, and players can read some of this shit and then look the writer in the eye the next day.

‘Borderline recklessness with eight games into the season?

Give me a break.

Q and A from Michael Scannell -

Hi Mack,

I'm not hitting the panic button on the season, it's far too early.  But, we're seeing the same problem- an inability to score runs.  I've always followed the minor leagues and it seems that the Mets have an abundance of position players.  I had a few questions about specific players and then was wondering what your thoughts were on my overall analysis.

And I’m glad you do so it gives me the opportunity to look ahead to 2017 and 2018…

- Taijeron.  He had an eye-opening ST and so far he's done well at AAA.  Is he playing himself into contention for one of the two long term OF spots with Conforto?  Can he play CF at the MLB level?

I just don’t see enough here to become a starting major league outfielder. Right now, he’s hitting .263 with five strikeouts in 19-AB. That’s over 25%.

- McNeil.  The kid could hit but there were obvious questions about his power and slight build.  Now that he's muscled up, is he getting himself into the conversation for an infield job?  I see he's playing 3B...can he stay there long term and potentially take over when Wright inevitably retires?

McNeill is a project at best, though he could turn out to be a good utility infielder someday. I don’t see him as the future Mets third baseman. That job will be filled from someone outside the organization.

In looking beyond this season, I don't expect Cespedes to be back, Granderson only has another year left, and our MIF combo is a short term solution to hold down the fort while the kids mature and the big club stays competitive in the meantime.  I'm not going to anoint anyone an heir apparent to any position given the depth the organization has grown and there exists the possibility of acquiring proven major league talent to fill holes.  However, I'm looking at the rosters and seeing enough talent to potentially acquire TWO bats, but I'm not certain who would go and who would stay.

Unlike you, I will anoint Michael Conforto in the outfield. I also think that 2016 will be the year whether or not we anoint Brandon Nimmo. Past that, the future outfield is all speculation.

In the infield we have Duda and Flores up, and McNeil, Cecchini, Hererra, Smith, Reynolds, and Rosario all working their way up.

In the OF, we have Lagares, de Aza, Nimmo, Taijeron, and Becerra looking to solidify their respective statuses.

I also believe that Rosario and Herrera will be the future middle infield for many years to come.

The pitching isn't what it was but there are still some interesting pieces like Gsellman.

Right now, with the current rotation + Wheeler, Verrett, and Montero, I’m not worried about 2017.

We know Sandy considers a roster to always be in flux and I expect turnover to continue.  There are a lot of possibilities-just at 1B, does Duda stay on?  Is he traded for prospects and the job given to Smith?  Are they both dealt to acquire a better, proven 1B?  Does McNeil slide over to 1B? 

I don’t happen to think the ‘future’ Mets first baseman is currently in the organization.

With so many possibilities, as I mentioned above, I can see Alderson cobbling together enough talent to fill two positions at the MLB level as well as fill the remaining vacancies internally.  This wouldn't be until next offseason and I'm expecting the bats to come around while we compete for the WS again this year.  But, am I wrong on the long term possibilities for this franchise when it comes to the depth of talent in the minors?

Well, there is depth, but mostly in the middle infield positions and in various organizational pens. Frankly, in my opinion, the system has barely 10 prospects right now.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

- Michael

In the minors...

           The B-Mets lost 

    Dunedin scored three runs in the first inning and went on to win 3-0... Chris Flexen had another shaky start (6.2-IP, 3-R, 4.46).