Mack’s Apple’s – Dominic Smith, Robert Gsellman, Braves Prospects, Curt Schilling, Future of Baseball

Good morning.

Dominic Smith discusses exit meeting with Mets GM Sandy Alderson:  ‘I left it motivated’ -

“We had a great conversation. We both agreed that I didn’t perform like I would like, and like he said, the job isn’t mine. It’s not secured, it’s not mine. I didn’t leave that meeting upset or hurt or mad or angry. I left it motivated,” Smith said Monday night in a sitdown with SNY. “I’m not taking anything for granted. I know I didn’t perform like I know I’m capable of. I know I didn’t perform like I would like and I’m definitely going to work my butt off this spring training. I’m going to spring training in shape and going to spring training ready to win a job.”

I’ve been rough on Dom in the past, mostly over his lack of home run production in the minors. I wasn’t alone in this criticism and I hope me and the other writers didn’t cause Smith to hit the heavy weights and come to camp last year as solid as a rock..

Muscle alone doesn’t mean your home runs will increase. The angle of your bat to the ball does. My guess is the Mets coaching staff caused this change, not Dom.

Trust me. Dom can hit. He can also field. All he needs to do is let his confidence take over his game and return to what he does naturally.

I expect him on the Mets first base on opening day 2018.

What does Justin Birnbaum have against Mets pitcher  Robert Gsellman -

The Mets are not a better team in 2018 with Gsellman in their rotation or even serving as rotational depth. The way the club has thrown his name around loosely in trade talks signals that he is not of much value to Sandy Alderson and his team. Best case scenario for the 24-year-old is a long-relief role in the bullpen, but Gsellman would be hard pressed to even make the roster coming out of camp this year. Unfortunately, Robert Gsellman was a shooting star for this club and his time has come and gone.

Most Players Skipped MLB’s Workout For  Former Braves Prospects  -

Major League Baseball held a showcase today in the Dominican Republic for the 12 former Braves prospects whose contracts the league voided, but most of the players did not show up.

Of the 12 players, just three—outfielders Antonio Sucre and Brandol Mezquita and shortstop Angel Rojas—were at the workout, which was at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo. According to multiple sources, several players did not show up to the workout because they are in the middle of their offseason and felt that MLB did not give them sufficient time to prepare themselves to be showcased for clubs.

Curt Schilling and the Baseball Hall of Fame: What’s the Issue? –

It’s a simple concept. Journalists are supposed to be impartial, and their job is to cover baseball games — so they should have the proper judgment to make the picks. For the most part, the concept has worked well for the past 78 years. But then there’s Curt Schilling. Schilling has become well-known nationally ever since his baseball career ended because of his outspoken political beliefs. Today he's an internet radio host for Breitbart News — a position he took after ESPN fired him in April 2016.

Wait. There’s no politics allowed on Mack’s Mets.

Sorry.

  Doctor in Cumming is trying to change the future of baseball –

Tim Griffith sits in his scrubs in a lightly adorned examination room at Peachtree Orthopedics' Cumming office, the same space where earlier in the day he saw a patient who had pitched in four baseball games in four days. In Griffith's view, that's not right. A pitcher, especially one who's young and still growing, should not be throwing that much and putting his arm at serious risk for future injury. A bigger problem is that Griffith, an orthopedic surgeon who's been with Peachtree since 2014, is seeing cases like that more and more, with the resulting injuries stacking up. "Oh, there's no question that it's an epidemic," Griffith said.

Griffith is an Atlanta native, and his home city is perhaps the one most in need of his guidance. Georgia's travel ball scene has a reputation for being particularly rigorous and taxing on prospects' arms. A recent column by Baseball America editor John Manuel addressed the topic.

"A lot of kids have left their arms at the East Cobb complex," a scout told Manuel. "A lot of clubs are wary of Georgia high school pitchers."

In my area (South Carolina, Georgia), the problem is not in the schools. 

Managers and coaches there do not overwork their pitchers, but I can’t say the same for travel teams around here. They are run (and owned) by money grubbing ex-jocks that could care about the future of these kids. They just want to get into the pocketbooks of the fathers.