Mack’s Apples - Nick Madrigal, Peter Alonso, Rob Manfred, Jason Vargas, Bobby Bonds

Good morning.

Players To Watch in  College Baseball  -

        

   INF Nick Madrigal, Oregon State - At 5-8 and 165 pounds, the junior is out of the mold of 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve. Madrigal was player of the year and defensive player of the year in the Pac-12 last season. He batted .380 with 20 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 40 RBIs. He also stole 16 bases in 18 attempts. He split time between second base and shortstop last season and committed just fiv

e errors in 233 chances.

John Sickels on –

      

     Peter Alonso, 1B, Grade B-/B: Age 23, second round pick in 2016 from University of Florida; hit .289/.359/.524 with 18 homers, 27 walks, 71 strikeouts in 353 at-bats between High-A and Double-A; showed very good power despite feeling the effects of a hand injury much of the season; doesn’t strike out much for a home run bat but can be somewhat aggressive and a few more walks would be nice; or not, right now there’s not much reason to change his approach since it works; bigger concern is defense, with a career .980 fielding percentage at first base, an unacceptable ratio at that position; past defensive rep was positive so glove will hopefully improve; ETA 2019.

           Minor League Ball

Is It Too Much To Ask For Good  Baseball Commissioner ? –

        

   Bowie Kuhn: Uninspired? Yes, absolutely.

Peter Ueberroth: Collusion.

Bud Selig: Steroids.

Rob Manfred: Pitch clock. Pitch clock!

Second verse, not the same as the first. Kuhn again. Kind of a doofus. Selig again. Canceled the World Series. Rob Manfred again. Pace of play, which isn't a term that applies to baseball. And his title is baseball commissioner.

 Fangraphs on Jason Vargas –

         

  Vargas, I guess, was an All-Star in the classic sense, in that he was literally on the All-Star roster. But Vargas isn’t an All-Star in any other sense. He doesn’t have a track record of being an All-Star performer, and very few people would recognize him were he just walking down the street. The Mets aren’t signing Vargas because they think they can put him between Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom. They know what he is. Everyone knows what he is. Vargas himself would understand he belongs at the back of a big-league rotation. That’s his talent level, and it always has been.

 Chipper Jones undecided whether he wants Barry Bonds in Baseball Hall of Fame –

        

   "He got a little bump this year. We're just going to have to wait and see," Jones said when asked whether Bonds was going to get in. "So many of the voters are torn down the middle. Whether he did or whether he didn't [use banned substances] I don't know, but what I'm saying is he's the best ballplayer I've ever seen get on a baseball field."