From The Desk – David Wright, Marysol Castro, Peter Alonso, More Alonso, Dirty Laundry

Good morning.

           

How David Wright's  https://nypost.com/2019/01/08/how-david-wrights-restructured-deal-opens-up-millions-for-mets/  restructured deal opens up millions for Mets –

Wright will receive $9 million this season, with a $4 million lump sum coming on Thursday and the other $5 million given to him through the course of the baseball calendar. The remaining $6 million will be deferred with 2¹/₂ percent interest, compounded monthly, with annual $2 million payments coming each July 1 (better known in the Mets’ world as Bobby Bonilla Day) from 2021 through 2023 and the interest paid out on Dec. 31, 2023

The Mets’ first female announcer https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-mets-first-female-announcer-wants-to-level-the-playing-field-for-everyone-2019-01-08   wants to level the playing field for everyone –

           The Bronx-native daughter of two Puerto Ricans, who grew up on Baychester Avenue playing stickball and pulling for the Yankees (“I never root against the Mets,” she caveats), arrived at her Citi Field gig by way of broadcast news. Post-graduation from Wesleyan University, she taught high-school English and coached girls’ varsity volleyball at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn before attending the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She went on to stints at News 12 The Bronx, WPIX-TV, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s now-defunct “Early Show” and ESPN; she also wrote and hosted her own shows on digital media platforms.

Fangraphs https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-25-prospects-new-york-mets/ Top 25 Mets Prospects –

           1. Peter Alonso, 1B Video

Drafted: 2nd Round, 2016 from Florida (NYM)

Age     24.1    Height 6′ 2″    Weight            225     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       50

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit       Raw Power     Game Power  Run     Fielding          Throw

45/50     80/80                 55/70          30/30      40/40              50/50

Alonso followed up a breakout 2017 with a minor league leading 36-home run 2018 campaign split between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A launching pad Las Vegas. In addition to clubbing the most home runs, Alonso hit some of 2018’s loudest individual blasts. He had the most prolific batting practice session at the Futures Game, then threatened a passing satellite with a titanic seventh-inning homer off of a grooved, 95 mph Adonis Medina fastball. He exceeded Mets Statcast-era records on a ball in play in the Arizona Fall League, out-hit Vlad Guerrero, Jr. during Fall Stars BP, then homered the opposite way off a 103 mph Nate Pearson fastball in the game. This is what top-of-the-scale, strength-driven raw power looks like, and it drives an excellent version of a profile we’re typically quite bearish on: the heavy-bodied, right/right first baseman. Alonso is tough to beat with velocity because his swing is compact and even when he’s a little late, he’s capable of muscling mis-hit balls out the other way. After some adjustment, Fall League pitching chose to attack him beneath the knees, and well-located pitches down there were successful, but Alonso crushes mistake breaking balls that catch too much of the zone. We think a typical Alonso season will look like something between what C.J. Cron and Jesus Aguilar did last year, depending on whether the 2018 uptick in Alonso’s walk rate holds water or not. He makes some nice effort-based plays at first base, but as a feet and hands athlete, Alonso is well below average. Perhaps more notable than what we anticipate will be several years of mashing in the heart of the Mets lineup, Alonso is also a favorite to become the poster child for player compensation reform. Already near the center of public discourse regarding teams’ suppression of prospect promotion, he is 24 years old and has a skillset and body type at heightened risk to enter physical decline relatively early. With his early-career earning power stifled by his parent club, Alonso might start to show signs of physical regression during his arbitration years and also struggle to find a lucrative market in free agency. His free agency is timed awkwardly between what will probably be the next two CBA negotiations, but otherwise the circumstances indicate his situation could one day be a focal point for change.

FantasyPros: https://www.fantasypros.com/2019/01/top-5-fantasy-baseball-prospects-per-position/   Top 5 Fantasy Baseball Prospects Per Position –

           First Base  -  #1 Peter Alonso (NYM)

Power, power, power. That’s what you’re getting with Alonso, and it’s pretty damn impressive. Alonso will bring that power to fantasy owners and Mets fans early 2019.

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