From The Desk – Francisco Alvarez, Franklyn Kilome, Max Scherzer, Peanuts & Cracker Jax, Peter Alonso

Good morning.

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

11. Francisco Alvarez, C 

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Venezuela (NYM)

Age     16.6    Height 5′ 11″  Weight            220     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       40+

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit       Raw Power     Game Power  Run     Fielding          Throw

25/55        50/50                 20/45       45/35      40/50             55/55

Alvarez received one of the top bonuses in the most recent July 2nd class, signing for $2.7 million with the Mets. He’s a physically-mature Venezuelan catcher, a demographic with a solid track record, even more so when you consider that Alvarez himself has a long track record of hitting in games and some present raw power. He projects to stick behind the plate with solid defensive tools and enough athleticism, though some scouts are tougher on the finer points of his framing and throwing technique, which is pretty typical for a catching prospect this age. There isn’t a plus tool, but the now skills and hit tool, all at a premium position, makes Alvarez one of the safer bets in his class and among all prospects of this age.

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

12. Franklyn Kilome, RHP 

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2012 from Dominican Republic (PHI)

Age     23.5    Height 6′ 6″    Weight            215     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       40

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Fastball          Curveball       Changeup      Command      Sits/Tops

   60/60               55/55              45/50               40/40           92-94 / 96

PC - Ernest Dove

           Kilome was markedly better after the Mets acquired him from Philadelphia for Asdrubal Cabrera ahead of the deadline. In seven starts with Binghamton, Kilome halved his walk rate (his strike % was up six percentage points), flashed a better changeup than he had earlier in the year, and turned in his best performance of the season, striking out 10 former Reading teammates on August 3rd. After things had plateaued for so long with Philly, he seemed to be improving. Then he broke, and at an unfortunate time. Tommy John in late October means Kilome, who’s already relatively raw for a prospect his age, may not throw another professional pitch until mid-2020, when he’s 25. We think this makes it significantly more likely that Kilome ends up in relief and while we think he could be a dominant three-pitch reliever, it has also delayed his timeline to the big leagues by perhaps two years, putting him in line to debut near the same time as similar talents who just wrapped a season in A-ball.

           

Max Scherzer   says baseball’s free agency lull ‘poisons the game. –

            For 40 years, baseball free agency was always described as "an auction," with teams bidding against each other, sometimes wildly, for players. Fans egged their teams on. Agents fed rumors about mega-contracts. Then, a few years ago, that long trend began to change. Max Scherzer was among the first to experience it four years ago as a free agent.

MLB teams, he thought, were learning to flip the marketplace into a kind of reverse auction in which rich teams publicly identified themselves as not interested in specific free agents while poor or “rebuilding” teams just tanked and refused to compete for free agents at all. Supply and demand were turned upside down. Scherzer saw this whole winter coming. And he called it.

 Peanuts, Cracker Jack   won’t be sold at Connecticut Double-A baseball stadium –

           The Hartford Yard Goats announced on their website earlier this month that Dunkin’ Donuts Park would become “peanut-free” – cutting ties with two baseball mainstays: shelled peanuts and Cracker Jack – in order to accommodate visitors with allergies. The team is the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

 Fangraphs top 100 prospects-

       

    #48 – Peter Alonso - Alonso has elite raw power and lead the minors in homers last year. He is not a good defensive first baseman and may be the primary beneficiary if the universal DH is instituted.

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 a favorite to become the poster child for player compensation reform. Already near the center of public discourse regarding teams’ suppression of prospect promotion, Alonso 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.