Mack – New Weekly Post

Good morning.

Here’s week four…

I wrote a little blurb last week about ex-Mets pitcher Dillon Gee, which included a farewell statement he had left on Twitter to Mets fans, thanking them for their support.

I tweeted back… ‘no, thank YOU’.

He responded to me on Monday:

          Dillon Gee - @DillonGee35

Thank you to this great game! I gave it everything I had and now  It’s time to move on. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity for my career! Thank you to everyone who has supported… https://www.instagram.com/p/BtM61OmhZi9/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1q8tzqv0et86m …

Mack - @JohnMackinAde

No... Thank YOU Dillon

Dillon Gee - Dillon Gee liked your reply

Got another question from The Met Monkey –

I generally use "nimiety" in lieu of "redundancy." Nevertheless and notwithstanding, "Eek-eek!" Can your next color piece be about how the sinister barathrum of minor league ball, bad coaching, hurt a prospect? In other words, (wink-wink emoticon) um, when has poor advice and mishandling just single-handedly gourmandized a great prospect til' he was veritable shoe crapola?

I have two, one example of bad throwing you into the fire and the other just a complete cluster…

Part of my routine when I covered The Savannah Sand Gnat was taking a seat in the dugout during the team’s dinner break prior to the 7pm game. My goals were to snag someone for a quick question or two before they had to start their pre-game routine.

In 2012, pitcher Logan Verrett came out of the clubhouse and comfortably sat next to me. Our first exchange was at the welcome luncheon which I followed with a nice piece about him in my weekly news column.

He said he wanted to ask me a question before starting and I was a little hesitant to have this exchange since the unwritten rule was to never bother a pitcher the night he was starting.

I said shoot. He said “Mack. They want me to throw twenty five percent of my pitches tonight as curveballs.”

I shrugged “so?”

He said “I don’t throw a curveball”.

The other was Eddie Kunz.

The Mets expected a lot out of Eddie, who was one of their 1st round pick in the 2007 draft.

He was off to a good start after throwing in 44 games for AA-Binghamton with a 2.79-ERA and 27-saves. The Mets should have been concerned with his relativity low 8.01/K-9 ratio and his high 4.66 BB/9 stats, but instead of working on that, they bump him two levels to the MAJOR LEAGUE METS. Look at it this way… a year before, at the same time, he was pitching for Oregon State in college.

The results were horrible. 5-G, 13.50-ERA, 2.25-WHIP.

His career never was saved. He only had five more saves in the entire four years he pitched in organized ball

Hope that answers your question…  oh! Wait a minute! I got another one…

Brad Holt.

Hold was drafted in the first round the year after they drafted Kunz.

I remember heading straight out to the back mounds to catch a glimpse at him during spring training in 2009. He just came off a 11.94-K/9 posting for Brooklyn (14-starts) in 2008 and he and his electric fastball were the talk of the camp.

I also remember that the skinny in camp was that the Mets minor league pitching brain trust (sic) believed that saw something in his delivery that could be changed and allow him to throw more different pitchers.

I was there when he worked one of those bullpen sessions, being told to do things that just wasn’t natural for him to do. He was obviously frustrated when he walked back to the minor league clubhouse which I just happened to walk along side of him. I was hesitant to approach him verbally and we both stayed mum for the entire walk.

The next part gets weird even for Mets pitching coaches.

Word I was told that they abandoned their goals and let Eddie start off the 2009 season in St. Lucie with his limited control of secondary pitches. They reinstituted their plan in Binghamton (6.21), arm troubles developed from screwing around with his shoulder, and he was eventually cut in March 2013. He ended his professional career in 2014 after throwing four games for the Long Island Ducks.

I saw that ex-Met outfielder Curtis Granderson signed a one-year deal with the Florida Marlins.

Per ESPN, the contract includes an invitation to major league spring training. If added to the 40-man roster, he would get a one-year contract that pays $1.75 million while in the major leagues and have the chance to earn $250,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances.

My question is this. Did the Mets try to sign Grandy to the same deal? Nothing wrong with the guys we have signed, but would it have killed us to spend less than two bucks a year for the guy that brought so much joy to the fans of this team? I can’t think of anyone I would want better as my OF5 this upcoming season.

The Mets also signed ex-Met catcher Devin Mesoraco to a minor league contract. In case no one is counting, I am now showing seven catchers on the Syracuse roster… Mesoraco, Patrick Mazeika, Tomas Nido, Jeff Glenn, Colton Plaia, Dustin Houle, and Lednier Ricardo. Not gonna end up this way.


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