From The Desk - Tony Dibrell, Brennan Malone, 1B Jam, Allard Baird, 3 Batter Rule

19. Tony Dibrell, RHP Video\

Drafted: 4th Round, 2017 from Kennesaw State (NYM)

Age     23.2    Height 6′ 3″    Weight            190     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       40

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Fastball          Slider  Curveball       Changeup      Command      Sits/Tops

50/50               45/50       45/50               50/55              40/45            90-92 / 94

PC - Ed Delany 

          

           Dibrell looked like a second round talent at times in college but his velocity and command varied pretty wildly during his draft year at Kennesaw State, and he fell to the fourth round. In his first full pro season Dibrell, though somewhat old for the league, tied for the Sally League lead in strikeouts. His velocity held in the low-90s all year and his combination of mechanical deception and four viable pitches projects to fit in the back of a rotation.

2019 High School Preseason All-Americans –

            Brennan Malone, RHP, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.  -  Malone’s fastball trails only Espino in the 2019 high school class. He regularly works in the mid- to upper 90s. The North Carolina commit has plenty of upside with a projectable, 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame, a clean arm action and an abundance of athleticism. His breaking ball has plus potential as well.

Fangraphs – Sorting Out the Mets First Base Logjam –

            Lest you think that ZiPS is particularly low on Alonso, note that his Steamer projection for 2019 is nearly the same (.241/.319/.458). Last year, he tore up the Eastern League (.314/.440/.573, 180 wRC+) but relative to his league, saw a substantial drop-off at Las Vegas (.260/.355/.585, 139 wRC+). It’s worth noting that his slash numbers within that projection are held down by a low BABIP (.281 for 2019) that owes something to his 30-grade speed. It’s still a much more playable profile than the projections for Smith:

Dominic Smith via ZiPS

Year    BA       OBP    SLG     HR       OPS+  WAR

2019   .244    .296    .380    14        84        0.7

2020   .245    .300    .395    15        89        1.0

2021   .243    .299    .393    15        88        1.0

2022   .241    .299    .392    15        88        0.9

2023   .242    .301    .396    10        89        0.7

2024   .240    .302    .386    9          87        0.6                                                           


total -                                                          4.9

PC - Ed Delany

Woof. Again, it’s worth remembering that these are the result of heavy weighting of the player’s recent performances, which in Smith’s case have largely been struggle after struggle, though he did hit well at Vegas in 2017 (.330/.386/.519, 134 wRC+). Note that the gap between Alonso and Smith may be larger than shown above, as the former was projected for just 524 PA this year, the latter 587.

Ultimately, even with potential season-opening stints on the Injury List for Lowrie and/or Frazier, and so many other job battles among the team’s position players, it seems quite possible that the Mets will trade Smith, who has youth on his side and may be best served by a change of scenery anyway. One way or another, it should be very interesting to see how this all unfolds.

Allard Baird   has helped bolster Mets' front office, scouting department –

            Allard Baird never envisioned himself as a scout or an executive.

He enjoyed being a coach in the Royals system from 1988-90, and only added scouting to his duties during that 1990 season to help him become a better teacher and coach.

Baird has always placed value in the ability to relay information, and he figured a quick dip into scouting would only help improve his coaching abilities.

Little did he know it would change his life.

New three-batter rule  change makes baseball better –

            As one of the last baseball fans in America, I support the demise of the one-out specialist in the new rule change.

I’m jesting, of course. I imagine there might be two or three other baseball fans.

My beloved sport is baseball is easy to mock — too slow, too ponderous, too “boring” for the younger generation. It’s an NFL world, and a college football world, and an NBA world, the haters say.

Maybe that’s why MLB seems so — what’s the word? — desperate to change these rules? It does have a whiff of desperation. I mean, you either love the game, or you don’t. Will shaving a few minutes off a ball game bring a stampede of kids off of Fortnite and to the ballpark?

Not bloody likely.