1.
I think all of you need to read this…in Baseball America. There are major developments that are planned by the suits of baseball to dump
up to 42 minor league teams, including our beloved Brooklyn Cyclones. Screw the
players… just make money for the multi-million-dollar owners. I know, I’m
starting to sound like Elizabeth… click on the link and read the bad news.
2.
The period in which teams can clear their
rosters of dead wood begins five days after the last World Series game. This
includes the many AAAA players we had in 2019 that filled in well while others
healed. Do you have favorites to re-sign or discard when the period begins?
3.
I really wonder, now that the Joe Girardi mess
has passed, who exactly passed on the other party. I would think that the Mets
would want to promote this if it was Girardi. It sure would defuse some of the
heat going on from the fan base on Twitter.
4.
More on point one… both Brooklyn and Kingsport
could be lost in the reshuffle of minor league teams. As a minor league
‘expert’, I can tell you most of our teams have a bunch of players that have no
chance of making it to the majors. So I ask… would it be a bad thing to have
only four minor league teams (GCL, Columbia, Binghamton, Syracuse) in addition
to our two DSL teams? We could incorporate our best prospects into these teams.
Other teams are playing 19-21 yr. olds at the major league level. Why can’t we?
5.
And lastly… Baseball America’s
top 10 AFL prospects:
8. Andres Gimenez, SS,
Mets
Team: Scottsdale
Age: 21
Why He's Here (at the time):
.500/.500/.625 (4-for-8), 1 2B, 1 SO
(Final AFL Season Stats: .371/.413/.586 (26 for 70), 9 XBH, 11 R, 15 RBI)
(Final AFL Season Stats: .371/.413/.586 (26 for 70), 9 XBH, 11 R, 15 RBI)
The Scoop:
Like Royce Lewis, Gimenez came to the AFL after a disappointing regular season but thrived in Arizona. He won the league's batting title and his .999 OPS was the best in the AFL, with a .371/.413/.586 overall line in 18 games.
Like Royce Lewis, Gimenez came to the AFL after a disappointing regular season but thrived in Arizona. He won the league's batting title and his .999 OPS was the best in the AFL, with a .371/.413/.586 overall line in 18 games.
9. Ali Sanchez, C, Mets
Team: Scottsdale
Age: 22
Why He's Here (at the time):
.455/.500/.545 (5-for-11), 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBIs, 1 BB, 2 SO
(Final AFL Season Stats: .262/.347/.310 (11 for 42), 2 EBH, 5 R, 5 RBI)
(Final AFL Season Stats: .262/.347/.310 (11 for 42), 2 EBH, 5 R, 5 RBI)
The Scoop:
Sanchez has good hands both at the plate and behind them. He doesn't deliver much impact, but he's adept at putting the ball in play and saves a lot of runs with his receiving ability.
Sanchez has good hands both at the plate and behind them. He doesn't deliver much impact, but he's adept at putting the ball in play and saves a lot of runs with his receiving ability.
Lots to consider:
ReplyDeleteReducing teams - baseball is unique with its farm system having SO MANY players, most of whom never get to the big leagues. So, lots get to live their dreams in the minors, but don't have what it takes to get close to the majors. I can't therefore blame baseball on this - what I dislike is the 28 man September cap - not having it at least at 30 players means a lot of guys right on the major league doorstep may never make the big leagues dream. For 2 extra guys, for the teams that choose to do it, for just one month, is peanuts. Now THAT is being cheap.
In the past, I also wrote on this website about them fixing the rules that would idiotically keep a super prospect like Alonso in 2018 off the Mets in September, and keep many others like Guerrero in the minors for 3 weeks or more at the start of the season. When you're ready for the Big Show, stupid rules shouldn't delay you, by even a day.
I will comment on the other points in your post in another comment.
Good Morning, Mack.
ReplyDeleteIf the minor league "contraction" is based solely on profits, then the proposed changes are a horrible idea. However, as you proposed, perhaps consolidating talent on fewer teams is a good idea (an intended consequence). It's not like we have a ton of prospects knocking on the door anyway and this might cause "minor league" free agency to become another avenue of player acquisition.
Players who were not drafted will get a chance to show their skills outside of school (HS, College), so teams will have more data before acquiring them (i.e. fewer draft busts). The bigger market, more aggressive teams will likely benefit since they won't be restricted by the number of draft picks allotted in the current system. But, with fewer farm teams, will players get discarded faster as a result, if they aren't producing?
Joe Girardi did the intelligent thing and took the standing offer from the Phillies, as opposed to waiting for the Mets to make up their mind and possibly getting passed over all together. Not sure who qualifies as "passing" on who since the Mets' search hasn't reached the offer stage (as far as we know). I think the Phillies will be better as a result, which isn't good for us, regardless of who we end up with.
Still seems like Perez is the front runner, right?
Gimenez SHOULD have a future with the Mets, but could be trade bait due to the current roster construction. I think he will be a nice major league player. Ali Sanchez? He seems more like a defensive minded back up, to me (but what do I know).
Manager choice? I will judge when they tell us the entire field...they are handling it like Adam Schiff.
ReplyDeleteAAAA guys I'd keep include some AA guys. Blake Taylor, Matt Blackham, Ali Sancehz and Pat Mazeika, the latter 2 because you need viable catchers. Perhaps Mickey Jannis, who may still pull a few R A Dickey rabbits out of his hat. Nogosek, of course.
If you extend it to the MLB roster, Sewald, Bashlor, and Flexen, and minor leaguer Uceta, possibly.
In the AFL:
Gimenez got his mojo back - I have an upcoming article on him.
Sanchez? He is an ideal 3rd catcher to have on the Mets for his late inning defense, as the roster expands to 26. He may not hit .200, but a catcher who can throw out runners late is quite useful.
I recently purchased a used copy of the 1988 Bill James Baseball Abstract. James wrote an intriguing long-form article about the MiLB issue, arguing from the perspective that baseball in America has been terribly harmed by MLB having so many farm teams and simultaneously destroying any concept of independent baseball. Not coincidentally, it has shielded MLB from any attempt at a competitive alternative.
ReplyDeleteWe've all been conditioned to believe that meaningful baseball (read: Major League Baseball) can only exist in 25 to 30 cities, with the teams in those cities controlling six to eight teams each in other cities for their own purposes. Where does that leave the baseball fan in thousands of non-MLB cities across America? It leaves them rooting for a team that essentially plays exhibition games all summer, competing for a meaningless "championship" while always running the risk of losing their best players to a parent club hundreds of miles away that has no loyalty to your team or your city. If you live in, say, Syracuse, should you simply accept the fact that you will NEVER watch your hometown team competing for a meaningful championship?
MLB is offering to immediately free up 60 baseball markets and several hundred professional baseball players. It seems to me that an entrepreneur with a vision and a few bucks to spare has been given an incredible opportunity to form four or five independent leagues, with a stadium and a front office structure already in place. It also seems that, in the absence of said visionary, the Atlantic League, the Cam-Am League and other independent leagues all over the country should be salivating at the possibility of adding new markets and new talent at virtually no cost.
Mike/Tom
ReplyDeleteI can't find any other reason a reduction of teams would bring than more profit in the ownership.
MAJOR league baseball is down. Maybe the owners thing this is a way of streamlining the operational costs while, at the same time, not giving up any of their top prospects.
I agree that other writers here that Brooklyn would stop being a "A" level team. The Mets own if and it is Jeff's favorite team.
Interesting thing here is the fact that a move like this doesn't mean baseball would cease to be played in towns like Kingsport. Case in point would be Savannah. The Sand Gnats lost a ton of money every year, paying out renting costs of the stadium to the city and drawing less than 2000 people every game. Hell, I attended some that drew around 500 people.
The Mets moved the franchise to Columbia and an Indy team, the Savannah Bananas, was formed. They are now the most profitable team in Indy ball, selling out the place every night.
As for the manager search,the fact that Tim Bogar is still involved in the World Series must be a factor here.
Jack, that is quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteA rich baseball fanatic could explore your idea.
Mack, if there is a tectonic shift in minor league teams, we will adjust to it quickly - mostly low talented players would be the victims, but might be better off in indy leagues.
Tom -
ReplyDeleteWe all have dreams, especially when we were 18-24 years old.
Every minor league player was the best player on their sandlot team.
Frankly, as sad it could be, a reality check wouldn't be a bad thing for young men to chose a different direction in their life and start making some real money.
Mack, I agree. Each major sport relies heavily on college - football (e.g., Clemson), hoops, and baseball. Football and hoops get more national attention in college, but once college is over, it is over in football and mostly over in hoops (they have Developmental leagues). Baseball goes on for several hundred collegians a year in the minors - if some get truncated on that up front because they aren't that good, that's life.
ReplyDeleteA guy like Seth Lugo may have never made it, having been drafted in the 34th round - maybe under a slimmed down minors set up, he doesn't make it out of the gate - but those guys who do make it are very few and far between.
And they always have indy ball if so inclined.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteSeth Lugo's path was certainly unique, given his decent signing bonus for a 34th-round pick and then scary injury that likely would've ended his career if he wasn't in an affiliated system. He turned out to be a very happy accident for the Mets.
A typical 34th-round pick might actually be better off going to independent ball, having a great season or two, and then having some choice in the organization he signs with. Things have surely worked out for Lugo, but teams generally have no serious investment in the success and development of a 34th Round pick. If Shreveport had a viable independent league team at the time and signed a kid from a nearby college like Lugo, they likely would've been more invested in his success than the Mets were.