The Mack Report - Saturday, July 2nd

First up, we continue our series on expiring contacts on teams that look to be out of the playoffs this season.

 

Next up… the Washington Nationals 

 

DH-OF Nelson Cruz is currently being paid $12mil for the 2022 season and has a $3K in-op for 2023. 

His 2022 stat line so far is 0.7-WAR, 265-AB, .249, 8-HR 

 

1B-OF Josh Bell is being paid $10mil for the 2022 season. 

Bell is having an outstanding season, hitting .319 in 276-AB, with 11-HR. Could be a perfect DH for the remainder of the season. 

 

(Strickly) 2B Cesar Hernandez is currently being paid $4mil for the 2022 season. 

Hennandez is currently hitting .264 in 314-AB, with 0-HR. 

 

LHP Sean Doolittle is being paid $1.55mil for the 2022 season. 

His limited 2022 stats are 0.4-WAR, 0-0, 0.00, in six appearances and is currently on the 60-day IL.

  

We continue looking at draft targets for the Mets in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft. 

Let’s more to the 2^nd round.  

6-7/230 OF-1B Spencer Jones played 2022 for Vanderbilt. 

MLB.com says about Jones - 

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 55 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50 

A California high school product, Jones was one of the best two-way prospects in the 2019 Draft but required surgery to repair a small fracture in his pitching elbow. He slid to the Angels in the 31st round because of his strong commitment to Vanderbilt, and he required Tommy John surgery in July 2020 after trying to pitch again in summer ball. He missed part of last season while completing his rehab and didn't become an everyday position player for the Commodores until this spring, when he has hit his way into the top two rounds. 

Jones has the potential to hit for average while producing solid power, but he also swings and misses frequently against non-fastballs. Though he generates plenty of bat speed and has impressive strength and leverage in his 6-foot-7 frame, his size also creates a naturally long left-handed swing. He uses the opposite field almost to a fault, rarely turning on pitches, and there are concerns about whether he'll be able to handle quality fastballs on the inner half. 

Very athletic for his size, Jones shows average speed out of the batter's box, is quicker once he gets going and has some basestealing ability. He covers ground in right field and has regained average arm strength. He also played some first base last year at Vanderbilt and is a solid defender there. 

2022 stat line -  230-AB, .370/.460/.643, 12-HR, 64-K 

Mack - Jones could have been a great pitcher but injuries that included TJS took that option away. 

He started back as an almost pure first baseman but has played his way into a corner outfield position for the Vandy Boys this year. 

Whoever drafts this guy will get a pure hitter, with good power, Needs to work on the whiffs.

  

Perfect Game’s Final HS Top 50 here - 

1. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (Orchard Lake, Mich.) | 

Record: 44-0 | Preseason Rank: 4 

This was a brutally difficult decision when it came down to who to select as the top team in this year’s rankings, which crowns that team a National Champion, but when looking at the fact that St. Mary’s does have one of the most talented rosters in the entire country, led by a potential first-rounder in Brock Porter, and they didn’t lose a single game while playing 44 in the span of just 11 weeks, it’s hard to argue against that. They now sit at 87-1 over the last two seasons and have won 66 in a row with an extremely talented outgoing senior class. They’re very deserving. 

 

Saturday tweets - 

Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) tweeted at 10:56 AM on Thu, Jun 30, 2022:

2022 WAR of players drafted at top of 2013 draft: 

0.0 Mark Appel

-0.4 Kris Bryant

1.2 Jon Gray

NA Kohl Stewart

0.1 Jackson Frazier

-0.3 Colin Moran

NA Trey Ball

-0.3 Hunter Dozier

0.7 Austin Meadows

-0.1 Phil Bickford

-0.1 Dominic Smith

NA DJ Peterson 

 

Michael Mayer @mikemayer22 

The Washington Nationals agreed to give Max Scherzer deferred payments of $15 million each July 1 from 2022 to 2028 

                                    John Flanigan @jflan816 

Your friendly reminder the Nationals are paying Max Scherzer to pitch for the Mets. 

 

Danny Abriano @DannyAbriano 

Francisco Alvarez is hitting 275/358/561 with 18 homers in 64 games in Double-A *as a 20-year-old* 

Mets DH options in bigs: 

Davis: 243/333/345 w/ 2 HR

Smith: 200/291/274 w/ 0 HR 

Mets C options in bigs: 

McCann: 179/250/254 w/ 1 HR

Nido: 221/264/244 w/ 0 HR 

Tick tock 

 

Cleveland Baseball Insider @CBIonSI 

Andres Gimenez has already proven to the city, fans, and team he's a star. That's what really matters!

TOM CHIMES IN:

Big 4-3 Mets win over the Rangers, with Peterson fanning 10 and the relievers adding 4 more, including 2 in a perfect 9th for the Mighty Edwin.  You've not seen nothin' like Mighty Edwin.  Atlanta and Philly kept pace with wins.

In the minors, Vientos and Baty homered, and they are looking a lot more like co - # 2 prospects right now.  Alex Ramirez is reviving, too, with 2 hits and 4 RBIs.  FOr Brooklyn, Schwartz, Mena, Newton and Palmer slugged nicely, giving Garrison Belt Bryant the W.

Lastly, in this abbreviated recap, Keyshawn Askew continued his excellent relief pitching for the Lucites with 4 innings of 1 run, 2 hit, 7 K ball.  The 10th round LEFTY has a 1.61 ERA and lots of Ks.