The Mack Report - Wednesday, July 27th

The International Draft

 

The MLBPA rejected the MLB proposal for and International Draft, leaving the current Qualifying Offer (QO) in place. 

The two sides exchanged four proposals this month and word was that, in the end, they remained “considerably apart”. 

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman

It’s a shame they couldn’t work it out because an international draft would be far preferable to all the shenanigans that go on now. And it was time for the qualifying offer, which hurts mid-range free agents, to go. Not a good day.

 I guess if you are a baseball purist, you should be upset about this. Ya know, the ole everybody gets the same chance to get rich here theory. 

Well, I’m a Mets fan and, under the ownership of the Wilpons, I had to sit back and watch other big market teams feast on the young international players while I had to either settle with one decent signing or none at all. 

Oh, there were exceptions when we signed one top prospect (Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, Francisco Alvarez, etc.), but we never drafted two in the same year. 

Now, with Steve Cohen in charge, we can and, most assuredly will, double or triple dip in this very talented pool. 

In addition, no team has more players that could be eligible for a QO this year than the Mets. 

Oh yeah… watch out walls… I’m dancin’. 

 

Joey Lancellotti 

The Mets signing right-handed pitcher Joey Lancellotti. 

The 24-year old RHRP was drafted  in the 34^th round of the 2019 draft, by the Yankees, out of the University of North Carolina. 

He never signed and returned to UNC for four seasons, which included TJS in 2019. 

This year, he started in Indy ball, where he threw two perfect innings, with three strikeouts. 

 

 BPJ  - 2023 MLB Draft: 10 College Players to Know 

Christian Little, RHP, LSU 

Little spent his first two years at Vanderbilt before transferring to LSU this offseason. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound righty throws a fastball, cutter, slider and changeup from an over-the-top arm slot. 

Little’s fastball sits in the mid-90s, and it plays up due to the deception in his delivery. He has a solid mix of pitches and projects as a long-term starter. He displays respectable command and control of his pitches.

 

2023 MLB DRAFT - TOP 100 HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS HERE - 

11 SS Antonio Anderson Tri Cities, Atlanta, GA 

It's tough to find a switch-hitter in the 2023 class with more polish than Anderson. Hit/Power combo stands out with an impressive feel for the barrel from both sides, with notable bat speed and innate ability to create loft. It's a viisually appealing swing with a firm front side and steady balance throughout. Anderson has plus arm strength paired with a very projectable frame suggesting hs should stick on the left side of the infield long term. 

 

Yesterday’s Tweets -

 

Tebby3000 CYJUAN WALKER SZN 

Edwin Diaz has a FIP of 1.19-

 

Deesha @DeeshaThosar 

Jeff McNeil has hit safely in 14 of his 16 career games vs. the Yankees, going 23-for-59 with a .989 OPS. His .390 average is the highest mark in the history of the Subway Series. Derek Jeter leads all Yankees hitters with a .364 lifetime average against the Mets.

 

Jim Callis @jimcallisMLB 

2nd-rder Blade Tidwell signs with Mets for $1.85 million (slot 52 value = $1,475,100). Vol_Baseball RHP, sure 1st-rder if not for shoulder issues earlier in year, 93-96 mph fastball to 99, low-80s slider to 88 with sweep and depth, promising sinking changeup as well. 

 

Minor League Press Releases -

 

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets lost their series opener against the Omaha Storm Chasers (Triple-A Kansas City Royals) by a 5-1 final on a sunny Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Tuesday's game marked the first meeting between the two franchises since July 6th, 1990, and the first meeting in Syracuse since June 25th, 1990. 

After two scoreless innings to start the game, Omaha (47-46) opened the scoring with three runs on five hits in the top of the third inning. The scoring flurry started when Angelo Castellano launched a no-doubt home run over the left-field fence to start the frame and give the Storm Chasers a 1-0 lead. After a Drew Waters strikeout, Salvador Pérez (in his first game of an MLB rehab assignment) singled, Michael Massey doubled, and Nate Eaton singled to score Pérez and move Massey up to third as Omaha led, 2-0. Brewer Hicklen struck out to briefly quell the threat, but then Clay Dungan singled to make it 3-0 and wrap up the scoring in the third for the Storm Chasers.   

In the bottom of the third, Syracuse (42-52) clawed closer with a run of its own. After Deven Marrero struck out to start the inning, JT Riddle singled sharply to centerfield, putting one runner on base with one out. Then, Tzu-Wei Lin laced a sharp double to the wall in left-center field, scoring Riddle all the way from first and making it a 3-1 game in the process.    

After that, the next four innings were scoreless as each team’s bullpen held firm until the eighth inning. In that eighth inning, Omaha tacked on the two final runs of the game that would prove to be worthy insurance. Hicklen was hit by a pitch to start the inning, promptly running all the way home when Dungan doubled him in for a 4-1 Omaha advantage. Dungan moved up to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from Freddy Fermin to make it a 5-1 Storm Chasers lead.    

Dungan finished the evening 2-for-4 with a run scored and two runs driven in. The other multi-hit night for a Storm Chaser belonged to Salvador Pérez, who went 3-for-4 in the first game of his MLB rehab assignment. The seven-time All-Star has missed extended time for Kansas City dealing with a left thumb injury.     

While spurts of offense for Omaha gave them the run support to win, their pitching staff didn’t need much help. Daniel Lynch, Drew Parrish, Sam Freeman, Daniel Mengden, and Andres Nunez combined to allow just four hits on Tuesday night with ten strikeouts and just one walk. Lynch was the star of the show as the rehabbing Big Leaguer allowed just one run in four innings on two hits with six strikeouts in a start on the mound.

 

BINGHAMTON, NY – Carlos Cortes’s two-run single in the fifth inning gave the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (6-15, 34-56) a 4-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish en-route to an 8-2 series opening win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (9-13, 40-51) on Tuesday night at Mirabito Stadium. 

Ronny Mauricio tied the game at two in the fifth with a double off the right field wall scoring Luke Ritter, which then set up Cortes’s single to right off Fisher Cats reliever Sean Mellen (2-2), bringing Brett Baty and Mauricio home. 

Binghamton tied the game at one with an RBI groundout from Baty in the first which came right after Ritter hit a triple past diving left fielder Rafael Lantigua. Baty also added an RBI single in the eighth finishing 3-5 with two RBI. 

The Ponies added a run in the fifth to make it 5-2 and Ritter’s two-run single in the eighth gave Binghamton some insurance with a 7-2 lead. 

New Hampshire scored its two runs on an Addison Barger home run in the first to open the scoring and a solo homer from Rafael Lantigua in the second. 

David Griffin (1-5) picked up the win pitching a scoreless inning and a third giving up a hit while striking out one. Jose Chacin pitched three scoreless frames and Antonio Santos threw a scoreless ninth. 

POSTGAME NOTES: Baty, Ritter and Cortes combined for seven of the 12 hits and they each had multi-hit games… Zach Ashford extended his hit-streak to seven games with a single in the second.

 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (July 26, 2022) – The St. Lucie Mets jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a series-opening 8-2 win over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Tuesday at Clover Park. 

The Mets put up six runs in the second inning against Cardinals starter Hancel Rincon (0-1). Rincon walked three straight batters with one out, then was tagged for a two-run single by Fernando Villalobos. Tanner Murphy followed with a sac fly to make it 3-0. 

William Lugo broke the inning wide open with a towering three-run homer with two outs that made it 6-0. It was Lugo’s seventh homer of the year and second in three games. 

Three Mets pitchers combined to limit the Cardinals offense. Starter Jose Acuna battled to throw three scoreless innings despite walking four. He also struck out four. 

Miguel Alfonseca (2-0) followed with three shutout innings to get the win. He gave up two hits and struck out three. 

Jeffrey Colon pitched the final three innings for his second save. He allowed two runs, but only one run was earned on solo homer by Patrick Romeri. 

Ronis Aybar came off the bench and hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to push the Mets lead from 6-2 to 8-2. 

Lugo went 2 for 4 with a home run, single, walk and three RBI. 

The Mets snapped an eight-game losing streak against Palm Beach.