The Mack Report (Boras, Jeff, Baty, Hurtado, Pham, Nido)

 

^{As all of you know, I’m not a big fan of Boras, but players that use him as an agent always have his back.  An old second rounder that had him as an agent told me that his initial meeting with him was at his house with his parents. Boras told the three of them that he didn’t care what team he rooted for or what team he would like to sign with.} 

^{Boras said the minute he would sign with him would turn the entire process over to him. Boras would go on to explain that he had only one purpose… to get him the largest bonus and, someday, the largest contract.} 

^{Additionally, Boras and his staff would help his players invest their money long team for financial stability throughout their lives and would help find his clients commercial opportunities that would put more bucks in the bank.} 

^{I guess this is what you want from an agent.}

^{Boras's claim that the Mets used the same doctor that the Giants used to examine Carlos Correa makes little sense to me unless it was a negotiation tool.} 

^{What if the Mets made that original offer just to outbid everyone else? What if they then used that doctor's report to begin a series of negotiations which would be designed to knock down the original package? What if?}

 

^{Jon Heyman @JonHeyman}

 

^{Jeff McNeil files at 7.75M, Mets at 6.25M}

 

^{Ya know, Jeff is an emotional guy. We all remember when the Mets had to deal with this after the incident with Francisco Lindor in the pathway from the dugout to the clubhouse.} 

^{And like most emotional people, he has a memory of an elephant also.} 

^{These are the kind of things player remember when it’s time to decide if they are going into the free agent market, or sign with the team that :treated you so well”.} 

^{First, you don’t offer him a long term extension and now, you balk at 1.50mil for the buy that won the batting title.} 

^{Remember this day as the one Jeff McNeil decided to take his glove and club elsewhere.} 

 

^{The Bleacher Report put up a post featuring “Each MLB Team's Most MLB-Ready Prospect Entering 2023” The Mets pick was NOT Francisco Alvarez:} 

^{New York Mets: 3B/OF Brett Baty  -  There is a good chance Francisco Álvarez will start the 2023 season in the minors as he continues to work on the defensive side of his game, with Omar Narváez and Tomás Nido holding down the fort behind the plate. However, now that the Carlos Correa deal has officially fallen through, Baty could push Eduardo Escobar for the starting job at third base this spring after demolishing minor-league pitching in 2022.}

 

 

^{More information on LHP Daviel Hurtado -} 

^{Francis Romero reported that Hurtado (16-yrs old) signed with the Mets for a $640K bonus. From Havana. He left Cuba in 2022. 6´1, 174 lbs.} 

^{A scout told Romero:  "He's a lefty with the ability to throw breaking ball pitches and his fastball projects 94-97 mph."} 

 

^{The Mets have found their OF4.} 

34-^{year old Tommy Pham has played all three outfield positions. He was originally drafted in the 16th round of the 2006 draft, out of Durango HS (NV).} 

^{James Villani (@jvillani08) put it best on Twitter:} 

^{"Tommy Pham’s percentile rankings in ‘21 & ‘22:} 

^{- Hard Hit % - 84th/89th} 

^{- Avg. Exit Velo. - 77th/93rd} 

^{- Chase Rate - 98th/88th} 

^{- BB% - 95th/59th} 

^{- Sprint Speed - 69th/66th} 

^{Doesn’t chase, walks, makes hard contact, and is a good baserunner. Would be a solid 4th OF."} 

 ^{His 2022 stats were 0.4-WAR, 554-AB, 17-HR, .237} 

^{Me? I like the move for 2023. I expect Ruf to now be the OF 5 and you won’t see any Mets infield prospects roaming out in the outfield this season.}

^{Speaking of strange moves, the Mets signed a 2-year, $3.7 mil deal with current catcher, 28-year old Tomas Nido. He will be paid $1.6 mil in 2023 and $2.1 mil in 2024, which was supposed to be his final arbitration year.} 

^{This now gives them two major year catchers (Nido, Omar Narvaez) under contract for 2023 and 2024, and Baseball America’s 6th top (revised) prospect, Francisco Alvarez, all ready to play as early as this year but definitely in 2024 (and, to complicate things even more, another top prospect, Kevin Parada, will be finished with AA ball in 2023 and will be knocking in the Flushing doors by the end of, yup, you got it, 2024).} 

^{The math simply doesn’t work here.  The Mets now have two catchers not known for their hitting and a rookie that isn’t lined up to win a Golden Glove.}

 ^{Me? Well, this move pretty much means one of 3 things…} 

 ^{one,  Alvarez will definitely start the 2023 season in Syracuse} 

 ^{two, one of these three are not going to be wearing a Mets uniform come opening day} 

 ^{or three, the two vets will play up to the in-season trading period, until one is traded to a team looking for defensive catching skills, making room for Alvarez to finish the season in Queens.}