The Mack Report - Payroll-heavy Padres, Mets, Tyler White, Kodai Senga, Gary Sanchez, Jett Williams

Payroll, Tyler White, Kodai Senga, Gary Sanchez, Jett Williams

 

Kevin Henry - Payroll-heavy Padres, Mets in the middle of an embarrassing race - 

Remember all of that talk about the San Diego Padres and New York Mets before the season began and all of the money the teams spent to build up their star-studded rosters? As we reach the Memorial Day milestone, both teams, of which much was expected, are in a race to see who will be the biggest disappointment of the 2023 MLB season. 

The New York Mets and San Diego Padres hold two of the three biggest payrolls in MLB as Memorial Day arrives, with the Mets spending just under $346 million to earn a 27-27 record and the Padres shelling out just over $246 million to sit in fourth place in the National League West with a 24-29 mark. Neither are anything close to what the teams envisioned when they stocked their lineups in the same way shrewd fantasy baseball managers might. 

Mack - I am sure no one in the Mets front office is happy with the season so far. 

The players and the talent are there. 

What they do with it for the rest of the season is on them.

 

Pat Ragazzo - https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/new-york-mets-acquire-tyler-white-minnesota-twins - 

On Tuesday, the New York Mets acquired first baseman/third baseman Tyler White from the Minnesota Twins. 

White was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse afterward. 

White has not appeared in the major leagues since the 2019 season, where he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. In 256 career big-league games, White has 26 home runs and a .752 OPS. 

Mack - In actuality, this is a good move. 

The Mets “almost prospect”  first baseman in Syracuse, JT Schwartz, was placed recently on the IL for undisclosed reasons. Obviously, it is serious enough to find, at least,  a temporary replacement. 

In addition, Mark Vientos is no longer there to play first too. 

Lastly, White also brings veteran leadership to the clubhouse. 

Good org. depth move.

 

Tim Britton - Kodai Senga dominates Phillies with his ghost fork - 

To take advantage of that Tuesday, Senga had to, counterintuitively, throw more pitches in the strike zone. He came into the day throwing 36.5 percent of his pitches in the zone; he threw 42 of his 100 there Tuesday. A lot of those were fastballs that established strike-zone credibility early on for Senga. 

Although he fell behind with his first pitch more often than not, he routinely reached two strikes before two balls. That permitted him to use his stuff out of the zone, most notably his forkball. 

Senga generated 11 of his season-high 22 swings-and-misses on pitches below the strike zone. That tracks with his forkball, of which he’s harnessed better command as he’s grown comfortable in the major leagues. He threw it 29 times Tuesday. Despite only eight being headed for the strike zone, the Phillies swung at 18 of them. They missed it a dozen times, and half of those came with two strikes. 

Mack - This is the kind of pitcher the Mets had hoped they had when they signed this 30-year old “rookie” to a 5-year contract. 

This game is played so much easier when your starter does this.

 

Mark Polishuk - Padres Claim Gary Sanchez Off Waivers From Mets - 

Today’s waiver claim continues a whirlwind of movement for Sanchez, who went through the entire offseason without landing a free agent deal but will now be joining his third different organization in less than two months.  Sanchez inked a minor league contract with the Giants just after Opening Day, but then exercised his opt-out clause in early May when San Francisco didn’t add him to its active roster.  

Sanchez quickly landed with the Mets on another minors deal that ended up locking in a prorated $1.5MM guarantee for the catcher when the Amazins selected him to their 26-man roster just before his next opt-out date on May 19. 

Mack - On the surface, this might look like a stupid, expensive short term move, but if this was the stick up the arse needed to get Alvarez’s game going, then it worked and let’s move on to trying to find the proper return for Kevin Parada someday.

 

Zach Backman - MLB prospect intel: Scouts on...- 

Jett Williams, New York Mets, SS

Team: Low-A St. Lucie Mets

Age: 19

Stats: .215/.408/.308, 1 HR, 0.8 BB/K 

Scout says: He has a smaller, compact build at 5-foot-6 and 175 pounds, but there’s some upside in the bat. He’s probably one of the higher-profile projected bats that I’ve seen this year. He’s really short and compact to the ball, like dynamite in a smaller package. He’s short but really built. The Mets aren’t afraid to go after those smaller guys, and he does have strength. And he can run. 

It’s more a bat-to-ball profile than power right now, but he’s got a chance to have average power. He has a short, repeatable swing and those guys have the best chance to find their offensive ceiling. If you look at the walk-to-strikeout rate, there’s almost a 50-50 split. The strikeouts will come down as his plan becomes more advanced. It’s a bit on the rudimentary side now. Not very consistent, but he’s only 19 years old. 

They’ve got him playing shortstop but I also saw him at second base and center field, and he’ll either end up at one of those two in the long term. I would try to expand his defensive skill set and see how he does in left. There’s room to find versatility in his glove. 

Mack - I needed to read someone other than Tom “walks are cool” Brennan on this kid. Obviously Williams is still prospect material and we should all keep him on our radar.