MACK - Sunday Morning Observations

 

 (thru Friday’s results)

 

 Observations -  

 Uber-Mets fan, and Mack’s Mets comment contributor, Gary Seagram, was on my phone last week and asked me a simple question… what lower level prospects intrigue me right now? I decided not to answer him and, instead, turn it into the intro of this week’s post.

 In no particular order…

 

RP Lucas Gordillo (21yrs) - 2024 - FCL Mets:  6-app  2.25  4-IP  4-K 

First impressed me last year year when he mostly started for the

DSL team , coming away with a 1.21 ERA in 13-G, 37.1-IP, 55-K.

Needs workon control but his whiff % and advanced age should move him to the other side of the Florida Complex.

 

SS Branny De Leo (19yrs)- 2024 - FCL Mets: 46-AB 1-HR  .261  .675-OPS 

Had a great season last year for the DSL Mets: 166-AB,3-HR, .313,

.879-OPS. Stuck out only 9% last year. Led the team in hits, runs scored, and BA. Potential 5-tool player.

 

3B Jeremy Rodriguez (17yrs) - 2024 - FCL Mets:  56-AB  .339  .886-OPS

                                                         2023 - DSL Mets: 45-AB  .422  1.247-OPS 

This could turn out to be the best Mets trade in years… maybe a decade. Rodriguez is putting up sick numbers and he’s only 17 years old. And all this for Tommy Pham. There is no reason to rush him. He’ll move up when Jesus Baez is promoted to Brooklyn.

 

OF Simon Juan (18yrs) - 2024 - FCL Mets: 57-AB  2-HR  .263  .750-OPS

2023 - FCL Mets:  132-AB  2-HR  .220  .596-OPS 

$1.9mil bonus signed on 1-15-2022… stands square, holding hands high… exaggerated leg kick that’s almost annoying… above average speed… not hitting as well as I would like him to be but I still consider him a top lower level prospect.

 

SP Joel Diaz (20yrs)- 2024 - St. Lucie:  1-ST  3.38  2.2-IP  2-K

    FCL (rehab):  3-app  0.00  6.2-IP  0-BB  9-K 

Signed 1-15-21 which was the 1^st day you could sign International guppies… huge debut season for the DSLteam (0- 54-ERA, 50.1-IP, 63-K). Inuries cost him a season but he is still only 20. 94-95 fastball with ride peakong at 97 with a low release point. A killer pitch.

 

C   Ronald Hernandez (20yrs) - 2024 - St. Lucie:  134-AB    .261  .722-OPS

                        2023 (three teams):  168-AB  .274  53-BB 

Was traded to Mets along with Marco Vargas to the Marlins in 2023 for David Robertson… switch hitter with string command of the strikezone. A get on base machine. Moderate power. ++ receiving and communication skills. Low caught stealing rate. ETA 2025

 

3B Jesus Baez (19yrs) - 2024 - St. Lucie:  176-AB  6-HR  .284  .811-OPS

         2023 - FCL:   138-AB  2-HR  .210  .640-OPS 

A highly acclaimed  International prospect, signed in 2022. Excellent raw power with ++ bat speed. Started off very slow last season, but finding his grove as I write this. Can play second but this is a third baseman. ETA 2027.

 

OF Willy Fanas (20yrs) - 2024 - St. Lucie:  21-AB  .286  .842-OPS

            FCL:   39-AB  1-HR  .282  .942-OPS 

Showcased for Mets after deal with Angels fell threw. Signed with the Mets for $1.5mil. Short swing but full of punch. Advanced eye and good sense of zone. ++ speed, both on the base but also in all three outfield positions he can play. Outstanding numbers so far.

Random thoughts -

 

- Syracuse Luisangel Acuna has begun heating up in May. It’s obvious that, if he keeps producing these kind of results in June and July, he will become a candidate for a promotion to Queens before the season ends. That being said, at what position? In the past week, he has played on second, short, and in center. I have had him as the 2025 second baseman, but maybe, due to the outfield being so fluid, I should rethink this and put him on the left side of Brandon Nimmo in the outfield.

 

- The purchase of catcher Luis Torrens could be a sneaky good pick. The Yanks had to make up their mind on him or he would become a free agent. Instead, they sold them to their city rival for a hundred grand. His purchase overnight turns Hayden Senger into only the 2^nd best defensive catcher in the chain. He’s also hitting decently this season at the AAA level, with developing pop. And, all this for someone that is team controlled through 2026. I love this move.

 

Lastly…

 

I’m not sure how much more of this can be tolerated by supporters of this team. People have always been confused when teams say they will deal with what they plan to do at mid-season when the “trading deadline” arrives. That makes no sense. The trading deadline is the last day you can trade, not the first.

 Teams can trade right now, but teams don’t like to throw in the towel this early. Simply sends the wrong signs to your players. But let me ask you this… do you actually think there is anyone in that clubhouse, from the manager to the guy that picks up the dirty uniforms, that thinks this team is coming back from this season’s abyss?

 The Mets are getting close to a pace of losing 100 games this season. Step back and read this again… THE METS ARE CLOSE TO PACING FOR 100 LOSSES THIS SEASON. And, if they do and don’t lower their team salary to below the penalty level will drop 10 slots again.

 Why not get a jump on the other teams and send notices around that a certain first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, right fielder, and four starters can be bought for the right package of player(s) and salary assumption requirements?

 Do you really think the rest of the players on the team doesn’t recognize that this needs to be done?

 Look, I managed a great radio station in NYC… “The Mellow Sound”, WKTU-FM. Great staff. Second soft rock station in history. But it was a failure. We tried and we tried but still a failure. So we got rid of most of the staff and went Disco. Became the most listened to station in the country in less than six months. Missed that staff to this day but we were  a business that was paid to succeed, not fail. 

I think you know where I am going here. 

 

Roster Moves - 

Mets - 

LHRP Danny Young recalled from AAA-Syracuse 

RHSP Christian Scott to AAA-Syracuse 

3B Brett Baty to AAA-Syracuse 

C Omar Narvaez designated for assignment 

SS Jose Iglesias promoted to Mets 

RP Dedniel Nunez promoted to Mets 

C Luis Torrens acquired from Yankees

RP Jorge Lopez DFA’s

RHSP David Peterson promoted to the Mets

 

Syracuse -

1B Jiman Choi granted his release

acquired infielder Pablo Reyes from the Red Sox for cash

 

St. Lucie - 

LHRP Jeremy Peguero transferred from FCL to St. Lucie

 

FCL - 

RHP Irving Cota has been added from the DR Academy. 

(named 2023 DSLWinter League Player of the Year) 

 

Prospect Ratings Changes -

 RHP Dom Hamel from BLUE to BLACK 

RHR Mike Vasil from BLUE to BLACK 

1B Jake Zitella from BLACK to BLUE

St. Lucie SS Colin Houck from RED to BLACK 

St. Lucie OF Jeffry Rosa from RED to BLACK 

FCL IF Marco Vargas from RED to BLACK 

FCL C Julo Zayas from BLUE to BLACK 

 

New Met -

                C Luis Torrens acquired from Yankees 

5-11          220         28/yrs 

2012 IFA          Venezuela 

MLB career - -0.4-WAR  732-AB  19-HR  .227

 2024 - AAA: 111-AB   5-HR   .279/.339/.469/.807

 Huge defensive skills ++ reciever and blocker

 1.85-1.9 pop time

                     IF Pablo Reyes 

acquire from Boston for cash 

Played for David Stearns in 2021 

MLB: .249/.309/.349 

2020: 80-game suspension for PEDs 

2023: .287/.339/.377   185-PA    93 wRC+ 

Excellent defensive player

 

                RHRP Henry Henry 

25yrs 6-4 215 

Signed in 2015 out of DR by Padres 

7 minor leage seasons: 26-23  4.28  191-G  44-ST  10-SV

 448.1-IP  400-k 

Assigned to FCL Mets… for now 

Florida Complex League Mets @FCLMets 

For the second time this year, Jeremy Rodríguez and A.J. Ewing homered on the same day — this time in the same inning!

A. J.’s five homers ties him for the FCL lead while Jeremy’s 37 total bases rank second.

 

 Pat Ragazzo @ragazzoreport

 Few names Mets could possibly target in free agency in offseason w/ money coming off the books:

 3B Alex Bregman

2B Gleyber Torres (Prove it deal if he doesn't turn it around)

OF Alex Verdugo

OF Cody Bellinger

SP Corbin Burnes

SP Walker Buehler

SP Nathan Eovaldi

 

 Mathew Brownstein @MBrownstein89

 Most hard-hit balls (95+ mph) by a team in the month of May along with their W/L record this month:

 Philadelphia Phillies: 294 (19-7)

New York Yankees: 291 (19-7)

New York Mets: 291 (7-19)

 

Mike Puma @NYPost_Mets 

At the 50 game mark the Mets are on pace for a 72 win season. Fangraphs gives them an 11.5 percent chance of reaching the postseason.

 

Allison McCague, PhD @PetitePhD 

The entire Mets rotation has 7 wins.

Seth Lugo has 8 wins.

  

John Mincone @JMincone

 Shoulder injury after a knee injury (Edwin Diaz) is not ideal. His knee is throwing him off somewhere. The Mets pitching and med staff need to get on this ASAP before it becomes truly career altering.

 (I’ve said this before. Once the body starts breaking down… a pitcher will never throw at 130% again. Thus, a slight change in velo and/or action. It also will create new stress points on other areas of the body that can lead to future injuries.)

 

 Kevin Kernan @AMBS_Kernan 

When you sit in the box with the bat on your shoulder, hoping for a walk like some over-matched LLer who can’t hit but may grow up to be a major league GM because he will go to an Ivy League school and take a saber-metrics course, it is as low as it can go

 

 Roto Baller 

https://www.rotoballer.com/al-only-and-nl-only-deeper-fantasy-baseball-waiver-wire-pickups-for-week-10-2024/1371486?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter -

 

David Peterson

 The final recommendation comes with some caution, which we will get to later. For now, a reminder that David Peterson had off-season surgery on the labrum in his left hip. He is in line with the original projected time for recovery, meaning that he didn't suffer any setbacks. He has been rehabbing for a while but looks to be in the final stages of his preparation for the 2024 season. 

Peterson struggled to begin the 2023 season but finished strong to the tune of a 3.88 ERA with 60 strikeouts over 48.2 innings pitched through the final two months of the season. While his need to have surgery was a disappointment, he has looked good in his rehab outings, giving some hope for a full-season bounceback. That said, the aforementioned caution is that he may begin the season a bit rusty after having not pitched against major league competition. That being said, his long track record of success, which includes a 3.83 ERA in 2022, gives some hope that this will all work out in the end.