Mack - Thursday Morning Observations

 

SNY                @SNYtv

David Stearns says Ronny Mauricio is "moving in the right direction" after having a really good week, but he still has not resumed baseball 

Jon Heyman            @JonHeyman

Mets claim pitcher Kevin Herget from Brewers

            33-years old   RHP   5-10   185

            93-FB, 82-CH, 87-CUTTER, 83-SL

            39^th round pick in 2013 by St. Louis, out of Kean Univ. (NJ)

            2024:  MLB:  0.3-WAR, 0-0, 1.59/0.79

            Minors (11-yrs):   61-30, 3.49, 333-app, 70-ST, 763-IP, 762-K

            2024 AAA:   5-1, 2.27, 38-APPS, 47.2-IP, 59-K

            One option left

            Mack – I really like this sign. He basically has done little wrong in his entire career and his best year was last season. He could easily become a major pen piece for the Mets is 2025.

 

Jorge Castillo          @jorgecastillo

An MLB investigation recently found a top prospect in the Dominican Republic who had verbally agreed to sign with the Padres for approximately $4 million is five years older than previously believed, sources told ESPN.

            Jeff Passan               @JeffPassan

This is a big, big deal. As Jorge and Alden report, age fraud among international amateurs remains an issue. And this case is particularly egregious. A player who said he was 14 years old was actually 19.

This is huge. And it probably has been going on for decades. Remember, before 2021, there was no pool system regarding this area of scouting. Any team could sign an unlimited amount of players for any bonus money.

And don’t get me started on the scumbags that call themselves scouts. They take these kids as early as 10 years old away from their home and put them in forced labor camps disguised as baseball clinics. They know how old these so-called 16-year old are and these are the first people that should be banned when caught.

But the first thing that needs to be done is a full disclosure of this player, what team he is associated with, and who his handler is. It could be any team. It could be the Mets.

I would recommend:

The team be fined an enormous amount of dinero and have a 50% reduction of their bonus pool for the next signing period.

The player be suspended for each year he lies about his age. Meaning, this guy would be suspended for 5 years.

The person managing this player… ya know, the one that took him away from his parents… would be banned from the game.

One harsh ruling like this will immediately begin to clean up this embarrassing part of a great game.

 

Anthony DiComo               @AnthonyDiComo

News: Sean Manaea intends to opt out of the $13.5 million option on his contract, per source. No surprise there, as Manaea is likely to receive significant multi-year interest on the open market.

I too don’t find this surprising, but it is upsetting that the Mets and Manaea couldn’t have put together an extension here. I’m sure the Mets would be willing to go two years here, maybe even three, but based on the dire need for productive starters right now in the league, I expect at least one or more teams to offer more.

The one thing in favor for the Mets is how much Manaea loves being on this team and playing in this city.

            We shall see…

 

Dan Clark                 @DanClarkSports

Yankees fans this World Series:

• Chants of "Fuck you Freddie Freeman!" whilst he paid tribute to his mom, who died of cancer.

• Ripping a ball out of Mookie Betts' glove and grabbing his arm.

• Celebrating Shohei Ohtani's shoulder injury - and abusing him.

I lived in Philadelphia in the mid-80s and was a manager of WIP radio. We were the flagship radio station for both the Eagles and Flyers. I thought I had seen the worst fans in that city, but this year’s version of Yankee fans has taken the ugliness in this sport to another level.        

My spin… take alcohol out of the stands and this kind of fan would only go for the ball and not try and rip the arm off an opponent’s outfielder.

But you would still have chants, because they are anonymous.

 

SNY Mets     @SNY_Mets

Mark Vientos on the Mets:

"I am so excited for the future of this team, and everyone here, everyone in that clubhouse, we all can sense that something great is in store. That we’re building something special. We don’t shy away from it. We embrace it. We’re not afraid to be.”

I talked last week about locking up Juan Soto for the remaining portion of his career. I believe we should do the same for this guy.

IMO, Vientos is a superstar in the making as well as being a superfan of this team. How could you possibly not want this guy on your New York Mets?

Do the Mets lock him up on third? I have no problem with this though he does give me options if Pete Alonso goes elsewhere or Willy Adames agrees to come to Citi.

I have a funny feeling that Vientos would play anywhere this team asked him to play and he would become an acceptable defensive player at that position, just like he did when he was first tagged as a horrible third baseman.