Draft 13 – 10-27-12 - WWBA Day-3

TAMU 2013 commit, RHP Casey Shane with a 90-92 FB, 86-87 2FB, one nasty 80 CH. Really impressive frame

Brandon Luper UCSB commit loses no-hit bid w 1 out in 7th. FB sat 84-87 (88) w/ late breaking SL. Gr8 performance

OregonState 2013 RHP Tanner Draper on the mound for Evoshield Canes. He's 87-88 FB, 75-76 CV w/ 77 SL. Nice 6'3, 201

Out here on the Red fields, UVA 2013 RHP Alec Bettinger showing nice stuff, sitting 88-90 FB with nice 74-75 breaker

USC big-time PG All American commit Rowdy Tellez showing off his big time raw power with a triple into LFC gap for Team Elite.

for the rest...  www.bigleaguefutures.com

Draft 13 – Trey Williams, Dusty Issacs, Wake Forrest, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Duke, WWBA, Dominicans in WWBA

It’s good to see that I’m not the only one that remembers 3B Trey Williams. Matt Garrioch had a nice piece on him over at http://www.minorleagueball.com. Matt’s final thoughts: “He slipped in the 2012 draft due to his signability concerns and his lethargic on field play. I had him ranked 24th in the 2012 draft even with the other concerns. The commitment to Pepperdine is no longer an issue so his play this spring will likely be the major influence in his draft position in the 2013 draft. It could be as high as the 15th pick and as low as not getting drafted. He’s physically mature and has good baseball instincts. Williams could be a future middle of the order hitter with a good glove. That is a potential star.” Observation: Williams’ talent is only surpassed by his attitude. Teams will run in the other direction come draft day, but he will be drafted in the first round because he’s that good. I’ve got him as a middle to late pick unless he acts up again this season at the baseball legendary school (sic), College of the Canyons. It amazes me what this sport allows dudes to do.

Georgia Tech’s junior RHP Dusty Issacs...

for the rest...  BLF 

Mailbox - Mack Running The Team

Hey Mack.

 I've been following your site for a couple years now and wanted to let you know I love it. As a die hard fan like you, it's been a tough couple years but reading on your site has still made being a fan fun. Despite the awful ownership which has given us true fans more than enough reasons to find another team, following the Mets is the only thing we know. I appreciate your candid approach to following the team and enlightening us fans who aren't privy to the "inner-circle" information that you are. I also love your draft analysis and approach since I'm always curious as to which way the team should go when thinking about the future. Unfortunately, it seems the team would be better served if guys like you ran the team and planned for its future. Too bad we can't get the Wilpons to sell to people who care about winning and allowing knowledgeable people to run the baseball operations. I read your site and agree with so much of what you say; it's comforting to know there are fans out there who feel the same way. Anyway, you should know that there are people who follow your site and appreciate the time and effort you invest. Thank you for that. Keep up the good work and feel better.

Andy

Thank you Andy for your kind thoughts.

Hmm... me running the team... well, first you'd have to sell it to me so I could really  get something done.

Let's assume I did have the money to buy this team. One of two things would have happened. One, I either paid off the debt the team owed everyone, or, two, I paid the Wilpons a sum which includes enough money for they to pay off their debt. Either way, I would be free to run this team without any financial barriers.

You'd be surprised how little I would do.

1. I would release Jason Bay. 

2. I would do everything I could to sign a quality outfielder like Grady Sizemore,.

3. I would do everything  I could to sign catcher Mike Napoli

4. I would do everything I could to sign both David Wright and RA Dickey to long term contracts. I'd pay both of them what they wanted but only five years or Wright and three for Dickey.

This team doesn't need that much if it was allowed to operate as the 'big market' team its supposed to be.

10-27-12 – Anthony Recker, Darin Gorski, Fred on Sandy

-I’m not sure what this move is all about. I guess this move is supposed to scare the hell out of Kelly Shoppach’s agent. I can’t even see that scaring Lucas May’s agent. On my charts, I have very specific catchers that need to play the lion share of games at their levels. They are: Juan Centeno (AAA), Blake Forsythe (AA), Cam Maron (A+) and Kevin Plawecki (A). These are the four sort-off Mets catcher prospects and have earned the starting gig. Past that, you might want to keep Francisco Pena (I wouldn’t) for one more year to back up Forsythe, and Tomas Nido should be considered for the #2 slot in Savannah, but the rest are just names. Regarding Mike Nickeas, I’ve said this as early as three years ago. Name him a roving coach and let him work with kids in Instructs. Getting back to Recker, I hope this isn’t an example of the kind of players being brought in this year; however, I don’t remember any Mets minor league catcher putting up a 2011 stat line in AAA of: .287/.388/.501/.889/16-HR/48-RBI… at 27-years old. That’s a higher OPS than Josh Thole ever put up in the minors.

We talk all the time about how the AA-level is the wall that must be climbed if you are to become a major league baseball player. We’ve seen so many guys come along and dominate at the lower levels only to be stopped dead when they get to Binghamton… let’s look one of our ore recent phenoms at the lower level, LHSP Darin Gorski. Gorski was simply overwhelming in 2011 at St. Lucie (11-3, 2.08) and it looked like the team had a new star on their squad. But, then came 2012 and Binghamton and what does Gorski do (living under the shadow of Zack Wheeler)… tied for 14^th in the league in wins… 21^st in the league in lowest ERA… 7^th in the league in strikeouts… 13^th in the lowest WHIP… hmm… this is why we have to look a little deeper that what seems to be at the surface. We spent most of 2012 watching what Wheeler did and comparing Gorski’s stats to the ones he produced in 2011 for St. Lucie. What if Gorski matches stat for stat with Wheeler for the first half of the 2013 season? My strategy would be to leave him in Vegas for the inevitable in-season injury to a rotation pitcher. It’s going to start getting very exciting next year when it comes to the Mets rotation.

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog, says that Fred Wilpon is happy with having Sandy Alderson as his General Manager and Terry Collins as Manager. I mean, what else is he going to say? The guy hasn’t given either one of them any money to bring in the kind of players that are needed to turn around this mess. Might as well keep things positive in the public view. 

Draft 13 – 10-28-12 – WWBA Day 2, 2013 Schedule Releases, Scrimmages

2013 OF Austin Meadows (Grayson, GA) stayed on a CB well & ran 4.27 (in quicksand) in 1st AB

Gotta give a lot of credit to 6' 6" 2015 RHP Logan Crouse (Valrico, FL), held Team Elite scoreless in 1st. Up to 86 in hurricane

2013 1B/DH Ryan Tellez (Elk Grove, CA) had been seeing steady diet of away away away, did something about it & blasted LD to RF

for the rest...  http://bigleaguefutures.net/1/ 

Draft 13 – Q and A – OF – Alex Buccilli – Coastal Carolina

 Mack - Okay everybody. We have a 'senior alert' which needs a few things explained before you draft this kid and offer him a gazillion dollars to sign. It's Coastal Carolina OF Alex Buccilli. Hey Alex, howa are things going today?

Alex - Things are going great right now! Beautiful weather of course in Myrtle Beach, which makes it that much easier to progress as a player each day! Getting geared up for my senior year.

Mack – I’m going to ask you the same question I ask everyone. I want you to go back to the day someone first put either a bat, ball, or glove in your hands and take us through the steps that got you to where you are today.

Alex - Wow, that was a long time ago. From what I can remember is being very active my whole life from playing sports, to riding my bike. The main thing that comes to mind is practicing baseball at my Dad’s indoor batting facility. Ever since I was 10, my dad owned an indoor baseball facility in the Pittsburgh area which I was at everyday working the front desk and of course practicing my game. Me being a switch hitter my whole life, made me take twice the amount of swings in a day than a normal hitter. I had to hit around 500 balls a day, or my dad wasn't satisfied, and either was I. I have always been very competitive and always tried to be the best at everything I did. I've always enjoyed practicing and I think I will give all the credit to my work ethic. Being my size, I've always battled and had to prove myself everywhere I played, but once I was given my chance, I never looked back.

Mack – I’ve asked around 40 players this question so far this year and you’re the first one to really read the question and answer it correctly. Okay, we’ve got to cover some areas so everyone reading out there understands why you are coming back for your senior year. You were a JUCO star, but transferred to Oregon for the, what, 2010 season? What happened then?

Alex - Yes, out of high school I decided to go to Frederick Community College in MD to start my college career. I had division I offers out of high school but all the schools told me I would be the 5th outfielder and wouldn't get much opportunity to play as a freshman. I decided to go the JUCO route, and I'll never regret my decision. Those were two great years of my life, met so many great people and made so many friends for life. Also, I got a chance to compete in a JUCO world series my sophomore year, and help lead the team to a 53-7 season. Once again out of JUCO I had several division I offers, all places I really liked but not places that I could see myself at. Being the competitive player I am, I wanted a chance to compete for Omaha every year. My best friend growing up was Scott McGough currently pitches in the Miami Marlins organization. He gave me a call and asked if I signed anywhere yet, I told him no. He knew my abilities and said that I should come out to Oregon and help them with their run for Omaha, so that is exactly what I did. I passed up my other offers to go play Pac 12 baseball and get the chance to get to Omaha. I really loved the school and my teammates out there, but being an east coast kid growing up, west coast baseball was completely different and I didn't think my skills were being put to the fullest out there. I decided it wasn't the place for me and asked for my release. I began to contact the schools that I talked to out of JUCO and only a few responded with good news. Coastal Carolina answered the call, I guess I sort of got lucky.

Mack: So, you head off to your last summer travel team and you set up a great senior season for the Alexandria Aces, going  .344, 10-doubles, 7-HR, 30-RBI, 39-BB,  14-K, only 16-K.

Alex - Yes, the best thing about coming into last summer was that I only had three days from my last spring game until I got to summer ball.  It was like I never stopped playing at all.  I started right where I left off.  I got a hit my first at-bat, and then later hitting a game winning grand slam on opening night, and just did my thing for the rest of the summer.  If you look at any statistics from any season I ever played in, you can notice my walk to strikeout ratio.  My approach and routine is set out to help hit the ball hard every single time, and working counts.  Working the count and looking for certain pitches brings my walks numbers up, and being relentless at the dish helps with my minimal strikeout numbers.  I take pride in that.

Mack – Okay, Alex, normally I would ask a few more questions, but I think you have covered your career very well up to today. Here’s your chance to talk directly out there to the scouts that come to this site every day to read about the player’s names that are going to cross their desk in the next month. Tell them why they should make a trip to see you play and, also, draft you in the 2013 draft.

Alex - I feel that I should get the opportunity to play at the professional level for many reasons. I play the game with passion and ambition, that I've been told that are off the charts. I know the game from front to back and worked so hard every day to get to this point. I'm not the biggest kid in the world, nor lighting fast, but I've been told from pro scouts before that I play like I'm 6'2 and run the bases like a 6.4 runner. Any coach that has ever taken a chance on me, didn't regret it. All I need is that one team to give me that chance like I've gotten before, and I will guarantee their decision will be the right one.

How The 2002 San Francisco Giants Were Built

Draft (7): 

Matt Cain – Cain was drafted by the Giants in the first round (25th overall) in the 2002 draft.

Tim Lincecum - He was a first-round draft choice of the Giants in 2006 (10th overall).

Madison Bumgarner - He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (tenth overall) in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.

Sergio Romo - Romo was drafted by the Giants in the 28th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

Buster Posey - He was selected by the Giants with the fifth overall pick in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft

Brandon Belt - Belt was drafted in the 5th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft after his junior year at the University of Texas by the Giants

Brandon Crawford - Crawford was selected in the fourth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Giants 

Free Agency (11):

Jeremy Affeldt - On November 17, 2008 Affeldt signed a two–year deal with the San Francisco Giants

Santiago Casilla - At the end of 2009, he was granted free agency by the A's and signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants for 2010

Jose Mijares - Mijares was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants on August 6, 2012

Guillermo Mota - On February 2, 2010, Mota signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants with an invitation to spring training, marking the first time he was a non-roster invitee

Ryan Vogelsong - In 2011, he signed a minor league contract to return to the San Francisco Giants with an invite to spring training

Barry Zito - Following his seventh season with the A's, Zito signed a seven-year deal with the San Francisco Giants worth $126 million, plus $18 million option for 2014 with a $7 million buyout

Joaquin Arias - The San Francisco Giants signed Arias to a minor league contract on December 15, 2011

Aubrey Huff - On January 13, 2010, Huff signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the San Francisco Giants

Ryan Theriot - On January 27, 2012, Theriot agreed to a one-year, 1.25 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants

Gregor Blanco - Blanco signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants on November 16, 2011

Xavier Nady - Nady was signed to a minor league contract by the San Francisco Giants on August 4, 2012

 

Trades (5):

George Kontos - Due in part to a back injury suffered by Yankees catcher Austin Romine, the Yankees traded Kontos to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for catcher Chris Stewart before the start of the 2012 season

Javier Lopez - On July 31, 2010, Lopez was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Martinez and John Bowker

Marco Scutaro - On July 27, 2012, Scutaro was traded, along with cash considerations, to the San Francisco Giants for infielder Charlie Culberson

Angel Pagan - On December 7, 2011, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Andrés Torres and Ramón Ramírez

Hunter Pence - On July 31, 2012, the Phillies sent Pence in a deadline deal to the San Francisco Giants. In return, the Phillies received OF Nate Schierholtz, C Tommy Joseph, and RHP Seth Rosin

 

UDFA (2):

Hector Sanchez - Signed as UDFA 2009 by SF

Pablo Sandoval - Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002, Sandoval began his professional career as a catcher in 2004 with the AZL Giants

10-26-12 – The War Room, 2014, Jose on David, Mets To Go,

Against advice of council (Charles), I am re-opening ‘The War Room’ this Sunday at 8am. I know there are still basically only six of you out there reading what I write, but I’m optimistic that the ‘War Room’ will be one the features that some of the old guys back. I’ll post out the topic at 8am on Sunday.

Photo by Heather Ainsworth

We’ve all have sort of run out of subjects. The few blogs that seem to thrive more than the others are the ones that keep inventing phantom trades and throwing names against the wall. I consider this baseball masturbation. The only Mets that someone hasn’t traded released, or demoted are Ruben Tejada, Matt Harvey, and Zack Wheeler.

It’s hard to believe that a team like the Mets can’t recognize how much one team can be reshaped by one major bat. Look at what Pablo Sandoval is currently doing for San Francisco. There are a few team shaping free agents I this off-season market, but the Mets aren’t going to pre-spend any  of the new $50mil TV revenue they will begin to get in 2014. The Mets are not only broke, but they have no borrowing power. They’ve been shut down by the bean counters and will use that TV money to pay down debt that already exists. In the long run, this is a good thing, but you fans are going to suffer through a 3-5 year period where this team will have to be built via the draft and international free agents. One bright note: The reduction of the Santana and Bay contract will probably create around an $80mil team salary for 2014. Add to this the $50mil from the new TV deal and the team will be back in the black.

Jose Reyes on the Mets signing David Wright long term: “They should sign David. He’s been the face of the franchise for a long time. If they let him go, that’s gonna be difficult to see the New York Mets without David Wright. I can’t imagine that. You never know in this game what’s gonna happen, but I wish all the best to David. He’s a good friend of mine.” These were very nice words from an old friend that still should both be playing in the same infield, on the same team. I never saw a man with a Mets uniform on tilt the field so much when he was either up or on base.

Photo by Mack Ade

Bleacher Report reports that there ought to be six Mets on the cutting table in 2013: Jon Rauch, Andres Torres, Ramon Ramirez, Josh Thole, Lucas Duda, and Jason Bay. I don’t agree with the choices of Thole, Duda, and Bay. You can’t release your catcher unless you have replaced him. Regarding Bay, the Mets just don’t have enough decent outfielders to compete in 2013 so why release someone you have to pay anyway? Re: Duda, as I have stated before, I think he’s a long term 25/85 RFer for the Mets. Now, on to the real people that out to be cut… the entire Bleacher Report web site. 

WWBA - Day 1

Hlubek‏ - @PGJustinHlubek
Nick Gordon (2014 SS) sitting 90-91 with good CB at 78 mph. 3 K’s in 1 inning of work. 
@FTBMizuno wins 9-0


Kentaro Yasutake‏ – @DiceKDogg
Mizzou commit, Devin Williams 2013 RHP Hazelwood West HS, MO. Fast ball up to 93mph
FSU commit Taylor Blatch 2013 Jensen Beach HS, FL. FB up to 92 with sharp 82 slider.


Jason Piddington‏ – @J_Pidd
2013 Jeremy Graff gets out of mini jam to keep Palm Beach Pal tied 1-1 w/ dirtbags


Todd Gold‏ - @TGold_PG
2014 RHP Touki Toussaint (Coral Springs, FL) ran his fastball up to 95 before the rains came… After the delay Toussaint came back out and Kd the side vs defending champs Marucci Elite by blowing 91-93 past everyone…


Kenny Gardner‏ – @KennyGpg
2013 RHP Devin Williams is up to 93mph for the Mets Scout Team/St. Louis Pirates


Perfect Game USA‏ – @PerfectGameUSA
2013 Zachary Houston (MS) up to 91 mph for the Ohio Warhawks!
Thomas Hatch (OK) up to 90 mph for Sandlot Midwest Scout Team! Cory Thompson up to 91 mph for Upstate Mavericks
2013 RHP Taylor Blatch (FL) up to 92 mph for the Orlando Scorpions, Cody Sedlock (IL) up to 90 for Reds Midwest Scout Team!


Kendall Rogers‏ – @KendallRogersPG –
Oregon commit, RHP Trent Paddon, very physical pitcher. Sitting 88 with his FB, 77-78 CH for the Ohio Warhawks…
ECU: Billy Godwin told me that Sr. LHP Tyler Joyner will miss the 2013 season with Labrum surgery
More on ECU: RHP Hayden White and RHP David Lucroy both up to 93 this fall, both could be major factors in 2013
Mizzou 2013 commit, RHP Devin Williams, putting on a display in front of scouts. Sitting 91-92 (93) with FB, 81-82 CH, 85 CT
Miami 2014 commit, RHP Touki Toussaint, making some waves here in Jupiter. Was 93-95 with his fastball for ATL Blue Jays
UVA 2013 commit, RHP Connor Jones, also impressive for Evoshield Canes. 89-91 Fastball, w/ 79 CH and 81 SL
Florida 2013 commitment, RHP Dane Dunning, showing off a nice arm for Marucci Elite. Has been sitting 88-90