Arizona Diamondbacks - Top 20 Prospects

1) Archie Bradley, RHP, Grade B+/Borderline A-. Age 22, posted 4.45 ERA with 75/49 K/BB in 83 innings between Double-A, Triple-A, and one rehab outing in rookie ball. Hampered by elbow problems early, both command and stuff suffered as a result. Still looks impressive at his best with blistering fastball, big-breaking curve, change-up and a new cutter/slider. Obviously a disappointing season but still has very high upside.

2) Aaron Blair, RHP, Grade B+: Age 22, posted 3.56 ERA with 171/51 K/B in 154 innings at three levels. Other lists have Shipley ahead of Blair and I understand that, but I will play contrarian here and go with Blair due to his superior dominance numbers. Good progress with curveball and already had excellent fastball/change combination. Future number three starter.

3) Braden Shipley, RHP, Grade B+: Age 22, 3.86 ERA with 127/42 K/BB in 126 innings at three levels. Paired with Blair, more of a pure athlete than Blair, also projects as a number three starter, similar stuff to Blair with low/mid-90s heat, good changeup, good curve. Not quite as overpowering but has better command.

4) Brandon Drury, 3B, Grade B/Borderline B+: Age 22, hit .300/.366/.519 in 430 at-bats in High-A, then .295/.345/.476 in 105 at-bats in Double-A, proving that he wasn’t just a creation of the Cal League. Built on 2013 success, solid defender, I think he is for real. May wind up at B+.

5) Yasmany Tomas, OF-3B, Grade B: Age 24, Cuban defector. Everyone agrees that he has impressive power, but opinions on pure hitting skills and ability to handle advanced pitching are quite mixed due to erratic track record. Will he max out like Yasiel Puig(who was also doubted)? Kendrys Morales? Dayan Viciedo? It all depends on who you ask. After studying everything I can find on him, I don’t pretend to know the answer, so let’s slap a B on there until we get to see how he looks in spring training.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/12/27/7455207/arizona-diamondbacks-top-20-prospects-for-2015 

The Morning Report – December 28 – Troy Tulowitzki, Jon Niese, Noah Syndergaard, Future Five

Good morning.

You should notice a Troy Tulowitzki blurb above. I believe that he will eventually play shortstop for the New York Mets.

I also believe that this kind of deal is impossible to put together until many ducks fall in line. They naturally need all players involved healthy

Lastly, look for this sometime in 2015, most probably around the all-star break. By then, the Mets talented prospects should line up better for Colorado to pick from.

I’ll keep adding and subtracting players in my ‘deal’. . .

In many different ways, Jon Niese[i] is average. By wins above replacement, Niese has pretty much been average for the last five years. He’s put up 9.2 wins, and a perfect ten would be perfectly average. In terms of what he’s done on the field — he’s missed a few games here or there — his 3.72 career FIP is right there with last year’s 3.81 league FIP. It doesn’t stop there. Until last year, Niese had been averaging right around 90.5 mph on his fastball, and the average for a left-handed starter is 90.6. His 7.9% swinging strike rate is right there with the league’s 8.8% average. He’s struck out 18.6% of the batters he’s faced and walked 6.9% — the league’s starters averaged 19.4% and 7.1% last season. He had a 47.7% ground-ball rate last year while the league averaged 44.6%

So let’s say the dude is pretty close to league average. In real-life baseball, that’s obviously an asset. Despite his projections in that department, it’s likely that he’ll be worth a win again, and he’s only due seven million bucks, and so that’s fine. You slot that guy in, you don’t pay him much, you thank him for his services rendered.

Mack – Remember… we’re not talking fantasy baseball here no being average in a real time rotation usually is a good thing… and, at his price, it’s a great one to market him to another team.

          I remember when we loved this guy. 



Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was arrested this morning and could have some involvement in a shooting, Enrique Rojas reports.... wasn't this something we just wrote about a couple of weeks ago?

So now there's two shootings.

Does this guy live in the St. Louis area?

Well, as we all know, character is one of the top five (I hope no one asks me what the other four are...) items needed to make it in the game, and this guy just doesn't have it.

I also always find it interesting that, when you see thug like character, as displayed in the past by guys like Lastings Milledge and Jordany Valdespin, the numbers usually don't come either. Valdy hit .214 for the Marlins last year. Milledge had 39 at bats last year for the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Central League.

Of course, I always said he preformed that function.

I want to go back to something I said yesterday about Noah Syndergaard. I do not want to trade Syndergaard, but I do feel that it is the purpose of Mack’s Mets and it’s writers to sometimes play both sides of the fence in order to generate an article. I know on a slow day that all I have to do is write one paragraph about Wilmer Flores and that will guarantee me ten comments. 

In the past, I might have told you five times I love him, five times I don’t, five times he should be traded, and five times he should be put on a boat. That’s what us writers do. Make up stuff to create a story or touch a nerve that will hopefully generate a response.

As you all know, I’m doing my top prospect list this month through March. And, I mentioned something yesterday in the comment section that we all need to realize.

Right now, Syndergaard has an SP1 projection.

No other current Mets pitching prospect does.

Stephen Matz and Marcos Molina project to SP2… Robert Whalen three… 

I did seem to throw the baby out with the bath water yesterday and I apologize for that. We’ve chosen to go down this road with a future pitching staff that includes Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Rafael Montero, Syndergaard, and Matz. 

It’s too late to turn around and build a new plan here.   -

 (Tulo for C Kevin Plawecki, SP Noah Syndergaard, player TBD, player TBD)

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[i] http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/jon-niese-and-the-dangers-of-average/

How Teams Are Built

Homegrown	Free Agent	Rule 5	Trade	Waivers	Total
Arizona	11	5	3	21	0	40
Atlanta	22	7	1	9	1	40
Baltimore	15	8	3	12	3	41
Boston	17	11	0	12	0	40
Chicago AL	11	8	1	12	8	40
Chicago NL	11	7	1	17	3	39
Cincinnati	21	7	1	9	0	38
Cleveland	19	7	0	14	0	40
Colorado	18	8	1	10	3	40
Detroit	18	7	0	14	1	40
Houston	9	7	1	18	5	40
Kansas City	22	6	0	13	0	41
Los Angeles AL	12	6	0	21	1	40
Los Angeles NL	14	9	0	19	0	42
Miami	14	4	2	17	1	38
Milwaukee	18	7	1	9	4	39
Minnesota	20	9	2	8	1	40
New York AL	18	9	1	9	2	39
New York NL	27	6	1	5	1	40
Oakland	4	5	0	26	5	40
Philadelphia	22	8	2	5	1	38
Pittsburgh	17	3	0	17	3	40
San Diego	11	7	0	23	0	41
San Francisco	24	10	0	5	1	40
Seattle	23	7	2	7	1	40
St. Louis	22	7	0	9	0	38
Tampa Bay	15	3	0	22	0	40
Texas	19	8	1	11	1	40
Toronto	12	5	0	13	7	37
Washington	20	3	1	12	3	39

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-the-teams-are-built/

Predicting the NL East

While it’s premature as the off-season is not over yet and there are still moves that can be made, there are so few things happening that I thought we should take a look at what each team has done thus far and who they plan to put on the field.  I present my analysis in the order in which I predict them to finish.

Washington Nationals

When you run away with the division you really don’t have to do much and that’s exactly what they’ve done.  In fact, by comparison they make the Mets look like the Padres or Dodgers.  They traded Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers for a few minor leaguers who don’t look to have an immediate impact on their future.  The biggest change for them is their hopeful return to health for Ryan Zimmerman who takes over for departed free agent Adam LaRoche at 1^st base.  They still have a formidable pitching staff that includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister and Tanner Roark.  Their bullpen includes the 1-2 punch of Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard.  In addition to Ryan Zimmerman, they also feature Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmon, Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, Denard Span and Jayson Werth along with catcher Wilson Ramos.  Pencil them in for first place right now.

New York Mets

With a return to health and career average performances from some of their regulars, the NY Mets should easily finish 2^nd behind the Nationals.  Lucas Duda is coming off a 30 HR season.  Daniel Murphy is solid.  Wilmer Flores is a quantum leap over Ruben Tejada.  David Wright is on the mend.  Curtis Granderson has a full year against NL pitching under his belt.  Gold Glover Juan Lagares Increased his offensive production last year and hopes to build upon that progress.  Newcomer Michael Cuddyer is a professional hitter who, though he cost some big dollars and a first round draft pick, should solidify the revolving door in the other corner outfield position.  Travis d’Arnaud looked like the hot prospect he was touted to be after his return from Las Vegas.  The pitching staff gets All-Star Matt Harvey back again in addition to a plethora of solid pitchers that could enable the team to trade one or two starters before the season begins.  The bullpen will eventually get the return of flamethrower Bobby Parnell to join last year’s surprising 28 save man Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black, sub 2.00 ERA Josh Edgin and long man Carlos Torres. 

Florida Marlins

One of the more active teams this Hot Stove season, the Florida Marlins have improved their team with some notable additions.  Slugger Michael Morse takes over at 1^st Base.  Speed demon Dee Gordon takes over at 2^nd.  Flashy glove man Adeiny Hechavarria returns at SS and professional hitter Martin Prado supplants Casey McGehee at 3^rd.   Their young outfield returns unchanged with Christian Yelich in left, Marcell Ozuna in center and newly minted gazillionaire Giancarlo Stanton in right.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia returns at catcher as well.  The starting rotation should eventually see the return of Jose Fernandez.  Until then it will include Henderson Alvarez, Mat Latos, Jarred Cosart, maybe Dan Haren (if he doesn’t retire or get traded back to the west coast) and a plethora of candidates for the other open slot(s).  Steven Cishek returns as the closer with an unheralded and somewhat uneven bullpen.  If a few things break right, they could leapfrog the Mets.

Philadelphia Phillies

While this club continues to age like a bottle of milk left out on the counter, the fact remains that they do still have a nucleus of some solid players interspersed with overpaid or unproven others.  At 1^st Base  they have the underperforming contract albatross, Ryan Howard.  Chase Utley – their Troy Tulowitzki – returns at 2^nd.  For the first time in what seems like forever Jimmy Rollins is gone and replaced by utilityman Freddy Galvis and 3^rd Base manned by the unspectacular Cody Asche.   The outfield is pretty strong and right now returns intact with Domonic Brown in left, Ben Revere in center and Marlon Byrd in right.  Catcher Carlos Ruiz turns 36 this year and you have to wonder how much he has left in the tank.  Their 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation is as good as any team in baseball with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee (assuming they are healthy) but after that it’s warm bodies , with David Buchanan, Jerome Williams and Miguel Gonzalez penciled it at this juncture.  Jonathan Papelbon is still a solid closer but then it’s a lot of hoping and praying beyond that. 

Atlanta Braves

As bad as the Phillies look, I actually think the Braves are worse, though positioned to improve sooner than the boys from the city of brotherly love due to the plethora of prospects they received in a flurry of off-season trades.  First base is manned by arguably the league’s best, Freddie Freeman.  Journeyman Alberto Callaspo takes over for the departed Dan Uggla at 2^nd.  All-Star caliber Andrelton Simmons mans SS and then you have the underwhelming Chris Johnson at 3^rd.  The outfield which was once a strength now features misplaced catcher Evan Gattis in left, contract-from-hell B.J. Upton in center and puzzling free agent acquisition Nick Markakis in right.  Catching duties are being handled by Christian Bethancourt.  The rotation does still have Julio Teheran and newcomer Shelby Miller, plus reliever-turned-starter Alex Wood.  Then it gets a bit shaky with Mike Minor and David Hale.  The bullpen has lights-out closer Craig Kimbrel, followed by the dice roll on a bunch of no-names.  If any of their youngsters prosper during 2015 they could challenge the Phillies for 4^th but right now they look like a lock for the basement.  They sport exactly one hitter in the lineup – Freeman – with 25 homer potential.  Gattis may do it but he’s rumored to be on the trading block.  This team is going to struggle to score runs and doesn’t appear to have the pitching to carry a moribund offense.  

The Morning Report – December 27 – Noah Syndergaard, Kevin Plawecki, Mets Zero Additions

A little more about what Fangraphs[i] said about Mets WAR prospects –

Noah Syndergaard, RHP (Profile)

IP      K/9    BB/9 HR/9 FIP    WAR

150   8.4    3.1    1.0    3.78  1.2

With the exception of a .378 BABIP, the right-handed Syndergaard was almost precisely the same pitcher at Triple-A Las Vegas last season as he’d been in his first four professional seasons. Syndergaard entered 2014 having produced strikeout and walk rates of 27.8% and 6.8%, respectively. Last year, he recorded a 24.9% strikeout and 7.4% walk rate.         Not as impressive, that, but also nearly as impressive and also the product of a 21-year-old pitching in the rather hostile Pacific Coast League. Per Steamer, it’s unlikely that Syndergaard is prepared to dominate major-league hitters immediately. The combination of age and present talent are impressive, however

Mack – We’ve got to talk about someone during this off-season other than shortstops and fifth outfielders. Let’s get back to one of my favorite subjects, the guy who has never thrown a major league pitch for this team, but has probably already killed a dozen good deals for established, well known, producing ballplayers… Noah Syndergaard.

Bill Pulsipher… Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson (can’t remember the fourth guy… spanish name). All three of these guys were going to be saviors for this team in my generation so excuse me if I don’t jump off the walls until I see three sub-1.00 WHIPs from Harvey, Wheeler, and Thor. No folks, it was not ‘Generation K’… it was ‘Generation Mack’ and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker

We could have a middle infielder like Addison Russell or Mookie Betts RIGHT NOW and, by the time Syndergarrd was promoted to Fenway Park in mid-2015, we’d have our 4^th and 5^th slot filled with Rafael Montero and Stephen Matz.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Fangraphs also had nice things to say about Kevin Plawecki http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/evaluating-the-prospects-new-york-mets/

He’s a very good receiver with solid hands; some took his stints at first base in 2013 to mean the Mets doubted his defensive ability, but it was purely due to the heat in the Florida State League. Plawecki projects as a solid average defender with an average arm that’s a little short compared to most catching prospects and he’s working to get his release and mechanics more consistent to allow his arm to play up. It’s worth noting that one scout I talked to has Plawecki over Syndergaard.

Summation: Pitchers like throwing to him and fellow Mets farmhands already see him as a leader that controls the field.  He hasn’t really hit that speed bump yet that most catchers hit in their minor league careers, due to all the rigors of catching and learning to handle a staff. He should spend most of 2015 in Triple-A and doesn’t have a clear path to the big leagues with d’Arnaud ahead of him, but Plawecki should be contributing in the big leagues by 2016.

Mack – We all are going to need another year to figure out the catcher situation for the Mets.

Sure, both Plawecki and Travis d’Arnaud have plenty of talent, but it still has to be determined if d’Arnaud can go through an entire season without a major injury and if Plawecki can develop enough pop to match d’Arnaud’s potential

There’s also defensive considerations here. D’Arnaud needs to improve greatly both with his move to other bases and the actual throw.

My guess is d’Arnaud wins this battle and then it will have to determine where Plawecki will serve the Mets better, as a backup in Queens (vast improvement with current backup) or trade bait in future multiple player swap for… well, you know who.

I don’t spend the kind of time I used to online anymore, but my routine hasn’t changed. One of the first thigs I do is go to Baseball Cube, click on the last 24 hours transactions, and I try and catch up on past events. If yo do this every day, you we see 98% of what happened in the baseball world.

So, what’s this been like for me:

12-26 – 2 transactions – 0 by Mets

12-25 – 4 transactions – 0 by Mets

12-24 – 23 tranactions – 0 by Mets

12-23 – 13 transactions – 0 by Mets

12-22 – 0 transactions – 0 by Mets

12-21 – 4 tranactions – 0 by Mets

12-20 – 35 tranactions – 0 by Mets

12-19 – 19 transaction – 0 by Mets

I’m going to stop here. The last 100 transactions in baseball included no one signed by the Mets to anything… major league, minor lague, nothing.

WTF.

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[i] http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-top-five-mets-prospects-by-projected-war/

Ernest Dove - Why David Wright Deserves EVERY Single Penny He Earns for the Mets

  While many of us were waking up to the sounds and sights of happy and smiling children, I spent a few minutes checking out a few resources regarding my favorite team.  During which time, I came across a USA Today article regarding my favorite player.  Just in case a few of you haven't already heard, the article is about Mets captain David Wright representing the team by making a personal phone call to the family of one of the NYPD officers killed this past week while sitting in their police car.
 "Wright spent 15 minutes on the phone with the two boys, and offered them tickets to Mets games next year, as well as an opportunity to come to spring training and hang with the team in the dugout during Grapefruit League games."
  Let this be another reminder about who David Wright is, what he means to this organization, and what means to fans like me. As I've stated before in previous posts, in the end, baseball remains what it is intended to be, entertainment.  I've been a fan since I was 9 years old.  And as much as I also love to argue, complain and share my constitutional right to piss and moan privately or publicly about my team and its players, the bottom line is that they are still my team, and David Wright is still my captain.
  We can talk all day about decrease in power numbers, too large of a contract given, and recent injuries for a man now into his 30s.  We can also talk about a man who just spent 15 minutes making every effort to simply talk baseball, or life, with two teenagers whose lives just changed forever.
  David Wright is a leader.  Last time I checked, David Wright also still does not have a twitter account. We also learned in this article that the captain has no desire to be interviewed or further discuss this phone call to the family.  Why, because he understands his time and place as a leader in our society.  I assume he figures he doesn't have to spend his time (or pay someone to spend their time) tweeting, or going in front of cameras to publicly acknowledge his 'good deed'.  He knows he doesn't have to.  Because he wasn't raised that way.  David Wright is the son of a cop.  I am the son of a cop.  Maybe we learned some of the same values.  We probably both learned about the importance of people, helping other (privately not publicly) and simply going to work and doing the best you can.
  For 20 years working in the NYPD, where he was given UNLIMITED sick time as an employee, my dad probably called out sick maybe a dozen times or so....... in 20 years combined.  (well, ok, he was on leave of absence for a year and half following a motorcycle accident while on duty, but since I was conceived and born during that time, I'm certainly ok with that time off).
  Anyway, my point is that David Wright is the actual role model that sports spends so much time talking about.  And what's important is that he leads by example, and not by having more twitter followers then the next guy.
  So for me, not only am I happy that Wright is leading my favorite team, I'm also happy that myself, along with my daughter, can make that little drive to Port St. Lucie in March wearing our matching David Wright shirts, and have no fear of the Mets trading away our star, because he basically has a lifetime contract at this point.  And that's ok with me.
  I don't know what kind of 'production' we will see from the captain.  I don't know if his power will come back, or if his defense will regress, or where he will bat in the batting order the next 5 or so years.  However, what I do know is that I will continue to wear my David Wright shirt every year, (yeah my 2 year old daughter may need a bigger size in the coming years, and I need to diet). And I can always tell my daughter to proud to wear a shirt/jersey of a man with no criminal record, no DUI arrests, no football taunting penalties, and simply a person with a passion for baseball, and passion for others.
  Win or lose, I'm still a Mets fan.  4-4 or 0-4, David Wright is still my favorite player.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everybody

MAJORING ON THE MINORS – CESAR PUELLO STOCK IS RISING AGAIN

MAJORING ON THE MINORS – CESAR PUELLO STOCK IS RISING AGAIN  by Tom Brennan

Did you ever own a stock that has a lot of factors that would cause you to expect great things, and then it did really well for a while, but then had a long period where it pulled back and, although you expected it to rebound, it just seemed to sputter – your blue chip had turned into a cow chip - but then finally started showing signs of life again?  And you still think it can be a GREAT stock, one you’re so glad you did not give up on?

Not me – I’m a lousy investor!  If I were your stock broker, you’d be broker than you are right now!

But in a baseball scenario, that “stock” to hold onto ought to be be Cesar Puello.

Cesar has been in the organization seemingly forever.  He signed very young, and began playing at age 17, hence people’s impatience with him, but he only turns 24 just before opening day 2015.  He’s still a young dude with real upside.  Let me recap on Monsieur Puello:

Age 17 – an impressive .305 with a .350 OB% in 40 games in the Gulf Coast League.

Age 18 – 49 games in Kingsport A ball - .296, with a .373 OB%, and a jump to a .423 slug %.

Age 19 in Savannah – finally a decent # of games, at 109.  Similar average and OB%, but only one homer.  Shades of Dominic Smith circa 2014!  But his inner Roadrunner emerged as he stole 45 of 55, in 2/3 of a full big league season’s # of games.  Wow.

Age 20 – popped 10 homers in St Lucie, so the strong man’s bat was showing some pop finally, but in 117 games, he slipped to .259/.313/.397.  Typical Met fan stuff – don’t get your hopes up.

Age 21 – he repeats St Lucie and injury bug hits, and , limiting him to 66 games.  Still so-so with .260/.328/.423, but he does swipe 19 of 21, a lot for so few games.  Oh, and Biogenesis is becoming an issue.

Age 22 – while awaiting the 50 game suspension in 2013, Cesar explodes in AA, with a .326/.403/.547 slash in 91 games, with 24 steals.  Crushed lefties with a Ruthian .842 slug %, and against righties, he was fine, thank you for asking: .298/.379/.459.  Simply a spectacular, but truncated season, and that was after a slow April.  After his suspension, though, he plays winter ball – I expect him to tear it up, and instead he does terribly.  Stock is wobbling after the drug suspension and catatonic winter season.

Age 23 – a pretty baffling April – June in his AAA debut in 2014, but Puello followed that with a good 2^nd half while Wally puzzlingly continued to play him part time – he only got up 318 official at bats last year - In July, August, and Sept, he hit .284 with almost a .400 on base and about a .500 slug % and still played part time.  Nuts.  You’ve got a guy with 5 tools, let him use them.  He did not hit righties well at all in 2014, but got much better in that regard later in the season.   

So after his puzzling lack of use in 2014, he goes to winter ball and needed several trips to the infirmary to get bench splinters removed from the place where his anatomy meets the bench.   In his team’s first 43 games, he gets into just 23 of them, many in a pinch hit or substitution capacity.  In his team’s first 43 games, he has a whopping 25 at bats!!!  But 12/12 was a great day to buy Puello stock, as he gets a start for the first time in 9 days and goes 5 for 6 with 2 extra base hits.  Causing his manager to realize Puello is actually on the team.  So from the 12^th through the 21^st, the rediscovered Puello goes 12 for 26 with 4 doubles and 4 homers, with 3 walks thrown in. 

Puello kills lefties (slugged .842 and .525 the past 2 years) but struggled vs. righties for most of 2014.  So he can’t, but against righties in 2013 in AA, he was a fine .298/.379/.459, so I just think they misused him last year.  They wasted at bats on veteran guys – Puello should have been up 250 more times in 2014.  In winter ball so far in his sporadic playing time, he is nailing righties (11 for 34, a double and 3 HRs), so that is very promising.

So let’s see: Cannon arm; blazing speed 56 of 66 in steals over the past 3 years in only about 1,000 plate appearances; power too.  And he gets hit by pitches like they are going out of style (115 times in slightly over 2,300 plate appearances), so he never has a low on base %.

Let’s compare him to a different stock that always seems to be talked up by the analysts, one the pundits say to have in your portfolio at all costs: Brandon Nimmo.  Nimmo will turn 22 next March so Puello is almost exactly 2 years older to the day.  Puello had his great AA season at 22.

Nimmo had a fine 2014 start in A ball at 21, but then struggled after his promo to AA last year, followed by a weak winter ball stint, so while everyone seems to rank him higher than Puello, I have to wonder.   Nimmo has to really show something to me this year to show he is as good or better than Puello; Nimmo has to step it up.

Back to Puello: 2013 and 2014 were years of highs and lows, but the two years together totaled only slightly more plate appearances than if he led off for the Mets for 162 games.  So how did his combined 2013 and 2014 stats look?  You judge: 649 official at bats, 122 runs, 41 doubles, 4 triples, 23 homers, 110 RBIs37 of 45 in steals.  .290/.380/.471. 

Conclusion: The more I think about it, the more I think it would be a huge mistake to lose this guy – I think if he is not on 25 man roster come opening day, he can request to be released – no doubt some other team would snatch him up.  I really think he could be another Carlos Gomez.

He’s built like a bull, and maybe, just maybe he will go on a bull market run for the Mets in 2015.

Whaddya think, folks?  And I hope if you celebrate Christmas like I do, or if not, your holiday season's joy will be but a precursor to a fabulous 2015, at Citifield and in the rest of your lives as well. 

Above is a selfie of yours truly (OK, just the feet of selfsame writer), with chestnuts roasting by an open artificial fire and a NY Mets orange jersey as the centerpiece of the shot.  Peace, goodwill, etc., etc…and hopefully you’re not left like this after the gift buying has finally ended:

 

The Morning Report – December 26 – Cesar Puello, Matt Reynolds, Sully Chat, Brandon Nimmo

  

I hope you, and yours, had a wonderful holiday.

I did have something say about the Fangraphs assessment of OF Cesar Puello the other day –

22. Cesar Puello, RF Video: Puello has been on Mets prospect lists for a while and it seems like his stock is tied to what you think about the Biogenesis scandal that he was involved in.  He was the best player in the Eastern League in 2013 during the season when the revelations came out, with a 50-game suspension coming at the end of the year and following an injury-riddled 2012 campaign.  Puello went from hitting 16 homers in a neutral park in 2013 over 377 PA to hitting 7 homers in 2014 over 371 PA in an offensively-charged Las Vegas park and Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Assuming 2014 represents the real Puello, he looks like a toolsy 4th outfield whose erratic tendencies at the plate hold back his everyday player tools. He’s a solid average runner that can play center field for stretches, but Lagares, Nieuwenhuis and den Dekker are all above him in that regard. Puello has the above average arm for right field and solid average raw power, but he has trouble laying off the right-on-right slider and that undermines the whole package.  It’s unclear where his career will end up, but Puello could be an everyday player if it all clicks.

Mack – In this ‘slow season of off season’, there does seem to be a few people that everyone out there just can’t stop writing speculating about.  Wilmer Flores… Troy Tulowizski… and lately, Cesar Puello.

Puello fans, though smaller in size than the Tulo lot, have always stood by their guy and projected him as the next great right fielder in CitiFiled. Or, was it left field? Ya know, this debate has been going on so long I remember when he was a centerfielder.

-   Matt Reynolds,[i] SS (Profile)

PA             AVG  OBP   SLG   wRC+          WAR

550           .238  .290  .330  79     0.9

Reynolds entered the 2014 season having only played one game ever above High-A. He ended it, though, having recorded more plate appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas than the Mets’ Double-A affiliate in Binghamton. Reynolds’ refulgent batting line at the latter (.355/.430/.422) was the product, in no small part, of a .433 BABIP. He proceeded to benefit from a .400-plus BABIP at Triple-A, as well. Steamer doesn’t assign much weight to those results, however — especially just one year of them — calling for a major-league .280 BABIP (or its equivalent) from Reynolds in 2015. With Reynolds’ defensive skills, though, that still produces a player worth something better than replacement level

Mack – Look… I don’t worry about finding either a shortstop for the remainder of this decade.

Wilmer Flores, Matt Reynolds, and Amed Rosario will play shortstop, while Daniel Murphy and Dilson Herrera will play second.

What I worry about is the talent level here and will it be good enough. 

Comment From Jeff[ii] - How would you grade the Mets front office? These past two off seasons have been bad.

Jeff Sullivan: Never did understand the Granderson move, but it’s hard to evaluate a front office without totally understanding the conditions in which they have to maneuver

Comment From L. Scott - Obviously the Nationals are the team to beat in the NL East. Do the Marlins, Mets, or Braves keep it close?

Jeff Sullivan: No –

Mack – Sadly, at this point in the off-season, I have to agree with both statements.

The only way Mets fans should think about the Madoff money is if it is a two year contract, for around $30mil a year, for a player that doesn’t exist anymore.

The monies owned the people that got screwed will go away around this time in 2017 and the Mets won’t have this financial burden handing over their head.

As for competitiveness, I see the Nats holding their own, the Mets improving a little, the Marlins improving a lot, and the Braves falling into a race with the Phillies for last place.

Yes, we know the Mets have great young pitching, but so does 

Washington, along with Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Nate McLouth, and Denard Span. There simply is too much on field talent for each game

Here’s another positive off-season article on Mets OF prospect Brandon NImmo[iii]. You know, you can’t get enough of these in the off-season.

Nimmo on getting to Queens –

“I need to get better at everything. If I'm not in the Major Leagues, I'm not where I need to be. I'll need to make adjustments in my hitting, in my fielding, throwing, base running, base stealing, the mental aspect of the game. There's going to have to be adjustments made after every single game, and so really, that's the key for me -- to learn either how to do it or how not to do it after every game and make an adjustment from there. …You never settle for where you're at. You always need to make adjustments to become better. So I think for the rest of my career I'm going to try to get better at everything I do”

So Joel Sherman[iv] put together a new apathy article about the Mets. Hey Scrooge, was this necessary to add more gloom and doom before we Christians pass the turkey drumsticks? LEVE THE TEAM ALONE, WOULD YA! 

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[i] http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-top-five-mets-prospects-by-projected-war/

[ii] http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jeff-sullivan-fangraphs-chat-122314/

[iii] http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20141223&content_id=104331330&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

[iv] http://nypost.com/2014/12/24/mets-must-prove-they-dont-have-creativity-gap-with-nl-rivals/