The Mack Report – November 29, 2010

The Mack Report – November 29, 2010

Spoke with SP Jeurys Familia who advises that his arm feels just fine. he's resting up at home after pitching one inning in the DWL. Familia was simply pitched out for the season and will come back strong next season, most probably for Binghamton. We all are "familiar" with his velo and sickness; now all he has to do is get that control down.

Michael G. Baron emailed me with his thoughts on Terry Collins:
               "Collins actually surprised me in a good way. I still view him as a short term solution, with Wally very much still in the mix down the line (just an educated guess). I think the new culture will improve the major league club to a certain degree, with or without improvements to the roster."

Excellent news from P Brant Rustich on his recent surgery:                  

Everything is feeling great. To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel like I had surgery at this point besides the little scar on my upper chest. I started PT last Friday. My surgery has only made my whole arm feel completely normal again. The sensation that has came back, the nerve dexterity, and just the way the baseball feels in my hand again makes me so happy. I can actually feel the laces of the ball, which I don't think I've felt since I was 14 years old. I'm just doing stretching exercises and then strengthen to prepare to throw again. My range of motion was never affected by surgery or anything, so when I start throwing it seems like it will be relatively quick. Definitely a noticeable difference in the way everything feels though. The strength and stamina my arm seems to have that it never did is nice. I can actually talk on the cell phone for more than a couple minutes without my hand going limp. I've never been more excited to prepare myself for what I truly feel like, will be a turning year for me. I haven't been able to actually say that with any conviction until now. I'm blessed to be given another chance to pitch. Have a great holiday Mack. - Brant .

Most of the winter ball action is over, but Wilmer Flores continues to make up for lost time. Through Sunday morning, he is .433//.452/.733/1.185, with 2-HR and 11-RBIs in 30-ABs. I'm hoping to see a conversion to third base, begiing in the spring.



Mack Ade

 Word out of the DWL is that Daniel Murphy (.320) is really starting to look very comfortable and basically sound at second base. This could really change everything with the future plans of the mets infield. Let's say that Murphy becomes the full time second baseman for the Mets for, oh, let's say, the next four years. This puts Ruben Tejada back at shortstop, Jordany Valdespin competing with him tosomeday replace Jose Reyes, and Reese Havens and Josh Satin out of a job.


Continuing our prospect slotting…

81. SP Rainey Lara – 20/yrs. old – We keep bringing up a bunch of new names that most of you haven’t heard of. Frankly, in my opinion, it is a little early to project these guys, but they do seem at this point in their development to be more talented than the pool of minor leaguers left on the Mets rosters. Lara is another 6-4 righty that pitched his first season for the DSL Mets in 2010: 4-2, 1.97, 14-G, 12-starts, 51-K, 13-BB, 64.0-IP. He could be left in the Dominican another year, depending on the upcoming draft, but I have him in Florida.
2011: GCL Mets rotation

2012: Savannah

82. SP Angel Cuan – 22/yrs. old – Cuan has already pitched three years with the Mets with limited success. He really didn’t produce anything worth writing home about, in 2008-09, itching for the VSL team, Kingsport, or Brooklyn; however, everything turned around in 2010 for Brooklyn: 5-1, 2.03, 14-starts, 64-K, 17-BB, 70.2-IP. He’s a lefty, so that’s worth another look alone…

2011: Savannah rotation

2012: St. Lucie

83. RP Rhiner Cruz - Cruz has simply been handled horribly as a Met. He started out a stone cold closer lock for Savannah, only to have the closer role taken away from him at Lucy. He still had a decent season: 0-5, 3.46, in 51-appearances. 66-K, but the 53-BBs (75.1-IP) are killing him. I look for him to get one more chance in 2011, probably with Binghamton. He needs to get those walks down or he’ll be taking one himself.

2011: Binghamton bullpen

2012: Buffalo or out of the system

84. RP Gabriel Zavala – 24/yrs. old – Zavala signed with the Mets in 2004, played under the name Zabala until 2009, changed to pitching, changed his last name, seems to have gone through Rule V because he confused the hell out of all of us, and is now a pretty decent relief pitcher. Had a great season for Savannah, though he didn’t pitch enough: 1-1, 1.56, 20-appearances, 38-K in 34.-IP. I’d keep him back for more reps, but he’s getting a little long in the tooth… and running out of positions to play.

2011: St. Lucie bullpen

2012: Binghamton

85. IF Matt Bouchard – 24/yrs. old – We stop here for another utility player who is necessary to eventually complete the Binghamton roster. Bouchard has become an organizational utility player that can play multiple positions. He doesn’t hit that much, but he’s a plus in the field as well as the clubhouse. He’s 2011’s version of Jonathan Malo.

2011: Binghamton utility infielder
2012: Buffalo utility player



So… here’s what our rosters look like so far for the 2011 season, based on 2012 need:


Buffalo (15):

Rotation: (2) - SP Jenrry Mejia, Josh Stinson

Relievers: (4) – Manny Alvarez, Jose De La Torre, Roy Merritt, Michael O’Connor

Catchers: (1) – Mike Nickeas

Infielders: (5) – 1B/3B Eric Campbell, 1B/2B Josh Satin, 2B/SS Reese Havens, 2B/SS Jordany Valdespin, 3B Zach Lutz

Outfielders: (3) – Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda



Binghamton (21):

Rotation: (6) – Jeurys Familia, Robert Carson, Eric Beaulac, Mark Cohoon, Brandon Moore, Chris Schwinden

Relievers: (6) – Nick Carr, Brant Rustich, Brad Holt, Scott Moviel, Eric Turgeon, Rhiner Cruz

Catchers: (2) – Kai Gronauer, Francesco Pena

Infielders (3) – SS Rylan Sandoval, 3B Wilmer Flores, UT Matt Bouchard

Outfielders (4) – Sean Ratliff, Pedro Zapata, Rafael Fernandez, Carlos Guzman



St. Lucie (15):

Rotation (5) – Matt Harvey, Kyle Allen, Yohan Almonte, Collin McHugh, Jimmy Fuller

Relievers (4) – Eric Goeddel, Ryan Fraser, Michael Powers, Gabriel Zabala

Catchers (0) –

Infielders (2) – 1B Stefan Welsh, SS Robbie Shields, 3B Joe Bonfe

Outfielders (3) – Cesar Puello, Corey Vaughn, Matt den Dekker



Savannah (14):

Rotation: (3) – Greg Peavey, Chris Hilliard, Angel Cuan

Closer: (1) – Ryan Fraser

Relievers: (3) – T.J. Chism, Samuel Tavares, Nelson Pereira

Catchers: (1) – Albert Cordero

Infielders: (3) – 2B J.B. Brown, SS Wilfredo Tovar, 3B Aderlin Rodriquez

Outfielders: (3) – Darrell Ceciliani, Javier Rodriguez, Jenry Marte