3/30/14

Morning Report – 3-30-14 – Drugs, Sherman, Montreal, Fulmer

1904 Boston Red Sox


Coming Up –

        11 am –  Top 10 SS in 2014 MLB Draft - Updated 3-28-14

         2 pm –   Top 10 OF in 2014 MLB Draft - revised 3-28-14

         5 pm –   Top 10 RHP in 2014 MLB Draft – revised 3-28-14

          8 pm –   Max Pentecost, Tyler Beede, Sean Newcomb, Milton Ramos, Todd Issacs Jr.

        11 pm -  3B - Jack Flaherty - Harvard-Westlake (CA) HS


MLB/MLBPA announce stricter drug policy with a 1st offense now worth an 80-game ban, a second, 162 and a third, banishment for life. Every player suspended for PEDs will be subject to 6 additional urine tests and 3 additional blood tests for rest of career, all unannounced. Players suspended for PEDs will no longer be part of the Players Pool for postseason shares. On HGH blood collection: will increase to 400 random per yr, in addition to the 1,200 mandatory collections conducted during Spring Training

        Mack – It’s about time…

We’ve talked about this so many times over the years and the one obstacle was the players union. Well, Biogenesis took care of that.
This is going to sound racist…

The vast majority of players that violate these policies are Latin and they begin their ‘habit’ while they are still ‘in country’ usually supplied by their ‘advisors’ or, even team trainers.

This isn’t going to change until the major league teams at least clean up what is going on within their own DSL and VSL walls. This sport needs a couple of lifetime bands for this to sink in. Maybe then all this will be taken serious.

-      -

I go out of my way not to read or follow most Mets blogs (we’re a web site for sports writers, not a blog). There are exceptions… Mets360 and Two Guys Talking Mets Baseball are friends of mine and they practice the same professional approach we do here at Mack’s Mets.

Still, I never read the rest of them and absolutely hate the sensationalism used in some of their headlines. Where do they get this approach from?

And then I scroll down my Twitter feed on Friday morning and I see that Joel Sherman wrote a story on the possibility of Matt Harvey bolting to the Yankees once he reaches free agency in 2018. Didn’t we have enough to worry about this spring? Is this what you do when you’re on a plane ride to Toronto?

Next week I will attend the welcome luncheon for the Savannah Sand Gnats. I can’t tell you how many blank stares I get when I introduce myself to each of the players. We in media have earned this level of disrespect and articles and approaches like this to the sport create the divide between the player and the press.

-      -

I couldn’t help but think as I watched Friday’s game from Montreal that this would be a great city to transition back into the majors with a 5-year stint as the Mets AAA affiliate…

No matter how you slice it, no major league team is going to move there in the next five years. Not even Tampa. And yet, this is a baseball starved city.

Set it up and get the Mets out of the desert. Weather wise, if they can play baseball there on Friday, they can play baseball there next week.

-      -

Fulmer –


Under the Radar: RHPs Michael Fulmer, Jeurys Familia and Domingo Tapia - As mentioned, the Mets rotation looks pretty crowded in the years to come, so some other top pitching prospects may end up in the bullpen if they make it to New York. Michael Fulmer is just 21 years old, and still has time to establish himself as a starter, but many experts feel he is destined for the bullpen. The combination of a mid-90s fastball with movement and an above-average slider show he has the arsenal to succeed late in games. Fulmer struggled with injuries early in the year and only made nine appearances over the course of the season. Nevertheless, he put together a strong performance late and posted a 2-0 record and 2.35 ERA in three August starts, in which he held hitters to a .137 average. http://gradingonthecurve.com/2014/03/28/future-closers-new-york-mets/

10 comments:

Bob Sugar said...

Big Mack. Screw Joel Sherman for even putting that article an those vibes out there. Would love to shut him up.
Why do you think Montreal could not be considered for play in the next 5 years. I like the idea.

Mack Ade said...

The only reason Montreal might pass is the embarrassment of going back to a AAA franchise, which is silly. There is no chance of them getting a MLB slot in the next 5 years. Why not give the city the opportunity to put in the modern improvements needed to catch up to the 21st century.

Who knows, if the Mets keep playing the way they have, they could flip cities.

Tom Brennan said...

It would be nice to see Tapia and Fulmer both blossom this year and be added to the 2015 Met pen by mid 2015 or early 2016....unless one or both really shows rotation quality stuff this year.

After the agony of the Jason Bay slow motion 4 year $60MM disaster, forgive me if I can't shake the feelings of a possible horror repeat with 4 year, $60MM Granderson, who from March 5 to March 29 went a stunningly , Ankiel-like 5 for 44 with 3 walks and 15 K's. Even Kirk must be saying to himself, if that is all it takes to qualify for 4 years, $60MM, I can do that - sign me up. It is a good thing he is starting the season against sub-par scrubs like Strasburg - that should get him going.

Monday the slate is clean and maybe he will excel and be the league's MVP. But if those #'s don't make you nervous, they do for me.

Had Puello not gotten hurt last June, shortly followed by his 50 game suspension, maybe those extra 60 games under his belt would have been enough to have him ready enough for the Mets try him and not the very expensive Grandy in RF. I for one would have preferred that,

And Joel Sherman IS an idiot - can we worry about 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 before we prognosticate about 2018, Joel?

Tom Brennan said...

Hey Mack

We're not set up to cook stuff like your wife's recipe right now, so good luck with that, but a good name for the product could be Batter Up

Tom Brennan said...

Any vibe out of the Mets' minor league side as to who is excelling? Puello crushing balls? Flores at SS. Vaughn still hitting after his several fine official minor league at bats? Dekker continuing his fine play? Thor and Montero....Leathersich....etc.

News from the Minor League camp is virtually non-existent...understandable, since with the drama in camp (Tejada - Nada, Ike vs. the Duke of Windsor, Dice K vs. Pedro's clone Mejia) is enough to keep the focus off the kiddies. But it would be nice if there were some sort of snippets from the Dark Side.

Mack Ade said...

Thomas-

Re: Tapia and Fulmer -

We're all just guessing right now, but the only projected 'sure thing past Thor and Montero is Matz... probably targeted when the Niese contract runs out.

I saw that Verrett will open up with the B-Mets so there is an outside chance he starts in Vegas.

Due to past injuries and the lack of him being specific in recent tweets, I think he will return to St. Lucie (warm weather) to work on stamina.

Mack Ade said...

Thomas-

It's already cooked and ready to hit the mail

Mack Ade said...

Thomas-

There is no one left on the St. Lucie staff.

They have no plans on radio coverage or sending out press releases.

Consider them North Korea.

Reese Kaplan said...

I made a commitment to my friends to lay off Terry Collins for the end of Spring Training. I told them Monday the slate is clean and I will not bring up past transgressions on his part, but new logic-defying decisions and patterns that emerge are fair game.

As a betting man I'm figuring Ike Davis is starting over Lucas Duda, and E. Young in LF with C. Young in CF. On the former there will likely be a collective yawn among the fans as it's like choosing between rat poison and weed killer, but on the latter I expect the entire world to be quoting in perhaps more colorful expletives what our own D Whit said, "What on earth are you thinking?"

Mack Ade said...

Friends?

What are friends?