Morning Report – 3-7-14 – WLIR, DePo, Drew, TC’s Mouth

Coming Up –

          10 am – Christopher Soto – MM's Top 25 - #2 RHSP Rafael Quezada Montero

           11 am - Christopher Soto - MM's Top 25 - #1 RHSP Noah Syndergaard 

12 noon – D Whit - Mets Need a Strong Start to 2014

            1 pm – Ernest Dove - The View from Port St. Lucie Looked Pretty G
ood Watching Zack Wheeler and the Mets.

4 pm - Nine Baseball - First Team All-California

6 pm - Tyler Beede, Sean Newcomb, Michael Gettys, Josh Morgan

8 pm - A Quick Look - LHP - Justus Sheffield - Tullahoma (TN) HS



We want to send a special thank you out to Christopher Soto for putting together the Mack's Mets Top 25 Prospect List this pre-season. This is bunches of work folks and it's greatly appreciated...

Matt Cerrone - I don’t think you can talk about expecting to win 90 games and then do nothing extra to help make it happen. If it’s time to start talking like winners, it’s also time to start acting like it too.

          Mack – Better words have never been written.

Andy Martino ‏@MartinoNYDN  -  Collins has mentioned Lannan and Matsuzaka a lot, but others say no frontrunner at all yet, and many like Mejia. They should pick whoever gives them better chance win, based on what they see in ST. Don't see why young, old should matter.

To fill in coverage on the eastern end of Long Island, the New York Mets have cut a rights deal with the Hope Radio Network. Newsday reports the Christian broadcaster will simulcast flagship Clear Channel “NewsTalk Radio 710” WOR’s Mets broadcasts over the next two seasons to its five frequencies across Long Island, including “Hope Radio 107.1” WLIR.

DePo –

He mentions young pitchers—Robert Gsellman, John Gant, Robert Whalen, and Chris Flexen—who deserve to go to a full-season affiliate, but with only a set amount of rotation spots, some young pitchers might not make a rotation. DePodesta says the Mets have built that depth with pitchers who fly under the radar.

Marcos Molina, an 18-year-old right-handed pitcher, raised some eyebrows when he was included on Jason Parks’ list of the Mets’ top ten prospects this winter.

"We signed [Molina] in January 2012, down in the Dominican Republic, another guy who’s a super-good athlete, also repeats his delivery well. At the time, he had a nice little sinker, showed some feel for the baseball. But it wasn’t big power or anything like that. Since then, he’s continued to grow. Last year in the Gulf Coast League he was up to 96 miles per hour, typically pitching at 92, 94, has a feel for three pitches." http://www.amazinavenue.com/2014/3/3/5464952/mets-paul-depodesta-minor-league-player-development

          Mack – We’ve talked about both these issues.

Not every one of these pitchers mentioned in the first paragraph may make Savannah. There simply are other pitches slotted ahead of them that should have a turn first. Or, does turns count anymore in baseball? They don’t in my league and I would always promote the more talented pitcher… if… I thought he could handle the pressure and ‘the grind’.

Examples would be Flexen and Whelan. They should pitch Savannah next month, not Brooklyn.

As for Molina, we’ve seen hundreds of young pitcher hit 96. First thing they have to do is learn how to hit the barn. After that, hit the bulls eye on the barn. And then, lastly, master hitting the lower portion of the bulls eye on the barn,,, at 96.

Drew –

A friend of Stephen Drew called the Mets’ chances of getting Drew “very slim” as it becomes more obvious agent Scott Boras is willing to wait until after the season begins to sign his client because then Drew could not be given a qualifying offer next offseason or potentially wait until June when draft-pick compensation for Drew would vanish, as well. http://nypost.com/2014/03/05/collins-worried-about-offense-mulls-putting-pitcher-in-8-hole/

Mack – I keep printing this shit out because people keep writing about it… and things that usually keep being written about eventually come to fruition. This is going to take one phone call from Drew to Boras and the deal would be done… and, if David Wright, Curtis Granderson,and Chris Young participate this spring as it looks they are going to, Drew is going to want to get into this action.

You’ll see.

Bill Metsiac asks –

I'm amused (though somewhat frustrated) when I see people at your site and other places who read or hear something Collins says and treat it as set in stone. Why is it so hard for them to read his opening words, usually something like "as of now", or "at this point", or "I'm thinking of..."?

If he's being honest and saying that he'd like to see EY hit well enough to keep the leadoff job, or that the two veterans are the leading candidates for the #5 SP slot, he gets ripped as though he's saying "nothing will change my mind. EY is my leadoff hitter and Lannan will be in the rotation unless Dice-K wins the slot".

Would they rather have him answer every question with "I'll see", or "Who knows?"? But if he did that, they'd probably call him indecisive and weak and afraid of the media. Right?

          Mack – Sorry you are still having trouble with the site.

First, let me say that I have never met TC. My access to the clubhouse and the coaches/players have been limited to Savannah since the Minaya days.

Those that I know, who know him, say he takes a fatherly approach to the players which seems to be appreciated. The general consensus of opinion by the team is they love having him as a manager.

Regarding his mouth, my thoughts are only a theory. 

He’s an intelligent man and much know my now that talking off the cuff to a beat writer is going to cause something written the next day. I look at what he does at either one of two plans of attack.

One, he just may suffer from the same malady our Vice President of the United States does, meaning, he just may not be able to help himself.

Or, if not that, it simply could be his way of trying to be a poor man Sandy and attempt to be as cute as he can be with reporters.

What I don’t understand is why for the life of me can’t be discuss things like batting the pitcher 8^th with a confidential number of coaches and confidants in camp rather than the likes of the gaggle.

No matter how much you defend him, 

Bill, you can’t defend that.