Morning Report – 3-8-14 – Tech Conference, Murphy, TC, Didi

Coming Up –

          10 am – The Baseball Draft Report - Top 93 College Catcher List

12 noon – Nick Burdi, Justus Sheffield, Brad Zimmer, Sean Bouchard

 2 pm – A Quick Look - LHP - David Peterson - Regis Jesuit (CO) HS

4 pm -   Baseball Cube - Transactions

6 pm -   FANGRAPHS - Top 10 LAA Prospects

8 pm – MaxPreps Top 100 Players in Draft

Dan Szymborski ‏@DSzymborski  - Ervin Santana has apparently fired his agent.  He really needed to fire reality, because that's his biggest contract obstacle.

Adam Rubin ‏@AdamRubinESPN  - First #Mets cuts coming about Wednesday, after one more "B" game.

A Source tells me that 1B Jayce Boyd is in uniform and in camp work out, with a goal for opening day.

After Dark-Chat –

Comment From Andy5 - Are any of these guys worth a bench spot/flier at 1B…Ike Davis, Mark Reynolds, or Adam LaRoche?

Jeff Zimmerman: Davis is and probably Laroche.

Comment From Aaron - What would it take for the Mariners to get Lagares and Montero from the Mets? Should the M’s try?

Paul Swydan: More than Franklin, that’s for sure. The Mariners think they’re contenders right now, so I could see them kicking in another prospect or two to get major league ready players back, but the Mets really have no reason whatsoever to trade Lagares.

Jessica Quiroli ‏@heelsonthefield  - Something a veteran I won't name told me is that minor leaguers need to think in terms of playing for other teams. If you're stuck behind another player in majors & possibly blocked for years, or there's just no place for you, he said don't discouraged. Thought I'd share that. "Tell them, play for the other team" Basically, be selfish in a sense. It's your job & you're trying to have a career.

Tech Conference –

1)    Write Everything in Pencil - Russell Houghtaling, Director of Digital Media at the University of Oklahoma, made this statement before laying out his presentation, but it’s a principle that holds true in every situation. New platforms constantly pop up in the marketplace and attempting to predict those of which have staying power and those that do not proves folly. Even those platforms which have been around the longest in digital, are still only 10 years old – babies as far as the marketing landscape is concerned. So we’re all still learning how to utilize them most effectively. Even examples of those who do it best are only captured across a few years, a small sample size of data when you step away from it. So it’s all written in pencil. What’s good today may not work tomorrow. Being adaptable isn’t a perk; it’s a necessity. http://www.sporttechie.com/2014/03/05/5-biggest-takeaways-from-the-digital-sports-fan-engagement-conference/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=buffer1b4f9

Daniel Murphy –

As Murphy understands it, the Sandy Alderson offensive philosophy, as taught by Hudgens, is not to seek walks per se, but to swing only at pitches that one can drive; instead of reaching for a low sinker at 1-0 and flaring it into left field for a single, have the confidence to run the count to 3-2, and drive a mistake off the wall for a double.  But accepting deeper counts means dealing with the possibility of a walk or strikeout.

Murphy says of the Mets that “their ideas are spot-on; it’s what I want to do,” but also, “that is the philosophy, and it’s tough for me, because my eyes tell me I can hit so much stuff. But until I start taking marginal pitches, pitchers have no reason to give me a good pitch to hit.”

This is not rejecting the Mets’ approach, but having the courage to admit that it is profoundly difficult to execute, requiring mental and emotional adjustments, in addition to mechanical ones. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/2014/03/ny-mets-daniel-murphy-opens-up-about-anxiety-its-impact-on-working-the-count

Mack – Murph will never hit the Sandy way, but is that a bad thing if he can consistently hit .280 and improve every year in the field? What the Mets have to decide is how much this guy is worth as he marches up the arbitration process towards free agency. Next year could cost the Mets $7mil vs. the $550K they would pay Wilmer Flores or Danny Muno to play second. Tough call for a team with no money (sic).

Terry Collins wondered out loud if Wilmer Flores, as opposed to Anthony Seratelli, could serve as a back-up infielder on the big-league roster this season

Mack – There he goes again… look, this has to be some sort of mind-fuk that TC loves to play and the beat guys just love to pass it on. In this case, it’s MetsBlog, which seems to be distancing itself more every day from this team and organization. Or is this just something coming from the ever-distancing Matt Cerrone, who also seems to be being passed by for various internal promotions in the MetsBlog broadcast team. In the old days I would have reached out to Matt for a reaction, but he doesn’t ‘talk’ to me anymore.

Bill asked –

          Hi, Mack. Duda and Tejada went to the special "fitness" camp this winter. Ruben went TWICE! Both of them were reportedly in "great shape" after the camp. As of today, neither are playing because of hammy/quad issues suffered from running the bases. What kind of "fitness" is this?

Mack – I can only speak to Tejada, who was unable to run for the first month he was in Michigan. Had something to do with a leg castJ

Michael Scannell asked -

It looks like Drew might be out of the question for the Mets now.  If the team goes the route I want I trades for Nick Franklin, what do you think it would cost?

Mack – Five different ‘contacts’, ‘sources’, etc. have all told me the same thing… they (like everyone else) want Montero… they aren’t going to get him… we offered deGrom… they want more… that’s where we are at…

Don’t ask me if he’s worth it. You might not like my opinion on this.

Didi –

          Arizona Diamondbacks, Shortstop - Didi Gregorius vs. Chris Owings

Gregorius, the prize of the Trevor Bauer trade, opens his sophomore season in Arizona with his second spring competition. Last season he started hot then stalled around midseason, batting just .207/.314/.314 after the All-Star break. Once September rolled around the D'Backs split playing time between the young shortstops, with Owings providing an offensive spark.

Who should win? Owings. Gregorius' second-half fade obscures his status as a decent starting option. Despite the offensive struggles, he remained a solid defender who performed fairly against right-handed pitching. Still, Owings profiles as the better hitter—even if PECOTA suggests otherwise—and possesses enough defensive ability to avoid giving the advantage back in the field. Kevin Towers has made overtures about a potential shortstop-for-catcher trade this spring, so whoever finishes second could be on his way out of town. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/a/22986