Bringing back an old feature…
Jack asked: Hey Mack. Do you think that
the Mets are done building a new bullpen in 2020?
Mack: Hey Jack. I do. The
Mets now seem to have enough internal pieces to build either a seven or eight
man pen. My guess is Betances, Familia, and Diaz will be the back end guys,
Lugo and Gsellman first in guys, and Brach and Wilson somewhere in the middle.
Malcolm
asked: Mack, where do you see this
rotation going over the next two or three years?
Mack: Great question. Obviously, we are
set for 2020. The good point about this is the fact that this will allow some
of our chips to mature at the AAA level.
DeGrom, Syndergaard, and Matz will be
back for 2021. I happen to think that Porcello will sign up for, at least,
another year with the Mets, but I have no proof of that. On paper, we have to
get ready to replace both he and Stroman.
My guess is the new money that will come
into play in 2021 will target on position players and I see Thomas Szapucki and Seth Lugo replacing them in 2021.
(I am very high on Szapucki. Baring injury, I see him as a future top end starter)
Jon
asks: Mack, do you think Cespedes has anything left to contribute to the Mets?
Mack:
I don’t Jon. I think this is damaged goods times ten and, if the Mets
can pull it off, I would suit him up for spring training games and cut a deal
with any team they can find in return for whatever they can get a team to cut
loose.
Jan
asked: Do you really think that baseball
is going to eliminate all those minor league teams?
Mack:
I don’t. I think someone will make baseball take a second look at the
huge amount of money they are already making and convince them to just live
with this non-revenue producing portion of their entire picture.
Baseball began in small towns with
sandlot leagues and players travelled from town to town, looking for a game.
How do you take this away?
April
asked: Who was the friendliest and unfriendliest Met you ever Met?
Mack: First, the friendliest. David Wright. I was a nobody schmo when I was allowed
in the spring training clubhouse for the first time. The only people I knew in
there were a couple of guys that once played in Savannah. The Mets PR guy
didn’t even invite me to join the gaggle when he walked them around. Well, the team was departing to go on the
field to play the scrimmage game they used to play the day before the spring
training schedule started and David saw me in the distance, lost as usual. He
walked over and asked me if I had a question for him. I came up with one and he
gave me a long, detailed answer that I still have on tape.
The
unfriendliest? I’d rather not say. He’s still on the team.
That
empties the December mailbag.
Please
email your questions to: macksmets@gmail.com
4 comments:
I go back and forth on the issue of a player's accessibility to the media. You would think that the employer would insist on a certain level of access for the benefit of team publicity, but then I also see various types of celebrities who can't even do something as simple as eat a burger without a slew of interruptions interfering with what should be a normal life.
I'll be honest I would love to see the Mets replace Gsellman, either internally or externally. He hasn't been good in a long time and frankly barring a big turn around I don't see how the Mets tender him a contract next year. Maybe our new pitching coach can fix him as I would love to be wrong. If he can replicate the success from his first year that would be big for the Mets.
Dallas, who would really want to give up much for Gsellman? He was not good the last 3 seasons.
Mack, friendly beats unfriendly every time.
I don't expect a huge comeback from Cespedes, but he will never boar us, will he?
I'm surprised you think that Lugo will be first guy in. The only way I see that happening is if first guy comes in for either the eighth or ninth inning.
And for Familia? I don't trust him in a game where the score is within three runs for at least a month.
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