10/20/10

The Mack Report – 10-20-10:

Morning.

We will continue today adding an additional new feature, called the Mack Draft Report. As you all know, I have been compiling information on the draft classes for three years now and I have developed a lot of contact with various draft dudes (players, fathers, coaches, scouts) throughout the country.


For now, this should be a three time a week feature, but I see it developing into a daily once January rolls around.



The first will be posted today.


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Reports out of the Mets camp is that SP Brad Holt continues to have control problems while pitching in the Arizona Winter League. Yes, his current ERA is 0.00 after two appearances, but he continues to be wild and walking four batters in the 6.- innings be has pitched. Holt’s recent history is countless hours with ex-pitching coach Rick Waits (who is now gone), a bad 2009 season, a bad 2010 season, and now this.

Look, I have nothing against this kid and I wish him well, but frankly, the only reason we keep talking about him is because he was drafted so high. Have you ever seen the Mets community cry in their beer about a late rounder that proves to be a bust. No, it's always the Matt Durkin's of the world.




There has to come a point where his rotation slot is more valuable in the hands of another Mets prospect.



I mean, where do you pitch this guy next season?


Projected for St. Lucie is Matt Harvey, Armondo Rodriquez, Yohan Almonte, James Fuller, Collin McHugh, and Kyle Allen. That’s one too many without Holt.



Okay, let’s look at the projected Binghamton rotation: Robert Carson, Jeurys Famila, Brandon Moore, Mark Cohoon, Eric Beaulac, and Chris Schwinden. Again, one too many without Holt.



On the other hand, it looks like Ryan Fraser is being converted back to a starter and there is currently not one prospect relief pitcher in the system.



I can’t think of a better time to make this conversion.

 

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The Atlanta Braves released outfielder Melky Cabrera last night. There's got to be more to this story. He's only 27-years old, was paid only $3.1mil on a one-year contract, would have been eligible for salary arbitration, and hit .255 with four homers and 42 RBIs and started in 115 games during the regular season.

The strange this is the Braves had until December 2nd to trade the guy... the same guy that hit .280, with 13-HRs for the Yanks in 2009.


http://www.fangraphs.com/  reported that "poor conditioning reportedly set in this season and Cabrera showed little progress in any aspect of the game. He mostly remained static across the board, but his ISO slipped and his defense became reliant upon his arm strength and little else".

Is this what happens to you if you go 0-8 against the Giants in the playoffs?
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  -From the mail bag, Steve Smith wrote:

 
Everyone is talking about 2012 and how that's the next time we'll be competitive, and they're all saying 2011 will just be a write-off year.

Why?

 
I get why 2012 is where its at, tons of $ coming off the books (Beltran, Castillo, Rodriguez, Perez) , great FA class, prospects like Matt Harvey, Wilmer Flores, Reese Havens, Fernando Martinez, Jenrry Mejia, Ruben Tejeda, Jordany Valdespin, and maybe even 2011's 13th overall pick.

But, why not next year? I really think Bay will come back and have a solid year, hitting around 25-30 homeruns. Beltran's offense was looking great until he went down with the knee inflammation, but thats nothing big. Angel Pagan is Angel Pagan, Ike Davis will have a full year under his belt, Luis Castillo wont be the second baseman, Jose Reyes will have a big year, Wright will have a new hitting coach, Josh Thole will be back, and we'll get Niese, Pelfrey, Parnell and Dickey back, along with a hopefully healthy Mejia.

I know, Santana might not be back for awhile, and that’s another reason people are saying we "can’t" compete in 2011, but, the off-season hasnt even started yet and we'll have a new GM and manager next year, and our bench and bullpen should improve, and we could possibly even bring in a solid starting pitcher.
 Steve, you’re starting to sound more like me every day.

The Mets have had enough talent to make the playoffs for each of the last four years; however, circumstances and lack of debt caused them to fail. You’re assuming everything will go as it once had before for all these players. If that was true, the Boston Red Sox would win the WS every year.
 Yes, they have the talent to win in 2011, but what they don’t have is depth, desire, attitude, and direction.

I would rather the press and the fan base take the pressure off new management and give them a push in 2011. Heck, go out to the game, have a Shake Shack or two, and have fun watching the kids play.
 Now, if the Wilpons give the green light and the new GM brings in a player with the caliber of Carl Crawford or Cliff Lee, than, by all means go for it. And, by the way, regarding Santana, don’t be surprised he does pitch on opening day.


How about a 2011 lineup of Reyes, Crawford, Wright, Beltran, Davis, Bay,Thole, Tejada, and Lee-Santana-Pelfry-Dickey-Takahashi?







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