I May Be Wrong, But… Matt Cerrone, Jeff Wilpon, Matt Garrioch, Oliver Perez, R.A. Dickey, Kai Gronauer, Kirk Nieuwenhuis

1. Some posters may grow older, but never wiser. I paid a visit to one of my old stomping grounds, NYFS, and found a particular post interesting. It was about Matt Cerrone, of www.metsblog.com  and I couldn’t believe how many of the many loyal posters there think Matt doesn’t know what he is doing. I’ve always had trouble with haters online, but knock Matt Cerrone? Isn’t he the guy that gives most of you morning cup of Mets stuff?

2. Jeff Wilpon seems to be getting a little soft on the loss of Omar. He’s been quoted as saying he misses him and would welcome him back in some capacity. Listen, firing someone can bring you a lot of guilt. I fired people who thought they were my friend. One eventually hung himself in his mother’s bedroom. I haven’t held a job in the radio industry for over  ten years and I still have a minimum of three nightmares a week about that subject. Change is sometimes inevitable and people need to move on without each other. Stay away, Omar.

3. Matt Garrioch, over at www.mlbbonusbaby.com , listed the top 20 international kids signed in the off-season and none were Mets. I expected Elvis Sanchez to be on this list, but I guess Matt wasn’t high on him. There easily could have been a drop off in signings this past off-season, what with all the turnover of brass and scouts. Seven of my top ten Mets prospects came out of international signings, which speaks for its strengths, and the weakness of past Mets drafts.

4. the Mets looking for a minority partner means only one thing… they’re out of family moolah. My first minority ownership was with Specter Broadcasting. Why? Because the original owners came close to running the company in the ground. This is really good news for Mets fans and could be the first step in someday being returned to operating as a big-market team. Hats off to the Wilpons for recognizing the problem.

5.Oliver Perez will compete for a job in spring training as a starter, not a relief pitcher He’s coming off the Mexican League fully stretched, and he will go against Dillon Gee, Chris Young, and Pat Misch for the 4th/5th slot. Chris Capuano will begin ST out of the pen, per Terry Collins.

6. Congrats go out on the 2-year deal for SP R.A. Dickey. The best news about this is the fact it isn’t a 3-year deal. Dickey’s earned this, and even if he fails as a starter, would make a nice addition out of the pen. We all know that both Jenrry Mejia and Matt Harvey are slotted for 2014, but that’s a long way away and anything can happen. On paper, there is no better potential SP5 than Dickey.

7.  I see that Captain Kirk and Kai Gronauer have both been invited to be part of the Mets spring training roster. This will be Kai’s first entrance into the sacred clubhouse and I’m thrilled for him. I’ve contacted him for a response, which, if received, will be in my next posting.

8. changing web site is a real pain… I’ve contacted SportsSpyder and hopefully, they will include my new site soon. We continue to work on the new site, which will change to a real domain site sometime in the next 30 days. My name is owned by some other site, so we’re going to change it eventually to MackBaseball.com …  I’m sorry to put all of you through this, but it’s a necessity for me to accomplish my long term goals as a Mets writer.

9. Could the announcement by the Wilpons have worse timing? We’re less than 20 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting and the last thing Sandy Alderson and Company needs is this kind of media distraction. It must be really bad to throw a press conference about this now. I’m sure the players and coaches will all be a little testy if questions come their way about this crap.

Q and A: – Daniel Murphy

  

pic by Mack Ade

 

Tim Kinnie posted on your Wall.   

Tim wrote:

“Mack, I’m a big fan of Dan Murphy and I think he brings a certain grittyness to the team along with being a clutch hitter. Do you feel he has a real shot at winning the second base job or is he destined to be our super utility guy and outstanding pinch hitter? If not Murph, who is your frontrunner?”

 Mack:

Tim, I really do (btw… never call him Dan… he goes by Daniel).

The important thing to remember is the fact that he has  already won two starting jobs in the past, right field in 2009, and first base in 2010. That’s how much the Mets loved his bat.

The “wild card” here is the fact that all the powers to be now are new people. Is there anyone currently on the brass-team that would consider doing something as stupid as making a player play left field, as a major leaguer, without any previous experience?

Sandy and Co.seems a lot more grounded than Omar and Co. This probably means that Murphy needs to have a killer ST defensively at second base, while, at the same time, show off his bat.

The “kiss of death” might have been recent comments by Terry Collins about playing Murph at both first base and third this spring. It looks like the new manager has already pigeon-holed Daniel into a future utility role.

I only hope they don’t muddle up everything by giving valuable game time to Luis Castillo. I’ve always been a big fan of Castillo, but it’s time to cut fish and move on to the future.

The real good news is second base is looking better. Reports are that Reese Havens is healthy again, and his ceiling is far higher than Murphy. Both have Dan Uggla-type production potential, which has been missing since Fonzie went south.

  

 

Q&A: “Vito Spatafore” (Joseph R. Gannascoli)

Mack: Morning girls and boys… We’re talking baseball this morning with Joseph R. Gannascoli… but you may know him better as “Vito Spatafore” from The Sopranos. Come stai, Joseph?

Gannascoli: I’m great Mack, getting ready for Christmas looking forward to my daughter’s second one.

Mack: Joe, I’m constantly interviewing Mets players and fans, so I thought I’d hop the ‘A” train and get a Yankees fan’s perspective on what’s going on in the Mets front office. Do you think the Mets are finally going in the right direction?

Gannascoli: I do, they have hired some sound and respected baseball people, they have a bit of a mess to clean up, and some on the lazy play that’s some Mets have been playing, Reyes can control a game which is rare for baseball, like Ricky Henderson used to do, but only when he wanted to .

Mack: Speaking of shortstops… do you really think Derek Jeter is worth the kind of money his agent is asking for, or shouldn’t the Yankees use that money to get Cliff Lee?

Gannascoli: He is not worth it and they should use it for Cliff Lee. I think 3 yrs 48 – 50 million is more than fair and he should not carry on in the papers.

Mack: There’s a big debate going on here between myself and my fellow Mack’s Met writer, David Rubin, and that is whether signing all these big time free agents are they way to go. I mean, the Yankees have spent around a billion dollars over the last ten years on big dudes and what has that got them, one World Series?

Gannascoli: But, they are always in the hunt, and the fans know they are committed to trying to win, they built a brand that is worldwide, I don’t know if they make money, I’m assuming they do even with all the spending, but the sales of merchandising, TV network and such, seems to be a successful business model, although I hate seeing empty seats behind the plate. Hal and Hank may be a little more frugal than George, but still committed to putting the best players on the field possible, I also believe they developed blue chippers in the farm so they can trade and get a player so they can win now, unless it’s a 5 tool can’t miss or someone that is aging and that player has a shot to step in, i.e. Montero and Romine .

Mack: Oh, they make a ton of money… let’s move on to something dear to both of us… It sure has been a strange year for our Jints this year, hasn’t it? .

Gannascoli: Well, typical giants, I am the eternal optimist, especially with my teams and G-men. Fewell was the biggest addition, healthy Canty,Tuck, Cofied, Osi, Phillips, Rolle and Grant have been great. We had 3 great receivers, bummed about kiwi, jpp is a monster, dodge will be ok, running backs love each other and are pulling for one another they will do fine, Eli is clutch, always said Peyton better Eli will win more rings, we can beat Philly .

Mack: Joe, tell us what you’ve been doing lately in the entertainment world…

Gannascoli: Some indies and plenty of my book and cigars signings at restaurants and lounges .

Mack: Last question Joe… Not much chance for a sequel, now that you (Vito), Phil Leotardo, Gerry Torelano, and “Fat Don” Gamiello have been wacked… buy let’s say Vito, Paulie, and Tony were the three new Mets VPs… how would they handle this off-season? .

Gannascoli: Not to mention Christopher, Bacala and Silvio. Well, first off, Paulie would have them stealing all the time and not just bases, but their gloves, bats, cleats.Tony sure could stare down a lot of opposing pitchers and me, well I would just say if you guys don’t perform , you’re going to have to meet by the bat or else … .

Mack: Thank you, Joe, for your time and we’ll see you in the movies.

Gannascoli: This was fun.