M's Homestand vs. Rangers and Angels

[Bulltalk]

This is a character building homestand. If we can go 4-2 and get to a 23-26 record I will consider it a major victory for this team. I think it's possible, but we'll have to wait and see.

I heard a very interesting interview with "Mitch In The Morning" this week with Steve Phillips. Phillips said that Montero is a big negative for Felix as a catcher. And possibly for any of the young-ins we call up this year amongst out minor league studs. He says that Montero is already severely limiting of what a quality pitcher can throw because he can't block the plate at all well.

Point being...Montero is our future 1st baseman. I'm convinced of that. He's too young to be a DH, and we will need to add a good hitting vet in the off-season at the DH. Smoak is history for us, I believe, no matter how well he hits for us. As a matter of fact, I hope he hits well for us in the coming months. We could use him as trade bait. We have to end this log-jam at the DH/1st base position. It's that simple.

Anyway...

[TTown]

makes some of those 'should we really go after fielder with smoak already at first base?" talk radio callers even more funny.

[Bulltalk]

Basically speaking, our team is shaping up in the future like this...

RF (?)
CF (Possibly Ackley...Guti and Saunders for the time being)
LF (?...Carp for now...possibly Ackley or someone else)
3rd (?...Liddi or someone down on the farm or FA)
SS (Franklin)
2nd (Seager)
1B (Montero)
C (Meet our 1st round draft pick...Mike Zunino)
DH (?)

Basically speaking...we have a LOT of work to do on our everyday lineup. It will look completely different than now at the start of the 2014 season.

As for our pitching...very confident with what we've got down on the farm, and if we can hang onto Felix, and Noesi continues to develop...we're fine. Maybe a whole lot better than fine. The bullpen will work itself out eventually. Not a primary concern when our everyday lineup has been so anemic in recent years.

[Sweezo]

Well, on this point I think we'll disagree. Montero's 22 years old and playing a position where most don't hit their stride until their late 20's. I think it's far too early to give up on him at catcher and try him at first base. His defense needs work but that comes with time and experience. I'm willing to give Montero plenty of time as a catcher before wondering if we need to move him around.

The M's should only draft a catcher highly if they think the catcher is worth it and can hit above average at the position. The last two times we reached on a catcher early in the draft it's lead to absolutely nothing.

I heard a very interesting interview with "Mitch In The Morning" this week with Steve Phillips. Phillips said that Montero is a big negative for Felix as a catcher. And possibly for any of the young-ins we call up this year amongst out minor league studs. He says that Montero is already severely limiting of what a quality pitcher can throw because he can't block the plate at all well.

What is Steve Phillips basing that opinion on? Felix has suffered through two of the worst defensive catchers in baseball in Rob Johnson and Miguel Olivo, and he's come out relatively unscatched. Olivo lead the league in passed balls in '09 and '10, then came in 4th place last year, and is in 2nd place so far this season. Sure, he can throw out a baserunner from time to time, but his ability to frame a pitch is fairly lousy in its own right.

Steve Phillips is a clown, and I don't know why Mitch still has him on all the time. I remember Phillips trashing the M's a couple years ago for trading Putz and not doing more to re-sign Ibanez. Two years ago, Phillips went on a radio station in Washington and said if he were the GM of the Nationals, he'd trade Stasburg for Roy Oswalt. Which is to say nothing about Phillips' reign as the GM of the Mets, during which time he placed his faith in old, washed-up vets. It's why he brought in guys like Mo Vaughn, Bobby Bonilla, and Kenny Rogers to the Mets when they were well past their prime.

There's a reason Phillips is no longer paid by an MLB team to evaluate talent. And a reason ESPN no longer pays him to do the same thing for them either [besides the sex scandal thing]. If Bill Bavasi went on the radio and was critical of something the M's were currently doing, I'd dismiss his opinion immediately...and Phillips was a far worse GM than Bavasi ever was.

[Sweezo]

LF (?...Carp for now...possibly Ackley or someone else)

It might make more sense to me to stick Carp at DH and bring in an OF who's less of a defensive liability. Josh Hamilton will likely be far too pricey to consider, but players like Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan, Shane Victorino, Michael Bourn, Curtis Granderson, and Andre Ethier are all intriguing possibilities [to me].

[Bulltalk]

^^^Steve Phillips...yeah there's that. But he heard that Felix already doesn't want him catching for him because he can't throw his off speed stuff out of the strike zone to him. It's no secret amongst scouts that Montero is a HORRIBLE catching prospect. The agreement on this is almost uniform.

But besides that, we acquired Montero as a HITTER. Period, The catching position takes away from him being a hitter, and you're out of the lineup every 5th-6th day. We want Montero to do what he does best, and that's hit the ball, not suffer as a hitter trying to be a sub-mediocre catcher at best. That makes absolutely no sense.

And we don't want such a young hitting talent being our DH. That is exceedingly counterproductive when DH is one of the only positions where we can acquire a more aging, yet productive hitting vet to fill such a position.

Montero our 1st baseman of the future. Book it.

Last year I wanted Rendon for obvious reasons in the draft. This year I want Zunino. There is about a 50/50 chance he'll be available to us at the 3rd spot in the draft, and he is considered one of the fastest tracks to the ML's of ALL draft prospects. Not only do I want him there, but I also have a hunch the M's covet him there.

[Bulltalk]

Hey Sweezo, we sometimes have our disagreements, but it's all good.

[Slats]

Olivo is a horrible catcher IMO. Worst catcher in the majors at blocking!

I've been impressed with Montero behind the plate so far. He's been a lot better than I anticpated.

Cannot wait for King Felix vs Darvish - that's going to be a great matchup.

[Bulltalk]

With very few exceptions (Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench...), the catching position is one where you favor defense and working your pitchers over offense. We acquired Montero because he was considered one of the very best hitting prospects in all baseball. The only reason why the Yanks considered him trade material is because they knew he wasn't much at all of a catching prospect, and they had big money tied into the other positions he might play.

We have perhaps one of the top 3 pitchers in the game in Felix, and 3 of the best pitching prospects in the minor leagues. We want a real catcher to catch these guys, not a strong hitter who will be at best a sub-mediocre catcher.

We got this guy to hit for us. Above all else.

Time will tell, but I think time will prove me right. Could be wrong. We'll have to wait and see. But if they draft Zunino, the handwriting is on the wall.

[Sweezo]

But he heard that Felix already doesn't want him catching for him because he can't throw his off speed stuff out of the strike zone to him. It's no secret amongst scouts that Montero is a HORRIBLE catching prospect. The agreement on this is almost uniform.

Taking Steve Phillips out of the equation, this interests me. I know there's data out there showing exactly where each pitch landed in/around the zone for any pitcher on any given night, but I don't know that it's readily available to the public. Hopefully this will come up on LL or Fangraphs at some point since they do series like this from time to time. If Felix throws less pitches out of the zone than he does with other catchers [albeit it in a small skillset] then that's interesting at least.

But besides that, we acquired Montero as a HITTER. Period, The catching position takes away from him being a hitter, and you're out of the lineup every 5th-6th day. We want Montero to do what he does best, and that's hit the ball, not suffer as a hitter trying to be a sub-mediocre catcher at best. That makes absolutely no sense.

I think it all depends where you put his ceiling defensively. If he can be an average defensive catcher...then has potential to be one of the best catchers of all time. Flat out. Mike Piazza was easily the best hitting catcher of all-time and his defense was not great either.

A fair amount of offensive catchers [Carlos Santana, Victor Martinez to name a few] have transitioned or started to transition to 1B so it's not a crazy idea. Still, Montero looks like he'd a bit of a slug at any position that would require movement. I really wouldn't look forward to watching him learn to field a position [i.e 1B] without any prior experience...especially at the major league level.

And we don't want such a young hitting talent being our DH. That is exceedingly counterproductive when DH is one of the only positions where we can acquire a more aging, yet productive hitting vet to fill such a position.

I don't see many of those aging DH types currently slotted to hit the market next season that would really make it worthwhile. A guy like Catricala has no obvious position defensively and I could see him make a push for a DH slot [assuming his numbers at Tacoma rebound] next season.

Again, I think there are better ways to spend our money than on a DH. Going after an OF could be an upgrade defensively and offensive over a guy like Carp. The M's could have a need for a leadoff hitter...a guy like Michael Bourn would look pretty sweet at the top of our lineup. And if Ichiro isn't in the plans...grab two guys!

Last year I wanted Rendon for obvious reasons in the draft. This year I want Zunino. There is about a 50/50 chance he'll be available to us at the 3rd spot in the draft, and he is considered one of the fastest tracks to the ML's of ALL draft prospects. Not only do I want him there, but I also have a hunch the M's covet him there.

Who knows? The M's do a very good job of hiding their tracks when it comes to draft interest. Plus, when it comes to MLB draft prospects...I am going entirely off the opinion of others when it comes to how good a player is or isn't.

NFL draft? Give me three seconds and I can pull him a highlight package of a guy like Bruce Irvin and get a feel for why the Seahawks drafted him. And I can go into an NFL draft with a handful of names in my head of players I am familiar with just from watching tons of college football. Does that make me a trained evaluator? No, but at least I feel comfortable forming an opinion.

Baseball's completely different. I don't watch college baseball, nor high school baseball. I've heard good things about Zunino...an MLB article recently compared him to Matt Weiters. Certainly, if Montero is pushed to a different position because we have a player at THAT level available I have no issue with that.

But if we're debating whether to start Montero at catcher over some middling veteran like we've had the last couple years, I say stick with Montero.

[Slats]

I'm hoping Byron Buxton falls to us at number 3.

[TTown]

i say we just go balls out and offer josh hamilton the most ridiculous contract in sports history.

</desperation>

[Sweezo]

Well, well, well...look at Ichiro driving in runs left and right tonight. Runs!

i say we just go balls out and offer josh hamilton the most ridiculous contract in sports history.

</desperation>

Hamilton scares the crap out of me. A more talented hitter may not exist in all of baseball right now, but he's 31 years old. He's only had one season out of the six he's played where he logged more than 600 at bats. I don't know what kind of money it would take to pry him away from the Rangers, but I would be scared to pay it.

[Bulltalk]

I'm hoping Byron Buxton falls to us at number 3.

He's a talent, alright, but a HSer, won't be a factor for us for at least 3-4 years. Zunino has already played 3 years of college ball, and is tracked as being a MLer for the 2014 season.

Of course, this is all pure speculation by the gurus of such things.

[TTown]

6-0, bot 7. slow down, fellas!

draft wise, mike zunino certainly makes a lot of sense. position of need (i know, dangerous thing to live by in baseball draftspeak), college-tested, ect. ect. but hot damn, taking a catcher so high sure scares me.

honestly, there seems to be a 'consensus' of the top three (zunino, buxton, appell) and i'd be happy with any. i know some would shy away from taking another pitcher, but if buxton/zunino do go 1-2 we sure as heck do a lot worse than appell. kid is crazy talented. i've watched him a lot this year.

[TTown]

1-0 m's, bot 2. made harrison throw 35 pitches in the first and sent 8 men to the plate, but we could only get the one run. smoak with an rbi single. wells left 'em juiced.

[BayAreaMadSkill]

Alex Liddi is the man!

[TTown]

one of my favorite things in baseball is when a team chooses to pitch around a player (in this case, ackley) in order to get to someone they think is the easier out (liddi)... and that player makes them pay.

according to the ap, this was the first grand slam by an italian born player in over a half century. tell your friends!

the hell has gotten into millwood lately? that's the vet presence i was hoping to see!

[TTown]

oh, and we just took 2 of 3 from texas. wooo!

[Bulltalk]

I'm hoping this to be the weekend of Jesus Montero. Lots of hits and RBI's are going to eventually start happening for this guy. He can flat out hit, and is so fast through the strike zone.

I pray for 3 out of 4 from the Angels. I think we could do it because of the pitching match-ups which favor us. We just need to hit. That's why I mention Montero.