Earlier this week at the B.A.T. dinner in New York City, Tim Teufel told reporters he will be the team’s infielder instructor this spring.

In regards to how he plans to help Daniel Murphy, and whether Murphy can ‘handle the position,’ Teufel said:

Murphy ended his last two seasons with medial collateral ligament injuries, which he suffered while playing second base.

---

Brian Erni: I couldn’t agree more with what Teufel is saying about Murphy’s timing. A big component to avoiding or softening contact with a runner headed into second base comes from when you arrive at the bag and how you use it as protection. The earlier you get there isn’t necessarily better. Based on the feed from your shortstop, an effective way to work your feet around the bag is to receive the ball and push back or across the base to take yourself out of the runner’s sliding lane in one fluid motion. Sometimes, based on defensive positioning or because of a slow hit ball, a second baseman will arrive early and be waiting at the bag for the ball. Not only does that open up a larger injury risk, it limits the second baseman’s ability to get enough on his pivot throw to first base.

Murphy’s 2011 injury didn’t come as a failure to execute a double play, but his 2010 injury did. Learning to protect that leg by limiting the opportunities that runners have to slide into him will make or break whether Daniel can play the position full-time at the Major League level.

---

Jon Scippa: Murphy actually ended up with a slightly higher zone rating than Ruben Tejada at second base last season, albeit in nearly 300 fewer innings.  Murphy is more naturally suited to play a corner infield position as he came up as a third baseman and has more innings at first in the majors than any other position.  If given 150+ games at second, he’s likely to produce below league average defense. However, his offense probably makes up for whatever negative value his glove will give the Mets at second (at least when comparing him to the team’s other options). Whether his bat makes up for his defense compared to league average is a different story…

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Mets have signed 3B Matt Tuiasosopo to minor league contract.

Tuiasosopo, a former top prospect, had spent his entire career in the Mariners organization before he was released last September.

At that time, Mariners manager Eric Wedge told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times:

“I saw some things I liked [in Spring Training], but it just wasn’t consistent. He needed to go down and work on it and focus on it. For whatever reason, it didn’t play out for him. I would expect that another team will give Tuiasosopo a chance, because his raw tools are so impressive.”

Tuiasosopo, 25, hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since 2010. In 71 games between 2008-2010, he hit .176 with a .234 OBP, 5 HR and 15 RBI in 193 at-bats. In eight minor league seasons, Tuiasosopo has hit .263 with a .359 OBP, 67 home runs and 381 RBI.

In a special report for ESPN.com, Mets beat writer Adam Rubin presents Part 1 in a two-part series looking in to the current state of the team’s finances.

Based on his research, Rubin concludes, “It is indisputable the Mets have major financial issues.” He asks, “Can the Wilpons hold on?”

In the report, Dr. Joel Maxcy, an associate professor and member of Temple University’s Sport Industry Research Center, tells Rubin:

As such, according to Rubin, Major League Baseball has retained a law firm specializing in bankruptcies as an adviser regarding the Mets, “suggesting at least some uncertainty.”

---

Matthew Cerrone (Updated: 10:54 am): This is a long, detailed report, much of which you probably know if you’ve followed this team closely over the last year or so. However, in it, Rubin packages everything up in to what is basically a reference guide and it’s interesting to see it all in one place.

Based on Rubin’s reporting, clearly the team has issues. What does that mean specifically? I have no idea. How does it directly impact their chances of winning? I’m not 100 percent sure, because I don’t own a crystal ball. My feeling has always been that when I see a singular connection between what’s happening off field and the on-field product, I will likely react negatively. Rubin makes a good case for this connection, but I also still see ways to explain away on-field problems based on poor baseball-related decisions (like signing Jason Bay, or Johan Santana‘s surgeries), i.e., stuff that has nothing to do with Ponzi schemes, debt or the law. I think the March 19 trial will add some insight about the future. And, I think how the team handles David Wright over the next 10 months will be VERY telling about the reality of how off-field is impacting on-field.

The way I see it, in regards to their relationship with fans, the Wright Situation will be Ownership’s Waterloo. Personally, (as a loyal customer of their product) I have been trusting what I hear and giving them the benefit of the doubt (since they are owners of a private business that I have no control over). However, if Wright is having a strong first half or has a strong season and it’s clear he wants to stay here and they trade him… and it’s obvious it is because they can’t afford him… people are going to freak out, myself included.

---

To read all of Rubin’s report, which also features opinion and speculation about the team’s finances from other attorneys and financial experts, click here.

To read Part 2 of Rubin’s series, Wilpons must clear many hurdles to retain control, keep an eye on ESPN.com throughout the day.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com lists Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, and Jeurys Familia among his top 100 prospects in baseball.

Mayo lists Wheeler as the 28th best prospect, Harvey as the 38th best prospect, and Familia as the 90th best prospect.

Mets vice president of scouting and player development Paul DePodesta told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com he is impressed with Harvey’s maturity and focus, saying:

“[Harvey] has really impressed me just with how mature he is. How dedicated and how focused he is on the task at hand, how willing he is to work on things, when he knows that they’re not going to benefit him immediately, but they may benefit him down the line.”

In addition, DePodesta spoke about Familia, and was also impressed with his focus, saying:

“Familia has impressed me on a lot of different fronts. For such a young guy, I’m impressed with his mental discipline and mental focus in addition to the stuff.”

---

Michael Baron: I talked with people close to Harvey last year, and they also seemed extremely impressed with his concentration and ability to focus for such a young pitcher. I saw Harvey pitch with St. Lucie and while his stuff was electric, he was dominating mostly with a hard fastball and not much else. He struggled after jumping to Double-A primarily because his secondary pitches were still raw. However, he clearly began to harness that stuff towards the end of his season with Binghamton, and the results were indicative of such growth.

I do not expect Harvey to make the team out of camp, despite being invited to Major League Spring Training this year. I expect Harvey to start his year in Double-A or Triple-A, which is where he belongs to start the season. However, if he gets off to a great start and is able to sustain that success into mid-season, I expect him to at least get a cup of coffee with the Mets during the year.

Regarding Wheeler, I asked him last year about some of the adjustments he made to regain his control, and he said the Giants tried to slow his mechanics down and as a result, he struggled with his command and with the movement of his pitches. After reverting back to the mechanics he used in high school, he was able to rediscover some of the electricity and, most importantly, his command. I expect Wheeler will begin the season with Double-A Binghamton but hopefully he is able to maintain those mechanics and command this winter and continue his strong progression through the system.

---

Toby Hyde: Does 96 strikeouts in 87.2 innings and a 3.49 ERA at age 21 in AA work for you? How about mid-upper 90s heat? Familia is one of the Mets big four pitching prospects, and I expect him to make his MLB debut sometime this year. Mayo’s comment on Familia was plenty interesting, writing “Famillia’s pure stuff will be good enough to pitch near the top of a rotation. How he harnesses that stuff will determine his ultimate ceiling.” Considering his age, performance at Double-A and mid-90s fastball, I think Familia gets underrated a little. It’s all nitpicking I suppose, but so it goes.

---

Harvey went 13-5 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 starts between Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton last year, striking out 156 batters in 135 2/3 innings. He went 5-0 with a 2.68 ERA in his final seven starts for Binghamton last year.

Wheeler went 9-7 with a 3.52 ERA in 22 starts for Single-A San Jose and Single-A St. Lucie last year, striking out 129 batters in 115 innings. He went 7-5 with a 3.99 ERA with 47 walks allowed in 88 innings with San Jose, but went 2-2 with a 2.00 ERA with just five walks allowed in 27 innings with St. Lucie.

Familia went 5-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 23 starts for Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton last year, striking out 132 batters in 124 innings. He went 4-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 17 starts with Binghamton, allowing 35 walks while striking out 96 batters in 87 2/3 innings.

---

To read Michael Baron’s Q&A with Wheeler from last summer, click here.

---

For complete coverage of the Mets minor leagues, be sure to check out SNY’s Mets Minor League Blog.

Click here to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes: Subscribe

← Older posts

• Search

  Search for:

• MetsBlog Fan Confidence Rating

  

• Archives

  Select Month January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003

Avatars by Sterling Adventures