November 9, 2007 at 5:10 pm
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95 comments
by D.J. Short
Braves 3B Chipper Jones on David Wright winning the Gold Glove award, as quoted by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution…
“When I found out (Wright won) I was speechless, for quite some time. Certainly the guys with the le
ast amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn’t win it…”
“I wouldn’t have been disappointed had someone like Feliz or Ramirez won it. I’m a little confused by the final tally — that’s a head-scratcher for me.”
…oh larry, there you go with all your logic and facts…at the same time, jones has been around long enough to know what this award is based on…so stuff it…geez, talk about sour grapes…if anything, wright’s buddy Ryan Zimmerman has a case…
November 9, 2007 at 4:47 pm
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26 comments
by Regis Courtemanche
According to MLB.com, David Wright and Carlos Beltran have won Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards.
The award winners are chosen by Major League coaches and managers, who voted for the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position.
Wright and Beltran each won Rawlings Gold Glove Awards recently as well.
November 9, 2007 at 4:05 pm
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12 comments
by Jordan Zakarin
Jonathan Mayo, prospect guru, has a new video up on the main features section of the front page of MinorLeagueBaseball.com featuring interviews with Mike Carp and Eddie Kunz, two of the six Mets playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.
Speaking about this past season, Carp says:
I learned a lot this year; this year was a bit of an up and year for me and stuff, so I learned how to deal with those struggles and what I need to do to help prepare myself for next year and keep myself on top of my game.
Carp is hitting .230 in the AFL thus far. He hit .251 with 11 homers and 48 RBI in an injury shortened season for Double A Binghamton this year. He was left off Baseball America’s top 10 Mets prospects, a list that was released today, after being included last year.
In seven games, and eight innings, Kunz has a 12.46 ERA for the Scorpions, allowing 12 hits and 14 runs. He was the Mets’ supplemental first round pick out of Oregon State in this past June’s draft.
A few nights ago, lefty Adam Bostick, whom the Mets acquired from the Marlins last off-season, threw five shutout innings for Scottsdale. He has a 1.42 ERA in Arizona this fall.
As for the Mets playing in Hawaii Winter Baseball, 1B/OF Lucas Duda and 2B Hector Pellot both went deep for Waikiki. Duda, a 7th round pick out of USC, is hitting .324 with four doubles and two homers in 34 Hawaii at bats, after hitting .299 with 20 doubles and four homers for Brooklyn, a show of the raw power he had trouble displaying in college. Pellot is hitting .286 in Hawaii after hitting .275 between low A Savannah and a brief stint in A+ St. Lucie.
Yesterday, Mark Hale of The Post reported the Mets, in an effort to bolster their starting pitching, are looking to the far east for help.
According to Hale, the Mets have their eye on Japanese RHP Hiroki Kuroda, who is 32-year old ace pitching for the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese League.
Today, David Lennon of Newsday reports the Mets have been scouting Kuroda, who is playing in the Asia Series in Japan.
…buzz around the league suggests the Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Royals and Mariners interested in obtaining kuroda…
Recently at Prospect Insider, Jason A. Churchill offered up a very detailed and complete scouting report on the Japanese right hander, writing…
“Kuroda is the class of the three free agents and will get the most interest but he profiles as a No. 3 at best…He’s slow to the plate but has a relatively compact and clean delivery that gives his fastball some late life…Considering the domestic market, Kuroda, even at 33 years old, could command a contract in the $9-11 million range, for at least three years.”
November 9, 2007 at 1:15 pm
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54 comments
by Matthew Cerrone
…over the next few days, i will be running a series of polls that aim to gauge the collective conscience of this site’s readers with regards to how best to approach this off-season…i will run a new poll every hour or so, so please check back often…
…this is the seventh poll…scroll down for previous polls…
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November 9, 2007 at 1:03 pm
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10 comments
by D.J. Short
Ken Davidoff of Newsday quotes an official from a National League club who believes the Brewers could seriously contemplate trading RHP Ben Sheets.
The Mets have reportedly asked about Sheets before, but were told he was not available.
Sheets was 12-5 with a 3.82 ERA in 24 starts last season. It was the third consecutive season he failed to make 25 starts.
Davidoff notes that the Brewers have depth in their starting rotation and Sheets has one year left on his contract valued at $11 million, with a limited no-trade clause.
…sheets has suffered a series of bizarre injuries and ailments since signing a team record contract with the brewers, so there is reason to proceed with caution here, however, this is just the type of name who may pay off big if he is truly available…the question is, why would the brewers do this…they will certainly compete next season, and if healthy, sheets is a bona fide ace…his contract will be off the books after next season so the brewers can sign some of their younger players to long term deals should sheets walk…my gut tells me they would have to be bowled over to move him, but they will ‘kick the tires’ on a discussion, as they should…
November 9, 2007 at 12:58 pm
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10 comments
by Mike Nichols
Mark Feinsand of the Daily News reports the Yankees and free agent C Jorge Posada are not making any progress in their contract talks.
According to Feinsand, the Yankees offered the 36-year old catcher a three-year contract, but Posada is seeking a four-year deal worth $52 million.
Over at SI.com, Jon Heyman reports Yankees GM Brian Cashman is expected to increase the team’s current offer in hopes to sign Posada before he hits the open market on November 13.
Earlier this week Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com noted the free agent catcher could expect a ‘monster offer’ from the Mets once the signing period opens.
…the buzz around baseball continues to suggest posada, like Mariano Rivera, will eventually re-sign with the Yankees, and as cerrone has mentioned, while using the Mets as leverage…
November 9, 2007 at 12:10 pm
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52 comments
by Jordan Zakarin
Continuing their rundown of every Major League farm system, Baseball America released its rankings and scouting reports of the Mets’ top 10 prospects.
John Manuel, writing for BA, ranked them in this order:
1. Fernando Martinez, OF
2. Deolis Guerra, RHP
3. Carlos Gomez, OF
4. Kevin Mulvey, RHP
5. Eddie Kunz, RHP
6. Brant Rustich, RHP
7. Philip Humber, RHP
8. Jon Niese, LHP
9. Nathan Vineyard, LHP
10. Robert Parnell, RHP
Regarding the farm system as a whole, Manuel writes:
Scouts from other organizations say the Mets have little immediate help on the way in the farm system. The jury is still out on how much Pelfrey and Humber will contribute, and there’s not much in the way of upper-level position players behind outfielders Lastings Milledge and Carlos Gomez.
The lack of talent reflects New York’s decision not to wield its large-market resources to acquire talent the last two years, particularly in the draft. The Mets have surrendered their first-round choice as free-agent compensation in each of the past two drafts, and haven’t tried to compensate by exceeding MLB’s bonus guidelines with other picks. Minaya said that could change in the near future.
Manuel will be chatting on BaseballAmerica.com to discuss the rankings at 1 pm.
…a thin list indeed, it doesn’t include Mike Pelfrey or Lastings Milledge, as they have exceeded rookie innings pitched and at bat limits, respectively… even so, after Martinez and Guerra, there is little high-end talent here to speak of… interestingly enough, no Mike Carp, who struggled with injuries this year…
…Manuel does mention the Mets’ large caribbean signing class this summer, which will perhaps soon inject some high ceiling talent into the system, but a change in draft strategy is seemingly crucial…
…i’ll be back later in the day with my own writeups of some of the top 10, as well as a bit of a recap of Manuel’s chat, which starts in a little less than an hour…
November 9, 2007 at 11:15 am
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28 comments
by Matthew Cerrone
…over the next few days, i will be running a series of polls that aim to gauge the collective conscience of this site’s readers with regards to how best to approach this off-season…i will run a new poll every hour or so, so please check back often…
…this is the sixth poll…scroll down for previous polls…
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November 9, 2007 at 10:40 am
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18 comments
by Mike Nichols
Mark Hale of The Post reports the Mets will look to replace Rickey Henderson as the team’s first base coach by promoting from within.
In Adam Rubin’s report for the Daily News, Mets GM Omar Minaya is hopeful Henderson will return to the team as a part-time instructor during spring training.
…the buzz from shea continues to suggests the Mets will to promote their aaa manager Ken Oberkfell to the team’s major league coaching staff…
November 9, 2007 at 10:26 am
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8 comments
by Mike Nichols
Juan Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel reports the Marlins top catching target is free agent C Yorvit Torreabla.
According to Rodriguez, the Marlins want to improve their defense behind the plate and will look to trade their current C Miguel Olivo.
Yesterday, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd wants to know before Tuesday if any of their team’s free agents, Torrealba, will accept their contract offers.
It’s been reported the Rockies offered Torrealba a two-year deal worth around $2 million per season.
In 113 games for the Rockies this past season, Torrealba hit .255 with eight home runs and 47 RBI, while striking out 73 times in 396 at-bats.
According to Rodriguez, the Mets, Brewers and Blue Jays all have interest in signing 29-year old catcher.
…the other day, cerrone wrote that he feels the Mets are not nearly as interested as most reports have suggested and will either bring back Paul Lo duca, or trade for a guy like Ramon Hernandez…
November 9, 2007 at 10:17 am
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80 comments
by Mike Nichols
At his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney notes other baseball executives fully expect the Mets will make a push to sign RHP Livan Hernandez.
Hernandez was 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA in 204.1 innings pitched for the Diamondbacks last season.
