Daily Archives: December 10, 2007
Jonathan Mayo, prospect guru over at MiLB.com, has posted his organization-by-organization report on the Mets farm system.
Overall, Mayo isn’t bullish on the team’s system, noting the dearth of high minor-league talent that has so far left them frustrated in their efforts to acquire a top-line starting pitcher.
Mayo places the team’s prospects in a number of categories based on their 2007 performances, including “climbed the ladder”, “kept their footing”, and “dropped a rung”.
Interestingly, he lists OF Fernando Martinez, the team’s top prospect, in “dropped a rung” category, despite his decent performance as an 18-year old at Double-A Binghamton.
Mayo names RHP Kevin Mulvey, the Mets’ top pick in 2006 who spent nearly the entire year at Binghamton, their organizational pitcher of the year; the team bestowed the same honor upon the Parlin, NJ native in October.
He awarded the organizational position player of the year award to 1B Brett Harper, who at 26 was finally healthy and had a bounce back season with Binghamton.
…mayo paints a bit of a grim picture, and is especially hard on youngsters martinez and Deolis Guerra, who put up a 4.01 ERA as an 18-year old in the FSL… we’ve heard all off-season how weak the Mets system is, though that talk has seemed to have subsided a bit recently…
…as matt cerrone posted yesterday, the mets realize they need to change their draft approach, using their considerable financial muscle to buck mlb’s slot guidelines and sign talent that has fallen due to bonus demands… given their two first rounders, and a first round supplemental this upcoming draft, nows the time to make the change…
…in addition, there has been a large influx of latin talent signed over the last two years… some will make their united states debuts, while some will make it to full season leagues…that could also prove a major boon to the farm system this time next year…
Tagged Minors |
Last week, in the New York Times, Ben Shpigel wrote of the off-season version of Mets SS Jose Reyes, who is working hard to prepare for next season, while spending time with his family in the 
Dominican Republic.
…this is an excellent, excellent article by shpigel, and an absolute must-read…
…i’ll be honest, i have been sent a ton of e-mail, from all sorts of people, telling me, and asking me about, Jose Reyes and whether he spent too much time partying during last season, which people believe could have been a reason for his second-half stumble…as such, during the last month or so, i have talked to a lot of people about this, including a national columnist who spent a lot of time following reyes, and only reyes, around during the second half, and, in my opinion, reyes is just fine…sure, jose may be guilty of wanting to go out, party and dance, but not in such a severe way that it could cripple his performance on the field - and, frankly, that can be said about a lot of major league baseball players…
…when talking about his late-season struggles, far more people cited mechanical issues, such as him dropping his back shoulder when he swings, as well as how he missed Rick Down as hitting coach, who was fired mid-way through the season…also, as has been suggested by a variety of reporters, including SNY’s Ron Darling while talking to MetsBlog last month, reyes’s body may have taken too much of a beating from over 100 head-first slides, causing all sorts of problems for him in the second half…
…yes, i have heard speculation about Luis Castillo having had a negative impact on reyes, all of which seem very, very inaccurate…if jose fell ‘out of line,’ which i don’t believe that he did, it’s not because of the arrival of castillo, it’s because of the departure of Jose Valentin, who acted like a big-brother, or an older uncle, to jose…i.e., castillo is not a problem…
Darryl Strawberry, talking about his own experience in New York, while recently appearing as a guest on WFAN.…
“Young players have to be able to stay focused. I think a lot of times when you’re young and success comes so fast you lose your focus, you lose your identity and what your real purpose is, you know, to perform and play baseball and try not to be this person or that person off the field.”
…from what i can gather, the above quote from darryl is what jose must be going through now…jose came up a few years ago, struggled to stay healthy, had a ton of expectation put on him, and he disappointed…then, he 
got it together, he excelled, made the all-star game, his team won, made the playoffs, he was a cover boy, toast of the town, etc, and he was a star…in short, he was ‘Jose Reyes,’ the super star, the engine for his team’s offense….then, last season, with his ego inflated a bit, and understandably so, and with money in his pocket, he slumped, got down on himself, he was distracted, got pulled from a game for not running out a ground ball, he was embarrassed, his team struggled, fans booed him for the first time, and, like darryl says, jose probably lost sight of who he is, while trying too hard to be the person every one wanted him to be, i.e., ‘where jose goes, the Mets go,’ the all-star, etc…
…like darryl says, and like others have told me, in short, the conclusion i keep reaching is that jose is young, emotional, a bit head-strong, and while he’s a good kid, who wants to be the best player he can be, he needs to keep working, and working hard, learn from his mistakes and, in the end, he just needs to grow up, which is totally fair when talking about a 24–year-old young man…from what i can gather, he sulks a bit when he does bad, and he may let the game get the best of him at times, which is totally expected from a young player, especially one who had relatively quick stardom like jose…the best young players, the ones who go on to great careers, are the ones who rise above this, mature and learn to deal with adversity, fight through it, and keep getting better because of it…it sounds to me like jose had yet to get to that point and have that realization…hopefully, thanks to last season, now he has…
According to the Washington Post, free-agent C Paul Lo Duca and the Nationals have agreed to a one-year deal.
…well, as i am sure you know by now, i don’t like this…i prefer lo duca be on the Mets, though i understand why the team disagrees - and apparently a lot of other teams, as well…
…that being said, damn, it figures he would end up on a team in the NL East, so he can now stick it to the Mets 19 times per season, alonside former-Mets C Jesus Flores, who should never had ended up in DC to begin with…
Tagged Paul Lo Duca |At the Serious Tip, Jordi takes a look back at a collection of 
outfielders who had been traded by the Mets, who went on to prosper with other teams, such as Kevin Mitchell and Lenny Dykstra.
…man, i remember thinking mitchell was the coolest guy in baseball when he nearly hit 50 HR for the Giants in 1989, while wearing that black protective shin-guard above his cleats…i had never seen one of those before…like Rickey Henderson’s neon batting gloves, or Michael Jordan’s sneakers, as a kid, i am sure i believed that the shin guard was the secret to mitchell’s success…
Mets RHP John Maine, LHP Oliver Perez and GM Omar Minaya will be guests during tonight’s edition of the Mets Hot Stove Report on SNY, which will air live at 6:30 pm.
…gee, ya think this is designed to let omar pump up maine and perez to the fans, as he has been doing to reporters over the last few weeks…it’s like, ‘hey, everybody, look, we have two, young, 15–game winners, under contract, right here, sitting right next to me, check it out,’ i.e., if we don’t trade for Johan Santana, it’ll be okay…
…and it’s a fair point…i love maine and opie…but, nobody is going to convince me that this club is not in need of an ace…yes, i believe they can get by without one…but, man, i’d rather they not try it…
Tagged SNY |Dan sent in the following images of Citi Field’s construction site.
…what’s most interesting, as dan points out in his description of the photos at Mets Refugees, is that the infamous subway entrance platform to shea has been knocked down…it’s gone…which is really, really weird, since the image of late-arriving fans, spilling out of the subway, while spiraling down the platform, is very iconic to me…
Yesterday, the Star-Tribune reported that the Twins have had ‘a 
lot of good dialogue lately’ with the Red Sox, regarding LHP Johan Santana.
Of course, a few days ago, at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark wrote that Baltimore’s top two offers for LHP Erik Bedard are from the Red Sox and Blue Jays.
On Saturday, this site, MetsBlog.com, wrote that Santana prefers to be on the Mets, and so dialogue between the two teams continue, with both sides in agreement on what players are able to be included in a trade.
…as i said over the weekend, from what i can tell, if santana doesn’t end up on the Mets, it most likely means that either a) he and the Mets could not agree to the terms of a contract extension, b) the Twins simply chose to keep him for one more opening day, or c) the Twins had no choice but to skip over the Mets to accept a much-better offer that they couldn’t refuse, and santana did not stand in their way, which all is still very possible…
…and that’s the thing, if all offers are close to equal, then i believe the Twins will put santana on the Mets, as he prefers, but that’s assuming they decide to trade him at all…
…if, however, the Red Sox go over board, and offer, say, both Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester, i expect santana to end up on the sox, because the Twins can’t deny that offer and santana will not stand in their way…if the Red Sox continue to say one or the other, though, as they have been doing, then i believe the Mets have a very, very good chance to be santana’s new home…
…for what it’s worth, as of now, the following pitchers are able to become free agents at the end of next season…
- Angels RHP Jon Garland
- Dodgers RHP Brad Penny
- Indians RHP C.C. Sabathia
- Twins LHP Johan Santana
- Brewers RHP Ben Sheets
Also, A’s RHP Dan Haren, Dodgers RHP Brad Penny and Angels RHP John Lackey all have team options that can be exercised, thus keeping them under contract for one more year, or their team can cut them loose and make them free agents.
Lastly, Blue Jays RHP A.J. Burnett can opt out of his current contract, which is set to pay him $12 million during each of the following two seasons.
Free-agent RHP Shawn Chacon is drawing interest as a starting pitcher, despite spending the last few years pitching in relief, reports the Denver Post.
…from what i can gather, chacon is seeking a three-year contract, which leaves me speechless…yet, he’ll probably get it, considering the current demand for pitching…
According to multiple reports, Mets GM Omar Minaya met with the agent’s for Octavio Dotel and Chacon during the Winter Meetings in Nashville last week.
Following two rough seasons with the Yankees, the 29–year-old Chacon struck out 79 batters through 64 appearances, while posting a 3.94 ERA, for the Pirates last season.
…the Tigers, Mets, Astros and Brewers have been linked in rumor to chacon at some point during this off-season…
…for what it’s worth, the buzz regarding Erik Bedard and the 
Mets has cooled significantly since the Winter Meetings…on other hand, it has seemingly increased for other teams…
According to a recent report in the Boston Herald, the Orioles want OF Matt Kemp, RHP Clayton Kershaw and 3B Andy LaRoche from the Dodgers for Bedard.
On the last day of the Winter Meetings, at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark wrote that Baltimore’s top two offers for Bedard are from the Red Sox and Blue Jays.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Reds ‘definitely have the talent’ to acquire Bedard, by offering RHP Homer Bailey, 1B Joey Votto, and another top prospect.
…i.e., Jay Bruce, who was recently listed as the top prospect in baseball by MiLB.com…
Lastly, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, citing ‘club sources,’ the Cardinals could consider trading their top prospect, OF Colby Rasmus, in a deal for Bedard.
…the thing is, there is more and more buzz from baltimore suggesting that the Orioles will first try to take advantage of the demand for bedard by bundling him in a deal with an ‘expensive contract,’ such as 3B Miguel Tejada or 1B-OF Aubrey Huff…
…if the Cardinals truly want to trade Scott Rolen, to me, it seems like a natural fit for them to bring on bedard and tejada, once rolen gets shipped out of town…
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