Daily Archives: January 25, 2008
In a Q&A at Baseball America, editor Jim Callis ranked each team’s top prospect relative to the rest of the 
league.
According to Callis, the Mets top prospect, OF Fernando Martinez, checks in as the 15th best prospect compared to other team’s top prospects.
…well, he is a teenage hitting machine…what did you expect…
…thanks to Chris B for the link…
…Update…4:35 pm…
…i initially thought this list was the 30 best overall prospects…instead, it takes each team’s top prospect and ranks them accordingly, which is why there are 30 prospects for 30 teams…sorry for the confusion…
…and thanks to Renan for the heads up…
By the way, you can purchase Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook by clicking here.
Tagged Minors |Derek B sent in an e-mail asking…
“I hear Xavier Nady is on the block. Do you think the Mets could trade Ryan Church for Johan Santana, and get Nady back in right field?”
In 125 games for the Pirates last season, Nady hit .278 with 20 HR and 72 RBI.
…nady would be a nice fit for the Mets again, since he could also back up Carlos Delgado at first base…the thing is, during the Winter Meetings, i recall hearing that nady could cost the Mets a pitcher like Phil Humber, but that always seemed a bit steep to me…so, in reality, i’m thinking the Mets would need to part with a pitcher like Brant Rustich, or someone along those lines instead…of course, the Padres are rumored to have interest in nady as well, and i have to assume the M’s will be in the mix should they trade Adam Jones to the O’s for Erik Bedard…
…actually, there has been a bit of buzz in seattle that links the M’s to the Pirates in regards to OF Jason Bay, who would seemingly be of interest to the Mets and Padres as well…the thing is, i believe bay could certainly cost the Mets a package like Carlos Gomez and a couple of minor-league pitchers…
Last week, the Star-Tribune wrote that the Twins would not 
discuss long-term deals with Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer until the Johan Santana situation was settled.
However, according to a report in the Star-Tribune today, the Twins will announce that they have signed Morneau and Cuddyer to long-term deals at a press conference in Minnesota this afternoon.
Marty Noble of MLB.com talked with Ron Darling about a recent stint in Port Saint Lucie where he spent several weeks going through an offseason conditioning program to better understand what today’s pitchers go through.
Darling on why he committed to doing the program:
“I realized how little I knew about what pitchers do these days. We all had been tracking the progress Pedro [Martinez] was making last summer, but I knew I really wasn’t sure what he was doing. So I decided, ‘If I’m going to talk about it, I need to learn as much as I could.’”
…in my opinion, darling’s already one of the more insightful in-game analysts…his passion, knowledge, sincerity, and actions show his desire to continue to improve – which makes him all the more endearing…
…i doubt there are too many other analysts who would even consider that they might be losing touch with today’s athletes, let alone put forth an effort such as this to keep that from happening…
Tagged Ron Darling |In a post to his blog for ESPN.com, Rob Neyer writes that David Wright will be the best third baseman in baseball during the next five years.
In fact, today, Neyer lists Wright only second to Alex Rodriguez.
…i enjoy and respect neyer’s analysis…the funny thing about rob, though, is that every time his name appears on my site, he inevitably gets clobbered by my readers for comments he made a few years ago regarding Jose Reyes…so much so, that when i hung out with rob and other bloggers during a convention in vegas last summer, he said he was waiting for me to confront him on it…he was joking of course…
By the way, to watch a highlight reel of Wright, click the video below, which was created by Nate…
In the Star-Tribune, columnist Sid Hartman writes that, while the Yankees and Mets have ruled out signing Johan Santana to a seven-year deal if he’s traded, there is still hope that the Twins could work out an extension of their own.
However, in a different report for the Star-
Tribune, citing a ‘Twins official,’ La Velle E Neal III writes that there have been no recent contract talks between the Twins and Santana.
Neal explains that the Twins are hesitant to trade Santana for what they perceive to be 20 cents on the dollar, adding…
“Peter Greenberg, Santana’s agent, admitted during a telephone conversation this week that he will need to discuss strategy with Santana soon on how to handle things if he is forced to report to camp with the Twins…What Greenberg wouldn’t address is if Santana will refuse to waive his no-trade clause once he reports, but that possibility surely exists. It’s unclear if the Twins have been told that yet – but it appears that they have stepped up their efforts to make a deal happen before camp begins.”
…which is exactly what i mean when i write that santana is in the diver’s seat, to some extent…as i have said before, from what i can gather out of people connected to santana, he prefers to play for the Mets, then for the Red Sox, then for the Yankees…
…the thing is, just how much is he willing to shake minnesota’s cage to make a deal go down…this quote from greenberg suggests we may soon find out…
Neal breaks down what Minnesota can expect to get from the Red Sox and Yankees, while the Mets and Twins have talked about adding another player to the deal, “such as Aaron Heilman.”
In yesterday’s Boston Herald, citing ‘indications,’ Michael Silverman wrote that Ryan Church could be included in a potential deal as well.
By the way, according to Hartman, “The Mets never have given a player more than a five-year contract, and they would be averse to changing that policy.”
…ummm, the Mets signed Carlos Beltran and Mike Piazza to seven-year deals, plus signed a six-year pact with David Wright…i’m guessing that hartman meant to peg that to only pitchers…which would be correct…
…as i have said, the sense i get is that the Mets are against giving more than a five-year deal to any pitcher, as are the Yankees, mostly because of insurance issues…the thing is, when santana says seven years, what are we talking about…i mean, he’s under contract next season, if he is then given five and an option, plus a signing bonus, that could be the seven-year deal he is seeking…i wonder if that is good enough…
