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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.
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Maybe this helps put him in perspective to all of those dubbing him “the next Alex Escobar”.
haha.. mikey I sent this to Matt as a follow up to the conversation..
I will have go back and see how high Alex Escobar was ranked.. overall among all prospects in the game.. the article notes F-mart is 23rd..
So 13th best #1 prospect.. and 23rd over all best prospect.
follow up to our* conversation
Man I need to switch to decaf
Alex Escobar was 11th overall in 1999 and 18th in 2001.. it won’t let me post the link here in the comments section..
So.. goes to show he could still very well be the next Alex Escobar
Matt’s update kind of puts a damper on my comment, huh.
F-Mart is still a little younger than Escobar was at the time … and it was injuries that hurt Escobar’s success for the most part. No one can predict injuries … but given that F-Mart stays healthy, he will be the real deal.
Yeah. I’m really surprised people aren’t getting this. Escobar WAS good. He was primed to be great. And then he blew out his knee. So if not for that he may well have been great. The case for or against trading Martinez should have absolutely nothing to due with Escobar.
he hit 356 a couple years ago until he once again got hurt
i don’t believe that f-mart is escobar. top prospects out of the dr have done extremely well over the past few years. f-mart was universally the #1 guy coming out of dr over the passed few years. was given a 1.4m bonus for a reason.
then again, you never know
for the escobar ranking (note: beltran was #14 that year behind escobar)
baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/26983.h
the link is on this page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_America’s_top_100_prospects
people please…even if fmat turns out to be vlad…who is worth more Vlad or Santana
the answer (in case someone doesnt) know is Santana. a lefty that throws 95 with great control comes along once every 10-15 years. a great outfielder that hits comes along once a year
Brandon Efferson anyone?!?!?!?!!? o0o and I see F-Mart as Alex Escobar but I see Brandon Efferson as a Ben Sheets minus the injuries
who is #1?
Jay Bruce
OF he is probably behind are Jay Bruce, Cameron Maybin, Colby Rasmus, and Jacoby Ellsbury
Imagine, he’s #15 and he’s yet to have one at bat as a 19 year old. (October 2007 was his 19th b-day)
Good lord.
To put it into perspective, when David Wright was 18, he was in High Scool/Rookie Ball. Fernando likely would have been a top 5 pick. And the Twins think we’ll hand him on TOP of 4 other players lol. GTFOOH.
exactly, excellent point metsrant. minne can’t get greedy, they are the ones who can’t afford johan, so why take on more then they deserve. technically gomez and fmart should be enough, but since they want pitchers, both cant go.
YOU think the Twins are going to hand over one of the BEST pitchers in the game for a bunch of nobodys that you don’t want? you GTFOOH!
trades are about leverage. yes santana is proabably rated the best pitcher in baseball. BUT he will not re-sign there (as per his words) and he has a no-trade clause (he can dictate where he goes plus get $120 million) and on top, hes only got 1 year left on his contract.
minny will not go into the season with him because he cant get his rating up any higher. all that can happen is he pitches bad or (g-d forbid he gets hurt (then minny really gets nothing)
they have to trade him before the season and take what they can get and the mets offer looks like (from what is reported here) the best overall offer
Actually, he’s #23. He’s only iisted 15th among the top #1 picks of 30 teams. He’d be #23 overall out of the top 50. But if you take the #1 of each team and rank ‘em, he’s #15.
“There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright Fernando.”
what is the consensus on swapping Martinez for Gomez in the current deal that is supposedly on the table? I am one who says you can’t do both, but I think I would package around martinez and keep Gomez. He is faster than Reyes after all…
forget faster…we need another outfielder. even if he is not ready Alou will play 100 games (at most and if we trade Martinez and church, right and left field will be a platoon of Angen Pagan, Endy (i hurt both hamstrings within a year) chavez, Moses Alou and carlos (i only play 140 games healthy at best) Beltran. we need another outfielder who can play defense
yeah its a shame Gomez couldnt hit the water from inside a boat.
Is it too much too ask for some proof to your assumption? Probably too much too ask, no? Just for the record, go compare Hanleys AA numbers to Gomez AA numbers at the same age. Might change your attitude. Or maybe it wont and you are just an idiot. I dont really know. Just an idea.
Do you always try and personally insult people that disagree with you. Thats the sign of a little mind. My proof was his sad showing in MLB, Gomez is at least a year away from major league service if he ever learns to hit. You should know better then to compare two minor leaguers to get to an assumption of how a player will turn out, everyone developes at a different rate if at all. Every player is unique. Gomez has a good Projection according to some which means squat in reality until he proves it at the major league level. He can be a star or another Anderson Hernandez stuck in AAA forever, to be called up as a defensive replacement when an injury occurs. My point is its a little early to rate how rushed AA players will do in MLB.
he will learn to hit. hes very raw. he reminds me a lot of reyes when he came up 4 years ago. Gomez has a bigger frmae than Reyes so he probably will hit for more power but even if he doesnt and hes taught to just put the ball in play he will be just fine
what’s interesting is the Twins at #29…kinda looks like they could use a few prospects.
great post. they need to restock. here the question…who cares where there ranked with there #1 prospect, where are they overall ranked??
You can find many young toolsy outfielders who are fast, can play d and CANNOT hit with authority. You cannot find any left handed 18 year olds who hit. 300+ in AA as a leadoff hitter (much less at #3, which is to be expected)
It’s a terrible move to replace Gomez with Martinez in this trade. Gomez is just way too toolsy and not polished nor does he have the hitting instincts. He’s closer to being Escobar than Martinez. Remember, Escobar at 19 was in Low A full season and had a poor ab/k ratio. His star rose due to the total of homers/rbi’s and the fact that he reminded scouts of what Vlad/Andruw did at 19/18 respectively (in 95 or so). In reality, though, they were phenoms who had more control over the zone and obp than Escobar did.
Gomez will need 2 years, minimum, to be a useful major leaguer. He’s way too raw and has too many tools to work with. You should never give up Martinez if the Yankees and Red Sox refuse to part with their best talent. And Omar knows this…
I love Fernando. As much as the next fan, but let’s stop pretending he’s going to be the next Miguel Cabrera or even David Wright.
Just for reference these were some of the numbers put up by Cabrera and Wright in the minors…
Cabrera – AA (69 G) .365 10 hr 59 rbi .609 slg 1.038 ops
Wright – AA (60 G) .363 10 hr 43 rbi .619 slg 1.086 ops
Martinez – AA (60 G) .271 4 hr 21 rbi .377 slg .713 ops
I know. David and Miguel were 20 and Fernando was only 18. But people talk about this kid like he’s the next Alex Rodriguez. Let’s see some DEFINITIVE production before proclaiming him a ‘hitting machine.’
At this point, he better not be the one player standing in between us and Johan Santana….
The age and the injury aside…those numbers are pretty compelling. Thanks for the post!!!!
You think Miggy is better then wright? Funny. Martinez was playing with a bum shoulder and is two full years younger then both of those guys were. Come back with a much better arguement then that if you want anybody to pay any attention at all.
Who said anything about Cabrera being better than Wright?
What I was arguing was people need to calm down before declaring Fernando the next franchise centerpiece.
“At this point, he better not be the one player standing in between us and Johan Santana….”
Lol. A lot of people who get paid to professionally scout guys like F-Mart, not a clowns like you, Keith Law for instance, said he wouldnt even trade F-Mart for one year of Santana under any circumstances. Yet you are upset that Omar wont throw him in on top of 4 other guys. I dont understand. Please Hank, just go get this guy, bring him to the Yankees, and save my Mets from becoming the Chicago Whitesox.
oh stop it you sound silly. 4,5 even 6 prospects are worth the best pitcher in baseball
Not for one year. And notwhen those players are going to be needed to fill holes on the team in the next 2 years. It’s not like we’re a team with youth who can afford to wait 3+ more years for new prospects to develop, we’re going to need replacements for Pedro, El Duque, Delgado and Alou, and possibly Wagner sometime before 2011. Some as early as 09.
A 72-HOUR NEGOTIATING WINDOW is part of ANY deal with the Twins. This has been reported on by multiple news sources. If Santana is asking for more than the Mets are willing to provide him, THEY’LL KILL THE DEAL. Omar, Theo and Hank ALL are in this because they’re EXPECTING a contract extension (5-years +) What’s with all this 1-year talk?!?!
What’s wrong with you guys?!
2 years when you’re 18 and in AA is a HUGE difference, it means everything. When you’re 18, so much changes between then and 20, compared to say when you’re 25 to 27. Kid has a bright future, let’s watch and enjoy.
HOFMets I hear what your saying about Fernando, you have to admit hes been rushed through A ball and was hurt during his first AA season, lets see him have a full season in AA before you make this comparison.
TOTALLY AGREE. we need Santana BADLY. lets not kid ourselves. if Bill Smith says add Martinez and i will hand Santana over the Mets MUST DO IT
Again, your contrived arguments are indicative of ignorance.
I was NEVER advocating a trade of Fernando for ONE year of Johan Santana. Only an idiot would still THINK Omar is negotiating for ONE year of Johan Santana. If he gets him, he’s getting him for at least five.
If you have this secret undying affinity for Fernando, it’s completely understandable. I’m sure some of the hype is justified. But there have been MANY ‘Fernando Martinez’s that have gone the way of the gutter than there have been who have actually exceeded their expectations (let alone MET them).
Then I guess we’re all idiots but you. We didnt know Santana had 5 more years on his contract. I dont think the sox or the yanks know that either. We all believed that Santana had one more year on his contract with the twins, you know, the contract we’re looking to trade for. Then we were going to give him another contract for 5 or 6 more years which has nothing to do with the twins. The twins own him for one more year. We’re looking to trade for him for that one year. Thus all us idiots idea that we shouldn’t trade all that for that one year. But I’m glad you straighten us all out. Thanks.
Mud I somewhat agree with HOF about our young prospects. Every team hypes their players. Fernandez has shown good ability to adapt to the rushed schedule he has been on. Lets see him continue to develop before you anoint him the next coming as everyone knows the biggest leap in talent is from AAA to the majors and he hasn’t reached that level yet. Some players have the ability to jump from AA to the majors, as wright did, Lets see a full year of AA before you put him in davids class.
Wright also had time in High A Ball. Fernando, if I recall correctly went from Low A to AA. That’s almost impossible to deal with. It’s impossible to compare those 2 to Fernando as they had many more minor league ab’s AND he had to skip a league most people need for their development.
High A Ball to AA is sometimes harder to adjust to, even for a phenom, than AA to AAA or AAA to the bigs. It’s the first time he faced people over 25 and was playing against people sniffing the majors. Whereas, the year before, he was 2 levels above rookie ball.
Huge difference. Granted, he might bust just like anybody else. But it’s best to compare them by age and hitting approach/maturity. Not #’s in a league where, when Fernando is 20, he will likely BE a major leaguer if he stays healthy.
It’s just not possible to truly compare. And no, he won’t be Arod. But Arod was the greatest draft pick in history and might be a top 3 player when it’s all said and done. He IS a natural.
I agree. I had stated in my original post that Fernando was 2 years YOUNGER than Wright and Cabrera were at that same level (AA).
Just because the particular prospect was 2 years younger does NOT mean he would be doing what Wright and Miggy did. For all we know, Fernando might become a total and utter FLOP by the time he reaches 20 years of age.
My point is, people fool themselves into believing all the ‘hype.’ They think every compliment given to these kids are written in stone. I don’t believe that. The many years I have followed our prospects, I have found MOST turn out to be flops.
I want Fernando to succeed more than anyone but reality dictates we have a chance at trading an ‘unknown,’ for the ‘known.’ We know Santana is one of the BEST pitchers in baseball. We do NOT know Fernando will materialize into anything.
I’m sure I’d love ya to pieces K-Mart, but Johan > you.
Just heard on my ESPN MVP thing on my phone that Lo Duca hurt his knee and will have an MRI soonnn….
Can FMart Pitch? We will never get a true #1. A dominant pitcher never makes it to free agency in these times. Even with great potential Fmart is not a gurantee and usually we over hype our prospets. Sell high, learn from the Milledge mistake. BTW, I have a feeling a lot of people who would like to keep FMart also said Milledge was the second coming two years ago. If you have the chance to get the best pitcher in baseball for prospects you have to do it. Omar please get us a #1 pitcher.
p.s. Everyone except the mets fans love Hughes a lot more than Martinez
I’m a Met fan and I like Hughes more than F-Mart so your statement is false
i like hughes more just because hes a pitcher that throws 95 and has late jump on his fastball (yes im a huge mets fan but i do watch yankee games)
hughes is for real and proved it againts major leaguers (he alomst threw a no-hitter) him and Joba( although i think the yankees are making a big mistake not keeping him in the bullpen) we anchor that rotation in a few years. we dont have anyone on that level so trade to get Santana and get this heartburn over with.
Great post, totally agree. our offense if good enough. if you can get the best left hander in baseball you do whatever you have to to get him. think if the yankees (g-d forbid) get him because we didnt include Fernando Martinez. i would kill myself
I’ve been reading this blog for a couple of weeks, following the Johan stuff from your perspective. It amazes me that even though all Mets fans would agree that adding a #1 picture would (practically) guarantee the playoffs (W.S.?) in ‘08, that a majority of you (most posters anyway) would rather keep an 18 year old prospect who would not be ready for at least two years!! AMAZING! Now I know why the Mets are always second fiddle to the Yankees!! Good Luck following FMart in AA this year!!
So you’ve been lurking for a couple of weeks and now you’ve chosen to troll and bait?!
Adding a No.1 pitcher wouldn’t guarantee anything and if you really have been reading this board you would realize that we can’t agree how far Johan would take us. We DO agree that a No. 1 pitcher is what the team lacks – DUH! ANy idiot can see that!
Fernando is a special prospect with an amazingly advanced development for his age. A lot of us would give him up for a No. 1 pitcher. What we wouldn’t do is give him up along with a passle of our other top prospects for a guy that we’re going to have to pay RIGHT AWAY like he was a free agent. If that’s what Bill Smith wants then he’s being greedy and has unrealistic expectations of the trade market out there. It’s gonna cost prospects PLUS $150 million and more $’s. Santana’s not worth as much as a young ace pitcher who’s under control for a few more years, he’s going to cost mucho dinero right now for whomever makes a trade for him!
How’s the weather in Minny right now? Bitchin cold here in NY, must really be nut frostin’ chilly where you are!
Who says the Mets make the playoffs because Santana is on the team? Who says they wont make the playoffs without Santana. Its all speculation at this point, one pitcher wont make any difference if Pedro and Duque miss a large amount of time. Its a team sport, no one player decides anything.
You need to reread my post! And as far as injuries go, yeah, if 2 of your top pitchers go down, anyone would be in trouble! LAME! But don’t fret, there’s always FMart in AA to watch!!
How is it lame. It’s not like they’re two relatively young players with little history of injury. The chance of Pedro and El Duque going down is pretty high.
Brandon Efferson anyone?!?!?!?!!? o0o and I see F-Mart as Alex Escobar but I see Brandon Efferson as a Ben Sheets minus the injuries.
why does everyone keep bringing up Brandon Efferson? whats his deal? and is he on our team? and why dont we have any pitcher thorwing 96 plus mph?
so many questions, so little time
The reason we are in the santana sweepstakes is because of the $150 million price tag. We do not have the prospects to get a pitcher that is under contract (i.e. Haren and probably not Bedard). The reds could always offer Bruce, mariners can offer jones or the dodgers could offer their top prospects. I don’t believe we are competing with ourselves. Yankees need him to compete with the redsox. This might be our only play and if the yankees improve their offer (i.e. hughes + )we lost our chance to get a #1 pitcher.
THE YANKEES JUST SIGNED CANO TO A BIG PAY RAISE. Wouldnt it be nice to have a payroll somewhere near theres???
Not if we spent it like they do.
Real check;
If the Twins were trading Santana to the Mets, it would be done by now.
For that matter; the Yanks and Sox have had all the time in the world, if they really wanted the guy.
Santana will be traded to a team none of us have been focused on it and will happen shortly.
Omar needs to go to Plan B; today!
Santana has publicly stated he only wants to pitch in ny or boston. since were the only three teams that can afford him, coupled with his no-trade clause, means its only us 3.
please think before writing posts