Minors: F’Mart is Valueable, Draft Notes
In yesterday’s Newsday, Ken Davidoff takes a look at the rising value of Fernando Martinez, and quotes a scout as saying…
“He’s not a centerfielder. He’s an advanced bat. He’s going to
have power down the road…His lower half is mature, but his lower half is not quick-twitch. I envision him as a corner outfielder.”
…i have no idea what quick-twitch is…is that a good thing or a bad thing…anyway…
…from what i can gather, there are no plans to try him out at first base, because he may not be swift enough on his feet…which is too bad…if for no other reason than it provides more options…
Davidoff also recalls Martinez’s role in a potential deal for Barry Zito and the A’s, who deemed the young outfielder ‘too raw.’
…being the spin-obsessed, message-development skeptic that i am, i expect to see a ton of stories helping to hype fernando over the next few days…this way, if the Mets lose out on Johan Santana, they can say, ‘Hey, we just couldn’t part with Martinez, you know, because he is such a huge prospect,’ though i’m probably reading way, way too much in to that…
Of course, as I noted last week on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove, 80 percent of those polled at MetsBlog.com said they would trade Martinez, with four other prospects, to get Santana.
Speaking of prospects, Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook lists each organization’s Top 30 Prospects.
In a post to Prospects Blog, BA’s Matt Eddy breaks down where each of those 30 prospects were selected from.
According to Eddy, 10 of the Mets top 30 were selected from college in the draft, 10 came from International signings, five were from high school, two were draft and follows, one was a non-drafted free agent, one was from trade and one was from the Rule V Draft.
…for what it’s worth, i am hearing more and more people connected to the Mets expressing frustration with the slotting system, while acknowledges that it’s time to move away from it and just start doing what’s best for their organization…which is great news, especially since they have three picks through the first round-and-a-half of the draft this year…
For more on the ‘slotting system,’ check out Ken Davidoff’s recent column for Newsday, during which Minaya insinuates a need to sway from his previous draft style.
