Minors: The Next Crop of Young Pitchers
…there is a new bit of rhetoric coming from the Mets, specifically 
from the minor-league coaches down in St. Lucie, which goes as follows…
…for the first time in a long while, the Mets are working hard to sign as many young pitchers as they can…they feel they have acquired some of the best young pitching through the draft over the last year or two…so, even if the Mets trade a few minor-league pitchers in the next week or so, they still have a good number of young arms to fill in with over the next few years…
…in other words, if a trade is made, the farm system will not be ‘decimated,’ as so many people have tried to suggest…
…forgive me, but, i’ll believe it when i see it…and that’s no disrespect to the Mets, it’s just i will always have a difficult time getting overly excited about pitching prospects…
…also, for what it’s worth, these same people in florida seem to mention Kevin Mulvey quite a lot, and believe he is capable of competing for the starting rotation during spring training – assuming he is still with the organization…
In their recent Top 10 Prospects List for the Mets, Baseball America ranked Mulvey as the team’s second-best pitching prospect behind RHP Deolis Guerra, and ahead of Philip Humber, writing…
“He’ll open 2008 in Triple-A, but Mulvey could get a look in the rotation by midseason. He projects as a No. 3 or 4 starter.”
The 22-year-old Mulvey was 11–10 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 starts for Double-A Binghamton this past season.
Following the release of Baseball America’s list, the site’s editor, John Manuel, was asked if Mike Pelfrey would have been ranked higher than Mulvey or Guerra, had Pelfrey still have been eligible, to which Manuel responded…
“I don’t imagine he’d rank higher than fourth, and in some ways I’d rather have Kevin Mulvey, who has the fearlessness to throw fastballs in fastball counts and the command to get outs with it. I’m pretty impressed by Mulvey’s season the more I dive into it, though I still see him as more of a No. 4 starter than a No. 3. Pelfrey might end up a reliever if he doesn’t throw more strikes with his fastball.”
…regarding any future trades with, oh, i don’t know, the Twins, i just can’t see how a deal gets made without mulvey being involved, especially if the Mets are unwilling to part with the Teenage Hitting Machine…additionally, i never get the sense that the Twins are very interested in pelfrey, nor was oakland for that matter, which has always been somewhat alarming to me since those two organizations are well-known for having tremendous scouting departments…
