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…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…
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If we’re going to give up F-mart i dont think we need to give up mulvey with him. Give them Humber and Guerra. Id like to see what Mulvey go for a starting spot mid year.
If the Mets are able to keep F-Mart, the Guerra will probably be gone and vice versa. Those seem to be the top two Mets prospects for their positions. Second most valuable are Gomez and Mulvey, followed by everyone else mentioned.
As Gomez and Mulvey are closer to being major league ready than F-Mart and Guerra, they may be of more interest to the Twins. But if Ryan Church is included in the package, that would probably change their thinking on Gomez.
Matt makes a good point. MIN and OAK are supposed to have tremendous scouts. It’s just hard to see WHY they would pass on Pelfrey so easily. He’s well over 6′ tall (6′7″ I think) and throws in the upper 90s. Maybe they’re just looking at his ML stats. What I’ve seen of Mike is a potential frontline superstar should he harness his split/sinker and locate his fastballs. Maybe a Wang or Webb…
Pelfrey was highly touted when he was throwing heat and striking out more than a batter per inning in the minors. Then, in spring training 2007, they told him to ease off the heat and just try to become a sinkerball pitcher. Since then, it has been his value has been sinking. This happened to Heilman, and when he returned to the 3/4 arm slot that got him his first round pick, he succeeded. How about letting Pelfrey just throw heat. His most successful start against Atlanta (6IP, 1H, 7K) he was doing just that. Enough with this junkball stuff.
Yeah that’s a great point. How bout let these guys throw their natural way and stop trying to re-invent their mechanics and mindset. What works for some guys doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.
Can you imagine the damage these pitching coaches would have done to a young Nolan Ryan?
Even good organizations are wrong on players. Look what the A’s got back for Hudson, they misvalued every player involved.
I’m not positive, but can they be scared off from Pelfrey’s signing bonus? Is that split between multiple years or is it a lump sum when we first signed him?
I like Mulvey too. It’s the attitude.
I think when you talk about the lower minors with the mets, it’s guys like Nick Carr, Jon Niese, Phillips Orta, Nathan Vineyard, Scott Moviel, et al that get people excited. They won’t get much press except in dedicated prospect discussions (like on Toby Hyde’s blog). We have to wait and see how they develop though.
There’s also the issue of slotting and the talent we passed up as a result. Two names from the last two drafts are Pedro Beato and Brandon Efferson who we passed on because of money issues. Once this changes, as it’s supposed to this year, we should see even more talent coming through the pipeline.
I must be an idiot but I dont understand the post. Are the pitchers pitching in St Lucie unsigned draftpicks that we will now sign or are there a bunch of kids we drafted that are yet to be signed by us and pitching in college or independent leagues or something?
who are the kids that will be signed and what do they throw?
Matt thinks the mets organization may be hedging the impact of a Santana trade. Mulvey and Guerra are the top of the mets pitching pile right now. After that you have a lot of young pitchers most fans have never heard of.
Alternatively it means some of these guys are legit. We’ll learn a lot today.
thx
well, if Mulvey is that highly regarded, Gomez + Mulvey is already a pretty substantial package. Certainly good stuff if the swap in Martinez.
So skip putting Guerra in their too.
Gomez, Mulvey, Humber is a lot, so the 4th guy should be a lower tier or younger guy (so harder to project)
If all this Santana talk has done anything, it is to make me more excited to see some of the prospects develop. I really think they will be in better shape this year over last year with the rotation, even if there are some injuries.
That, and I would still love to see them pick up a solid 3 type (like Snell) for a smaller prospect package than Johan might command.
Pretty sure those signing bonuses go out all at once during his first year with the org.
Gosh, are the Mets terrible at developing their pitchers or what? “Hey guys, this kid was great in college and in the lower minor leauges,but that was because of too many fastballs and an armslot he was comfortable with. He needs to learn a slider and a forkball and throw those all the time with a new armslot that we think is good. Then before he has fully developed all the secondary pitches we’ve forced on him we’re gonna move him up two levels at a time and bring up to the majors a season too soon. He’s bound to be a phenom!”
Then after predictably failing in the majors: “This guy sucks! Let’s just trade him for an old guy with veteran leadership ability. We need somebody PROVEN at the ML level”
Just let Pelf work out of the pen for chrissakes!
Generation K 2.0!
Scott Boras is Pelfrey’s agent. Maybe that is why the Twins and Athletics are ignoring him.