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An anonymous user emailed in asking:
“Wasn’t Francisco Pena supposed to be a top prospect when we signed him? What happened to him?”
The Mets signed Pena out of the Dominican Republic in 2006 for $750,000.
The son of former big leaguer, and now Yankee coach, Tony Pena, he’s a big bodied catcher, measuring in at 6′2 and 230 pounds. That’s a body that led some scouts to tell Baseball America’s John Manuel that Pena had “cankles”, a story he relayed in a recent chat.
As a 17-year old with Low-A Savannah last season, Pena hit .210 in 326 at bats, hitting 12 doubles and five home runs. He walked 24 times with 76 strike outs.
…basically, the Mets continued their trend of challenging their top Latin American signees, and it backfired with pena…
…i talked recently with Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein, whose Top 11 Prospect List came out yesterday, about pena and he says the Mets still believe in the young catcher, who is strong defensively behind the plate….but, goldstein says, he takes ‘bad swings at bad pitches,’ and the bat has a ‘LONG way to go.’
…still, he’s only 18 this season, when most kids are still in high school or playing in rookie ball after being drafted…obviously, some players can be rushed and some don’t respond as well to that, and pena obviously falls into the latter group…patience will be required…
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Yes, patience will be required. Either that, or another cathcing prospect.
That’s “catching.”
Good news. We have another teenage sensation catching prospect, Patrick Maat (the pride of Australian high school baseball). Apparently, he had “cankles” too because he didn’t do much either in his 1st pro season last year.
However, I have it from good sources that “cankles” can be cured with shots of vitamin B-12 in the buttocks, so I wouldn’t write these ignorantly tooled former phenoms off yet.
Remember the GOLDEN RULE of ranking your minor league prospects: the younger they are and the less they’ve done, the more you can hype their athletic ability and ceiling.
i would go with patience. the kid is really a baby. also heres a question i want someone to answer…why is Mike Carp not rated higher. he had a bad year because his hands was messed up. look for him to have a big year and maybe even replace delgado next year. i watched him play all those spring training games and he has a great approach and he hit to all fields.
NY DAILY NEWS: Clemens wife did HGH for a swimsuit issue… WOWWW
please dont start talking about clemens in metsblog, but well since u brought it up i think that mcnamee and clemens are going to blame it on someone else by clemens saying that mcnamee put vitamins in his body. and that of the evidence mcnamme was confused and it was another baseball player
I remember hearing an interview with Sandy Alomar Jr. last year and he was talking about Pena’s year. He said that a catcher’s first year in pro ball they are really getting used to calling a game and dealing with the wear and tear the body takes on a daily basis. It’s much different than anything they have had to deal with before. It might take another year or two before the bat catches up, but he mentioned that it isn’t anything to be alarmed about yet. Give him time.
If you recall, when Wright was in the low minors he struggled because he said that he was taking too much BP and was exhausted by the time the games started. The minors are about development, not about putting up huge numbers.
This really puts Fernando Martinez’s stats into perspective. He was one year older and held his own in AA ball.
Not that Pena can’t replicate that success down the line, it just makes Martinez look pretty special.
Not every 17-year-old signee is going to be the next Miguel Cabrera or Dwight Gooden. If Pena takes 5-years to develop, he’ll still be one of the youngest players at his position. It would have been nice for him to have better numbers but I haven’t heard of any teenage catching sensations setting the minors on fire.
Mauer kinda set the minors on fire. I used to live in Rochester and remember when he moved his way up through the Twins farm system.
Holy crap! You’re back! I don’t read every comment posted on this site, but I definitely haven’t seen you in awhile.
Anyways, in response to your comment, I think Saltalamacchia was a pretty big time prospect with the Braves before he was traded as the centerpiece in the Teixiera trade.
I’ve been lurking most of the winter. I got married in December so my life (and computer) are just not my own anymore. Combine that with my company being sold and extra scrutiny on our computer use, I haven’t been posting as much.
Anyway, I know Salty and Mauer where obviously big time prospects, but they were still in there early 20s before they made their ML debuts. We signed Pena as a 17-year-old. If it takes him 5-6 years to develop into a legitimate catching prospect, he’ll still be one of the youngest players at his position when he debuts in 2013-2014 if you catch my drift. Doesn’t sovle our immediate needs, but people shouldn’t consider this guy a bust because he’s unable to fill in for the loss of LoDuca.
described him as having “cankles”?
was this opinion offered by some girly gossip magazine?
The main thing to remember here is that HE IS 17!!!
I think he will be a good player in the future but lets not plan on his being in the majors for another 3 years atleast!
I think he’s got all the potential in the world and is so young, he is only going to improve.
I hope the organization tries to let the youth develop and please don’t rush a kid like this.
By the size of this guy he looks like he should audition for the Giants. Watch him grow another 4 inches and be relegated to DH. I have a feeling he’ll be a bust. Guys like Tejada and Flores are ones to watch.
Any thoughts on where Pena will spent 2008? Are they going to continue to be agressive and move him up to St. Lucie, or let him repeat Savannah in the hopes he makes adjustments and improves all around?
He needs to improve his hitting a bit before he can move up. He’ll probably stay where he is at unless there are injuries above him. It is easy to move up as a catcher since each team usually only carries a couple.
just leave the kid in low A ball to see if he can get comfrotable and start hitting.
I can see rushing a 23 YO guy out of college, but the kid is 17, at the hardest position to play. Give him a chance at least.
And don’t expect him to replace Sneider/Castro in 2 years when they are both gone.
What are “cankies”? Sounds like he has worms.
I think cankles is an amalgam of calf and ankle. It’s another way of saying a guy is really fat, because his calf muscles blends into his ankles without any real distinction.
Thank you – I hadn’t heard that one.
i think pushing a catcher through the minors at a faster pace is good. it allows them to learn how to call against better hitters and learn how to deal with better pitchers
Until his futility at the plate crushes his confidence, rendering him useless.
Iknow this is a bit off the subject but does anyone have a problem with ollie wanting to reach free agency rather than get an extention with the mets?If the man wants to walk, let him walk!he has pitched really well and i would really hate to see him go,but if he doesnt want to be a met then i dont want him on the team.
again, it has nothing to do with whether or not he wants to stay, Boras is his agent, and ALL Boras clients go to the free agency, no matter what, its just the way of the world. We should definitely attempt to resign him, but if he gets some crazy offer from some other team, I could see him leaving. This whole, Ollie doesn’t want to stay because he hasn’t resigned yet is ridiculous, players want money, he’s been here 2 years, sure he should realize he wouldn’t be doing anything without us, but he still has Boras as an agent which usually means he’ll take the best offer, wherever its from.
Their top 30 Prospects are according to BA:
1. Fernando Martinez OF
2. Deolis Guerra RHP (Traded)
3. Carlos Gomez OF (Traded)
4. Kevin Mulvey RHP (Traded)
5. Eddie Kunz RHP
6. Brant Brustich RHP
7. Philip Humber RHP (Traded)
8. Jon Neise LHP
9. Nathan Vineyard LHP
10. Robert Parnell RHP
11. Joe Smith RHP
12. Scott Moviel RHP
13. Steven Clyne RHP
14. Nick Carr RHP
15. Danny Murphy 3B
16. Greg Veloz 2B
17. Wilmer Flores 3B/SS (2007 International FA)
18. Ruben Tejada 2B/SS
19. Mike Carp 1B
20. Nick Evans 1B
21. Francisco Pena C
22. Phillips Orta RHP
23. Adam Bostick LHP
24. Emmanuel Garcia 2B/SS
25. Steven Register RHP
26. Mike Antonini LHP
27. Jefry Marte 3B (2007 International FA)
28. Juan Lagares SS
29. Lucas Duda 1B/OF
30. Elvin Ramirez RHP
how is joe smith so far down? the guy pitched well for half a season at the major league level. i think he just got tired after a while since he never has played that much baseball in his life. and EVERYONE AT METSBLOG CAN SEE ME BE THE FIRST TO SAY MIKE CARO WILL BE A STUD. maybe bot 30-40 homer guy but 275 25 100 guy. THATS RIGHT IM SAYING IT FIRST!!!!
Who’s MIke Caro? Did you mean Mike Carp – the little red engine who could? He might be a litlte small to be hitting 30-40 homers.
He’s 6′2 205 isn’t he? And he’s only 21 he can put on more muscle.
“Until his futility at the plate crushes his confidence, rendering him useless.
”
EXACTLY!!!!
Sending him to Brooklyn would be fun to watch
Maybe they should have started him in Brooklyn last year after having him in extended spring training from April through early June. Or maybe they should have demoted him to Brooklyn when that season started.
They did get him into a full season of games at the lowest level they could, which could pay off in future years.