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According to a text message from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, the clubhouse is packed today, with position players taking their physicals.
Burkhardt talked with Fernando Martinez, who has definitely matured and grown in to his body. He seems very comfortable, and told Burkhardt that he wants to be in New York at some point during this season.
…well, i mean, he is a Teenage Hitting Machine…
Moises Alou will arrive to camp later today, and will talk to the media shortly after.
…so, expect a dozen Moises Alou stories in your local newspapers tomorrow morning…
By the way, Burkhardt will have one-on-one interview with Jose Reyes, as well as video from the day in camp, during tonight’s edition of SportsNite on 
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Next year FMart will be ready, and my prediction is he’ll win the Rookie of the year, i know im thinking far ahead but im just so bored. Can’t wait for OPENING DAY
Can we get some video of the THM? He should get his own reality show. I’d watch all day.
i just hope this kid doesnt get rushed. theres alot of talk going on about him and people will want to get a taste. let him develop and blossom hes still very young and doesnt NEED to be up at the big club yet.
I agree completely, but at the same time, if this kid is tearing up AA to a 300/400/500 clip and the time comes where we need an OF for an extended perod of time I think we have to give him a shot and not overprotect him.
This season being September call-up at the MOST. Don’t want to rush this kid at all. We really dont need him this year, but we will next year.
Hopefully what happened to the Mets OF in 2007 won’t repeat in ‘08, otherwise expect to see him by mid-May.
I definitely believe in the September call ups, many players have said that month of playing has helped them in the full season the following year. It gives valuable experience and confidence.
They have more options this year with backup OFers – in addition to Endy they have Johnson, Pagan and Clark to consider before calling up F-Mart.
I’m all in favor of September callups, what I’m wary of are multiple health issues like those of last spring, which resulted in the Mets starting OF vs. AZ 6/1 & 6/2 ‘07 being Newhan, Chavez, Johnson, followed on 6/3 by Johnson, Chavez, Gomez. For roughly a week after that it was Beltran flanked by guys named Gomez, Johnson and Ledee. Not pretty. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
Exactly, gravedigger. For the people who say we dont need him this year, who will play LF if Alou goes down for a month? Endy cant do it every day, Ben Johnson? Brady Clark? Really? We cant rush Nando, but if he is killing AA and we need an OF for a few weeks, why not? If he isnt ready, no big deal, we send him back down. We also get a chance to see whether he will be ready in 09, or if we need to look for a stop gap.
I hope THM is ready when he gets to NY. I’m sure he’s in a hurry to hit the big-time (and our team loves to “challenge”/rush its prospects), but I’d prefer to see him master the minors, rather than come up at 19 and become a good, not great, player over his career.
Or, worse yet, declare him a failure after a couple hundred at-bats, trade him for an older outfielder and a solid defensive catcher, and then watch him become a perennial All-Star. Of course, we know that could never happen, right?
was that sarcastic?
Why do people say that bringing this guy up now will hurt him?! Is he not going to face pitching in th minors, maybe hit off a tee? Facing major league pitching will only help him.
This is the same thinking that got Kazmir traded. He’s ready, don’t rush him. Let’s trade the not ready player for a guy with league experience. Uh, wait, you can’t put him in your starting rotation, he’s not ready yet. He’s what?! Leading the AL in strikeouts?! But I thought he wasn’t ready?!
Stop it already, He’s not 14!!! He’s 6′1″ and 220 lbs.(something like that) and let him play.
Well, take this with lots of salt (I certainly know little about MLB talent development), but I think there are risks with jumping players to the majors early.
Some (Griffey Jr., Sosa, Bonds, Juan Gone) become greats of the game, but I’d argue that’s because of their overwhelming talent. They were gonna be great if they waited or not.
Other, less-talented “rush jobs” struggle with mastering the ML strike zone, because they haven’t been given the time to master one in the minors. (I think of Andruw Jones.) My desire not to rush FMart is because I worry that he falls into this category.
I like the Angels’ approach to player development, where prospects master a level before moving on.
Andruw Jones is a terrible example in hindsight. I’ll be having myself shot for that, so no need to crush me…..
I agree with this. If FMart gets rushed up, he’s going to get pressured to produce. He’ll take more swings at bad pitches (both because of pressure and because he hasn’t developed pitch recognition yet), and won’t have the patience to hit well.
Remember, raw talent is only half of it. He has to learn the hitter’s mentality too. Baseball is a lot more than just swinging a stick really, really hard.
If you want a good example of the dangers of rushing a player, you don’t have to look very far:
Lastings Milledge.
His stint with the big club came before he had the social maturity to fit in with the team, or the baseball maturity to do his skills justice. The end result: his value plummeted.
No, he’s not 14. He’s 19. The kids that are ready for the bigs at that age are very few, and very far between.
Six weeks in AA ball following an injury does not make Martinez ready for the majors. No way, no how. He belongs in Binghamtom, and only if he dominates there ala DWright do you even think September callup.
Milledge is garbage. Get over it already. He’s not going to be a perennial all star.
I dont understand how people think this means Milledge failed. We just got Santana, and are poised for a championship run RIGHT NOW. This is what ALL of you wanted, so whats the big deal? We got 2 starting players who we know what we will get from. They are more consistent and can handle a playoff run better then Milledge right now (things like getting a guy overwith no outs or bringing in a guy from 3rd with 1 out). There is no doubt Milledge has much more upside then Schneider and Church, but the fact is that we traded away 24 potential years of prospects for Santana, Gomez and Guerra being superstar prospects, for essentially one year of an older (since you like to bring up age)Johan and locking him up at market value after one year (we actually are paying him market value this year anyway.). There is no doubt that in 6 years when Johan is on his way out, that the Twins will have the more desirable part of the trade at that point, but it doesnt matter because the point is to win now. We filled 2 spots with cheap at least league average production for one prospect, it may hurt down the line, but definitely helps now. You cant have it both ways, because both trade are similar in that they are win now moves.The only difference is with Johan we gave up much more and got much more.
Just start him at AA, and let him get in a groove, then they can always promote him for a try at AAA. A september call up makes sense if he has a big year in the minors, stays healthy, and is pretty much determined that he is the LF in 2009.
Isn’t that the path that DW took? I know he raked in AA, but didn’t he make a stop at AAA before Shea (a brief one?) I can’t remember if he came up mid-season though…
But, if martinez struggles in AA at all, just leave him there, all season if needed, until he is ready. Replacing ALou is a nice idea, but it wil be OK if he needs a full 2008, and at least a start to 2009, in the minors.
I don’t, however, think coming up young is going to hurt him. Might not hit quite as well out of the gate, but it won’t negatively impact his ceiling. If he has mastered AA/AAA pitching, then get him up where he can help out.
D Wright came up shortly after all star break…
You’re making too much sense.
Here’s a comparison of Wright and F-Mart’s minor stats.
D-Wright:
(Age Lg G AB R HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS SB)
01 18 Rk 36 120 27 4 17 .300 .382 .458 .840 9
02 19 A 135 496 85 11 93 .266 .364 .401 .765 21
03 20 A+ 133 466 69 15 75 .270 .368 .459 .827 19
04 21 AA 60 223 44 10 40 .363 .458 .619 1.077 20
04 21 AAA 31 114 18 8 17 .298 .385 .579 .964 2
Called up 7/21/04
F-Mart
(Age Lg G AB R HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS SB)
06 17 Rk 1 4 1 0 0 .250 .250 .250 .500 0
A 45 192 24 5 28 .333 .389 .505 .894 7
A+ 30 119 18 5 11 .193 .254 .387 .641 1
07 18 Rk 3 9 1 0 1 .111 .200 .333 .533 0
AA 60 236 32 4 21 .271 .336 .377 .713 3
Sorry, didn’t come out the way it was supposed to. Anyway, Wright had 1119 AB before being called up. F-Mart has had 560. So if he’s following the D-Wright path to success, he’ll need 559 more ABs (or at least a full year between AA and AAA).
His birthday is 10/10/88, he will be 19 the whole season, I think they should just let him worry about the minors and bring him through the exact way Wright was brought up, like stickguy mentioned.
not the *whole* season!!!
It’s fine to keep him down there if you don’t need him. But to keep him in the minors if we have some injuries is just plain dumb. I rather have him here than signing a 38 year old lefty to an $8 million contract. Doesn’t makes sense to me.
Agreed. I have no problems bringing him up for an injured Alou or Church; I think that even if he struggles, he’ll benefit from the oppty.
My fears with our prospects are Milledge Syndrome (he doesn’t hit .400 with power in his first 350 MLB at-bats, so he’s labeled a flop and traded for magic beans) or (here’s a better example) Melky Cabrera Syndrome (apparently the greatest Yankees CF since DiMaggio, but hasn’t done much because he was forced into ML service prematurely).
Or, to torpedo my own argument, maybe Melky isn’t mediocre b/c he was rushed; maybe he’s just mediocre altogether.
Melky would be just as mediocre if he had spent another year in AAA
This is the crucial year in Martinez’s development. I believe that what we see at Binghamton will define his ceiling as a pro ballplayer. The organization needs to see what he does at the AA level this year to know what we have.
If he dominates from the start, then we know he’s the real thing, and the Mets can bring him up and give him all the time he needs to get comfortable as a starting ML OFer, whether it takes a year or three years or whatever.
If he struggles this year at AA, then the organization can’t do that with confidence, and they must take a wait-and-see approach.
But if you rush the kid to the majors because someone gets injured, and he struggles, than we still don’t know what his potential is, and you’ve messed with his progress as a pro ballplayer. That’s stupid-style player development. and I expect Omar and Co. are too smart for that.
First the kid has to produce at AA ball. Then you think about bringing him up.
The only time I see F-Mart comming up this season is in September when ther rosters expand and they have a good lead in the East. Martinez in essence is the prized jewel of the Mets farm system. Theyre gonna nurse him like a baby and make sure he develops into the player he is capable of. Besides, the Mets have a good roster of backup OFs in Chavez, Clark and Pagan… Also, given what I just wrote, I highly doubt Martinez being a starting OF for 2009 in the Citi Field which so many people envision… Expect to see him on the 40 man roster.
I think the question is would Fmart be better than the other options the mets would have at the time. If they needed to fill alou’s spot for a very long time of cource Chavez would Not be the answer. I think for the teams sake they’d be better off signing a free agent like Shaun Green who has more experience than Fmart and probally would be more successful. Lets hope Alou, and the rest of the OF stay very healthy.
The mets have too much depth at outfield. After Church Alou and Belttran is Chavez, Marlin Anderson, Ben Johnson and then F-mart. If he isn’t starting every day he shouldn’t be called up.
Exactly…Rather him get work down in the minors then sit around and do nothing…and Im sure he feels the same way (It’s not like he’s never going to be in the majors again!).
After reading some posts on Chavez, Im not too confindent in him staying healthy. He has a couple of nagging injuries that scare me. Especially with Alou being as reliable as El Duque, I see alot of playing time for Clark and Pagan…
When Alou goes down for a lengthy injury, F-Mart will be given a chance. I think he’ll hold his own.
He hasnt even been tested in AAA yet. Why would he be rushed and pushed to take over in the OF when you have major league tsted guys in Clark and Pagan. Let the kid develop…
He hasn’t even played a full season in single A
Am I the ONLY guy who thinks he is still trade bait??? I love this kid, been watching him. I love watching these kids come up Reyes, Wright, even Miledge. For those who you who were watching Miledge before he was known, he was fun to watch.
I still think that kid is gonna be a stud(take it for what it is, but i do)
LOVE F MART, but a corner outfielder is to easy to get off the market. They’ll trade him…
People keep saying how easy it is to get good corner outfielders. If so, how come the Mets, with very few exceptions, keep coming up with some of the worst outfield combinations in baseball? Over their entire history, how many great outfielders have they had? Strawberry. Beltran. Then there’s a real big dropoff. Some good one year players (Gilkey), some players they got several decent years out of (Dykstra, Mookie, Floyd), but no other studs.
I’d bet my entire family and house that the Mets won’t trade Fmart before he makes his MLB debut. They want to see wat they got, until then they won’t even think about trading him.
If the Mets trade FMart theyll farm system will resemble that of the Bad News Bears… Minaya was adament about not giving him up for the Santana trade. For weeks, it was known that all the Mets had to do to aquire Johan was to put FMart in the deal. Minaya didnt budge. Theres a reason for that.
The only reason they would even need to trade FMart is if Pedro, Perez, and Elduque all leave at the end of the year. Then it might have to be considered. Otherwise he will be a starting OF in 2010.
Just spending more time becoming a good AAA hitter doesn’t mean you wil do better in the majors.
Hard to say that coming up too early permanently
The kid had a .713 OPS in AA ball last year.
He’s not ready to contribute to the major league team. Bringing him up for an extended period this year would hurt the club and couldn’t possibly help the player’s development. There’s no way he’ll be getting many at bats in the bigs, and his confidence would not be helped by being overmatched facing the likes of Smoltz and Hamels
I think he may be Delgado’s future backup.
The real question is still Delgado. If he puts up the same numbers this year as last year, do the Mets use their team option? His contract is for 16 million but remember that it has a 4 million dollar byout. So can we find a 1B with even that production for 12 million a year? Tex will be a Yankee or a Brave. If he is a Yankee it will something like 20 for 5 years. That’s too much. Maybe a trade for Nick Johnson but looking at his numbers is he that much more productive? He will hit for a better average and have 20 HR and 75 RBI. Delgado had 22 HR and 87 RBI last year. So in short it will come down to how much would Washington want for Johnson and how Delgado does this year.
I never said he woudlnt get traded before his MLB start MOSES69…
I dont care what kind of jewel he is. He is TRADE BAIT. Listen i like the kid, but if the Mets can go out and get someone and they want FMart he is ghost like Swayze
Your voice will never be heard because NOONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO YOUR INCESSANT, REPETITIVE, MINDLESS DRIVEL
why do you even root for the Mets? If all you care about is a team that spends money, you’re rooting for the wrong team, why on earth would you be a Met fan anyway? You need to be psychoanalyzed, because the torment you put yourself through to be a fan of this team cannot be healthy.