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In a post to Minor League Ball, prospect guru John Sickels takes a closer look at Mets 1B prospect Mike Carp, of whom he writes:
“Carp isn’t much of a fielder, but if his bat continues to develop at this pace he can be as starting first baseman in the majors. If I were the Mets, I’d leave him in Double-A until the end of June, then promote him to Triple-A on his birthday (June 30th) and see how he handles the International League. I have no idea how the Mets plan on fitting him into the lineup in the long run, but grade-wise I’m moving him back up to Grade C+ right now, and if he is still hitting like this on June 30th I will make that a B- or perhaps a straight B.”
Carp is currently batting .356 (36-for-101) with 6 HR, 7 2B and 20 RBI through his first 26 games this season with the Mets Double-A Binghamton affiliate.
…i know some fans want to rush carp to the big league level after his hot start due to Carlos Delgado’s recent struggles, but it’s too early for such a move…plus, what if carp doesn’t perform any better than delgado currently is, then what…
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is there any significance to promoting him on his birthday?
No, but if you’re going to promote him around that time, it would be a nice gesture. Then again, he’d probably find an earlier promotion an even better birthday present.
It would be foolish to rush Carp. We have got to let kids develop and use them wisely. We have got to begin to feed kids into the big leagues in a way that allows them to succeed and allows the team to not be so old. Otherwise this team is doomed to mediocrity.
then what?
Well, we BOO him of course!
perfect
i guarantee carp doesn’t even get one hit in the international league this year.
I agree. New Orleans is a Pacific Coast League franchise. ;)
True that since NO plays in the Pacific Coast League. LOL
Delgado is our starting first basemen for the entire season, whether we like it or not. Rushing Carp up to take Delgados place this season would be a bad move all around. It could mess up his development, as well as hurt the team’s chemistry because I doubt Delgado would be too happy about the situation. Let’s all try to get behind Carlos and hope we can get somethign like .260-25-80 from him this season.
This team has no chemistry, maybe the mets need a spark in the lineup.
you are dreaming, he won’t have over 20 homeruns and no chance he gets over 60 rbi’s. if you believe he can, you are seriously delusional
Ha, flag this post for September. I’d say the same for anyone who thinks that he’s going to keep hitting .190 with a 19.5 LD%. His BABIP is .219. His K rate is down from his career average, and his BB rate is up from last year.
And despite that bad luck–which anyone can see with their own eyes, just counting the hard-hit outs he records–he’s STILL on pace for 19 HR and 75 RBIs…right now. As in, if he hits like this every month for the rest of the season, he’ll still easily top 60 RBIs.
You people are freaking nuts.
the BABIP is low because he consistently hits into a shift. It’s not bad luck.
It’s a good thing BABIP is a fake stat because, last I checked, most players aren’t hitting .800 on balls not put in play.
False, toomanyuniforms. He had a league-average BABIP in 2006, and hit just as much into the shift. Same can be said for 2005. I’m not sure when they started shifting him, so I don’t know how far back we can go.
iamatwork, I don’t even know what you’re trying to say. How is it a fake stat? And what does that have to do with hitting .800? Pujols hits about .500 on balls not put in play… I really don’t get your point.
GREAT interview on MKS with Bill WAGNER… I HAVE new respect for wags!
How hard can it be to hit over .200? Even Anderson Hernandez could manage that. If you don’t want him up here, at least manage a better excuse than “what if he does worse than Delgado?”
agreed.
In 96 ABs. Ten more balls drop in and you’re talking about a .300 hitter. If you can’t think of ten line-drive outs he’s made this season, all you have to do is look back at the archives.
10 balls don’t drop in and he’s hitting .100
Exactly. It’s too early to be making anything of his batting average. If he was striking out more, or not hitting line drives, I’d be worried.
lets hope for a productive mike carp at first base at some future date. we can all bring fish to the park and throw them on the field. oh the marketing possibilities are endless!
And he definitely has a future in Japan if the bigs don’t work. Has there ever been a player with his name on the front and back of a jersey?
Does Mr. Met count?
He should, but no. There aren’t a lot of guys named “Bob Pirates,” or “Ike Red Sox,” etc. I guess the best hope is for the Brewers or Cardinals, and even then it’s not *really* the same — “Brewer” vs. “Brewers.”
My last name starts with the word “met”
one of my camp counselors has the last name Metz
If Jose Reyes gets traded to the Rays, that’s pretty close.
Johnny Podres played for the SD Padres in 1969. I mean, that’s as close as it’s going get!
“Metz” — I should have thought of that, given that (a) I’ve been to Metz, France, and (b) I have a cap from the “Metz” brewery in Omaha (don’t ask.) Well done, MetsGrrl.
Quick — everyone named “Metz” who has a kid, take him outside and toss him a few pitches. (Preferably a right-handed kid who’s big for his age, but with good hand-eye coordination.)
We’ve already made too many mistakes trying to rush prospects. I can understand promoting him to AAA since I think this is his 3rd year in AA?, I could be wrong about that, but calling him up this year is probably a mistake.
2nd year in AA. The Mets don’t really use AAA for prospects so much any more. It’s kind of become a taxi squad.
who has been rushed gina? please explain. Just because a prospect doesn’t become a superstar doesn’t mean he was rushed.
Pelfrey was clearly rushed.
As was Carlos Gomez, not that it really matters now.
Milledge was also rushed.
I’m a believer that you get better competition at the AA level than the AAA level. The AA level is usually where teams stash their top prospects, where as the AAA level is where you find AAAA players and washed up veterans.
Well, why bring the Carp conversation up then conveniently mention Delgado’s struggles then come to the conclusion that Carp isn’t ready?
I know…..I know…
Let me simplify it this way. No one wanted Carp including 4 top prospects getting traded away. No one saw carp as a MLB ready player. Not that GMs cannot be wrong but let’s see him develop and sustain the progress over a period of time. I would love to see a replacement for Delgado as much as anyone but Carp is not yout solution right now. Hopefully someday he will be.
Forget Carp… I mean, he’s a C-grade prospect. The Mets need to find a way to trade for either:
1. Casey Kotchman – who the heck knows what it would take to get him, but he plays the 1B bag like our boy Keith Hernandez did, and his bat always had plus-potential.
2. Kendry Morales (AAA) – stuck behind Kotchman in the minors, but this guy can flat out rake. I’m not sure about his defense, but his bat would more than make up for any shortcomings with the glove.
3. Jason Botts – Placed on waivers by the Rangers. He can play D for s h i t, but his bat is potent.
4. John Olerud – What this guy doing these days?
I like the Botts idea since he’s on waivers. I don’t see how we could get anyone else on that list.
4. John Olerud – What this guy doing these days?
Bowling league in Kenosha.
Are you willing to trade away the few quality prospects we have left in our system for Morales or Kotchman? Because young, talented first basemen aren’t exactly a dime a dozen.
Let’s see what Carp does, and if he doesn’t cut it, then we can start looking to make a trade.
‘i guarantee carp doesn’t even get one hit in the international league this year.’
good catch, zen…especially since mets AAA is in PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE!!!! isn’t sickels supposed to be an expert???
How bout Ramon Castro at 1st. Now I know hes hurt, but maybe hes too fragile to be a catcher. With Casanova and Molina doing an Okay job as the backup, why dont we give Castro a firstbasemen’s mitt and have him start taking grounders at first. He probably wouldnt get injured every other day at first base and he will probably hit very well once he comes close to reaching 100%
Castro at first base?? are you high? sure you can’t find a fatter, more injury-prone waste of space to teach a new position to?
castro sucks…yes he has some power in his bat but he is way too injury prone – yet omar gave him a nice two year deal before he even had a starting catcher signed last year. Nice job Omar!
the guy has poor mobility as a catcher for crying out loud! how’s he going to play first?
How about we just deal with Delgado and worry about the more important issue: pitching? How many games has the bullpen blown already this year? Say we get 3 of those games back we are in first place regardless of Delgado. So why don’t we just bare down and give him a chance, he has shown flashes so I don’t think he will be as god awful as he has been so far. Then we buy out his contract and put the $12 million left towards Texiera assuming he isn’t traded. Unfortunately I don’t know how much money the Mets have and seeing how we will need to likely replace 2 SP and a LF I don’t know if we have the funds. However based on the size of Pedro’s contract as well I think signing on Texiera would be within reach. But for now just be patient with Delgado and if he continues to fail then just look foward to not having to see him next year and hope the rest of the team can pick up his slack this year.
Just in case any one is wondering, Carp is hitting .231 with a homer and 4 RBI in his last 10 games. He only has two extra base hits in that time, one of them being his homer. He was 1-for-16 in a four-game series against first place Portland. Bottom line is he needs more seasoning. Don’t let the overall stats fool you.
Did Willie comment on his ceiling and expecting him to come back to earth?
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