Author Archives: Matthew Cerrone

To date in the Arizona Fall League, Mets 22-year-old OF prospect Juan Lagares is hitting .393 with a .414 OBP, a double, triple, two home runs and one walk in 28 at bats.

Meanwhile, the team’s 20-year-old 3B prospect Jefry Marte is hitting .317 with a .442 OBP, two doubles, three home runs and eight walks in 41 at bats.

Earlier this month, MiLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo ranked Marte as the team’s No. 10 prospect.

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Toby Hyde: At this point, Lagares is a no-brainer to add to the 40-man roster.

Marte is 11th in the AFL in OPS. He drew 41 walks in 131 games in St. Lucie in 2011. However, just as he’s done in the AFL, he got off to a quick start in the Florida State League. After 14 games for St. Lucie, he was hitting .340 with .433 OBP and .560 SLG with 8 walks against 13 strikeouts. What’s it mean? He’s off to a nice start in the desert, but 12 games is a painfully small number for any serious analysis.

By the way, the AFL as a whole is hitting .280 with a .450 SLG and scoring 6.13 runs per team per game. Yeah, it’s hitter friendly.

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To read Toby’s recap of how the team’s pitchers are doing in the Arizona Fall League, check out SNY’s Mets Minor League Blog.

In case you missed it, this past weekend:

The Mets granted Ryota Igarashi his outright release; and later sent Val Pascucci and righthanded pitchers Dale Thayer and Manny Alvarez to Triple-A Buffalo, removing them from the 40-man roster.

“The Mets and Yankees are tentatively planning to play two exhibition games against each other toward the end of spring training next year,” Brian Costa reported in the Wall Street Journal.

ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin confirmed WFAN host Mike Francesa’s initial report of specific changes to Citi Field. Last week, David Lennon of Newsday said the team will likely make an official announcement about changes to the ballpark after the World Series, which Rubin writes as well.

Mets infield prospect Josh Satin has been playing outfield in the Venezuelan Winter League, Rubin pointed out on Twitter. Satin is hitting .217 with one home run and two RBI in 23 at bats for Caracas, which is managed by Tim Teufel.

NPB Tracker’s Patrick Newman says 25-year-old Japanese RHP Yu Darvish remains undecided about leaving Japan and signing with a Major League team. Last week, 84% of people who voted on MetsBlog.com said Darvish was not worth paying $50 million to talk with to then give him a $75 million, five-year contract.

According to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, if the White Sox decide to cut payroll, they’ll likely move on from Mark Buehrle (who is eligible to be a free agent this winter).

Lastly, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Angels will interview Omar Minaya as they continue to talk with candidates about their vacant GM position.

In 1986, then 41-year-old Tom Seaver was a member of the Boston Red Sox, but he was unable to pitch in the World Series due to a torn ligament in his knee.

In October, 1986, Seaver told the New York Post (courtesy of MetsPolice):

“I’m here to help the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Mets. I’ll contribute in any way I can…Who should I be for, the Mets?”

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Michael Baron: I was six years old in 1986, but was already aware of Seaver’s place in Mets history.

In fact, I wore this custom-made Mets jersey with his name and number on it to both Game Two and Game Six of the World Series: (more…)

“Mets fans do need to realize that its a business, and there’s a real possibility [Jose Reyes] is with another team next season.  If it happens, the team will move on without him, and will likely be just fine in the long run.  It’s hard to imagine, but things will be ok.  It’s like getting dumped in high school.  When it happens, it feels terrible, like you’ll never find anyone else.  But eventually everything works out and you look back and laugh.”

~ Chris Matassino, SNY Why Guys

In his weekly column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo says the Phillies are unlikely to sign Reyes due to how much money it could take.

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Michael Baron: I was far more confident a month ago that Reyes would be back in 2012. I still believe both sides wanting to come to an agreement holds some value. But there might ultimately be a large difference in opinion between the Mets and Reyes’ camp in terms of Jose’s overall value right now, and once he hits the open market (which he will), I do fear that as time goes on, the chances of him returning further dwindle. (more…)

Last month, Sandy Alderson suggested that next year’s closer is not currently on the roster and intimated to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York he isn’t averse to signing a big ticket closer. Although, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, while Alderson recognizes the need for a reliable closer, he recently said he would like “options” in the bullpen, saying:

“I think [the closer] is a spot where a team has to have some confidence that those saves are going to be converted, routinely and at a certain level. … [Bullpens] can be unpredictable. But one has to account for that unpredictability, which means you have to have lots of options. … You have to have players that can go to Triple-A and come back. But you also have to hit on two or three guys that can be effective for you.”

Among the notable free agent closers available this winter are Francisco Rodriguez, Heath Bell, Jonathan Papelbon, Matt Capps, Jonathan Broxton, and Ryan Madson. Those with contracts expiring and have club options include Brad Lidge, Kyle Farnsworth, Francisco Cordero, Jon Rauch, Joe Nathan, and Rafael Soriano.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark says Lidge would consider a setup role with a new team next season.

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Michael Baron:I don’t expect Sandy to sign a closer to a lucrative, long term contract. Nor do I expect him to sacrifice multiple draft picks to sign a closer, as would likely be the case with signing pitchers such as Madson, Bell, Farnsworth, or Capps. It’s not to say signing one of them wouldn’t work out in the short term, but rarely do such moves work out over the long term and signing such a closer likely limits his ability to further enhance the bullpen this winter.  (more…)

In a report for the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Baxter says Omar Minaya will interview for the Angels General Manager position.

Since Tony Reagins resigned from the job, the Angels have spoken to Rick Hahn, Kim Ng, Jerry DiPoto, and both Billy Eppler and Damon Oppenheimer who are executives in the Yankees organization.

In an interview with WFAN August, Minaya said he was no longer doing work for the Mets, as he was serving as an advisor to numerous general managers around the league on trades. He did express an interest in becoming a general manager again.

In the Venezuelan Winter League, Josh Satin is hitting .217 with one home run and two RBI in 23 at bats so far for Caracas, which is managed by Tim Teufel.

In a post to Twitter, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York says Satin has been serving as the team’s designated hitter and has seen time in the outfield so far this winter.

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Michael Baron: Satin had a very good year in the minors this past season. He appears capable of playing the corner infield positions, but with a healthy David Wright and Ike Davis likely playing 150+ games at those positions next season, he probably wouldn’t get much playing time. I think he can be very valuable and get a lot of at bats at the big league level if he proves he can play the outfield as well, similar to what guys like the Rays’ Ben Zobrist and Sean Rodriguez can do (although it remains to be seen if Satin can be as productive as Zobrist), and obtaining that kind of talent flexibility is part of the strategy I would like Sandy Alderson to employ when it comes to retooling the roster in general.

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Satin was the Mets minor league player of the year in 2011 and was named to the Eastern League All-Star team this summer. It was the third consecutive season he has reached an All-Star Game in the minor leagues.

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