Mets Positional Future - C

Positional Future – C

Current Mets:

Brian Schneider – Schneider turned out to be just as advertises; a .250-260 hitter who plays excellent defense and someone the starting pitchers will fall in love with behind the plate. He was dinged up more than expected, but the Mets had a capable backup when needed.
Ramon Castro - One of the best back-up catchers in baseball, Castro is a very timely hitter who wins a team many more games than other back-ups in the league.

Pipeline:

Francesco Pena – 19-years old – Pena has had two years in Savannah that have been less than exciting, but he still is the Mets top catching prospect and he will play 2009 at 19 years old.

Josh Thole – 22-years old - came out of nowhere this past season, took the starting job away from Sean McCraw, and batted .300 after a full season at Lucy.

Dock Doyle - 23-yrs old - 2008: In 2008, Doyle impressed at Kingsport (.308) and eventually was promoted to Brooklyn. His combined stats were: .303/.382/.389 in 175 at bats. It’s a rare thing having a Mets minor league catcher batting over .300. I expect Doyle to be fast tracked due to his age, but he’s in a catcher logjam behind Pena (scheduled for Lucy) and Thole (scheduled for B-Mets).


Draft Needs:

This one is simply. You never have enough catching prospects in your system. I believe this is one of the key positions that the Mets will try and solve in next year’s International signing period, as well as the draft. Pena has a long way to go to prove to Omar that he will catch some day in Citifield.


Trade Needs:

Normally, I would say that a team like the Mets need to go out and get themselves a big time catcher, but word is everyone is thrilled with the two-headed monster named Brian Castro. I think the Mets will spend their bucks in the off-season on pitching and the outfield, and let this animal alone for another year.