Mets 2009 "Big Board" - RP

Mets 2009 “Big Board” – RP

Okay, this gets messy real quick.

First of all, each team will carry somewhere between 8-10 relief pitchers on their active roster. Since there are 7 stateside teams, that makes a full pen in the range of 56-70 names. Well, as of right now, there are 67 RPs on the board, and that doesn’t include this year’s draft, Latin signings, free agents,and additional DSL and VSL promotions.

Now, a couple of these guys did get through the Rule V and may still be technically unsigned, but they are listed on the official roster, so that’s good enough for me.

One additional point: The last couple of drafts have been particularly successful for finding quality prospect material for the Mets pen, especially the 2008 draft. By my count, there are 12 “prospects” at various levels, most of which will play this year for Lucy. I’ll highlight them as we go team for team.

AAA-Buffalo:

Current on the board: Rocky Cherry – Eddie Kunz – Carlos Muniz – Darren O’Day – Connor Robertson – Edgar Alfonzo – Joe Hietpas – Eddie Camacho – Juan Padilla

This just might be the actual group that comes out of ST and flies to Buffalo for the first of many snow-outs. Kunz is your prospect here, though I suggest you don’t look at his stats with the Mets last year, or his winter one’s either. Camacho might not make the final roster, and two guys (Elvys Quesada and Yury Santana) could jump AA and move directly here from Lucy.

AA-Binghamton:

Currently on the board: Elvys Quezada – Nick Carr – Ryan Coultas – Emary Frederick – German Marte – Edgar Ramirez – Tim Stronach – Yury Santana

This is probably one less than the amount the team will carry and there might be three openings if both Quezada and Santana go to Buffalo. No problem. There are six prospects on the Lucy board just dying to come north. By the way, none of the names above are considered prospect material, though both Frederick and Stronach are borderline.

A+ - St. Lucie:

Currently on the board: Steve Cheney – Stephen Clyne – James Fuller – Jimmy Johnson – Roy Merritt – Christopher Schwinden – Nick Abel – Jose Bierd – Junior Guerra – Julio Polanco – Josh Stinson – Nick Waechter.

At least three too many names here. I’m not sure what the future of Guerra is. He was horrendous in winter ball, but has the age and experience to go as high as AAA. Cheney, Clyne, Fuller, Johnson, Merrit, and Schwinden are all coming off all-star years and are solidly on my prospect list. The Mets tend to push quality relievers, especially the college boys, so don’t be surprised some of these names wind up a B-Met come the end of March. Now comes the real log jam.

A – Savannah:

Currently on the board: John Holdzkom – Manuel Oliveros – Rhiner Cruz – Brad Burns – Michael Houck – Jason Lavorgna – Samuel Martinez – Michael Powers – Steven Puhl – Nathan Vineyard – Matias Carrillo – Jeffrey Kaplan – Pedro P. Martinez – Wendy Rosa – Eric Turgeon

At least six, many seven of these guys have to go somewhere other than here.And, trust me, there’s no room in either Binghamton or Brooklyn either. A couple of casualties should be Burns and Vineyard, who is rumored to have quit baseball. The only prospect on this list is Powers, who could easily go straight to Lucy like the other ones listed on that team. Right now, the only other locks to remain in the organization seem to be Hodlzkom, and Martinez. This could be quite the blood bath in the later part of March.

A-low – Brooklyn:

Currently on the board: Manuel Alvarez – Travis Babin – Jorge Rodriquez – Zach Rosenbaum – Robert Carson – Chris Hilliard – Luis Rojas – Jonathan Sanchez

Carson and Hillard are both prospect material and will be watched closely. The rest could all be affected by whomever the Mets draft this year, though I expect them not to concentrate on this position in the high rounds.

Rookie – Kingsport:

Currently on the board: Brandon Moore – Thomas Paredes – Santiago Valdez – Nick Abbott – Kyle Allen – Julio Bello – Rogers Figueroa – Jacob Goldberg – Johnathan White
Moore is your prospect here, though many are high on Allen as well.

Rookie – GCL Mets:

Currently on the board: Tim Erickson – Tony Feliz – Mike Lynn – Pedro E. Martinez – Timothy Smith – Samuel Tavares

Tavares is a Latin prospect who pitched lights out last year for the DSL team.