The Mack Attack - 1-4-9

The Future of the Mets At Short:

Okay, the Mets are not going to trade Jose Reyes, and frankly, there’s a good chance he will end his career wearing Mets blue, err, black, err, green, whatever.But, even going under that assumption, it is becoming obvious that the Mets may have a phenom in the making with prospect Wilmer Flores (Mack’s Mets prospect #1). But first, let’s go team-by-team:Buffalo will hand the glove to ex-prospect Jose Coronado, especially after his good showing in the winter league this year. The B-Mets get the mystery man, once thought-to-be-a-future-phenom Ruben Tejada should repeat Lucy, but that’s where another 2008 dud, Juan Legares, will repeat instead. But, it’s Savannah that looks like the start of Flores’ 2009 year. Luis Nieves will probably wind up as a utility player at Lucy, land Reece Havens (Mack’s Mets prospect #20) will most probably repeat Brooklyn. That leaves Matt Smith as a utility Cloner, and Miquel Tejada for K-Port. There is no one slated for the GCL team as of today, so expect some drafting here.There’s a lot of speculation that Flores will be converted someday to either an outfield position or first base, which makes a lot of sense, especially since he is currently limited at best as a defensive infielder. But, boy, what a bat, and I would expect the Mets brass are drooling over the future of Jose and Wilmer having lockers next to each other.

MLB – NY Mets:

Kevin Kernan/NYP: - The other New York pitching move also involves a Boras client, Derek Lowe. The Mets have made a three-year, $36 million offer to Lowe but will have to up the ante to get that signing done. Lowe is a difference-maker. Philadelphia would be the perfect spot for Lowe, a ground-ball pitcher in that Wiffle Ball park, but the World Champions probably will not spend that kind of money. Someone will, though. Lowe is too valuable a pitcher. If the right-hander, who always makes 30-plus starts, were to go back to the Red Sox, that would be a blow to the Yankees. "If he goes to Philadelphia," explains an NL East scout, "the Phillies lock up the division again. A guy like Lowe is so valuable. It's shocking to me that he hasn't moved up higher in the market place. Ground balls always project." Lowe will turn 36 next season, but has shown no signs of slowing down. He is the kind of starter the Mets need to go along with Johan Santana. In 14 of his final 24 starts, Lowe went seven innings or more. That saves a bullpen and a team. Six times Lowe's teams have made it to the postseason, including four of the last eight years. Derek Lowe gets it done.

David Lennon/Newsday: - If I was GM, however, and I could get Manny Ramirez for two years, I'd make a serious play for him, even with the steep price. In the first year, you'd get the honeymoon phase and in the second, he'd be playing for a contract again, so there's really no time for him to be a negative influence, as Ramirez was during his final weeks in Boston. And don't count out Pedro Martinez just yet. As long as Petey remains unsigned, the Mets are bound to be a factor, and they could easily add him after Lowe or Perez. Martinez liked playing for the Mets. But will he fit as a back end of the rotation starter? And at what price? That seems difficult to gauge at this point, but it will be interesting to follow in the days and weeks ahead.

From John/Mets Geek: - Let’s take a look at his pitches. Putz fastball is a 4-seamer and a very good one, averaging a tick over 95 mph. Aside from that, look at the movement compared to K-Rod. His pitch has much more horizontal movement than K-Rod’s. It makes sense to me why Putz uses his fastballs at a higher percentage compared to K-Rod’s. Putz’s made off-speed pitch is his split finger fastball. The pitch enters the strike zone as a fastball but then takes a drastic drop. Nearly 10 mph difference than his fastball and dropping over 6 inches and a half makes this pitch extremely difficult for batters to handle. Putz’s third pitch is a slider. This pitch IMO is Putz‘s weakness as it doesn’t have a whole lot of vertical drop to it at all. Later in the article we will see if this pitch was effective or not for him. His last pitch is his curveball. Although only thrown over 2% of the time, Putz does indeed have a very nice 12-6 curveball. I am a bit surprised he doesn’t throw this pitch more often.

AA-B-Mets:

Mets Geek on SP Dylan Owen: - In tying for the Mets’ minor league lead in wins, the 22-year old Owen earned a number of followers as one of the Mets 2007 big three late round college pitching picks. Along with Dillon Gee, and Mike Antonini, the Mets added pitching depth to a depleted organization post the Johan Santana deal. While Owen’s numbers compare favorably to the two aforementioned players, his future prospects likely do not. For starters, Owen is pretty small, as his listed height of 5′11″ seems closer to 5′10″ from what I have read. Pedro Martinez aside, righties under six feet rarely have major league success. Of course a fan will throw out Tim Lincecum as another successful pitcher under six feet, but he’s a true freak of nature. Owen is not. With good control and average stuff, pitchers similar to Owen often struggle against advanced competition. His 5.51 ERA in a short, but possibly telling, Double-A stint points to 2009 being a true test of Owen’s mettle. Remember, Dillon Gee dominated in his limited time in Double-A and Antonini will receive numerous opportunities because he’s a lefty. If Antonini and Gee are A’s, Owen is a B or B- leaving him with a very iffy future.

Rookie – GCL:

Every once in awhile, someone asks me just how many Mets minor leaguers either make the Bigs or make the Bigs as a Met. I usually smile when that happens because it always reminds me of the first day of ST and I’m standing in the locker room of one of the young Mets affiliates and I know it in my heart that every kid in there thinks he’s going to be a Met someday. Then I do the math. Below is the GCL Mets roster 10 years ago. You can do this with any team in the league:

1999 GCL Mets: Cory Harris - Enrique Cruz - Leandro Arias - Josh Mike Jacobs - Noel Devarez - Justo Brito - Forrest Lawson - Robert McIntyre -David Abreu - Josh Bell - David Marc - Kenji Garcia - Larnell Hamn - Wayne Lydon - Manuel Reyes - Roberto Lugo - Ron Acuna - Mathias Fafard - Alex Escobar - Vicente Rosario - Jason Osborn - Matt Dyer -Orlando Roman - Rafael Lopez - Joey Cole - Josh Hopper - Neal Musser - Robert Pepen - Michael Gauger - Matt Sollenberger - Shaun Mikkola - Neftali Guerrero -

2010 Free Agents:

Right Fielders: - Jermaine Dye (36) - $12MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout - Brian Giles (39) - Vladimir Guerrero (34) - Geoff Jenkins (35) - $7.5MM mutual option with a $1.25MM buyout - Austin Kearns (30) - $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Jason Michaels (34) - Xavier Nady (31) - Magglio Ordonez (36) - $15MM club/vesting option with a $3MM buyout - Jayson Werth (31) - Randy Winn (36)

Alumni:

From NYDN: - Fans sent Anthony Young all sorts of good-luck talismans while he was enduring his infamous losing streak - four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, rabbit's feet. One woman gave him her treasured $2 bill. Psychics called the Met offices offering aid. Letters of encouragement poured in from folks who sat in the bleachers as well as Hall of Famer Bob Feller. More than 15 years after his record 27-game losing streak ended, Young still holds onto his memories of "what I'm known for," as he puts it. He still has most of the trinkets, stored in his attic in the same box he kept them in at his locker at Shea. Recently, he says, he poked around in the box and watched several old videotapes - his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and a meeting he had with the family of Cliff Curtis, the pitcher who set the record from 1910-11 that Young eventually broke. Nowadays, deep into a coaching career, Young gets occasional reminders from the kids on the five select teams he oversees. "Once they find out you were in the big leagues, they 'Google' you," Young says. "Then they say, 'Coach, you're known for a losing streak!'" Young, who will be 43 later this month, had a 9-5 job at a chemical plant for eight years after his playing career ended in 1996. But he wanted to coach and now runs five different teams of kids from 9-13 years old in Houston, his hometown. He also gives private pitching lessons as part of his own company, AY Enterprise.


Mack
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