7-3-10 from: - link - The Mets have drafted several small college players in recent years, and one of their finds is outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, an NAIA star at Azusa Pacific drafted in the third round in 2008. He's making the Double-A transition this year at Binghamton with mixed results, hitting .275/.317/.468. He's got power (17 doubles, 10 homers, .193 ISO) and speed (11 steals in 14 attempts; scouts back up the numbers with positive reviews of his athleticism and strength. He also has a good throwing arm. His main problem is strike zone judgment, as shown by his low OBP and 16/66 BB/K ratio in 265 at-bats. Reports from Eastern League sources indicate that he handles fastballs well, but still has problems recognizing breaking pitches. At age 22 he still has time to work on this, but if he's rushed too fast he will struggle; he'll likely need a good dose of Triple-A. I gave him a Grade C+ in the book and see no reason to change that at this point, but I'd like to see improvement in that BB/K.
The Cincinnatti Reds signed OF Gary Mathews Jr… the Seattle Mariners traded OF Ezequiel Carerra to Cleveland… the Florida Marlins signed RP Armondo Benitez… the Houston Astros granted OF Cory Sullivan free agency… the Kansas City Royals released RP Adam Bostick… the LA Dodgers placed OF Prentice Redman on the restricted list… the Mariners also demoted 1B Mike Carp to AAA.
Traded: RHP Clint Everts to Blue Jays as player to be named in trade for OF Jorge Padilla... Placed on suspended list: RHP Scott Shaw... Recalled: RHP Bobby Parnell, C Josh Thole... Optioned to Triple-A: LHP Raul Valdes... Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Dan McDonald, RHP Jake Goldberg, RHP Michael Johnson, RHP Nick Abbott, RHP Trey Rackel, RHP Tyler Howe, RHP Zach Von Tersch, LHP Brian Valenzuela, LHP Steve Matz, C Omir Santos, 3B Eric Campbell, SS Luis Rivera... Transferred to 60-day DL: RHP Nick Abbott, LHP Brian Valenzuela, LHP Steve Matz... Placed on temporarily inactive list: LHP Angel Calero... Reinstated from inactive list: LHP Angel Calero
The Mets do not consider any of their minor league prospects to be untouchable, although they are essentially unwilling to trade outfielder Angel Pagan because of the uncertainly surrounding Carlos Beltran's health. That said, if Beltran returns next week and immediately excels - an unlikely possibility given that he has not played this season - Pagan could become more expendable. Manuel is not the only person in blue and orange who wants to see the team land an ace. Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey have said they hope the Mets acquire a top starting pitcher, and many of their teammates have said privately that they would love to have Lee. That is not a surprising view, given the pitcher's recent run of big-game dominance. Lee, the AL Cy Young Award winner with Cleveland in 2008, was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three postseason series with the Phillies last year. - link
As I have already posted, Duda is a home run machine this week and everyone is pulling out their computer, trying to find out some more info on this guy. I remember being in the Savannah lockerroomtwo seasons ago and a couple of pitchers just arrived from Brooklyn. I was yacking with them when one told me about what, in his opinion, was the best swing he had ever seen. It was Duda’s, playing for the Cyclones.
Old stuff on Duda:
Duda had a career .275 batting average at USC and hit .278 in 2007, with a team-high 6 home runs. He also performed very well last year with a wood bat in the Northwoods League.
From his college web site: 2007: In his 2007 junior season, Duda made 51 of 53 starts in left field...drafted in the seventh round by the New York Mets...led the team with seven home runs...on April 6 at No. 9 Oregon State, he hit two triples including a two-run hit to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth during USC's 4-1 victory...went 3-for-4 with two RBI on March 27 at UC Riverside... had a career day on March 25 against No. 17 Arizona State with two home runs and six RBI...hit a grand slam as part of an eight-run sixth inning against the Sun Devils and gave USC the 14-13 win with a walkoff, two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth...hit a three-run homer in USC's 6-4 win on Jan. 30 in the season opener against Cal Poly.
Duda was drafted in the 7th round of the 2007 draft by the Mets. He was signed and assigned to the 2007 Brooklyn Cyclones roster, where he batted .299/.398/.462 in 234 at bats, 4 HRs, 32 RBIs, 20 doubles, only 6 errors.
In late January 2007, Baseball America listed Lucas as the 29th top Mets prospect.
In February 2008, MiLB.com came out with their top 15 prospects out of the Hawaiian Winter League: 14. Lucas Duda, Waikiki BeachBoys, - Had Duda been entrenched in Waikiki's lineup from the get-go, instead of joining the squad midseason as an injury replacement, the slugging USC product would have competed for league all-star honors. In 15 games and a resulting 59 plate appearances, Duda notched a .340 batting average coupled with a .660 slugging percentage with six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBIs. While the Los Angeles native needs some time to smooth out a few rough edges of his game, including his defense at first base and possibly one of the corner outfield spots, Duda's raw power and size should allow him to move up the ladder quickly
Duda played the entire 2008 season for St. Lucie, hitting .263/.358/.398 in 483 at bats, 11 HRs, 66 RBIs.
In 2009, Duda made a great career move, giving up his first baseman’s glove and moving into the outfield. He finished the season on the disabled list, but produced stats of .281/.380/.428/.808, with 9-HR, 53-RBI in 395-AB.
Jan 2010 Forecast: Things are actually starting to heat up a little when it comes to Mets minor league outfielders. The trio from St. Lucie, Brahiam Maldonado, Kurt Nieuwenhuis, and Carlos Guzman, were all ranked in the league’s top 6 home run hitters in 2009. Duda was dead in the water as the future Mets first baseman, and by switching to the outfield in 2009, he gets a one year jump of the Three Amigos. The only outfield prospect ahead of him is Fernando Martinez.
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