7-8-10: - I know the last thing that Mets fans think they need right now is a new first base prospect, but trust me, no one is safe in the baseball world. The Yankees considered trading Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee which makes one realize that there surely is a price out there for Ike Davis. I’m sure he’s not going anywhere this year, but it’s nice to know that they Mets seem to striking gold right now is Savannah with Travis Ozga.
Ozga is a 41st round 2009 draft pick that played a little for the GCL Mets last season, and hit a little less than that: .194/.279/.226/.505. Frankly, I didn’t think he’d be back this season, what with Alex Gregory, Jeff Flagg, Eddie Lora, Luke Stewart, Alexander Sanchez, and Marinus Vernooij in the system; but I was wrong again, and Ozga reported to Kingsport… for one game.
Savannah was looking for someone to spell Gregory, and the obvious move would have been to bring back Flagg, who was banished to Brooklyn after a slow start in April. Flagg has put his game together and I guess Mets brass like what they see in Coney Island… so up comes Ozga to Savannah.
So far, this looks like a killer move. Ozga’s stats for the season for the Gnats are: .371/.425/.514/.939, with only 6-Ks and 4-BB.
Opinion: I haven't met this kid yet, but I am going to go out of my way during the next Gnats home series to spend some time with him. This is pure bonus for the Gnats and it will be interesting to see who gets the nod next spring at St. Lucie, Flaff of Ozga.
From school website: - Senior (2009): Season Stats - Not only played excellent defense at first base but drove in 44 runs... one of just three four-year seniors on FAU's 2009 roster (William Block and Alex Pepe)... began the year hitting .423 in FAU's first seven games... went on to hit .400-plus through the first 14 games, helping FAU start the season 13-3... reeled off an FAU season-high 19-game hitting streak from March 1 through April 4... had 19 multi-hit games, including a team-leading seven games with three hits or more... doubled and scored two runs to help FAU beat No. 17 Florida (3/4)... went 3-for-5 with a season-high four RBI in an early-season SBC game vs. UALR (3/7)... went on to hit 10 doubles and four homers against Sun Belt Conference pitching... held an average of .331 as of May 5.. went 3-for-4 with a homer, double and two RBI against South Alabama (4/3)... had a season-high four hits and homered in a victory against Bethune-Cookman (4/15)... went 6-for-12 with three doubles in a late-season series at Western Kentucky (Apr. 24-26)... homered in four of his last six collegiate games and finished the season on a six-game hitting streak... matched a season-high by going 4-for-5, with a triple and four RBI in FAU's 16-6 victory over rival FIU (5/21) at the SBC Tournament in Troy, Alabama... hit a walk-off homerun in that game against FIU (5/21), ending the game (and FIU's season) in the eighth inning with the mercy rule... finished the season hitting .312 with eight homers and 68 hits, starting in 53 of FAU's 56 games hitting in the heart of FAU's batting order.
Frm: - http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ - Ozga (6-2, 215), a three-year starter, hit .312 this year with eight home runs and 44 RBI. He started in 53 of FAU's 56 games. Ozga went to Pope John Paul II before enrolling at FAU. It was the highest average of his career (.303 in 2008, .282 in 2007). Ozga, a switch hitter, can also play catcher.
7-9-10: - RHP Yohan Almonte (3-2) earned his third win of the season with 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five batters without isuing a walk
Opinion: Almonte is a little off the the prospect radar right now, which is just fine. The Mets are starting to realize that the pitchers they thought would be the next generation of Queens starters (Jeurys Familia, Robert Carson, Brad Holt) just aren't maturing properly. Pitchers like Almonte will be moved along a little faster because of this. I don't expect to ever see him in Savannah and he will most probably start the 2011 season in the Lucy rotation.
Old stuff on Yohan:
Almonte was signed as an international unsigned free agent in 2007.
He pitched well in his first pro season for the DSL Mets (2008: 3-3, 2.95), and split time in 2009 with the GCL Mets and Kingsport… 4-1, 3.45, in 13-starts. Almonte also struck out 57 in 62.2-IP.
7-4-10: - Almonte pitched another good outing for Brooklyn Saturday night. The 20-year old righthander went 5.2 innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out four. His season ERA is down to 3.63 in four starts
7-10-10: - As we all know, Moore has had a wonderful career so far as a Mets. This year, he pitched excellently at Savannah (2.49, 0.9i in 14-G) and has been making the adjustment at the A+ level with St. Lucie. Friday night was a good outing: 6.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-Ks. He did give up four walks, but, for the season, he's 1-1, 2.65, .141 for Lucy.
We're all still waiting for Moore to show some cracks... he's 15-9 as a Met... but so far, he easily has cracked the Mets top 25 prospect list.
Opinion: This is a very good pitcher, though I'm not sure if he's a future Mets starter. There's only five of them at any given time and Moore's ETA is 2013 at the latest. Three of those 2013 slots (Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey) are off the table and he will be competing with a lot of other guys, trade possiblities, and free agents, between now and then. I like Moore for the Mets bullpen, but for now, he'll finish the season in Florida and pitch for the B-Mets rotation in 2011. Oh yeah... don't know if this helps, but he's a really nice guy.
Old stuff on Moore:
From local paper day after first day of draft: - After Day 1 of the Major League Baseball draft, (Brandon) Moore and Cameron Hobson still remain hopeful. Although the Crawfordsville graduates weren't drafted Thursday, they still have 44 more rounds to go. Moore just completed his senior year at Indiana Wesleyan University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school in Marion, Ind. He finished with a 9-3 record this year and led the Wildcats to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) championship game and runner-up finish. He ranked third in the NAIA in strikeouts per nine innings (12.21), sixth in opponents' batting average (.164) and eighth in ERA (1.64). He was also recently named a Second-Team All-American NAIA player and NCCAA Pitcher of the Year.
From: http://www.thepaper24-.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=16213 - From the article "This is huge," Indiana Wesleyan Coach Mark DeMichael said. "(Brandon Moore) has an unbelievable opportunity. Scouts liked his size, his height and the fact his build is going to get stronger . . . You put that along with the increased velocity on his fastball, it's increased by mile per hour or two every year since his freshman year, and you combine that with his body improvement, and he hasn't his reached peak. He also has a major league slider and throws in the low 90s. You throw a slider, you're a prospect."
In 2008, Moore pitched for both Kingsport (2-0, 0.90, 1.00, in six games, two starts, 22-K in 20.0-IP) and Brooklyn (3-1, 9.00, 2.14 in 8 relief appearances).
He returned to Brooklyn for a complete season in 2009 and did good: 6-3, 2.09, 0.95, in 13 starts, 2-CG, 2-SH, 71-K, 17-BB, 82.0-IP.
Moore’s combined two-year stats are: 11-4, 2.31, 1.04.
1-1-2010 Forecast: No one expected this much from Moore, so this is all bonus time. Frankly, he’s had one of the better first two years any Mets SP has had in the past ten years. I expect him to bypass Savannah and go straight to Lucy in the spring.
4-14-10: - Moore pitched a “perfect” first outing, giving up nothing and ending with an organizational leading 0.00 WHIP. I asked him “you're the organizational leader in lowest WHIP (0.00)... after the first week... know it's early, and you're not going to deal up any secrets here, but what's working well for you right now?”Moore answered: “I’m just getting on the mound and pitching the way i always have. I have the mind set no one can beat me. My thing is I dont care who is at the plate. I know i can get them out.” Boy, we could use a little of this thinking in Queens right now.
5-30-10 from: - http://myworldofbaseball.com/wordpress/?cat=4 2 - Brandon Moore RHP - Brandon is the righthanded version of Mark, though he is much lighter in weight. Last year he was 6-3, 2.09, but missing out on making the All Star team. This year with Savannah he is 2-3, 1.92 with an impressive 6/67 walk to K ratio in 52 innings. He was drafted two rounds after Mark Cohoon.
6-27-10: - Moore had his first A+ outing and faired a lot better than his buddy Cohoon… 6.0-IP, 2-ER, 6-K, 3-BB, 3.00 ERA… and the win
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