Q&A Weekend: - Players Missing in Instruction League

In response to "A Closer Look At The Instruction Team Roster", Hobie wrote:


This is exactly the stuff that makes me a Mack's Mets regular. Thanks. I too am disappointed at the exclusion of Angel Cuan, Mitch Houck, and Juan Centeno. And I'll add Javier Rodriguez to that list. What's up with that?

There are so many different reasons why minor leaguers get sent to Instruction Leagues. Some are working on old injuries, while other shaking off the cobwebs from being dormant since being picked as a draft pick. Still more work on new approached to the game and some simply have too much team money invested in them to be ignored.

The roster this month in Ft. Myers looks like all of the ones in the past, imperfect, because there is always more people needing work that slots in these leagues. The good part is 50+ Mets minor leaguers will get a winter assignment somewhere, everywhere from Columbia to Hawaii.

I talked to Houck earlier this week and he was shut down early in August to prevent being overworked from recent TJS surgery. That's a good enough reason for me.

Cuan and Centeno just seem to have missed the cut. Regarding Cuan, I never have seen a larger bunch of recently successful minor league SPs that will wind up somewhere between SP5 on the Mets and the Long Island Ducks.

You have to go with the tools when things get crowded and, in the case of SPs, velocity and movement are the tools. Add to that a limited roset and draft picks that got no work this past season, and Cuan has to hope for a winter assignment.

Lastlly, regarding J-Rod, he will surface somewhere on a winter team. Here's a true Mets prospect and he doesn't have to go to Ft. Myers, bascially becasue they don't carry many outfielders on that team and there are others they need to directly work with right now.

In the world of tools, ceilings, and raw talent (remember, if the talent wasn't raw they'd be in Queens), your true Mets outfield prospects that have a chance of being a starter in Queen someday are Wilmer Flores in 2013, Darrell Ceciliani in 2014, Rodriquez in 2015, and Gilbert Gomez in 2016. The rest are steak knives.