The Mack Report – November 26, 2010 – PM Edition

Continuing our prospect slotting…

66. RP Samuel Taveras – 22/yrs. old – 2011 will be Taveras’ 5th year as a Met and he only now will be playing for a full season team. Struggled in 2009 for Kingsport, but turned it around for combo KPort/Brooklyn in 2010 (4-1, 2.89, 18-G, 28-K, 28-IP). He’s a 6-2 control righty. Nothing special here, just good pitching.

2011: Savannah pen
2012: St. Lucie’s pen

67. CL Chad Sheppard - 22/yrs. old - here is another of the forgotten 2010 draft picks that signed late and never reported to a Mets team last season. A real rough diamond here who was not expected to be signed. He’s a 6-4 righty redshirt sophomore who’s fast ball sits at 96. You can’t teach velo, folks, but you can teach everything else. This is your classic closer who will open at Brooklyn. In fact, don’t try and teach him anything!
Update:  Got this email from Chad Wednesday night:  "Hi Mack, yeah I'm back to 100%. My arm has been feeling great since I finished up with PT. As far as I know I should def be ready for spring training and look forward to starting my throwing program soon."
2011: Brooklyn closer
2012: St. Lucie’s closer

68. SP Chris Hilliard - 23/yrs. old - Hilliard made quite a splash for himself in Brooklyn last season and was as much of an SP1 as Armondo Rodriquez was. He was a later round CC kid who was known for throwing three plus pitchers. No lightning speed here but a lot of accuracy… and a lefty. He needs to moving, but is blocked by B-Met/Lucy logjam. Current ETA would have him 26 years old and still looking for an opening.

2011: Savannah rotation

2012: Probably converted to a St. Lucie reliever

69. 3B Joe Bonfe - 23/yrs. old - we spend so much time talking about infield prospects on this team, but there’s never a word about Bonfe. A 21st rounder in 2009, Bonfe has hit .327/.426/.462/.888 in 2009 for K-Port, and .326/.388/.426/.814 for Brooklyn last year. He fits perfectly into ST. Lucie next year, leaving Aderlin Rodrigues to mature in Savannah. Not considered a prospect, but may lead the organization in the last two year’s combined batting average.

2011: St. Lucie

2012: The next guy converted to a second baseman

70. OF Pedro Zapata – 23/yrs. old - Like Bonfe, Zapata is the forgotton Mets prospect when it comes to talking about outfielders. He had an excellent season in 2010 for Savannah, going .288/.343/.384/.726 in 365-AB. Got bumped to Lucy (167-AB) where he held his own (.246). Problem is there no pop here (2-HRs his whole professional career) and there are enough fast no-pop outfielders in the system already. He’ll push through at the normal pace and then…

2011: Binghamton

2012: Buffalo



So… here’s what our rosters look like so far for the 2011 season, based on 2012 need:


Buffalo (15):

Rotation: (2) - SP Jenrry Mejia, Josh Stinson
Relievers: (4) – Manny Alvarez, Jose De La Torre, Roy Merritt, Michael O’Connor

Catchers: (1) – Mike Nickeas

Infielders: (5) – 1B/3B Eric Campbell, 1B/2B Josh Satin, 2B/SS Reese Havens, 2B/SS Jordany Valdespin, 3B Zach Lutz

Outfielders: (3) – Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda

Binghamton (16):

Rotation: (6) – Jeurys Familia, Robert Carson, Eric Beaulac, Mark Cohoon, Brandon Moore, Chris Schwinden

Relievers: (5) – Nick Carr, Brant Rustich, Brad Holt, Scott Moviel, Eric Turgeon

Catchers: (1) – Kai Gronauer

Infielders (2) – SS Rylan Sandoval, 3B Wilmer Flores

Outfielders (2) – Sean Ratliff, Pedro Zapata



St. Lucie (12):

Rotation (5) – Matt Harvey, Kyle Allen, Yohan Almonte, Collin McHugh, Jimmy Fuller

Relievers (2) – Eric Goeddel, Ryan Fraser

Catchers (0) –

Infielders (2) – SS Robbie Shields, 3B Joe Bonfe

Outfielders (3) – Cesar Puello, Corey Vaughn, Matt den Dekker



Savannah (11):

Rotation: (2) – Greg Peavey, Chris Hilliard

Closer: (1) – Ryan Fraser

Relievers: (2) – T.J. Chism, Samuel Tavares

Catchers: (1) – Albert Cordero

Infielders: (2) – SS Wilfredo Tovar, 3B Aderlin Rodriquez

Outfielders: (3) – Darrell Ceciliani, Javier Rodriguez, Jenry Marte



A few observations at this point…

You will notice the lack of relief prospects at this point of this drill… frankly, that’s normal at the lower levels. Half the relief pitchers in baseball tend to be failed starters, who get switched either at the AA or AAA level. You’re going to see a lot more of that in a year when all those 88mph righties in the upper level rotations have no place to go.

The Mets are still lacking in a decent amount of good catchers. And remember… you need five for every two teams plus 3-4 more in extended camp after the short seasons start.
The B-Met rotation is six deep and two of these guys will be piggybacked in the first month. And, that doesn’t even count Brad Holt, who could wind up back for one last try.