2. I see this every change of administration. Omar Minaya released a bunch of decent minor league players that just weren’t “his guys”. Same thing going on here. It will be interesting to watch the waivers list as the pre-season comes upon us.
3. Speaking of spring training, I'm looking for someone that will attending "within the gates" to report here on MM...
4. I agree with Adam Rubin that OF Nick Evans may be in a world of shit. The signing of Hairston and the fact that he’s out of options could mean the departure of someone no one in the front office ever warmed up to. Jerry Manual literally hated the guy. Evans, who was cross country driving guy with Jake Ruckel every spring, is one of the nicest persons you’ll ever meet, bleeds Mets blue, has done everything ever asked of him in the minors, and simply never has been given a proper shot in Queens.
5. I’m glad Mike Pelfrey is in the fold for another year, but he’s one of the few guys I wished the Mets would have locked up for 3-4 years. I’m not sure yet he’s a front line starter, but he’s definitely one of the SPs the Mets should keep around for this administration. I hope this doesn’t backfire when all this arbitration crap runs out for him.
6. Word through Adam Rubin is that Lucas Duda will play AAA in 2011, splitting time between OF and 1B. I currently have two players, Josh Satin and Eric Campbell, on the board there at first and neither is their natural position. Satin really is a second baseman, and I can’t even get Campbell himself, via email, to tell me what he is. I’ve put Satin back on second, Campbell to third… and still far too many people on the roster. My guess staying: Duda, Reese Havens, Satin, Ruben Tejada, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz, F-Mart, Hairston, Capt. Kirk, and Brahiam Madonado… out: Russ Adams, Campbell, Val Passccuchi, and DJ Wabick.
7. I see that Wilmer Flores has taken some innings playing third base in winter ball. I wouldn’t get too excited about this yet. First of all, the Mets have no control over where anyone plays there and this could just be a move to allow someone else who plays short better to move in there. It’s amazing that scout after scout will tell you that the two top bats in the system are Flores and Aderlin Rodriquez, both basically players currently without a future position.
8. Current standings on 40-man: 32 Omar people… 8 Sandy.
Happy Hairston, LOL (bring in Barry Kramer and see if he can play SS).
ReplyDeleteMy thought is that Hairston challenges Emaus as the RHB 2B complement to Murphy (+ UT OF) and Evans sticks as the RHB (1B-3B-OF). Hu has a leg up to be the emergency SS, so that leaves one spot for a LHB utility. and if Duda has a ST like Ecans did in 2009 I’d take him over Harris even though more AB’s in AAA might be better for him long term or as trade bait.
But do you know with wht weight SA, TC & crew take ST performance? Are there real contests going on?
Morning Conrad:
ReplyDeleteST performances mean very little... look at Pat Misch last year's 0.00 ERA during ST.
I believe 2B is Daniel Murphy's job to lose, regardless what he does in ST. I look for him to get the lion share of reps in April and May.
The rest is influenced on whomever was recently signed by the new brass. Believe me, positional players aren't added to a team by a new boss unless they were going to replace someone that used to play there.
>> Believe me, positional players aren't added to a team by a new boss unless they were going to replace someone that used to play there. >>
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mack, and true enough. So you see the bench (Paulino, Emaus, Harris, Hairston, Hu—all SA imports) pretty much set?
Too bad for Evans who I’ve always thought could be a valuable UT. Is it possible that the “used-to-play-there’s” are the likes of Hernandez, Pridie, Feliciano, Adams etc, not NECESSARILY the Queens bench?
I see the Queens bench being all of the new guys... word I've received is Hu is a lock.
ReplyDeleteI think you will also see changes at the AAA level.
This is what new guys do.
I thought you website was interesting until you said that 2B is Murphy's to lose. If you really believe that then I have little faith in your ability to access major league baseball players. Castillo has a 100 percent better chance to start than Murphy. Why? Because Murphy is a terrible fielder. Even Castillo is light years better than him. I guess you forgot just how bad he was in 09 with the Mets.
ReplyDeleteya see how fragile this posting business is?
ReplyDeletePaulino-Harris-Hu-Hairston have got to be heavy favorites to make the bench. That leaves one more spot and it probably needs to be a lefty to balance out the bench. I bet it's Murphy, since he can play a few different positions (not very well) and hit a little. Emaus gets the opening day spot and Castillo goes home. So yes, Evans is screwed. That said, the guy has never really performed at the major league level over any significant time period, so I bet he makes it through waivers and cools his jets at AAA.
ReplyDeleteAaron:
ReplyDeleteGoing to answer this as seperate post...
Great, first time commenter, but longtime fan of the blog. I also think this is going to be a very interesting spring training, between all the changes/competitions for the bench, 2B, and the bullpen, as I expect the rotation is set.
ReplyDeleteAnd will this be the year the Mets system moves clearly into the top 1/2 or, dare I say it, 1/3?
Aaron, going to answer this as a seperate post tomorrow
ReplyDelete