10/14/11

Cutnpaste: - Juan Centeno, Matt Harvey, Mike Peters, Payroll Cutting, Eric Simon on Jose


10-3-11: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/season-review-the-full-season-catchers  - Pena’s back-up, Juan Centeno, who turns 22 in November, is interesting. He’s tiny (listed at 5’9″, 172 lbs) but he makes contact and hit .318/.368/.382 in 157 AB spread over 52 games. The Mets rewarded him with a trip to the Arizona Fall League, where he can prove he deserves a spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll be rule 5 eligible this winter, and while it’s a stretch to think a team would want to carry him on their MLB roster all year in 2012, the Nationals did pluck Jesus Flores from the Mets straight from the Florida State League. Centeno threw out 39% of opposing base-stealers (19 of 49). After backing up Blake Forsythe in Brooklyn in 2010, and Pena in St. Lucie in 2011, he seems poised to grab the bulk of the playing time in double-A Binghamton next year.

10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965f - Top five Met prospects -  Sunday, October 9, 2011 - The Record - 1. Matt Harvey, RHP, 22 (13-5 with a 3.32 ERA at Class A St. Lucie and AA Binghamton): Minor-league pitchers are tough to count on, but he’s as close to a sure thing as the Mets have. Power, command and a presence led to a solid – and sensational at times – first year in pro ball. Mets project him as a late 2012 call-up.

The Mets have cleaned out their lockers and gone home, and given their third consecutive fourth-place finish and the need to cut payroll, it’s a fair bet that numerous players who finished the season with the team will not return next spring.  The list almost certainly includes reliever Ryota Igarashi, whose two-year contract is up. He compiled a 5-2 record but an unsightly 5.74 earned run average during his disappointing tenure, and whatever future he may have in the major leagues is not likely to include an address at Citi Field. His departure also means that Mike Peters, his interpreter, probably will not be back in Queens, either. Though interpreters are employees of the team, they are indelibly tied to the fate of a specific player, and when the player leaves, the interpreter often goes with him. Still, Peters relished his time in New York, even if fans are likely to forget Igarashi, who never met the high hopes the Mets had for him. Peters’s first full-time job in Major League Baseball was particularly special because he grew up a Mets fan in suburban Westchester County. He has fond memories of attending games at Shea Stadium after his Japanese classes in nearby Corona let out every Saturday. – www.newyorktimes.com

The Mets cutting payroll is not a strategy, no matter how the organization tries to spin it. - http://thebaseballscribe.com/2011/10/11/random-thoughts-on-theo-popularity-and-playoffs

I suspect the lowest he'd sign for is something like five years and $90 million, though I think it'll be more like six years and $120 million with the possibility that some crazy team will give him seven years and $140+ million (i.e., Carl Crawford money). He's a better player than Crawford but much less reliably healthy. I think Reyes is too important to the franchise for the Mets to walk away from him without making an earnest attempt to sign him to a fair contract that appropriately rewards him for his talent and likely future contributions to the franchise without crippling them financially for years to come. My guess is that they'll get a deal done, but as much as I love Reyes, he's not a sign-at-all-costs player. He derives so much value from his legs, and should those particular limbs prove unspectacular in a few years, he doesn't draw enough walks or hit for enough raw power to make up for any significant loss of speed - http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2011/10/12/2484736/5-questions-with-new-york-mets-expert-eric-simon

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