The Keepers: - #46 - 1B Alan Dykstra

46.   Allan Dykstra    1B

Dykstra was a first round draft pick (23rd overall) by San Diego in 2008.

He played a few professional games in 2008, and then had two disappointing seasons in 2009 (A: .226/.397/.375/.772, 11-HR, 60-AB) and 2010 (A+ - .241/.372/.438/.810, 16-HR, 70-AB).

He also has shown a remarkable ability to draw walks, especially for a ”slugger’: 208 vs. 902 official at bats.

He was traded to the Mets in the 2010-2011 off-season for P Eddie Kunz.

3-29-11: - the Eddie Kunz for Allan Dykstra deal has nothing but upside for the Mets. I like Kunz and I thought he was going to a big time closer, but the Omar Minaya Mets rushed him just like they did to most of the minor leaguers that showed promise early on.  The 6-5, 240 pound Dykstra was a big-time 1st round pick (23rd overall) by San Diego in 2008. He his 49-HR/166-RBI in 173-G over a 3-year period for Wake Forest. He has played two seasons in the minors, rising to A+, and has hit 27-HR, 130-RBI in 797-AB. It seems to me that Dykstra, who will play 2011 as a 24-year old, will replace nick Evans as the number one first base prospect in the system. He also has options.

4-27-11 - About the only thing that came out of this game good is the fact that once top baseball prospect 1B Alan Dykstra had three hits. Remember, this is someone they now say has flopped as a baseball player, and he still hit 16 home runs last year.

5-15-11: - I wanted to spend a few minutes on 1B Alan Dykstra. In terms of a prospect, yes, he has been a bust. He was a big time prospect when he was picked in the first round, 23rd overall, by the San Diego Padres, in 2008. His OPS for his three years at Wake Forest were: 1.149, 1,094, and 1.164. Since then, it’s been .772 in A-ball (2009) and .810 in A+ (2010). Yes, he did hit 27 home runs in those two seasons but he batted .226 and .241.  Dykstra came to the Mets in a trade for RP Eddie Kunz. Both represented players each organization was obviously done with. FYI: Kunz is currently 1-0, 6.39, 4-K, 9-BB, 12.2-IP for San Diego’s AA team. This year, for the B-Mets, Dykstra is currently hitting .271, with three home runs in 70-Abs. More importantly, his OPS is at a professional high of .874. He continues to strike out too much (23 in 70-Abs), but what slugger doesn’t? Allan will have a birthday on the 21st of this month. He will turn 24. He will never take a job away from Ike Davis, but he does give the Mets a legitimate, young, emergency backup first baseman for the next five years that can buy a house in Buffalo and settle in. Alan Dykstra for Eddie Kunz?  Every day of the week.

5-23-11: - 1B Alan Dykstra may currently be considered a prospect flop, but this is still only his fourth year in organized ball. Believe me, if the Mets had drafted him, and he was fourth in the organization in ISOP, the weenie kids out there would still be calling him a prospect. One problem is he also leads in the highest percentage of strikeouts per at bats.

5-26-11: - Binghamton 1B Allan Dykstra continues to quietly put up decent numbers on a team that can use all they can find. Dykstra had three more hits on Thursday and raised his slugging percentage to .500, the highest it has ever been in his professional career. That ranks him 9th in the league. One interesting draft tidbit: 1B Ike Davis was the 18th overall pick in the 2008 draft. Four picks later, at #22, the Mets picked IF Reese Havens. The next pick, 23rd overall, was Dykstra, by the San Diego Padres.

6-3-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/6/3/2203724/new-york-mets-daily-farm-system-report-6-3-11  - Allan Dykstra - Didn't show much in the games I saw, but then went 3-3 with a home run on getaway day. Swing is a bit long, and he gets beat by better breaking stuff, but has a good command of the strike zone. At first he's a bit of an adventure, including somehow being nowhere near the bag on a 6-4-3 double play, and being forced to awkwardly tag the runner while trying to step on the base at the same time. Don't know what to make of him long term. He's a bat only prospect without elite power. That's a problem.

7-12-11: - Okay, I’m not going to claim that Dykstra has returned to the projections he had back when he was drafted in the first round a few years ago. Yes, he still is operating below that projection level, but he isn’t embarrassing himself like Eddie Kunz is doing, who happens to be the guy the Mets drafted for Alan. Dykstra has a couple of doubles Monday night and his overall stats are slowly moving up.

7-14-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/11/2270752/mets-minors-road-report-binghamton-7-9-brooklyn-7-10 - Not much new to say about Dykstra. He is very patient at the plate, drawing a pair of walks in game one of the doubleheader. Made a nice scoop at first. First at-bat gave it a ride, but it was right at the New Britain centerfielder. Still not Eddie Kunz. I think we are basically talking about an org guy or AAA roster filler for the next couple of years.  Just don’t see how he is more than a 15-20 homer guy in the majors, and he can’t hit lefties at all. If he does make the majors, with the strikeouts he will struggle to hit .250. And while .240/.350/.450 might play at 1b, .240/.350/.390 doesn’t. Non-zero chance to be a bench bat/platoon DH for a 2nd division AL team, but that’s towards the top of his ceiling.

7-17-11: - There’s been an increase of positive chatter regarding 1B Alan Dykstra. Everyone has written off this guy because he has a high strikeout rate, but let’s look at the numbers over his three year professional career (yes, he’s only 24 folks):  Batting average:  2009/A-Ball: .226… 2010/A+ ball: .241… 2011/AA: .274.  Slugging: .375… .438… .460.  And OPS: .772… .810… .863. It looks like he will be a 20/80 guy in AA this year, which ain’t that bad for someone the team got for Eddie Kunz.

8-21-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/08/prospect-pulse-left-handed-hitters.html - Allan Dykstra - This is the player Sandy got from San Diego in exchange for “Fast” Eddie Kunz, before the season began. He came with the label a “poor man’s Lucas Duda.” The 6’5″, former 2008 1st round draft pick of San Diego, did not play much after signing in 2008, but has now logged 3 full minor league seasons, and is presently playing 1B for Bingo, in AA. For his minor league career, Dykstra’s slash line looks like: .242/.387/.424. At the same point in his minor league career, Duda’s stats compared favorably to Dykstra’s except BA, where Duda was around 20 points higher. Dykstra obviously has a lot of power, 17 HR’s and 67 RBI’s in 345 AB’s at Bingo this year attest to that, and his 66 walks show a pretty good eye at the plate. The big problem is holes in his swing, as his 116 strikeouts so far this year clearly indicate. If he can close those holes up a bit, he could become a very interesting prospect one day soon.

9-3-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/09/prospect-pulse-buffalo-2012-help-on-the-way.html - Allan Dykstra - The 6’5″ slugging lefty is enjoying a marvelous season in the run production categories at Bingo. In 378 AB’s he is hitting .259 with 17 HR’s and 71 RBI’s (9th in the EL). His OPS is a healthy .844, but with a K/BB ratio of 128/69, (8th in the league in striking out, 5th place in the EL in walks) it’s easy to see where he needs to improve. He needs to cut way down on his strikeouts, and until he does, he will remain in the minors. In order for Dykstra to procure the starting job in Buffalo next year, he will have to unseat the King. The legendary Valentino Pascucci has been handling the positon ever since Nick Evans went to the big leagues for good. Val is leading the team in HR’s with 21 (6th in the league), and RBI’s with 91 (2nd in the league), not to mention AB’s: 430, runs: 58, hits: 112, 2B’s: 29, TB’s: 206, walks: 75 (2nd in the league) and K’s: 143.

10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965 f  - The Mets picked up Allan Dykstra in exchange for Eddie Kunz back in March, and the big guy did a nice job playing nearly everyday at first for Binghamton. Dykstra, who turned 24 in May, hit .267/.389/.474 with 19 homers, and 69 walks against 131 strikeouts in 121 games. His 69 walks were tied for fifth in the Eastern League, and he closed down his dramatic platoon split from 2010. I don’t think he’s an impact big leaguer (he whiffed in 28% of his Binghamton plate appearances) but he’s certainly better than Eddie Kunz. Kunz, by the way, ran a 4.30 ERA in 73.1 innings for the Padres’ double-A affiliate with an almost impressive 34 walks against 27 strikeouts.

 10-25-11: - http://www.minorleaguerundown.com/2011/10/25/2011-top-20-new-york-mets-prospects  - 2011 Top 20 New York Mets Prospects - 14.Allan Dykstra, 1st (AA): The pure power has always been there for the 2008 Draftee, and it seems to have shown up a little bit more following a trade to the Mets organization. It was a marginal increase (up to .208 from .197), but the power stayed with Dykstra after his promotion to AA, a welcome sign. Unfortunately, a rising strikeout rate has also followed the slugger. His 27.6% K rate is a career high, and while he can certainly draw a walk (14.5%), Dykstra hasn’t shown the power to legitimize that high a K rate. He must to show a more balanced approach next year during his age 25 season.