12/30/11

Mets - Ryan Fraser, Daniel Murphy, Boof Bonser, BizOfBaseball Loser, Jack Leathersich


12-19-11: - .amazinavenue.  - RHP Ryan Fraser - STOCK DOWN - Like Cecilliani, Fraser didn't quite live up to his stellar 2010 as a Cyclone. However, for Fraser 2011 meant a shift in roles as he went from a dominant closer to a mainstay of the Savannah rotation this season. And while the numbers might looks ok on the surface, dig a little deeper and you'll see that Fraser didn't exactly master Lo-A hitters. Take his FIP which ended up over a run higher than his ERA (4.75). Or his K/9 which you figured would drop as he moved to starting, but not as much as it did ('10: 11.20 | '11: 5.86).

Part of Murphy’s defensive deficiencies are physical — he has slow, uncoordinated feet, inaccurate arm, and an overall awkwardness in body movement; he looks like what might happen if Hunter Pence tried to play the infield. Further, he suffers from both mental lapses and the simple fact that he sometimes doesn’t know what to do — which is completely understandable considering that he’s been moved all over the diamond at the big league level with little to no minor league training at any position other than 3B. I can’t entirely blame Murphy for his defensive struggles, because the Mets have colossally failed him in their inability to identify his skill set during his developmental stage. After failing as a third baseman, he should have been moved either to 1B or the outfield (not both) and left there for 2+ years to learn how to play at least one position adequately. With enough experience and confidence at one position, Murphy could have then focused more on developing his hitting http://www.metstoday.com/7325/11-12-offseason/2011-evaluation-dan-murphy/

The Giants signed right-hander Boof Bonser to a minor league deal, his agency, Reynolds Sports, announced on Twitter. Bonser has a 5.18 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 416 2/3 career innings and hasn't pitched at the Major League level since 2010. Bonser underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2011 season and likely won't be ready to pitch for San Francisco until midway through the 2012 campaign. The Giants selected Bonser, now 30, with the 21st overall pick of the 2000 draft  http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Loser – The New York Mets. Stung by the Bernie Madoff scandal, high player payroll and dwindling attendance, the Mets will see losses of $70 million by the end of the season. Struggling for cash, and taking out loans from both BofA and MLB, by the end of 2011 Sterling Equities isn’t being pushed out by MLB, but they may not stand in the way of the banks doing so.

12-28-11 - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/12/mmo-2012-mets-top-prospects-s-21-30.html  - 30.   Jack Leathersich (LHP) The Rocket put up some scintillating numbers in his brief debut at Brooklyn after the Mets took him in the 5th round of the 2011 draft. After throwing 57 innings during the 2011 college season for UMass/Lowell, the Mets used him out of the pen to limit his innings before they had a chance to assign him a workout plan to build strength and stamina. In 12.2 innings in the New York Penn League, the Rocket, throwing mid 90′s gas, struck out 26, while walking only 3, giving up 6 hits, and 1 ER. The plan next year and going forward will be for him to start, and he should be in the mix for the rotation at high-A St. Lucie. If at some point he falters as a starter, the Mets would not hesitate to put him back in the pen, where his fastball picks up a few mph.

3 comments:

Charles said...

Is Lethersich really going into the rotation? I thought he was drafted as a reliever. Why fix what ain't broken? Talk about dominating and if kept up, a player who could help much sooner then a developing starter who'll take three years or more. I understand that he could easily be put back into the bullpen, but that would mean he took some big knocks in the process. Why chance it?

Stephen Guilbert said...

Leathersich really intrigues me. Mack what's your gut feeling on him?

Mack Ade said...

Charles and Stephen:

It'm impossible to determine at this point what "Leather's" role will be. There is a new ead of pitching in the minors, so we may not see a repeat of the Ryan Fraser experiment that went bad last season.

I talked with a couple of the guys in Brooklyn (we'll have a full time Cyclones writer come the spring here on Mack's Mets)and everyone was impressed with him, but let' remember we've seen college boys do well at this level before.

Jack will pitch most of 2012 as a 22 year old.

My guess... a lefty who had 26-Ks in 12.2-IP... St. Lucie's closer.