I May Be Wrong, But… $20mil/year, Omar Quintanilla, Mets Shortstops,
Mets Closers
·
It looks to me that the going rate
for top star in baseball these days is going to be in the $20mil per year
range. This means your “secondary” stars will be in the $10/mil a year range
and it is becoming close to impossible to create a winning team under a $100mil
salary. Still, there are the Arizona Cardinals who have proven you can do this
through the draft and international free agents.
The current Mets aren’t
that far from this folks. There are only two current players (Jason Bay, Johan
Santana) under contracts past the 2012 season.
Just two years before
(2009), there were seven.
More
important, eleven key players are currently pre-ARB (Manny
Acosta, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, Ike Davis, Dan Murphy, Josh Thole, Pedro
Beato, Lucas Duda, Dillon Gee, Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner).
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The Mets signed SS/2B Omar Quintanilla to a minor league contract. Fans
need to realize that, as of today, there is no one on the 25-man that cold
spell Ruben Tejada at shortstop.
Quintanilla has experienced the highs (sup-1st round pick) and the lows (50-game suspension) in baseball. He’s had a very good minor league career (9-years, 2,037-AB, .305) but has failed six times at the parent level.
Michael
Baron/Mets
Blog and I talked about this today and we both agree that the Mets aren’t done
signing shortstops to compete for a utility position off the Mets bench. There
only options right now would be playing prospect Jordany
Valdespin as a backup, returning Reese
Havens to his natural position, promoting AAAA player Matt Bouchard, or now, promoting Quint.
·
This would be a good time to do a
quick outline on the other shortstop in the system
o
Robbie Shields –
very talented but often injured. Should play Binghamton in the spring.
o
Brandon Brown –
hit .303 for the Cyclones in 2011. Will play 2012 as a 25-yr. old. May open at
St. Lucie.
o
Juan Carlos Gamboa –
“J.C.” made big splash in 2011(.293 combined for Savannah, Kingsport, GCL,
Mexican League). 41 stolen bases in 61games plus ++ defense.
o
Ismael Tijerina -
.223 in 157-AB for Brooklyn. Should backup Gamboa in Savannah
o
Phillip Evans –
big time draftee whose future is probably as a second baseman
o
T.J. Rivera -
.301 in 136-AB combined for Kingsport and Brooklyn. Needs to stay back and
start for the Cyclones
o
Chad Zurcher –
2011 draft pick hit .283 for Kingsport. May be blocked from Brooklyn
·
The Mets announced the salary
details on relief pitchers Frank Francisco (2012: $5.5mil, 2013: $6.5mil) and
Jon Rauch (2012: $3.5mil).
I think that the 2012
bullpen will be much stronger with these two, especially after the departure of
K-Rod. I liked Rodriguez and hated him being trades, especially for as little
as the Mets got in return.
Some Met minor leaguers
you need to keep an eye out as a possible Mets loser someday:
o
Elvin Ramirez –
returned by the Nationals this off-season after they drafted him in the Dec
2010 Rule 5 draft. Was injured all of 2011. Sits at 95-96, hits 98-99.
o
Dale Thayer -
4-3, 2.66, 0.97, 54-G, 21-SV 60.1-IP, 66-K, only 15-BB for Buffalo in 2011, but
completely ignored as possible 2012 Mets pen member.
o
Jeff Kaplan –
2-5, 3.45, 45-G, 12-SV for St. Lucie in 2011. Shared closing role with…
o
Josh Edgin –
2-1, 2.06, 25-G, 11-SV, 35-K, 35-IP for St. Lucie, after going 1-0, 0.87, 0.77,
24-G, 31.0-IP, 41-K for Savannah. The 25-year old could be on a fast track.
o
Hamilton Bennett –
picked up in Savannah where Egin left off: 2-0, 1.83, 0.83, 34-G, 14-SV, 56-K,
54.0-IP
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