Mets – Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Garrett Olson, Albert Cordero, Justin Turner

1-3-12 - mets360.  - 5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, Triple-A, .298/.403/.505 in 221 PA - The only thing that held back Nieuwenhuis last year was an injured shoulder. Otherwise, he would have made his major league debut and would be a front runner for a backup outfield position in the majors in 2012. Now, Nieuwenhuis will likely return to Triple-A to prove he is healthy. The strikeouts are a concern and he’ll obviously never post a .407 BABIP in a full season in the majors. But all he’s done in his professional career is produce. Several years ago I compared him to Nate McLouth and I still think that holds. A .250/.350/.450 line seems attainable and that’s pretty valuable for a CF. Of course, Nieuwenhuis is probably better suited for a corner, which makes the McLouth comparison even better. 

Garrett Olson:  Signed to a minor league contract on December 12th, Olson is a former first round pick of the Baltimore Orioles  in the 2005 entry drive.  He has some major league experience in each of the last five seasons, however his only "full" year of major league service was 2008, when he started 26 games for the Orioles, pitching 132.2 innings and pitching to a 9-10 record in the process.  Since that time, Olson has bounced back and forth between the majors and minors, acting prominently as a reliever whenever called up.  Originally thought to be a middle of the rotation caliber guy while in the Orioles organization, Olson no longer appears to be even a semi-long term fix at the major league level. http://www.metsfever.com/2012/01/what-options-do-mets-have-if-johan.html

metsmerized  - 34. Albert Cordero (C) The 21 year old right-handed hitter from Venezuela, was signed by the Mets as an IFA in 2008. At 5’11″ and 175 lbs., he was recognized as a good defensive catcher with advanced receiving skills, quick footwork, and an impressive throwing arm. Cordero made his stateside debut with Kingsport in 2010. It was there that he first began opening eyes by hitting .277 with 8 HR’s, 32 RBI’s, and a .466 SLG, in just over 200 AB’s, while at the same time throwing out 43% of would be base stealers (23 of 53). When 2011 started Cordero got off to a very slow start as the regular catcher at Savannah. At the end of May he was hitting only .208 with 1 HR, and his K/BB was 27/1. It was around that time that Cordero decided he had to shorten his swing and stay more in control, and to be more selective at the plate. In June, the first month where he employed his new approach, his OPS was .688. He then gained some solid momentum in July getting hotter as the month wore on and finished with an OPS of .777. By August he was literally on fire, with an OPS for this month of 1.343! In 103 August AB’s, Cordero had: 11 runs, 37 Hits, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR’s, 15 RBI’s, for a .359 average for the month. Keep in mind that he is still very far away from Flushing, the South Atlantic League being a far cry from the majors. But with the development and skills he has shown so far, he has already moved all the way to the head of the Mets minor league catching class.

With a healthy Ike Davis back at first base, and Daniel Murphy expected to get the bulk of playing time at second base, it would seem that last year’s fan favorite, Justin Turner, may not just be looking at a real shortage of playing time, but he may not even make the cut out of spring training. One thing going against Turner is that Murphy and Tejada are entrenched, Cedeno got a major league deal, and Turne has the not so good fortune of having a couple of options left on him. That means he could be sent to the minors without passing through waivers where the Mets could risk losing him http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/01/will-justin-turner-get-caught-in-a-numbers-game.html