1-23-12 -
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/23/2693134/2012-amazin-avenue-top-50-mets-prospects #43) RHP Luis Mateo -
Mateo was originally signed by the Giants but failed his physical. He rehabbed,
then signed with San Diego...but that also fell through when MLB suspended him
for lying about his age. Regardless, the Mets stayed on him and ended up paying
only $150k for a kid who has a seriously big arm. Though he's 21 -- not 19 --
he still tops out at 97mph with a sharp slider and gets great downward action
thanks to a long, athletic 6'3" frame. And look at those results: Five
walks in 63 innings. Seriously? And 80 K's? That's nuts from a kid with his
stuff making his pro debut. Yes he may have been a little old for the DSL, but
with a top-flight pedigree and the stuff to match there's reason to be excited
about a potential steal here. Get ready to hear this name a lot more this year,
he could fly up this list in 2012. Why He's Here: Fellow Dominican righty
Rafael Montero may have gotten more ink this season -- jumping all the way up
to Brooklyn during their playoff run and earning the final spot in BA's top 20
in the GCL. But to me, Mateo's extended -- and incredible -- performance in the
DSL wasn't far behind Montero's excellent 2011. Add in a couple more ticks on
the fastball, a better pitcher's build and a better pedigree and Brooklyn or
not, I'm more taken with Mateo going forward. Tempting to rank both guys higher
on this list based on some outstanding numbers but I'm waiting for results
against age-appropriate competition before I really get excited.
Prince
Fielder is one of the best players in all of baseball, so him being the best
first baseman in the NL Easts should come at no surprise. The projections love Ike Davis and the new dimensions at Citi Field should
work in his favor. Gaby Sanchez is the starting first baseman for your Marlins.
His standing in the NL East is the same as it would be in the MLB. He is a
middle of the pact guy. He is not going to be a superstar ever, but is a very
solid everyday player. I expected Freeman to be ahead of Sanchez, but the
projections did not see the same thing. Ryan Howard is probably the second best
first baseman in the NL East when he is 100% healthy. http://marlinmaniac.com/2012/01/24/nl-east-preview-2012-first-baseman/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
So they’ll go with it. And I think Daniel Murphy the second baseman
— in January, at least — stands as perhaps the best metaphor we’ve got for the
Mets’ 2012 season. In penciling Murphy in for second, the front office seems to
be making the smartest possible move for a team with such limited resources.
But it presents a great risk with the potential for a good reward. If it goes
well and Murphy proves an adequate defensive second baseman, he’ll likely rank
among the better players in the league at the position. But since he’ll
probably never be as good as Dustin Pedroia was in 2011 on either side of the
ball, the best possible outcome for Murphy — like the Mets — appears to be
“very good.” http://www.tedquarters.net/2012/01/24/daniel-murphy-as-the-2012-mets/
At the B.A.T. dinner today in Manhattan, I mentioned
to Carlos Beltran that, because of the 2006
NLCS, Mets fans might find it strange to see him a Cardinals uniform. Was is weird for him, too -- or, as I
suspected, was the 2006 season far from his mind while he looked for a fit for
2012? Here was his answer: “Actually, I’m not thinking about the fans, I’m
thinking about myself. I’m thinking about my chances of being with the
team. Like I said, I just want to have
the opportunity to be in the playoffs.
What happened in 2006, you have to turn the page. That’s over.
We can’t bring 2006 back to 2012. It has been six years. If they want to
continue to think about that moment, then that’s their problem. Like I said, I have turned the page. I have
really moved on.” http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2012/01/carlos-beltrans-interesting-quote
Carlos Delgado -
Even before 9/11, Carlos Delgado had
shown himself to be a player unafraid to speak his mind, standing up against
the U.S. Navy's history of testing weapons on the Puerto Rican island of
Vieques by donating time, money, and his good name to calling attention to the
issue. At a time when the US was in the throes of Iraq war jingoism, he openly
criticized the war and, as a protest, refused to stand up for the forced
patriotism of seventh-inning stretch renditions of "God Bless
America"—a particular pet peeve of mine in post-9/11 Yankee Stadium—at a
time when such displays were in vogue all around the major leagues. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15903
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