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1/26/12

Mets: Luis Mateo, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado


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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