Mets: Omar Quintanilla, Taylor Whitenton, Chuck James, Cory Vaughn, Darin Gorski

Omar Quintanilla - Quintanilla was drafted 33rd overall by the A's in '03 after winning the College World Series with the University of Texas. Quintanilla ranked among Oakland's top ten prospects for the next couple seasons after batting .358 and .341 in his first two seasons, respectively. Unfortunately his bat didn't live up to the early hype. But his glove did and he's carved out a nice little niche as a Wilson Valdez-esque defensive-minded backup infielder with the Rockies and Rangers ever since. In 227 major league games he's posted a .213 career average with 2 homers and 3 stolen bases. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/31/2753903/taking-inventory-of-the-mets-minor-league-free-agents

2-1-12: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com   -  Taylor Whitenton has an average MLB fastball and improved his control dramatically from 2010 to 2011.  A lean 6’3”, he usually sat around 90-91, and in shorter outings in the Arizona Fall Leagues was sitting 91-93 mph, touching 94.  There were scouts who saw the Gnats in the first half of 2011 who thought Whitenton was the most promising member of the team’s rotation. He complements the fastball with a slider that has more depth than horizontal movement and a changeup.  He became much more confidant throwing his secondary pitches in games in 2011 and the change-up passed the slider as his second offering.  His over the top delivery gives batters an unusual angle and the ball seems to hop a little out of his hand.  However, many of his strikeouts came on elevated fastballs, a strategy that might lead to trouble at the higher levels.  The high angle also makes it hard for him to generate much horizontal movement on his slider. Whitenton cut his walk rate from 13.8% in 2010 to 10.5% in 2011, or if you prefer to think in terms of innings, from 5.7 BB/9 to 3.9 BB/9.  While throwing more strikes, his strikeout improved from 23% to 25.9%.

• Dec 15: LHP Chuck James - Another soft-tossing lefty, you may remember the 30-yr old for his 2+ seasons of league average work in the Atlanta rotation between '06 and '08. As a prospect he was another former blue-chipper, ranked by John Sickels as the Braves no. 2 prospect at his peak in '06 -- ahead of guys like Elvis Andrus and Yunel Escobar. He spent 2011 at Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate where he was quite good in relief, posting a 2.30 ERA with over a K/IP and excellent rates against both lefties and righties. Like Olson he'll audition for a role as a lefty out of the Mets 'pen and I'd say he's got a pretty good shot out of camp. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/31/2753903/taking-inventory-of-the-mets-minor-league-free-agents

2-3-12: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/32-rf-cory-vaughn/  - 2011: Cory Vaughn graduated from Savannah at the All-Star Break after hitting .286/.405/.408 for Savannah.  He then hit .219/.310/.395 in 63 games for St. Lucie in the second half.  There are things in both of those lines that should be concerning.  In Savannah, it was the lack of power. Historic Grayson Stadium is an extremely difficult place to hit home runs. However, it’s not just the home runs that he missed. His extra-base hit percentage plummeted to 6.7% from 10.5% in Brooklyn.  Also, he just didn’t seem to drive the ball with very much authority. Nor did he seem to do much damage against quality fastballs. In St. Lucie, obviously the concern was his .219 batting average. However, across both levels, he hit a combined .255/.363/.402 with a .315 BABIP.  He aspires to join a group, MLB right fielders, who averaged .269/.341/.441 in 2011. 

2-3-12: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/2/3/2760606/2012-amazin-avenue-top-50-mets-prospects-20-16  LHP Darin Gorski - Of all the pleasant surprises in the Mets system in 2011, none was more impressive than the 24-yr old Gorski. The 6'4" lefty was nothing short of brilliant as he rode roughshod over the Hi-A Florida State League, posting a superb 9.09 K/9 and an even better 1.88 BB/9. Gorski was simply too good for the FSL for most of 2011 yet the organization curiously kept him there all season. Likely this was a result of a numbers game as Binghamton's rotation was crowded all season. Additionally, Gorski certainly didn't carry the kind of reputation of a Familia or a Harvey. In fact, the '09 seventh rounder out of DII Kutztown University was just coming off a 2010 where he posted a 4.58 ERA bouncing between starting and relief for Savannah and looked like the epitome of org depth. But that's why you always keep an eye on big lefties; suddenly the big kid with the soft stuff began throwing harder. Reports had him in the low 90's by season's end, up from the 87-89 mph range from past seasons. That new-found differential was more than enough to make his already impressive change-up downright deadly. Moving forward it's still hard to place him with the upper echelon pitchers -- he was very old for the FSL -- but armed with spot-on command and improving stuff from the left side, Gorski suddenly put himself on the map as a potential back of the rotation guy or lefty out of the 'pen.