There are some good
things going on with Mets minor leaguers in the various fall leagues. As
expected, it is led with the team’s top hitting prospect, 3B Wilmer Flores. Through Wednesday, Flores stat line
for Bravos
de Margarita in the Venezuelan league is: .324/.425/.471/.896. OF
Jorday Valdespin only has 20-Abs for Tigres del Licey in the DWL, but the stat line is
quite impressive: .400/.500/.750/.1250. 3B Dustin
Lawley has been a pleasant ‘surprise’ (get it?) for , Surprise Saguaros hitting: .296/.296/.519/.815.And
lastly, OF Cesar Puello has put up:
.250/.302/.300/.602 for the Surprise. Pitching has been pretty subpar in the
Latin leagues (Carlos Vazquez (8.10), Elvin Ramirez (9.00) , Chase
Hutchington(6.75),, but Ryan Fraser (1.29,
Greg Peavey (1.80) and Adam
Kolarek (3.38) have held their own for Surprise in the AFL.
Ryan Fraser is especially impressing everyone in
Arizona. He finished up Tuesday night’s game by pitching two scoreless innings,
while striking out two and walking one. Fraser has been a reliever all his
career except for 2011 in Savannah because Mets coaches wanted him to get more
innings on his arm so they could determine it’s indurance value (28-G,
21-starts, 7-9, 3.58). But, he kept his most
impressive outings for this past season when he made the jump to AA
(Binghamton, 26-appearances, 2-2, 3.48). He’s pitched well at every level and
his Savannah ERA is his highest in the pros. Lifetime: 15-16, 3.08, 1.36. Observation: It seems quite simple to figure out
that sending Fraser to Arizona means he has a future with the Mets. They could
send him back to Binghamton, but he also seems ready for Legas. I simply don’t
know where the launching point is going to be for Queens. 
Joe D over at Metsmerized
is the latest pundit to offer his thoughts on the 2013 outfield. His piece did
break out a good list of players that would be affordable to the Mets if they
wanted to bring an outsider in and stay within their budget. The list is: Bobby Abreu, Alfredo Amezaga, Rick Ankiel, Johnny Damon, Matt
Diaz, Kosuke Fukudome, Reed Johnson, Andruw Jones, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, Juan Rivera, Luke Scott, Ryan
Spilborghs, and Reggie Willits. None of
these guys would lead the parade down 5th Avenue, but this seems to
be all the team can afford this year. My vote would be Ankiel. You get a great
defensive centerfielder with a killer arm who can spell Kirk Nieuwenhuis when needed. He also can hit a home run or two and
is still only 32.
Looking at that list, I'm hoping Sandy trades for outfield help. The Mets minor league strength is in their arms.
ReplyDeleteKeepers: Wheeler, Harvey, Niese, Fulmer, Tapia, Montero and if signed to a reasonable offer for a 38 tr old, Dickey.
Trade Bait: Gorski, Mazzoni, Familia, Mejia, Mateo, Lara, Gnoa, Carson, Holt, Fraser, Verret, Pill, McHugh, Gee
I would think, that a team who has a surplus in young outfield prospects, could get that list of pitchers and pick two or even three depending on if they want both Familia and Mejia. Perhaps add Jordany to the trade or a player like him.
Thats the only way I see this team getting monumentally better in the outfield. Now, the rumblings that Torres might actually be back scare the crap out of me. I'd have been completely fine with Sandy saying '13 would be another rebuild/transition year. However, he didn't say that. He said he was going to make the team better by upgrading the outfield. Now he has some real work to do.
Bay and Duda are penciled in already in left. Center and right must be filled. Kirk is the obvious choice for center unless they pull off a whopper. I can't wait to see how this all plays out.
your list looks pretty solid, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets didn't trade any SPs until a true 2014 SP5 comes out of the pile.
ReplyDeleteThis team has the potential to have the best rotation in baseball and they might want to wait to see if either Fulmer or Montero are for real.
Ha! Reed Johnson! That's funny...
ReplyDeleteCH:
ReplyDeleteYes, it is...
I will be surprised I Sandy ends up doing anything significant with the OF. If we're lucky we will see Duda, Hairston and Nieuwenhuis and even that would stretch the budget.
ReplyDeleteOh, he's sign somebody, but I still feel you need to play Bay if you have to pay him. He still is a decent defensive outfielder (doesn't look pretty out there, but gets the job done) and there is no reason to make the whole outfield problem even bigger.
ReplyDeleteBut, here's the other side... Nieuwenhuis needs to be given a full shot at CF... Duda has earned another year at RF... so, that leaves LF for anyone coming in new.
They're saying Bay and Duda are gunna platoon.
ReplyDeletePositions and platoons will be determined in camp AFTER whoever is signed joins this club.
ReplyDeleteThe firs two decisions that still have to made are Torres and Hairston.
The future of Torres will be based on the Doctor's evaluation of Captain Kirk plus who they can sign to spell Nieuwenhuis in center.
God, the outfield is such a mess for a major league baseball team. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.