11-5-12 – Jenrry Mejia, Hot Stove

Jenrry Mejia went 5IP, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 2K, WIN on Saturday in the Dominican Winter League. Obviously, he’s starting again, but I don’t know how much control the Mets have on their players in their Lain leagues. Is he being stretched out for the 178^th time? This not only could complicate the Mets rotation, it also would muddle up Las Vegas if he was sent there. What it doesn’t do is make him a less likely trade bait candidate. Baseball scouts have always liked Mejia and he could be a major part of a future trade for an outfielder or full-time catcher. It seems like he’s been around forever, but he actually will pitch 2013 as a 23-year old. Control has always been the issue here. Still, he has averaged almost eight strikeouts per nine innings as a minor leaguers and his velo remains in the 94-95 range.

The 2013 rotation is pretty set at Johan Santana, Jon Niese, Mike Harvey, RA Dickey, and Dillon Gee. The next big decision here will be who gets bumped when Zack Wheeler comes up from Las Vegas. The anticipation is around the all-star break.

Returning Mejia to a starter makes no sense in the short range unless there are medical healing problems (Santana, Gee) that we don’t know anything about. What does make sense is moving somebody out for an outfielder or catcher, during a season (2013) that doesn’t look like a barn burner to begin with.

My guess on who gets traded remains Niese. He’s established, he’s a lefty, and he’s under a cheap contract. What more would another team want. Nobody likes trading for an unproven entity which is what all prospects are until they get at least a year under their belt. Moving Niese and slotting Mejia in here (yeah I know, he’s a righty) could result in some magic, while, at the same time, you’ve got someone like Ryan Doumit or Travis D'Arnaud on your team.

Here’s an interesting article on a team that has too many catchers: puckettspond.

     

Players opting for free agency:    

          Milwaukee 1B Travis Ishikawa

          Houston P Jorge De Leon

          Houston OF J.B. Shuck (AAA - .298 – 25-yrs old)

          Houston OF Brian Bogusevic

Players Signed:  

          Marlins have signed Kevin Kouzmanoff to a minor league deal

          Marlins also signed P Jordan Smith to a minor league pact

          Seattle signed P Oliver Perez

          Milwaukee signed RP Michael Olmstead

Trades:

          BlueJays acquire RHP Esmil Rogers from Indians for INF/C Yan Gomes and INF Mike Aviles

          Bartolo Colon signs one-year deal with A's