Las Vegas has released C Landon Powell.
I asked friend Todd Gold of Perfect
Game to grade the Mets draft day 1-2) from 0-10:
Todd
Gold@TGold_PG - @JohnMackinAde On the (unlikely) assumption that they
all sign for slot value: 70 on the 20-80 scale. Best class of the draft (so
far) IMO.
Look,
I’ve told you for years that most of my inside stuff comes from scouts and
cross-trackers. I don’t drive back roads and spend my nights behind home plate
in shit H.S. stadiums. I wish I did, but I don’t, so the guys I talk to know
these kids better than I do. According to everyone I’m talking to, this was a
great ‘high risk-high reward’ draft for the Mets. Considering the fact that you
really are looking three, maybe four max decent players per draft, there seems
to be a good chance the Mets can develop some future stars; however, ‘develop’
is the key word. Let’s check back in three or four years.
One thing I want to remind all of you about. We still have to fill in
three rosters (GCL, Kingsport, Brooklyn) with 75-85 players, depending upon how
many are listed on each team’s DL squad. Some of the college guys, like OF Jared King, could wind up in Savannah, but we’ll just
have to wait and see. Day Three has always been a ‘fill the roster’ kind of
day, with the last ten picks just sort of wild cards that you have no intention
of offering any kind of signing money. In many cases, it’s just “drive on down
and tryout and we’ll go from there.” That’s how they handed Zach Godley, one of our local boys here that were
drafted by the Mets in the 50th round a few years ago. Zach told
them to suck an egg and he has since went on to being a starter for Tennessee
(was drafted in the 10th round by the Cubs yesterday).
There are “pleasant surprises” at this level:
2012 – 38th
round – 3B Jeff Reynolds
2011 – 35th
round – RP Chason Bradford
2010 – 30th
round – RP Josh Edgin
2009 – 23rd
round – RP John Church
And then ‘Day Three’ began and it became ‘RHP Day’.
I
found one pick intriguing. It seems the Mets want to lead this draft in
discipline problems. This time it was Texas freshman pitcher Ricky Jacquez, that was
kicked off the team for reasons that still seem to be undefined. I can tell you
this. He is one talented pitcher.
I
also loved the Johnny Magliozzi pick. We now have ‘Johnny Pants’ (Alex Panteliodes) and
‘Johnny Mags’ in the same organization.
The
Mets went pitcher crazy today (remember… they need to stock the returning GCL
Mets with a minimum of 13 pitchers over and above what they carried last season
in the system).
John Manuel @johnmanuelba - Mets 40th-rounder OF J.B. Woodman is a big Mississippi signee, top 5 round
talent, put out a $1M-plus price tag – MLB: A two-sport star at Edgewater High
School (Fla.), Woodman's raw athletic ability stands out to scouts. He is a
plus runner and profiles as a top of the order hitter. Woodman, an outfielder,
is a projectable hitter and uses a quick, line-drive stroke. He probably will
never hit for much power, but makes up for that with his aggressiveness and
solid understanding of the game. Woodman's defense is still a work in progress,
but he has the range to handle center field if he can improve his reads. He is
committed to Mississippi. (a great pic on someone
that will most probably not sign)
Dan Kirby/Through The Fence (TTF) –
11. New York Mets — Dominic Smith, 1B, Serra HS (CA) - The Mets grab maybe
the best pure hitter in the draft and a kid whose power is coming on fast. At
6’-1” and 200 pounds, Smith has excellent bat speed and an advanced approach at
the plate. Over 105 games in his prep career, he hit .551 with a .643 OBP and
struck out just 21 times over 303 at-bats. He isn’t going to steal any bases
but he could develop into a plus defender at first. One
of my favorite players in the draft. LINK
Jonathan Raymond –
Wilmer
Flores has assumed much of the run production role the 51s were
expecting from d'Arnaud. The Mets' seventh-ranked prospect is slugging .478 and
ranks fourth in the PCL with 44 RBIs in 57 games. Overall, Flores has a
.299/.340/.478 line after hitting .300/.349/.479 last season between Class A
Advanced St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton. He also totaled 18 homers and 75
RBIs in 130 games a year ago, paving the way for his ascent to the PCL. Wally Backman said he thought it was that knack of
thriving in the middle of the lineup that will carry Flores to the next level. "I
think he's a run producer, he knows how to drive in runs," the manager
said. "When you look at the overall package, this kid's on pace to drive
in over 100 runs and he's only 21. If he projects out, continues to get better
the next year or two, I think the bat's gonna play [in the Majors]." LINK
Remember now… he’s still only 21…
In closing, today was a strange Mets day for me. I had tunnel vision most o the day, downloading draft information and putting it up on the site (many of us count on a site called www.sportsspyder.com for 'hits' and this is the yearly anniversary for them throwing me off their site for posting too many posts in one day... hopefully, I can beg them to take me back).
At the same time, the Mets were eventually losing another painful game to the Marlins.
So once again, I do work on the future of this team while the parent squad pisses away a chance to gain a game on the Nats.
I hope Sandy and Company knew what they were doing this week. Draft expert friends of mine tell me they did a great job. I have no problem reporting to you something I don't believe to be and I admit that others know more about these high school players than I do. At the risk of sounding like Clint Eastwood, there's a big error curve in the words 'ceiling' and 'projetion'.
Gary Seagren asked me today about the potential of Dom Smith. Let me ask you, does he have the potential to grow another 2-3 inches, because, if he doesn't, he will never be an elite first baseman. Baseball is a blazing game of inches and a stretched 6-3 body for a throw from third is going to be the difference on an umpire calling the runner out rather than safe. Can you project that, and muscle, and strength, and power, and defense, and base running, and...
I'm going to begin tonight to go back and read some of the information I posted the past few days. All of this stuff was written by people who are paid good money to evaluate these guys, so I am very curious to find out what is said.
I have already read up on Smith and was very familiar with him before the Mets picked him at #11. He is a definite legitimate first round pick, but he just isn't the guy I would have picked. I just happened to feel there is a lack of potential on-field major league talent currently playing at the AAA/AA level and I would have targeted my first three picks in this draft on college juniors that could project to go to the dance in late 2015 or OD 2016. Still a 'best player available' scenario, but make it 'best college player'.
Sandy and Company seem to be building a great future for this team, but they and I have a different time clock. I hope you like pitching for the next three years, because that's basically what will take you to the prom and back.
In closing, today was a strange Mets day for me. I had tunnel vision most o the day, downloading draft information and putting it up on the site (many of us count on a site called www.sportsspyder.com for 'hits' and this is the yearly anniversary for them throwing me off their site for posting too many posts in one day... hopefully, I can beg them to take me back).
At the same time, the Mets were eventually losing another painful game to the Marlins.
So once again, I do work on the future of this team while the parent squad pisses away a chance to gain a game on the Nats.
I hope Sandy and Company knew what they were doing this week. Draft expert friends of mine tell me they did a great job. I have no problem reporting to you something I don't believe to be and I admit that others know more about these high school players than I do. At the risk of sounding like Clint Eastwood, there's a big error curve in the words 'ceiling' and 'projetion'.
Gary Seagren asked me today about the potential of Dom Smith. Let me ask you, does he have the potential to grow another 2-3 inches, because, if he doesn't, he will never be an elite first baseman. Baseball is a blazing game of inches and a stretched 6-3 body for a throw from third is going to be the difference on an umpire calling the runner out rather than safe. Can you project that, and muscle, and strength, and power, and defense, and base running, and...
I'm going to begin tonight to go back and read some of the information I posted the past few days. All of this stuff was written by people who are paid good money to evaluate these guys, so I am very curious to find out what is said.
I have already read up on Smith and was very familiar with him before the Mets picked him at #11. He is a definite legitimate first round pick, but he just isn't the guy I would have picked. I just happened to feel there is a lack of potential on-field major league talent currently playing at the AAA/AA level and I would have targeted my first three picks in this draft on college juniors that could project to go to the dance in late 2015 or OD 2016. Still a 'best player available' scenario, but make it 'best college player'.
Sandy and Company seem to be building a great future for this team, but they and I have a different time clock. I hope you like pitching for the next three years, because that's basically what will take you to the prom and back.
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