Mack Ade – AM Report – 8-8-13 – Wilmer Flores, Jordany Valdespin, Outfielders

 



John Sickles on Wilmer Flores –

“In a perfect world, Flores will develop into a .300 hitter with at least moderate power and an adequate glove at second or third base. The world isn't perfect, of course, and it's possible he could be just a .260-.270 hitter with a below average OBP and not enough power to force his way into a permanent spot, especially if he has to move to first base. That said, I do think Flores made real progress over the last two seasons, he is still young enough to grow further, and it makes sense to let him play. The Pacific Coast League doesn't have much left to teach him.” http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/8/7/4595628/prospect-of-the-day-wilmer-flores-inf-new-york-mets

 

MetsBlog did a survey and asked their readers what position should Wilmer Flores play. The winner was first base, but I was surprised the survey was even taken. MetsBlog knows that the team officials aren’t going to run the team based on what the fans want. This isn’t an example of bad writing. It’s an example of all of us Mets writers being bored with another failed season and just trying to come up with something to fill the spaces.

 

There's a lesson here about Flores' 3-run double last night. You have to recognize a bat when you see it and if someone in you organization is leading the AAA in RBIs, and, at the same time you keep scoring two runs every game... it was 2-0 again before Flores' hit last night, right?  Great pitching wins games but you need more than two runs to get the job done also.

The important thing here is the kid isn't starting off his MLB career going 1-21 or something like that. Hitting below .100 would only put holes in the glove and I've watched first year players never come back from their first couple of games in the Bigs (Eddie Kunz and Alay Soler come to mind...).

Games are now being won by the young players... Juan Lagares... Flores... and with that, a pitching gem by Matt Harvey and another quality start by Jenrry Mejia.  75% of these names weren't even supposed to matter on opening day.

Things are definitely starting to look up.

 

Mike Puma –

                “A person in the organization who spoke to Valdespin after he was suspended on Monday said the flighty utilityman seemed oblivious to the fact he won’t be getting paid during his suspension.”

I love this portion of Puma’s story Wednesday morning. This kid’s ego is so big, he hasn’t even got to the money part yet. Amazing.

 

 

I’m going to highlight seven outfielders here that I feel have a chance to someday be a starter in the Mets outfield. I’ve left out a fair amount of household names… Kirk Nieuwenhuis,  Lucas Duda, Alonzo Harris, Darrell Ceciliani, and Travis Taijeron. Each has their own tales of woe but the botoom line is the fact that their total game has not panned out to make them successful at the major league level. Some have been there, while some may never. I may be wrong here (please let another Juan Lagares develop here), but I don’t think I am.

And one last thing on Lagares. There is a strong possibility that, in time, and with increased bravado and maturity mixed together in the proper amounts, Lagares may turn out to be an outstanding Mets centerfielder in the current Carlos Gomez mold. Wouldn’t it be something if we already developed one of the three outfielders we need?

That being said, let’s look at some of the guys that I do like:

 

Cesar Puello – Bobby Ojeda said on Tuesday evening that you have to throw out all the stats on Puello because of the suspension. I don’t agree. Whatever Puello did or didn’t do (remember, they never were tested) happened before the 2013 season in which he just left leading the league in runs batted in. I still rank Puello far more talented than Lagares and, IMO, he will be the full time Mets right fielder by July 2014. I see him as a 15-20HR/65-80RBI guy that can also provide a decent defensive game. The emergence of Lagares and projection here of Puello will allow Sandy Alderson to concentrate all his FA outfield efforts into the addition of one player in the off-season (feel free to get us a SS too, Sandy). Again, IMO, this is the real deal.

 

Matt den Dekker – all of us minor league weenies had a lot of promise for the 25-year old (turning 26 this month) DD. His back to back 2011 (17-HR, 68-RBI) and 2012 (17-HR, 76-RBI) seasons showed great pop promise and it seemed the only thing he needed to work on was his K-AB ratio (210 strikeouts over 1072 at-bats) which would probably increase his overall batting average (2011 - .265, 2012 - .274) as well. All this was a moot point in Met-land because of his stellar defense in center field. He impressed the hell out of the brass last season and it was decided early on that 2012 would be used to work on his plate patience which would hopefully lead to a September call up. Well, it wouldn’t happen after he broke his wrist and had to have surgery. Two things happened. First, the 2013 season has become basically a wash as he has now returned and begun to build up wrist strength (105-AB, .264, 3-HR, 24-RBI), but more important, he left the door open for Juan Lagares to take over center field in CitiField. Now, you’re just dealing with a 26-year old minor leaguer without a job.

 

Cory Vaughn – My favorite to write about. I’ve never questioned the 24-year old Vaughn’s talent. I do think he sometimes gets bored with the game which leads to his hot and cold spells. Lately, he has added a number of minor annoying injuries that have also set back his progress. He’s now finally returned to the AA-Binghamton team he’s supposed to be playing for this season and hitting .310 overall there in 76-AB (68 additional rehab at-bats for GCL (.172) and St. Lucie (.205). This was supposed to be a banner AA year after finishing 2012 second in the league in home runs (23). It just isn’t going to happen now, but you should still see him move on and play Las Vegas next season.

 

Dustin Lawley – we covered Lawley under 3B, but, on this team, his future would be in LF. @013 has been a magical year for him, but, at 24, he’s got one year in Binghamton (2014) to prove he should be in Queens. I told someone on the phone yesterday that (like Josh Edgin) you only have to meet Lawley once to know that he’s mature enough to make the jump to the majors. He just needs to prove he can hit at one more level before he would get his shot. Me? I would love an eventual OF of Lagares, Puell, and Lawley and prove all the critics wrong who thought that this team could never home grow an outfield. Wait a minute… wasn’t I one of those critics?

One additional thing on Lawley... I went out of my way yesterday to discuss him with both people within the St. Lucie family and the scouting community that evaluate minor leaguers. These are the same people that first recognized a difference, quality wise, in the game that both Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores were showing at that level. I basically ignored what they told me because I had first hand knowledge on both of them... but, we're talking apples and oranges here. I'm seeing children with baby fat come through Savannah. The maturity only begins in Florida.

EVERYBODY I talked to yesterday told me not to worry about Lawley's age. They said he has worked very hard after a dismal start (April: .204) and they see no reason for him to play Las Vegas. One said him playing 2015 in Vegas would be 'silly'. He runs good... he plays a decent outfield... he's a good third baseman... and defensively, he should never be compared to Lucas Duda.

Now, offensively, EVERYONE says he's for real. They all use the same word... he hits the ball HARD.

I asked flat out... can you see him being the Mets starting left fielder in 2015...  they all said "yes".

 

Brandon Nimmo – I was there when Nimmo started this season and it looked like it was going to be magical (April: .322). Part of this could have been the fact that he batted before Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki, who were also on fire. Nimmo’s woes started on April 29^th when he hit the DL with a bruised left hand. Both Boyd and Plawecki moved on to St. Lucie and Nimmo’s season has never been the same. He’s hitting .258 overall, but it’s the 107-Ks in 306-Abs that has Mets officials shaking their heads. Still, he’s 20-years old and, frankly, I’d repeat him again next year in Savannah. He can’t help this team now and it would be nice that he worked out worth the pick in the draft.

 

Ivan Wilson – Wilson is a highly touted high school prospect ($624,900) out of Louisiana (Ruston) who the Mets drafted third this year. He’s currently hitting .229 for the GCL Mets which, frankly, is pretty damn good since he was playing high school summer ball less than two months ago. Wilson turned 18 in May and it’s impossible to project anything this early. Like most his age, he’s going through that K/AB ratio thing (45-K/105-AB)and getting used to the grind. We’ll check back at the end of the season and see how he is progressing. 

 

Wuilmer Becerra – This is the 18-year old throw-in in the R.A. Dickey deal, who is currently hitting .211 for the GCL Mets. He came out of the box strong in June (.346) but followed that with a dismal .176 July (.143 so far in August). No home runs and only 13 runs batted in to boot. Scouts still say he’s worth keeping a watch-see on so we will.

 

Overall, the Mets don’t have enough quality full time outfielders and it’s still very questionable whether or not the system has the players to solve this. My hopes is first, that Juan Lagares proves what is goig on right now is more than beginner’s luck. My guess is Cesar Puello fits in somewhere here. Past that, I’m not that confident of much more.