It’s far too early to speculate who the Mets might choose in the 2014 draft if they had one of the protected picks, but, for those of you doing the research and trying to learn more about who is going to be out there for the taking, forget these names… NC State LHSP Carlos Rodon… NC State SS Trae Turner… East Carolina RHSP Jeff Hoffman… Rancho Bernardo (CA) HS catcher Alex Jackson… and Clovis (CA) HS SS Jacob Gatewood. These five will be long gone when the Mets get to pick their projected 7th-9th overall pick.
What this does do is leave a handful of very talented high school pitchers… Conway (SC) HS RHP Grant Holmes… Milton (GA) HS RHP Dylan Cease, Hilo (HI) HS LHP Kodi Medeiros, and Shepard (TX) HS RHP Tyler Kolek, two great college righties, Florida State RHP Luke Weaver and Vanderbilt RHP Tyler Beede and there is a good chance that no outfielder will be picked until the Mets are on the board. Right now, that would translate as either Virginia’s Derek Fisher or Gainsville (GA) HS Michael Gettys.
This will be an extremely talented first round and it’s going to be close to impossible to miss this high up the chain.
Long shot… the best college bat in the draft: Notre Dame 3B Jack Flaherty.
Dr. Marcus Elliott, a Harvard-trained physician specializing in sports science -
"I'm certain we're going to look back on what we did here in 2012, 2013 and not too far into the future and think that it was really primitive. There are reasons guys end up tearing their ulnar collateral ligament or end up with repetitive trauma to a rotator cuff. There are mechanical explanations for all these things. And we haven't spent a whole lot of time trying to understand what those reasons are. Some of them had inadequate shoulder mobility or not enough trunk stability or hip stability, so it affected their release point. We took anywhere from three weeks to six weeks to keep working on these performance metrics so that they didn't have the pressure of going out to perform while they were huge injury risks. To people in the medical community, the right approach is to be about building systems, understanding the system of the athlete in front of you when you're exposing him to the risks of the game." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130913&content_id=60455388&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
RP Jeurys Familia has rejoined the Mets and will pitch for Indios del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League.
Familia is still only 23 years old, even though it seems like he’s been around for decades. Nobody has ever questioned his talent, just his command and accuracy with the sickness he throws. His limited 2013 included eight games in the minors (2-starts) for three teams (9.0-IP, 1.00) and eight appearances in the Mets pen (10.1-IP, 7-K, 7-BB, 3.48). He wasn’t supposed to be ready at this point of the 2013 season, but he is so why not start him back on the road to success. I’m sure the winter league time will be used to build up arm strength, but, in my book, any chance of a successful 2014 has to include a talented pen and the 6-4 righty would make the perfect 8th inning ROOGY if he gets his shit together (note to readers… don’t be surprised that Bobby Parnell isn’t ready by opening day. I’ve had that surgery and it’s tricky for a person that doesn’t throw the rock every day at 95mph).
Baseball Prospectus on Noah Syndergaard -
Syndergaard’s fastball is an elite offering with premier velocity and life. His curveball plays well off of his fastball and has sharp break with bat-missing ability. Overall, Syndergaard is a future top-of-the-rotation pitcher with a near elite arsenal. He also has the ideal physical frame for a pitcher. The arsenal is complete with no major weaknesses, and secondary offerings still have room for projection moving forward.”
Mack – Thor represents the last of the ‘Big 3’ that we’ve been waiting to form. He should graduate to Queens around the same time Matt Harvey’s arm heals, but, for safety sake, let’s just say that it will be opening day 2015 when the Mets rotation features Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Syndergaard.
I’d like to think that the Mets will invest some of that available 2014 money into another starter like Tim Lincecum. Can you imagine the effectiveness of him being the SP4 in 2015?
Mets bloggers like Joe D at Metsmerized and Mark Healey on some satellite radio show have to stop pontificating about Wally Backman not rising to the role of Mets manager someday. It’s not going to happen and it’s simply not their decision. We writers are supposed to report on what is decided by the Mets, not spend useless time pontification our personal feelings based on how many times we have had dinner with someone. I come from an era where reporting was first waiting for the decision to go down rather than trash the possibility of something that hasn’t happened yet. Guys, you’re looking bad on this one, especially you Healey. Do you really think this guy would have any chance at this job if he didn’t play for this team once? Let it go, old friend, though you no longer consider me a current one (note: Healey paid me my first fee for an online story… $50 for his site at Gotham).
As of now my pick would be Gettys. Fisher looks promising and Flaherty would be very interesting as well. As a SS/3B, I could see him transition to the OF if needed.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mets can sign Lincecum as a back-end pitcher I think he could be very effective.
As for manager, relieve Collins and forget Backman. Scioscia or Gardenhire would be my pick.
If Turner, Jackson & Gatewood are not available by the time the Mets pick, I would love the top College Bat. Which could very well be the second best college bat after Turner. Its also to to imagine Beede falling out of the top 5 but I think that might be a no brainer if he does. The guy is filthy.
ReplyDeleteMack,
What is the report on Gatewood. I know he's a high school shortstop, but where does he project as a professional?
I know a lot of people think that Lincecum has too much of a down-side (injuries) but he may offer the most talent available for only a 2-3 year deal.
ReplyDeleteRight now, Beede has fallen because all the pundits write about the high school kids that just finished all the showcase weekends. Beede will get added attention once his junior year starts.
ReplyDeleteGatewood projects like an Alex Rodriguez type... same body... serious power for a shortstop.
Ok so he projects as a shortstop til he outgrows the position
ReplyDeleteI hope the Mets get one of the Tyler's in the 1st round, either Beede or Kolek! Also think Syndergaard will be up in June. Montero will be starting the year off in the rotation.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to see the Mets go after Mike Scioscia as there Manager.
Sandy and the Wilpons better spend ie top free-agent ,and international signings. I'd like the Mets to spend and get Abreu from Cuba,and Tanaka from Japan.
With the projected high end draft talent, I sure hope that win yesterday doesn't keep them from obtaining a protected #1 pick next summer.
ReplyDeleteIt's still too early to speculate.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, the Mets (67-82) W-L percentage is .450. If the season ended right now, the would pick 8th.
That's too close, especially since Colorado (68-82, .453), and Toronto (68-81, .456) could easily go south.
On the good side, Seattle (66-83, .443), the Twins (64-84, .432) and Brewers (65-83, .439) could go the other way.
This is 6 teams fighting it out for 4 picks
It's a sad commentary when once again we're left hoping our team keeps losing so we can secure a better protected pick. There really isn't any more for me to say until we know for sure what's up with Harvey because that will of course affect Sandy's off season decisions. I still think we won't be competitive again until 2015 and that's only if Harvey comes back 100% AND Thor and Wheeler are as good as we think AND the F.O. makes all the right decisions over the next year and a half .....so no problems right?
ReplyDeleteA couple years ago, a SS by the name of Deven Marrero who was supposed to be a consensus top 5 pick in the draft. He had a poor season and slipped to the Red Sox with the 24th pick.
ReplyDeleteNow, Trea Turner is far and away the better college prospect than Marrero, however we can't rule him out. We also can't rule out the Mets losing a few more games and getting the 4th pick. The Astros, Marlins, and White Sox are out of "reach" but the Mets at this pace could easily have pick 4. They're only four games "out" of that selection. Turner could be available then.
Right now, averaging the last 10 mock drafts, Turner comes in as the #2 pick behind his teammate
ReplyDeleteYea and that's where I'd take him. A lot of movement happens, though. We don't get much to look forward to...hoping for someone like Trea Turner is what us draft writers can hope for with this team. He would solve a lot of issues and could be a year or less to the majors.
ReplyDelete