It’s a loaded question, for sure, but looking at the New York Mets who were once accused of rushing players through their system now seem to have tipped the scales in the other direction and they’re overcompensating by holding players back until they are no longer considered prospects.Now granted, there are players who have obvious holes in their game or are one dimensional who do not get promoted as soon as you might otherwise expect. Health issues can also derail the path to the majors for other minor leaguers.
Let’s take a look at some of the players “aging out” as their prospect window has closed on them despite having success in the minors):
Josh Satin (29)
Gonzalez Germen (26)
Zach Lutz (27)
Matt den Dekker (26)
Jacob deGrom (25)
John Church (27)
Jeff Walters (26)
Darin Gorski (26)
Adam Kolarek (24 in AA)
Allan Dykstra (26)
As you look around the league you find players who have made their debuts at much earlier ages, including:
Mike Trout
Stephen Strasburg
Jose Fernandez
Manny Machado
Salvador Perez
Bryce Harper
Even in the NY Mets history you can remember Doc Gooden coming up and wowing everyone. Jenrry Mejia may have followed a successful path had he not been jerked back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation by a desperate Jerry Manuel trying to keep his job. Darryl Strawberry was an old man of 21 when he began his major league career.
Now look at the Mets of today. Wilmer Flores was only promoted not on merit that he earned it by leading his league in RBIs but due to an injury to David Wright. Ruben Tejada was the last truly young player who played regularly for the team and that was due to necessity when Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy both had health issues.
What brought all of this thinking to mind is the recent spate of articles and press events saying that the Mets need to add starting pitching next year. Excuse me? How many teams would like to have a Rafael Montero, Jacob deGrom, Darin Gorski and even Noah Syndergaard available to step into their rotations to fill the vacancy necessitated by Matt Harvey’s injury?
The Marlins reached deep into the minors this year for A+ pitcher Jose Fernandez. How did that work out for them? He’s the likely Rookie of the Year.
In the past three years the Mets have trotted out all kinds of has-beens whose only qualification was the fact that once they had some modicum of major league success. I can’t believe there is a single person watching the team who favored the signing of Rick Ankiel when Juan Lagares was available to play every day. I’d have even preferred seeing pariah Jordany Valdespin than retreads like that, but the team seems to not want to give young players a chance unless there is no other option left on the table.
With the news that Terry Collins is all but ensured to return next year we can only expect more of the same. After all, if Travis d’Arnaud was here and John Buck was still on the roster what would the over/under be on the number of starts he would have gotten? Granted, he’s not hitting a lick but if he is part of the future and the team is going nowhere, then you need to play him. The same should be true all around the diamond when there is a younger player who deserves a chance when you already know what the mediocre incumbents can do.
6 comments:
I agree that this team is better off filling the rotation from within. Too many other holes on this roster to be spending our resources on SP. It also doesn't help that the SP FA market is usually rediculously overpriced.
Nice article! I agree, I think the Mets kind of wait too long to unleash the talent of the youth in our minor league system. Every other team is starting their prospects to get the ball moving, we like to wait until the last minute which I think prolongs the process.......
When you're playing for a pennant then maybe I can understand the rationale of not wanting to risk a young player who could potentially cost the team victories. However, from the sad beginning of the Alderson/Collins era in 2011 there has been no realistic chance of contending. Consequently this whole time period should have been one of player evaluation. Let's say you promoted Zack Wheeler to play instead of Sean Marcum. Would he have had trouble? Maybe, maybe not. However, the major league team gained nothing by having him sit in the minors while trotting out a certain loss. Ditto Dice-K. Ditto Aaron Harang. Ditto Aaron Laffey.
Similarly, Collins declared Colin Cowgill the starter in CF, then played him what, 2 games before backtracking on that decision? That inconsistency led to the arrival of Rick Ankiel while the capable players sat on the bench.
Despite his recent success with the bat, Justin Turner is another example where you know what he's going to give you. Even after Flores had the ankle injury did they play Satin or Lutz to see what they could do? Satin got his time when Davis was on his gambling hiatus and was quickly benched upon his return. Lutz has been one of those player derailed by health issues but has done nothing but hit at every level. Still Collins feels the red headed son he never had was a better bet.
The flip side, of course, is the free pass other players get like Ike Davis who for two years in a row was worse than a AA player facing major league competition. It's funny how Ruben Tejada never got the same opportunities.
(God, I forgot about Rick Ankiel...)
Reese, Terry is the king of flip-flopping on what he's said. The Cowgill situation was probably his worst moment in managing a player.
He's named starting CF at the end of spring. Hits a grand slam on opening day. Then within a week he's benched. It was crazy. He also stated that Duda would stick batting fourth and two days later dropped him in the order. It just shows that the man can put on a brave face, but inside he's seriously raging and can't stick to a plan.
As far as an age for prospects? I don't really think there is a proper one. The sooner the better obviously, but the ML is filled with stars who took a long time to develop. Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz, and Jose Bautista are just three. You never know when it's going to click.
The worse part is when you give up on one and they come back to haunt you. Two of the three players I mentioned fell through the cracks in the mets system before becoming stars for other teams. You just don't know...
I'm completely for a homegrown rotation. Although I would love for Sandy to make a legit push on Garza.
I'd be curious about Scott Feldman and Ervin Santana if they felt compelled to go outside the organization.
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