We’re going to discuss the starters a little different. Similar to most
years there are too many people on my rosters and not all these guys are either
going to survive or become relief pitchers (as you will see tomorrow, the pens
are just as crowded). I broke out the players I have currently projected to
each team and color coded them by importance. Red is prospect… dark blue is an
almost prospect and someone that will definitely be in the rotation… black is
for the rest of them.
You will notice the reduction in top prospects. This is due to the fact
that guys like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler have already graduated to Queens and Jenrry Mejia is no longer classified as a prospect.
Lastly, most of the Mets minor league teams begin the season with at
least six, sometimes seven starters. Everybody has a pitch limit that may start
as low as 50, so you will see lot of
piggybacking with one starter up front and another starter following the first.
Thus, look for me to be projecting more than your routine five.
Here goes:
AAA – Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard, Erik Goeddel, Darin Gorski, Jake deGrom, Cory Mazzoni,
Logan Verrett, Mark Cohoon, Chris Schwinden, Giancarlo Alvarado, Mitch Talbot –
First of all, I might not have
got the memo and Alvarado and Talbot may no longer be a member of the
organization. They were late season pickups last year that helped Vegas along
the way.
It’d obvious that both Montero
and Syndergaard will be prominently displayed; however, so will Goeddel,
Gorski, de-Grom, and Mazzoni to scouts for all the teams looking for talented
young pitching. These are the kind of pitcher that will be able to be traded
for position players of equal value (maybe all this austerity program stuff
will begin to pay off soon).
As for Verrett, Cohoon, and
Schwinden, my guess is all three will compete in camp for the SP7 piggybacking
spot Las Vegas will start the season off with.
AA – Gabriel Ynoa, Rainy Lara, Matt Bowman, Hansel Robles, Angel Cuan, Domingo
Tapia, Alex Panteliodis, Tyler Pill -
I only have two guaranteed
starters here (Ynoa, Lara), but lots of potential from the other six listed. My
wild card here would be Pill, who struggled at the AA level last year (1-1, 7.58)
and wound up on the DL for most of the season with what was first diagnosed as ‘triceps
tendonitis’. The ‘breath of fresh air’ award last year had to go to Bowman, a
13th round pick in 2012, who went 10-4, 3.05, in 21-starts for
Savannah/St. Lucie. He turns 23 in May so there’s no reason to hold him back at
the A+ level. The rest (Robles, Cuan, Tapia, Panteliodis) will fight it out for
the remaining slots. My guess is both Cuan and Robles will begin a conversion
to the pen, especially in the case of Cuan (starter split: 4.57, relief split:
1.73).
A+ - Steven Matz, Michael Fulmer, Luis Cessa, Luis Mateo, Seth
Lugo, Jake Kuebler –
Both Matz and Fulmer have the
potential to become SP3-4 pitchers and will complicate the Mets rotation around
opening day 2016. Cessa has basically done nothing wring let and the highly touted
Mateo comes back from TJ surgery. All of these pitchers become instant trade
bait in about a year… if they stay healthy and if they continue to produce.
Keep a medic close to this staff.
A – Miller Diaz, Robert Gsellman, John Gant, Carlos Valdez, Dario Alvarez, Logan Taylor –
We now get down to levels that
are impossible to project. Pitchers down here are still learning how to throw a
third pitch and hit corners with their fastball, while, at the same time,
A-level batters have absolutely no plate patience and will swing at
anything. I can’t begin to tell you how
many pitchers I have seen than excelled in either Savannah or Brooklyn and never
panned out in this sport. Right now, Diaz, Gsellman, and Gant look to be a lock
to be in the Sand Gnats rotation. All three have had much success in their
young professional career.
Low-A – Robert Whelan, Chris Flexen, Yoan Gonzalez, Martirez Arias, Persio Reyes –
Again, we can’t really project at
this level, but we might be seeing the beginning of two future pitching stars
on this team with Whelan (Kingsport - 12-starts, 3-2, 1.87) and Flexen (Kingsport – 11-starts, 8-1,
2.09). Both are extremely young and will be given the proper amount of time to
mature.
Extended Camp – Andrew Church, Jose Medina,
Corey Oswalt, Andrew Masse, Carlos Gomez, Brandon Welsh, Marcos Molina, Yoryi
Nuez, Casey Meisner, Luis Silva, Jose Celas, Darwin Ramos, Scarlyn Reyes
Two thing stand out here… the disappointment
of last year’s #2 draft pick (Church: 5.91), and the incredible ERA of Medina
(DSL2 – 12-starts, 0.35).
Summation
– There is still a ton of talent on the mounds of Mets’ affiliates and the future
of this team will either be directly affected by their talent or indirectly
about who they are traded for.
Grade
– A+
