Word I’m getting is
that the Mets are going to accelerate their prospect progress throughout the
chain. In the past, you had to wait your turn regardless of talent. As I understand,
that’s going to change, starting with the Savannah 25-man.
1B Dominic Smith, and
starting pitchers Chris Flexen and Robert Whalen are rumored to jump to A-ball.
Flexen and Whelan look to be joined by Robert Gsellman, John Gant, and Miller
Diaz in the rotation. The Mets are also considering promoting 2013 3rd
round draft pick Casey Meisner (GCL: 1-3, 3.06) to Savannah.
Meisner is one of the
very raw, extremely talented high school stars that the Mets drafted last year.
Draft experts told me that they were highly impressed with the choices the Mets
made. Matt Eddy particularly told me that he thought the Mets had the best
draft in baseball.
Kids like Meisner, 1B Smith, P Andrew Church, CF Ivan Wilson, and SS Luis Guillorme all
project as pro-level talent someday. We’re going to keep a special look at
these guys as they go into the season. I expect the rest of them to remain in extended
camp come April; however, the Mets do have one pressing problem they are going
to have to deal with before the season starts.
Both SS Gavin Cecchini
and Amed Rosario have two things in common. They are not ready for A+ ball but,
at the same time, they have progressed past Brookly and the other rookie ball
teams. You can’t assign both of these guys to Savannah and take away reps from
the best two shortstop prospects in the system. One of these guys has to move
on the St. Lucie ahead of schedule and, if it is true that guys like Flexen and
Whelan are moving up a couple of levels, so should one of the shortstops.
Recent free agent
signee, SP John Lannan, seems quite serious about winning the SP5 out of camp.
One thing I particularly like that Sandy Alderson is doing is bringing in
certain amount of ‘local boys’ in with minor league contracts and an invite to
camp. Long Beach’s Lannon, and Edison, New Jersey UT Anthony Seratelli are
perfect examples of taking advantage of the extra adrenalin that can be
generated when a player get to run on the field of the team he grew up rooting
for. Smart move by Sandy.
For some reason, Terry
Collins has decided to stir up the shit again, just when Alderson has
learned to stop doing it. Now, as I understand, he is telling people that Eric
Young Jr. is his centerfielder, not Juan Lagares. Is this all necessary right
now? There sure is an awful lot of drama for a team that never finishes in
second place or beyond.
And now, we end the day
with Alderson telling reporters that Wilmer Flores will be considered to return
to SS in spring training.
Excuse my french, but I’m
getting ready sick and tired of all this mind fucking this spring.
The Mets’ owners appear to be on the verge of finally putting the team’s financial problems behind them, The Post has learned.
Cash-strapped Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who faced perhaps an insurmountable spring principal payment on their $250 million loan, are close to refinancing the note, sources said.
“This will be oversubscribed,” a source considering investing in the Bank of America refinancing said.
The re-fi — the biggest off-field hurdle the team faced this off-season — will likely close in February or March, the source said.
http://nypost.com/2014/01/30/new-loan-could-end-mets-money-problems/
Steamer Projects:
Philadelphia Phillies Prospects -
| # | Name | Age | POS | PA | BB% | K% | BABIP | wRC+ | BsR | Off | Def* | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maikel Franco | 21 | 3B | 550 | 4.5% | 13.9% | .280 | 97 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 1.9 |
| 10 | Tommy Joseph | 22 | C | 450 | 5.5% | 19.8% | .267 | 81 | 0 | -10 | 8 | 1.4 |
| 9 | Cesar Hernandez | 24 | 2B/CF | 550 | 5.9% | 16.0% | .319 | 85 | -1 | -9 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 7 | Aaron Altherr | 23 | OF | 550 | 4.9% | 25.4% | .271 | 53 | 0 | -29 | -2 | -1.4 |
| 8 | Roman Quinn | 21 | SS | 550 | 4.5% | 21.3% | .247 | 40 | -1 | -37 | 6 | -1.4 |
| 3 | J.P. Crawford | 19 | SS | 550 | 4.6% | 15.9% | .235 | 38 | 0 | -39 | 6 | -1.5 |
| 11 | Andrew Knapp | 22 | C | 450 | 4.1% | 23.2% | .213 | 20 | 0 | -41 | 8 | -1.9 |
| 6 | Carlos Tocci | 18 | CF | 550 | 3.4% | 18.4% | .237 | 31 | 0 | -43 | 2 | -2.4 |
| 12 | Dylan Cozens | 20 | RF | 550 | 4.6% | 23.9% | .221 | 31 | 0 | -43 | -6 | -3.2 |
| # | Name | Age | Hand | IP | K% | BB% | kwERA | kwERA- | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Severino Gonzalez | 21 | RHP | 150 | 18.4% | 7.5% | 4.00 | 103 | 1.6 |
| 15 | Adam Morgan | 24 | LHP | 150 | 18.1% | 9.1% | 4.23 | 109 | 1.2 |
| 2 | Jesse Biddle | 22 | LHP | 150 | 23.3% | 14.6% | 4.27 | 110 | 1.2 |
| 14 | Shane Watson | 20 | RHP | 150 | 10.8% | 8.4% | 5.02 | 130 | -0.1 |
Cameron-Chat –
Comment From Insert Clever Name Here - Draft-pick valuation
seems hard. Do we have any sense of what a second-round pick is “worth”. As in,
what deal for Drew would make sense for the Mets, given the pick it would cost?
Dave Cameron: It depends where in the second round it is. The
pool money is worth more than the pick itself, and the amount varies by where
the pick is. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-chat-12914/
Eno-Chat –
Comment From GrandyMan - Hey Eno, what’s Curtis Granderson
worth in Otto points?
Eno Sarris: By steamer, $10 or so. Could be more though.
Comment From Isaac - Daniel Murphy was in a group with Goldy,
Hosmer, Cutch, and Trout as guys that had hit >.285, 10, 75, 75, 10 in 2013.
Meaningful?
Eno Sarris: No, those cutoffs too random. Also, his steals
should regress this year.
9 comments:
This Re-Finance has HUGE implications for the future of this team.
The old loan was coming due in a few months for $250M, a sum the Wilpons did not have the liquidity to afford at this time.
Reportedly the interest payments are to remain the same, so what is the benefit?
Basically from what is being reported, the legal terms in the old loan capped the amount of money the Mets could spend on player salaries whereas this new one will have no such language.
If this is true then it explains why in the past 3 years Alderson has been very hesitant towards FA signings.
Great sign that they are going to be more aggressive with the burgeoning talent in the lower minors...and i'd put Cecchini in St L and Rosario in Savannah...seems too big a jump for Rosario.
That will be some formidable Savannah pitching staff...after having an excellent one last year.
Collins should totally keep his trap shut at this point - the players will dictate who should start with their play in spring training games and the early season. I still feel Lagares got a lot of adjustment under his belt and is primed for a move towards the .280 range this year - that and his superlative D, and you'd sit him for EY Jr? If EY hits .220 in spring and Lagares hits .320, let's see Collins put juan on bench.
Funny how management has brought in about 50 pitchers in order to bring 'competition', but when it comes to position players, we keep getting leaked information/rumors about who is starting at first base, centerfield, SS and batting leadoff when its not even February yet.
@Ernest
At this point I feel its all speculation by the beat reporters in an attempt to stir up some website hits.
The past few weeks have been very dead.
Just look at Metsblog....they've been recycling articles the past few days.
I pointed out Collins' lunacy when the story broke and my friends said I was wrong. Today there are several pieces about how wrong he was.
Also, remember Ankiel? Collins will play a vet over a younger player any chance he gets. Lagares is toast with Terry in charge.
Mack
is this aggressive shift a result of a philosophical change in player development?
or
a coping mechanism in response to overcrowding at certain levels?
Bob - Mack would know better than me, but my take is that it is a shift that is brought on by Fernandez and Wacha excellence, and Cecchini being in a short season, and getting hurt to turn it into a REALLY short season. I also think it is a coping mechanism, as you say, in response to overcrowding, a nice problem for the Met farm system to have.
Hey Reese
Regarding Ankiel comment, I agree with you there - but Lagares had enough at bats last year to qualify as a "veteran lite" now, so Terry needs to really consider that...Juan's 2013 training wheels are off.
I think Terry is insane if he thinks EY is a better option in center then Lagaras, if only the leadoff dilemma is the reasoning behind it.
Let's face it, Juan´s glove alone will save them at least five games this year. I think it's a travesty and speaks to the ignorance of the man helming this battleship.
My hope, is that Terry threw this out there simply to keep a fire under all of these guy´s asses, with the hope, that none come into spring training thinking they don't have to play hard to win a starting role on the team.
This team will only succeed if they pitch great and are borderline exceptional up the middle with their defensive. Lagaras brings exceptional defensive to center field.
Charles
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