2/26/14

John Looby - Top 10 Rookieball Prospects

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John Looby - Austrailia




Hey Mack,
As a Mets fan, I think it’s fair to say that we all spend a fair bit of time crystal ball gazing. Who could blame 
us, given what we have endured.

I’m confident that that we aren’t that far away, given what we have at the ball club and in the pipe line.  I’ve 
tried to back up my optimism with the below synopsis.


Catcher -  d’Arnaud  has this to himself at present. Plawecki is due up in Queens around 2016. This area 
looks covered. I’d rate it solid with the potential to be strong. No need to spend here

Shortstop  - Underwhelming to say the least in the present and the immediate future.  While we can hope 
with Tejada it’s hard to be overly optimistic. Pipeline prospects, Cecchini & Rosario are 4-5 years way. Weak with a need to spend on a medium to long term deal.

First Base – A clusterfuck.  Currently a platoon of Davis/Duda /Satin. You could give these guys half a season to nail it, and if they don’t ,  put Flores in there. Yeah maybe his bat doesn’t translate well at first,  however I’d rather have someone that can hit than not at all. Given Dominic 
Smith’s polish he could be up around 2017. If the above options fail, we need to spend on a veteran for 3-4 years as a bridge to Smith.

Second Base – Solid. I like Murphy and we have an immediate back up in Flores if need be.  At 29, Murphy has another 4 or so peak years. If the club decided to trade (which I am against) then Flores at 22 can step in long term. Herreira would be due up in around 2017.No spending
 needed here.

Third Base – Strong. The Captain is signed for another 7 years and Flores can help out. 

Outfield – Could be solid this year. Granderson/Lagares/C Young/ EYJ with den Dekkar pushing up.  I am a believer in Puello and expect him to get a look later in the year and make one outfield spot his own in 2015. Granderson/Lagares/Puello....I like it.  Grandy is signed for 4 years, 
however there could be a regression before that so you would like to be looking at the FA market around 
2016. There are question marks around the young outfielders in the pipeline which may make spending
 inevitable.

Rotation – Very solid for 2014, should be strong for 2015 and beyond.  Colon/Wheeler/Neise/Gee/Meija 
becomes Harvey/Wheeler/Syndergaard/Neise/Gee/Mejia/Montero with de Grom, pushing up and Matz, 
Fulmer, Ynoa etc further down the line. No spending here. This is where your trade chips come from.

Bullpen - Who knows? Looks ok on paper. Parnell, Black, Torres, Rice, Edgin, Gonzalez, Familia....could do with experience, but we do have some young talent locked up here. There is always the possibility you need to spend as this is a volatile area.

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