Morning Report – 4-19-14 – Ike Davis, Matt Bowman, Eno-Chat, Player Movement

1952 Polo Grounds 

Coming Up –

        10 am –  Reese Kaplan - Trader Sandy Rolls The Dice  

         12 noon – Mrs. Mack's Shortbread

           2 pm -   Top 10 1B in 2014 MLB Draft - revised 4-17-14

           5pm -  Sean Newcomb, Mike Papi, Nick Gordon, Scott Hurst, Jeremy Vasquez

          8pm –  OF - Scott Hurst - Bishop Amat (CA) HS

You're going to read different opinions here on the Ike Davis trade. That's how this web site works. It's a home for independent Mets writers to express what they think about the team, the players, and the organization.

My thoughts on this trade are pretty simply.

First, I'm thrilled it clears up the mess called 'who's on first'. Whether you like it or not, Lucas Duda is now the Mets first baseman.

I love the deal for the return. Davis wasn't contributing anything to this team... again... and Thornton brings an immediate arm that can be inserted into the Las Vegas pen (assuming that is what they do).

Yes, there is another player to be added to this deal, but I'm happy even if it was Davis for Thorny one-for-one. He's been a strikeout machine for the past two seasons and the 26-year old its in perfectly with the kind of bullpen the Mets are trying to build.

I wish Davis well, but he was not a successful New York Met. 



The Mets have the best win percentage for minor league teams - 67%


The (current) longest amount of successful stolen bases in the majors is 24... by Daniel Murphy



OF Charlie Thurber, who didn't come out of extended c amp this spring, posted on Facebook:

                "It looks like my career may be taking a new path onto the                      mound as a pitcher...



Baseball America was not kind to 1B Dominic Smith:

The Mets erred on the side of caution with first-round prep position players Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Cecchini, sending both to short-season Brooklyn the year after they signed. New York took a different approach with Smith, the 11th pick in last year’s draft, assigning him to low Class A Savannah and watching him demonstrate that an adjustment period is in order. The sweet-swinging 18-year-old kept the strikeouts in check this week (four in seven games) but went just 2-for-25 (.080) with one walk. Smith also started slow last year before catching fire, and keep in mind the fact that Savannah is the most extreme pitcher’s park in the full-season minors.

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[i] http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-april-18-jon-singleton-assaults-pcl-pitchers/

Binghamton RHSP Matt Bowman stepped up big time Thursday night and has now added his name to what seems like the countless  SP prospects in this organization.

Bowman was a 13^th round Sandy-pick in 2012, out of Princeton University. Weather limited Princeton’s baseball season so Bowman only pitched in 25 games (20 starts). The stats weren’t there (5.05 ERA as a sophomore; 4.66 as a junior), but the Mets picked him as a shortstop first (.306 in 2011; .308 in 2012) with the possibility of converting to a pitcher.

That changed immediately when he got to Brooklyn and came out of the pen to complete the 2012 season (12-G, 2-2, 2.45).

I met the 6-1 Bowman briefly when he was in Savannah (2013). He blew through here in five starts (4-0, 2.64) and was promoted because of A+ injuries. The Mets liked him from the get-go and he was a particular favorite of Frank Viola. Obvious, he was intelligent (father was a Harvard grad) and approached this game from a level far greater than most of his teammates. He attended the 2013 STEP program where he worked on his changeup. He also added a spitter to go along with his low-90s fastball, curve, and slider.

Think Dillon Gee with higher SAT scores. 

ETA: Hard to say. Like many other Mets minor league starters, there doesn’t seem to be any room for Bowman in a future Mets rotation. That makes him either a trade chip or a future bullpen candidate.

I don’t expect the Mets to rush him to Las Vegas this year because everybody ahead of him is still backed up. No, the dam will release some water when Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero head north. That would leave two openings in the AAA rotation for either Hansel Robles, Darin Gorski, Rainy Lara, or Bowman.

Past that, let’s just say he is targeted to pitch at the major league level in 2016… somewhere for someone.

Eno-Chat –

       Comment From Bill - I’m a mets fan in Brooklyn who cut cable this year…i now watch every game but my own team. Is this what purgatory is?

Eno Sarris: Hah. Pay for cable in 2015 maybe.

Comment From Kyle - Long term, do you like d’Arnaud or Mesoraco better offensively?

Eno Sarris: Mes.

Comment From @CaliforniaJag - Who are the best steals and SP prospects in the minors that might make an impact this year?

Eno Sarris: Giolito, Syndergaard…. Marisnick?  Steals in minors kinda barren right now.

Player Movement –

       It’s past mid-April now and we’ve got our first taste from the players that are producing top numbers at the current level they are playing at.

       One of the fun things about following the minors is watching (and guessing) when they are promoted and seeing how they do at the next level.

       There’s nothing etched in stone here, but the Mets do try and follow a plan of not moving one of their key players until just prior to the all-star game of the level they were playing at since the beginning of the year (I don’t think the Mets care about the whole all-star game thing).

       There also seems to be an unwritten rule for starters. You’re not going to see them promoted until they produce in the 8-10 starts range. This is just smart baseball and gives the team the proper time needed to evaluate the overall talent of the player.

       There are exceptions, like the one mentioned in the Bowman piece above. Sometimes, a player on the level above someone goes on the DL and decisions have to be made. No one particularly likes when this happens, but they are unavoidable.

       Last thing I want to talk about on this subject…

       Every organization has certain players that are considered ‘special’. Special usually means they aren’t going to be rushed under any condition.

       Forget players at the AAA level. They have already climbed the mountain.

       The ‘special’ players the Mets have below AAA are Steven Matz, Michael Fulmer, Dominic Smith (though I will say the move to start him at the A-level looks like a bad one), Dilson Herrera, Amed Rosario, Kevin Plawecki, and Brandon Nimmo. There are others close to this level (Cecchini, Lawley, a bunch of starters), but the real special guys are the ones I have listed.

       I actually think the first player to be ‘moved up’ will be OF Darrell Cecilliani, but that move would be made because of a need in Vegas for another outfielder.

       I expect no additional movement this year for Smith. He needs to settle in to ‘the grind’ and learn how to play ‘long-term baseball’.

       The tempting ones seem to be Plawecki, Matz, and Nimmo. I can tell you after following this over the years that there never is a pattern here. None of us are coaching these kids every day and we have no way of determining if they are ready for the next step, both talent wise and mentally


First Basemen in the System:

			G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLUG	OPS
MLB	Lucas Duda		14	40	7	11	3	8	0.275	0.341	0.5	0.841
	Ike Davis		12	24	4	5	1	5	0.208	0.367	0.375	0.742
	Josh Satin		6	12	0	2	0	2	0.167	0.231	0.333	0.564
AAA	Alan Dykstra		11	28	6	12	1	11	0.429	0.579	0.75	1.329
	Eric Campbell		14	58	18	19	2	11	0.328	0.409	0.517	0.926
AA	Matt Clark		11	36	8	14	4	11	0.389	0.489	0.833	1.322
	Jayce Boyd		10	40	6	6	0	4	0.15	0.209	0.25	0.459
A+	T.J. Rivera		12	50	10	19	2	14	0.38	0.426	0.6	1.026
	Brandon Allen		1	4	1	1	0	0	0.25	0.4	0.25	0.65
	Aderlin Rodriguez		14	59	5	12	0	10	0.203	0.242	0.305	0.547
A	Matt Oberste		5	16	1	4	0	1	0.25	0.294	0.313	0.607
	Dominic Smith		14	52	3	8	0	0	0.154	0.17	0.154	0.324