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12/21/14

The Morning Report – December 21 – Paul Sewald, Gonzalez Germen, Mets Farm System




David Wright turned 32 on Saturday.


I have to tell you... I found it quite difficult writing about the New York Mets while two of New York's finest are executed sitting in their squad car. I'm not exactly sure where the world is going right now but it sure reminds me of  1968, the year I cam back from Nam... RFK killed... MLK killed....now it's my grandchildren in the streets... amazing.


Newsday[i] is putting together a Top 25 Mets Pitching prospect list. One example is below:

23. PAUL SEWALD, RHP, St. Lucie (A+) (6-2, 190) BORN: May 26, 1990 | DRAFTED: 10th round (2012)  BEST OUTCOME: Middle reliever ETA: 2016 - In 94 career games, Paul Sewald has a 1.85 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and .219 batting average against. He struck out 171 and walked only 28 in 141 innings, a stellar 6.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But Sewald will turn 25 in May and has pitched just three games above Single-A

Mack – I really like Sewald and we’ll talk more about him when it’s his turn on my prospect list.



               
The trade this week of RHRP Gonzalez Germen to the Yankees, for cash, was a puzzling one. The Mets and Yankees had only made 15 trades ever going into this deal so this one caught me off guard

I’m sure we will never find out the amount of money they got here, but it is a shame that it isn’t tied to the International pool money that makes cash deals like this work better.

My hopes is this trade is just the beginning of a new relationship between these two teams.

The trading of German reduces the number of relievers I have ‘papered’ into the Las Vegas bullpen to 15 - Jack Leathersich, Paul Seward, Hansel Robles, Jeff Walters, Chase Huchingson, Cody Satterwhite, Jon Velazquez, Kyle Regnault, Zack Thornton, Chase Bradford, Scott Rice, John Church, Dario Alvarez, Erik Goeddel, Adam Kolarek



Beisbol.org[ii] took a look at the Mets minor league system. The article is interesting, and long, and here is the overall assessment:

Overall, I think the majority of people are being too kind to the Mets farm system, largely because of Noah Syndergaard. I would have it ranked in the top ten, but number four for a system with no slam dunks with position players and a handful of interesting arms seems a bit much. Mets drafting has really had their hits and misses and for whatever reason, I want to say the current farm system has more of the latter (which is natural given the high bust rate of prospects (especially those who are not highly ranked)). With trades looming as a possibility, a number of these guys could be moved if the Mets and Rockies finally connect on Tulowitzki.
The one real standout is the lack of a real shortstop that will arrive in the next few years. Milton Ramos might be able to stick at the position (too soon to tell), but even then he is years away from joining the club. The team needs someone who can play the position and they are probably not going to find them within the farm system, at least for the next three or so years.

I am not bursting with excitement regarding any of these guys with the exception of Syndergaard, but perhaps that is me. 

Mack – I like the Beisbol site and find a lot of interesting assessments there. It also is run by non-Mets fans, which gives us an outsiders chance of evaluating exactly what kind of players we have in the system.

Read the article and let me know what you think.         


19 comments:

  1. Read the Beisbol article. Interesting, but i think he is too conservative in most of his assessments. Too much glass-half-empty. But led by Nimmo, i can see why he is not very impressed by the offensive outlook. I am more impressed, but pitching, which he underrated, is a huge strength.

    Great day, folks,.

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  2. My dad was 20 years NYPD..........................

    Im also not worried about beisbol assessment on farm system. Especially since we've just watched Lagares and deGrom become legit major leaguers without ANY prospect hype.
    I guess Mets are technically being a little penalized for building so much in so little time. Either way so far so good on many of the 'hit or miss' high school kids they've taken the past 4 years, and many have a chance, which is all you can ask for when drafting/signing teenagers.

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  3. Earnest - your mention of Lagares and deGrom is exactly why all the prospect evaluation is overy blown

    Also, go back and read Harvey's ratings - he was rated as good, but nobody pegged him as being a top 5 MLB pitcher

    So, I take a lot of this with a grain of salt

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  4. Mack - What did you do in Nam? I have 20+ in USMC and been to both recent fun spots

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  5. God bless our troops and police, past and present, for their service in a world in which increasingly, there are voices that call good evil and evil good.

    And happy birthday, David Wright, and may the best career years lie ahead of you.

    Hey Lou, when you see a hyped prospect like F Mart was, there is another angle to taking prospect chatter with a grain of salt. I like prospect hitters who HIT, and prospect pitchers who DOMINATE. The rest I reserve accolades for.

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  6. Right or wrong, Beisbal's assessment is right along with mine.

    The Mets are going to need to import talent -- via trade, or free agency -- for this ship to float.

    Too much waiting for the answers to come from within the organization. Too passive, too lacking in urgency.

    A surplus in pitching is not a benefit if it isn't not traded, it is only a waste and a missed opportunity.

    JP

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  7. Thomas -

    I'm not sure if any of us are impressed with the Mets offensive potential - we just seem to pray a lot

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  8. Ernest - Lagares and deGrom prove that everybody that gets through a baseball system and winds up at the AAA level has the potential to take it one step further

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  9. Lew -

    I was radar tech on F4C fighters and a secondary of nuclear bombs (top secret clearance) - 4th Air Force, 33rd AFS

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    1. Cool - thanks for your service at a really difficult time

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  10. JP -

    I used to write a post every year before the season starts called "IFs".

    It would outline all the things that had to go right for the Mets to get deep into the playoffs,

    I think Sandy and Company and gotten this team even closer, but my 'IF' column probably will be just as long as last years

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  11. The Mets biggest screw up was aiming for .500 ball these past 6 years. If they had actually tried a legit rebuild, they'd have all their same pitching prospects and better offensive ones from picking earlier in the draft.

    They'd definitely be sitting on a top 3 system. They likely wouldn't have signed Granderson. They likely wouldn't have signed Colon. And this year, they'd have had a lot more money to spend on offense and better prospects to trade for it as well.

    Maybe we'd have Myers and Kemp in our outfield right now. With those bats, I'd be more comfortable going into the season.

    They could've even traded for Tulo and not worried about the cash outlay.

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  12. Charles -

    I could write columns on how the Mets mis-directed their drafting during the Sandy years.

    On the surface, he's done well, but by drafting all these bust-or-boom high school arms all the time, you turn your back on bats.

    One great example:

    The Mets pick in the 3rd round of the 2013 draft high school pitcher Casey Meisner (who is just beginning to pitch in the system)

    3 picks later, Pittsburgh picked OF/2B Jacoby Jones out of Univ of West Virginia... he hit 23-HR and 70-RBI at full-A this past season...

    and then the next pick by Arizona is Georgia Tech 1B Daniel Palka, who hit 22-HR, 82-RBI this past season at full A ball

    We could have easily had some more bats in this system if we always wasn't so obsessed with high school pitchers

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  13. I understand that point, however I do love high ceiling hs arms. I was speaking more to this half ass approach to building the Mets these passed 5 years.

    They knew they weren't a playoff team, right? So why try to sell us fans on them actually having a shot?

    I'd have fathered them sell off everyone. Build up a colossal system. Have 40-50 million dollar payrolls. Keep the 30 million more they were going to spend on payroll in reserve for future years or invest heavily in international markets including all these Cuban sensations.

    Get numerous top 5 draft picks by losing 100 games a year.

    What have they gained by winning 70 games a year? Nothing. But they've definitely lost plenty in terms of young assets. And they now have a powerhouse young pitching staff and are praying that their offense will produce enough to win 90 games.

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  14. Charles -

    I LOVE H.S. arms, but you need more than this...

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  15. ......sigh......

    ......Alderson. .......

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  16. Lew & Mac - thanks to both of you for your service.

    I really find it hard to seperate the Wilpons and Alderson. It's impossible to tell if Sandy's not making moves because he knows what the REAL suggested budget is, or because hes in love with his own guys and won't make a move unless he's sure he won. Regardless, I think we have to be realistic at this point (AGAIN!?!) and figure this is the year we get above .500, and the next 2-3 years are when our real championship window is open. All I can do is hope thast they are learning what it's actually gonnas take from all the moves they see going on around them.

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  17. This team has almost never had lethal hitting. It is a darned shame.

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