Tom Brennan - MAJORING ON THE MINORS - 2012 METS' DRAFT - PROGRESS UPDATE

MAJORING ON THE MINORS

2012 METS DRAFT – HOW ARE THEY DOING? By Tom Brennan

Here’s a quick recap of the 2012 draft.  Each draft year deserves to be evaluated, and while it is early in the 2012 draft’s gestation period, I think that the 2012 Met draft is shaping up to be a very fruitful one for them. 

Some real talent, led by:

·       4 nearly ready guys who can be high impact - Kevin Plawecki, Matt Reynolds, Matt Bowman, and

Jayce Boyd (yes, Jayce Boyd.  Contrarian that I am, I like him.  Sweet bat, and power's coming).

·       4 potentially highly promising talents, going by the names of Gavin Cecchini, Rob Whelan, Paul Sewald, and Corey Oswalt.  Gavin in 2015 may pull a “Matt Reynolds 2014” on us (Matt jumped 117 points in average in 2014), so be patient with Gavin.  Just hurry up, man!

·       4 guys who could lead to pleasant surprises within a few years, such as Matt Koch, Logan Taylor, Tomas Nido, and Chris Flexen. Ahh, and perhaps Tim Peterson (wait, is that 13?)

The upcoming 2015 season’s performances by the aforementioned gents should show if the 2012 Mets’ draft was merely good…or great. But here is a recap of all of those who signed with the Mets from that draft (and only 22 of the 40 did sign – unusually low):

                                                                                    

Name	Pos	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Rd #	Rating	Comments
Gavin Cecchini	SS	R / R	6' 1"	180	12/22/1993	1	2	.247/.328/.378 in 2014 in two A ball levels.  Gavin at age 21 in 2015 is key...is he about to surge?  My “2” rating sees him as a utility player in the future. Prove me wrong, Gavin.
Kevin Plawecki	C	R / R	6' 2"	225	02/26/1991	CA	1	.295/.372/.439 in 3 years in the minors.  Low Ks. Sky is the limit.
Matt Reynolds	3B	R / R	6' 1"	198	12/03/1990	2	1-2	.343/.405/.454 in AA and AAA in 2014.  What he does in 2015 will hold the key.
Matt Koch	RHP	L / R	6' 3"	185	11/02/1990	3	3	2014 St Lucie. 10-4, 4.64, 1.44 WHIP, just 63 Ks in 120 inn. 4.70 ERA in 3 minor league yrs.
Branden Kaupe	2B	S / R	5' 7"	175	04/10/1994	4	4	Young 3 years, almost 500 plate appearances .214/.355/.245.  Played in K Port in 2014.  .260 with slightly more pop in 2014. We’ll see if anything is there in the coming season.
Brandon Welch	RHP	R / R	6' 1"	185	08/24/1991	5	4	Only 5.28 ERA in Bklyn in 2014. Just 56 innings and 21 gms in his career so far.
Jayce Boyd	1B	R / R	6' 3"	185	12/30/1990	6	2	Career .299/.382/.425. Similar full year #s in AA after a very slow 2014 start. Dude can hit.
Corey Oswalt	RHP	R / R	6' 4"	200	09/03/1993	7	2	Corey was impressive in Bklyn in 2014, 6-2, 68 inn, 2.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 59K.
Tomas Nido	C	R / R	6' 0"	200	04/12/1994	8	3	Solid Bklyn 2014 at age 20: .277/.325/.335.  A full season in Savannah in 2015 will be telling. Maybe a real future piece?
Richie Rodriguez	2B	R / R	5' 9"	170	02/15/1990	9	Retired	Hit .161 in 2012-13. Uhh, uhh.
Paul Sewald	RHP	R / R	6' 2"	190	05/26/1990	10	2	Overachiever: 2012-14, 141 inn, 171 Ks, 1.85 ERA, 1.01 WHIP.  Lots of Ks so far in winter ball. His stock has to be rising.
Logan Taylor	RHP	R / R	6' 5"	205	12/13/1991	11	3	Just 114 inn in 3 years due to injury; strong finish in 2014. 6-4, 2.20, 9K/9, 1.06 WHIP Career. A strong 2015 boosts “3” rating.
Rob Whalen	RHP	R / R	6' 2"	200	01/31/1994	12	2	3 years, 12-4, 1.89, 9K/9, 0.96 WHIP.  Already in winter ball, which was a challenge.  A strong 2015 could move him to a 1 rank
Matthew Bowman	RHP	R / R	6' 0"	165	05/31/1991	13	1	Flying thru system.  10-8, 3.21 in AA and AAA in 2014.  Attention, folks: Similar progress to our ROY Jake deGrom.
Chris Flexen	RHP	R / R	6' 3"	215	07/01/1994	14	3	Tommy John in 2014.  A fine 2013, and pitched well in 2014 just before his July surgery.
Stefan Sabol	C	R / R	6' 0"	200	02/02/1992	17	5	.211/.315/.355 career, most recently in Savannah. 21 HRs since turning pro.
Paul Paez	LHP	L / L	5' 9"	185	04/29/1992	18	Released	Only pitched 2013-14.  62 inn. Solid 2014 year in Savannah  but gone anyhow. It’s tough to keep swimming upstream..
Tyler Vanderheiden	RHP	R / R	6' 2"	175	06/27/1990	19	5	7-3 career, but ERA slightly over 6.00 in 2013 & 2014. Last pitched Savannah in June 2014; still listed as active. Is he?
Tim Peterson	RHP	R / R	6' 1"	190	02/22/1991	20	3	Overachiever, who hit some head winds in St Lucie, but great prior to that.  Career 7-3, 4.22, 1.19 WHIP, 143 Ks in 121 inn.
Andrew Massie	RHP	R / R	6' 1"	170	01/27/1994	24	5	Struggled in 3 years, 3-9, 5.58
Jon Leroux	1B	R / R	6' 1"	205	09/19/1990	32	5	Some pop. Last in Savannah. 109 games in 3 years, .240.
Jeff Reynolds	3B	R / R	5' 10"	175	07/28/1989	38	5	Similar to Jon Leroux.  .241.

 RATING SCALE:

1 – future impact major leaguer and performing at a high level

2 – future major leaguer – unclear if he will be an impact player

3 – decent shot at making it to the big enchilada in some capacity

4 – long shot to make the majors

5 – extremely long shot to make the majors

Where am I wrong, people?   Share your thoughts, please. 

Have a great day.