12/18/14

Tom Brennan - MAJORING ON THE MINORS - 2013 METS DRAFT UPDATE


Tom Brennan – MAJORING ON THE MINORS - 2013 METS DRAFT - HOW ARE THEY DOING?

To quote from the great Yogi Berra, “It gets late early out there.”  These guys mostly just finished their 2nd year.  Most have not pitched or hit a whole lot.  Mets’’ 1st round pick Dominic Smith is an exception, having played 177 games in 2 seasons with over 700 plate appearances – and he won’t even turn 20 til mid-June 2015. Met fans, be patient!!

On the other hand, a guy like Cameron Griffin threw very well in 2014, but only has 42 innings in 2 years.  Being Mr. Smith’s senior by 4 years (i.e., he’ll turn 24 next June), he needs to rise fast and not falter to avoid that “well, look how old he is, though” label.  It does get late early for baseball prospects.  The winnowing process is unrelenting.

On that cheery note, let’s turn a gaze at the Mets’ 2013 draft.

27 guys signed, most are doing well or reasonably so, but the guys I see as most promising right now are
Dominic Smith
Casey Meisner
L J Mazzilli

Jared King
Champ Stuart
Jeff McNeil
Luis Guillorme
and Brandon Brosher.

Others who may still surge IMO are Matt Oberste, Colton Plaia, Robert Coles, and youngsters Andrew Church and Ivan Wilson. 

Overall, early indicators are that 2013 was another very solid Sandy Alderson draft.  Time will tell.   Read on, Met fans:

                                                                                                                          

Name
Pos
B/T
Ht
Wt
DOB
Rd
Rating
Comments
1B
L / L
6' 0"
185
06/15/1995
1
1
Folks may’ve been disappointed with his power in 2014, but leaping from low rookie ball to mid A in one season was a big leap.  In his first long season, during which he turned 19, he had a slow start and finish, but in 3 mid-months, he hit .305.  Big 2015 coming for Smith in my opinion
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
190
10/07/1994
2
3
In his age 19 season, Church showed progress from mid-July on in K Port. Too early to tell yet for him.  We’ll know much better in 2015 & 2016 (when he’ll only be 21).
CF
R / R
6' 3"
220
05/26/1995
3
3-4
Ivan led his league in HRs – and strikeouts. Latter come at a ghastly pace, so that is goal #1 for Wilson in 2015 – drastically lower the K rate.
RHP
R / R
6' 7"
190
05/22/1995
3
2
Very young and tall, finished strong in Bklyn (62 inn, 3.75, 67 Ks, but just 2 earned runs and 24 K’s in 18 inn over last 3 starts).  One to watch.
2B
R / R
6' 1"
190
09/06/1990
4
2
He impressed a lot of folks in 2014 He is more than just Mazz’s kid. 
LF
S / L
5' 11"
200
10/12/1991
5
3
Played his best ball in St Lucie (49 games, .287/.343/.392). A superb  .318/.362/.477 in season’s last mo. 
CF
R / R
6' 0"
175
10/11/1992
6
3
.251/.359/.345 career, with 40 of 46 steals in 500 + plate appearances.  Mookie Wilson or EY Jr – which will he turn out to be?  Ks out too much (155 times so far), so cut ‘em down!!
1B
R / R
6' 2"
220
08/09/1991
7
3
274/.320/.435 in Gnat Land in 2014.
RHP
R / R
6' 1"
195
05/20/1992
8
4
Kind of high on ERA (4.23) & WHIP (1.48) in 2 yrs. Lots of competition, so he’ll have to step it up a lot.
CF
L / R
5' 9"
165
01/09/1991
9
4
41 of 57 steals over 2 seasons, but just .238/.334/.298.  Needs more.
SS
L / R
5' 10"
170
09/27/1994
2-3
Highly regarded glove, competitive bat. (.283/.340/.324 in 60 games in 2014.  Briefly played in Savannah!
RHP
R / R
6' 0"
220
04/16/1993
TETT
Rocky 2013, missed 2014.
SS
L / R
6' 1"
165
04/08/1992
2-3
Jeff did great in Savannah (.332, 15 steals in 59 games), then slid to .246 in St Lucie after promo in 58 games but strengthened to .266/.354/.353 in Jul/Aug. Think he’ll excel in 2015. 
RHP
R / R
6' 6"
215
10/18/1991
4
Big dude was fine in Savannah for 10 starts, 5.06 in 10 St Lucie starts. Low K’s in Lucie (30 in 59 innings) portend rough waters ahead.
C
R / R
6' 2"
225
09/25/1990
3-4
Decent 2014 in Savannah (84 gm, .261/.332/.360). 2015 will be telling.
1B
R / R
6' 7"
265
11/25/1991
3-4
In K Port, 17 doubles in 152 at bats in 2014, .270/.358/.441 are good #’s.  53 Ks in 47 games is not good.
RHP
R / R
5' 10"
195
07/21/1991
TETT
Missed 2014 (not sure why) after 14 high quality relief outings in his lone year in 2013 in Brooklyn. 
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
195
12/02/1990
Released
13 innings in 2 years.
RHP
R / R
6' 4"
205
09/02/1994
5
Horrible control (38 BB in 21 inns)
RHP
R / R
6' 6"
210
01/29/1991
3-4
With a name almost as long as he is tall, fine relief year in Bklyn (31 innings, 2.30, 1.12 WHIP, 27 ks)
RHP
R / R
5' 9"
160
05/06/1993
?
Truly nice year in the pen for K Port in 2013, but no 2014.  Status unsure
RHP
R / R
6' 0"
180
08/20/1991
3-4
Similar to Ricky Knapp, great early 2014 in Savannah (11 of 11 saves, 1.95), followed by a 4.62 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in St Lucie.  54 Ks in 53 innings, so let’s see how 2015 goes.
RHP
R / R
6' 3"
215
12/27/1990
Retired
One year in 2013; few inn, wild.
RHP
R / R
6' 3"
200
06/25/1991
3-4
Great 2014 (0.96 ERA), but he’s only thrown 42 innings in 2 years, so he needs to up the workload.
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
195
02/21/1994
4
Improved in 2014 in K Port in 22 inn.
1B
R / R
6' 3"
225
02/17/1995
TETT
Homers in 4 straight early season games, followed immediately by a season ending leg injury.
LHP
L / L
5' 9"
185
04/29/1992
Released
Didn’t do enough in 2014 to continue

 RATING LEVELS:

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

TETT – too early to tell – dude has not played enough, or is very young.


So I’ve covered four years of very solid drafts now. (2010 – 2013).

Next up, in the days ahead, my take on the 2014 Mets draft so far.

6 comments:

Mack Ade said...

It will take at least the end of the 2017 season to really determine the value of this draft

Tom Brennan said...

You're right on that, Mack, 2017 for this group will really clarify if it is a plus or minus draft year.

I think the trend for this draft, plus or minus, will start to emerge/clarify by the end of 2015, especially with Dom Smith in mind. On the other hand, perhaps LJ Mazzilli forces his way to AAA or even the Mets in 2015...but he'd be the only one in that sort of a rush, and it is still unclear what his ceiling might be.

As of now, it is definitely TETT (too early to tell), since most of these guys were only up to short season ball.

Unknown said...

What Mack said - way too early here - especially with two highschoolers in the first 2 rounds.

Right now the only close to sure bet to make the ML is Mazz junior - he looks to have a solid bat

Tom Brennan said...

I agree, Lew. Mazz has really outdone expectations especially in all of 2014, including the Fall League.

Good for him.

That Adam Smith said...

Champ Stuart, perhaps Brosher - and to a lesser extent Ivan Wilson - are the wildcards here. If one of those three puts it together, it will significantly improve the value of this class. According to some of the closer observers of the system, Stuart has the best speed in the system, legit power potential, and a real shot. We shall see.

Tom Brennan said...

Hi, Adam

It would be nice to see Stuart become a better version of Mookie Wilson. Like a lot of these guys, 2015 will be very revealing for Stuart.

I was so bummed when Brosher had his season-ending leg injury just days after homering in 4 straight games, which you never see from Mets lower minor guys. Hopefully fully healed and ready to pick up where he left off hitting-wise.

I wonder if anyone ever (besides pitchers) in baseball history ever struck out as much as Ivan (99 times in 211 plate appearances), and he did this at lowly Kingsport. Great athleticism, but he needs to drastically improve in the K Dept. Cutting his K rate in half would only make it marginal. He has a MIGHTY LONG way to go. Seems like an extreme long shot to me.