My rankings
is solely subjective and based on nothing more than what is in my head at time
I’m writing this. I’ve followed the Mets minor league players for many years
and I feel I can recognize talent at various levels of their development. What
I have failed at is how to determine when this talent seems to diminish. It’s
amazing how many first round picks never make it in this game.
I’m old
school, so you won’t seem much SABR-discussion here, I do research and, when I
find a good quote or two, I’ll add them to my analysis, but, like I said in the
beginning of this post, most of this us subjective.
Let’s get
started.
# 28 – C – Ali Sanchez
17-years old – Carora, Venezuela –
6-0, 175, R/R – International signee
2014 – DSL Mets – 175-AB,
.303/.406/.394/800, 3-HR, 24-RBI, 31-SO
Sanchez came
to the Mets touted as the 25th top international prospect (Baseball
America) in 2013. The Mets signed him while giving him a $690,000 signing
bonus.
Baseball
America also said “Sanchez, 16, is 6 feet, 180 pounds with good catch-and-throw
skills, quick feet and good hands. Scouts highest on him have been impressed
with his ability to hit in games by staying inside the ball with a
contact-oriented swing from the right side of the plate.”
His 2014
season was a success, he not only hit above three hundred at the age of 17, but
played all season making only five errors.
Outlook –
Tough to
call.
Normally,
the Mets would hold back a 17-year for another year of DSL ball but the team is
a little short of catcher prospect talent below Kevin
Plawecki in AAA ball
My
guess: GCL Mets
I'd be shocked if he wasn't on the GCL Mets next year.
ReplyDeletePretty amazin year for a 17 year-old catcher. If they think he can handle it emotionally, I'm guessing they'll bring him stateside this season. The social and personal adjustment of being so far away from home in a place where they speak a different language - over and above talent level, is often the most difficult part of the adjustment for young kids.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. The Mets do put these Latin American players through classes to help them adjust to American life. Now I'm sure a 22 year old would handle it better than a teenager, but in any case they were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, so let's not worry too much about their adjustment to playing daily in professional ball.
ReplyDeleteSanchez has his visa and has already been to St. Lucie for this off-season
ReplyDeleteMaybe my favorite draft bonus baby in the system outside of Rosario. This is a perfect spot for him on a prospect list but he's also very high on my breakout list.
ReplyDelete