Good morning.
In ex-Met news –
25-year
old OF Cesar Puello signed a minor league
contract with the Texas Rangers.
I forgot to add this guys name into the
comments I made earlier this week about ‘can’t miss’ prospects that turned out
to be a dud. Puello hit .326, 16-HR, 73-RBIs for Binghamton in 2013, but then
came a meh year in Las Vegas (2014: .252. 7-HR, 37-RBIs) and a suspended year
in 2015. He did go .283/.415/.404/.819 for the Yankees last year in AAA, which
makes one wonder why he wasn’t resigned by the brass in the Bronx. I really
though this kid was going to be something.
29-year
old OF Matt den Dekker signed a minor league
contract with the Florida Marlins.
Den Dekker is another of those
ex-outfield prospects that many thought would do big things in Queens. I didn’t
share that opinion though I did think he was a great lower level spray hitter.
He just couldn’t get a shot in the Washington Nationals outfield these last two
seasons after a trade with the Met6s for LHRP Jerry
Blevens. Did this work out? Well, the Mets got 80 relief appearances
that produced a 0.00-ERA in 2015 and a 2.79-ERA in 2016, which the Nats got
someone that hit .176 last season. And who said that Sandy
Alderson can’t make trades?
31-year old C Johnny
Monell has signed a two-year contract with Korea’s KBO NC Dinos.
He did
get a cup of coffee with the 2015 Mets (48-AB, .167), but was stuck in Las
Vegas (.276/.338/.470/808) all of last season.
We’ve had a lot of fun this week talking
about ‘unmovable’ prospects that picked up their phone this week and found (Lucas Giolito, Yoan Moncada)
out what that statement was worth.
Throughout all this fog, we’ve learned
that Mets really only have one unmovable prospect… 21-year old SS Amed Rosario.
Rosario was signed with the largest
international signing bonus (2012-13: $1.75mil) and has hit .280 for the seven
Mets teams he has played for over the past four seasons. More important is the
.341/.394/.481/895 he finished producing last year for AA-Binghamton. As a
20-year old in a year that averages players 2.5 years old than he was.
His 2018 future in Queens is perfectly
slotted in after the running out of Astrubel Cabbera’s contract
at the end of this season. I’m not sure when his first arbitration year is, but
I know that he’s under team control through the 2022 season.
This is our Moncado. This is our Trea Turner. And this will be the next Mets shortstop
for probably 10 seasons.
I have no idea what to do with Gavin Cecchini, no less Phillip
Evans, Luis Guillorme, and all those
international kids we signed recently, Kenny Hernandez,
Andres Giminez, and Gregory
Guerrero. Frankly, I may never care. That’s how good this kid projects to
be.
Folks, this is the one keeper we
currently have in our system and you will see him in Queens, at the latest, in
September.
The signing of OF Dexter Fowler by the St. Louis Cardinals will, in the
long run, make things easier for Sandy Alderson to
move either Curtis Granderson or Jay Bruce. The removal of Fowler from the unsigned
gives teams out there one less blue chip outfielder that is available in this
off-season. St. Louis was bever inyerested in one of our outfielders so there
is no big loss here.
My guess is the phones will ring more
often now.
I was futzing around online while
listening to President-Elect Donald J. Trump speak
in Iowa when I came across another of those ‘bird in hand’ vs. ‘can’t miss’
prospect trades the Mets made.
In 2005, the Mets caught maximum shit
from the prospect weenies when they traded their number two prospect, P Yusmeiro Petit , and number four prospect, 1B Mike Jacobs, for the services of 1B Carlos Delgado. Three seasons (2006-2007)… 100 home
runs… 326 runs batted in.
How did that work out?
I definitely think Washington gave up way too much in their trade for Eaton. That package plus a bit more gets you an A lister not a B lister.
ReplyDeleteFrom a Mets stand point I am happy they gutted some of their system
From a Met stand point:
ReplyDeleteHoping it increases the value if Granderson and Bruce in some way.
Puello was always a mystery, and oft-injured. Dekker seemed to fix his strikeout issues, but it was more just hitting in the PCL that year, where for about 2 months he hit .420.
ReplyDeleteHappy for Monell - just not quite good enough, so go to Japan and make some $$.
Maybe Rosario will succeed, stay healthy, and become our best homegrown position player ever. THAT would be nice.
I remember being disappointed with Delgado, who for a while seemed like another guy the Mets would bring in who could not hit. Then, one day Carlos got real hot and stayed really good for us. Great trade.
Mack, did you ever call it on Trea Turner back before he was drafted - he had half a season last year putting up Hall of Fame #s. What will he do this coming full season? Uh oh.
It just seems very strange that word is Bruce is becoming hard to move. A 30 hr guy who's only 29 and on a 1 year contract for chump change compared to what Bautista and Encarnacion his comparables will sign for....what am I missing here? Turner was a "Mack guy" and SD not only traded him to the Nats I believe they even got Ross in that deal....no wonder they suck ...how many good players have they traded away the last few years.
ReplyDeleteThis may be a result of other GMs growing tired of dealing with the way Alderson approaches trades
DeleteAs the dominoes fall, Bruce will become more attractive. Fowler off the table was a big one. Now you have to wait for Encarnacion and Bautista. Then the trade candidates emerge -- Bruce actually has a better long term track record than J.D. Martinez is and earns only $1.25 million more. The question is whether a team needs a left handed slugger or right handed. McCutchen is in another league of player entirely as he brings speed and passable CF defense. Ditto Charlie Blackmon.
ReplyDeleteBob -
ReplyDeleteOne could argue that one of the reasons most GM do not like to deal with Sandy is the fact that the lion share of his deals (though not enough of them) turned out well for the Mets.
Definitely part.
DeleteBut....
Clearly in those situations Alderson was dealing from a position of strength with a losing team trading off productive players.
The Mets are in a different position now.
He is in more of the need/want position. A more aggressive approach may be appropriate. Perhaps more risk is required.
Perhaps less focus is needed on who wins the trade and more focus on just improving the organization.
I quoted a NY Post article a day or two ago which echoed what I'd said about the spinmeisters -- "All will be fine when you get back Duda and Wright and Walker -- we don't need no stinkin' bats."
ReplyDeleteBob -
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that Sandy is made of that.
Reese, when will we see the 3 Back Boys (Wright, Duda, Walker) go BACK TO BACK TO BACK this year, that is what I wanna know.
ReplyDeleteMack
ReplyDeleteI agree. At least he has not shown that he is.
This is part of why I wrote about really thinking twice about whether the Mets should have extended Alderson's contract a couple years ago.
I pointed out that the organization was moving out of the death spiral it was in and a different approach was warranted if the Mets wanted to excel into the top tier of organizations with sustained success.
They like conservative spending, especially after the Madoff almost-takedown. Sandy is that.
Delete