Tom Brennan - TOP 25 METS' PROSPECTS: # 15 ANDRES GIMENEZ
Andres Gimenez - the high bonus signing
shortstop positively tore up the DSL, hitting .350/.469/.523 with very few strikeouts (22, to be precise, in over 260 plate appearances and
some pop (27 extra base hits).
Seeing the dreaded "K" trip up so many prospects, like another DSL graduate a few years back, Vicente Lupo, it was amazing to see a guy fan so little, almost guaranteeing the K won't be a major issue for the lad as he progresses forward.
He also made only 13 errors in 60 games, highly impressive to me at that age. (12 in 48 games at SS, 1 in 12 games at 2B).
Seeing the dreaded "K" trip up so many prospects, like another DSL graduate a few years back, Vicente Lupo, it was amazing to see a guy fan so little, almost guaranteeing the K won't be a major issue for the lad as he progresses forward.
He also made only 13 errors in 60 games, highly impressive to me at that age. (12 in 48 games at SS, 1 in 12 games at 2B).
What more could you ask of a 17 year old? Not much.
Baseball in the states has much better pitching, so let's see how he does in 2017 as an 18 year old.
Baseball in the states has much better pitching, so let's see how he does in 2017 as an 18 year old.
My guess is he excels in the Gulf Coast league and gets a promotion
straight to Brooklyn later in 2017, with an eye on Gimenez being part of Columbia
full season baseball in 2018.
We can only hope he follows the same aggressive age trajectory with the same quality as Amed Rosario. Gimenez will be one of the most fascinating guys to watch develop in 2017.
We can only hope he follows the same aggressive age trajectory with the same quality as Amed Rosario. Gimenez will be one of the most fascinating guys to watch develop in 2017.
Tom -
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the strikeouts. This is what you look at in this level. 9 out of 10 people thought Lupo had what it took to be a great hitter in this game, but, it is the strikeouts that tell the tale.
The tale is also told that, if you spend the right amount of bonus money on quality international kids, you have a better chance of developing starting 25-man players.
The Mets have only dished out 4 million dollar + bonuses in the past 7 seasons:
SS Amed Rosario - $1,750,000
SS Kenny Hernandez - $1,000,000
SS Andres Gimenez - $1,200,000
SS Gregory Guerrero - $1,500,000
So far, only Hernandez looks to be a bust.
(Note: I know it looks like the Mets have been shortstop crazy, but this is the position every DR kid wants to play and all the best young talent are shortstops)
Kid is very well regarded. I hope he rips it up next year, starting most likely in GCL, given his age.
DeleteIt will be tempting to move him to K-Port and start fellow bonus baby Guerrero at GCL
ReplyDeleteMaybe. They may want to keep both together for camaraderie, but it will be interesting.
DeleteHopefully he is Amed Rosario II.
Excited about this kid. He clearly dominated down there. That K number is impressive and probably very telling. Right. What everyone else said. I will add that while I criticize Sandy for some things, and I really have my problems with the Wilpons, one thing this FO has done is when they have invested in kids,via the draft or paying big money internationally, they seem to invest in good, smart kids. Rosario from what I can tell is very smart and well grounded. Smith, Conforto, same. I don't know about this kid, but I hear people rave about Guerrero's makeup, and he's from a big league family. It's gotta be especially helpful if you're bringing the kid into a new country, with a new language at 17-18 years old. Tejada came out of that program as well. I like this kid's chances. Interesting that they haven't gotten much pitching from there that I can recall. But like the man said, all the great athletes there want to be shortstops.
ReplyDelete