10/4/17

Tom Brennan - MY METS PROSPECTS: #15 GAVIN CECCHINI

Tom Brennan - MY METS PROSPECTS: #15 GAVIN CECCHINI

A year ago, he had a breakthrough offensive season in AAA but couldn't field a lick.  This season, the hitting significantly tailed off but the fielding improved quite a bit. See Saw.

Who is that? Gavin Cecchini.  Pictured near the Poker sign.
Draw your own conclusions on that.

Going into 2017, I thought the guy who hit .350+ from late April to season's end in 2016 would totally rake in 2017, also up his fielding, and be anointed as Neil Walker's successor at second base.

Two problems:

Walker left early to take up being a Brewer. October baseball or Octoberfest for good old Neil, we'll soon find out.  (SORRY, NEIL...GRAB A BREWSKI).

And Gavin's bat slumbered.  And a bat producing little power cannot afford to slumber too.

It is what it is...Gavin is got some September MLB at bats, hoping to impress, but failed to while Phil Evans (my # 9 guy) did.  Gavin, a guy who hit in mediocre fashion for Las Vegas this season, has to be going into 2018 with a possible major league roster spot once again in real jeopardy.  To be anointed a 2nd base starter for 2018, like right now?  Not happening, bro.  Get to the back of the line.

If the Mets don't make an off-season trade, as of right now the 2nd and 3rd base spots will be manned by two or more of the following: Cabrera, Reyes, Flores, Rivera, Reynolds,  and/or Evans.  Lots of competition.  And AAA Gavin, don't look behind you, but Jeff McNeil, Luis Guillorme, and Kevin Taylor hope to sneak past you on the depth chart.  Not to mention 3rd basemen David Thompson and Jhoan Urena.

Your only solution, Mr. Cecchini?  
Hit like it is 2016 and field like it is 2017.

A late season AAA hot streak pushed Gavin up to .267/.329/.380 in 110 games.  Considering that Soup Nazi Eric Campbell put up far better AAA numbers than that but totally fell off in the bigs, Gavin has to do A WHOLE LOT better.  I think he will do much better - in AAA once again next year as a 24 year old.  Just 13 errors in 2017 was proof that he can dramatically improve.

My off-season recommendation is to add strength and extra base hit power.  Speed unfortunately is average, and it is what it is.  

And make it quick, or get run over by the vast competition.  Don't let ANDRES GIMINEZ pass you by at age 19.

Frankly, while I had Cecchini at # 15 when I wrote most of this article a few weeks before season's end, his lousy play after his late season Mets call up (11 for 60, a few walks, 2 doubles) probably warrants his ranking to be more like # 25.

I am just too lazy to shift him down to # 25...so fire me!

But here is a question to which I'd like your response: where would YOU rank Gavin Cecchini?  Top 10?  Top 20?  Top 30?  Top 40?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think he is what he is at this point, which is a AAAA type player. IF he improves a bit, perhaps an MLB utility infielder and a pinch hitter for a contending club.

It seems that we have quite a collection of those type players and not what was expected of a player drafted so high. It's a shame that Sandy's early picks (for the most part) haven't panned out (our roster and payroll would be in much better shape in an alternate universe).

I don't see Gavin as a long term solution for the holes at 2B and 3B.

Mike

Eddie from Corona said...

I love all the organizational talk but this list is revealing how depleted this team is of talent...
Sandy was brought in to specifically address this and 7 years later we are worse than when he arrived...
He needs to be on the Chopping block...
Will these Mets ever get lucky... (by luck I mean find the right man to run the team)
Where is the Young Frank Cashen... A 15 year man who keep us in sustainable success... I mean how long has Theo been at it?

Tom Brennan said...

Bad drafting catches up to you. Or is it VERY bad drafting.

A team that does NOT want to spend HAS to draft well.

I have a draft article coming out Friday.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

Sorry... have to disagree again with one of your picks.

Cecchini has never been high on my list because I always projected him as either a AAAA player or a utility MLB infielder.

Tom Brennan said...

Mack, I largely agree with you. I have Gavin at #15 mostly giving him the benefit of a large amount of doubt. He has not even proven he is Matt Reynolds yet. Maybe he never will. Our eyes don't lie.

On what will probably be a persistent theme of comparing our guys to the better-run Tanks, he'll certainly never be Gleyber Torres. Aside from that, Gavin is very close from moving from prospect to suspect...next step is rejectreject, Gavin

He needs to do a ton of soul searching this winter.. And add at least 15, maybe 20, pounds of muscle...and really up his offensive game. No half stepping. Or continue on the Road to Oblivion.

Only I'm mediocre Metsville could a guy like GAVIN get anywhere near top 15.

Tom Brennan said...

My tablet keeps thinking the Yanks are Tanks. Maybe it knows something I do not.

Hobie said...

From June 4, 2012: (It's not a science, I guess)

#11-OAK: What immediately jumps out here is the power potential. One ESPN.com scout said Russell has maybe "the best [raw power] I've seen since Giancarlo Stanton." -->RATS

#12-NYM: Cecchini has the defensive chops to stick at the position and even be an asset there at the highest level. He also runs the bases well and earns praise for his makeup and w -->ork ethic. As for the bat, Cecchini has a quick, line-drive stroke (he batted .532 as a junior) but doesn't project to hit for much power. Still, he can develop into a useful regular if he's able to control the strike zone and learn to pick up high-level breaking stuff.

#13-CWS: Hawkins may possess the most power potential of any high school player in this year's draft, and with power being at a premium, that has made him a more attractive prospect for many teams. -> Still in AA

#14-CIN: It’s hard to imagine a high school player who throws 99 mph being buried on the depth chart, but after playing at two national powerhouse high schools, that may have been the case with [Nick] Travieso. → OOB

#15-CLE: Obviously, the lefty [Taylor Naquin] can hit, but despite being a home run threat in high school, has yet to find his power stroke on the collegiate level. -> Injured, 37 AB in 2017

#16-WAS: If not for a March elbow injury, Giolito would have been a favorite to be taken by the Astros with the first pick. The 6-foot-6 right-hander suffered a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and chose not to have surgery.  → 11 MLB starts

#17-LAD: The younger brother of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager, Corey is bigger and more physical than his brother at 6-3, 205. Seager hit .517 with 10 home runs as a senior and was selected as North Carolina's Gatorade Player of the Year. A left-handed hitter, he shows the ability to drive the ball to all fields. He played shortstop in high school, but with his size, he projects more as a third baseman. He's committed to play baseball at South Carolina. → All Star

Tom Brennan said...

Hobie, nice: out of that list, after missing on Russell, I'd have picked Giolito (who did get TJS as expected, but been a bit of a mystery since), or Seager - always draft power pitcher or power hitter. Name a guy we've drafted who has become a successful MLB hitter who "has a quick, line-drive stroke but doesn't project to hit for much power, who can develop into a useful regular if he's able to control the strike zone and learn to pick up high-level breaking stuff." I can't. You can't. The Mets can't either. Closest I can think of is Murphy, who did have power potential - and that comparison is irrelevant, since he was drafted several rounds after the first round. Compare Cecchini to Trea Turner, who had blazing speed and more power. I know Turner was in a later draft, but read any similar write up at draft time on Turner, who was picked around the same slot as Cecchini, and you'd say to yourself, "Now HE sounds like a real first rounder."

Hobie said...

After just missing out on Addison--and that would have been the choice--I think they got SS happy. The only ones in the pipeline at the time were Wilmer & Tovar.

I know Mack wanted Courtney Hawkins (we drafted him later under the name Desmond Lindsay) and I wanted...wait for it...C Stryker Trahan. Now there's a bust of Chilcottian proportions (at least Steve had a torn up shoulder excuse).

You could think about an INF of Abreu, Murphy, Seager & Turner, which was actually possible, but the agita isn't worth it.

Tom Brennan said...

Nice to think, even for a minute, about that foursome as our IF Hobie. OK, back to reality!