2019 METS PROSPECT PROJECTED PROMOTIONS: HITTERS
I do it my way, Paul Anka.
That said, I want to start at the bottom of the Mets Minors and work my way up, focusing on high performing 2018 prospects and early round picks who perhaps struggled in 2018.
Most guys start at the top of the organization and work their way down - perhaps I am dyslexic. I do enjoy a nice slice of upside down cake, that much I can tell you.
Today's part one is for hitters.
My next article?
If you guessed pitchers, you are as astute as I know you to be :)
FROM THE DSL:
Valerio, Hernandez, Loyo, Regnault:
Felix Valerio started solidly in 2018 with one DSL squad and switched to the other DSL team in midseason, whereupon he became Superman:
As in, 26 games, and a jaw-dropping .390/.475/.533. The diminutive 17 year old 2B, listed at just 5'7", 165, hopfully will have a growth spurt, and I'd peg him for Kingsport in 2019.
Adrian Hernandez should join him in Kingsport. The 5'9", 210 bonus baby had a solid year at 17, hitting .261/.351/.386, on an upswing all season, with 5 HRs in 63 games. A GCL Mets assignment is possible, but let's challenge him in 2019.
Juan Loyo in his debut DSL season at age 19 posted a solid .292/.435/.340. With a real penchant for getting hit by pitches, he also solidly threw out 20 of 52 baserunners. I'd consider him for Kingsport in 2019, given his on base and defensive skills, but more likely in the GCL to give the following hombre room to play in Kingsport..
Andres Regnault - his first 2 DSL seasons? Forgettable. In 2018 in the DSL? Notable. The 19 year old 6'0", 250 catcher had 17 doubles, a triple, 9 homers, and 45 RBIs in 53 games, and fanned just 33 times!! He hit .333/.420/.573, and threw out 23 of 62 (37%). Looks like a jump to Kingsport in 2019 is in order.
FROM THE GCL METS:
Astudillo, Palmer, Mena:
Wilfred Astudillo is a 5'11", 210 switch hitting 18 year old catcher/1B who had a fine season between the DSL and GCL, at .258/.351/.348. "Willie A" clearly hates to strike out, with just 32 in 91 games spanning 2017 and 2018; I thus slot him for Brooklyn in 2019.
Jaylen Palmer had a truly fine rookie season at mostly 17 (turned 18 on July 31). 25 games, hitting .310/.394/.414. Only due to a SS logjam would I start him out as low as in Kingsport in 2019.
Jose Mena is a 21 year old catcher who did not play much in 2018 (2 games in Columbia and 23 games for the GCL Mets) but did hit .274/.330/.321. I likely stick him in Brooklyn next year.
FROM THE KINGSPORT METS:
Santana, Kelenic, Mauricio, Vientos, Newton, Granadillo:
Perhaps the most impressive group on hitting prospects I've seen come up from one Mets minors team.
Luis Santana, 2B, at 18 went .348/.446/.471 for the K Mets and stole 8 of 11. This dude has to be Columbia bound or there is no justice.
Jarred Kelenic - he showed tremendous speed and a fine bat for the GCL and K Mets teams in his debut year. He needs to go straight to Columbia. After all, Andres Gimenez went straight from the DSL to Columbia a year younger than Kelenic. I think Columbia, followed by a mid-season promotion to St Lucie for Kelenic in 2019. Future stars deserve to be on the Acela Express.
Mark Vientos - in his 2nd season, the 18 year old 6'4" former 2nd rounder and 3B was simply outstanding. In 60 games, 52 RBIs, and 12 doubles, 11 HRs, and .287/.389/.489. No doubter for Columbia in my books. He needs to skip Brooklyn.
Ronnie Mauricio at age 17, the 6'3" switch hitter played a solid SS and did fine with the bat in the GCL and a little time in Kingsport. Depending on how he looks next spring, at least assign him to Brooklyn, but maybe (and hopefully likely) in Columbia. Because there has to be room in Brooklyn for...
Sherveyn Newton, a 6'4', 19 year old SS whose only flaw was too many Ks, but that could be attributable to his diligently trying to learn the strike zone. He fanned a very high 84 times in 56 games, but that worked out to about once every 3 plate appearances because he got up so much.
The 6'4" switch hitter, however, walked an amazing 46 times, and ended up at .280/.408/.449, while not striking out in 6 of his last 9 games, showing progress. A decent 11 errors in 54 games, mostly at SS. I put him in Brooklyn and not Columbia, to get the Ks down, then hopefully he will turn into another possible star.
Guillermo Granadillo is a speedy 21 year old OF who hit .303/.397/.333 with 21 steals in 51 games. Only 4 extra base hits, though, something the 5'11", 200 GG must ramp up on.
P.S. Greg Guerrero - injured in 2017 and 2018, so who the heck knows for 2019. And IF Yoel Romero finished quite strong and should go to Brooklyn.
FROM THE BROOKLYN CYCLONES:
Adolph, Cortes, Chambers, Lagrange, Meyer, Uriarte, Senger:
Ross Adolph - 61 games, 9 doubles, 12 triples, 7 HRs, 14 of 17 steals for the very successful CF (.276/.348/.509). I see Columbia (1st half) and St Lucie (2nd half) for Ross in 2019. A steal in the 12th round.
Chase Chambers (1B) and Wagner Lagrange (OF) - both had solid, low HR power seasons. I'd put both in Columbia in 2019.
Nick Meyer, Juan Uriarte, and Hayden Senger - in the catchers department, 6th round Nick did not hit well. 24th round Senger did, hitting .301/.411/.417 in 32 games between K Port and Bklyn. Both go to Columbia. Uriarte, after a fine 2017, in true Mets fashion has 1 at bat in 2018.
Assuming he is healthy, I DON'T promote him (I require at least 2 at bats in a season for that), and stick him in Brooklyn to catch as catch can.
Assuming he is healthy, I DON'T promote him (I require at least 2 at bats in a season for that), and stick him in Brooklyn to catch as catch can.
FROM THE COLUMBIA FIREFLIES:
Rasquin, Winaker, Manea:
Walter Rasquin - 23 this coming March, the speedster, when not suspended, hit .321/.394/.443, including 13 successful games in Columbia. He stole 16 of 19 in 59 games. He's getting older, so I'd shove him up to St Lucie to open 2019 and see what he can do against higher competition. My guess is he'll do just fine there.
Matt Winaker - the LF (5th round, 2017) was solid at .254/.370/.433 in season 2. He hit 13 homers, and surged in August in 26 games, at .319/.418/.638. Definitely St Lucie to start in 2019.
Scott Manea - the former 40th round over-performing catcher played 100 games in 2018 and was very solid at .261/.368/.432 - he is definitely a starting catcher for St Lucie in 2019.
FROM THE ST LUCIE METS:
Paez, Sanchez, Dimino, Carpio, Brodey, Lindsay:
Michael Paez was shaky in the field at 3B, but got in 121 games, and hit .270/.340/.404, without speed but with some pop. He is on his way to AA, if that's OK.
Ali Sanchez - he is no longer just a defensively stellar, oft-injured catcher - now he stays healthy and hits, too - he got in 88 games between Columbia and Lucie and hit .265/.294/.387 with just 38 Ks, #'s far better than his 2016 and 2017. He'll be just 22 in 2018, and if there is any sense in the world, he will be starting in AA.
Anthony Dimino - the speedy (33 of 43 career steals in about 850 plate appearances), part-time catcher and utility type had to me a disappointing 2018, but the 25 year old still hit .265/.322/.360 in 75 games. Up to AA he goes for more jack-of-all-trades stuff in 2019. Also avoids Ks.
Luis Carpio - the 21 year old SS added some surprising power in 2018, adding 12 homers after only previously having 4 in 250 pre-2018 games, but hit just .219. He can stay in St Lucie or get promoted to AA, depending on how his spring goes - let's see what he earns.
2017 3rd rounder Quinn Brodey (.224/.293/.387) and 2015 2nd rounder Desmond Lindsay (.223/.317/.325) have both disappointed, are both K-prone, and Lindsay is all-too-well-acquainted with the DL, but are both athletic. Shove them, however undeservingly, up to AA and see how it goes.
Some mid-season promoted-from-Columbia players tailed off significantly in St Lucie (Vasquez, Gladu, Tiberi) or did not hit well in an injury-shortened season (Zanon), so in my book they all stay in St Lucie.
FROM THE BINGHAMTON RUMBLE PONIES:
Gimenez, Mazeika, Michael, Toffey, Tebow, Urena:
Andres Gimenez - a future Mets star, and perhaps MLB All Star, the speedy, sure-handed, offensively capable IF, who will be 20 next year, will start out in AAA Syracuse and be joining the Mets during the season.
Patrick Mazeika - the fine pre-2018 Mazeika was a dandy hitter - but through July in 2018, he was awful - but after July he hit great - and his catching game is solid - so he heads off to AAA to start 2018.
Levi Michael - if he stays in the Mets organization, he should definitely head to AAA after his very fine, but injury shortened 2018 in AA.
Will Toffey - acquired in the Familia trade, he is supposedly getting shoulder surgery and we'll see what the 3B can do in AAA next year, although he may start out in AA initially to avoid an IF logjam in AAA at the start of 2019. he did OK in AA in 2018.
Tim Tebow - will he come back? I think so. His bid to combine surprising talent and Kardashian-like celebrity into a promotion to the majors this September was short-circuited by season-ending hamate bone surgery. He sure hit great for his last 4 weeks pre-injury.
Jhoan Urena - the 23 year old absolutely exploded at the end of 2018 after the first 90% of his 2018 being distinctly disappointing. He should be pushed to AAA to sink or swim in 2019.
FROM THE LAS VEGAS 51'S:
Alonso, Nido, Guillorme, Cecchini, Kivlehan:
Peter Alonso - the pounding beast (36 HR, 119 RBI) whose sub-par defense definitely improved at 1B should be up from AAA to the Mets early in 2019 - the only questions are, 1) how early, and 2) will he be traded to a team that has a DH instead? Think twice - this guy could someday be the Mets' all time HR leader if he stays.
Tomas Nido, Luis Guillorme, and Gavin Cecchini - have been up and down, and likely will be again next year. Not sure off-hand if Cecchini is a free agent, and he may well see if he has better luck elsewhere if he is, after missing 3 1/2 months of 2018 with an injury, just what he didn't need.
Pat Kivlehan - also a free agent, he had a tremendous, power-laden season's finish, and likely deserves to be a reserve outfielder somewhere in the majors next year. Where is the question. He deserves better than AAA again. (Right on cue, traded to the AZ Diamondbacks).
Most of the other Vegas guys are older vets not quite good enough and likely to not be back.
David Thompson played just 25 games in a hugely disappointing 2018 for him, and seems to be ready to join that AAAA group, unless he lights the fire under his career in 2019. Assuming he is healthy in 2018, he should be at Syracuse fighting for playing time.
Boy, that took a long time - but that's my take.
What's yours?
Tom -
ReplyDeleteMorning.
Again, the team is dominating with low level talent. The DSL adds in the past 3 off-seasons have already brought huge dividends and I really love what the 2018 draft has brought to the table.
Still, we will need another season to see if this will continue as these kids go up the ranks.
It currently projects out as a very deep and talented 2021-2022.
Well, on 9-11-2001, I worked at 52 Broadway downtown. When the 2nd plane hit the Trade Center, we congregated in an 11th floor corner office with one building in between blocking the view. On the radio came an unconfirmed report of a 10-to-20 story sized hole in the building. Fearing that the top few hundred feet of the building could break off sideways and hit the ground at 100 MPH, I left with a few others and hoofed it across the Brooklyn Bridge just before it was locked down.
ReplyDeleteNear the top of the span, we heard a large crack, and turned to see the first tower collapse.
We headed to the Atlantic terminal of the LIRR on foot, got on a train, heard about the Pentagon crash, and amazingly I was able to connect all the way out to Pt Jefferson.
I was so fortunate - many so close by where I worked were not. We remember them.
Two other stories: my brother-in-law had a brother who arrived early for a meeting on a floor where the first plane hit - but at 8:30, the guy he was meeting called to cancel, so he left. His other brother was FDNY, and was running towards one of the buildings with 2 other FDNY. He was told to run back and get something off the truck. As he did, the tower collapsed, he dove under the truck and survived. The other two did not.
Lastly, on Labor Day 2000, a friend who had a delivery business tore his achilles in a touch football game at a picnic. He needed a job to keep his house, so he got a job as a limo driver, something he could manage to do. His daily delivery in 2000 was Cantor Fitzgerald, right at the time the plane hit. The whole firm up there died.
Had he not torn his achilles, he would have been there doing his delivery and died. The worst moment in his life in 2000 saved his life a year later. Amazing.
Mack, I have great hope, collectively, that this current system-wide batch of prospects will finally give this team a robust and flowing pipeline.
ReplyDeleteTom, a friend from Church was telling me that his son in law worked on the 81st floor of 1WTC, but went to the 35th floor cafeteria to get coffee when the plane hit. He heard explosions as he was evacuating down the steps.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a cousin of mine from Brooklyn was coming out of the subway to work there when the first plane hit. He ran, but the wrong way and wound up in Astoria by foot. He hadn’t stopped to call his family, so all day they were in a panic. Finally, around 8 we learned that he had called.
Difficult day, and I remember seeing the ash settling on our house in Bensonhurst around 2pm, as if it were a light snow. I went to my roof to see what I could, but all it was was smoke and ash.
My 9-11 story -
ReplyDeleteI had just finished a broadcast job in Atlanta that, regrettably turned out to be my last great job.
I was hanging out at the Java Joe coffee house at Coligny Plaza, on the ocean on Hilton Head Island. My musician friends I went there a lot to drink, BS, and 'tune up'.
The television had on CNN and I saw the fire coming out of the first tower that was hit. The sound was down so I didn't know what they were reporting. If I remember correctly, the news line below the feed speculated it was a 'small plane'.
No one around me was really paying any attention. I then watched as the second plane came in and struck the other building. I remember saying to myself 'how did they do that? How did they play that back while the vidoe still showed the tower on fire?
I then realized what had happened.
I alerted everyone in the coffee house.... called my brother in Manhattan to see if he was safe... called my wife at her job in the church... and headed home.
My regret. The church wouldn't let my wife go home so she could attend to all those flocking there to pray. I should have driven there, taken her by the hand, and brought her home with me.
She got home around 6pm and we sat up long into the night watching the TV.
Ironically, every New Yorker says they knew people that died that day. My brother, who was a honcho at the lawyer firm for Canter Fitzgerald, knew hundreds.
I knew nobody that died then or has died since.
TexasGus, amazing stories.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Chase at the time. For the next week and a half, I worked out of Hicksville. I resisted going back downtown. My boss (and his boss) insisted or there would be bad consequences. Business as usual, presumably. So I went, and the air was awful for months - no wonder those working on the pile or living down there have been getting sick and dying by the thousands. I happily left several months after 9/11.
My boss and his boss both died of cancer over the next several years before either turned 60. No doubt coincidental.
I have gotten to know the police officer who sang the national anthem at Shea the first game back, Daniel Rodriguez. He is singing with a friend of mine in East Northport, LI on Sept 21. That national anthem he sang that day right after 9/11 was really something.
I had a similar circumstance on that day as an illness forced me to stay home from work in NYC.
ReplyDeleteMy wife wasn't so fortunate. She had gone into lower Manhattan for a job interview and was in an underground office. They all heard the "BOOM" when the plane hit the building and she emerged up onto the sidewalk in time to see the rear of the aircraft sticking out of the building. Her instinct was that the building would likely fall and hightailed it out of there on NJ Transit before they shut down the trains. I finally reached her when she was around Newark to confirm what she'd suspected about the collapse and then the second plane.
Her niece was working across the street and was barricaded in the building by all the debris. When she finally got out she was wading through ash, body parts and the detritus from the World Trade Center, finally walking over the bridge to get to her home in Brooklyn.
Mack, that is really something. I am not surprised your wife was asked to stay at the church. It was part of the front lines.
ReplyDeleteThe other odd things that happened to me is I had gotten picked for Suffolk County jury duty. I was in the second batch of 400 and should therefore have been called in on Tuesday Sept 11, but they went out of order, so I was in Riverhead on Sept 10 and downtown NYC on Sept 11.
Also, friend of ours had a keen interest regarding terror related news since the first WTC bombing in 1993. On Sept 10th, she gave me a DVD copy to watch, of a PBS 1995 documentary called Jihad in America. I watched 5 minutes of it late that evening, decided to go to bed and watch the rest the next day....then I actually lived it the next day. That was bizarre timing.
Reese, that is some story.
ReplyDeleteI'll stop with this last thought - I was puzzled as to why I did not hear the first plane hit - I may have been in an elevator going up into my building. The second one was very, very loud upon impact.
Normally, from Penn, I got off the subway on Broadway at Wall St. That morning, though, there was a delay and I instead took a different subway that came in directly under the trade center itself, no more than 5-7 minutes before plane # 1 hit. How very close to the epicenter of the disaster.
Tom, it's a great conversation as we all live through that moment is our lives. I'm thankful to hear of Reese's wife's instinct and have always wondered if that is intelligence or a blessing from God that we need to heed when it comes? I'm also thankful to hear that you were able to avoid the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
ReplyDeleteI flew in from Greece on September 10, 2011. I woke up to seeing the story unfolding on The Today show. Originally, I thought it was a blind pilot but when the second one hit, it became a worry. Then we learned about the Pentagon, and a little later how a plane crashed in Pennsylvania. So much being out there, hard to know what to believe. But certainly a day none of us can forget.
TexasGus, my mother's maiden name is Corrigan, and we always heard about Wrong Way Corrigan. I was on the right way that day, somehow.
ReplyDeleteDouglas Corrigan (no relation) was an American aviator born in Galveston, Texas. He was nicknamed "Wrong Way" in 1938. After a transcontinental flight from Long Beach, California, to New York City, he flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland, though his flight plan was filed to return to Long Beach. He claimed his unauthorized flight was due to a navigational error, caused by heavy cloud cover that obscured landmarks and low-light conditions, causing him to misread his compass. However, he was a skilled aircraft mechanic and had made several modifications to his own plane, preparing it for his transatlantic flight. He had been denied permission to make a nonstop flight from New York to Denmark, and his "navigational error" was seen as deliberate. Nevertheless, he never publicly admitted to having flown to Ireland intentionally.
I had a singing date scheduled at a church coffeehouse that next weekend in Westchester. After 9/11, I had no desire to do it - fortunately, the guy there was very understanding and had me come several times afterwards.
Excellent, Tom.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the sheer number of players that seem to be emerging, of late.
Makes me wonder where our system will be ranked in 2019? Top Ten??
The Kingsport crew look especially interesting!
Very sad situation and it is really hard to believe that it was 17 years ago, already!
ReplyDeleteI recall thinking it was a horrible accident......until the second place hit and then it became clear what was going on.
I was not in the city that day, but I have been fortunate enough to visit the memorial site since then. If you haven't done so, it is quite sobering and an excellent tribute/reminder of what was lost that day.
Mike, I think the Mets' system is too light at the high levels to be considered top 10 in 2019 - maybe in 2020 though, even assuming Alonso and Gimenez graduate to the bigs in 2019.
ReplyDeleteMike
ReplyDeleteTeam prospect ranking tends to be with the majority of the players playing for full season teams.
We are at least one more year before we see a big bump here.
Guys, where do y’all see the studs I’m not seeing? Granted, there are a handful of impressive kids, but most are in the kiddie leagues and y’all are projecting powerhouse already? Based on? Are not only 10% of the players that play A+ ball making the majors? So, why are we counting chickens?
ReplyDeleteThe only true players we can see right now are Alonso, Gimenez, Mazeika based on track record and late success, and if I squint hard enough, Michael, based on the top prospect history and the hoped return to health.
Low Level Talent?
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding, right?
This is basically the opinion of every single NY Sports Network personality and Anal-yst. It simply is not the case now.
I don't understand how anyone could even think that, let alone say that. Sure this team struggled first half, that is obvious to everyone. But you have to take into account that the Mets had injuries to key components of their offense. Namely Cespedes, Bruce, and Frazier, three veteran players that the Mets were counting on because the rest of their team was so young and without much MLB experience.
We can all get that? Right? (Hello)
It's pretty common stuff for a team. You have to have your offensive weapons, the players that are tested and proven. These three were just that. Plus, Wheeler and Matz were not starting out like they are now, and the bullpen was no stranger to struggling also.
But that all changed for the better second half. The younger players grew out their wings and confidence. You can see that almost every game since the All Star Break.
If the Yankees were winning as much as the Mets have been second half (and against decent teams and not just the bottom feeders) they would be a whole lot closer to the Red Sox than they are right now. Oakland is their new conversation, and Oakland may swipe their wild card away. 2019 is the Yankees season anyway. Maybe a repeat of the 2000 WS? Hmm.
Unlike everyone in the sports media, I am totally 100% excited about the rest of 2018 and the start of 2019 for these NY Mets. To my eyes (And I am a cyclops actually) Mr. Ricco is 100% correct when he stated a while back that the 2018 into 2019 Mets team is not a major rebuild but rather more of an earnest tweaking. Something like that anyway. I agree whole heartedly with him, because it is.
Take a closer look at potentially the 2019 NY Mets player personnel depth...
1B Alonso 2B McNeil SS Rosario 3B Gimenez/Frazier (This is where you put Gimenez to try him out, he has the arm too and it leaves McNeil a middle infielder with Amed) LF Cespedes (if he can go, get someone else with HR power if he cannot) CF Nimmo RF Conforto C d'arnold (after the Jets season ends) and whomever else seems right with Travis because a good team needs two really good catchers in today's game.)
Starting Pitching
This part is too obvious with deGrom for the Cy Young Award and Zach Wheeler for Cy Young. Thor in the wings chomping at bit. Please, please consider Drew Smith for a starting 5th spot. My crystal ball is telling me so. Actually screaming at me. Just try it one time already!
Relief Pitching
Still partially clay. But I am liking these relievers thus far: Lugo and Gsellman setting up, Zamora and maybe Roseboom mid-relief. There's four, need three more. May have to go outside for a killer closer if Gerson Bautista is still not ready by ST 2019. But I am hoping he is. Then two from the five or six other possible relievers from AAA and AA. They have a few really promising ones.
And the bench should be way above the norm here as well.
The NY Mets 2018 younger players have grown out their landlegs, they have added MLB experience this season, and their futures are all very bright and not lower level talent.
I am excited and very proud of this 2018 NY Mets team.
Something I always notice this time of the season
ReplyDeletePlayers that have not done much since very early on, playing lights out again the last four weeks of the season. Every single MLB team has a couple of these gemstones.
Be timothy leery. Very leery. These are "The Pretenders." Jackson Brown, "Say a prayer for the pretenders."
I won't name names but certainly could.
Anonymous, I think 2019 will be exciting, driven by our starters.
ReplyDeleteOne late season pretender I will name is Jose Reyes. The first 80-100 games of a season count as much as the later games. Jose was a disaster in the first half of 2017 and 2018. A ticket sales killer by helping the team to fall out of the pennant race early.