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2/11/20

John From Albany - Final Winter Ball Update



Now that the Caribbean Series had ended, here is one final winter ball update.

Not a lot of participation from Mets players and the ones that did play did not stay for extended periods.


Probably the biggest Mets name in Winter Ball this past season was Tomas Nido. Catching and DHing for  the Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican League, Tomas was 7 for 28 for a .250 Avg, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 5 Ks in 8 games.  He needed the extra at-bats after playing sparingly this past year. 

I would have liked to see him get more but the word is that Tomas was happy with his work in the winter and is looking forward to the 2020 season.   

Also playing in Puerto Rico, Carlos Cortes played for the Indios de Mayaguez. The 2019 St. Lucie Met was now 1 for 9 in four games with a strikeout for a .111 average.

Recently signed Met, Outfielder Johneshwy Fargas, who played last year at AA Richmond, hit .207 in the Puerto Rican Winter League, 32 games, 116 at bats, 2 HR, 13 RBIs, 8 Stolen Bases, 6 Caught Stealing.  He has 235 Stolen Bases with 91 Caught Stealing in 7 minor league seasons.

2019 Binghamton Rumble Pony and current minor league free agent, Joshua Torres, was 0-1 with a 4.80 ERA, 15 games, 15 innings pitched in the Puerto Rico winter league.  He also was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 2 games in the Caribbean Series.

Another recent Minor League Free Agent signee, left-handed hitting outfielder, Sebastian Elizalde, played in the Mexican Winter League and in the Caribbean Series. In the Mexican Winter League, Sebastian hit 10 HR, 37 RBIs in 60 games, with a .308 BA/.397 OBP/.507 SLG, 21 stolen bases.  In the Caribbean Series he had a big three run homer to help Mexico with a game putting up a .231 BA/.286 OBP/.462 SLG in 4 games.

Francisco Rios, yet another Minor League free agent signee, pitched 9 games in Mexico with 7 starts, 34 innings, 1-3 with a 3.71 ERA, 17 Ks, 24 Walks. 

Juan Uriarte played 24 games in the Mexican Winter League hitting .179 with 1 HR, 7 RBIs, .254 OBP/.268 SLG.

Phil Regan spent the winter as the Pitching Coach for the Toros Del Este, the team that eventually won the Caribbean Series this past Friday.  The Mets and Ex-Mets that pitched for that team included Daniel Zamora, Tyler Bashlor, and recently signed Mets minor leaguer Pedro Payano. Chris Mazza also appeared before he was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox. Ex-Mets Tim Peterson and Ramon E. Ramirez pitched for Toros Del Este right up to the Caribbean Championship game. 

Daniel Zamora: 0-0; 1.93 ERA; 10 games, 4.2 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 Ks. Daniel Zamora told Stony Brook Athletics.com back in December: "I worked on my fastball this winter with Phil [Regan]. Phil really got my confidence up a lot from where it was earlier this year. So I plan to get my fastball going, continue to throw my slider the way I throw it, and I honestly have a changeup I can use now. I'm actually going to use it this year — not just, 'Hey, it's in my back pocket.' It's in my front pocket. I'm going to use it."

Tyler Bashlor: 0-1; 1.80 ERA; 5 games; 5 innings; 4 hits, 1 runs, 1 earned, 1HR, 0 walks, 8 Ks.

Chris Mazza: 1-1; 4.50 ERA; 6 games; 12 innings; 19 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned, 2 walks, 13 Ks.

Pedro Payano: 0-1; 7.71 ERA; 5 games; 4.2 innings; 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned, 3 walks, 5 Ks.

Ex-Met Raul Valdes: 5-2; 2.52 ERA; 10 games; 61 innings; 22 walks, 30 Ks. Raul Valdes started one game in the Caribbean series and went 3.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 4 runs, with one strikeout.

Ex-Met Tim Peterson: 2-0; 0.90 ERA, 8 games; 10 innings; 7 hits, 5 walks, 12 Ks during the Dominican Republic regular winter season.  He was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the Caribbean Series.

Ex-Met Ramon E. Ramirez: 2-1; 10 saves; 2.20 ERA, 17 games; 16.1 innings; 9 hits, 12 walks, 16 Ks during the Dominican Republic regular winter season.  He was 0-0 with 3 saves and a 2.25 ERA in the Caribbean Series.
Ex Met Jenrry Mejia: 1-1; 3.72 ERA; 8 games – 6 as the starting pitcher; 29 innings; 21 hits, 16 walks, 15 Ks.


Ex Met Jordany Valdespin .340 BA (2nd overall in league)/.429 OBP/.486 SLG; 39 games, 144 at bats, 5 homers, 22 RBIs, 49 hits, 20 walks, 18Ks.  In the Caribbean series he went .238 with a homer and 5 RBIs.  All 5 RBIs coming in the semi-final game in a 5-4 win.

Adonis Uceta pitched for the Leones del Escogido. He went 1-0; 3.38 ERA; 10 games; 8 innings; 3 hits; 5 runs; 3 earned; 9 walks; 8 Ks. Adonis Uceta was just about perfect all winter before giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning in his last outing. 



St. Lucie’s Carlos Hernandez: 0-1; 18.00 ERA; 2 games; 2 innings; 6 hits; 4 runs (all earned); 2 walks, 1 K.

Recent ex-met Sam Haggerty. In 2 games Sam went 1 for 8 with a stolen base for a .125 average with 3 Ks.

Pitching for Gigantes del Cibao, Harol Gonzalez: 0-2; 5.52 ERA; 6 Games; 14.2 innings, 25 hits, 11 runs, 9 earned, 7 walks, 12 Ks.   More about Harol here.


Ex-Met Jonathan Niese: Jonathan pitched just two games in the regular season without allowing a run.  During the Round Robin Playoffs, Jonathan had some mixed results.  On January 9th, Jonathan threw 7 shutout innings for Aguilas Cibaenas giving up just 2 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk on just 76 pitches.  He also had a bad outing on 1/13 where he lasted just 1.2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk in a 7-4 loss.

Juan Lagares, recently signed to a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, played 26 games in the Dominican Winter League hitting .337 in 104 at bats, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 6 walks, 16 Ks, .373 OBP, .404 SLG.


Ex-Met Minor Leaguer Matt Pobereyko also pitched in the Dominican League.  Matt pitched well this winter going 4 and 1 in 29 games, 27 innings, 18 hits, 5 runs, 30 Ks, 11 walks, 1.67 ERA.

2019 Syracuse Met Arismendy Alcantara, who signed a minor league deal for 2020 with the Angels, played 37 games .267 BA/.319 OBP/.429 SLG; 1 HR, 13 RBIs.   


Anderson Hernandez, went 3 for 36 in 22 games for a .083 Batting Average. He got one of those 3 hits off Chris Mazza.

T.J. Rivera who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, played in the Dominican league where he hit .200 in 19 games and then played in Puerto Rico, hit .306 in 21 games, 1 HR, 9 RBIs, .376 OBP/.389 SLG.

In the Australian League: St. Lucie Mets Hansel Moreno  and Binghamton Rumble Ponies Jeremy Vasquez saw action.

Hansel Moreno hit .222 in 9 games playing 8 at shortstop with 3 RBIs, 3 walks, 8Ks. 

Jeremy Vasquez had 11 at-bats in 4 games with 2 walks and 2 Ks for a .091 average.

Former Mets #1 draft pick, Gavin Cecchini also played this winter in Australia.  In 19 games and 72 at-bats he had 20 hits for a .278 BA/.303 OBP/.417 SLG.

No current Mets played winter ball in the Venezuela League but there were some notable ex-Mets:

Wuilmer Becerra in 41 games hit .325 with a .393 OBP and .413 SLG with 2 homers and 19 RBIs. 

Wilfredo Tovar was over .300 for a large part of the season.  He ended up at .293, 2 HR, 20 RBIs, .331 OBP, .414 SLG.

Ronny Cedeno hit .230 in 38 games, 135 at bats, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, .298 OBP, .341 SLG.

2018 Binghamton Rumble Ponies Catcher, Jose Garcia, played just 5 games in the Venezuela Winter League, for a .125 BA/.22 OBP/.125 SLG.

Other Ex-Mets that saw action included César Puello, Rymer Liriano, Ryan O’Rourke, Mike Antonini, Hector Santiago, and Juan Centeno.

Hope you enjoyed the winter updates.  We look forward to bringing you more next winter.  

12 comments:

  1. John

    Thank you for keeping up with this, this season.

    I have done a much less comprehensive version of this in the past and I know how much work it is.

    Again, thanks,

    You are the ROY of Mack's Mets.

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  2. Thanks Mack. Pleasure being here. Thanks for letting me be part of the team.

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  3. Did you forget the ROY hazing ritual? :)

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  4. Great compilations for the past few months on this - and Jordany Valdespin should be eternally grateful someone was getting his name in posts almost daily!

    That said, not too many who are currently Mets property impressed in this off season.

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  5. No comments from Reese about his favorite ex-Met? 😞 If Valdy only went to the Wizard for a brain, he might still be ours.

    John-- Thanks again for the great updates. You mentioned small participation by current Mets. Is this typical for most ML teams, or do they send more players?

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  6. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the Lagares-SD deal would be worth $1.4 million if Lagares is on the major league club.

    Big drop from his Mets annual salary.

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  7. No surprise, after comparing his 2019 stats to those in the year he signed the extension. You could say the same about many contracts, including current Mets Porcello, Wacha and Nunez.

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  8. Bill, looking at the box scores everyday, the winter league was mostly comprised as life long AAA players and players looking for another chance like Hanley Ramirez, etc.

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  9. Outstanding summary, John.

    Thank you.

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  10. I also want to pass along my gratitude and admiration for the work put in to keep us informed. As a Valdespin fan, I also liked it.

    Too, the Morning Links are the best morning update of any Mets blog! Kudos!

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  11. Everyone has spilt milk. Trades that were not made and should have been. Trade that went through where the team trading regrets doing it. Player personnel moves are not always a 100% definite.

    Let it go man. Live for another day.

    Sure, I would right now like to have Dunn and Kelenic back, but it ain't happening. Forget about it because we got players back too. Be happy with what you have Theodore Cleaver. Take a look.

    1B Peter Alonso
    2B Robinson Cano/Jeff McNeil
    SS Amed Rosario
    3B Jeff McNeil/JD Davis
    LF JD Davis
    CF Brandon Nimmo
    RF Michael Conforto
    C Wilson Ramos

    Okay then, point out (for me) one single weakness to the above lineup Sherlock Holmes. Isn't one. And here's the bench five backing them up.

    OF Yoenis Cespedes/Dominic Smith
    INF Matt Adams/Luis Guillorme
    C Not sure yet (Nido maybe)

    Pretty decent I think.

    SP There are six good ones. Wacha, Syndergaard, Matz, and Porcello are all under age 30. All six have had some success.

    RP Betances, Familia, Lugo, Gsellman, Diaz, Wilson, Brach...

    Fans and the Media (to some extent) need to try and stop complaining so much with this 2020 NYM team. Because it's actually really good. NO team is ever perfect and disappointing player personnel moves can happen unexpectedly. Look at other teams and then contrast their blooper moves to here and see what I mean.

    Instead maybe accentuate the positive. Wasn't there a song way back to this affect?

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