The first-place . . . Mets? Not yet in the SI.com Power Rankings -- which have their third No. 1 team in as many weeks -- but the Metropolitans are baseball's hottest team. They lead the NL East for the first time since May 29 of last season, take a seven-game winning streak into a key weekend road series with the suddenly second-place Phillies and made the biggest rise in the rankings, climbing from No. 21 to No. 8. The Mets have won nine out of 10, a streak that exactly coincides with the arrival of top prospect Ike Davis, who has re-energized the fans and clearly the team with his play: 11-for-31, a homer and six RBIs. He has also turned first base into a productive spot in the lineup, after it had been an offensive black hole earlier in the year when manned by Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis. - link
Multiple sources indicated that the Mets will "go off the board," or "pull a surprise" at No. 7. While one of the remaining college arms might be the more obvious choice, three sources indicated a connection between the Mets and Cal State Fullerton shortstop Christian Colon. While this draft is filled with players generating highly divergent scouting reports, maybe nobody has brought more wide-ranging opinions than Colon.- link
RHP, Howard JC - Magnifico became a notable name in high school when he raced up draft boards with an excellent senior year. The Mets decided to make him their 2009 5th round draft pick despite rumors of big bonus demands, and they ended up not being able to get a deal done before the August deadline. Entering Howard as the most well-known freshman on their team, he bumped up his velocity even more in the fall, attracting plenty of interest from the scouting community. However, he came down with severe elbow soreness before the start of the spring season, and he's been out all year. At the moment, I can't confirm whether or not he had surgery on the elbow, though I'm told he has. Before the injury, he was pumping in fastballs in the 92-94 range, touching 96-97, and that was up a tick or two from his high school days. He added in a potential above-average curveball, but both of his pitches were considered below-average for command in both the present and future, and many scouts thought of him more as a shutdown reliever than a starter. In addition, his frame is smaller than a prototypical starter's, and the elbow problems only stand to reinforce the issue. It's quite likely that Magnifico ends up back in school next year, but he's still a name to watch. Projected Draft Range: 7th Round – Undrafted - link
Prospect OF Fernando Martinez returned to the Buffalo lineup Friday night and served up his second home run of the young season. Nobody gets excited anymore when he comes back from an injury because we all know it’s just a matter of time before he’s banged up again. And we’re not talking Shawn Bowman, I broke my back, banged up either. No, this is more like stubbed toe, pulled pinky and dust in my eye boo boo shit. Welcome back F-Mart… for now.
Another prospect came back down in Lucy… once SS, projected C, and now 2B Reese Havens returns from an oblique problem. Like Martinez, Havens knows most of the Mets’ doctors intimately, and everyone is still waiting for his career to begin. His conversion to second adds him to the long list of youngans’ trying to replace Luis Castillo in 2012.
And lastly, SP Brad Holt lasted only 0.1 innings pitched Friday night, where he was charged with five earned runs. His yearly ERA is now 23.14 and it seems like years since he pitched well. Oh yeah… it has been years.
Stock Down: Moviel was a big-time second rounder who has played scuffed up for the past two seasons. Everyone was looking forward for a strong start this year from Scott, but it simply hasn’t happened: 3-starts, 10.29, 16-H, 9-BB, in 14.0-IP… only 9-K. He would be in jeopardy of losing his gig if it wasn’t for the fact that most of the so-called Mets SP prospects have been off to a slow start this season.
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