IF : Just 18 years old, Flores is a shortstop by trade and he has plenty of time to develop. At the moment, his path to the Major League level is blocked by Jose Reyes. There isn’t really any predicting where Reyes will stand with the Mets in four or five years when Flores will be fully ready, but it could be safe to assume that Flores will not be a shortstop when his time in the bigs arrives. He could convert to second base, but he’ll need to fend off fellow second base prospect Reese Havens. Flores bats righty, and Havens lefty, so the Mets must determine who fits their lineup better. Flores could end up trade bait, but there is always the potential for Havens to switch positions again. Flores is hitting .285 with the Savannah Sand Gnats right now, and he has some pop as well. He won’t need to be restricted to shortstop. Mets fans will begin to hear his name regularly as the 2013 season goes on. - link
OF : Puello is a young outfielder who can bring a ton of speed to the table. He won’t strike out much at all. He brings a plate presence similar to Luis Castillo to the game. But, he really, really needs to work on drawing more walks, even though it might not fit his style of play. In 89 games between 2008 and 2009, he drew a whopping total of 15 walks. He looks better this year, drawing 17 to this point. He will need to work on that though. His average is down this season, but he has shown signs of being a capable leadoff man. On a side note, he is becoming notorious for getting hit by pitches. The Mets may very well have their top-of-the-order base stealing threat in Puello, and he could be tried out in that role in 2014. - link
There were better players than (Blake) Forsythe still available in the third round, for example: Austin Wates, Zach Cates, Aaron Shipman, and Chris Hawkins were the next four choices in the round, and I can't see how Forsythe is a better prospect than those guys except for a lower price tag. If they really wanted a college catcher, Micah Gibbs was still available. I'm not trying to pick on Forsythe; he's not a bad prospect, but I just think the Mets need to be more aggressive. They have the money, there's no excuse not to. link
One thing the Mariners did right over the last two seasons is acquire Jason Vargas. Since he joined Seattle, Vargas walked 2.4 batters per nine innings as compared to 4.5 per 9 through 2008. He was in full control Wednesday night as he walked none in the Mariners 2-1 win over the Cardinals. He lowers his ERA to 2.88, 6th in the AL. Along with Doug Fister and Cliff Lee, Seattle own three of the top seven ERAs in the AL. Given the level of their pitching (ace Felix Hernandez is not in the top 20), it shows just how poor the offense played this season that they are 16 games under .500. - link
•I have no idea if Citi Field's PITCHf/x system is calibrated correctly, but Jenrry Mejia has been throwing a fair share of fastballs that cut toward his glove side. Most fastballs tail at least somewhat to the glove side. Mejia still needs to command his pitches, but I believe a couple decades ago there was another Latin American 20-year-old learning to harness a fastball with incredible cutting movement who went on to close games in New York. At least the Yankees let Mo fail as a starter before he moved to the pen. - link
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