link - Jon Niese could be facing his own version of the Joba Rules. Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen told The Post yesterday that a discussion will be held this week about whether Niese's innings should be limited for the remainder of this season in an effort to preserve the 23-year-old lefty's arm. Niese, who is scheduled to get the ball tonight against the Pirates, has pitched 133 innings this season. Warthen pointed to the 164 innings Niese pitched two years ago in the minor leagues, but refused to provide a specific target. Niese missed much of last season after tearing his hamstring tendon and finished with 119 innings.
link - Notable Performances Thus Far: The one sticking to me is Matt den Dekker, a senior sign from Florida who is 11 games into full season ball, and hitting .390/.468/.512 during that time. If he’s not the story, fourth-round pick Cory Vaughn is, hitting .308/.399/.556 in the New York-Penn League. Vaughn’s power never came as scouts thought in college, but it certainly is showing itself in short-season ball. As Carson Cistulli points out, however, his defense might not be so good. The highest of the hitters drafted, Blake Forsythe, is playing the worst, hitting .226/.298/.321 between the complex and NYP leagues. Thoughts: If you listed the Mets picks in order of who received the largest bonuses, their top two guys (Harvey and Forsythe) would top the list, followed by 24th rounder Erik Goeddel, fourth-round pick Vaughn, and sixth-round pick Greg Peavy. Goeddel obviously sticks out, and it will be interesting if the Mets are content to use him as a reliever going forward. But any way you slice it, the team went college-heavy here, going with big Division I players with the first 6 picks. There is some upside to be found there, though, so I don’t hate this draft for the Mets. But that really speaks to my optimism about Vaughn, Goeddel and den Dekker.
link - 21. New York Mets—I came into this season claiming the Mets’ farm system was not very good, and yet they showed I was underrating several of their prospects (Niese, Ike Davis, etc) who provided substantial help to the major league team. Perhaps the same thing will happen in 2011. The team’s best prospect is Wilmer Flores. Flores, who the Mets signed out of Venezuela, has consistently produced good numbers despite being one of the youngest players at every level. The system gets a little shakier after Flores. Assuming Jennry Mejia still qualifies as a prospect at season’s end, he offers top-of-the-rotation material. Furthermore, hope remains that OF Fernando Martinez—who is becoming the David Wooderson of prospect lists—will realize the potential that once made him the organization’s best prospect. 2B Reese Havens could challenge for a starting spot next season. Despite a rough debut season in the Gulf Coast League, P Juan Urbina is a definite player to watch. The team also has a number of intriguing players in the lower levels of their system. In the 2010 draft, first rounder Matt Harvey, an elite high school recruit whose collegiate career at UNC was a moderate disappointment, has the talent to establish himself as an excellent pitching prospect.
link - Best Change-up, National League: Johan Santana - Santana has a fantastic change-up, no question. He’s a worthy contender for the top spot. But there’s one that stands out above the rest in baseball in terms of movement and ability to make hitters look ridiculous, and it belongs to Tim Lincecum. To be fair, managers put him in a tie for second with Cole Hamels, so they clearly like his change-up as well. But I’m not sure they like it enough. For fun, take a look at Lincecum’s pitch selection in any two strike count:
link - Manuel will be fired, of that I am sure. But lets agree that basically he was handed an ill conceived team that was poorly constructed from the word go, and that he was expected to take this team to the World Series. In my opinion, Manuel was setup for failure, and believe you me, he knows it. Truth be told, Omar Minaya who is the biggest reason for the failure of the 2010 season, should be escorted out of Citi Field along with Manuel at the end of the season. It must really suck being Jerry Manuel right now.
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