8/3/10

Cutnpaste/Stock Up: - Mejia, Cam Maron, Ollie, Mike Cameron... and Darrell Ceciliani

Jenrry Mejia:



8-2-10: Mejia’s rehabbing stint made its way to St. Lucie last night and it was quite impressive: 4.0-IP, 1-H, 0-R, 7-K. Mejia’s conversion back to a starter seems to be right on target and I expect him back in the Binghamton rotation by mid-August and on to Queens in September.



Some recent stuff on Jenrry:


1-10-10 Forecast: - Everybody loves Jenrry Mejia. He was the talk of the winter leagues, both for his speed and the speed the ball went off opponent’s bats. He still has a long way to go and will start again at AA, but anyone who has spent any time observing him says he’s a can’t miss. Me? He’s a closet closer.


4-6-10 – Jack Flynn on Mack’s Mets: - At a time when Jenrry Mejia should be donning a Binghamton Mets jersey and preparing for his Opening Day assignment against Akron on Thursday, he is instead in the back of Jerry Manuel's bullpen having his development stunted. Relievers are made, not born. It's an old-school way of thinking, but I truly believe that every pitcher should be given an opportunity to fail as a starter before being converted into a reliever. By pre-emptively putting Mejia in the bullpen based on 15 Spring Training innings, the Mets are crippling his potential to develop secondary pitches and to blossom into a top-flight starter.


4-28-10: - http://benmaller.com/mlb  - As the Mets’ bullpen has exceeded expectations in the early part of the season, the need for Jenrry Mejia might be diminishing. But Jerry Manuel remains adamant that the 20-year-old will be a bigger part of the pen rather than be pushed out and sent to tune up for an eventual starting role. Asked if the emergence of Fernando Nieve in the pen could free up Mejia to become a starter, Manuel declined, instead noting that he’d like to work him more into a late-inning role


5-6-10: - http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/someone-help-the-mets  - Ignore the extra innings mismanagement of Francisco Rodriguez. That’s merely another bullet point on Manuel’s pink slip. Consider the horrendous handling of Jenrry Mejia to date. Manuel has instructed him to focus on his fastball – presumably the pitch that needs the least work for Mejia to become a good starter. If telling the organization’s best pitching prospect to disregard developing his secondary stuff isn’t enough, then how about then using that pitcher in lower leverage situations than just about everyone else in the bullpen? Manuel is actually using Mejia in the perfect developmental situations, yet he’s capping that development by disallowing him to throw his curve and change-up as often as he wants. Meanwhile, Mejia’s service clock continues to tick


5-22-10: - SP Jenrry Mejia: It’s impossible to project Mejia’s future right now because he’s supposed to return to the minors and be stretched out back to a starter. The problem is he’s still sitting in the Queens pen. So far this season: 20 outings, 19.0-IP, 3.79 ERA, 14-K, 11-BB… okay, but not what a 19-year old is supposed to be doing. The good news… he’s an extremely talented young man that should be a Met for a very long time.


5-26-10 from: - http://baseballanalysts.com/  - In combining both horizontal and vertical movement, it's evident that Peter Moylan generates enough movement on his fastball to throw it at elite levels, while Cabrera, again, has a mediocre-to-awful fastball in spite of his velo. Remember, I'm only including 95 MPH pitches, so imagine how bad his fastball must have been in 2009 at 91 MPH. Cabrera is the poster boy for pitchers who can throw gas but have no command or movement, rendering their fastball ineffective. Kevin Jepsen, Jonathan Broxton, and Brian Wilson are examples of pitchers whose 90-MPH pitches are better than most pitchers' 95s, since those guys are throwing off speed at 90. Also of note: Jenrry Mejia's fastball has excellent movement


6-17-10: - http://baseballanalysts.com/  - 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


6-20-10: - http://www.rotoworld.com/  - Jenrry Mejia was sent to Double-A Brooklyn after Sunday's game and will start in the minors. His value is highest as a starter, obviously, and it appears that Mets manager Jerry Manuel finally saw the light. He acknowledged that Mejia might be being wasted with use in the seventh inning. Now, the Mets will attempt to get him stretched out for my extensive use later on in this season. Keep in mind that there is still plenty of dispute as to whether Mejia should be a starter or a reliever, so if he struggles, the team could always put him back in the bullpen


6-21-10: - Maybe it took two loses to the Yanks, or maybe somebody finally just hit Jerry in the head, but Jenrry Mejia has been returned to the AA-Binghamton market are put back into the starting rotation. I also understand he will start on Wednesday. All this makes my prediction of Mark Cohoon being promoted from Savannah here a distant long shot, but we’ll see. I still think there’s a good chance that Mike Antonini will move on to Buffalo this month. Right now, the B-Mets rotation (Mejia, Antonini, Eric Niesen, Josh Stinson, and Chris Schwinden) is a pretty good one. And, no AAAA waste here. All pitchers that actually have a chance of getting to the Bigs. Is the Mejia move something that will enhance his value in a trade. I think so, but we’ll see.


6-27-10: - Suffering from a stiff right shoulder, Jenrry Mejia was forced to leave his start for Double-A Binghamton today after just an inning-plus. Mejia faced two batters in the second inning and seven for the game against Akron before departing. He allowed no runs, surrendering two hits and two walks while striking out two. He threw 43 pitches, 23 strikes. The Mets said Mejia was removed for "precautionary" reasons, though certainly this is an alarming development.


6-28-10: - Jenrry Mejia was examined in New York on Monday and diagnosed with a posterior cuff strain in his right shoulder. The Mets say he will return to throwing "as tolerated," but we're not exactly sure what that might mean. Mejia was lifted from a start at Double-A Binghamton on Sunday after complaining of discomfort in his throwing shoulder. He's been working on building up his stamina down in the minors with the hope of returning to the big leagues as a starter around late July


7-28 from: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2010/7/28/1592006/mets-farm-q-a-with-baseball  - It shouldn't affect him long term unless the Mets start jerking around him, shuttling him back and forth from the bullpen to the rotation and from the minors to Triple-A. He could wind up being a reliever in the long run, but it would be silly not to try to turn him into a quality starter.



Cam Maron:

8-2-10: - At the best I can determine, Mack’s Mets is the old Mets blog that has Maron ranked on its prospect list. We currently have at #70, which he’s definitely earning this year playing for the GCL Mets. Yesterday he got two hits in their victory and raised his yearly stats to: 25-AB, .320/.433/.440/.873. Similar to last season, Maron is having difficulty finding a starting job, but, trust me, he’ll get his turn.



Maron was picked in the 34th round of the 2009 draft.


Hicksville H.S., Hicksville, L.I., N.Y. - 2007 - All Conference NASSAU County Team Selection 10th grade - 2007 "Nassau County Conference AA-II Champions" Team Member - Varsity Starter since Freshman year - Captain Long Island Astros Elite Travel Team - since Spring 2006 - 2007 Triple Crown Sports (TCS) "Player of the Year" finalist - 2007 - TCS "All Northeast Team" selection 2007 - TCS MVP Memorial Day Tournament Selection - 2007 - Boys of Summer (BOS) "All Long Island 2nd Team" selection - 2007 - BOS League Sportsmanship Award - 2008- All County Nassau County Selection 11th grad


From: http://www.impactprospects.com/ : - Batting Average: .456 - RBI: 41 - HR: 7 - SB: 36… 60 time: 7.15 - Catcher’s release: 2.08… Scouting Report: An ’09 graduate with exceptional blocking skills behind the plate. Strong, accurate arm (2.09 release time). Good left handed hacker at the plate showing good power to all fields. Good prospect to follow as he matures and develops


From: http://www.antonnews.com/ : - Camden Maron is a true New York Mets fan. As a newborn, his parents dressed him in team garb to celebrate Opening Day. At age 7, he auditioned to be a Mets “announcer for the day.” And, as a teenager, the bedroom he shares with younger brother Zach is decorated with Mets memorabilia, right down to the orange walls and blue carpet. “I grew up rooting for the New York Mets, all the way, 100 percent,” said Camden. “The World Series run in 2000 was amazing and the 2006 playoff run was exhilarating.” Last month, the 18-year-old Hicksville fan received a phone call informing him that he had been selected – by the Mets – in the 34th round of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 2009 Amateur Player Draft. On June 30, Camden headed off to Port Saint Lucie, FL to join the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Mets – the team’s Minor League Baseball affiliate. On July 10 Camden was activated and, 24 hours later, made his professional debut behind the plate when the GCL Mets took on the GCL Cardinals. In the seventh hole, Camden, who bats left and throws right, singled and scored in the second inning and, in the seventh, walked and scored to help lead the Gulf Coast Mets to a 10-0 victory.


Maron played sparingly for the GCL Mets in 2009, hitting .293/.408/.415/.823 in 41-AB.


1-1-10 Forecast: The Mets drafted a bunch of catchers, thus, there would be a bunch of catchers on the rookie teams. He started off the season 4th catcher, behind Nefli Zapata (lightning start of the season), Juan Torres, sent to Kingsport), and Amauris Valdez. Maron did nothing wrong… he simply didn’t get in the lineup to properly evaluate; however, in baseball, you can’t have enough good hitting catcher in your system, and this kid will be back next season. I look for him to repeat in Florida.




Ollie:

link  - The bottom line is Perez won this power struggle. Unless the Mets want to sue him for insubordination, which they would surely lose, what’s the point in hanging on? The longer this persists the longer the stench that is Perez and his contract mess will linger. Because he’s untradeable nobody will assume his contract and the Mets are on the hook for all of it. It is better to write off the financial loss now and move on, start looking to a future that doesn’t include Perez. Sure, it’s a horrible taste, but eventually it will go away. Send the message to the remaining 24 guys in the clubhouse the organization won’t be held hostage any longer.



Mike Cameron:

link  - Red Sox placed OF Mike Cameron on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 31, with a strained abdominal muscle. Cameron has been dealing with lingering soreness in his abdomen/groin area all season. The Red Sox hope the rest will allow him to avoid season-ending surgery. The 37-year-old outfielder has been limited to just 48 of the team's 105 games.






Darrell Ceciliani:


8-2 from: - link  - Ceciliani also leads the league in games (43), hits (66), at bats (169), triples (9), total bases (95), and runs scored (38). He is second in on-base percentage (.444), third in extra-base hits (20), tied for third in stolen bases (15), and fourth in slugging percentage (.562). In addition, the Madras, Oregon native has played spectacular defense, patrolling MCU Park's vast centerfield (the deepest in the league, at 412 feet) with speed, agility, and fearlessness. He routinely cuts off sinking liners from falling in front of him, races gap to gap like a thouroughbred to eliminate extra-base hits, and has made run-saving -- and game-saving -- over-the-shoulder catches and sliding catches on the warning track, as well.

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