There is some silly tweet going around that the Mets are spending more on executives than ballplayers.
I welcome the tweet writer to visit Cott and check out the difference of monies paid to suits and players.
Of course, the tweet might have been written to be funny... ya know what happens to me when I try to be funny?
Frankly, all the money being spent on the "new executives" come from the $3.5mil the Mets saved paying K-Rod.
Let's move on...
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40-Man:
This could be an interesting week for Mets fans.
I don't expect a manager to be named this quick, but you might see a few announcements regarding who the finalists are.
Also, I wouldn't be surprsed you don't see at least one more name going on the 40-man. My guess is it will be 2B/SS Jordany Valdespin.
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Some heat from the winter…
Marcos Tabata: - 0-0, 0.87, 1.55, 10-G 10.1-IP, 10-K, 11-BB
-a prospect reliever who still is a ways off…
Raul Valdez: - 1-0, 1.46, 1.22, 3-G, 12.1-IP, 17-K, 4-BB
-didn’t the Mets just release this guy?
Jose De La Torre - 0-0, 1.35, 0.90, 6-G, 6.2-IP, 7-K, 3-BB
-there is an outside chance tat Jose will make the Queens pen in 2011… has never pitched bad
-here is one of 2011’s middle relievers… quietly put on the 40-man last week
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We’re down to John Sickles’ 10th top Mets prospect in this comparison study. Sickles said of Zach: - 10) Zach Lutz, 3B, Grade C+: A third base version of Duda; lots of power, other skills marginal.
Sickles has come up with a great line that I never thought of before. He is the infield version of Lucas Duda, and the good news here is his bat is getting stronger every game.
There is bad news in this too. He doesn’t play anything other than the position than the one both David Wright and Aderlin Rodriquez play and the position that Wilmer Flores is probably moving to. Andrew Vazzano has a better chance of becoming a Met.
Lutz is serious American League trade bait. He will open the season at Buffalo, if he’s still a Met by then. Trust me, this is the 2011 version of Shawn Bowman. The Mets couldn’t get anyone for Shawn due to his medical history and, as I understand, Lutz has had some ticky-tacky injuries, but nothing to worry about.
He’s a great player, and I understand, a great kid, who deserved the opportunity to play third base in the majors. Hopefully, the Mets will accommodate him.
Some of my past notes on Zach:
Lutz was the D3ielderBaseball.com National Player of the Year. He also was named PAC Player of the Year and part of the All-PAC 1st team. His stats in his last year for Alvernia were .454/.541/.858, 12 HRs and 58 RBIs in 40 games.
The Mets drafted Lutz in the 5th round of the 2007 draft. He was signed and played the 2007 season for Brooklyn (1 game, 2 at bats).
Lutz played the entire 2008 season for Brooklyn, going .333/.442/.514/.956 in 72 at bats. This included 4 doubles, 3 HRs, and 12 RBIs in 24 games.
- In 2009, Lutz mastered A+ ball, going .284/.381/.441/.822, with 11-HR and 62-RBI in 356-AB and 99-G. He was ranked second in the league in OPS, and seventh in slugging percentage.
He had a cup of coffee at the end of the season for Binghamton, where he will play 2010.
1-1-10: - I have never met anyone in the Mets organization that isn’t high on this kid. Lutz’s pro career spans three years at three levels and he has a combined .438 slugging percentage and an .823 OPS. The strange part is the lack of press he has been getting. If we assume he hits at the same pace in Binghamton this upcoming season, and he plays the season at 24 years old, and he plays 3B, where the hell does he go? I expect to start seeing him play second base soon.
2-10-10 - Zach Lutz – nothing wrong here, either… Lutz is showing the minor league brass that they just might have three major league third basemen in their organization… hit .284/.381/.441/822 for Lucy this year and will join most of his 2009 teammates with the B-Mets this season. Remember this name.
4-22-10: - Stock Up: We talked yesterday about the fact that the Mets have solved their first base problems for the next 5+ years. It’s also true that they don’t need a new third baseman during that same period, but the fact remains that there is a new one developing down on the farm and we might see him branching out to a new position someday to hopefully make this team both as the backup to David Wright, and a quality power utility bat.
5-10-10: - Stock Up: Lutz is one of those minor leaguers that doesn’t seem to get any press, but just goes out and does his job every night. And, don’t be fooled by that baby face… the kid’s got some real power! Lutz was a 5th round pick in 2007 and has produced well in Brooklyn (2008: .333/.442/.514/.956) and St. Lucie (2009: 11-HR, 62-RBI, .822-OPS). The soon-to-be 24-year old (June 3) continues to develop power and currently leads the Eastern League in both home runs (8) but also the best HR-AB ratio (13.13). ETA: 2011
5-24-10: - Stock Up: Lutz is one of those minor leaguers that doesn’t seem to get any press, but just goes out and does his job every night. And, don’t be fooled by that baby face… the kid’s got some real power! Lutz was a 5th round pick in 2007 and has produced well in Brooklyn (2008: .333/.442/.514/.956) and St. Lucie (2009: 11-HR, 62-RBI, .822-OPS). The soon-to-be 24-year old (June 3) continues to develop power and currently leads the Eastern League in both home runs (8) but also the best HR-AB ratio (13.13).
5-26-10: - 3B Zach Lutz placed on 7-day Disabled List retroactive to May 21 with a left foot fracture.
7-17-10: - it’s not that Zach Lutz did anything special on Saturday. What he did was simply play. Lutz was on his way to a great season with Binghamton (8-HR, 17-RBI, .896-OPS in 126-AB), when he broke his ankle. No one expected him back this quick, but, you know Zach. Anyway, he did go 1-3 for the GCL Mets on his first rehab day and we expect him back in the B-Mets lineup this time next week.
7-23-10 – The Mets top third base prospect is now rehabbing with the GCL Mets and got back into gear on Friday. He belted a 2-run homer, knocked in a total of four runs, and went 3-5 in their win. I’m sure he will be returning Binghamton sometime next week, if not sooner. The most important thing about his return is it comes just when the Mets need another trading pawn to hopefully pull off a pitching deal before the deadline.
8-1-10: - Lutz was having a great year before he wound up on the disabled list. Well, he’s been back for five games and now has five home runs in that span, which included two on Sunday. Lutz is one of those secondary prospects we always talk about when we discuss the Mets minor league system. He has a lifetime .285 professional BA going into this year, and showed the first sign of power last season for St. Lucie (11-HR, 62-RBI). This season, he had 14-HR in 170-Abs and currently has a .612 slugging percentage and 1.028OPS at the AA level. What all this means is the Mets may wind up with a hell of a third base prospect in 2012, especially if he aces AAA next season.
8-10-10 - The Mets have some decisions to make about a prospect that plays only one position which simply is not available on Roosevelt Avenue. 3B Zach Lutz has the talent to play MLB ball and his ETA is 2012 at the latest. He’s going to quickly learn what Shawn Bowman came to realize a year ago… his baseball future is probably not as a Mets. David Wright is going nowhere, and now that Ike Davis is at first base, he’s not even going to that position. Wright is projected as the Mets third sacker through the 2019 season, so whoever is going to dethrone King David someday is probably in middle school as we write. Lutz is a hitter, and his recent injury simply was a broken bone, not a series of nagging injuries. He wasted little time upon his return and let everybody know right away that he was back by hitting seven home runs in his first six games back. For the season, with three teams, he’s hitting: .280/.393/.593/.985 in 189-AB, with 16-HR and 37-RBI. Lutz turned 24 this past June and, if it wasn’t for his recent hiccup, he would have been one of the major names bantered around before the trade deadline. There doesn’t seem to be any plans to move him a round on the field, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got an invite to Queens in September, simply to start showing him off. Regardless, watch for more press on a definite trade bait.
8-30-10: - Stock Up: The Mets top third base prospect, Zach Lutz, went 2-4 on Sunday, which included a two-run home run, his 18th of the season. His combined minor league stats this year are now: .283/.380/.561/.941. We’ve talked about Lutz many times this season, especially the fact that he only plays one position, which happens to be the most blocked in Mets history. Lutz is a hell of a minor league hitter, but he’s never going to move David Wright off of third base in Queens. Conservatively, his ETA would be September 2011, so it will be interesting to see what the Mets do with him in the off-season. No, please, not another person trying to play second base…
10-8-10: - I think we just finished watching Zach Lutz become a full fledged prospect in 2010. Now, all the Mets have to do is find a place to play him. He will obviously do Buffalo in 2011, but, sadly, he will probably go the route of Shawn Bowman since he is boxed out by King David. This is one of the mew General Manager's prime trade bait in the off-season.
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