The Mack Report – Stocking Teams in 2012 – Prospects #16-20

We continue building our minor league teams by going down “The Keepers” list, assigning those 100+ players to the current level team they should be playing in 2011, based on where we would want them to be in 2012.


Here’s prospect # 16-20:

16. SP Yohan Almonte – we’ve talked about him often. Absolutely burst on the scene this past season as the top pitcher in the NY-Penn League. Really hasn’t pitched badly at all in his three years with the Mets.



Some notes from this year:



7-4-10: - Almonte pitched another good outing for Brooklyn Saturday night. The 20-year old righthander went 5.2 innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out four. His season ERA is down to 3.63 in four starts


7-19-10 from Pete Spiewak/Mack’s Mets: - Cyclones starter Yohan Almonte allowed seven hits in five innings on Monday, while the ValleyCats scored three unearned runs off of the 20-year-old righty. The Dominican Republic native lowered his ERA to 2.37 and now has a 24/8 K/BB ratio through 38 innings pitched for Brooklyn. He has only given up one earned run in his last three outings, and the last time he gave up more than one earned run was June 23 against Hudson Valley, when he gave up four runs over 6.2 innings in a loss to the Renegades.


7-31-10: - Almonte continues to elevate himelf, both as the ace of the Clones staff, and as a Mets prospect of the future. Last night, he went 7.0-IP, 0-ER, 3-H, 4-K, 0-BB. The 20-year old is now 4-3, 2.31, 1.04, with only 10-BB in 50.2-IP.


8-5-10: - We hate to write about somebody that we recently wrote about, but, at the same time, you have to recognize a player when he is accomplishing something special. This happened earlier this year when Mark Cohoon just kept throwing shutouts for St. Lucie. Well, in Brooklyn, right now, Yohan Almonte is all that. His stats last night: 7.0-IP, 0-R, 3-H, 5-K, 1-BB, 2.03.


8-9-10: - Almonte dealt up another great Cyclone outing, raising his record to 6-3. This time his stats were: 8.0-IP, 7-H, 1-ER, 9-K, 0-BB and his yearly ERA has fallen below two at 1.92. He’s going nowhere because the Mets want him to pitch game one in the Cyclones playoffs coming up at the end of the month.


8-28-10: - Stock Up: - A lot of people were questioning me earlier in the season why I had SP Yohan Almonte so high up my “Keepers” list. Well, after last night, nobody should be questiong it as the Cyclones head their way into the playoffs with the ace. Almonte went the distance with a six-hit, 9.0-IP shutout. He also struck out five, while walking one, and lowered his seasonal ERA to 2.00. I’m telling you, the only way this kid ever sees Savannah is if his plane to Port St. Lucie next spring gets diverted due to weather.


9-14-10 - 2011 Forecast: - 2010 was a magical year for Almonte, who has rocketed up the prospect lists all over Metland. The 21-year old went 8-4, 1.91, 0.93 in 15-starts. He led the league with the lowest ERA and the lowest WHIP, which is about the best you can do. Since this was the third professional year for Yohan, and his second stateside, I expect the Mets to bump him right past Savannah and start him off next spring in St. Lucie. Right now, one of the top three pitching prospects in the system.


2011: he’s start for Lucy.


2012: no rush here… he starts for Binghamton

17. RP Manuel Alvarez – 25/yrs. old – another 24+ player we will make an exception for, the Mets quietly placed him on the 40-man this month so he wouldn’t be lost in the Rule V draft. Alvarez has basically pitched very well throughout his Mets career but just hasn’t had the press. That’s okay.


Here’s some recent notes on him:



4-15-10: - I would have bet real money before the season started that Rhiner Cruz would have been the Lucy closer this season, but the Mackster was wrong again. It's Alvarez, who, after four outings, has fnished all four games, recording three saves and creating stats of: 4.2-IP, 0.00, 0.64, 5-K.



4-18-10: - Manuel Alvarez – RP – A+ - St. Lucie – there isn’t much lights out pitching going on in St. Lucie right now, but Alvarez is the exception: In 9 appearances, Alvarez still hasn’t given up a run and stats ut at: 2-0, 0.00, 15-K, 12.1-IP.



2011: Will begin the year in the Buffalo pen, with an outside chance of making Queens in the ST
 2012: The Mets pen.

18. OF Cesar Puello – 29/yrs. old – For some reason, I always seem to forget about Puello. Frankly, he’s much more of a prospect that Captain Kirk or Lucas Duda is and I think I overlook him because of his lack of pop. Still, this is one hell of a fast outfielder, who hits for average and is potentially a league leader in stolen bases some day. He hit .292 for Savannah in 2010 and led the league in SBs. He’ll move on to Lucy.



Some past notes on Puello:



8-4-10: - there’s been very little press this year on Puello, who’s doing a decent job for Savannah (.296/.369/.367/.736 in 368-AB) this year. The 19-year old hasn’t showed much pop but he has produced 27 doubles and walked 30 times. Let’s remember he’s still a teenager and I expect him to move on to St. Lucie for the 2011 season.


9-1-10: - 2011 Forecast: Let's first remember that Puello played the 2010 season as a 19-year old. There is so much ceiling here... 404-AB, .292/.375/.359/.734, 22-doubles, 45-steals... he batted .305 for GCL in 2008... .296 for Kingsport in 2009... and .292 for Savannah in 2010... and... he's only 19. Yes, this is another Mets prospect with little pop, but isn't that There's no doubt that Puello will move on in 2011. My educated guess is St. Lucie to play in a possible all-star outfield with Darrell Ceciliani and Cory Vaughn.



2011: St. Lucie as a 20/yr. old


2012: Binghamton as a 21/yr. old





Michael G. Baron

 19. OF Lucas Duda – everybody now knows who Lucas Duda so I can stop telling the story about his great swing… it’s very hard to classify him as a prospect. As a hitter, he’s probably in the top five rank, but in the field, he would be 50th. His September 2010 appearance in Queens will either supplant him on the Mets bench or get him the trade he needs to an American League team.


Recent notes on da Duda-mon:



4-17-10: - Lucas Duda - OF/1B - AA-Binghamton - I remember some of the Sand Gnats reporting a couple of years ago that the sweetest bat on the cyclones roster was Duda's... Lucas was a 7th round pick in the 2007 draft, out of USC. Three year totals to date: .277/.374/.422/.796, with only 24 homeruns in 1,112 at bats. Duda was moved from first to the outfield and had a decent AA season last year, going .281/.380/.428/.808, with 53-RBIs in 395 ABs. So far this season, he leads all Mets organizational players with 14 ribbys in only 34 at bats.



7-4-10: - As I have already posted, Duda is a home run machine this week and everyone is pulling out their computer, trying to find out some more info on this guy. I remember being in the Savannah lockerroomtwo seasons ago and a couple of pitchers just arrived from Brooklyn. I was yacking with them when one told me about what, in his opinion, was the best swing he had ever seen. It was Duda’s, playing for the Cyclones.

7-28-10: - Duda not only continues to hit at the AAA level, but his hitting is timely as well. Last night, he kocked in three runs to seal the victory against Columbus, which included his 12th home run of the season. Seasonal stats: .313/.376/a whopping .679/1.055. You can’t do much better than this and it will be interesting to see what the Mets do with this 24-year old one- dimensional player.


8-11-10: - Another possible addition to the Queens roster come September may be OF/1B Lucas Duda. He hit another home run yesterday for Buffalo, which made him tied for the AAA_International league lead in extra base hits (31) and slugging percentage (.663).Duda has also scored a run in 13 of his last 14 games and is hitting .414 (12-29) in the past week. His combined B-Met/Bison 2010 stats are: 345-AB, .304/.401/.588/.989, 21-HR, 78-RBI. Remember now, the Mets define a “utility player” as someone that can play both in the infield and the outfield (my theory on that is simply because they carry an extra relief pitcher due to the lack of innings eaters in the rotation). Because of this, Duda joins a list that included Mike Hessman and Daniel Murphy as possible 2011 25-man men (say that three times fast). The knock on Duda has always been that he can’t hit lefties (66-AB, .242), but that isn’t as critical in a utility role. What is important is his .354 batting average with runners on base. I’ve told this story a few times before, so skip to the next paragraph if you heard it before. I remember talking in 2007 to some of the guys that came out of Brooklyn and to a man they all said that Duda had the bext swing they had ever seen in organized baseball. Keep an eye on him.





Michael G. Baron

 20. IF Jordany Valdespin – 23/yrs. old – another of the 658 players the Mets have converted to second base, Valdespin has never not hit like a prospect. Defensively, his only liability is his propensity to add some mustard to his routine. They say he actually gets bored doing the routine things in the sport. The first test for him this off-season will be if the Mets protect him in the Rule V. If they do, he clogs up the Buffalo infield that already has any combination of Ruben Tejada, Reese Havens, and Josh Satin playing either 2B or SS.


Old notes:



4-19-10: - Stock Up: Valdespin has been a hitting machine since the day he came stateside in 2008. .284 for the GCL Mets that year… led the Sally League, early, in hitting in 2009… and now hitting his stride at A+, with stats of .310/.310/.524/.833. Other than the fact that he doesn’t walk, he quickly is establishing himself as the top second base prospect in the system. I wrote on Feb 10: “Jordany Valdespin – this is the one you have to watch… highest ceiling of any Mets infielder in the system, and maybe the highest ceiling of any player period… the boy can hit, but also can piss off the coaches, so hopefully, we’ll see a new level of maturity this season. Remember his name… he’s a future major leaguer.” I expect the 22-year old to stay put at Lucy this season. Play Binghamton in 2011, and then… who knows…


2011: Somewhere in the infield either in Buffalo or a new team


2012: I have no idea



So…


Here’s what our rosters look like so far for the 2011 season, based on 2012 need:



Buffalo: Rotation: (1) - SP Jenrry Mejia

Relievers: (1) – Manny Alvarez

Catchers: (0) -

Infielders: (3) – 2B Josh Satin, SS Reese Havens, Jordany Valdespin

Outfielders: (1) – Fernando Martinez



Binghamton: Rotation: (1) – Jeurys Familia

Relievers: (1) – Nick Carr

Catchers: (0) -

Infielders (1) – 3B, Wilmer Flores

Outfielders (0) -



St. Lucie: Rotation (2) – Matt Harvey, Yohan Almonte

Relievers (1) – Eric Goeddel

Catchers (0) –

Infielders (0) –

Outfielders (1) – Cesar Puello

Savannah: Rotation: (1) – Greg Peavey

Relievers: (0) –

Catchers: (0) -

Infielders: (1) – 3B Aderlin Rodriquez

Outfielders: (2) – Darrell Ceciliani, Javier Rodriguez


Brooklyn:

Rotation : (1) - Juan Urbina
Outfield: (1) - Gilbert Gomez