Continuing our prospect slotting…
51. SS Rylan Sandoval – 23/yrs. old - yeah, I know… just what we needed was another prospect shortstop. Sandoval was originally drafted by the Mets, went unsigned, went back to college, and was signed after he left school as a free agent. He’s got age going against him, and he hit well at levels he should have been past (2010: Savannah/Brooklyn/St. Lucie: .295) by now. The good news is there is a shortstop slot open in Binghamton where he would fit well. Havens and Valdespin can fight it out in Buffalo, Robbie Shields can play Lucy, and Wilfredo Tovar can elevate to Savannah.
2011: Shortstop in Binghamton
2012: Trade bait
52. C Kai Gronauer – right now (as usual), the Mets are without a true prospect catcher, but the one kid that has impressed everyone in the organization is Gronauer. Most Mets fans don’t realize that baseball in Germany may only be in the 20-25 game range, thus, all the kids there simply don’t get as much training as others in the world. Gronauer came to the Mets with defensice creds; however, he had a wonderful hitting season in 2010, going .324 for St. Lucie. Not a lot of pop here, but who knows, there weren’t supposed to be any .324 seasons here either. In one sense, he is blocked by the big bonus money and Francesco Pena might be first in line, but there’s a new sheriff in town, and Pena’s days could be numbered.
2011: Starting Catcher in Binghamton
2012: Buffalo
53. OF Sean Ratliff – 24/yrs. old - Ratliff is no slouch as a minor league outfielder; he just doesn’t slot into the Mets plans. He’s a4th rounder in 2008 that has hit well at all levels. He had an excellent year at Binghamton in 2010, hitting .317 in 281-Abs after swinging .275 (222-AB) for Lucy. He also hit a combo 21-HR, and 80-RBIs. I frankly have no room for him in Buffalo (F-Mart, Duda, Kirk, Wabick, Pasccuchi), so I’m going to have to send him back to Binghamton for another season. He’s quickly becoming a major-minor “tweener” like Nick Evans. Too good for the minors, not good enough to promote.
2011: Binghamton
2012: Possible Mets utility outfielder
54. SP Josh Stinson – 23/yrs. old - My placement of “Stinny” as the 54th prospect is highly influenced by the fact that the Mets just protected him by placing him on the 40-man roster. He’s come a long way from the start of 2009 when the Mets sent him back to Savannah because they didn’t think he was ready for A+ ball. He finished the 2009 season as a reliever, going 5-3, 2.86, 84-K, 78.2-IP for the Gnats/Lucy. He made it back to the rotation in 2010 and went 11-5, 3.90, for Binghamton/Buffalo. His veol only hits 92, but his control is fantastic, but I still project the 6-4 righty as a pen-man.
2011: Buffalo rotation
2012: Mets pen
55. C Mike Nickeas – 27/yrs. old – Here’s my first “organizational pick” which sometimes is more necessary than a prospect pick. Nickeas is the most veteran catcher the Mets have in the sytem and I’d probably still pick him this high, even if he didn’t hit .283 in Binghamton last year. He got a September call up (what a nervous first night) and will anchor the rotation in Buffalo, always having a bag packed in case one of the Mets catchers go down in a game.
2011: Buffalo starting lineup
2012: ditto
So… here’s what our rosters look like so far for the 2011 season, based on 2012 need:
Buffalo (12):
Rotation: (2) - SP Jenrry Mejia, Josh Stinson
Relievers: (2) – Manny Alvarez, Jose De La Torre
Catchers: (1) – Mike Nickeas
Infielders: (4) – 2B Josh Satin, SS Reese Havens, SS Jordany Valdespin, 3B Zach Lutz
Outfielders: (3) – Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda
Binghamton (15):
Rotation: (6) – Jeurys Familia, Robert Carson, Jimmy Fuller, Mark Cohoon, Brandon Moore, Chris Schwinden
Relievers: (5) – Nick Carr, Brant Rustich, Brad Holt, Scott Moviel, Eric Beaulac
Catchers: (1) – Kai Gronauer
Infielders (2) – SS Rylan Sandoval, 3B Wilmer Flores
Outfielders (1) – Sean Ratliff
St. Lucie (10):
Rotation (5) – Matt Harvey, Kyle Allen, Yohan Almonte, Collin McHugh, Jimmy Fuller
Relievers (2) – Eric Goeddel, Ryan Fraser
Catchers (0) –
Infielders (1) – SS Robbie Shields
Outfielders (2) – Cesar Puello, Corey Vaughn
Savannah (8):
Rotation: (1) – Greg Peavey
Relievers: (1) – T.J. Chism
Catchers: (1) – Albert Cordero
Infielders: (2) – SS Wilfredo Tovar, 3B Aderlin Rodriquez
Outfielders: (3) – Darrell Ceciliani, Javier Rodriguez, Jenry Marte
2 comments:
I love this technique for your building of minor league rosters.
I have a few comments, instruct me where I'm off-base.
1.- If Tejada doesn't win the Queens 2B job outright in ST (he might, but I think it's Murphy's to lose), then playing every day SS in Buff during Reyes' walk year makes more sense to me than a MINF back-up in Queens. (Turner & maybe Hernandez there).
2.- So, Tejada-Havens/Satin (Buff), Valdespin-Satin/Havens (Bing) & Sandoval-Sheilds (STL)are your AAA/AA/A+ MINF's.
3.- If Ratliff is still in the CF stream: Kirk-Ratliff-Ceciliani-den Dekker he plays, as you said, in Bingo. If his pop/defense is corner material, I say he's in Buff with Kirk & F-Mart Duda in some 1B-OF-DH rotation as a back up fir Ike & PH-OF's presumably Evans & Carter).
4.- The "Where's Wilmer?" era begins with Flores moving around 1B-3B-OF in Bingo (& Campbell the "regular" 3B or following Flores around the circuit.
Welcome back to the comments - sorry I screwed that up...
1. yes it does... the MOST important thing to accomplish in 2011 is a possible replacement for Reyes in 2012. Tejada would be best served playing every day in Buffalo than any bench job in Queens, but what the powers to be have to decide is WHO is potentially the best shortstop in the system... me? If healthy, it is hands own Reese Haves, and Tejada would then be hands down second base.
2. Getting kind of crowded, isn't it?
3. your OF alignment is another good approach. There is northing wrong with Ratliff, but everything outfield wise will be determined whether Duda remains in Queens.
4. I'm "predicting" Flores is mved to 3B... no one will comment on that to me at this point... re: Campbell... his bat went south in the winter league and he really isn't a very good fielder at any position
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