Mack’s Top Mets Prospect List – August 2007

Mack’s Top Mets Prospect List – August 2007

Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2007 (back then I used to update this list monthly and highlight what happened the past month...)


1. OF Lastings Milledge - Milledge’s rehab, especially at AA-Binghamton, was a huge success, and, now that Carlos Gomez has joined the growing list of injured Mets OFers, what more can I do but list him as the top prospect in the most important month of his baseball career? The fact is, the Mets might wind up with the best prospect no one wanted. I expect this might be the last month we list ole Lasto here. He ain’t no rookie no more, and he ain’t going back.



2. OF Fernando Martinez - Remember Fernando Martinez? He was the guy everyone said would rocket his way through the minors and be playing in Shea three months ago. Now, he’s one of three prospect outfielders that have been on the DL this year. Martinez is still way up there but I’ll be much more comfortable when he’s hitting .300+ again. (that's amazing... I was saying "remember Fernando 3 1/2 years ago!)



3. SP Phillip Humber - Speaking of guys I can’t wait to feel more comfortable about, this is turning out to be strange year for Mets prospects. Right now, the top four Mets prospects (Humber, Pelfrey, Gomez, and Milledge) are all ready to be full-time major league starters in 2008. The only problem is none of them is making positive headlines this year. Poor pitching (Pelfrey), injuries (Milledge and Gomez) and erratic outings (Humber) are going to make it very hard for Omar and Co. to decide to turn over four of next year’s 25 slots (and all starters) to these kids.



4. SP Deolis Guerra - Speaking of guys I can’t wait to feel…. This is starting to sound like a broken record. Guerra’s last three outings produced 12 earned runs in 11.1 IP. I’m sorry, but this just isn’t a prospect number. I would be moving him down, but who would I put ahead of him?



5. SP Mike Pelfrey - Frankly, Pelfrey continues to get bombed when he’s called to the Bigs to help out, and, if it wasn’t the fact that the Mets don’t have anyone else to rank the 5th best prospect, I’m not sure where I’d put this guy right now. I just wish they’d give him the SP5 slot for the rest of the year (and stop trying to solve their pitching problems with guys like Vargas and Williams) and just let the kid pitch his way out of it. Also, it wouldn’t hurt if the Mets would put in their first string team when he pitches to help get him that 1st victory.



6. SP Kevin Mulvey - It was nice to see Mulvey added to the Future’s Game roster. Guess that means he has a future. I didn’t see anything that special, did you? Looked like a less-talented John Maine to me. Mulvey has a respectful 3.24 ERA, but that includes three horrible outings in June where he gave up 13 ER in 16 IP. Like I said in the Guerra paragraph, dead-on prospects don’t pitch this inconsistently.

7. 2B Hector Pellot - I’m not sure if Pellot is falling up the list because of anything he’s done. Maybe just the other prospects and dropping like flies.



8. 1B Mike Carp - Carp’s bat is starting to come around and, if he keeps this up, he can be a major part of a trade bait deal a la Mike Jacobs. Needs a year at AAA to see how he handles that league.



9. SP Jon Niese - These just seem to be too many bad outings lately. Another on July 11th where he gave up 5 ERs in five innings.



10. Closer Carlos Muniz - Another boring ‘just do things as asked’ season from the organization's best closer in the system and a plane ride away to Shea if Wagner farts crooked. As of July 13, Muniz is 2-2, with an 2.53 ERA in 30 appearances, which includes an amazing 16 saves. The whole friggin pitching staff has only 20 saves, and 16 of them were thrown by Muniz. Oh, did I mention the 0.98 WHIP or the 42/42.1 K/IP ratio?


11. SP Robert Parnell - Parnell had another wasted outing on July 13, going 6.0 IP, and giving up only 1 ER (3.40 ERA).



12. RP Eddie Camacho - Camacho is having a difficult July and his ERA has risen to a high of 4.88 on 7-13.



13. SP/RP Jacob Ruckle - Starting to settle back in as a consistent starter, which means they’ll probably move him back to relieving soon. What a poorly managed example of great potential talent.


14. RP Willie Collazo - His 3.48 ERA in 35 appearances in AAA set him up as one of the guys who deserves the next shot, especially if guys like ‘S.S.’ and Moto keep stinking up the joint.



15. C Franceso Pena - July has not been kind to Pena. His hitting has begun to suffer and the word is out on his sub-par defense and inaccurate throws to second base. But, I’m going to keep him in the top 20 just on bloodline and potential. Most of us were looking for a date to the junior prom at the same age this kid was catching Mets prospects, but the fact is he has seemed to lose his C position to Sean, who is calling a much more intelligent game. I wish the Mets would bump Sean to St. Lucie and let this kid play every day behind the plate and try and mature. It’s doing him no good batting .130 as a DH.



16. RP Ambiorix Burgos - I have no thoughts on this guy anymore.



17. RP Robert Paulk - Paulk, like Camacho, is having difficulty adjusting to AAA ball and, on July 13, had his AAA ERA soar to 8.10.



18. 1B Nick Evans - Evans started the month strong, banging out two home runs on July 1.



19. OF Corey Coles - Coles bat has cooled off, which is something it just can’t afford to do.



20. OF Caleb Stewart – Had a great June, and probably destined for New Orleans in 2008, but then what?



21. RP Ryan Cullen – 2-2, 2.81 in 23 appearances for New Orleans… it’s him or Collazo when the rosters expand.



22. SP Jason Vargas - Vargas is one of the spot starters that failed on his call up to Shea. He continued his downslide, with a low-end 2.0 IP 8ER appearance for New Orleans on 7-14 (5.65). This is starting to look like a very bad trade.



23. RP Nick Abel - Not pitching as well as he did earlier this year, but let’s give him another month before he falls down further on the list.



24. OF Brahaim Maldonado - Has once again come out of nowhere and is putting up all-star numbers in the second half resurgence of the Sand Gnats. Last year, he led the K-Port team in homers and RBIs and finished second in the league in slugging percentage. And he’s only 21 years old. Was named Sally Player of the Month a few weeks ago. Savannah may be going into another mid-month funk, but ‘El Toro’ just keeps spraying hits and got his BA up to a season high of .313 on July 13. Frankly, he's the only hitting threat on the Savannah team right now. You know Monday night they pitched him nothing but slop, yet he still got three hits, incuding a HR. A STAR IN THE MAKING.



25. SP Eric Brown - Frankly, I’m very disappointed in this guy this year. I’ve had him in my top 15 most of the year and he’s dropping fast. No consistency at all this year.



26. SS Jose Castro - Castro was the 32nd round pick in the 2005 draft, and had a horrible 2006, batting only .219 and committing 29 errors, but this year he came out of the gate in front and, by the time the all-star break came around, he was leading the Florida State League in batting (.368).



27. OF Sean Henry - Typical Sean Henry year at St. Lucie: .297/.358/.473 in 330 at bats. Next stop Binghamton.



28. 2B Greg Veloz - Veloz comes out of the DSL system and came stateside with all the prospect tags. He started this year in Savannah but couldn’t get any decent amount of playing time, so they shipped him down to where he should have started in the first place, one of the rookie teams, Kingsport. Playing much better: 101 Abs .267/.357/.495 3 HRs 14 RBIs 6 2B 8 SB only 9 E.



29. SP Tobi Stoner - Got off to a very poor start after being promoted to St. Lucie; however, has had two premier starts since then. No pressure on him to be SP1 (like Savannah) when he’s pitching on the same staff as Niese, Guerra, and Brown. Then, once again, inconsistency set in on July 13 and his ERA is back up to 4.73. Looks like a long, learning year for Tobi.



30. SP Matt Durkin - Durkin is dropping like a rock in his Rule-5 year, something I’m sure is starting to concern his agent, Scott Boras. Yes, there have been some blister problems, but he just might have hit a wall. This is the most innings he’s pitched in many year, but it’s hard to sit down a team with no consistent starting pitchers right now.



31. SS Emmanuel Garcia - Though he has been completely overshadowed by Jose Castro this year, Garcia remains one of the Mets top infield prospects.


32. OF D. J. Wabick - D.J. is another one of those Gnats I watch every night. Wabick is having a wonderful July and I’m not sure where he goes from there. It will take at least the rest of this season (and probably all of next year) to see if this kid has what it takes.



33. SP Greg Mullens - I expected this to be a breakout year for Greg, and it sure started out that way in Savannah, but then came the train to Brooklyn, followed by the mysterious arm injury. Mullens hasn’t pitched a lick since leaving town and is currently on the DL.


34. RP Josh Appell - Appell continues to keep his ERA below 3, pitching 0.1 scorelss innings on July 13, and lowering his ERA to 2.70.


35. 1B Josh Thole - Starting to show some increased bat speed and plate maintenance. Only 20 years old. (notice he was playing first base back then...)



36. OF Joe Holden - Best defensive outfielder in the system and, if every pitcher in baseball was a RHP, he’d be an all star.



37. RP Emery Frederick – Has hit a wall in late July and just isn’t turning in the quality nastiness he did early in the season. Just hit a wall and went on IR with soreness.



38. SS Ruben Tejada – There is an outside chance that Tejada could find himself slotted behind Emmanuel Garcia. His 2007 VSL stats were.364/.466/.479/.946. Numbers like this get you a promotion and they did, to K-Port, where he is slow in getting going (.200/.556./.200/.756). Turns 18 in October.



39. RP David Koons - Koons got his first clocking on July 13, giving up 5 ERs in 0.2 IP, raising his respectable ERA to 4.50. This, I am sure, is an aberration. So far for Brooklyn, he’s 4-1 3.50 after pitching lights out for Savannah.



40. SS Juan Lagares - Has hit rock bottom in July, No hit, no field and no hustle has lost him his starting job in Savannah to ex-NY/Penn All-Star Jose Rivera. Look for his return to Savannah in 2007 for another lessons in fundamentals.



New Kids On The Block:

OF Pedro Zapata – Came out of nowhere for the DSL Mets and is batting .338/.396/.444 in 151 ABs.


SP Nicholas Carr - A 20-year-old starting pitcher with Brooklyn, 2-0, 3.80 31 Ks in 23.2 IP



SP Dylan Owen - A 21-year-old starting pitcher with Brooklyn, who was a 2nd round draft pick this year. Another great outing on July 13, going 5.0 IP. 1ER, 5 Ks and an ERA of 2.08. Now stands at 4-0, 1.65 0.77 in six games, five starts.



SP Phillips Orta - Orta was a 2006 10th round draft pick that signed with the Mets just before the 2007 draft. He began his Mets career with the VSL team (4 appearances, 3 starts, 1.29 ERA, 12K/14.0IP) and was shipped out to Kingsport as soon as his Visa came through. So far, 1-1 3.00 in four starts.


3B Richard Lucas - Lucas was a 4th round draft pick this year and is playing for The GCL Mets.


3B Stefan Welsh - Not a bad start for the Aussie prospect at GCL: .302/.333/.337 in 53 ABs.



OF Darren Clark - Off to a good start at K-Port. 89 ABs .303/.374/.539 4 HRs 14 RBIs.



RP Stephen Clyne – A 22-year-old 3rd round 2007 draft pick, posting 1-1, 1.64 in 10 relief appearances.


SP Thomas Peredas - A 19-year-old starting pitcher on the DSL team, he’s 0-2, 1.09, 1.00 in 10 appearances.



SP Julio Bello - A 20-year-old starting pitcher on the DSL team, the starter is 0-1, they don’t get to stay in past four innings), 1.46, 1.05.



SP Jose Angel Mejias - Mejias is a 21-year-old (turns 22 this month) starter on the VSL Mets. He especially pitched a great complete game on July 11, which, sadly, he lost. 8 IP 0ER and his ERA is now down to 2.54 (4-3) with a 1.00 WHIP



3B Juan Torres - A 19-year-old third baseman on the VSL Mets, batting .309/.369/.429 in 175 ABs.



OF Imbewer Alvarez - A 21-year-old outfielder for the VSL Mets, batting .315/.425/.416 in 178 ABs.


OF Brandon Kawal - A 22-year-old 2007 draft pick at Brooklyn, hitting .378/.429/.432 in 37 ABs.



SP Scott Moviel - Not a bad start...three more scorelss innings on July 13, now has an 0-0 record, 0.64 ERA, and a 1.00 WHIP in five appearances for GCL.



P Raul Batis – Speaking of lights out pitching, three more scoreless innings on July 13 and a record at GCL of 2-0, 1.13, 0.88 in five appearances



C Cesar Cordido - New guy playing limited innings in K-Port, but batting .345/.457/.414.



OF Ezequiel Carrera – First year in the states at GCL, hitting .303/.378/.414 in 99 ABs