2/3/12

Mets: Domingo Tapia, Wilmer Flores, Adam Loewen, Johan Santana


1-30-12 - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/30/2757346/2012-amazin-avenue-top-50-mets-prospects-21-30  RHP Domingo Tapia - At 6'4", 186lbs, the 20-yr old Tapia looks the part of a horse. What's more, he learned to harness that build this year as his already intriguing sinking fastball blossomed into a truly plus, mid-90's offering and according to reports he was regularly hitting triple-digits. Even better, Tapia has a refined control of that pitch which affords him highly advanced command for someone so young and with so much stuff. That in and of itself drives Tapia up these rankings. In fact, the rest of his repertoire is developing at best at this point, which is most evident in his shockingly low 5.40 K/9. He desperately needs some sort of secondary offering to keep hitters off balance. This season, Appy Leaguers were clearly able to gear up for the fastball but based on sheer velocity and movement they still weren't making good contact; he won't be able to count on the same trends as he climbs. Yet the sky is the limit for an arm like this. The last pitcher to come through at this age with a build and a fastball like this was Familia.

1-27-12: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6509   3B Wilmer Flores - Baseball-Reference player profile - The Mets management of their top Latin American prospects from 2006-2009 has undergone plenty of scrutiny from baseball analysts, as the team consistently rushed prospects to levels well above where normal development would place them. Players like OF Fernando Martinez and RHP Jennry Mejia are two obvious examples, with Flores a third. The Mets paid Flores a $750,000 bonus out of Venezuela in 2007 and he was playing in rookie ball as a 16-year old. Despite having three clubs at the rookie level, the Mets played him the entire season in the South Atlantic League as a 17-year old in 2008. Despite evidence that he wasn’t developing as a hitter, he was in the Hi A Florida State League as an 18 year old and played over 360 games in A ball as a teenager. Taken in context, Flores' .269-9-81 performance in the Florida State League in 2011 is outstanding for a 19-year old who projects to be an above average defensive player at third base. However, he hardly walks (27 times in 559 plate appearances) and saw his power numbers regress from 2010. If the Mets learn patience with players such as Flores and others, the talent already in their system might take a big jump all by itself.

•Nov 12: OF Adam Loewen - The 27-yr old former fourth overall pick of the Orioles has quite an interesting backstory. But in short he's a two-time former BA Top 50 overall 6'6" lefty who became a power-hitting outfielder after injuries and inconsistency drove him off the mound. Loewen hasn't had many opportunities to prove himself at the major league level since the conversion but last season with Toronto's Triple-A Las Vegas affiliate the highly athletic lefty batted .306/.377/.508 with 14 homers and 11 stolen bases. He'll seriously challenge Mike Baxter for the role of 4th-5th OF this spring and has the talent to become a nice low risk, high reward spare part for the Mets going forward. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/31/2753903/taking-inventory-of-the-mets-minor-league-free-agents

 Here’s a crazy thought: what if Johan Santana isn’t ready, and one of the other projected starters goes down with an injury? It may sound pessimistic but think about it – Pelfrey has been dealing with a chronic shoulder injury for at least two years, Gee’s shoulder has been weak for longer than that, and you never know what kind of freak accident might occur during those PFP drills. I shudder to think what the rotation might look like if two of the projected five don’t survive spring training.  http://www.metstoday.com/7411/11-12-offseason/mets-spring-training-question-20-johan-santana

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