The Keepers - #18 - CF - Matt den Dekker

18.             CF    Matt den Dekker

6-8 fr. Mack: Round 5 - #152 overall – OF Matt den Dekker – First of all, this is one of the top defensive outfielders in the NCAA. His arm is okay but his overall play in the field is first team defensive. Secondly, den Dekker is a speedster on the base paths that projects out as a 20-25 steal per season guy. Had a real bad junior year which cost him being drafted anywhere decently last year. Bounced back this season by leading the Gators in hitting (.355). This season: 12th in the SEC in batting average, 10th in hits, and 6th in steals. You’re not going to find much pop here my guess he has excellent potential to become a major league utility outfielder. - Projection: First of all, this was an excellent 5th round pick. den Dekker was projected by most of the experts as going earlier, based on his talent, not whether or not he can be signed. Draft Rating: “A”

6-22-10: - The Mets selected Gator center fielder Matt den Dekker in the fifth round. A lefty with plus speed and some power potential, den Dekker has always intrigued scouts. But the production has always been a little short. As a senior, den Dekker should be one of the easiest players to sign in the draft who still has some upside

8-12-10: - Matt den Dekker is off to a good start in Savannah. The Sand Gnats don’t get too many early round draft picks. They’re usually sent directly to Brooklyn; however the Cyclones has a trio in the outfield that are leading their team to the playoffs and den Dekker’s late signing caused a change in plans. Mets fans got their first glimpse of Matt when he was showing off with circus catches in the CWS this year. He’s always been touted as a great defensive centerfielder, but his bat has been alive in Savannah as well. It’s early on, but his combined stats for the GCL Mets and Gnats are: .323/.400/.419/.819. You might remember my original analysis of his pick. Here’s what I wrote on June 8th:   Round 5 - #152 overall – OF Matt den Dekker – First of all, this is one of the top defensive outfielders in the NCAA. His arm is okay but his overall play in the field is first team defensive. Secondly, den Dekker is a speedster on the base paths that projects out as a 20-25 steal per season guy. Had a real bad junior year which cost him being drafted anywhere decently last year. Bounced back this season by leading the Gators in hitting (.355). This season: 12th in the SEC in batting average, 10th in hits, and 6th in steals. You’re not going to find much pop here my guess he has excellent potential to become a major league utility outfielder. - Projection: First of all, this was an excellent 5th round pick. den Dekker was projected by most of the experts as going earlier, based on his talent, not whether or not he can be signed. Draft Rating: “A” The Mets have five interesting lower-level outfield prospects in there system… den Dekker, Cory Vaughn, Darrell Ceciliani, Pedro Zapata, and Cesar Puello. All represent limited pop, but lots of speed, gap hitting, and excellent defense. It will be interesting which one of these rises to the top in 2013.

11-23-10: - OF Matt den Dekker – 23/yrs. old - I started out thinking that den Dekker would be higher up the chain than this, but the fact is he played 2010 way above his projected ability. This isn’t saying he’s overrated. It is; however correct to say that guys like Darrell Ceciliani, Cesar Puello, and Cory Vaughn, are, prospect wise, more qualified to be on this list first. Either way, D.D. will move on to Lucy to play in an all-star outfield which will eventually answer the question, who gets center, he or Darrell?          2011:  St. Lucie  2012:  Binghamton

3-30-11 – 2011 Forecast: - den Dekker only did one thing wrong in 2010 and that was refuse to correspond with me J The good news is he is an excellent defensive center fielder and can spray all over the field. The bad news is he’s much smaller than I had hoped he was and probably will never produce the kind of pop you want out of a center fielder. He’ll most likely play the entire 2011 season for St. Lucie, unless he is pushed by Darrell Cecilliani.

5-10-11: - Stock Up – CF Matt den Dekker – Dekker got the kinks out last year with the GCL Mets and went on to hitting .346 for Savannah in 104-Abs. He’s now 119-Abs into A+ ball and he’s hitting .336, so I guess we should start looking for a possible bump to offensive-less Binghamton. The important number here is the increase in his slugging percentage (.471 to .538), which include his first home run of his pro career. Dekker is one of those new, non-pop, outfielders that offer you spray to all fields, speed, and excellent defense. This could possibly play well in Citifield as a 2 hitter and CFer in 2013.

5-16-11: - The general consensus of Mets experts all agree that CF Matt den Dekker will most probably get bumped to the B-Mets once the first half of the season is over. He proved last year he could hit at the A-level (.346), and he is currently 9th in the FSL in hitting with a .331 BA.  den Dekker is also the top Mets defensive outfield prospect in the system and 23 of his 48 hits this season are extra base. Based on his current performance, and the lack of others I have had ranked higher in my “Keepers” series, I’ve moved him from 27th to 22nd.

7-22-11: - den Dekker hit his third home run in the past four games for Binghamton last night (Can you start a sentence with a lower case “den”?). It has taken him only 121-Abs at in AA to hit five home runs, while it took him  267-Abs earlier this year in A+ to hit six. I guess this is what they call maturing.

8-22-11 Observation: - CF Matt den Dekker – den Dekker is starting to figure out AA pitching, but the season will end soon. He will return to the Binghamton centerfield come 2012 opening day, where his increasing pop will hopefully continue to grow. The Mets fall desperately short on outfield talent right now, but that doesn't mean they should rush the talent they have in the system. Most probably, this is the future centerfielder in Queens, but it takes time. - ETA: 2013

3-7-12 - • The important thing to take away from Wedneday’s game is the fact that every position had substitutes come in… except centerfield. No one will tell you this, but this was an early test for Matt den Dekker. The Mets need a backup plan for center in case Andres Torres goes down, and the two being considered are den Dekker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. The plot thickens.