Yesterday, we took a look at some possible first baseman
that the Mets could trade for before the trade deadline… well, dies.
Today, we more to the slim pickings at third.
Remember... we are dealing with AAA or AA players only.
Caleb Bonemer – Chicago
White Sox (AA, ETA 2028) - versatile 3B/SS with strong defensive skills and
solid offensive tools. Expected to be a long-term prospect with high upside
MLB.
2026: A+ - 223-AB, 18-HR,
43-RBI, 38-BB, 81-K,
.238/.381.556/.937
AA - 78-AB,
4-HR, 12-RBI, 13-BB, 22-K,
.269/.380/.449/.829
Jett Williams – Milwaukee Brewers (AAA, ETA 2026) - 3B/SS/OF combo prospect with speed and defensive flexibility. Already showing MLB-level tools MLB.
2026: AAA - 304-AB, 9-HR, 41-RBI, 47-BB, 78-K,
.234/.341/.385/.726
Andrew Fischer –
Milwaukee Brewers (AA, ETA 2027) - Left-handed power threat with solid
defensive skills. Projected to be a high-upside prospect MLB.
2026: A+ - 191-AB, 20-HR,
50-RBI, 45-BB,
82-K, .298/.443/.675/1.118
AA - 73-AB,
9-HR, 16-RBI,
17-BB, 31-K,
.274/.424/.753/1.177
Sebastian Walcott – Texas
Rangers (A, ETA, 2027) – injured this season, currently rehabbing at the rookie
level.
2025: AA – 474-AB, 13-HR, 59-RBI, 70-BB, 108-K,
.255/.355/.386/.741
2026: Rehab - 6-AB, 0-HR, 1-RBI, 1-BB, 1-K,
.500/.571/1.167/1.738
10 comments:
The power bat corner infielders sure do strike out a LOT in the minors. I doubt one could expect less of that from them should they reach the majors. But you could project even fewer HRs given higher quality pitching, which leaves them with even worse ratios of HRs to Ks. Look around the majors, there just aren't a lot of young great corner infielders. There are some, but not many. And the best 1B in the majors are veterans. Bryce Harper did his team and himself a real solid by moving to 1B.
If you just looked at the number of walks pitchers give up in the minors and the number of times hitters strike out, you might reasonably conclude that the games must be unwatchable.
And they might be, but the first testable hypothesis comes to my mind is very different:. What's the cause of both. My guess is the pressure to full effort on every pitch and swing. Then the next question would be why do pitchers and hitters do that? And the answer I would test is the incentives they face: Velocity pays. HRs pay. Careers are short.
It's also created a kind of Nash Equilibrium (named after the character in the film 'A Beautiful Mind.'). A state of affairs (in this case, everyone fully extending their capacities to add velocity or bat speed and exit velocity and launch angle, etc.) is a Nash equilibrium when no one (currently doing what the majority of those they see getting paid the most) has an incentive unilaterally to break from what everyone else is doing). And that seems to be where we are now.
Will it change? Yes, if the incentives change. How do the incentives change? Here are the two most likely sources of change and they are not completely independent of one another: If the monetary rewards change or if the FO see that the strategies they are incentivizing actually do not lead to victories and that different strategies or mixed strategy approach would work better. E.g. a team may decide that they do better with pitchers who risk less injury and last longer in games and over careers at 80% max effort average, instead of 100%.
Or they learn that traffic on the bases creates a lot of pressure and can yield better results thus emphasizing bat to ball skills, baseball IQ development, more running, etc.
Or and here is one to keep an eye on which I know a lot of my fellow writers here are very aware of: Nowadays the vast majority of hitters work a count primarily for the purposes of looking for a pitch they can do damage with. They end up often down in the count and with 2 strikes, and for the vast majority of them, their BA with 2 strikes is much worse, and the pitches they see with 2 strikes are significantly less likely to be ones they can do damage with.
Me?
I would convert either Asigen or Pena to third and have him join the other at short and Voit at second
Jules, I agree on the last point about 2 strike counts 100%.
Hitters are vastly stronger than 40-50 years ago, and what a Tom Seaver got away with then, he would give up many more homers now. Hence the ultra max velocity. HRs are way up, and so is average attendance. It is the baseball equivalent of the two hand slam dunk in basketball.
Not sure they ever go back.
Mack, that will be the 3 infielders, and Soto should join them. Add Morabito to Benge and Ewing, and you have the 1985 jackrabbit Cardinals.
In 2029, Lindor will be 35, and who knows what he will have left. He should call Robbie Cano for advice.
If they progress as expected I agree with you Mack. Hopefully we can get some power from someone
Future Mets first baseman
Randy Guzman
Both E.Pena and Asigen should be learning 3b SS and of
Its criminal that all of our prospects are not multi positional trained
Have we not seen that they are needed at the positions available in the majors
Not your favorite position
I understand what the Mets do early on
There are young brains and bodies and the safest way to start their professional career is to play them exclusively at their natural position
Disagree. After their first year, they need to be moved around. Just like a child, teach them young and they will accept it. Wait, and have difficulty.
My take:
Harper moved to first base when he injured his leg and couldn’t move much, and I think his arm. That’s why he DH’d first and then started playing first base. Soto is not there.
I have felt that moving the mound back six feet would fix the problem that hitters face. With pitchers throwing high 90’s instead of high 80’s, that 10% increased distance could make hitting easier again, and players can have a higher average without the sellout for long ball.
As I wrote below that players need to move around early in their minor league career, I also feel it is worthwhile to know in advance what a player is willing to do. For example, on consecutive days on throwing errors to 3B by Lindor, I didn’t really see the effort (or any effort) on Bichette’s part to help him. He just stood there like, “your problem buddy”. I would trade his ass no matter what. He won’t help you and every team needs hitting.
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