Gary Carter’s numbers
speak for themselves, as does his dexterity in the field. Indeed, entering the
Hall of Fame really silences any debate about his deeds as a ballplayer. But
what made this Yankees fan so nauseated on summer nights was the fact that the
hated Mets, led by Carter – affectionately and appropriately coined “The Kid”
based on the glee he brought to the game, his curly hair sprouting from his
blue helmet – were simply better than the Yankees at nearly every position,
particularly at catcher, where the Bronx Bombers had a turnstile of deficient
backstops spin through Yankee Stadium, from Rick Cerone to Butch Wynegar to Ron
Hassey to Don Slaught to Joel Skinner. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/20/keidel-time-to-salute-the-kid-gary-carter/#.Txl_nYqbLqw.twitter
Ronny Cedeno's Pirate
career did include a healthy share of playing time. He averaged over 475 PAs a
year those two seasons, and he finally pushed the WAR needle past one, accruing
2.5 wins over two seasons by batting .253/.295/.362 and being a tiny bit better
than scratch with the glove. Still, two wins per season is your average MLB
player and .261/.314/.374 is your average NL shortstop, so he's not a
first-division starter. And he's not plus enough with the glove to make up for
the bat -- his lifetime UZR/150 is below scratch and he's no wizard in that
department. He's better as a backup at the middle infield. Which, if Ruben
Tejada does his part, is exactly what the 29-year-old infielder will be this
season. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/20/2719116/2012-mets-player-profile-ronny-cedeno
1-20-11 – http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/01/20/the-problem-with-juan-lagares/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
- It’s pretty simple. Lagares puts the
ball in the field of play around 83-84% of the time, so if his BABIP randomly
goes up 80 points, his batting average goes up about .08*.84 = .67. Lo and
behold, the difference between his 2010 and 2011 batting averages was 70
points. It doesn’t seem that Lagares was rocketing the ball around the field in
2011, either: per Minor League Central, his line-drive rate was just 12.1%.
Now, minor league batted ball data is notoriously unreliable, but Lagares
ranked eighth in line-drive rate among regular batters on his High-A team and
tenth on his Double-A team. There certainly seems to be little reason to
believe he was significantly better at making hard contact in 2011 than 2010.
What are we left with, then? An impatient left fielder without much home run
power, and whose declining speed (15-for-23 SB in 2011) isn’t helping him
either. Don’t get fooled by the gaudy batting average, as it appears to be very
illusory; Lagares isn’t much of a prospect. http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/01/20/the-problem-with-juan-lagares/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
1-8-11: - http://nybaseballdigest.com/2012/01/07/most-intriguing-mets-prospects-in-2012/
5) Wilmer Flores
(SS) – The time is now for Flores. He probably gets a look at Double-A
and he needs to show that his improved plate discipline in the VWL this winter
was legitimate. He also HAS to start showing some power. If he doesn’t develop
the power that was expected of him he’s going to be a bust. He cannot stick at
1-3-12 - mets360
- 3. Jeurys
Familia, SP, Hi-A/Double-A, 4-4, 3.49 ERA, 96 Ks in 87.2 IP - This is
his line in Double-A. After a dismal year in the pitcher-friendly Florida State
League in 2010, Familia returned to the same level last year and dominated, as
he posted a 1.49 ERA and a 0.798 WHIP in six starts before earning a promotion
to Binghamton. The scouting reports have his fastball in the mid-90s, along
with a curve and changeup that are best described as works in progress. If
those pitches can develop, he’ll stay in the rotation. If not, he becomes a
closer candidate. Regardless, if he can avoid a repeat of the shoulder
tendinitis that sidelined him for a month last year, Familia will likely pitch in
the majors before either of the other two pitchers who rank ahead of him on
this list.
Metsmerized
- 36. Rafael
Montero (RHP) The 2011 Sterling Award winner at GCL St. Lucie, Montero
is one of those players you will start to hear more and more about next year.
At 6’0″and 170 lbs, this right-hander from the Dominican Republic, possesses a
power arm, and three decent offerings. He has good command of his fastball
which sits in the 90-93 mph range, topping out at 95, with late life. He throws
a below-average change-up and breaking ball, but can throw them for strikes. He
is a work in progress but very advanced for a 20-year-old. On the surface his
work from 2011 is difficult to analyze by the numbers since he played at four
different stops in the Mets system. He logged 18 innings at DSL Mets1, 31
innings at the now defunct GCL Mets, 17 innings at Rookie level Kingsport, and
5 innings at Brooklyn. His combined totals were 12 starts (71 IP), for a record
of 5-4 with an ERA of 2.15. He surrendered 55 hits while striking out 66 and
walking 13, and putting up a commanding WHIP of 0.96. But the most telling
stats, highly significant for a young power pitcher are: 8.37 K/9, 1.65 BB/9,
and 7.0 H/9. Montero will be one of eight or nine very talented young arms that
will be battling it out in ST for one of the five rotation spots at Savannah.
If he gets beat out for a spot, he should wind up in the pen until the NYPL
season starts in June. Then he would likely become a starter at Brooklyn.
Look at what happened to Mookie
Wilson: He just got fired. Mookie went to the wall for the organization,
but they still canned him. Look at Ken Oberkfell. Guy puts in twelve years with
the organization; next thing you know, he’s been fired. No explanation. Those
are the little things that tell you what direction a team is going in. People
around the game hear about this stuff. They talk about it: “What’s happening to
the Mets?” It depresses the hell out of me because I don’t think it’s going to
improve until 2014 at the earliest. It’s going to be hard to ask the fans to
sit through two brutal seasons, even though there’s some talent coming through
the system. http://nymag.com/news/features/insiders/mets-2012/
The truth is, Ronny Cedeno is,
overall, somewhere between below-average to average among today’s MLB
shortstops. However, that’s more of an indictment of the dearth of quality MLB
shortstops these days than it is a compliment to Cedeno. Step back and take a
look at who is playing shortstop in this decade compared to the one previous,
and you start to understand why Jose Reyes was given such a long, rich contract
— there simply aren’t many today who can provide above-average to good
performance on both sides of the ball. Don’t believe it? Check out other teams
around MLB and see who their starting shortstop is — if they have one everyday
guy rather than a platoon. You see names like Yuniesky Betancourt, Reid
Brignac, Paul Janish, Jason Bartlett, Clint Barmes, and Brendan Ryan. The
weakness at the position is the reason why Edgar Renteria and Alex Gonzalez
keep getting contracts, and the ageless Omar Vizquel may find a job next
spring. http://www.metstoday.com/7350/11-12-offseason/who-is-ronny-cedeno/
