James Paxton, Mariners:
Paxton didn't sign with the Mariners until March, but he made up for lost time
quickly by double-jumping from low Class A to Double-A during the season,
pitching well at both levels. His two best pitches are his fastball -- a truly
plus offering he can crank up into the upper 90s -- and an excellent power
breaking ball. The improvement he's shown with his changeup is a big reason why
the Mariners are even more excited about his potential as a Major League
starter. He was shut down a bit early last year, more as a precaution than
anything else. Seeing him in Seattle's rotation soon is not out of the
question. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120113&content_id=26339048&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&tcid=tw_article_26339048
As the Nationals talk to free-agent first baseman
Prince Fielder, they face a significant contractual decision on one of their
own players – third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman
has informed the team of the exact terms he would accept long-term, according
to one major-league source. He has said in the past that he does not want to
sign an extension that would restrict the club from making other moves. Contract
negotiations are fluid, but two other sources suggest that an agreement between
Zimmerman and the Nationals is within reach. Zimmerman, 27, is under contract
for $12 million in 2012 and $13 million in 2013. After that, he is eligible for
free agency. http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/sources_nationals_know_zimmermans_price/9534704
The star quality of Rice 3B Anthony Rendon makes up
for a lot of Washington’s lackluster drafting past the third round. This is
hardly an original thought, and I know I repeat it more than I should, but it
is really tricky finding interesting things to say about the draft’s best
prospects. There are only so many ways you can say “yeah, he’s really good at
X, Y, and Z, perhaps a bit lacking or flawed in A and B, but, on balance, he
should be a really good big league player assuming good health, a typical
developmental curve, and the continuation of the existence of mankind after
2012.” http://baseballdraftreport.com/
When I awoke on Friday, September 17, 1982, I felt
like an 8-year-old on Christmas morning. It really set in when I opened the
sports section of the paper (delivered, naturally, to my "suite") and
went to the listing of Today's Starting Pitchers and saw: New York (Wever 0-0)
at Milwaukee (Caldwell 15-11), 7:30 p.m. I spent the day wandering through some
super-mall in downtown Milwaukee feeling pretty good about myself. I bought
some things with my newfound wealth (meal money) that I would never have
considered buying the week before, like $50 sunglasses. I tried not to think
about that night's game, but I didn't have much luck. Everywhere I went, I saw
Milwaukee Brewers paraphernalia, and everything I read talked about the
incredible offensive prowess of the team (something I would find out about
first-hand a few hours later). http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201201/sunlight-moonlight-man
10-10-11: - https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132edccbf718965f - Another consistent performer, the Australian Stefan Welch played 124 of St. Lucie’s 140 games at first hitting .271/.361/.438 with a career-high 16 home runs. The wiry Welch was repeating the level at age 22 and looks like a fine organizational piece.
The Nationals announced this afternoon that they have returned right-hander Elvin Ramirez - a hard-throwing reliever they took in the first round of the Rule 5 draft last December - to the New York Mets. Ramirez came into spring training with a chance to make the team, as the Nationals tried to build a bullpen full of pitchers whose fastballs could approach 100 mph. But he was delayed by visa issues, and missed the entire season after shoulder surgery. The Nationals would have had to keep Ramirez on their 25-man roster for the first 90 days of the 2012 season to avoid offering him back to the Mets. - http://www.masnsports.com/the_goessling_game/2011/10/nationals-return-ramirez-to-mets.html
"His physical presence has improved. He's gotten bigger. He's gotten stronger. And I think he will continue to. And that's enabled him to make all the plays he needs to. He's shown he can make the play deep in the hole. The one play he struggled with -- that slow-hit ball in the hole where he has to get around it and backhand it -- he had been going at it at a funny angle. He showed a couple of times toward the end he could make that play. "I think he definitely can be an everyday shortstop. The thing we always worried about was, a guy gets up there and hits .200, you can't have that in the major leagues anymore. You can't have the guy who fields everything but only hits .200, .210. I think he can hit at .250 in a bad year and maybe hit .270, .280. We know he can occupy the eight hole, which is a tough place to hit. And he was really doing the job in the two hole behind Jose." - http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7116773/new-york-mets-ready-turn-ruben-tejada-jose-reyes-bolts
10-19-11: - Zack Wheeler, dealt straight up for Carlos Beltran at the 2011 Trade Deadline, is the New York Mets’ top prospect according to mlb.com. The New York Mets’ top prospect ended the season with 129 strikeouts and a 3.52 ERA in 115 innings. Even more encouraging is that Zack Wheeler finished the year on fire after earning a promotion to High-A. I was a little bit surprised that Matt Harvey did not receive the New York Mets’ No. 1 spot after advancing to Double-A in his first professional season, but he was No. 2 on the list so its not like he got shafted or anything. According to the mlb.com article, Zack Wheeler is working with a four-pitch arsenal – your basic fastball, change-up, slider and curve quartet. Its still a work in progress, but if he can find consistency with his secondary offerings his repertoire will take a step forward from the fastball, change-up, slurve trio he was previously working with. Not only is he adding more pitches to his arsenal, but according to Paul DePodesta, the New York Mets’ director of player development, Wheeler was up to 99 mph with his heater. The high octane combined with the improved secondary stuff and improved command (only five walks in 27 High-A innings) has me excited and I’m sure I can say the same for New York Mets fans everywhere. This won’t be the last I say about Zack Wheeler this offseason - http://www.rantsports.com/new-york-mets/2011/10/18/zack-wheeler-ends-2011-as-the-new-york-mets-top-prospect
Harry Parker played a pretty significant role on the Mets ’73 pennant-winning team. He went 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA and saved 5 games as a reliever and spot starter. He was the losing pitcher in game 4 of the NLCS, giving up a game-winning HR to Pete Rose in the top of the 12th, and was also the losing pitcher in game 3 of the WS, another extra-inning affair. Harry returned to the Mets in ’74, and saw the most work of his career, accumulating over 130 innings for that 71-91 squad. Unfortunately, he went 4-12 in the process, and was waived by the summer of ’75. - http://mets360.com/?p=8240&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mets360%2Ffeed+%28Mets360+Feed%29
9-15-11: - http://centralny.ynn.com/content/sports/557217/satin-named-mets-top-minor-leaguer - Life just keeps getting better for Joshua Satin, who picked up his first major league hit in his first at-bat with the Mets Labor Day weekend and who has also picked up a pretty major minor-league honor. Satin has been named the New York Mets minor-leaguer of the year after hitting .323 with 12 homers and 76 RBI's while splitting time with Binghamton and AAA Buffalo this season. Satin was named an Eastern League all-star this summer, the third straight year he has earned a minor league all-star honor. The 26-year-old in his fourth season with the organization became the first B-Met ever to hit for the cycle and strung together a 15-game hit streak with the Bisons
66 – 1B Stefan Welsh – Welsh has done very little wrong but he’s in an organization that right now has too many first basemen. First, you have Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, Josh Satin, and Nick Evans in Queens and there’s also Alan Dykstra ahead of him going to Buffalo. 16-HRs, 53-RBIs, and an OPS of .805 in 430-Abs is great, and will definitely get him to Binghamton next spring, but then what? ETA – out of system via trade
 |
| photo by Allan Greene |
67 – OF Pedro Zapata – Zapata is a no-pop speedster that plays the outfield. He’s had a very nice season (.293/.330/.391/.721) for St. Lucie and there’s a slot waiting for him in Binghamton next spring. I especially like the 34 stolen bases and only six errors all season. Most of the outfield talent in the system is either at his level or below, so his fate is in his own hands. ETA: Utility 2014
68 – IF Wilfredo Tovar – Tovar has moved over to second base and has done a decent job for the Sand Gnats (.253/.320/.322/.648) this season.He did have 20-errors, but doesn’t everyone at this level? I don’t consider Tovar major league material and he should bounce around the organization for a few more years. Look for him to start second for Lucy next spring. ETA: AAAA
 |
| photo by Allan Greene |
69 – OF Alonzo Harris – Harris has been lost and passed by in Savannah for the past few years. He even changed positions from second base to the outfield in hopes of turning a coach on. So far, it hasn’t. He can’t stay in Savannah for a third year, and there’s four other guys projected for St. Lucie, so I have him as either the 5th outfielder there, or out of the system. ETA: OOS 2014
70 – 1B/OF Travis Ozga – A different version of the Alonzo Harris saga. Ozga is way down the pecking order at first base , so he tried this year to light a spark in the outfield. Zero home runs isn’t going to hack it though. I have him as a utility outfielder in Binghamton in 2012.
Rosters So Far:
Buffalo: (15) –SP Chris Schwinden, Collin McHugh, Brandon Moore, RP Robert Carson, Rhiner Cruz, Eric Beaulac, Jose De La Torre, IF Alan Dykstra, Reese Havens, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Fernando Martinez, Mike Baxter, Juan Lagarus
Binghamton: (17) – SP: Mike Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia, Darin Gorski, Armondo Rodriguez, RP Jeff Kaplan, Nick Carr, Josh Edgin, Brad Holt, IF Juan Centeno, Stefan Welsh, Wilfredo Tovar, Jefry Marte, OF Matt den Dekker, Cesar Puello, Pedro Zapata, Travis Ozga
St. Lucie: (17) – SP Greg Peavey, Taylor Whitenton, Angel Cuan, Tyler Pill, Ryan Fraser, RP Hamilton Bennett, Cory Mazzoni, Jack Leathersich, Chase Huchingson, IF Albert Cordero, Alonzo Harris, Wilmer Flores, Robbie Shields, Aderlin Rodriguez, OF Cory Vaughn, Gilbert Gomez, Darrell Cecilliani
Savannah: (7) – SP Akeel Morris, Alex Panteliodis, Erik Goeddel, Logan Verrett, Marcos Camerena, RP T.J. Chism, IF Cam Maron
Brooklyn: (5) – SP: Michael Fulmer, Juan Urbina, Domingo Tapia, IF Phillip Evans, OF: Brandon Nimmo
Kingsport: (5) – SP Luis Mateo, Christian Montgomery, Steve Matz, OF Vincente Lupo, Eudy Pena
GCL: (0) –
DSL: (1) – IF Elvis Sanchez,
