Jun 20, 2013

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for minor leagues

Time to infuse this roster with some life

Jun 1, 2010 By 1 Comment

This wont be a rant about how they need to cut Oliver Perez. I have beaten that dead horse and it’s obvious they aren’t going to cut the guy loose. This is about the other dead weight on the roster. Specifically Gary Matthews Jr and Fernando Tatis.

It’s time that the Mets bid these guys adieu and send them on their way. Why are we carrying so much dead weight on this roster? Yes I know Jerry, Tatis is your 3rd string emergency apocalyptic cather, I get it. The rest of us aren’t amused.

This is a perfect opportunity for the Mets as an organization to send a signal. Let the kids down in the minors know that if they work hard and produce at the AAA level (or even AA if that’s their case) they can potentially be rewarded with a call up. Why did it take so long to call up Ike Davis? Chris Carter? They have proven to be huge leaps over the “veterans” they replaced. Not to mention better fits in the clubhouse as well. It’s time to get rid of dead weight.

Why not give Jesus Feliciano a shot? The guy’s only hitting .403 over 150 at bats. That’s just about more then GMJ and Tatis combined. He’s also 31 so don’t give me the line about needing to mature to handle NY. What about Tejada instead of Cora when Castillo inevitable goes on the DL, he’s hitting .296 over 160 at bats. There are other guys worth a look too like Mike Hessman. Not to mention Daniel Murphy who is rehabbing well.

I know these aren’t perfect solutions. They are realistic solutions that could resonate down the organization. Guys will get the point that there is potential for a reward if they work hard. Right now they have to wonder what their future is with the Mets. If nothing else it infuses some hunger in the team.

Granted we have no idea if guys like Tejada, Hessman and Feliciano can hit at the Major League level, but we damn well know at this point that GMJ can’t, and Tatis isn’t much better.

Filed Under: 2010 Mets, Blogging Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mets draft philosophy hurting the future

Mar 24, 2010 By 10 Comments

The Mets are one of the elite clubs in Major League Baseball. Don’t scoff at me, I am talking about in revenues. They just opened a brand spanking new ballpark that they routinely said would increase revenues for the club. They have TV rights that are the envy of the league (second to only the Yanks) and they have a rabid fan base that despite years and years of heartbreak come out in droves to support this team.

The Mets have as many resources as any team out there. The only reason the Yankees can spend more money, is because they have had more success then the Mets, not because they have some money faucet down in Tampa. There is no reason the Mets couldn’t tap into the same streams, they just have to be successful. The Mets failure have been organizational and have been failures of baseball, not business. They often do not have the best people performing the most important jobs. On top of this, despite their revenues, the Mets often operate like a small market team. It’s like because they play in the recent shadow of the Yankees, and have been second fiddle to them in New York, they take on the persona of small market team. It’s a crisis of confidence. The Mets should be the Yankees of the NL, instead they tend to operate more like the Royals and Pirates.

I, as a fan, have a real problem with this. By and large I pay as much as Yankee fans do. I pay a lot to go to games, I pay a lot to watch my games on TV. I feel that money should be put back into the baseball team. It should not be siphoned off to people like Bernie Madoff or to expand the Wilpons real estate empire.

One area that really bothers me is the Mets farm system. The two major ways to make sure this talent pipeline are stocked is through the amateur draft and the signing of unrestricted amateur players.

Baseball operates differently then a lot of other sports with respect to the draft. With sports like the NFL and the NBA the contracts draftees get are pretty much structured upon where they were selected. In baseball it can vary widely, usually based on the players agent and depending on if the player is out of high school or college. Additionally with the disparity in revenues if a kid knows he can get big bucks from a flush big market team, he will put it out there that he demands big market money, often discouraging small market teams from drafting them even if he’s available.

This is one area I would really like to see the Mets take advantage of. By leveraging their advantage as a major market team in this area they can make a big difference with their farm system. Unfortunately as Joe Spector over at MetsMerizedOnline.com reports the Mets often spend far less then they should. In fact in 2009 they spent the absolute least of all MLB teams. How does this happen? Well we do need to take into consideration that they didn’t have a 1st round pick so it would tend to be less then the year before. I fail to understand how they can spend less then teams like the Marlins, the Royals, the Pirates, and the Nats. It just doesn’t make sense. The fact that they selected a reliever with their first pick certainly didn’t help things either.

According to this article in the NY Times the Mets are really doing themselves a dis-service and are operating like they have no idea what their doing:

The Mets divvied $3,134,300 among their 35 signed picks, more than 50 percent less than their 2008 outlay, when they had two first-round selections and a first-round supplemental pick. By contrast, the average for all 30 teams was a shade more than $6 million. Without a pick until the second round, No. 72 over all, the Mets’ spending was destined to decrease. But their 2009 strategy resembled that of a small-market club that sometimes bypasses talented players in earlier rounds because it does not want to spend more on them than players available deeper in the draft.

It gets worse when you consider this:

“With a brand-new ballpark and a television network, the Mets’ revenues are probably among the top five clubs in baseball,” said Jim Callis, the executive editor of Baseball America and an expert on player development. ”After spending about $6.5 million when they had extra picks last year, do I think they could have found the money this year? Yeah, I think they could have. It just comes down to the willingness to spend.”

This annoys me to no end. Do we see a reduction in costs on our end when the Mets have a bad season? We most certainly do not, so why do they get away with not spending money to put a winning product on the field? Examples like these to me are the Wilpons blatantly not caring about winning. Talk is cheap, it’s your willingness to make moves that make me believe your serious owners, or just a spoiled kid playing in his Queens sandbox.

The Mets seem to be more concerned with being good “baseball citizens” and not as much about stockpiling the best possible talent. The Yankees, across town, get it. They understand they have a competitive advantage and leverage it at every chance they get. As much as people bitch and moan about the Yanks, when you sit down and analyze it you really have to admire them as an organization. I would trade the Wilpons for the Steinbrenners any day of the week, even if it means I have to take Hank in the deal.

The Yankees lavished $423.5 million on C. C. Sabathia, A. J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira last off-season, but they have also devoted more resources to the draft and the minor leagues. Now they routinely press their financial advantage in the draft, spreading $7,564,500 (ninth most) among their 27 signed picks in 2009, including about $2.2 million on their first-round pick and about $1.25 million on their second-round pick. Even after paying those above-slot bonuses, the Yankees still spent almost $1 million more on the rest of their 25 selections than the Mets did with all 35 of theirs, despite the teams having comparable picks.

So even after spending half-a-billion on the top free agents out there, the Yanks were still willing to invest more into their future then the Mets. Maybe that is the problem. It’s obvious the Wilpons are horrible when it comes to investing their money, maybe they just don’t understand that the farm system is investing in the franchises future. Now that I think about it, I wonder if they are using Bernie Madoff to handle that investing too?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Mets need to be careful with Mejia

Mar 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ted Burg from over at TedQuarters.net writes a good article on why people need to be careful when comparing Jenrry Mejia with other pitchers from the past.  People like to bring up names of pitchers that had success as young as Mejia.  They also like to talk about guys who started in the bullpen and then were able to make the transition back to the starting rotation.

Ted says:

And heck, for all I know, Jenrry Mejia can dominate out of the Mets’ bullpen this year while at the same time perfecting that secondary arsenal, then transition smoothly into the rotation next year to become a frontline starter and serve as a comp for all sorts of future young pitchers to come.


But as far as I’m concerned, it’s hard enough for a prospect to turn into a frontline starter without obstacles to his development, and the Mets would be best served making Mejia’s path to becoming a big-league frontline starter as smooth and effortless as possible.

It could be a pivotal moment for Mejia whenever the Mets make their decision on what to do with him.  It’s my opinion that all pitchers should be starting pitchers, until proven otherwise.  But as the debate rages on I can see a lot of merit on how Mejia, at 20, starting in the bullpen could be a good thing for his progression.

It’s merits back and forth under consideration, I think it’s going to boil down to can this guy help the club right now?  With both the Manger and the GM sitting in the fire with their jobs on the line, do we really expect them to make a decision for the long term betterment of the club?

It will be interesting to watch, that’s for sure.

Read: Why the common comps on Jenrry Mejia are not good comps for Jenrry Mejia.

Filed Under: Links Tagged With: , , ,

The kids are kicking down the door

Mar 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Consider this your warning incumbents. Your years of experience, your huge contracts in some cases, and your incumbent status don’t mean much to a team like the Mets. You need to work your ass off and perform. Because if you don’t, your gone. The kids are kicking down the door.

Have multiple prospects flourishing in spring training is a great problem to have.  The debate about what should be done with them is fun for fans. When they fully deserve to win the starting  job, yet you can still leave them down in AAA to season a bit longer. It’s a great position to be in.

Even if they do get sent down to AAA they will still have a great impact on the big club. Just their presence down there, a phone call away, should really push players who are reminded every day by the media that their jobs are in jeopardy. Guys like Daniel Murphy and Jeff Francoeur really need to get off to good starts. They really don’t have any wiggle room when you consider the springs that Ike Davis and Fernando Martinez are having.

If the Mets didn’t really love Frenchy and what he brings to the clubhouse, you can bet they would already be considering starting FMart in RF. Why RF? They wouldn’t make that move for a 1 month audition to cover Beltran. They would want to bring the kid up and let him play.  Additionally there are a lot of people close to the Mets that don’t think FMart is a centerfielder. This is puzzling because all he does in the minors is play CF. Ike Davis on the other hand has really done everything he can to be the opening day firstbaseman. Unfortunately with Murhpy the Mets hands are sort of tied. They have to give him a chance since there is no where else to play the guy. They have to at least give him a chance to build up value so they can then trade him for some value.   If Murphy struggles either at the plate or in the field, Ike could be here sooner rather then later. I think Murphy get’s one shot, they will not coddle him like they did last year. He will get a chance to flourish, or fall flat.

There are other players that are really lighting up camp. Maybe you’ve heard the name Jenrry Mejia? If you haven’t then you really haven’t been paying attention. Aside from all the comparison nonsense I think the biggest question about this kid is do we potentially hamper his progression as a starting pitcher by pitching him in the bullpen this year? It’s really a matter of team philosophy.  He is very young so by pitching him in the pen you will limit his innings and allow him to learn in the bigs a bit.  By doing so you will slow down his development of extra pitches that are imperative if he is ever going to be a major league starter. This decision is coming, be it before or after opening day, but it’s a tough decision that is going to have to be made.  It could have ramifications down the road for Mejia, so it needs to be made with caution.

Omar has already been forced to change his mind. Two weeks ago he said publicly there was no way Mejia was staying up with the club for opening day. That he was definitely being sent down to the minors. A few days ago he changed that statement saying he was definitely in the competition for a bullpen job.

There are other guys too: Josh Thole and Reese Havens to name two. Wonderkid Wilmer Flores is still very young, but all of them are showing promise. Lets hope the days of fat-cat players that are rich and lazy for this team are over. We need to build within in order to push the players at the top. Let’s also hope that Omar doesn’t go and completely trade away the farm in an effort to save his job, which is a big worry of mine. I am a fan for life so I think long term/big picture, Omar is a GM for another year, at best.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Could F-Mart be a darkhorse in CF for 2010?

Mar 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In a word: no. Now your probably saying to yourself, well that’s a dumb question to ask if you can answer it so quickly. Maybe it is. The issue is Fernando Martinez is destroying the baseball in spring training this year. Normally I would probably be calling for him to get the start in CF while Beltran is hurt feeling he has by far the largest upside of any of the other candidates (Angel Pagan, Gary Mathews Jr.).

Problem is we have been down this road before. Unfortunately we can’t take a chance and just stick the kid in there to see what we might have, because the Mets have already done that a few times with this guy and it’s turned out to be bad moves. The Mets previously had this focus on rushing prospects to the majors and thus far it hasn’t turned out very well. Aside from Reyes and Wright we haven’t really had anyone of note come out of the minors to actually help the big club.

Martinez is certainly showing that he deserves to be in the discussion, and definitely showing that he hasn’t lost his skills that made him so exciting, even if he has lost some of his luster as a prospect. Leave this kid alone, let him go down to AAA and work day in and day out on getting better. Getting stronger. Getting more comfortable. This is a guy who killed winter-ball and was named Caribbean Series MVP so he’s showing signs of harnessing that talent. Most people forget that he is only 20 years old and that’s because he’s been on our close radar for 3-4 years now. We should just count our blessings that the Mets brass and namely Tony Bernazard haven’t ruined this kid with their express-checkout minor league program.

What’s so wrong with letting guys like F-Mart, Ike Davis, Josh Thole, and Jenrry Mejia go down to AAA and work on their game one more year. Not to mention get to know each other and build some comradery between each other and look for an impact, in force, in 2011. This goes back to my other article (Sit down Mets fans, we need to talk) about realistically looking at the Mets season and realizing this team is not abut now, despite whatever silly slogan the Mets put out there this year. Heck you could even convince me that Wally Backman should be moved from Brooklyn to Buffalo so he can work with these kids as it sure appears more then likely he will be managing the big club next year.

Even if Fernando hit’s .750 the rest of camp, they must resist any urge and send him down to AAA. Go ahead and have the talk with the kid now so there isn’t any confusion later. The best thing for Fernando is to go down and season for another year in AAA and focus on preparing himself to tear it up in 2011.

Patience is not a virtue in great supply around Citi Field these days, but for this Mets fan there is one area I really want to see some patience by everyone involved, and that’s with this group of kids that really looks like they could be something special.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , ,

Change of philosophy down on the farm

Mar 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of talk lately about how Ike Davis should come north with the team at the end of spring training and be the starting 1st baseman for the Mets. Others have said how Jenry Mejia should be the 8th inning setup man for K-Rod, and before the signing of Rod Barajas many felt that Josh Thole was going to be the Mets starting catcher. Truth is this is how the Old Mets used to think. And I think they are wrong. Lets face it, the Mets have a horrible track record with prospects, over the last decade. Reyes and Wright aside, name a single contributing player that has come up through the Mets farm system? The only one really is Mike Pelfrey and the jury is still out on him.

I could argue the difference between success and failure is the philosophies at the time. Wright and Reyes were allowed to hone their games in the minors, only getting promoted when they excelled at the level they were playing. Under the Bernazard era it seemed like players got promoted to the next level only if they didn’t fail at the current level. They’d see he didn’t fail at AA, so then move him to AAA. Allowing a player to show that he can handle the AA and AAA level before moving him up rapidly is incredibly important, especially when the big club is in the bright lights of New York City. It’s as much about learning how to be a professional as it is about learning how to get the bat on the ball.

You can find a common thread with a lot of Mets busts in the past, and that’s been a lack of maturity. They just never seemed ready to handle it, and I feel that’s directly because of the organizations previous emphasis with rushing players through the minors. As a fan I buy into it at times, always hoping to see that young hot prospect. That’s mostly been a reflection on the overall lack of prospects in the Mets system. We are forced to concentrate on the players the Mets just drafted because there isn’t anyone to hype up at the AAA level.

Give the farm time to mature, and start to let players develop and eventually you will start to have people to talk about at the AAA level. Those types of players deserve the talk. They deserve to be hyped and most importantly they deserve shots at winning positions in spring training. Expecting players like Jenry Mejia to be ready and able to handle it isn’t fair and isn’t realistic. Look at poor Fernando Martinez. He’s all but forgotten these days and labeled by many as a bust. People forget the fact that the kid is only 20 years old. That’s because he’s been on our radar for what 4-5 years now? That’s crazy. I understand it’ a business and you want to build up your chips to create value, but the Mets should be sheltering these kids. The Mets should not put any expectations on them at least until the AA level. The atmosphere of being a Met and being looked at by the Met media will begin to apply pressure naturally as these kids are successful and climb the minor league ladder.

Here’s to hoping with the removal of the Tony Bernazard debacle will return the Mets to some semblance of reality. Lets hope they get someone who is capable and knows how to build major league players, and not just major league hype. Let the kids stay at AAA. Let them learn how to be a professional athlete. Let them refine their games. No matter how much I might scream and yell for them to be called up later, ignore me. It’s the minor league systems job to ensure the Mets have a bright future, here’s to hoping the change in philosophy will lead to a change in results.

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , , , , ,