Reese Havens

[Frayed Knot]

Reese headed for the Hawaii Winter League - sked to get underway Sept 28

[willpie]

Are they still talking about converting him to a catcher?

[Frayed Knot]

Nothing's been said about that aside from the initial post-draft speculation.
He was injured and only played some in the field during this short-season so they probably want him to get steady SS time.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Reese's final line from his injury-shortened season with the Cyclones:
23 Games, 96 PA, .247/.340/.471, 3 HR, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 SB, 1CS, 13 R, 11 RBI
A nice walk rate and pretty good power, but not much in the batting average area. He didn't play much in the field and seemed to keep getting hurt just as he was coming back from a previous injury. I score it an incomplete.
Now, as FK noted, he's off to Hawaii to play for the Honolulu Sharks. Hopefully, he can get more playing time.
Interestingly, this site lists him as a SS/OF. Don't know what that's about, if anything.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Now he's not going to Hawaii. Reese'll be in Florida, instead, still working on his elbow.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Kevin Goldstein, over at Prospectus, ranks the Met's top 11 prospects, with Reese coming in 6th:

6. Reese Havens, SS DOB: 10/20/86 Height/Weight: 6-1/195 Bats/Throws: L/R Drafted/Signed: 1st round, 2008, University of South Carolina 2008 Stats: .247/.340/.471 at Short-season (23 G) Last Year's Ranking: N/A Year in Review: His explosive junior year turned Havens into a first-round pick, but elbow and groin problems hampered him in his pro debut. The Good: He's your classic polished college type whose average-to-above tools play up due to good fundamentals and effort. He has a patient approach at the plate, with gap power and the occasional ability to crush mistakes. While he was limited to DH duties as a pro, he's a decent shortstop thanks to good instincts, footwork, and an above-average arm. The Bad: There are still questions about where Havens will end up afield. He lacks the speed generally associated with a shortstop, and there's even been some thought about seeing if he can catch. He doesn't have the tools to project for stardom, but the Mets do not rule that out based on his makeup alone. Fun Fact: Havens is the second player in this decade to be drafted out of Bishop Englund high school and then turn into a first-round pick at South Carolina. The first, Drew Meyer (Rangers, 2002), played just five big-league games. Perfect World Projection: He's a pesky number two hitter at a position to be determined later. Glass Half Empty: He ends up as a nice utility player who can get on base and play all over the field. Path to the Big Leagues: It's hard to say until we know what his position is. The Mets wanted him to play winter ball, but he decided to take the time off to ensure that he's 100 percent healthy for the spring. Timetable: If the Mets keep Havens at shortstop, he'll likely jump to High-A in order to play every day. Even at second base, he's probably bound for the Florida State League due to the overall maturity of his game.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe he'll displace Luis Castillo during the 2011 season.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

I'd just like to see him get a good healthy season in at High-A ball first.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Early on: .313/.378/.500 while playing shortstop. So far, so good.

[Frayed Knot]

Reese is good enough to make #7 of BA's 'Hot Prospect' list this week.

Team: high Class A St. Lucie (Florida State)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: .333/.462/.714 (7-for-21), 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBIs, 7 R, 5 BB, 0 SO
The Scoop: The second of two Mets' first-round picks last year (22nd overall), Havens has been one of the FSL's most productive hitters thus far. A lefthanded batter with a grinder mentality, he leads the league with seven extra-base hits as part of a .320/.407/.600 start as St. Lucie's shortstop. The fact that he's playing the field again is just as encouraging as his hitting, after he spent his time DHing with short-season Brooklyn in his debut last season. Havens lacks classic shortstop actions, though, and already has committed five miscues in 13 games.

[nymr83]

Frayed Knot wrote: The fact that he's playing the field again is just as encouraging as his hitting, after he spent his time DHing with short-season Brooklyn in his debut last season. Havens lacks classic shortstop actions, though, and already has committed five miscues in 13 games.

considering that the Mets have a long-term solution at SS already (not to mention Wilmer Flores), how long before he gets moved to 2B?
My feeling would be that you keep a guy at a tougher defensive position for as long as possible (for trade bait purposes) unless he is embarassing himself. a switch to 2B (or some other position that is "open" on the big club long-term) would likely indicate that the team sees a guy as part of the future here as opposed to bait.

[Edgy MD]

Recent history suggests that the Mets will keep a guy at his most challenging position until the end of his development.

[Frayed Knot]

My feeling would be that you keep a guy at a tougher defensive position for as long as possible (for trade bait purposes) unless he is embarassing himself. a switch to 2B (or some other position that is "open" on the big club long-term) would likely indicate that the team sees a guy as part of the future here as opposed to bait.

You keep a guy at the tougher position until he proves he can't play there and not strictly for trade bait purposes; the guy might just learn to play there.
In general I don't think players should be shifted around simply to fill a perceived opening until they're much closer to the majors. We're still talking about A-ball here.

[Edgy MD]

Plus they have an even higher ranked prospect at shortstop who might end up at second. No reason to scramble the eggs now.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

What these guys said. Plus, they already have Greg Veloz at second in St. Lucie, and I don't think he really has any value as a prospect at another position.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Updated stats, cuz Reese is a beest
G---PA----H---BB---K----HR----TB---AVG/OBP/SLG
31--140--30--22--23----6-----57--.254/.373/.483

Things to like:
-A pretty nifty slugging percentage for a middle infielder
-31 games and 140 plate appearances for a guy who couldn't stay healthy at all last year

Things to love:
-a one-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio
-that 12% walk rate: 1. terrific and 2. it might have a decent shot to follow him up to the majors. Here are his walk rates going back as far as I care to look:

YEAR LEVEL WALK RATE
2009 high A 12%
2008 low A 9%
2008 college 13%
2007 college 6%
2006 college 9%

It looks like Reese can maintain around a 10% walk rate from year to year and level to level. We'll need to see how he adjusts as he faces better and better pitchers, of course, but good plate discipline, with a few exceptions (see: Reyes, Jose) can be seen early on.

Thing to avoid mentioning, if possible:
-12 errors in 31 games at shortstop.

[Frayed Knot]

Why limit the boo-boos to only the major league crew?

BA: The Mets placed high Class A St. Lucie shortstop Reese Havens on the disabled list retroactive to May 31.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Reese, back from the DL, goes 3-7 in a double header on Thursday with a home run and a double, then goes 0 for five on Friday. His slash lines are down to .226/.335/.414. His walk rate is still great and his power's not bad at all, but he's gonna have to pick up the batting average at some point. Go get 'em, Reese.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Reese gets Baseball America's coveted (?) Prospect Hitter of the Day Award after going 4-for-6 with a home run and a double. (It's on that sheet, I swear. I found the link here)
He's been healthy for the last week and a half (for a change), but he hasn't been consistent at the plate. His strikeout to walk ratio has been dwindling, as he's had 5 walks to 13 K's since returning. Hopefully, that's just a blip. Most importantly, of course, is that he's actually on the field.
His season slashes:
.237/.351/.419

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Big week from Reese, with three doubles and two home runs. His slash marks over the last seven days: .367/.472/.667 for a 1.139 OPS. For the month of August, he's gone .275/.376/.418. Hopefully, he's snapped out of the power drought he's been in since June. For the season: .242/.357/.407.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

After finishing an injury-shortened 2009 campaign with .247/.361/.422 slash numbers, 14 home runs and 19 doubles, Reese is heading to the Arizona Fall League.

[Edgy MD]

Interesting to see Duda over Neiuwenheis. Also interesting to see eight prospects instead of the usual six. I wonder if some teams pulled out.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Interesting to see Duda over Neiuwenheis. Also interesting to see eight prospects instead of the usual six. I wonder if some teams pulled out.

There are 6 AFL teams -- each of which has 30 players. So, each MLB team gets about 6 players each. As I understand the rules, players must be on the AA roster on June 30th. Each team has an exception.

Forget where I read it but, that due to the collapse of Hawaii Winter League, teams might have 2 exemptions. I haven't seen that formally confirmed. Maybe the fact that the Mets will have eight is confirmation of a sorts.

So, if they've already used two of them to get up to eight players, then Nieuwenhuis would need an exemption that the Mets don't have.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

There are also several players assigned to a kind of AFL taxi squad who are only eligible to play twice a week or something like that.

The Hawaii league scraps were supposed to be taken up by a kind of junior Arizona Fall league, one that is set aside for the younger/lower players the AFL normally doesn't take. Not sure of the exact status of that project.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

According to this article, Reese will be switched to second base this upcoming season in Binghamton.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Missed this over the weekend, but Reese picked up his first homer in the AFL on Saturday. He also had three (!) walks in the game. For the season (35 PAs), he's up to a .276 AVG, a .400 OBP and a .448 SLG with 7 strikeouts to six walks. Keep it up, kid.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Toby Hyde posted a his scouting report (and video) on Reese over at Metsminorleagueblog.com. He likes his swing and thinks he'll be an adequate major league second baseman.

Ted Berg picks up on Hyde's scouting report at Tedquarters.net to talk about how and when Reese might fit in on the major-league team.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

En fuego. He went 3/5 yesterday with a walk, a single, a double and a triple. His slash lines are up to .324/.439/.559. Yowza. Also, as per Jim Callis via Michael Davis' link above:

Mike (MO):2011 Mets INF�..Wright, Reyes, Havens, Davis� Am i crazy or is that realistic? Jim Callis(2:46 PM):Realistic.

[Edgy MD]

The interesting thing is, assuming they keep Wright and Reyes around, three of their top candidates are coming down the pike as middle infielders now. Certainly it tells me to not get tied down with no long-termy expensive deals with another secondbaseman. Invest in the outfield.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Brian Mangan, at Fonzie Forever, writes this post comparing Reese favorably to Ike Davis.