Camp Buzz

[Frayed Knot]

In order to get better pitch recognition wouldn't you have to have some pitch recognition to begin with?

[metirish]

In order to get better pitch recognition wouldn't you have to have some pitch recognition to begin with?

[Frayed Knot]

JF's definition of pitch recognition: "Hey I recognize that, it's a pitch" ... HACK

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Buried way down deep in a typical Adam Rubin ST I Had to File This story focusing on this week's batting-order tempest-in-teapot... the real story:

Bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello may be the fittest Met in camp. Over 13 days, Racaniello rode his bicycle - yes, his bicycle - to Florida from New York. ...

Wait, WHAT? That's all you give us on that, Rubin? Bullpen catcher or no... I'm a little more interested in hearing about that than listening to other people debate whether Pagan should bat 2nd or 7th.

[Frayed Knot]

I had the same reaction, but if you read the comments section Rubin explains that:

"People are being incredibly tight-lipped about Rac's trip. I think he's getting leery of getting too much attention, which generally isn't a good thing for a bullpen catcher."

I think the whole thing would be good for at least a segment on 'Mets Weekly'

[G-Fafif]

Three days from now, Mets will be playing Braves at baseball. They'll be wearing uniforms, people will be sitting in a stadium and score will be kept. It won't count, yet it will mean everything.

Life becomes worth living again in less than 72 hours.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Don't even know if it qualifies as a rumor, so I'm sticking it here unless/until it survives the 24-hour mark, but there's buzzy buzz buzz that the Mets are inquiring about Adrian Gonzalez.

[metirish]

I'm seeing a rumor of his going to the White Sox but not the Mets....

Meanwhile Jon Harper is aghast that anyone(except him) would even mention a Mets prospect in the same breath as the great Mo Rivera.


Darryl Strawberry sees young Mariano Rivera in New York Mets' prospect Jenrry Mejia

PORT ST. LUCIE - You can feel the Jenrry Mejia campaign beginning to build in earnest. So far Jerry Manuel has only lightheartedly hinted at the possibility of express-laning the 20-year-old prospect to the majors to get big outs in the bullpen this season, but now Darryl Strawberry is trying to convince anyone who will listen. Even GM Omar Minaya. "I went to Omar and told him, 'You've got to make this guy a closer,'" Strawberry was saying in animated fashion Tuesday. "I'd definitely put him in the pen this year, I don't care if he's only 20. He's got a pitch that guys can't hit. "He's the only guy I've ever seen that reminds me of Mariano Rivera." Oh no. Here we go again. I chided Manuel in a column last week for referencing Rivera when he spoke glowingly about Mejia, and now I tried to tell Strawberry it's way too premature to talk about Mejia that way. "I'm telling you," Strawberry said. "I played with Mo, I saw it up close. I know what his cutter looked like and I'm telling you, I haven't seen a pitch move like his, with that kind of velocity, until I saw this kid Mejia." Strawberry, the former Mets slugger who is in camp for a week as a coach, sat close to the plate, behind a batting-practice screen, during Monday's intrasquad game and nearly fell out of his chair when he saw Mejia start dealing. "I said to Jerry, 'What was that?'" Strawberry recalled. "And Jerry said, 'You see what I see, Straw? You see it, right?' And I said, 'My God, that's unbelievable.' "And that's his fastball. He's not even throwing a cutter. It's all natural." Yes, Mejia continues to generate the biggest buzz in Mets camp, but the problem is that he is raw, and as a starter hasn't demonstrated anything close to major-league command of his fastball. Only five months ago, he posted a 12.56 ERA in six starts in the Arizona Fall League, giving up 25 hits and 13 walks in 14 innings. Manuel admitted as much yesterday, but pointed out that Mejia is showing much more command since the manager spoke to him last week about throwing to only one side of the plate, and simply letting his cutter-like movement work for him. "Giving him just the one side of the plate has helped him," Manuel said. "He's not trying to do too much with his pitches. If he had been this far along in the Fall League, we might really be talking." Talking, that is, about plugging that electric arm into the late-inning bullpen equation. Manuel is very concerned about who can give him a dependable bridge to Francisco Rodriguez, but as much as Mejia intrigues him, he concedes the kid would have to have a lights-out spring for the organization to consider such a move. The manager does think Mejia's future might be as a reliever, simply because of the Rivera-like cutting action. For now, however, Minaya said the Mets are going to continue to groom him as a starter and will likely have Mejia open the season at Double-A Binghamton, where he struggled in 10 starts last season after dominating the Class-A Florida State League. That's the plan, he said, even if Strawberry is trying to convince him otherwise. "Darryl came to me all pumped up about the kid," Minaya said with a laugh. "He told me he's going to stay after me about it." In making his pitch, Strawberry even invoked the name of his old buddy, Dwight Gooden. He reminded everyone that manager Davey Johnson campaigned to GM Frank Cashen to keep the 19-year-old fireballer in 1984, the year Gooden went on to win Rookie of the Year honors while leading the National League in strikeouts. "It's different because I think this kid is built to be a closer," Strawberry said. "But he's ready. He'll get people out. I will stay on Omar about it." Manuel didn't seem to mind having a new wingman. "Straw's got my back, huh?" he said with a laugh. "That's a good thing, right?" We'll see. I still think the Mets would be rushing Mejia, based on his track record. Gooden, it's worth remembering, was a much more polished pitcher at 19 than Mejia is at 20. But Minaya didn't rule it out completely. "Let's see how spring training goes," the GM said. Let's see indeed. jharper@nydailynews.com

[Benjamin Grimm]

I mentioned this article in the Mejia thread in Adopt a Prospect. As I said over there, I'd much rather see Mejia as a starter than a reliever.

[metirish]

I mentioned this article in the Mejia thread in Adopt a Prospect. As I said over there, I'd much rather see Mejia as a starter than a reliever.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Crap-assed buzz-less headlines:

Switching leagues can be boon or bust By Steve Gardner, USA TODAY

Thanks, Steve! That narrows the possiblities down!

It Isn't Easy to Predict What David Wright Will Do This Season By Josh Alper, NBC-New York

Can I have your press pass?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Stuff May or May Not Happen

[metirish]

Stuff May or May Not Happen

[Fman99]

I eagerly await more titles from these esteemed writers, such as "Weather: We Just Don't Know What's Coming" and "The Future, Conan?"

[G-Fafif]

Ball Reportedly Bounces Way It Does;
Cookie Expected to Crumble Similarly

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well, that's curious.

Henry Owens is here auditioning, and hitting around 92, 93 mph with his fastball. Yes, the same Owens the Mets traded to the Marlins.

[Valadius]

Johnny Damon, freed from his deal with the devil, is thinking about returning to his Baseball Jesus look.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Interesting stuff, following Hisa-- can we drop the "-nori?"-- Takahashi's ST debut yesterday, as per Mr. Hustle, the Times' David Waldstein. Strong statement, there. Jerry spinning wheels, or Jerry speaking truth?

Takahashi, who was signed to a minor league contract last month, gave a commanding performance in his spring training debut, and afterward Manager Jerry Manuel all but declared him a Met.

�If we were to speak today, and not having much history with him, I would say that he would definitely be one of the 11 or 12 pitchers that we take,� Manuel said after the Mets� 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals. �How we use him, we�d probably have to visit that at some other point. If you said to me, �Hey, Jerry, take your best 12,� he�d have to be in that group somewhere.�

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't know how many chits Davey would have had in 1984. He had never managed a major league game at that point, but he did have a long-standing association with Frank Cashen.

General manager Omar Minaya said Monday that the plan going into camp was for Mejia, 20, to begin the season as a starter at Double-A Binghamton. And despite Manuel's comments, that plan has not changed.

I don't want that plan to change. (Other than, perhaps, changing "Binghamton" to "Buffalo") I think the Mets have enough guys in camp to cobble together a decent bullpen. I want Mejia, long term, to be a starter and there's a risk he'll get pigeonholed as a reliever if he has early success there.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If I think Meijia would look good in the eighth innning, I send him out for enough seasoning that he can get through the first seven innings to get there as a starter.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Speaking of Oh-Jenrry: Video from last Thursday (I think) against the Fish. Dig that sweet, sweet STFD-making cutter.

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7179293

[Fman99]

Speaking of Oh-Jenrry: Video from last Thursday (I think) against the Fish. Dig that sweet, sweet STFD-making cutter.

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7179293[/quote:wzzaezmg]

Sweet. Pitches have some real bite to em.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

wood

[Benjamin Grimm]

Let this be a reminder to us all (and to all those not reading these words!) of how quickly a farm system can be replenished.

It was just a few months ago that the conventional "wisdom" was that the Mets had depleted their system because of the Santana trade and lost draft picks due to free agent signings. I remember one writer somewhere saying that the Mets were so low on prospects that it would take seven years (!) before they could recover.

And now, suddenly, we have guys like Mejia, Davis, Niese, Martinez, and Tejada who all may be able to step into a full-time role within the next year or two. I can see Martinez replacing Beltran in 2012, Tejada replacing Castillo the same year. Davis replacing Delgado (indirectly) in 2011 or perhaps even 2010. Mejia may be able to replace Perez in 2012 (or 2011?). Niese may get his chance to enter the rotation as early as next month.

[TransMonk]

Yeah, I agree...the farm is not as bad as the media is (has been) making it out to be.

I would also add that none of the prospects we traded to get Santana have panned out.

[metirish]

Here here to Grim's words. I caught a bit of Gomez last night with the Brewers , they were on MLB Network. The booth guys were still talking bout his upside although they noted he has been traded twice in his young career. He's a guy I would like to see have a good career.

Oh and there was Rick Peterson in the dugout, hasn't clanged a bit.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't think it's so much that the system recovered, but that they were never that bad to begin with. It's more a lesson to how quickly consensus can turn. It's the reputation that has recovered. The Mets were ripped for the lousy records of Binghamton and Buffalo, with few or the rippers considering the effect of the Mets injuries through the system. They had AAA players in Flushing, AA players in Buffalo, and A-level players in Bingo.

What interests me is (1) how many of these guys are hitters for an organizaiton that (1) has traditionally seen pitchers stocked at the top of their prospect lists, (2) has explicitly declared an intent to build a club around defense and pitching, and (3) to the extent that they have produced postition-playing prospects, have produced athletic types who may develop as hitters or may not.

The fun part is also how well distributed around the diamond the top prospects are. There's little chance that all these guys will develop into starters (I think Thole looks like a part-timer or backup), but even if the only current position player the team goes forward with is Wright or Reyes, you have the (thin) potential for this in the next few years:

C: Thole
1B: Davis
2B: Havens or Tejada
3B: Havens or Wright
SS: Reyes or Tejada
LF: Flores
CF: Martinez
RF: Nieuwenhuis

If you're of a mind to turn the whole team over (ashie seems to be), then maybe you reach down to Zach Lutz (#15 prospect with Inside Pitch) and stick him at third, Havens at second, and Tejada at short.

Now, I'll poop potatoes if that's how it all shakes out, but they seem remarkably prepared to change on the fly.

[duan]

well in fairness to him BP's Kevin Goldstein called it the last few years that it was an improving system, he's now got them in the top 15 of organisations (where I don't know)

in 2008 he said

28. New York Mets
Last Year's Ranking: 8
Why They're Down: Top prospect Fernando Martinez continued to struggle to stay healthy and/or produce consistently; top pitchers like Mike Pelfrey went backwards; the heart of system beyond Martinez was sent to Minnesota in the Johan Santana deal.
Strengths: The '07 draft added some high-upside arms; their Latin American pipeline seems to be flowing nicely.
Weaknesses: Very little talent at upper levels; almost nothing up the middle.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Much improved. Unlike many teams at the bottom, the Mets do have a significant number of young players capable of making a leap forward; a plethora of early picks in June should also bolster things.

in 2009
18. New York Mets
Last Year's Ranking: 28
Why They Might Be Better Than This: The system is improved and has room for even more growth, as six of their Top 11 prospects spent 2008 in short-season leagues, with Latin American infielders Wilmer Flores and Jefry Marte both receiving raves from scouts; Brad Holt could be a real steal from the 2008 draft; Ike Davis' miserable debut could be a fluke.
Why They Might Be Worse: Davis' debut was so bad that they can't just write it off; the defensive home of fellow 2008 first-rounder Reese Havens is still uncertain; Holt needs to improve his secondary stuff to avoid being categorized as a reliever; will Fernando Martinez ever stay healthy for an entire year?
Outlook For 2010: Unless something strange happens with Martinez, all of these prospects should still be here come next year, which should move the Mets into the upper half of baseball after years spent near the bottom.

[metirish]

I think the record from here would show that this board as a whole knew that the system was never as bad as some in the media were reporting, for a while there is was as if every article on the Mets started out with how terrible the farm is , decimated was a word often used.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes, it's not so much a recovery as it is that we're seeing the benefits of a bunch of guys getting a year older and a year closer to being ready for the big leagues.