Adopted: Dilson Herrera

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

No one took the Byrdy prize? Welcome to the fam, kiddo.

Born in Cartagena, Colombia (like Braves flamethrower Julio Teheran and Cabreras Jolbert y Orlando), the Son of Dil would be the first Colombian major-league Met. Y'know, should he make it that far.

And, well, there are no guarantees for teenage single-A infielders, but... well... the tools suggest he very well could. Considered a "natural hitter" without many swingholes, Herrera uses the whole field, and brings plus-power for a middle infielder. He's held his own-- .265/.334/.418 on the year-- in the Sally despite being two-plus years younger than league average. And the glove is supposedly VERY nice. Much like other Americans availing themselves of Cartagena's natural resources, the Mets might just have gotten a lot of bang for their Buck.

[Edgy MD]

Not that it works that way, but I tend to think of him as the Byrdbooty, and Black as the Buckbooty.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I like this Mookie Dilson.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Finished the year at .267/.334/.416 playing high-A at age 19, with 41 XBH in 482 PAs. With 11 HRs!

As per last week's Met's scout Twitter thingy, mi hijo de beisbol is expected to play at both middle-infield positions this year, y'know, just 'cause.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Top Ten system prospect, as per Rob Castellano at the other thinking-fan's site.

It's still early on the development curve, but if Dilson can continue to move in the right direction the long-term picture could resemble something like a pre-2013 version of Danny Espinosa.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Also, top ten as per Toby Hyde, along with an interesting thought about position versatility:

I did not see the arm to think that Herrera could play shortstop everyday in the big leagues, confining him to second base as his longterm position. However, I heard some suggestions that the Mets were going to play Herrera at shortstop some in advanced-A. Given that most of the guys playing short in a-ball are not doing so at a Major League level, there’s little downside to this idea especially if the payoff that Herrera develops the valuable skill to versatile enough to slide over to short as a backup... Dr. Pangloss Says: There are not a whole lot of Mets position player prospects with a chance to be above average regulars. Herrera is one of them. Debbie Downer Says: True second basemen who cannot at least fake it at short don’t make big league rosters. Herrera either has to prove he can handle short at a backstop level or hit enough to play everyday.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

2 weeks and change into the season-- in a league where he's 2 2/3 years younger than league average-- and he's friggin' Little Joe Morgan spraying the ball all over central Florida over heah (.364/.426/.509 over 61 PA, with an 8-game hitting streak and five XBH over that span). He keeps this up, and he'll be joining Mr. Nimmo on that midseason flight up Binghamton way.

[Frayed Knot]

Hitting nearly .500 for the week lands Dilson on BA's 'Hot Prospect' list

4. Dilson Herrera, 2b/ss, Mets
Team: high Class A St. Lucie (Florida State)
Age: 20
Why He’s Here: .484/.500/.839 (15-for-31), 7 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3-for-4 SB

The Scoop: Herrera, obtained from the Pirates last year in the Marlon Byrd deal, just keeps hitting. He leads the minors with 67 hits, ranks second in the FSL in total bases and has posted double-digit totals in doubles and steals with 11 each. He’s a contact fiend who can spray the ball around and has enough sock to rack up plenty of doubles. He’s so much of a contact fiend, in fact, that he had just one non-contact plate appearance (a walk) this week, while recording seven extra-base hits.

[Benjamin Grimm]

CBSsports.com wrote: IF Dilson Herrera, Mets: Acquired from the Pirates as the player to be named later in last August's Marlin Byrd/John Buck trade, the 20-year-old Herrera went into Friday's game leading the minor leagues with 67 hits. He is hitting .328/.368/.436 with three home runs and 11 stolen bases at High Class-A this season, showing off his ability to hit to all fields and an advanced approach at the plate. Herrera played second base exclusively while with the Pirates, but the Mets have given him some time at shortstop and the early returns are positive. Most players to be named later are fringe prospects. Herrera is legit and his excellent start to the season as well as the continued development of his skills have him climbing the prospect ranks this year. He is still two years away from helping the Mets, give or take.

[Edgy MD]

Dilson and Brandon Nimmo at the top of the lineup has been a potent cocktail of tablesetting for the first place St. Lucie Mets.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Flagged a bit in the weeks following his hot start... but he's got hits in 15 of his last 16 (and the last ten), with nine of those being multi-hit games, and 13 XBH in that time. He's been pretty effective on the basepaths for a guy with "meh" speed (11 of 13 this year, a big improvement over last season).

It bears repeating that he's young for this level of the minors-- seventh-youngest in the league-- and would be one of the ten youngest players in AA were he promoted this year.

[Edgy MD]

"Were he promoted" he says. "Were he promoted"!

There's no conditional! Son of Dil, YOU are a Binghamton Met!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

One of the ten youngest players in AA has been hitting .313/.383/.446 in his first 20 games (93 PA) at the level. Dustin Pedroia stylez, kids.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Exciting stuff. He's also playing SS, at least some of the time.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That's nice, but the arm supposedly doesn't track; at best, he would be another in the line of not-quite-fits that we've got up the middle in the majors/high-minors.

More likely, he'll be the leverage to a Murphy deal (with many, many thanks to a timing adjustment from PSL coach Joel Fuentes).

[Edgy MD]

Murphy is making $5.8 million this season, and will go through arbitration one more time this winter, and likely earn about $8 million in 2015, before becoming a free agent after this season.

Wow! Arbitration and free agency, all in one off-season.

[Edgy MD]

This article suggests him getting moved off of short was something of an arbitrary decision. He had never been given the opportunity as a pro with the Pirates.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Herrera reached Double-A on June 19, and hit, and hit, and hit.

Indeed he is, Toby Hyde... Indeed, he is.

In 30 games in Double-A, Herrera — who turned 20 in March and is the youngest position player at the entire level — has hit .323/.375/.459 with 10 doubles and four home runs. He’s hit safely in 12 straight games. He’s hitting for more power in Double-A than ever before, and walking more, too.... he’s walking in 10 percent of his Double-A plate appearances, which brings his yearly total to 7.2 percent. That’s still below big league average (8.5 percent) but is not far off. And the power? Well, his isolated slugging percentage in Double-A (.213) is far higher than what he posted in St. Lucie or in the South Atlantic League in 2013. However, taken together, his extra-base hit rate of 8.3 percent in 2014 almost identical to his 2013 rate (8.2 percent)... He’s struck out fewer times in Double-A, against the best pitching he’s seen in his life, than he did in Single-A. So, what’s real, given sample size? The drop in his strikeout rate is. The improvement in his walk rate might be. And his power is similar to last year. He’s improved his skills against tougher competition this year, a nice marker for a prospect.

[Guest themetfairy]

Last night was a three hit/four RBI night for Dilson - he was just tearing up the place! Below is the swing on his three-run homer.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

... which makes five home runs in just 150 PAs at AA. (From the Not Sayin'/Just Sayin' SSS Department: comparable ML rates: Cano, Kinsler, Bill Hall, Bret Boone, Rajah Hornsby!)

Great photo, MF.

[Guest themetfairy]

Thanks LWFS!

[Frayed Knot]

2nd baseman of the future?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

3-for-4 with the old four-bag-shuffle tonight brings him up to .340/.406/.550 on the year.

But he's at .000/.000/.000 at his new level.

[Guest themetfairy]

I've gotten used to Mets who are younger than my daughter, but Dilson is the first Met who is younger than my older son.

[Guest themetfairy]

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

HOLY HELL. I'd totally forgotten he was mine, before he was the world's.

Anyway, he's killing it-- .291/.339/.502 with 10 HRs, 31 XBH, 18 BB, and 49 K in 269 PAs-- in Las Vegas. The walk rate's down but the power's up... and this is a relative down year for him. Overall, in about a full season's work (142 G/636 PAs) at Neon Lights Baseball Club, he's put up a .311/.364/.507 line, with 21 (!) HRs and 67 XBH. He's basically AAA Peak-Level-Pedroia.

Just waiting for someone to make a move. Anyone.