Frayed Knot

The final draft order is now set in stone (Barajas was the final piece to the puzzle) Met picks: #7 #89 #122 ... and then every 30 picks after that Pick #57 is the one that wound up being ceded to the BoSox for Bay

The Ike Q&A session was stocked with predictably lame Qs which led to similarly standard As http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1266871971

#21 is frequently the unofficial Puerto Rican players' number - although Barajas is a Californian.

Adam Rubin reports Barajas wearing #21

btw, here's Kevin Goldstein's (Baseball Prospectus) take on Atlanta's Heyward and Florida's Stanton: Jason Heyward - OF DOB: 8/9/89 Height/Weight: 6-4/220 Bats/Throws: L/L Drafted/Signed: 1st round, 2007, Henry County HS (GA) 2009 Stats: .296/.369/.519 at High-A (49 G); .352/.446/.611 at Double-A (47 G); .364 at Triple-A (3 G) Year in Review: Atlanta�s top prospect flirted with .400 at Double-A as a teenager while establishing himself as the top position prospect in the game. The Good: Heyward has the potential to be a "face of the franchise" talent. He's arguably the best pure hitter in the minors, combined with outstanding plate discipline and pitch recognition. He has the ability to contend for batting and on-base titles, all in a massive athletic package that's loaded with tools. His raw power is plus, his speed is average to a tick above, and he's a very good outfielder who can even play center in a pinch. His arm is a true plus-plus weapon. The Bad: When asked what aspects of Heyward's game need improvement, one scout simply replied, "Nothing." The only real concern about Heyward is his health, as Heyward has played just 226 games over the past two years due to a variety of minor maladies. Perfect World Projection: He�s a game-changing superstar. Path to the Big Leagues: The Braves have a slot waiting for him in their outfield. Timetable: Heyward spent significantly more time in big-league camp last year just because manager Bobby Cox liked watching him play so much. He'll be gunning for a big-league job this spring, with a 50/50 chance of breaking camp with the Braves and a nearly guaranteed major-league role by the All-Star break. Mike Stanton - RF DOB: 11/8/89 Height/Weight: 6-5/240 Bats/Throws: R/R Drafted/Signed: 2nd round, 2007, Notre Dame HS (CA) 2009 Stats: .294/.390/.578 at High-A (50 G); .231/.311/.455 at Double-A (79 G) Year in Review: This top-notch power prospect wasn't slowed down at all in the Florida State League, but he scuffled at times against the more advanced pitching of Double-A. The Good: Stanton's raw power is a pure 80, but it's his ability to consistently showcase it in games that makes him so special. His power goes to all fields, and he's one of those rare players who doesn't have to make full contact to drive it out of the park. He's much more than just a pure slugger, though, as he's a fine athlete with good instincts in the outfield, an above-average arm, and average speed that increases to a tick above once he gets going. The Bad: While Stanton's high strikeout rate is unavoidable due to the crazy power, he does need to hone his approach. His inability, or perhaps his unwillingness to shorten his swing with two strikes�or even just when he�s behind in the count�led to some extended slumps at Double-A, and experienced pitchers with good breaking balls were able to feast on him at times. Due to his massive size, there are some concerns as to how long he'll be able to maintain his speed. Perfect World Projection: Stanton will be a massive slugging right fielder, and he�s arguably the one prospect in baseball most likely to hit 50 home runs in a season. Path to the Big Leagues: Cody Ross is a nice little player and all, but he's hardly a roadblock. Timetable: Stanton will try get his batting average back up to snuff with a return to Double-A in 2010, but he could be in the big leagues by September if he continues to perform.

Bring up Ike Davis and make him a situational LHP when he's not playing elsewhere. OK I'm not really serious but it can't hurt to think about once he is called up

As John Sickels said about Fernando: 'if a college sophomore was drafted and right off the bat put up his kind of numbers in AAA we'd all be drooling over him'. But since he was signed to a high bonus at age 16 it already seems like he's been around forever. Tack on the NYC factor generating more talk about him than even the usual prospect makes some file him in bust territory already. The point about the injuries is key too, yeah there have been a lot of them which have cut down on his ABs each season - but it's not like they've been related and point to a potentially chronic problem.

Keep in mind that those dates are merely BA's estimate of when each player will be ready to advance to the ML level. It's not like they're taking the plans of the individual teams into account when making those projections. IOW, the Mets could have Pujols at 1B and it wouldn't change their ETA for Davis unless they thought he'd need a lot more time in order to learn a completely new position.

#56 - Jenrry Mejia -- ETA 2011 #62 - Ike Davis -- ETA mid-2010 #77 - Fernando Martinez -- mid-2010 #88 - Wilmer Flores -- ETA mid-2012 1 - Jason Heyward - OF, Braves 2 - Steven Strasburg - RHP, Nationals 3 - Mike Stanton - OF, Marlins 4 - Jesus Montero - C, Yankees 5 - Brian Matusz - LHP, Orioles 6 - Desmond Jennings, OF, Rays 7 - Buster Posey - C, Giants 8 - Pedro Alvarez - 3B, Pirates 9 - Neftali Feliz - RHP, Rangers 10 - Carlos Santana - Guitar, Indians (OK, that last guy is a catcher, just wanted to see if you were paying attention) Full list: Nos 1-20 Nos 21-40 Nos 41-60 Nos 61-80 Nos 81-100

Asking him why he constantly hit Tina is probably not a good idea.

Hey, Park's not going to be the star he briefly was 10 years ago but has been a useful part for the last two seasons and probably should have been considered for here. But I think too many Met fans convinced themselves that he was the devil himself based on the grand total of 4 innings he pitched for them 3 seasons back to the point where mgmt is too spooked to even consider it.

#Mets Escobar can grip a baseball That's kinda nice ... considering that it's part of the job description and all. #Mets Update: Sean Green has dropped his arm angle and the Mets expect that to make him more effective Yeah, I had heard that the other day (Ed Coleman I think). Not quite into knuckle-scraping/Chad Bradford territory yet, but definitely lower. #Mets Update: Manuel is impressed with the kid Mejia and threw him in the mix for the eighth inning role. That just ain't gonna happen. That's your FK Spring 2010 guarantee right there. The only time I want to even hear about that is if/when we're fighting for a pennant in September and he's brought up to patch a hole then.

I'll take non-sequiturs for $200 Alex

They didn't. It may have been suggested briefly at some point, but by the time he got here he had enough pull to say 'Homey don't play that no more'

Without even looking at the byline I could tell from the first two paragraphs that that was a Marty Noble piece.

"For Mets fans, talk of any numbers besides 21 and 60, as in days on the disabled list, is a worthwhile distraction. Other suggestions for Mets inspiration or some good karma?" Umm, no. The DL lengths are 15 & 60 days. The 21 day list was done away with many years ago. If you're going to pen wise-ass snarky columns at least get some basic facts straight.

Sandwiched into that article (it's about Magadan being inducted into the College Baseball HoF for those too lazy to click) is a line about one of his NYM 1B successors: "A new award has been added for 2010, honoring another former Major Leaguer: the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. Olerud, inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, was a standout pitcher and first baseman at Washington State in 1987-89 before going on to play first base in the Majors with the Blue Jays, Mets, Mariners, Red Sox and Yankees." That's kinda kool IMO.

Do keep in mind that those are the same "smart" people who threw a combined $86 million at Carl 'The American Idle' Pavano and 'Off' Kei Igawa

Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick and Mr. Dick never wrote back either.

Yes

What I heard is that DC isn't getting the ASG until the neighborhood around their stadium becomes more attractive. As it is in most stadium deals, area improvement is one of those promises that rarely occurs upon construction.