Frayed Knot

Baseball America tells us why they like Ike Because they liked his above-average power and pitch recognition skills, the Mets selected Arizona State first baseman Ike Davis with the 18th overall selection in the 2008 draft and bestowed him with a $1.575 million bonus. But Davis sure had a strange way of repaying New York�s faith. Davis, a 6-foot-5 lefthanded batter who was leading ASU batters in all triple crown categories before missing time with a ribcage injury as a junior, didn�t homer in his first 75 pro games. In fact, he didn�t do much of anything with his first 312 plate appearances, batting a composite .260/.330/.338 in his first three months of pro ball. To make matters worse, he spent that time with short-season Brooklyn (�08) and high Class A St. Lucie (�09)�two age- and experience-appropriate levels. Things have been different, though, since the 22-year-old Davis connected for his first pro home run on April 28. In nearly the same number of plate appearances (296) since, he�s batted .291/.389/.520 with 12 home runs and 18 doubles in 70 games, all while turning in a fine 40-to-62 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Davis earned a promotion on June 23 to Double-A Binghamton, where he�s kept up the pace. "He�ll have power. I like him quite a bit," a pro scout for an AL club said back in May, when Davis appeared more bust than boom. "He�s the type of player who will hit a ton of doubles and play good defense. He�s just a really good player who understands the game and does everything correctly." Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard can�t hide his enthusiasm for Davis� development, saying, "He�s coming along well for a player in his first full year. He�s a great defender and we believe he�ll hit for power. You can see it in how he�s hit a lot of doubles. And the best part is, he�s kept up while playing in every game."

Kevin Goldstein - Baseball Prospectus: It's easy to forget that [Wilmer] Flores is younger than most high school players who got drafted last month. How many of them do you think could hit .287 in a full-season [so Atl] league? It's a short list, and Flores has been especially hot of late, going 4-for-4 on Sunday while batting .320 in his last 40 games. He's not a shortstop in the end, but the bat could end up really special.

"rambling and unfocused" = understatement

Holt takes the number 5 slot in this week's 'Prospect Hot Sheet' at BA No. 5 BRAD HOLT, RHP -- METS -- Team: Double-A Binghamton (Eastern) -- Age: 22 Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 2 GIDP The Scoop: The 6-foot-4 righthander from UNC Wilmington closed out the first half with a nifty 80-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio, as well as the performance you see above. One start prior, Holt recorded 10 strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in five innings. He surrendered three runs in that effort, but he can be forgiven, seeing as he missed three weeks in June nursing a twisted ankle. According to Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard, the ankle no longer is an issue for Holt, the 33rd overall pick last year. His primary developmental goal for the second half: finding consistency with his changeup and curveball.

More laughs & entertainment than the current Mets - and probably about the same amount of cursing & bloodshed.

Yeah, but stuffing the Yanquis in where they don't belong is a bigger crime than either Dillinger or Floyd ever committed.

Already a couple of small historical inaccuracies have been pointed out by various sources. - Dillinger is told that the Cubs vs the Yanx is the game he's hearing on the radio ... except that the movie takes place in 1933 & 34 and the only Cubs-Yanx WS was '32. - and he's shown watching 'Porky Pig' cartoons although PP didn't debut until '35

A .346 batting average, a .414 On-Base average, and a .455 Slugging average at a premium defensive position, what more could you want out of a Met prospect? ... except maybe a dislocated left thumb!

If he's only the 55th best prospect in Texas (doesn't sound right) and only ticketed for JuCo he's probably not in a position to go demanding million+ dollar bonuses.

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.

From a BA Q&A: Paul (New York): What can you tell me about Josh Thole, he's hitting .354 at double-a is he the Mets future at catcher? J.J. Cooper: Intriguing prospect. He's got a good swing, but he's still a ways away from being a big league catcher because of concerns about his defense. The bat can play, he still has to show that the glove will allow him to make it to Citi Field.

Baseball America as part of their review of the 2008 draft: Brad Holt, rhp, Mets, supplemental first round (33rd overall) Holt�s fastball was too much for short-season New York-Penn League hitters to handle last year. It�s looking like the Florida State League can�t catch up to Holt, either. The high Class A St. Lucie right-hander has a 3.57 ERA in 35 1/3 innings, with 44 strikeouts (11.2 K/9) and nine walks (2.3 BB/9). At this rate, it wouldn�t be a surprise to see Holt, a 22-year-old from UNC Wilmington, in Double-A by the end of the year.

As long as you can keep track of all the authorities in this flick: which are the straight cops, the crooked cops, local cops, Scotland Yard, MPs, etc., this one was a lot of fun. Petty street crooks, professional crooks, international crooks, double-crossers, double-crossers getting double-crossed, cop looking for the robbers, cops NOT looking for robbers, cops trying to keep the robbers from other cops and other robbers. And, on top of that, throw in a dose of black radicalism plus some good old political sex scandals as only the British do so well.

Aside from needing a penalty flag for too many Rs on the field, who is this guy? (btw, I'm going with GEN-Ree Meh-HEE-ah until told otherwise) Well, turns out he's a 19 y/o Dominican-born RHP for St. Lucie and is pitching well enough recently to show up as #11 on this week's version of BA's 'Hot List' JENRRY MEJIA Why He's Here: 1-0, 1.82, 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO The Scoop: Mejia is about the most unconventional prospect imaginable. He's 6-feet, tops, and weighs in at about 165 pounds. He's very athletic, though, and his action is clean, helping him regularly touch 94-96 mph. One scout this year described his offspeed pitch as a fosh change�others have dubbed it a straight change, a split or a cutter�but whatever hybrid it is, it's an out pitch. The scout also liked Mejia's curveball, though he noted that the righthander lost confidence in it and didn't use it enough. Mejia signed out of the Dominican Republic in April '07 with little fanfare, yet here he is at age 19, one of the FSL's youngest players. And the really scary part is that over his last four starts he's gone 3-0, 0.35, surrendering just three runs (one earned, and with no homers) and 16 hits in 26 innings. He struck out 19 and walked three in that span, completing eight innings of work once and seven another time, to move into second place in the FSL's ERA race at 1.82.

John Sickels: Mets catching prospect Josh Thole was drafted in the 13th round in 2005, out of high school in Illinois. He hit .300/.382/.427 last year for St. Lucie in the Florida State League; I gave him a Grade C in the 2009 book, noting that I liked his contact hitting ability, low strikeout rate, and decent plate discipline, but was concerned about a relative lack of power, and mixed reports regarding his defense. He's off to a strong start this year for Double-A Binghamton, hitting .344/.415/.467. He has just one homer, but has knocked 12 doubles, and I like his 15/16 BB/K ratio in 122 at-bats. A left-handed hitter, he's hitting .450 in 40 at-bats so far against lefties, so right now at least it doesn't look like he'll have to be platooned. He still needs defensive polish according to the reports I have, and I remain concerned about the relative lack of power, but he's just 22 years old, makes contact, controls the zone, and plays a premium position. He's worth keeping an eye on definitely, and I would raise his grade to at least a C+ now.

Already getting some love and attention about a dozen threads down. (Merged from Adopted: Josh Thole, 5/1/2009)

Adam Rubin's blog: Kai Gronauer played several sports as a youth growing up in Solingen, Germany, including soccer, tennis, handball and swimming. His first exposure to baseball came when he was 10 or 11, when a friend took him to a practice for a local team after hearing about the sport. A decade later, Gronauer is a Mets farmhand, impressing team brass as the catcher at low-A Savannah. The 22-year-old Gronauer is hitting .237 with a homer and two RBI in 38 at-bats in the South Atlantic League. �My best friend took me to a practice,� Gronauer said. �He heard from the pitcher that there was a baseball team. I stayed with it. That�s how I got to baseball.� �If you�re talking about playing against Team Cuba and Venezuela and Korea and teams like that, he�s pretty well equipped to come over and compete,� said Lionel Chattelle, a German-based scout, referring to Gronauer�s experience while representing the country in international tournaments. �He�s an outstanding guy. He�s mature. He�s hard-working and he�s got the physical tools. If all goes well and he stays healthy, I think he�ll move up quickly." The caliber of baseball in Germany has steadily risen since Gronauer started. Chattelle, who is originally from Connecticut and coached opposite Gronauer in Germany, said he could tell the catcher had the required skills to come to the United States. �I was extremely impressed by him at 18 years old�at the maturity and the way he handled the pitching staff, the way he calmed them down,� Chattelle said. �He just had a sense of how to play the position, even at 18. He has an outstanding arm. He runs really well for a catcher. I think he led the league in stolen bases that year. He has a very quick bat, stays inside the ball and drives the ball well. �He played in the World Cup and also got into the Olympics trials. He was catching two different pitchers that had major-league stuff�one of Cuban origin, who has a German passport, that he was catching, and also a guy who played for me in Bonn who was in the Twins system who could get it up to the mid-90s. That�s when I was really sold on him. He handled them and their stuff. �The analogy that I use for him playing-wise, just my view when I looked at him, I drew a comparison between him and Paul Lo Duca as players. He�s a guy that makes contact, doesn�t strike out a lot, has the potential for some power and is going to be an outstanding defensive catcher and leader.� Still, Gronauer said, playing in the minors has been a step up in competition. �It is a big step up. The German pitching is not as advanced as Latin American and American pitching speed-wise,� he said. �The speed of the game is not as fast, but we are developing very well in Germany. The playing level gets better every year. The top teams in Germany always bring in American players. My team right now brought in a player that played Double-A a couple of years.� There are only three other German players currently in minor-league baseball, who don�t appear on 40-man rosters: lefthander Michael Anton (Angels), righthander Jennell Hudson (Red Sox) and center fielder Jacob Shaffer (Mariners). Chattelle, who officially joined the Mets in 2007, has brought two other European players to the Mets: Marinus Vernooij, 19, from Holland and Thomas DeWolf, 18, from Belgium. Gronauer said his parents, particularly mother Cornelia, don�t fully grasp the sport and its terms. His father, Achim, hopes to get to the United States soon to see his son play for the Sand Gnats. He owns a pocket-knife factory and does business here. �My mother is scared of flying,� Gronauer said. �I told her I�d buy her the plane tickets as soon as I play in Citi Field.�

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.

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.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Or maybe they're puffing him up for his July 31 trade value. Well, it's not like other clubs are going to be fooled or goaded in trading for a guy based on press releases and gaudy quotes. And, either way, they'd be better off shutting up about him before fans either get disappointed that: a) he doesn't win 8 Cy Youngs during his career or doesn't bring back Matt Holliday PLUS several throw-ins I actually thought the Mets had done a decent job at not over-promising on prospects since getting burned by their Gen-K experiences. Bernazard, however, seems to like to talk.

Yeah, the better-than-Pelfrey comments are a bit over the top. There's generally a reason why one guy goes #9 overall while the other goes 33rd after being passed over twice by the team that does pick him. Plus to say he's ahead of Pelfrey doesn't mean much seeing as how Pelfrey didn't sign until that first season had passed. That doesn't mean he can't or won't pass him at some point, but it's comments like those which lead fans to think they're being over-promised with some prospects.

Dude's getting some ink from the New York Freakin' Times Thole (pronounced TOE-lee) is the most advanced catcher in the system. Francisco Pe�a, the son of Tony Pe�a, has the pedigree, but at 19 is not as advanced as Thole. �We�re going to spend a lot of time and effort on developing a catcher, and this is the guy who�s ahead of everyone,� said Tony Bernazard, the team�s vice president for development.

Might be an interesting guy to keep tabs on this year. Low power, yet excellent plate discipline/OBA skills, it sounds like his career could hinge on his ability to adapt defensively as a relative late-comer to catching. BA lists him in an article about low-round draft picks making good: Josh Thole, C, Mets: A 13th-round pick in 2005 out of Mater Dei High in Breese, Ill. Thole was a light-hitting first baseman in low Class A in 2007, when he batted .267/.311/.372 in 117 games for Savannah. Last year, Thole had a mini-breakout as he hit .300/.382/.427 in 111 games for high Class A St. Lucie in the FSL. Thole has always controlled the strike zone (he has 133 walks and 131 strikeouts in his minor league career). He has excellent bat-to-ball skills, as the 21-year-old lefthanded hitter struck out last year only 38 times (nine percent of his 402 plate appearances). Thole also became a full-time catcher, the position he played in high school and dabbled in sparingly in his previous three pro seasons. Scouts have concerns about Thole�s defense and his below-average power. Thole hit only hit five home runs in 2008, but that�s an improvement from the goose egg he posted in that category in �07. He�ll likely start this season in Double-A and play all year at age 22 as a relatively under-the-radar prospect.

These two could be in my final.

This means we'll have to start buying our Soupcan in litres instead of ounces and we'll have to start paying for it with funny looking money that has pictures of European monarchs on it.