RaysIndex put to rest an unfouded rumor that Carl Crawford was upset by Tampa Bay’s choice to exercise his 2010 option.
FireJerryManuel had some funny tweets in cheeky response to the Crawford rumor. FJM also has a great evaluation of Josh Thole and catcher offense.
Speaking of catchers, BlueandOrange.net provides plenty of reason to say NO! to Bengie Molina.
Baseball America has a great evaluation of Jenrry Mejia, written by Ben Badler who watched him pitch in Arizona.
Hat tip to FireJerryManuel.
According to Badler, Mejia’s fastball ranged from 90-95 MPH and touched 96.
His fastball is a swing-and-miss offering, not just because of its velocity but because of its outstanding movement. Mejia generates tremendous cutting action on his fastball, and he’ll also put some sink on his heater as well. Between the velocity and movement, Mejia has a pitch he can use as an out pitch or to induce grounders—71 percent of his outs on balls in play were groundouts during the minor league season.
It’s not all roses for Mejia in the Fall League, however. Badler also notes that the top Mets prospect has had major issues with control, walking 11 in 11 1/3 IP. Scouts the league agree that Mejia needs to find more consistent command of his fastball, and develop his offspeed pitches.
Mejia’s current coach in Arizona, Tom Phelps, had this to say about his repertoire:
“He has a fastball that will cut, and he also has a fastball that will sink. As long as he keeps it down in the zone, he gets a lot of ground balls and a lot of early outs and quick innings. The big thing for him is controlling it in the zone and not getting behind hitters and walking hitters.”
“When he just throws it and doesn’t try to overthrow it, he’s got a good curveball,” Phelps said. “It looks like his heater, he’s got good deception and it’s got some quick break to it. Also his better secondary pitch is his changeup. His changeup has a lot of depth, has real good arm speed and looks like his fastball. He’s got the pitches to complement (his fastball), it’s just a matter of him being able to control it in the zone and keeping it down in the zone.”
It sounds like Mejia is a legit prospect, but is also at least a year or two away. In fact all the comments about his command and offspeed stuff remind me of Mike Pelfrey when he was 22 and rushed into MLB. Mejia just turned 20, and I see no reason to push him up the ladder. Let the kid develop — and let HIM force the issue, much like Doc Gooden did back in 1984.
Edgardo Alfonzo is eager to return to MLB, and wants to end his career as a New York Met, according to Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.
Fonzie hasn’t played in MLB since 2006, spending 2007-2008 in Indy ball and last season in Japan — leading the Yomiuri Giants to the championship while playing 1B, 2B, 3B and DH. He’s now in Venezuela prepared to play winter ball, hoping for one last shot — preferably with the Mets.
“My dream is to retire with the Mets colors,” Alfonzo said. “That’s my dream. That’s what I’m praying for, maybe it will happen, maybe not, but dreams sometimes come true, you know.”
“I have a lot of hope for my future, I want to show people I can play in winter ball,” Alfonzo said. “I love the Mets and I love the Mets fans. I would like that dream to come true.”
Fonzie just joined the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan League — the same league Josh Thole is currently ripping up. He’ll have to find time in an infield that includes Pablo Sandoval and Elvis Andrus. The team also includes several former Mets and current Mets prospect Phillips Orta.
Yes, the Mets are looking to get younger and more athletic. But if he continues to play well and proves to be healthy, I’d love to see them give Fonzie one more shot. What do they have to lose by offering him a ST invite?
Look at it this way: Omar Minaya has spoken to Scott Boras about re-signing Alex Cora — presumably to another $2M deal. Would you rather see Cora get a guaranteed MLB contract or give Alfonzo a non-guaranteed, incentive-laden, minor league contract and a chance to be the infield utilityman?
According to a tweet by Bart Hubbach of the NY Post, the Mets plan to bring Jeff Francoeur back in 2010 — and may even negotiate a contract extension with him.
I know the statheads like to point out his poor OBP, lack of walks, and some other deficiencies in his game (and they’re correct in their analysis), but the bottom line for me is that as a fan I like Jeff Francoeur — I enjoy watching his hard-nosed, old-school style of play, I like his hustle, and i like the fact the he looks like he’s enjoying himself on the field. And since I’m not expecting success from the 2010 Mets, I’m looking for other things to cheer for — i.e., a reason to turn on the TV every night at 7pm. Jeff Francoeur could be one of those reasons.
Much of the criticism for Francoeur came about because Continue reading
According to The New York Times, there’s a slight possibility that catcher Josh Thole could return early from his Venezuelan Winter League stint.
Thole is currently playing for Leones de Caracas, and Mets officials are concerned for his safety after the recent kidnapping of Victor Zambrano’s mother and the murder of his cousin.
From the New York Times article:
“We’re doing our due diligence regarding the entire situation,” Mets General Manager Omar Minaya said. “We’re looking into it to make sure Josh knows what’s going on and we know that he is safe.”
The Mets have received reports that Thole is enjoying his time in Caracas without any concerns about his safety, and that he hopes to stay through his scheduled departure date, Dec. 8.
The kid definitely needs all the reps he can get, but three less weeks of winter ball are not going to be the difference-maker in terms of whether he’ll be MLB-ready next April, so the Mets may play it safe and get him home.
One of the rumors floating around is that the Mets and Dodgers are talking about swapping Luis Castillo and Juan Pierre. But how can that help the Mets, who need a slugger? There’s at least one scenario where it can make sense … Continue reading
The World Series has been over for exactly a week, but already there has been a flurry of activity regarding player personnel around MLB — including four trades, a few minor signings, and options exercises or declined. This is in start contrast to last offseason, when the first trade didn’t occur until November 24th — when the Royals traded Tyler Lumsden to the Astros for a PTBNL — and the more significant moves happened from December through February.
The questionable economy had something to do with teams sitting on their hands last year, and there was plenty of posturing on all sides of the free agent market (players, agents, GMs). Many realized they were in the midst of a market correction, and chose to wait it out as long as possible.
But this year the hot stove heated up quickly, and I get the feeling it’s going to be a “short” offseason. Meaning, we won’t be seeing many bargain free agents (i.e., Bobby Abreu types) signed within days of the start of spring training, and teams will be finishing — rather than starting — their roster makeovers during the annual winter meetings.
The Mets likely will be among those who move quickly this winter, mainly because they can’t afford not to. As mentioned on MetsBlog, current season-ticket holders are being asked to re-up by December 4th with a 20% deposit. When the Mets asked for a similarly early deposit last year, they had two major selling points — the opening of Citi Field and a team that missed the postseason by one game. In contrast, this winter the allure of a “new” stadium no longer applies, and the team is coming off its worst season since Art Howe lit up a room with his smile. So the Mets need to give their current customers good reason to come back — and they need to do it right away, before those dollars go toward holiday gifts.
My guess is we’ll see a splash of some sort in the next two weeks — or at least, a series of little splashes that add up to optimism for 2010. And by little splash, I don’t mean the hiring of a third base coach. Though, I won’t be surprised to see more of Mookie Wilson’s and Tim Teufel’s teammates join the organization — the Mets know that a good part of their fan base holds emotional ties to the 1986 team. Of course, there will need to be new players come in as well. Whether they’re better than the current personnel doesn’t matter as much as being different, which is why the recent rumors surrounding Orlando Hudson and Lyle Overbay make sense. I bet we’ll see Luis Castillo moved quickly — even if a replacement isn’t announced right away, it may be enough to give fans hope prior to the deposit deadline.
Of course, season tickets will be sold all winter, so the Mets don’t need to make all their moves prior to December 4th. But it’s funny how people run out of money after the New Year, and the Mets want to make sure some of that money goes toward 2010 season tickets.
What do you think? Will the Mets make some moves early, and if so, what do you envision?
Photo of David Wright by MetsToday reader Gary Sparber
Think about it: who else hits .307, leads their team in SLG, OBP, RBI, runs, hits, doubles, walks, SB, and total bases, but is judged to have a “bad” year?
But it’s true — for David Wright, 2009 was a bad year. Why? Because he put only ten balls over the fence, and we expect him to deposit three times as many beyond the dimensions of the playing field.
Yes, his fielding was way below the Gold Glove standard he set in 2008 — though, many would argue that he was undeserving of that fielding award. His RBI total was only 72, a major dropoff from the 124 RBI in 2008. But, that lower total is partially due to the fact there were 75 less runners on base (433) when he came to the plate (508 in 2008). Then again, there were an almost identical number of runners on in 2007 (428), yet he drove in 107 runs that year.
That’s an intriguing stat to me — “others batted in percentage“, or “OBI%”. As it’s described, it tells you the percentage of runners a batter drives in. So Wright’s OBI% in 2009 was 14.32 — a full 3.5 points below his previous years’ totals of 17.91 and 17.99. Does that mean he was less clutch this past year?
Hard to say. Part of the reason for the drop in OBI was his concurrent drop in homeruns — it’s hard to drive in runners from first with a single (19 of his 39 doubles and 2 of his 3 triples came with the bases empty). Had he hit his usual 30+ homers, that’s an extra 20 RBI right there, putting his RBI total at 92, and there’s a good chance at least half of those would’ve been with at least one runner on — meaning, he likely would have reached that milestone 100 RBI figure.
But that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? Why did David Wright fail to hit the ball over the fence more than a dozen times?
The answer isn’t as simple as a glitch in his swing, though that’s part of it. More likely, it’s a combination of Continue reading