Last night the Caribbean World Series came to an end with the Mexican team winning the championship, officially ending the winter ball season. Now with Spring Training just around the corner, it’s time to catch up on what some Mets minor leaguers did on their winter vacation. A few did well, while others found themselves struggling. In judging winter league performances, it’s important to remember that it’s a small sample of at bats, with most guys barely getting a month’s worth of games played. It’s also important to note that the level of competition in the Caribbean Winter leagues is no where near the big league level; at best, they probably equate most closely to the AA level, perhaps slightly lower than that. Still, let’s take a look at some of the studs and duds of this past winter:
Studs:
Wilmer Flores – In 31 games in Venezuela, the Mets top position prospect hit an impressive .320, with 2 home runs and 6 doubles. This of course is only a reinforcement of what we’ve known all along: this very young man can hit. If nothing else, it will keep his confidence up as he likely heads back to St. Lucie when camp breaks with Binghamton a possibility later in the year.
Manuel Alvarez – Pitching in Venezuela, Alvarez had a good winter in preparation for vying for a bullpen spot in spring. He held his ERA under three in 21 relief innings across 17 appearances. Although just 14 strikeouts, he did keep his WHIP at 1.27, which is definitely a good place to be with his control, although it will be a whole different ball game for Alvarez trying to earn a place in the majors.
Michael O’Connor – Before adding competition to the Mets wide-open LOOGY position, O’Connor spent the winter in the Dominican pitching over 13 innings in 19 appearances, clearly in prep for a lot of one and done situations. His ERA was just 1.98 to go along with a strong WHIP of 1.24. O’Connor also struck out 18 and walked only 4, and if he can keep up those types of numbers in camp, he will put himself in good position to win a bullpen spot.
Duds:
Eric Campbell – After hitting .306 in the regular season, Campbell hit a disappointing .210 in Venezuela in 25 games. He struck out 21 times and slugged just .284. This is a league that Campbell should have been able to handle better, and will likely bring him back to Binghamton to start 2011.
Jose Coronado – The athletic Coronado has been okay against AA competition, where he’s been for at least part of the past four seasons. However, in Venezuela this winter he hit .163 in 32 games, with just 1 extra-base hit. This only reinforces the likelihood that Coronado has hit a wall and likely won’t progress much further.
Francisco Pena – Playing winter ball in the Dominican was crucial for Pena after injuries limited him to only 20 games in 2010. However, the 36 games he played did not work out so greatly, hitting just .182 with 24 strikeouts. However, he did hit two home runs, and considering he’s never been above A-ball and had limited at bats during the season, he’s poor numbers are understandable, but 2011 appears to be do or die time for Pena, to see if he can live up to his genes and has a chance to be a big leaguer.
Stefan Welch – This native Australian spent the winter in his homeland, where he barely kept himself above the Mendoza line. He did however hit 7 home runs and drove in 25 runs in just 40 games after hitting 8 homers and 68 RBI’s this past season. All the home runs did get his slugging percentage to a respectable level, so there was good and bad to Welch’s winter, but it’s doubtful that the league in Australia is as competitive as in the Caribbean, so it’s tough to gauge what kind of competition he faced.
Here’s how the front-runners for the second-base job did during the winter:
Brad Emaus – Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus prepped for the season in the Dominican, hitting a respectable .268, and using 4 home runs and 9 doubles to slug .449. It’s about what you’d expect for a guy who has never been above AA, and not too much should be read into this going into Spring Training.
Daniel Murphy – After only 11 games in 2010 because of injury, Murphy played 28 games in the Dominican where he was able to hit .320 with 4 home runs, 6 doubles, and 22 RBI’s. The fact that Murphy hit well is no surprise, the real question is: will the time spent playing second base this winter help his defense improve enough to claim the opening day job at second.
Justin Turner – Turner hit .313 in the Dominican in 20 games, hitting only 1 home run, but 7 doubles. He will have to substantially outshine his competitors for the second base job in Spring Training, as having options left will work to his disadvantage, but his confidence should be high after a successful stint in Buffalo last year was followed up with these solid numbers over the winter.
Check out this link for winter league stats for all players in the Mets organization: http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=nym
44 comments
Mr North Jersey
2/8/2011-3:17pm at 3:17 pm (UTC -4)
Yea I was watching the P.R. vs D.R. game last night. Had P.R. won they would of tied Mex and forced a tie breaker but D.R.’s Raul Valdes pitched a great game i belive his final line was 7 2/3 innings no runs. He was pulled after loading the bases on a hit a walk and a hit batter.
Sadly that was as close as P.R. would get as the last out was made to deep right centerfield.
Prismo
2/8/2011-3:27pm at 3:27 pm (UTC -4)
Superb and very useful recap Bryan!
Bryan
2/8/2011-4:14pm at 4:14 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-4:04pm at 4:04 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for the update. I didn’t have the opportunity to catch any of these games.
So…..Brad Emaus hit .268 with 4 home runs and 9 doubles – slug .449.
Murphy hit .320 with 4 home runs, 6 doubles, and 22 RBI’s.
I guess it’s safe to assume that Murphy had more hits/walks all the way around than Emaus?
I think Murphy would be a lock to make the team unless we see a really poor ST from him. Just don’t know about a strict platoon type player or not. I’ve not seen much mention at all on his defensive skills yet at second.
Bryan
2/8/2011-4:17pm at 4:17 pm (UTC -4)
Emaus had 34 hits in 38 games, and Murph had 33 hits in 28 games. Obviously Murphy has experience hitting in the majors and Emaus does not, but their defense in spring training will be a big factor too.
stickguy
2/8/2011-4:56pm at 4:56 pm (UTC -4)
how could you forget the most important guy, the one everyone is interested in, Mr. Championship himself, Ollie P.?
wannybackstra
2/8/2011-5:11pm at 5:11 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for this, Bryan.
I will be surprised if Emaus makes the jump to the majors this year. Hopefully, a trade can be worked out to keep him in the system though.
Here’s a positive note from Kevin Kernan of the Post (who must not hate the Mets like Adam Rubin):
Things I Think I Know: New manager Terry Collins’ positive attitude already is making a difference.
He is a ball of energy and the players love his enthusiasm and that is going to mean a lot to the Mets. At one point Tuesday when a number of minor leaguers were hitting on Field 4, Collins was running all around the outfield shagging balls. His communication skills are much better with players than his first two times around as manager. He was going field to field, talking to nearly every player.
The Mets haven’t had that kind of managerial energy in a long time. At one point he introduced a Mets minor leaguer to Nick Evans. The Class A outfielder, Justin Schafer, said he didn’t want to impose on Evans or any of the other Mets on that are on the 40-man roster. Collins told the youngster, “You’re all Mets, get to know one another.’’
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-5:19pm at 5:19 pm (UTC -4)
A trade? How does that work?
Instead of having to give him back b/c he’s a Rule V guy, we can offer them another player instead – like a swap?
stickguy
2/8/2011-5:21pm at 5:21 pm (UTC -4)
yup.
Prismo
2/8/2011-5:24pm at 5:24 pm (UTC -4)
I’m assuming Wanny means trading a player off the roster so there’s extra room for Emaus as the backup 2b?
I don’t think he can play SS though, so are we really going to keep an unexperienced bench player who can only play 2b on the roster?
stickguy
2/8/2011-5:44pm at 5:44 pm (UTC -4)
eamus can also play 3B, but that is not enough reason to keep him. I think he needs to win the job or be squeezed out.
and pretty sure Wanny meant to offer a different player back to the Blue Jays instead of Emaus, which is something you can do.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-5:51pm at 5:51 pm (UTC -4)
I guess either scenario would work then.
Who is the SS backup? Hu?
(no pun intended)
stickguy
2/8/2011-6:13pm at 6:13 pm (UTC -4)
right now, tentatively Hu. He is the best glove option for 2B and SS, and having a defensive replacement for 2B might be the more important issue anyway!
if he looks bad, they still have Herandez (though i think he stinks) and my choice turner. Not the strongest glove, but he can play SS and rakes vs. LHP.
once the 2B job is decided, the options should become clearer.
wannybackstra
2/9/2011-12:26pm at 12:26 pm (UTC -4)
I was suggesting they trade a player for him so they could keep him in AAA.
Bryan
2/8/2011-6:48pm at 6:48 pm (UTC -4)
Unless Emaus completely bombs out in ST, expect him on the team backing up a 2B and 3B and getting pinch-hitting chances. If he isn’t working out then they’ll offer him back and there’ll be no desire to try to keep him since they’ll have Turner in AAA, and several other young guys who play the middle infield.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-5:15pm at 5:15 pm (UTC -4)
Per Rubin:
A source familiar with Johan Santana’s recovery from surgery said people are under a misimpression if they believe the ace has not done anything throwing-wise since undergoing Sept. 14 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. It just hasn’t been with a baseball.
Mets doctor David Altchek cleared Santana to begin tossing a baseball on Jan. 14, but Santana’s physical therapist in Fort Myers, Fla., preferred the ace first replicate throwing motions doing other excercises. So Santana has been using a “pitch-back”-type netting and throwing a weighted ball against it. He’s also doing a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-type skyhook motion and bouncing a ball off a wall.
stickguy
2/8/2011-5:23pm at 5:23 pm (UTC -4)
my son went to a pitching academy at one point, and they had a lot of exercises to simulate the pitching motion but they held a towel that they “snapped”.
really, for this kind of rehab, actually throwing the ball isn’t that important, as long as he is building the strength and flexibility back up.
Prismo
2/8/2011-5:26pm at 5:26 pm (UTC -4)
Crazy rumor? Let’s hope not…
http://www.metsfansforever.com/mets_fans_forever/2011/02/martin-luther-king-iii-investor-group-to-purchase-mets.html
stickguy
2/8/2011-5:47pm at 5:47 pm (UTC -4)
that would certainly be interesting. And if MLB was really taking over, you know it would move quickly!
probably bogus, but who the hell knows at this point.
at least if it did go down now, the doom and gloom crowd would have to find some other negative future occurrence to harp on!
the one part that does sound right though is that if the Wilpons did get pushed up against the wall that bad, they probably would try to stay out of the middle of any dealing.
stickguy
2/8/2011-5:48pm at 5:48 pm (UTC -4)
also, could easily see a sale wrapped up into a settlement with Picard, just to tie up all the loose ends at the same time.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-5:50pm at 5:50 pm (UTC -4)
Hmmm…..I would be surprised if this blog had the scoop on that but I suppose anything is possible.
gategem
2/8/2011-7:40pm at 7:40 pm (UTC -4)
It sounds as if it came from a financial “souse.”
stickguy
2/8/2011-6:15pm at 6:15 pm (UTC -4)
Thinking of this rumor, if it was true, would certainly change the dynamic surrounding the team. And probably greatly increase the odds Reyes stays (though that also means it probably greatly increases the odds that new owners meddle the hell out of the FO!)
Assuming the premise is true (that they have decided to sell it all, and MLB is pushing it forward), you do, however, have to give other groups a chance to bid. they aren’t going to railroad through the first bunch to drop an offer.
And while there probably weren’t many people interested in 25% of just the team, if you put everything (mets, citi, SNY) up as a package, there are going to be a whole bunch of people IMO looking to get into that action.
frankly, as much as Fred wants to hold on, the small share sale was probably always a non starter. Doing the whole package though can make them a bundle.
even after paying off Picard, they can probably keep their RE “empire” afloat, and have plenty of money to live the extravagant life style they seem to be accustomed to.
Heck, if they want to stay owners, just hang onto the cyclones. Pretty much the same thing, and they will still be the only Brooklyn team!
saltygary
2/8/2011-7:36pm at 7:36 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for the write up Bryan, great work.
Ugh Ollie 23 BB and 30 H in 33 Innings.How the hell did he ever record an inning let alone 33. I hope they end this quick.
metsfan4decades
2/8/2011-7:48pm at 7:48 pm (UTC -4)
Sounds like a typical major league line for Ollie. Didn’t he lead the league in walks in ’08.
I feel a little bit sorry for Ollie. I get the feeling he has no idea where it all went wrong.
But then I think about 36mil for 3 years and think to myself – he’ll be O.K. if he didn’t do something stupid with that money.
saltygary
2/8/2011-7:57pm at 7:57 pm (UTC -4)
If he did something stupid with that much money I wouldn’t feel sorry for him. He can take that last 12m, never work again and have a very comfortable life.
CaseStreet
2/9/2011-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
Nice wrap up.
Emaus did play 87 games in AAA last year, hitting .298/.395/.495.
If Emaus gets 2B job, you got a bench of:
Paulino – C
Hairston – OF
Harris – OF
Hu – 2B/SS
Murphy – 1B/3B
Looks pretty good to me.
stickguy
2/9/2011-12:59pm at 12:59 pm (UTC -4)
I really don’t like Harris. Hopefully they get someone better instead on the bench.
Is Hairston a RH batter? That makes it harder on Evans making it. Not sure if there are any other LH batters as options (Duda I think should be playing every day)
wannybackstra
2/9/2011-1:15pm at 1:15 pm (UTC -4)
hairston has a ML deal. and since he mashes ML pitching lefties and plays an adequate CF…see ya Nick.
CaseStreet
2/9/2011-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
Harris will be a defensive replacement. He’s got good D and speed. What’s not to like for his role?
Essentially, he’s replacing Jesus Feliciano.
wannybackstra
2/9/2011-1:24pm at 1:24 pm (UTC -4)
An interesting question is who takes the final bench spot if Murphy wins 2B?
It could be Emaus if they can’t work out a trade but if he doesn’t win the job then he obviously needs to play everyday somewhere. Luis Hernandez? Duda (the bench doesn’t have any power and no LH power at all)?
And we are discounting the possibility that Castillo wins 2B by default.
CaseStreet
2/9/2011-1:29pm at 1:29 pm (UTC -4)
I guess it boils down to who plays the better D. I’ve never thought Castillo was horrible, but you’d have to imagine Emaus (or anyone else half decent) will have better range than Castillo.
Plus, if Ollie and Castillo (to a lesser extent) don’t get cut, There Will Be Blood!
stickguy
2/9/2011-1:52pm at 1:52 pm (UTC -4)
I think Sandy is also looking at the team as a multi year project. So unless there is a significant difference in performance, they are going with a young guy that could be part of the future, not an old fart that is 100% guaranteed to be off the team next year.
stickguy
2/9/2011-1:50pm at 1:50 pm (UTC -4)
just my guess, but I think that even if Murphy wins a 2B gig, they are going to hedge and have another “real” 2B on the team (as in a guy that can hit and potentially start, not just a pure defensive replacement like Hu).
I also still expect a platoon, so that obviously defines one of the bench spots.
but, as you point out, once the starting gigs are settled the bench needs will come into play.
castillo I only think gets the job if all the other options totally crap the bed.
Bryan
2/9/2011-8:04pm at 8:04 pm (UTC -4)
I think you got the bench pretty much nailed, although Murph should see significant time at 2B, perhaps even the primary starter. Evans may have a shot to replace Harris, but that makes the bench righty heavy, but with a lot more pop. I doubt Duda makes the opening day roster even though he’d be a power left handed bat, but there’s no way to give him regular at bats.
TRS86
2/10/2011-10:53am at 10:53 am (UTC -4)
If Murphy is the starting 2B then the bench will be
Paulino, Hu, Emaus, Hairston, Harris. Sorry Evans.
If Emaus is the starting 2B then the bench will be
Paulino, Hu, Murphy, Hairston, Evans. Sorry Harris.
stickguy
2/10/2011-11:04am at 11:04 am (UTC -4)
I really don’t like harris. make him go away please.
and what happens if they are officially platooning?
and don’t forget that Harris can go to the minors, evans likely would be lost. FWIW.
Ceetar
2/10/2011-11:07am at 11:07 am (UTC -4)
I don’t think anything about the Bench, especially with Evans, Harris Hairston and Emaus is considered set. A lot’s gonna depend on how they look.
stickguy
2/10/2011-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
exactly how it should be.’
also possible someone else gets picked up along the way, especially after other teams have to cut guys to get down to roster limits.
Ceetar
2/10/2011-11:12am at 11:12 am (UTC -4)
What if Castillo wins the job?
TRS86
2/10/2011-11:53am at 11:53 am (UTC -4)
Then Emaus and Murphy suck.
stickguy
2/10/2011-12:12pm at 12:12 pm (UTC -4)
And I refuse to log into this, or any other Met site, or watch any games.
Not that I will be bitter about it or anything.
another way to look at it is that something went terribly, terribly wrong.
although it would be interesting to see the reaction of the crowd when he was introduced. And if you really want to have an opening day for the ages, let Ollie get the start!
TRS86
2/10/2011-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah basically as I said above. If Castillo is the starting 2B then Emaus, Turner and Murphy all suck.
kistics
2/10/2011-12:48pm at 12:48 pm (UTC -4)
If Ollie or Castillo are on the roster come opening day, they will lose more fans from the current fan base.
I just don’t see it happening with all the financial mess and bad PR.