We’ve made it to the top time, where there are some real talented players. No more wasting time, let’s get to it:
10. Gavin Cecchini, SS – The Mets top pick in last year’s draft had a solid professional debut, being forced to play at Kingsport instead of the GCL and running a line of .246/.311/.330. The numbers don’t mean much right now, and they probably won’t for at least another year or two. What’s important now is that Cecchini has the tools to develop into an average major league shortstop one day, which is something every team has to have. It’d be asking a lot to send a 19-year old to full season ball in Savannah and have him play shortstop in the heat every day, so look for Cechini to headline Brooklyn’s roster this summer.
9. Aderlin Rodriguez, 3B – A lot of people have soured on A-Rod, but I’m still high on him because he has massive amount of power. A-Rod hit 24 homeruns last year between Savannah and St. Lucie, which is something, especially considering the size of Savannah’s ball park and reputation the FSL has for being a pitcher’s league. Power is a rare commodity in baseball, and Rodriguez has plenty of it, which is why he’s a top-10 prospect. The rest of his game isn’t so impressive, but he’s making progress in a lot of areas. If he can prove himself worthy of a mid-season promotion to AA, he’ll be in real good shape.
8. Michael Fulmer, RP – Along with Rafael Montero, Fulmer had one of the most impressive seasons in 2012, rocking a 2.74 ERA as a 19-year old in full season ball, which is almost mind blowing. Fulmer has an overpowering fastball that hits in the mid 90’s on a regular basis and a slider that was looking awfully close to a plus pitch by the end of the season. I have him at 8, which is as low as you’ll find him on anybody’s list, but Fulmer is still far from the big leagues, at his age he won’t be going through more than one level per year, and he still needs to develop a third pitch if he’s going to be a major league starter. That being said, Fulmer has as much promise as almost any pitcher in the organization.
7. Domino Tapia, RP – Tapia and Fulmer could easily flip-flop positions, but I have Tapia higher because he’s a little further along and has a higher floor. Some scouts believe that Tapia’s fastball could make him a contributor in a major league bullpen right now, which means that barring something dramatic and unforeseen he will pitch in the big leagues one day. When Tapia’s fastball is on, it can be nearly impossible to do anything but hit it into the ground for as easy ground out. He also has a change up, which is his best secondary pitch and helps him keep lefties off balance. If Tapia can develop a slider to give him a three-pitch mix, he could become a mid-rotation starter, if not better. If things don’t break that way for him, his fastball is good enough to make him a contributor in a major league bullpen. Of course, that day is a few years away, as the Mets will be content to take their time with Tapia and let him develop.
6. Jeurys Familia, RP – Familia is another guy that I have higher than most, but he’s close to getting to the big leagues for good, possibly straight out of spring training, and with his stuff he could be an impact guy at the back end of the bullpen. The chances that Familia could become a starter in the big leagues remain slim, but his fastball and his slider are both swing and miss pitches, which will work great as a late-inning reliever. His biggest problem is his control, which is a pretty big problem, but if he can avoid hurting himself by walking batters, his stuff will play very well in the majors.
52 comments
TX
2/14/2013-10:12am at 10:12 am (UTC -4)
I’m surprised AdRod is so high and Fulmer is this low in your list. I’m sure it’s more about when they will make the bigs. I see big things from Fulmer.
Bryan
2/14/2013-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
I’m a little surprised too actually, because I’d actually be more willing to trade Tapia than I would Fulmer, but with Fulmer he’s a little too hard to project right now b/c he’s a few years away. With A-Rod, it’s all about his power, and his slow improvement overall.
srt
2/14/2013-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
Mejia might not even make it into the country before ST is over. I’m reading that no one has any idea how long this investigation will be and it might be lengthy.
Shame…I was looking forward to seeing him in ST.
Stick
2/14/2013-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
the DR knows they are going to do this, so why wait so long to start? Were they too busy in December?
srt
2/14/2013-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
I read it was ‘random’, as far as Mejia’s case is concerned.
So I can only image that means when he showed up, he got snagged.
But something just doesn’t sound right with all this. If it was random – and considering all documentation is probably in place for Mejia b/c he’s gone back and forth before – why would this be some lengthy investigation?
Something they’re not telling us?????
TX
2/14/2013-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
I hope his new name is something more exotic than Mejia. And I hope the Mets say, We don’t care what your age is or what your name is. You just keep on pitching for us.
srt
2/14/2013-11:19am at 11:19 am (UTC -4)
haha
I hope he’s really somewhere around age 18 than his reported age. If he pans out, we’ll have him for a decade or more in his prime.
Stick
2/14/2013-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
won’t it be a kick in the nuts when we find out his real name is Chest Rockwell, he is 42, and likes music?
TX
2/14/2013-12:17pm at 12:17 pm (UTC -4)
Always wondered what his call in music would be. Them Bones by Alice in Chains?
kingman 26
2/14/2013-12:40pm at 12:40 pm (UTC -4)
His real name is Reed Rothchild and he is an ex-porn star and musician.
TX, Them Bones is one of my all-time favorite Seattle songs. Love that song.
TX
2/14/2013-12:47pm at 12:47 pm (UTC -4)
Was listening to the radio this morning and they had “classic Girl” on by Jane’s Addiction. brought back some fun memories of yesteryear.
Stick
2/14/2013-10:21am at 10:21 am (UTC -4)
Send Familia to Seattle. or even better, steal their pitching coach.
Anyone that can fix Ollie’s mechanics and control can fix anyone.
TX
2/14/2013-10:24am at 10:24 am (UTC -4)
Familia, Valdy and filler for an OF? I’ve heard that somewhere before… Hmmmm….
Stick
2/14/2013-11:02am at 11:02 am (UTC -4)
you need to update that to include Murphy, so Flores can step in at 2B.
TX
2/14/2013-11:06am at 11:06 am (UTC -4)
Done and Done.
All those guys + a higher upside lower level guy for Reddick! Just so we can have a Chronicles of Reddick.
srt
2/14/2013-11:52am at 11:52 am (UTC -4)
OT for TRS:
Thanks for trying to get through to you-know-who on my behalf. As you can see, it’s a waste of time.
Trying to get through to him that next time he gets banned – and he will – he will not be able to use me an excuse for ‘baiting’ him. I guess though that was a waste of my time as well……
TRS86
2/14/2013-11:56am at 11:56 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, I know you don’t need help taking care of yourself but considering he wasn’t listening and continuing to attack I gave you some cover fire. LOL.
TX
2/14/2013-12:02pm at 12:02 pm (UTC -4)
You’d think they would invoke the 3rd ban is the charm type thing.
srt
2/14/2013-12:06pm at 12:06 pm (UTC -4)
He’s so lucky – most other sites are a one and done type deal.
Although our friend TKFJ got banned over at AA late last season and due to much lobbying by some, he managed to get reinstated. He claims he’s now in a much more ‘positive’ place as far as the Mets are concerned. I asked him the other day if I can have some of what he’s smokin’ – LOL.
I’ll give him one week until we see on a Game Thread, in the first inning: ‘Game Over’.
TRS86
2/14/2013-12:08pm at 12:08 pm (UTC -4)
SRT, I don’t think luck has anything to do with why Bay is still around at MMO.
TX
2/14/2013-12:11pm at 12:11 pm (UTC -4)
Ah, i remember those dugout chats. 1st pitch called strike “GAME OVER!!!!!”.
srt
2/14/2013-12:12pm at 12:12 pm (UTC -4)
Point acknowledge, real.
Stick
2/14/2013-12:13pm at 12:13 pm (UTC -4)
I saw your “fan” back and forth today. Why he has not been dumpsterized 9condiering there are repeated violations of the rules that the bossman posts on occasion) is a mystery. And frankly, his buddy there has pretty much crossed the line and stayed there too. Though I did find it hysterical that he claimed you were not one that said Sandy was a Bud Plant!
shame, because there are some really good people over there that just don’t want to bother with the nonsense, and it really takes away from the quality of the site.
As to TK, I started reading AA each evening (thanks to you talking it up) and I saw him the other day. It was such a calm, placid comment, that I figured he must have had EST or gone on prozak.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
Well, like the wreck on the highway or the drunk passed out in the street or the 400-pound person at the beach, I had to look.
Really, at this point, you deserve all of the grief you get for frequenting that site.
I respect the HELL out of you two SRT and TRS, but I guess I just cannot believe that you truly cannot find better things to do with your time than give the utter, complete, pathetic handful of outrageous losers over there the satisfaction of interacting with you two people, who are far better in every respect than they ever could even aspire to be.
As for the owner of that site? His tolerance of The Core of Idiocy makes him every bit as bad as they are.
Disgusting.
I saw one of them recently compare Alderson to something like a “bitch crying rape.”
Disgusting, juvenile, self-hating, misogynistic, misanthropic, ignorant, utter losers who are not remotely close to being worthy of interacting with you two.
darknova306
2/14/2013-12:55pm at 12:55 pm (UTC -4)
+1 to Kong’s comment. Very well stated, sir. Agreed on all counts.
Stick
2/14/2013-12:59pm at 12:59 pm (UTC -4)
Knog, kind of like you and MB, there are some very sharp people over there. they just get lost in the shuffle.
Though unlike MB, the site has quite a few interesting, intelligent articles. The comments section usually ruins the experience.
the key, however, is just skipping past anything written by certain posters (a self-imposed block feature). Don’t even read what they wrote, and any thread they are in is usally just insults and nonsense. Just read the parts that include comments from people that are not clinically insane.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-1:01pm at 1:01 pm (UTC -4)
I cannot believe them. I cannot believe they are there all day, I cannot believe they bring the literal sh*t stains from that place here, I cannot believe they defend that ridiculous playpen for ignorant outcast bullies and their enabling owner, I just cannot believe it.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-1:05pm at 1:05 pm (UTC -4)
Sorry Stick, despite their calling us the “desert” that place does not have THAT many more commenters, and while Metsblog surely leads the league in idiocy, there actually are NOT people there like the main core members who spew hatred and misogyny in the manner of the core. When there are, they get banned. Which is why some of the core is where they are now.
In addition, just as Metsblog did when we were all banned, there is a great group of dozens of wonderful, funny, intelligent, baseball-savvy people over there today.
I cannot believe I am debating this because I came here and was soiled with the sh*t from that sorry-ass home of rejects.
I respect the hell out of all of you and have for 6+ years or whatever.
srt
2/14/2013-2:14pm at 2:14 pm (UTC -4)
Just about all baseball sites I frequent have some lunacy going on with some posters. As you said though, they’re usually not tolerated for long, nor should they be.
If you can ignore the handful of crazies, along with the good content over there, there are some very knowledgeable baseball fans who like to talk baseball – specifically all things Mets.
gategem
2/14/2013-4:31pm at 4:31 pm (UTC -4)
“Disgusting, juvenile, self-hating, misogynistic, misanthropic, ignorant, utter losers”
Kong would you mind if I quote you from time to time?
kingman 26
2/14/2013-4:55pm at 4:55 pm (UTC -4)
I would consider it an honor of the most majestic magnitude!
srt
2/14/2013-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
Another OT – for the powers that be here.
How come I no longer see any tweets from Adam Rubin in the Twitter feed to the right? I don’t have a Twitter account but I regularly follow those. I see many other sports writers but never Rubin anymore.
Is that some type of Twitter feed he’s unsubscribed himself from?
TRS86
2/14/2013-12:22pm at 12:22 pm (UTC -4)
Good question.
TRS86
2/14/2013-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
I am NOT saying that they will release him but
“A handful of Marlins on the 40-man roster are out of options and the ones to keep an eye on are outfielders Gorkys Hernandez and Justin Ruggiano plus left-handed pitchers Wade LeBlanc and Mike Dunn, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. ”
If the Mets could snag Ruggiano for next to nothing it would be a good pick up.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruggiju01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.typepad.com
TX
2/14/2013-12:48pm at 12:48 pm (UTC -4)
Sounds like a type of Parmesan.
Stick
2/14/2013-12:56pm at 12:56 pm (UTC -4)
when you are waiting for scraps to fall off the Marlin’s table, then you know you have hit rock bottom.
actually, that would be the Astros, so 1 step above bottom.
saw an interesting tidbit today. Astros have a chance to be the first team to lose 106 games or more in a season 3 years running since the 62-65 Mets did it.
Man, the Astros are really, really bad. not quite sure (not having paid attention, Tx probably knows!) how they got that turrible.
TX
2/14/2013-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
They have one prospect on the cusp in Singleton and that’s all she wrote. Other than that, it’s all lowest level types that may pan out down the line. They are really bad. They need to follow the Mets model of keeping all their picks and hoping they pan out. Unfortunately, the Mets had a Dickey they could trade. The Astros may try to trade away Altuve or Norris, and neither are much to get excited about. I bet they don’t sniff .500 ball until 2016. I know a lot can happen in 3-4 years, but they are that bad. I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually attain the worst record of all time this year.
The park is nice and when it’s a million degrees there, it’s always nice to see a game in air conditioning.
srt
2/14/2013-2:16pm at 2:16 pm (UTC -4)
Not only do the Astros project to be historically bad, they also got roped into moving to the AL. Man, if that was the Mets I can’t tell you how pissed I’d be as a fan.
TX
2/14/2013-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, they got screwed royally. It should have been AZ that moved to the AL west and Houston to the NL west. That would have put more games in Houston’s central time zone with Colorado.
Prismo
2/14/2013-4:18pm at 4:18 pm (UTC -4)
Honestly…too bad. Don’t care.
I’m pretty sure Johan Santana is making as much or more than their entire team is making this season.
You get what you pay for and they deserve to lose 150 games, regardless of what division they’re in.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-12:45pm at 12:45 pm (UTC -4)
Bryan–
Is Montero really not as good of a prospect as Cecchini and some of these guys yet?
Bryan
2/14/2013-1:17pm at 1:17 pm (UTC -4)
He’s very close, and you could make the argument that he should be ranked higher, but it’s all about how you value and weight different things that each guy brings to the table.
For instance, Cecchini is quite a ways from the big leagues, but he can be projected to be an average ML shortstop, which is an incredibly valuable thing to have. Meanwhile Montero had a phenomenal year in 2012, but at best, his ceiling is a #3 starter, so even though he’ll start the season a level ahead of Fulmer and Tapia, those two guys have higher ceilings and a little better stuff, so they’re a little higher.
I really like Montero, but he’s kind of caught in the middle between being close enough to be the big leagues where you’d expect him to pitch there this year and being a high-ceiling guy like Tapia, so that’s what kept him out of the top 10 for me. If he had half a season in AA or a little higher ceiling, he probably could have moved into the top 10. That being said, I think it’s exciting that he’s in big league camp and he’ll be a fascinating guy to watch this year.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-1:39pm at 1:39 pm (UTC -4)
Excellent answer, and I am honestly sorry that there is just one more installation in this series!
Thanks again for this wonderful, educational, interesting, and very well-done series.
Great feature for the site.
Bryan
2/14/2013-2:33pm at 2:33 pm (UTC -4)
you’re very welcome.
Mr North Jersey
2/14/2013-1:24pm at 1:24 pm (UTC -4)
The power potential Aderlin seems to possess keeps me also hoping on his potential.
greggofboken
2/14/2013-3:20pm at 3:20 pm (UTC -4)
For those interested, the article from Forbes mentioned in the sidebar is worth a look. In light of Fred’s proclamations yesterday about financial solvency, the article poiints out the substantial debt that both the Mets and SNY are currently carrying (nearly $900M) and opines that the Mets current mid-level payroll totals are likely to be at least the short-term future.
kingman 26
2/14/2013-4:32pm at 4:32 pm (UTC -4)
Fred said a couple of years ago that Madoff would not affect the Mets.
I am not a Fred-hater, but believing a word he says about pretty much anything financial is ludicrous.
srt
2/14/2013-5:55pm at 5:55 pm (UTC -4)
Couldn’t agree more with you, Kingman.
I don’t hate the man but I can’t trust much of what they’ve been putting out publicly regarding all things Mets since Madoff was arrested.
Between Fred and Dave Howard – vehemently denying Madoff’s arrest wouldn’t affect the Mets, they would never sell the team or one iota of the team….well, most of those initial statements were untrue. Now, some might argue they believed it at the time, until they got hit with a billion dollar lawsuit. But even then, they tried to cover much up, such as the 25 MIL MLB loan they got.
Sorry…..but I have to take everything Fred says about the Mets with a grain of salt.
srt
2/14/2013-5:57pm at 5:57 pm (UTC -4)
I believe Howard Megdal had a similar article alluding to this yesterday or today. I read it, just can’t remember what day he put that up.
Fred himself said yesterday that the goal is to break even and in order to do that, the team needs to do well this season. If – and only if – that happens for the 2013 season will Sandy be given the O.K. to raise payroll – as Fred also said yesterday.
greggofboken
2/14/2013-8:53pm at 8:53 pm (UTC -4)
Yes. It was yesterday and he outlined the above debt as well as some other things. Regrettably, he’s got a large credibility gap given some of his own previous history. He seems to write with an agenda and retrofits the facts to support them.
The Forbes blurb didn’t go into any depth about why they believed the team wouldn’t be able to raise above mid-level payrolls for the next few years. (Simply having debt doesn’t mean squat.)
At the end of the day, it’s all lip service until it’s actually evidenced. Cynics among the Faithful are justified until the skepticism is disproved.
darknova306
2/14/2013-9:44pm at 9:44 pm (UTC -4)
Worrying about how high payroll is seems really ludicrous to me. It’s not the money that’s being spent, or available to be spent, it’s the players the money is actually being spent on. There’s not a whole lot on the FA market next year to justify going back to an Omar Era payroll. Yet if the team doesn’t jump payroll back up to $120M+, the majority of fans will be all over the “Wilpons are broke” meme. Don’t worry about how much money ownership says is available, worry about what talent is actually worth paying for.
3doza33
2/14/2013-10:08pm at 10:08 pm (UTC -4)
You said tapia is a little further along than Fulmer? I love Tapia but disagree there. Tapia has two pitches and needed a month long break last year whe Fulmer has 3 pitches and was a bulldog last year! I absolutely love both these guys but I think Fulmer is a little further ahead of the learning curve.