Gomez and Martinez

So far in spring training Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez have had their hype raise even more. There has been a plethora of links about these two young outfield prospects. Here is why:

Gomez is 6 foot 4, almost 200 pounds. The reason why he is so valued is because of his speed and power. Carlos Gomez told Adam Rubin that in races "He wins sometimes. Ten times, I win seven." Not only is he amazingly fast he has alot of potential power because of his size. Beltran admitted in a report to Ken Rosenthal that "He's more talented than I was at his age. He weighs about 200 pounds. When I was that age, I maybe weighed 175. He's a very strong kid." Also Gomez has a powerful arm throwing from the center field wall to third base on a one hopper in yesterdays intersquad game.

Links for Carlos Gomez Articles:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6509536
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/story/500852p-422367c.html

Fernando Martinez is 6 feet and 180 punds. Scouts really love his hitting. He has very good power to left and center field which is impressive from any hitter none the less an 18 year old.
He is a very advanced hitter for his age which is allowing him to quickly move through the minor league system. Martinez will mostly likely start this season in AA Binghamton.

Links for Fernando Marinez Articles:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6509536
Here

Away

I appoligize for not writing any articles in a week but I was in vactation in Arizona. During my vacation I broke my ankle. Because of my broken ankle I will have more time to update Mets Prospects and will be posting more articles more often.

Beauty and Grace

The swing was effortless and smooth. The ball sailed on a line over the centerfield wall and finally collided with the batter's eye wall behind the fence, about 30 feet up the 40-foot wall. And Mets' principal owner Fred Wilpon just said, "Wow."

The blast was courtesy of 18-year-old Fernando Martinez, the phenom the Mets signed out of the Dominican Republic two years ago. Before you get too excited, he's still a ways away from the major leagues. While the Mets want him to get a taste of playing time in the spring -- along with Carlos Gomez -- that is all he is here for now.

The Mets expect him to start the season at AA with Gomez in AAA. One small detail to be worked out -- they are both center fielders, as is Lastings Milledge. With Carlos Beltran already entrenched there for at least five more years, one Mets exec said that they won't switch them out of center until they have to. Milledge worked in the corners last year. The others won't yet.

Both will attend the Mets Spring Training
http://njmg.typepad.com/springtraining/steve_popper/index.html

Article on Kelvin Mulvey

If you would like to know about the Mets First Draft Pick in 2006, Kevin Mulvey Click Here

Non-Roster Invitees

The Mets have Invited 22 players that are not on the Mets 40 Man Roster. Here is a closer look at a few of the top prospects.

Kevin Mulvey,Pitcher, 21 years old, 62nd pick of 2006 draft (Mets first Pick): Scouts are impressed with his command of three average or better pitches: around a 90-94 mph fastball, a good slider that is very effective against right-handed hitters and a curveball that might be better than his slider. Along with that, he has a loose, easy arm action and clean mechanics, and he has learned to eliminate distractions from umpires and defensive lapses behind him that tended to rattle him early in his college career.

Joe Smith, Pitcher, 22 years old, selected in the 2005 draft: could be ready to pitch at the major leagues by the middle of this season, viewed as a future set-up man.

Francisco Pena, Catcher, 17 years old, son of former MLB Player Tony Pena: Has been described as having a bit of a "soft body" but with a strong arm and power potential, he was also Catcher on the Little Leauge team with Danny Almonte

Jose Ariel Reyes, Catcher, 23 years old but turns 24 2/26, he was signed as a non-drafted free agent in May 1999: spent his six-year career in the club's minor league system...has played for two league championship teams during his career, as Mesa (R) won the Arizona league title in 2002 and Lansing (A) was awarded the Midwest League title in 2003. Made his Major League debut Sept. 13 against Los Angeles as a defensive replacement.Split the season between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .238 (60-for-252) with 22 RBIs in 84 games.

Mike Nickeas, Catcher, 24 years old: Born in Vancouver, played three years at Georgia Tech before being drafted by the Rangers in the 5th round of the 2004 draft. He started his pro career with the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League. He batted .288 with 10 HRs and 55 RBIs for Spokane. In 2005, he played for the Rangers' Double A team, the Frisco RoughRiders. He had a disappointing year at the plate, batting only .202 with 5 HRs and 24 RBIs in 68 games, but Baseball America named Nickeas the best defensive catcher in the Rangers minor league system. On August 30, 2006, he was traded to the New York Mets for outfielder Victor Diaz.

Michel Abreu, Infielder, 28 years old: Considered a cost effective platoon guy or pinch hitter for next year but not the first basemen of the future for the Mets.

Mike Carp, First Base, 20 years old: named the organization's Minor League Player-of-the-Year, batted .287 this season at high-A St. Lucie and displayed the power (17 homers, 88 RBI in 137 games) the Mets liked when they drafted him out of high school in 2004, worked on going to all fields this year, had 107 strikeouts in his first 491 at-bats, but the Mets believe he'll get a better grasp on the strike zone

Ruben Gotay, Infielder, 24 years old, Graduated from Dr. Santiago Veue Calzada (Fajardo, PR) High, 1999: switch-hitting second baseman played 130 games for Kansas City in the past two years, batting .242 with six homers and 45 RBI

Fernando Martinez, 18 years old: Who doesnt know about this guy.

Spring Training

Spring Training is officially here as Catchers and Pitchers reported to Camp today. This should be a very exciting spring training because of these reasons:

1) The battle for the 5th spot in the rotation
2)The quantity of Starting Pitchers and the amount that will make the team
3)It's baseball time again
4)Watching the future; Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez
5)Seeing how the team meshes
6) Can milledge overtake Shawn Green for Right Field
7) Watching Reyes work with Ricky Henderson
8)The Spring Training Atmosphere
9) The begining of a Great Season!

Mets Add Another

Today the Mets claimed 22–year-old RHP Marcos Carvajal off waivers from the Devil Rays. He was designated for assignent on Tuesday.
In 72 innings pitched at Double-A last season, Cravajal had a 3.86 ERA, 69 strikeouts and 36 walks.

Mets 2007 Success

I found an article over at ESPN abouth how the Mets are still the team to beat in the National League.

Steroids & Waner Mateo

On ESPN there is an article about Steroid problems in the Dominican Republic. This article focuses on Mets Minor Leaguer Waner Mateo. A 21 year old Dominican who violated Major League Baseball's drug policy. The article trys to explain the reasons to use Steroids from Dominican's view.

Mets Sign Chan Ho Park

Chan Ho Park, who has posted a 113-87 record with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres, today signed a one-year major league contract with the Mets. Park, a 33-year-old righthander, will be in Port St. Lucie, FL when the Mets' pitchers and catchers hold their first workout on February 17th. In 1,746.2 career innings, he has 1,507 strikeouts, an average of 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

Mike Carp Bio

He earned ABCA All-American Honors for Region 8 coming out of high school. Carp was picked by the Mets in the 9th round in the 2004 draft. He received a $60,000 bonus upon signing with the Mets.

The Mets named 20 year old Carp as the winner of the 2006 Sterling Minor League Organizational Player of the Year. Baseball America named him the 6th top prospect in the 2006 Florida State League. He played 2006 winter ball for North Shore in Hawaii where he led the league with a .301 BA (0 HR, 16 RBIs). InsidePitch listed him (in Nov 2006) as the 6th top Mets prospect. In December 2006, Scout.com listed Carp as one of the top 10 Mets prospects and the 10th best 1B prospect in all of baseball.

Fantasyinfocentral.com ranks Carp as the #9 Mets prospect. Baseball Prospectus re-evaluated their top 10 Mets prospect list in December 2006 and placed Carp 8th, and labeled him “an average prospect”. John Sickles’ in his 2007 Top Mets Prospect list has him as #8, with a B- rating, and the comments “developing power bat to watch”. The important thing to remember about Carp is his age, or lack of it. For more visit: macksmets.com

More on Hodge

Macks Mets had this to say on 18 year old leftyLachlan Hodge: He is known as “The Shire,"He was sent to the MLB Academy last year, but chose to sign with the Mets instead of going back there this year. Hodge competed in the U18 National Championships in Geelong in January. Which increased his value with attending scounts. The signing bonus the Mets game him was the highest ever offered at the Academy.

Caribbean World Series Wrap Up

The Dominican Republic Won the Caribbean World Series, ending the tourney with a 5-1 record. Former Met Jose Lima took the loss despite pitching well in their only loss. His final line: 8.1 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BBs, 5 Ks, 2.02 era, L (0-1).

Anderson Hernandez went 1 for 3, with a walk and K, and ended his season as follows:
CWS: .310/.355/.345 (9 for 29, 6 runs, 2b, 2 RBI, 2 BBs, 5 Ks)
Overall winter stats: .348/.402/.429 (81 for 233, 45 runs, 12 2b, 2 3b, HR, 24 RBI, 21 BBs, 28 Ks)

Ruben Gotay went 0 for 3, and ended his season as follows:
CWS: .143/.182/.238 (3 for 21, 3 runs, 2 2b, 2 RBI, BB, 3 Ks)
Overall winter stats: .284/.401/.426 (42 for 148, 26 runs, 10 2b, 3b, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 29 BBs, 24 Ks)

Pedro Feliciano got the win, his second in two days, going 1 IP, H, BB, K. His season ended this way:
CWS: 2-0, 0.00 era, 3 G, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BBs, 4 Ks
Overall winter stats: 2-1, 1.76 era, 13 G, 15.1 IP, 10 H, 6 BBs, 14 Ks

Willie Collazo's (who was also on Team Puerto Rico) season ended up like this:
CWS: 0-1, 1.35 era, 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, ER, BB, 4 Ks, 1.20 WHIP
Overall winter stats: 4-3, 1.90 era, 11 G, 8 GS, 57 IP, 45 H, 11 BBs, 29 Ks

Minor League Signing

The Mets have signed 18–year-old, Australian LHP Lachlan Hodge. Hodge will report to Extended Spring Training in Port St. Lucie during early-April, after which he will return to Australia to complete high school. I do not really know anything about Hodge time being.

John Ricco Interview

Today at about 9 this morning, my friend Ryan Crofts interviewed John Ricco, the assistant General Manager of the Mets. I was fortunate enough to be able to listen in the interview which was around 20 minutes long. The interview covered everything from Mets 2006 success to prospects to broadcasting. The interview will be on a Westport local station WWPT 90.3 sometime next week. I will also post the interview online.

True?

Based on an apparent error in the minor league baseball database, Mets prospect Fernando Martinez was listed as having a birthday of December 10, 1986 on his player page at minor league baseball’s website. Obviously, this would mean he is 20 years old and not the 18-year-old phenom that he was believed to be.

If this were true, it would certainly dim his prospect status. You can breathe out Mets fans, because it is not true.

When reached by phone this morning, Mets farm director Adam Wogan reaffirmed that Martinez was born on October 10, 1988. An official with MLB has acknowledged the error and it will be corrected.

Thats a relief!

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=33

Oh No Fernando

I recently found out Fernando Martinez's true age. Accoriding to MiLB.com the young prospect who was the youngest player to play in the Arizona Fall League Martinez is actually 20 years old. It lists Fernando Martinez as being born on December 10, 1986. Wow! This is a shock. Though this often happends with guys from the Latin American Countries. This is really huge. Martinez is projected to be in the majors in 2010. That would mean he would be 23. This does change my perception of Fernando. This also increases the Value of Carlos Gomez, the other Mets Prospect Outfielder who is now 1 year older and will probably arive in the Majors in 2008.

The Next John Maine

Before the start of the 2006 season, the Mets traded Kris Benson for relief pitcher Jorge Julio and starter John Maine. At the time of the trade, no one really knew who John Maine really was and the future role he would have on the Mets 2006 season. Before the 2006 season John Maine was a nobody, having only pitched in 11 major league games. As the season wore on Maine eventually got the chance to show himself. Maine continued to pitch well and eventually earned a spot in the starting rotation in the playoffs. John Maine was the unknown who was the Hero in the last year’s season. These are my potential candidates to be the next John Maine.

Alay Soler is a 27 year-old from Nancy Uranga, Cuba. Soler debuted on May 24, 2006 and started 8 games for the Mets. Soler has show success but inconsistency. On June 10th, Soler started against the Diamondbacks. On that day, Soler pitched a complete game 2 hit shutout. In 3 starts spanning from June 5th to June 16th Soler gave up only 2 earned runs. Though, Soler did face control problems throughout the game season. In 5 of his 8 games pitched, Soler walked 3 or more hitters. In 3 of Soler’s 8 games he gave up 7 or more earned runs. I believe Soler has the chance to be the next John Maine because of his previous experience. Before coming to the Majors Soler pitched in Cuba for many years. His experience could create opportunities like it did last year. Hopefully his control has improved.

24 year old Jason Vargas has potential to have a solid chance this season. Vargas has pitched in 29 major league games after debuting on July 14, 2005. Vargas has a chance to become a solid lefty which is hard to come by in the Majors. Honestly, I do not know that much about Vargas which is why he is so much like Maine. Before the 2006 season I only knew Maine’s basic bio. The final reason is both Maine and Vargas arrived via trade which links them together.

Happy Birthday

Pitcher Jason Vargas turns 24 today. The Mets acquired Vargas via trade this offseason.