Jul
24
2011

Pagan Drawing Interest, Gary Brown Was A Late Scratch Last Night

An article by Joe D

According to Andy Martino of the Daily News, Mets centerfielder Angel Pagan is drawing interest from at least one team that has contacted the Mets, but also speculates that Carlos Beltran will likely be the only player the Mets will move before the deadline.

Pagan has taken a huge hit in value since his breakthrough season last year when he batted .290, scored 80 runs and played stellar defense. This season has been up and down at the plate for Pagan and he is struggling to get his average over .250 for most of the season.

Worse yet for Pagan has been an alarming increase in mental mistakes on the bases and in the field where he is now ranked as one of the worst defensive centerfielders in the game. Ironically, some scouts now view Beltran as the superior option in centerfield for the Mets.

Meanwhile, San Francisco centerfield prospect Gary Brown was a late scratch last night leading to speculation that he could be close to being dealt to the Mets in a deal for Carlos Beltran. If that is indeed the case, the Giants will have to offer him as a player to be named later as he is ineligible to be traded until August 1 due to MLB rules on trading recently drafted players.

Brown is having a solid season in Single-A-and would be years away from being major league ready. He was currently ranked #33 in Baseball America’s midseason prospect rankings.

The speedster is batting .313 in 390 AB with eight home runs, 57 RBI, 78 runs scored, and 39 stolen bases. In many ways he is comparable to former Met Lenny Dykstra.

Here is a video I saw posted on NYBD of Brown from May 19th when he went 3-5 with a home run and made some sparkling defensive plays.

With Pagan looking more and more like nothing but a fourth outfielder at best, and recent injuries to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Fernando Martinez, the Mets do need a top outfield prospect in the pipeline and Brown would be a worthwhile addition.

About the Author: Joe DeCaro

I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.

9 Comments + Add Comment

Patrick July 24, 2011 at 10:02 am

Why would he be years away? Ike Davis was rushed into the show in 2010 having spent little to no time in AA/AAA. David Wright who was a longer term minor league developed talent out of high school spent a couple of months at AA and about a month at AAA before being called up in 2004. It is no inconceivable Brown could play in 2012. Might not be best idea, but not unthinkable.
- t agee July 24, 2011 at 10:20 am
  
  Brown in the Majors in 2012 would be a rush job. Just because Ike was rushed and seemingly made it through unscathed doesn’t mean everyone can, especially at a premium defensive position.
  
  Ike had quite a few things to work on in AAA in 2010 namely hitting vs. LHP. His results up here were good, real good (.295) but they were helped immeasurably by a large amount of infield singles which really isn’t part of Ike’s game and so far this year in 50 AB’s he only hit .163 so the jury is still out.
  
  Rushing guys always involve trade offs and of the numerous prospects rushed through the minors during the Minaya era I can only think of two who even held their own up here in their first go around, Murphy and Davis. On the other hand, Fern, Carlos Gomes, Milledge, Pelfrey, Humber, Kunz, Mejia, Tejada, Thole all proved to not be ready and all contributed more to us losing games than winning one’s.
  
  What good is that?
  
  Let the prospect tell you when he is ready not the other way around. A logical projection would be AA next year, AAA to start in 2013 with a potential Sept call up if everything seems to be progressing correctly.
- SandMan July 24, 2011 at 10:32 am
  
  Wright spent four years in the minors dude, not 6 months. Plus iot’s nice to see some fans never learn. You dont rush prospects.
t agee July 24, 2011 at 10:06 am

I would definitely take Brown in a trade for Beltran. In fact even though it’s at a position where we already have a little depth with Niuwenhauss, Fern, Den Dekker, Puello, Ceccilini, Vaughn, Lagares and Zapata we have been repeatedly killed by counting on just one guy for every position and then being left with nothing when they get hurt or slow down.

The more high end prospects we have the more chances there are to solve some of these numerous holes we have every year.
- Pete July 24, 2011 at 10:30 am
  
  Out of the guys you list, only Capt Kirk, Ceciliani and Den Dekker are really major league caliber CF prospects. The other guys are all corner outfielders. Den Dekker and Ceciliani have gap power, but not the potential of Gary Brown. Capt Kirk is thought to be a borderline big league CF’er because of his less-than-blazing speed. Brown is much faster than the Captain. Bottom line, we don’t have anyone in our system who profiles favorably to Brown. He has a very unique and valuable skill set, and could project as our lead-off hitter after Reyes. If we can pry him away from the Giants, it would be a huge achievement, and a major rebuilding piece to add to the puzzle.
  - t agee July 24, 2011 at 11:26 am
    
    I agree completely Pete. Kirk is a borderline CF/4th OF type, Den Dekker is 25 in AA with a huge strikeout %, Puello and Ceccilini having weak years in A- and the rest are corner OF prospects.
    
    Brown instantly becomes our best CF prospect by far.
Mack Ade July 24, 2011 at 10:40 am

Gary Brown was just given a day off last night… nothing more.
METS62FAN July 25, 2011 at 10:09 am

For a franchise so bereth of high quality talent in the later levels of development(be it Dom Brown or another high level return,) late & close (AAA,AA) are tangible must have requirements for a team needing to forego shopping the open market for staples. Another A level is merely ‘nice’ & far fronm fulfilling a drastic need. Gary Brown types are equivilent to acquring those magic beans for the last cow, Jack! Sure, magic beans can occasionallyy prove out; but I wouldn’t bet a baseball franchise on it.

Realize, there will likely be a hard deadline for significant improvement, without which the Wilpons will not avoid losing control of their franchise in 3 years to Einhorn. getting more players, regardless of talent who may or may not be contributing @ the MLB level by then is clueless.
Fire Blogs » Blog Archive » Pagan Drawing Interest, Gary Brown Was A Late Scratch Last Night July 25, 2011 at 11:20 am

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NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	23	18	.561	-
Nationals	23	19	.548	0.5
Phillies	20	22	.476	3.5
Mets	16	23	.410	6.0
Marlins	11	31	.262	12.5

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