31
2011
Don’t Count Out Reese Havens In 2012 Second Base Competition
An article by 
You have to love the way middle infielder Ruben Tejada has sprung out of nowhere to become one of the team’s hottest hitters in August batting .364 with a .440 OBP and .500 SLG in 66 at-bats. On the year, Tejada has raised his batting average to .282, ahead of Justin Turner who is batting .257. Turner has cooled off considerably since getting off to a hot start after his promotion.
Both Turner and Tejada are viewed as two chief candidates for the second base job next Spring. It’s a battle that we saw waged prior to this season, but was never actually resolved. We’ll be doing it all over again in March – hopefully with better results.
Daniel Murphy, who is out for the season with a leg injury, will also be in the mix for the second base competition, and while we all know he can hit, it’s his fielding that could keep him from ultimately locking onto the position. His positioning on a play at second base, led to the collision that wiped out the rest of his season for the second straight year.
That brings us to a dark horse candidate – second base prospect Reese Havens. After a few injury plagued seasons, Havens is finally stringing together a solid season for Double-A Binghamton where he is hitting .292 with six homers, 25 RBI, and a .373 on-base percentage in 192 at-bats.
The former 2008 first rounder, has always been long on potential, and has shown flashes of that potential during those few occasions that he’s been healthy enough to take the field.
At the start of this season, Project Prospect ranked Havens as the Mets top prospect, ahead of Wilmer Flores and Matt Harvey. The folks at PP take a different approach to ranking prospects as they go by which players have the highest ceilings. You may remember that our own head of player development, Paul DePodesta, drafted Brandon Nimmo based on his ceiling more than any particular body of work. havens projects to be a middle of the order type hitter and many scouts have compared him to Phillies second baseman Chase Utley.
So keep an eye on Havens next Spring, as he may give Turner, Tejada and Murphy a real run for their money. Havens will be on his way to the Arizona Fall League once his season at Binghamton is over, and depending on how he produces against some of the games best prospects, it could be his ticket to a spring training invite and a leg up on the second base competition for the 2012 season.
By the way, there was some great information on Havens today on ESPN New York by Adam Rubin. You may want to check it out.
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.
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Reese Havens when healthy has shown that he can hit at every level he has been placed in up to now. The problem as everyone already knows is simply doesn’t seem to be able to stay healthy.
I like the kid when he’s on the field but like you said he never stays on the field for long.
Same could be said for Murphy though. I think Murphy in the OF is probably best as he has already run out of knees to hurt at 2nd.
Great piece Joe. I completely agree that Havens will be in the mix for 2B in 2012. Ever since we drafted him i’ve loved his potential with the bat. Problem is he never has been able to stay healthy. Guy is made out of glass. However if he can stay healthy I love his potential.
havens is my guy to bet on. Might be a long shot now, but the odds are going to drop as we get into ST (or sooner based on the AFL results).
If he had not had the rib issue flare up again last year, he would have been up by september 2010. He was crushing the ball last year.
And NJ, he is healthy now. And looks like it should last. unlike FMart, he has nothing chronic now. Seems that the recurring problem was the rib, that got fixed and he has recovered from it.
other than a minor back tweak (which could have been a side effect of the surgery), everything wrong seemed to be caused by the rib poking him!
so if he makes it through the AFL in one piece, then I don’t think of him as any more injury risky than any other player.
“And NJ, he is healthy now.”
Keyword there is “now”.
He had a problem. It was fixed. No more problem.
Not like he comes up lame with random injuries all over his body on a regular basis.
I can’t find every article that describes his injuries but unless I am misinterpreting something your making it seem as if he had 1 problem and that’s it. He has had multiple issues. The best I can do to make the point of him having had multiple heath issues is this post from the BMets beat writer Lynn Worthy written earlier this month.
“Havens, a 6-foot-1 195-pound square-jawed native of Sullivan’s Island, S.C., played in just 152 professional games coming into this season. Injuries to his elbow, hand, groin, quadriceps, oblique and back marred his first three minor-league seasons. …Unfortunately for Havens, injuries slowed him down again. He has had two stints on the disabled list this season.”
pressconnects.com/article/20110806/SPORTS/108060317/0/SPORTS02/Healthy-Havens-trying-to-get-back-on-track-for-Mets
i STILL rather have tejada at 2B than havens or anybody else. with that being said, if havens do turn out to be as great as he is, send him in a package to get top pitching available in the market.. king felix??
King Felix? Are you insane?
Don’t they have that kid Lawrie, who’s doing pretty good in his own right? but your premise of trading prospects to upgrade talent is valid. Just funny how this system that was so bereft of talent is now starting to show everyone that it isn’t as bad as it was made out to be.
Honestly, better bet would be to move Murphy along with Pelf or Pagan or someone to fill in some holes (AKA, CF, maybe Catcher or Sp/BP arms…
Brett Lawrie is on Toronto, not Seattle.
I’m sure the Mariners are going to jump all over a “package” which includes an injury prone prospect (and what else?) for one of the top 5 pitchers in the game.
Keep on keeping it real, core.
King Felix isn’t going to be traded. The Mariners would be out of their minds to move him. They have one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball for years to come with Hernandez/Pineda.
Count me in on those who would like to see Havens pan out and be our second baseman of the future.
I’m hoping Reyes will be the SS next year. If so, give Havens a ST look for 2nd base. If he’s not ready, Tejada can play 2nd for the interim. I like Tejada better at 2nd base than SS anyway.
I know he’s a hard worker and had a great bat before he got hurt, but I just don’t see a place for Murphy in this organization. IF healthy and he picks up where he left off, I would trade him. Alone or in a package for some pitching.
To add to Joe D’s post here is a quote from Havens and Backman that should be of interest to some.
“Yeah man, for sure,” Havens said when asked on Friday if he’d let himself think that he could be playing alongside Reyes in the New York Mets infield next year. “I definitely think that. I wouldn’t be here doing what I’m doing if I didn’t think that so it’s exciting to think about. It definitely ran through my mind.”
B-Mets manager Wally Backman said, “That might’ve been the double play combination (this year) if Reese stayed healthy.”
pressconnects.com/article/20110828/SPORTS/108280329/0/SPORTS02/Havens-audition-for-majors-a-hit-for-Binghamton-Mets
Havens like Fmart will never make any impact in the majors because they cant stay healthy. In a couple of years they will both be on Rule 5.
Tejada is a nice back up player.He has no power and is slow.That’s a deadly combination unless you can rake.Let’s hope Havens is more player than hype ala fernando martinez