19
2011
MMO Mets Top 20 Prospects – #2 Jeurys Familia, RHP
The Mets signed Jeurys Familia as an IFA in July of 2007, as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. That will go down as a very important signing to the Mets and their fans. Although he is still in need of some consistency regarding his mechanics, and refining his change-up will be crucial for him to remain a starting pitcher, there are very few critics that don’t see him as anything less than a dominant reliever.
Now at age 22, he has a very projectable “pitcher’s body”. At 6’3″ with a strong lower half, long arms and big hands, he will likely continue to add on muscle as he fills out physically, which should enable him to reach a tic or two higher with his fastball. He has the strength and stamina to pitch deep into games, so the first plan should be for him to remain a starter. But like his fellow power-righty in the system, Matt Harvey, his change-up is his weakest offering and the one on which his future path will hinge.
Heading into 2011, Familia started to reap the benefits of a lot of hard work. Before this past season he was a very good prospect, a 6’3″ right-hander who threw hard, but had trouble with his command and had very little in the way of secondary offerings. The trouble was with Familia’s mechanics which were not smooth, and he had trouble repeating his delivery. Because of this he had too many walks, and was rather predictable on the mound.
During the 2011 season it became evident that things had changed with Familia’s delivery. It was tighter, smoother and he was able to repeat it much better. After 6 starts he was moved up to AA Binghamton from St. Lucie, where he started 17 more games for Bingo, and each time out his mechanics improved. Although he still has a ways to go, he made hugh strides in finding a repeatable delivery, and ironing out his motion. This can clearly be seen in his H/9, and his BB/9 from the last two seasons.
In 2010 Familia had a H/9 of 8.7, and a BB/9 of 5.5. In 2011 it improved to a 7.7 H/9 and a 3.1 BB/9. This caused his WHIP to drop to 1.20 in 2011, from the 1.58 it was in 2010. Familia also made hugh strides with his slider, which had been pretty much a non-factor before last year. During this past season he began to show a slider with plus potential. When his mechanics are good, he doesn’t fly open which causes his arm to drag behind the rest of his body. This causes him to leave the fastball up, and keeps him from getting the proper extension to finish off his slider. With his new improved mechanics this year the slider began to show sharp downward bite, and the makings of a solid swing-and-miss pitch.
Familia’s fastball has always been good, but now it’s even better. He had been throwing 89-92 two years ago, but now is working in the 92-96 MPH range, topping out around 97. When his mechanics are on, his long arms, wide shoulders, and big hands enable him to get that extension. This causes his fastball to leave his hand cleanly, and explode through the zone with movement, and arm side run. This is already a plus-plus pitch and it could even get better.
As long as Familia keeps working hard, continues to hone his mechanics, and is able to throw his change enough to get comfortable with it and gain confidence in the pitch, he has a tremendous upside. I expect him to make his major league debut with the Mets at some point this season. However, the worst thing they could do would be to pull a Jenrry Mejia with him and forgo the rest of his very important development in order to stick him in the big league bullpen. He must remain, as a starter at AAA, for at the very minimum the first half of the season before they even consider calling him up.
Jeurys Familia video
Check back on Thursday when we unveil the #1 ranked player on our list!
2012 MMO Top 20 Prospects
2. Jeurys Familia RHP
3. Matt Harvey RHP
4. Jenrry Mejia RHP
5. Brandon Nimmo OF
6. Kirk Nieuwenhuis OF
7. Juan Lagares OF
8. Wilmer Flores INF
9. Cesar Puello RF
10. Reese Havens 2B
11. Cory Mazzoni RHP
12. Jordany Valdespin INF
13. Darin Gorski LHP
14. Phillip Evans SS
15. Jefry Marte 3B
16. Collin McHugh RHP
17. Juan Urbina LHP
18. Akeel Morris RHP
19. Michael Fulmer RHP
20. Danny Muno INF
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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Couldn’t agree more with your last sentence. Let’s hope with a completely different FO and manager they don’t make that same mistake twice.
So, this leaves Wheeler at #1. Very interesting considering he wasn’t even in the Mets farm system before August.
Anyone who’s never been to a minor league game should really consider heading out to Binghamton or catching them when they play Trenton (about an hour down 95) or New Britain (1 1/2 hrs near Hartford)
10-15 bucks for day of game tickets right behind 3B.
There is a chance Familia and Harvey start in AA and Wheeler might as well so plan accordingly so you can cheer for or root against your favorite Met prospect.
Bing Mets at Trenton June 8-June 10 and at New Britain 5/21-5/24.
hey agee, we should plan a trip!
I’m there Pete. Yankees or Twins affiliate?
New Britain might be nice, no traffic, May 21 – 24, coupla day games, any of those work for ya?
Never watched a 10:30 am start before and unless the game went extra innings couldn’t interfere with one of my own games.
Thursday 5/24?
sounds good to me, I may have to break my rule about not having any beer before noon.
encumbered or unencumbered?
Petey, familia pitched for the gigantes in the DWL, he debut i think friday or saturday i believe, faced 3 hitters,. struck out all 3 on HARD, REALLY HARD FASTBALLS.. the commentators were like, “wow, this kid is throwing GAS!!!!” i am really high on this kid, he should be our #1 prospect and i believe he unlike your #1 prospect will be ready to contribute this upcoming year… he needs to refine his changeup a bit, but HIS CURVEBALL IS FILTHY!!!!!!!!
I always get concerned when I hear they are messing with a kids delivery because in most cases when they do that the kid winds up getting hurt.
But maybe they are doing it to correct a mistake in his delivery that could lead to injury.
This will have to be seen.
Thanks Pete great stuff as always!
sometimes it is about trying to head off injury, but mostly they do it to try and fix mechanical flaws that keep them from consistantly repeating their delivery (or to give them more pop on the FB of course).
For me the poster child for someone who never learned to repeat their delivery is Oliver Perez. If you watched his front landing foot, it came down in a different spot everytime.
I know why they do it but here is the problem with trying…
If the Kid has pitched that way all of his life his arm has been built up in accordance with that motion.
Now I can understand REFINING mechanics on a kid that already has very good mechanics.
But too often they draft a kid with Bad mechanics and try to make him use good mechanics which his arm has never done and has not grown and developed to accomodate and in the end the guy gets hurt and becomes a waste!
If the guy had horrible mechanics then the numbers he got with them were meaningless if you intend to change his delivery.
So either you liked what he did and continue to let him pitch how he got there or you don’t draft him at all and only go with guys who HAVE the good mechanics that can be refined without ruining him!
This is where Scouting is important and Stats get you in trouble!
A guy has great stats but horrible mechanics. Either you lose the stats to fix the mechanics or you deal with the bad mechanics and accept them!
If the scout says he has BAD mechanics I don’t care what he did with them if the intention is to change him!
Just say NO if you want them to have the right mechanics draft them and then your only refining not changing significantly!
Metsie — I don’t like changing a pitcher’s mechanics. Tim Lincecum’s father prohibited professional teams from changing Tim’s unorthodox style. Look at the results that Tim has achieved.
Back in time, Charley Dressen, the manager of the Dodgers, insisted on changing his star reliever’s mechanics and his wrist and forearm motions. It was done to incorporate a curve into an already successful repertoire. He changed Joe Black, an all star, into a mediocre pitcher. Be careful — be very careful.
My feeling is if you don’t like the mechanics of the Kid you don’t like the kid!
If you like the Kid’s numbers but not the Mechanics leave him alone!
One thing if he has GREAT mechanics that can be refined because refining isn’t all that much different than what he is already doing but either you like the guy for what he is or you should pass!
You have to let them do what they did that got your attention in the first place!
You want to mess with someone mess with that 12th round pick who sucks already and it won’t matter if you screwed him up!
He wasn’t going to make your team anyway!
So lemme see, lemme see, lemme see we have Harvey check, Havens check, Gorski check, Mejia check. Who can be #1? Fingers crossed for Edgin
Could it be……..FMart?!!
We haven’t reacquired and stashed Jason Tyner anywhere lately have we?
Jason Tyner had 41 ABs on a team that went to the World Series in 2000. So Shut the HELL UP! My God how unfair is that? Just shut the hell up already
LOL Jason Tyner. The definition of a AAAA player.
So what? Who cares? He had 41 ABs then was traded. He played on a team that went to the World Series that year.
The Mets are the only team to ever have a player like that? And he wound up having a decent career as a part-time player for other teams. He hit .312 in 2006 for the first place Minnesota Twins in 2006 and finished with a career .275 AVG so just because he had only 41 ABs with the Mets didn’t mean he stunk.
He helped some other teams win in his role just not the Mets so what do you care?
WHAT ROLE??? 41 ABs on a team that went to the World Series? Whoop dee doo! Was he a vital part of that team? Nope. Only thing I remember him for was being traded for Bubba Trammell. I know….let’s bring up Timo Perez too. He hit .295 in 2002, right? He played that WS season with the Mets and made one of the biggest mistakes the Mets made in Game 1 of that World Series. All Tyner did throughout his whole career was bounce around with minor league affiliate teams. ONE decent season with the Twins doesn’t change that. Who gives a damn about 2000? Move on.
Obviously you misunderstood what i said.
He had 41 ABs on a World Series team in 2000 so whatever he did was INSIGNIFICANT! So don’t worry about it!
Just because he didn’t help the Mets win didn’t mean he was a lousy player. Same old Hitman – now why don’t you go propose a preposterous trade that only favors the Mets.
I didn’t misunderstand anything. You are the one who has his panties in a bunch bringing up a mediocre insignificant player just because he had a cup of coffee with a team that was lucky to even make the World Series.
Good old crabby Bayonne that always has his head up his ass and picking meaningless arguments with people because he has nothing else better to do with himself. Sad.
I didn’t bring him up, the second guesser did. I just came to Tyner’s defense because he really has nothing to do with anything and made no impact one way or the other with the Mets. And just because he had no impact with the Mets doesn’t mean he wasn’t good for someone else in whatever capacity they needed him
Am I agee? No? Just bringing up Tyner’s name made me laugh, and sure enough, you blow a gasket.
“just because he had no impact with the Mets doesn’t mean he wasn’t good for someone else in whatever capacity they needed him”
The only thing he was good for was fodder for a team’s minor league affiliate. Period. Other than one decent season, he was garbage.
Well he had a nice career as a role player with TB and Minn and actually played well with Minn in 2006 when they finished in 1st place and finished playing MLB with a .275 AVG.
That’s not garbage and that’s certainly not the AAAA player you described him as before you realized (because i brought it up) that he did, in fact, have a career.
Mike Baxter is AAAA, not Jason Tyner. You still are famous for terrible judgement Hitman – i don’t miss u for one nannosecond
“why don’t you go propose a preposterous trade that only favors the Mets.”
The way I see you whine & complain on a daily basis along with the rest of the crybaby “core” about Alderson/ownership concerning the direction of the team (funny thing is, I’m rarely here anymore and I know you still do that), you’d think a “preposterous trade that only favors the Mets” would make you happy. Guess not because you’re busy being a know-it-all jackass.
While he only averaged 55 games a year over his eight year career he was the 3rd best LFer we have produced since the Wilpon’s became full partners with Doubleday 25 years ago so at least he has that going for him.
And he did hit a HR. And he also drove in 94 runs in 8 years.
I’m sure they were all clutch too.
I think i did say “ROLE PLAYER”
Well you JUST DON’T KNOW what he did with his hits do you? Maybe the were clutch! Or maybe they weren’t. You just don’t know.
Were you watching the Twins on a regular basis?
So when’s the last time the Yankees developed a RFer or 3Bman? Unless you want to count Mike Pagliarulo?
And I’m sure if I wanted to I kind find a bunch of teams who’ve had successful run without drafting a player at a certain position/positions for years or even decades at a time.
The fact that the Mets haven’t had their own LFer for years or Catcher (since Hundley) means very little in the big picture.
It’s not that the Wilpon’s haven’t developed players at a couple of positions, it’s that they haven’t developed them at almost every position and even those that they do develop, they usually do so for someone else to address deficiencies else where.
Remember this is over a very long period of time. 25 years.
Best LFers Terrence Long, Benny Agbayani, Jason Tyner
Best CFer’s Jay Payton, Preston Wilson, Carlos Gomez
Best RFer’s Jeremy Burnitz, Alex Ochoa, Butch Huskey
Best SP Bobby Jones, Pete Schrouk, Mike Pelfrey
Best reliever Octavio Dotel, Heath Bell, Jason Isringhausen
Best catcher Todd Hundley, Vance Wilson, Alberto Castillo
Best 1B Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Mike Jacobs
Best 2B Edgardo Alfonzo, Marco Scutero, Fernando Vina
Best SS Jose Reyes, Rey Ordonez, Jeff Keppinger
Best 3B David Wright, Ty Wiggenton, No 3rd place
SS the only position I can’t quibble with. Years of good play from more than one guy but the rest? Most of the best these guys had weren’t even with us and many positions included no years of good play from anyone.
I didn’t know the Wilpons did the scouting
and too bad in those 25 years the reason the Mets have only won one World Series instead of 3 or 4 has absolutely NOTHING to do with those findings. Those findings don’t really mean anything at all. Have the Reds developed more of their own talent? If so then why have the Mets appeared in more post seasons than the Reds during your famous “25 years” you know..you mention it 15 times a day, every day.
And again it’s not significant that a team (the NYY or anyone else) doesn’t produce any players from a specific position or two because they are producing players at other positions, and damn good players who play great for long periods of time.
Players like Pettite, Mariano, Posada, Cano, Gardiner, Jeter, Robertson. These are guys that have or will be there for 10 years or more.
Take Bernie Williams for example. The best CFer produced by the NYY suring the same 25 year time frame. 16 years and 2000 games as a NYY. Our 3 best (Payton, Wilson, Gomez) 435 games for us.
You can say the same at catcher with Posada and now there’s Montero and Romaine with Sanchez and Murphy closing in.
It’s not really about the mere fact that their homegrown, it’s more about the continuity they provide. The lack of having to “fill holes” with “who can we get.” and the freedom to be able to trade a prospect because your covered at a position. For instance the Granderson/Austin Jackson deal.
It’s not the same thing at all when you are developing players at other positions as opposed to the way we’re doing things. Basically developing players at two positions. SS and 2B and nothing really to speak of anywhere else or if we do we trade them before they start to really produce.
It’s really laughable. I mean look at RF. Burnitz, Ochoa, Husky. The three best RFers produced during the Wilpon era. Total 970 games between them. Six seasons worth of games over a 25 year period meaning obviously we either had our choice of 4th-whatever best homegrown or whoever we could get for the remaining 3,000 games.
Same as every other spot on the roster.
again that has NOTHING to do with why they’ve only won one World Series since 1986. They’ve had chances to win 3 or 4 and you’re looking for an excuse other than what happens on the field.
The Wilpons are not doing the scouting and the Wilpons are not leaving runners on 3B with 0 outs or giving up HRs to Yadier Molina or walking in the winning run with the bases loaded in 1999, or blowing a save in game 1 of the 2000 World Series.
The Wilpons are also not the reason why the Mets main stars have been injured from 2009-2010 and as a result we never got a REAL chance to evaluate those teams at full strength
What your not taking in to account is that the minors did get better with Omar here. You like to lump the past 25 years all together and make them seem like they are all the same, they aren’t.
We have Ike, Duda, Tejada, Murphy, Niese, Gee, Pelf, and Parnell already at the big league level, and Harvey, Mejia, Famillia, Nieuwenhuis, Havens, Flores, Puello, ect at the minor league level. Which is MUCH better than what we had when Omar got here – He just had Reyes and Wright, and nothing else.
I don’t know why you try to make it seem like he players we developed are the same as they were for the past 25 years while it’s gotten much better.
Interesting stat for those stat inclined fans on Metsmerized.
The three best LFer’s who were acquired after the Wilpon’s became full partners with Doubleday AND made their debut with the Mets are:
Terrence Long averaged 111 games a year.
Benny Agbayani averaged 77 games a year.
Jason Tyner averaged 55 games a year.
All three were traded during the Phillips regime (Tyner was also drafted by Phillips)
All told, the best LFer ‘s we’ve developed during the Wilpon era have played a total of 338 games with the Mets.
That’s slightly more than 2 full years, for all three combined, and these are the three BEST LFer’s the Wilpon’s have developed.
I wonder if Jeff knows about this?
*Jason Bay, Nelson Cruz and Endy Chavez (all traded by Phillips) don’t qualify as they made their debut with other teams.
Just don’t forget to mention the many, many trades Phillips made that made the Mets what they were under his regime – the only Mets team to go to the Post Season 2 consecutive years.
Just don’t forget to mention that.
Anyone can make the big salary dump deal. That’s more of an accountants or ownership involved situation. Marlins and Astros had to trade salary. Our ownership agreed to take it on, the rest was all details and the prospects involved all produced beforehand by Harazin, Hunsicker and Mcilvaine.
Those aren’t hard trades to make and who’s to say Mcilvaine couldn’t have done an even better job considering the Fish and Astros were over a barrel?
He wasn’t called trader Joe for nothing.
Ventura was a terrific free agent acquisition and Glavine worked out pretty well for the most part but again, those are the easy things to do and involve the accountants a lot more than the scouts.
Zeile was somewhat creative and didn’t play poorly and Floyd had a couple of good years here but Appier, Weathers, and Cedeno were very poor uses of draft choices and who knows what might have been done with those draft choices? They could have been bust or they could have been Votto, McCann, Lester, Broxton, Snyder who knows. They certainly wouldn’t have been salary dumps.
Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar must have made business sense in the boardroom but other than that………..
all you’re doing is highlighting EVERY bad point of an otherwise successful run for the New York Mets and all your points have absolutely NOTHING to do with them winning the World Series or not. I did not like Steve Phillips decision making either towards the end of his run and I remember it well but i’m not gonna kill him for it because the good he did for this organization and fan base and New York City while he was here far outweighed the bad FA signings in the end because that’s not fair. And I’m NOT gonna include the Alomar signing as bad because that would be second guessing on my part. He hit his career high in Batting Average the year before he was acquired and while I wasn’t a fan of Alomar because of his lack of hustle I had no idea that he would dip down to .265 or whatever. And neither did you.
You’re second guessing and you’re unfair.
and don’t mention that Wright & Reyes were signed & drafted under Steve Phillips watch.
Of course we ALL went crazy when the Mets traded Jason Bay and Nelson Cruz right? We all knew they were stars back then. Let’s also not mention that Jason Bay & Nelson Cruz were traded several times after they left the Mets too.
Right, Bay was traded was traded three times before he went to the Pirates, and Cruz was traded twice after he was traded by the Mets – It’s not like the Mets were the only ones that gave up on them.
And SD got a very good player for Bay (and Ollie) Brian Giles (not the Brian Giles we had in the early 80′s)
Omar traded Bay to us because he had a thing about Lou Collier. We traded Bay AND Bobby Jones for two relief pitchers who each pitched here for a year.
You said the most realistic projection for Bay was a 4th Ofer/fringe starter – You can’t complain about trading a guy like that.
You can’t hold that trade against the Mets if he was only projected to be a 4th Ofer at that time.
I don’t hold Cruz against Phillips because he didn’t break out until 10 years after we traded him. No one can wait that long and he traded him for a 2B prospect who didn’t work out. That’s the way it goes.
Bay on the other hand why trade for the guy if your not giving him a good and long look while you have him? Four months, that was it. Seemed to have the upside of an average OFer with the most realistic projection being a 4th OFer/fringe starter. Not terribly significant at the time but still a miss and more importantly the sheer number of OFers traded out of the system by him was enourmous. Everett, Ochoa, Payton, Long, Bay, Cruz, Preston Wilson, Agbayani, Tyner and more and he put no OFer’s INTO the system. Milledge and Gomez that’s it.
From a trade perspective he was Billy Beane before Beane. Making 100 million trades and winding back at square 1. LOADS of guys he both traded for and then quickly traded away or vice versa, sometimes for guys he had just reacquired himself.
The biggest mistake he made in my opinion was trading Luis Lopez in order to re acquire Bill Pulsipher (who he had just traded away) and then left us with no MIer when Ordonez got his hand broken (which was done on purpose by La Russa IMO) having sensed the weakness in our roster which then led to the Borrdick trade and **** play the rest of the way at SS and the loss of Melvin Mora who I think could have played a great 2B for us for years.
no, he made trades that built the Mets team that went to 2 consecutive post season appearances which is something you are conveniently not mentioning. SO you soften your stance on Bay after you’re called on it but there’s no arguing with you because you are pathological.
The Mets have had their chances to win 3, 4, 5 World Series and the ONLY reason they haven’t is because of game performances. Nothing else. To look at it any other way is a second guess.
Phillips took over Aug 1st 1997 and we were on pace to win 88 games which is where we wound up.
After trading for Leiter in the off season and picking up Piazza on Memorial day we proceeded to win 88 games again in 1998 and miss the playoffs by one game after losing out last 5.
The following year we won 96 + a one game playoff after Cincy lost 3 of their last 4.
2000 we won 94.
Post season it was all Bobby V. Regular season too.
He took over a winning team with the leagues lowest payroll. Got lucky with the Marlins and Hampton, signed a few free agents and led us right back down the hill to 82-80 and 75-86.
Without inheriting a team without a bloated payroll he wouldn’t have been able to take on all the salary he did and again that team was already on pace to win 88 games before he took over. He also inherited all the players he traded. He didn’t acquire any prospects to use in trades that got us to the Series. He didn’t acquire many prospects for Minaya either. 14 of 17 1st, 2nd or 3rd round picks busted. Wright Heilman and Kazmir from the draft. Pagan 4th rnd as well that’s it. The rest all busted. I doubt Phillips ever heard about Reyes until after he was signed. The guy got 15 K. I’m sure it was an oh by the way……… but he was the GM.
He also traded for Mel Rojas, Bobby Bonilla, Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar.
I’m not changing my stance on Bay at all. I’m well aware of how Bay was regarded in the minors and who he was traded for. I wasn’t called on anything. You stated that Phillips traded for Bay, I simply pointed out that he also traded him, which is factually correct.
Bay is one of 5 or 6 future all stars that Phillips traded. It’s always been my stance that it wasn’t a huge deal but that he should have given Bay a decent look while he had him but without the ability to develop a bullpen himself he had no choice but to deal something and Bay is what he dealt.
At least when SD traded him they actually got something for him.
They got something for him because he was having a big year(not like when the Mets had him), and he was traded with 21 year old lefty, who was striking out over a batter an inning.
Only Bobby V could have taken a team to the World Series with an OF like we had in 2000.
You have an excuse for everything. Nothing is ever ‘as is’
Without Bobby V and without inheriting Rick Reed, John Olerud, Rey Ordonez, Todd Hundley, Edgardo Alfonzo, Jay Payton, Benny Agbayani, the leagues lowest payroll and prospects like AJ Burnett and Preston Wilson, Octavio Dotel and Dan Wheeler AND the Marlins going from World Champs to out of it he never sniffs the playoffs.
He was having a good year for US when we traded him. Comparitively similar due to the difference in hitting environment when we made a bad deadline deal. Plain and simple.
What else can you call it? A good trade?
Two relief pitchers at the deadline for a future rookie of the year and MVP candidate on a team that finished 75-86.
The relief pitchers sucked and moved on shortly thereafter. Phillips spent a #2 pick on the pen earlier that year for David Weathers and there were plenty of good players available with that pick that could have made a big difference in 2007 and 2008 and yes, even 2006. Not saying we WOULD have drafted McCann with that pick we spent on Weathers but we COULD have and we could have had Jason Bay’s best (and least expensive) years in the lineup as well and probably wouldn’t have his worst (and most expensive) one’s either.
The trade sucked. We got nothing and lost having a young All Star kicking ass all because we can’t develop any relief pitchers. In fact since the Wilpon’s became half owners we can hardly develop any players and if we do, we get rid of them way too early. Just like Bay and now Reyes.
Phillips always got raped at the deadline. That’s when he made his worst trades. No one hosed him worse than Billy Beanne though. It’s kind of funny, Joe Mcilvaine drafted both Beanne and Phillips.
His value was much higher when the Padres traded him.
The point is that nobody had any idea that he would come even close to the player he became. To look back years later and say you shouldn’t have traded him, is just 2nd guessing.
That Hitman character sure seems like quite the douche bag…..what’s the point in commenting if ur only gonna spew negativity and start an argument with someone. He started on Bayonne for no reason. He totally misunderstood what was even being said, and just made himself look like an ass…….anyway, I’m excited to see Familia and Harvey in AAA this year when play the Scranton Yankee, for I live in PA, about an hour from Scranton….I really hope they don’t rush these kids up to the majors. Please let them develop in the minors and get plenty of seasoning first.
I don’t know who this Hugh Strides is (referenced twice in the article), but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more perfect baseball name than that.