Mets To Announce 2012 Minor League Rosters

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• trs86 March 28, 2012 at 8:41 am

  It is kind of refreshing to see our AAA team not be a holding ground for a bunch of has beens or never was hoping to get that last call. There’s a few but nothing like there was in the past.
  • XtreemIcon March 28, 2012 at 8:44 am

    Word. Times, they are a-changin’.
    • trs86 March 28, 2012 at 8:47 am

      Yup and notice I am not saying that is because of Sandy or forgetting the work that Omar did. Just making the comment that it is nice to see our AAA as the next step to the Majors again instead of something from “Major League back to the Minors”. I bet Buffalo is happy as well. I read they were very upset with the product the Mets had been putting on the field there.
      • Petey Pete March 28, 2012 at 8:55 am

        Andy Martino is now reporting that “team sources” have told him Harvey and Familia will both be starting at AAA, and that Wheeler will be starting at AA, which is just what I predicted in my Roster Previews last month.
        • XtreemIcon March 28, 2012 at 8:58 am

          Great to hear.
        • srt March 28, 2012 at 9:17 am

          Makes sense to me.

          Is Mejia then still listed on the DL?
          • Petey Pete March 28, 2012 at 9:31 am

            I would guess Mejia will start the season on minor league rehab in PSL, where it’s nice and warm. It wouldn’t make sense to subject him to the cold northern temperatures in April. Once the weather turns warmer, if all is well with him, you should see him in a Buffalo uniform.
            • srt March 28, 2012 at 9:39 am

              So he’s progressing on schedule.
              I read somewhere that he wouldn’t be ready until June. I’m guessing this might be right around the time it finally warms up in Buffalo.
        • Donal March 28, 2012 at 9:37 am

          Not surprising about Familia. He is the furthest along. I figured Harvey would get a few more starts in AA, though.

          And I’m really surprised Wheeler is in Bingo. I thought he had a lot more work to do.
          • Petey Pete March 28, 2012 at 9:56 am

            Keep in mind Donal, that these three kids are coming fast now. They have each made big strides over the off-season, and cannot be looked at the same way we viewed them at the end of last season.

            As Xtreemicon said earlier, “Word. Times, they are a-changin’.”

            I just have a sneaky feeling that Wheeler is going to dominate the Eastern League.
      • XtreemIcon March 28, 2012 at 8:58 am

        Could you blame them?
        • trs86 March 28, 2012 at 9:01 am

          Not at all. When your drawing card is Mike Hessman and Val Palawhatever and you live in Buffalo? LOL.
          • t agee March 28, 2012 at 10:02 am

            And Hessman represented a tremendous upgrade over what was there the previous year. That is scary to begin with. He’s very well known in the International League, has played there for years and years. Not a bad defender either but he was a guy brought in to give Buffalo something after the colossal failure of the 2009 Bison team.
      • t agee March 28, 2012 at 9:28 am

        Buffalo, especially after 2009 was very upset about the quality of the AAA team and previous to that both Norfolk and New Orleans expressed the same sentiment.

        AAA by nature has to be a holding tank for the Major League team in some respects but for years and years the Mets never had any exciting talent there for anything but the briefest possible time. Many skipped tight over AAA and again to some extent that is just the way it goes but we really over did it.

        The other affiliates have equally been starved of talent and that is more critical since nobody skips A-, A+ or AA and the entire emphasis is on advancement rather than depth. Only now are teams like Savannah and St. Lucie starting to win regular season titles and while that’s not the focus of the affiliates it certainly proves the old adage about talent being the primary driver of winning baseball games. Not luck, one AB, excuses or fate.

        It also shows just how long it takes for a system to start showing progress. The results in A- and A+ are from the work done back in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and won’t be evident in the Majors until 2014 at best and due to the nature of the deal attrition will take it’s toll on some of our better prospects no different than everyone else.

        St. Lucie should be fielding an OF of Gomez, Cecceiliano and Vaughn. Potential plus players on BOTH sides of the ball. How rare is that for us?

        The drafts and IFA signings of 2005-2007 were really all about adding to the Major League roster either in draft picks given up or guys we drafted and brought up or traded or were chosen as “fast movers” or one’s who could potentially do something but not all around guys. 2008-2011 have been more about building up and that is what was needed around here from day 1 of the Minaya regime but still and all the fact that he did begin in 2008 gives us our best chance to field a team of players that fit together rather than a bunch of misfits.

        Savannah, St. Lucie, Binghamton and Buffalo have future GOOD Major Leaguers on each team. Should be fun to keep an eye on them this year.
      • Steve From Norfolk March 28, 2012 at 10:54 pm

        I’m sure. The bad teams that the Mets fielded here in the early-mid 2000′s and the lack of contact with New York were the 2 main reasons that Norfolk dumped the Mets at the end of 2006 after a thirty-eight year association.
• Des March 28, 2012 at 9:42 am

  Buffalo and, until the second half of last year, Binghamton have sucked. Incidentally the Bingo failure to field a competitive baseball team was part of the reason for their terrible attendance.
  • t agee March 28, 2012 at 9:58 am

    Binghamton really hasn’t seen any decent talent come their way for years and years now. Few guys here and there for 1/2 a season or so but nothing to keep people going to the games.
    The second half of last year was as good as it’s been for the B Mets in a long long time.

    I haven’t heard anything in a while about any proposed move to another city. New Britain still a possibility?
• Rich March 30, 2012 at 12:28 am

  Hey Petey, you say theinfield defense at Savannah will be good in 2012. Who do you see winning the MIF spots for Savannah?
• Petey Pete March 30, 2012 at 5:59 pm

  I’m thinking JC Gamboa at SS, and Phillip Evans at 2B with Savannah, and Danny Muno playing SS at St. Lucie with Wifredo Tovar at 2nd.
  • Ted March 30, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    Wouldn’t they field Evans at shortstop for as long as possible?
    • Petey Pete March 30, 2012 at 6:52 pm

      Have you ever seen Gamboa play? He’s no slouch at short, believe me. No knock on Evans, I like him a lot. The problem is two teams (Savannah and St. Lucie), two shortstop positions, three shortstops (Muno, Evans, Gamboa). Here’s a Gamboa highlite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owSqpL1CmKk You don’t have to play them exclusively at one position, I’m certainly not saying to never play Evans at shortstop. Here’s another Gamboa play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTmUs67jMM&feature=relmfu You would have some kind of rotation with whichever team had two of the three on it’s roster, I’m presuming that will be Savannah. But if Gamboa proves to be a better shortstop than Evans wouldn’t it be better to give him the lion’s share of starts at short? Here’s another unbelievable Gamboa-esqueness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3HV5Yuz0bw&feature=relmfu and I have to throw in this flashy number: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL6TMly6qSk&feature=relmfu
  • t agee March 30, 2012 at 6:42 pm

    You wouldn’t think the other way around at St. Lucie Pete?

    Tovar at SS, Muno at 2B?
    • Petey Pete March 30, 2012 at 7:24 pm

      Hey agee, how you doin buddy? I’m not Ryan Ellis, but if I were managing St. Lucie and had Tovar and Muno to play the middle, I would split the time 60-40 roughly, with Tovar at 2nd the majority of the time. Muno is such an intriguing prospect, I want to see exactly how he is at SS before I make any decisions about his future position. Tovar doesn’t have the same offensive upside as Muno, and he’s been a much better fielder at second than he has at short throughout his minor league career. But I would switch them every three games or so, just to keep them fresh at both positions.
      • t agee March 30, 2012 at 7:30 pm

        Interesting idea Pete. I haven’t seen either of them but I was under the impression that Tovar was lights out defensively at SS. I can see where your right about about giving Muno every chance though. That’s a good idea. Tovar is most likely a backup middle infielder but Muno could be more and he’ll get some time at 2B anyway.

        Thanks for your opinion and thanks again for the great job you do on the Mets minor leagues.
        • Petey Pete March 30, 2012 at 8:22 pm

          Thank you my friend.