30
2012
Prospect Notebook: The Final Week
An article by 
The Binghamton Mets (AA) broke a three game losing streak on Thursday with a 10-6 win over the Jacksonville Suns (Marlins). The B-Mets put together a 12-hit attack, led by outfielder Cesar Puello who had a single, a double, a HR, and two SB’s. The righty-hitting Puello will turn 21 in two days. CF Darrell Ceciliani had two doubles in the game, and 1B Travis Ozga slugged a two-run homer.
LHP Darin Gorski went five innings for Bingo, giving up two runs on five hits, and striking out five. RHP Brad Holt hurled an inning and struck out the side. The B-Mets are 3-5 this spring with two games to go. They open their regular season at home, on Thursday against Akron.
With just a week to go in Spring training, the Mets have cut three more players from their minor league system. OF Javier Rodriguez who the Mets reached for in the 2nd round of the 2008 MLB player draft, was unceremoniously dumped due to lack of production. When taken in the draft out of high school in Puerto Rico, the question at the time was: “Who is this guy?” Raw and toolsy came the response. Well he may have been raw but he’s not very toolsy.
In 769 minor league AB’s over the last 4 years, J-Rod hit .248, with 15 HR’s, 110 RBI’s and 8 SB’s. About to turn 22, and heading into his fifth season in the organization, it was a make-or-break year for him and when it appeared he was not going to make a long-season club, he was released.
Also released was RHP Michael Hebert, who was trying to work his way back from injury. Hebert was the 7th round pick from the 2008 draft, and was one of the dozen or so starting pitchers battling for a long-season rotation spot. Unfortunately Hebert was another victim of the numbers game and was squeezed out.
The third player released was RHP Michael Powers, another 2008 draftee, who was taken in the 31st round that year. Now nearly 26 years old, it seems Powers topped out at AA, and with his fringy stuff the writing was on the wall. Time had run out for the scrappy reliever.
In other organizational notes: Michael Fulmer tweeted the other day that he was scheduled to pitch 4 innings in an intra-squad game on Wednesday. If the Mets were planning on leaving the 1st-round sandwich pick in last years draft in extended spring training, they would probably be limiting him to two innings at this point. The fact that he is being “stretched out” could indicate the team is thinking about starting him in a long-season league, like with Savannah in the SAL. That would be a very aggressive move for the Mets. But since Fulmer is an 18-year-old power pitcher, with two advanced pitches, it could speed up the developmental timeline for him quite a bit.
The Mets announced the signing of 27-year-old middle infielder Josh Rodriguez yesterday. So on the same day they cut Javier Rodriguez, they signed Josh Rodriguez, restoring the organization’s equilibrium as far as J-Rods go. The newly acquired J-Rod made his big league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season striking out 8 times in 12 AB’s, with one hit.
Since the Bisons are set at shortstop with Omar Quintanilla, this move can only mean three things: 1) even though Reese Havens was supposed to start taking ground balls last week, he is obviously nowhere near ready to play. 2) Jordanny Valdespin will be spending significant time in CF, and probably some at shortstop, as well as playing 2B. And 3) Josh Satin is no longer considered a viable defensive option at second-base. He is now limited to a corner infield spot at this point.
For those of you keeping score at home, there has been a Jefry Marte sighting. Now fully recovered from a broken wrist he sustained in the Arizona Fall League last year, the third-baseman was seen taking it out on defenseless baseballs in batting practice the other day. From the video you can see how much he has filled out over the winter. Coming off a career year offensively, perhaps this is the year he turns potential into power.
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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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 22 | 18 | .550 | - |
| Nationals | 22 | 19 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 19 | 22 | .463 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 15 | 23 | .395 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 30 | .268 | 11.5 |
Last updated: 05/17/2013
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Nice recap and I hope you do more of these. I had forgotten all about Jefry Marte and to a lesser degree Brad Holt. Will anything ever become of these two or are the basically carer minor leaguers? One player I’m hoping develops into something nice for us down the road is Cesar Puello. I seen Ceciliani was the CF though, and I was under the impression Puello was a CF. Did they move him to a corner OF spot?
Thanks Krane! Marte finally showed some positive development in 2011, and the thought now is that this might be the year that he finally breaks out and shows more than just potential. This will be a very telling year for him. Brad Holt too. I look for Holt to finally put everything together this year, and become a quality relief ace. 2012 will be make-or-break for both of these players.
As for Puello, he is not a natural centerfielder, and does have the arm to play RF. Throughout the first three years of his pro career, Puello was strictly a right-fielder. He played some CF at St. Lucie last year because Lucie had Cory Vaughn playing LF in the second half of the season. Puello’s excellent speed made him a perfect stop-gap centerfielder for the St. Lucie club, but in the long-term he is seen as a right-fielder. For his career he has played just over 50 games in CF and over 250 games in RF.
Meant to say Vaughn was playing RF for Lucie in the second half, not LF.
Thanks for such a quick response! I didn’t realize that on Puello and I guess I first took note of him playing CF for the Lucie Mets last season. With that speed and moderate power maybe he could become a Ray Lankford type for us. I heard it said of him that he could become a 25-25 guy. You see that?
The thing with him physically is the same issue for a great many players that age. He is about to turn 21, like tomorrow. His body, like Martes and Jenrry Mejia’s is filling out right now. The kid is putting on some serious muscle, and gaining some weight to go along with it. So where his body is when he finally stops growing will tell a lot. Right now he has terrific speed, but will he lose a tic over the next several years as he grows? Probably. He also will be gaining power, as he is very strong, and should definitely hit 25 HR’s at some point. The kid is scary good, and if he takes off this year, and taps into that natural power, he could soar to near the top of Mets prospect charts.
I’m totally looking forward to seeing him make some big progress especially in the power department – and hopefully without losing too much speed. Bingo is gonna be a nice test for him this season. Thanks again Petey!
This is a good example of why trying to project even 2 years down the road is such a crapshoot. And why system rankings can fluctuate so much year to year.
A guy like Puello essentially came out of nowhere last year (going from an interesting tools guy to an actual production guy, and jumps up the rankings).
So, like you note, he is right on the edge. If he really has clicked, and comes out to destroy AA (I assume he starts there) for a few months, then suddenly he is on the cusp of the majors, meaning by 2013 he could be the starting RF (with Duda over in LF).
Or, he could hit a rough patch in AA, and drop back a bit, and not get a sniff of the majors until 2014, if then.
Just rambling along with one example of how hard it is to predict. Of course, the more guys with this kind of upside potential, the better the odds are that some work out!
And man, wouldn’t it be nice if he had a DW in AA type year this year, and ended up flat out playing his way up at some point this season? talk about a jolt of excitement for the fan base!
And if it can coincide with bay going away, all the more better.
Thanks for the report Pete, terrific as always and great news here.
Javier Rodriguez may have been an attempt to stretch the draft budget after having 3 picks in the first round (Davis, Havens and Holt) and spending 4 M there. He got the 3rd lowest bonus of anyone in the 2nd round.
All the Met picks were slot selection including the top 3 plus Kirk, Ratliff, and Doyle, J. Rod was below and Satin WAY below.
Gorski’s off to a start and Holt is too. That’s tremendous.
Do you think Puello will get much time in CF in AA with den Dekker starting out there this year?
I’d prefer to continue to give Satin some PT at 2B, not that he’s very good out there but at least he has an idea of what to do and with Valdespin getting some time in CF what’s the harm? Guess it comes down to just how bad he is in the middle.
I almost forgot all about Holt. Here’s hoping he does have a quality year and more on track concerning earlier projections for him.