29
2012
Baseball America Ranks Gavin Cecchini #12 In Appalachian League
An article by Craig Lerner
Baseball America named Gavin Cecchini, the Mets’ top pick, the 12th overall pick this year, the number 12th ranked prospect in the Appalachian League for 2012.
Matt Eddy wrote the following about the Mets shortstop prospect:
He possesses the footwork, hands and range to be an average shortstop, but he’ll need to further develop his average though accurate arm to seal the deal. He has average speed and is a plus baserunner.
Cecchini probably won’t develop more than gap power, but if he can stay in the middle infield it won’t matter because he has a chance to hit for average. He can get too aggressive at the plate and he has a lot of moving parts to his swing, but he makes hard line-drive contact when he barrels the ball.
Not a ringing endorsement to say the least. The ranking caused a furor over at Toby Hyde’s Mets Minor League Blog where he wrote:
Cecchini is a gifted defensive shortstop, who, as an 18-year old, hit .246/.311/.330 in 53 games in the Appalachian League which as a whole averaged .254/.329/.382. He showed some strike zone control, with a 2.4 K/BB ratio (43 K/18 BB) and a strikeout rate of 19% and a walk rate of 8%. Oh, and he played August while recovering from a broken finger. He was young for his league.
I liked Cecchini’s swing more than I was expecting too, but he will need to add strength to his wiry frame. Defensively, his hands were fine for short. However, I left concerned about his range. The game I saw, he did not produce an average running time to first. It’s hard to play an average shortstop without average to plus speed. In my opinion, it is nearly impossible to be a plus shortstop without plus speed. In Cecchini’s defense, he was running on a wet track, and I saw him for one game and one BP/infield session only.
The selection of Cecchini has been under wide scrutiny from day one. I say it’s too early to judge the pick, but I do understand the concerns of those who believe we left several higher ceiling and toolsy players with power on the board as well as some gifted pitchers, one of whom fell all the way to us in the second round and went unsigned. I get all of that.
But what’s done is done and as fans all we can do is hope for the best possible outcome at this point.
I’m sure it doesn’t help that players selected after Cecchini ranked much higher and in the top five, but we can’t turn back time, so lets just be positive about the situation and support our team and Gavin Cecchini who is one of our players now.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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Yep, just as I thought. Those guys at BA seem to have a clue, maybe we should get them to GM the team.
LOL he has no range and we need him to run Tejada out of town right?
Thats why we picked yet another SS with the first pick because of all the things we needed that was what we needed the least!
How we went from a great 2011 draft to this outwardly terrible draft for the Mets in 2012, I just don’t get. Chad MacDonald’s intuitive and high ceiling draft strategy in 2011 gave me great hope. This latest draft based solely on signability wreaked. Now MacDonald is in San Diego whose 2012 draft was ranked in the top 3 by BA rather than bottom 5 for the Mets. Incidentally, Omar Minaya is also in SD with Chad. Given both of their talents in scouting and player evaluation, the Padres will be a team to watch in 2014.
Sorry, but who the heck is Chuck McDonald?
*Chad
The scouting director of the New York Mets.
What I don’t understand is why the Mets left pool money unused on this draft (somewhere around $1 million left is what I think I read somewhere but don’t quote me) and failed to sign their 2nd Round pick over $60,000. AND, they failed to sign about 1/2 the players they drafted. So not only did they leave money unspent, they failed to add much depth to the organization, and apparently didn’t add much in the way of significant upside talent in the players they did sign. Another sign that this F/O does not have a coherent plan for the future of this team. For all the money they spent to hire this “Dream Team” of a front office they should expect a legitimate, intelligently thought out plan to get this team back to being a legit contender. Instead, we have Sandy Alderson and a bunch of Stat Geeks who speak in tongues so that the average fan has no idea what they’re talking about, but it sounds good, so it must be a plan, right? When will this nightmare end?
More fuel….I’ve noticed that the Marlins drafted a SP in 2011 just after we drafted Nimmo – and that SP is rated as a top 5 minor league prospect today!
You are such a clown. Jason Bay is one of our own too, why don’t you post a memorial to him too while you are at it. The 2011 Draft was an epic fail for the Mets. EPIC! That’s not hindsight that’s foresight because I said it from the moment they passed on Hawkins to take this unappealing, uninspiring, unathlethic, no power, slow bat speed, shortstop with limited range and no arm.