John Bernhardt, one of our esteemed writers at MetsMinors.Net, co-hosts a radio show called “Tip Off” every Friday morning at 8:00 AM. John comments on the site under the moniker “B-Mets Fan” and always provides great insight – and you might also know him for his excellent work charting some of our pitching prospects in AA.

His guest this week is none other than myself! That’s right, I’m jumping on the show to talk about the world of blogging, my own life, and most importantly – Mets Minors! You can tune in through many avenues to check out what looks to be a fun exchange between John, his co-host Dawg, and myself. I’ll be on from 8:15 – 9:00 AM for you early birds out there who want to give it a listen.

• You can stream the show live by going here or here. John recommends the second link.
• For those of you who want to catch it later on in the day, you can use a free service on this website to have it recorded and sent to your email for your listening convenience.
• And for those of you in the Binghamton area, you can tune in to 91.3 FM WIOX Radio.

I can’t wait!

Some readers have become accustomed to the great minor league coverage here on Mets Merized Online over the past couple of months. Truth be told, the reason you have seen such an abundance of coverage lately was because we have been gearing up for something big…

INTROUDUCING METSMINORS.NET!!!

MMO, was the first site to provide daily Mets minor league recaps in 2005, years before everyone else decided to join the party.

After almost ten years of providing more prospect interviews and the most comprehensive coverage of the Mets minors you could find anywhere, we decided it was time for a new site dedicated solely to Mets Minor League coverage.

In addition to individual daily recaps for each affiliate, we plan on providing you with over two dozen regular weekly features, detailed original player analysis, updated prospects rankings, a weekly Top Prospect Watch, daily updated statistics, exclusive player interviews, photo galleries, video and audio features, and so much more.

In addition to the Mets minor league coverage, we have also assembled a five man team who will also focus solely on the MLB Draft.

In short, our powerhouse staff is committed to providing Mets fans with a very unique and ultimate experience – a total experience that will be unmatched.

Our goal is to be the best, and we are dedicated to achieving that with hard work, real insight and analysis, and an incredible stream of non-stop coverage that you, the Met fan, truly deserve.

We reached out to the New York Mets and they are excited for us, and so are all of the players who have already reached out to us. And just like MMO revolutionized how Mets minor league coverage should be, MetsMinors.net is now ready to reach even greater heights and set the bar higher.

Thoughts from Satish Ram

So the Mets Minors Initiative, much like the Avengers Initiative, is out to do something special – and save some lives. You might be ready to call me over dramatic, but the amount of young talent the Mets have knocking on the door in their minor league system is a breath of fresh air compared to the current major league product.

Covering the minor leagues is a different animal than I’ve been used to - but I have to say I’ve loved every second of it. I took a lot of pride in being able to contribute whatever I could to the Metsmerized Minor League coverage – and MetsMinors.Net will be no different. I have no less than the utmost confidence in my two partners, Mitch and Matt, and the entire team that composes MetsMinors.Net.

I also want to extend a little thank you to all of our consistent and educated readers here at MMO and I hope that you follow us over to our new companion site, where we will aspire to provide you with the absolute best in Mets Minor League coverage.

Thoughts from Matt Musico

I’m incredibly excited to join the MMO family, and more specifically, MetsMinors.net. I’ve been searching for a while to find a site that covers the minor leagues in detail, and I didn’t think I’d actually end up being a part of it. This will be a great site that will be a one-stop shop for everything with regard to the Mets minor leagues.

When I officially joined the initiative, I was stepping out of my comfort zone because I’ve never covered the minors in much detail, but working with Mitch and Satish have helped me adjust to my new role. I speak for us all when I say that we appreciate everyone who will be crossing over to read us in addition to all of the great content here on MMO.

Your support and desire to get more minor league coverage helped make this happen, and we’re dedicated to bringing you everything that you’re asking for!

So whether you are a fan who just wants to keep up with the big name prospects, or a fan who loves following everyone in the Mets minor league system extensively, MetsMinors.net is the site for you.

As our slogan says:

The Future of the Mets Begins Right Here!

Rafael Montero Is Heading To AAA (Photo by MMO Contributor Gordon Donovan)

The Mets have promoted RHP Rafael Montero to Triple-A Las Vegas, according Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Lynn Worthy of Press and Sun Bulletin, later reported that this was likely just a spot-start situation, as the B-Mets expect to have Montero back in their rotation for the end of next week. He did note, in a later tweet however, that nothing is set in stone – and referenced Collin McHugh’s performance in AA in the past when he was only supposed to be up for one start.

Well, we’ve been calling for some movement in the field of Rafael Montero for a little while now as he has dominated in Binghamton for the most part. The Mets organization has responded to Montero’s excellent performance so far this year with a promotion to AAA, where he will join the Las Vegas rotation as he perhaps progresses to an MLB call-up later this year.

Montero was one of my favorite prospects to cover last year because he had such amazing command and what I described as a bulldog mentality on the mound. He is intimidating when he pitches with great stuff, mixing in a slider, change-up, and occasional curve in with his fastball that has exceptional late movement.

I am part of the camp that believes Montero should have had some work in AA and then skipped Las Vegas, but regardless, he will get some time to fine tune himself before making a major league appearance. He’s knocking on the door…

So far in 2013, Montero is 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA through 46.2 innings, where he has allowed 40 hits – and only two home runs. He has walked just six batters, in contrast to his 54 punchouts. Those Las Vegas fans are lucky – Zack Wheeler and Rafael Montero in the same rotation!

Rafael Montero Looks Intimidating (Photo by MMO Contributor Gordon Donovan)

Some people believe that we were put on this planet to serve a purpose. They believe that we were all put here for a reason. Well if that is the case, Rafael Montero was put on this planet for one reason: to pitch.

Montero was going through the Trenton Thunder lineup with surgical precision tonight, prompting this tweet from Trenton’s beat writer and former MMO Alumni Matt Kardos:

In my three seasons of covering minor league baseball, tonight’s effort by Rafael Montero is the most impressive that ive seen

— Matt Kardos ⚾ (@mattkardos) May 8, 2013

Montero was incredible over six innings of work, striking out five consecutive hitters at one point. Montero was painting the corners and was working quickly. He was in a rhythm, and the Trenton hitters were doing very little to break that rhythm. They let Montero work at his own pace, and it was a major advantage tonight. The difference in the major leagues, when Montero gets there, will be that hitters will step out of the box to break his rhythm.

Through his first six innings of work, Montero had thrown 74 pitches, 55 for strikes. He gave up one hit, one walk, while striking out eight. It wasn’t until the seventh inning where Trenton started to get to Montero. Montero started the inning off by giving up a lead off walk, and it seemed to spiral after that. He ended the game giving up three hits and three earned runs.

The most impressive thing about this start by Montero is that it came off the heels of his worst start of the year. As I stated in this morning’s morning report, this game was an important test for Montero. The entire Mets organization was watching to see how he would respond after last week’s start where he gave up ten runs. Paul DePodesta commented recently that Montero needed to face some adversity. This was Montero’s first taste of adversity, and he passed this test with flying colors. How these young pitchers bounce back after bad starts is a big step in their development. Montero showed everyone that he was for real tonight.

Montero is special. Watching him work through those first six innings was a sight to see. I know most people were watching Matt Harvey dominate the Chicago White Sox, but this kid Montero, he’s pretty good too. I try to avoid comparing prospects to established superstars and all-time greats. I know Montero has drawn some comparisons to Pedro Martinez. I have tried like heck not to accept that comparison, but the truth is, I’m starting to see it.

He knows how to pitch, and he knows how to get batters out. The way he works the ball on the corners is completely masterful. The way he gets hitters to chase pitches out of the zone is equally impressive. Montero is scary good right now, and he’s only going to get better.

Here are some quotes from Matt Kardos’ post game interviews after yesterday’s game:

Montero on bouncing back strong after a bad start last week: “I feel happy because I am progressing as a pitcher and that is big for me.”

Montero on if he ran out of gas in 7th: “I haven’t gotten tired so far this year. I just have a pitch count and that’s why they took me out.”

Montero on the go-ahead hit by Slade Heathcott: “I don’t think it was a bad pitch, he just put it in play and you have to give props to the hitter.”

Thunder Manager, Tony Franklin, on Montero: “Montero is very good, the kid has some very good mechanics that allows him to throw the ball well.”

Slade Heathcott on Montero: “He filled the zone up. That’s the toughest thing. I think at one point he had something like 60 strikes and 20 balls. I think he was anywhere from 90-95. Nothing overpowering, his slider was decent but he filled the zone up & worked both sides of the plate.”

I really can’t stress enough how impressive Montero was yesterday. It was easily the best start I saw from a pitcher this year. Most people were busy watching Matt Harvey, and didn’t get to watch Montero, and the box score doesn’t give Montero any justice.

Watching Montero attack the hitters and be able to put the ball where he wanted made it look like he was a man among boys — he just looks like he doesn’t belong (in a good way). He has fluid and smooth mechanics that almost seem to lull the hitters to sleep at the plate. Before they know it, Montero’s 94 mph fastball just went by and nipped the black ever so slightly…Strike Three! This guy is the goods.

The Mets used their first-round pick last year on shortstop Gavin Cecchini.

Last month, I had the chance to conduct an email interview with John Sickels of the well-known minor league blog, Minor League Ball. Sickels worked for ESPN many years ago, where he had his own column about minor league baseball. Here is some of what we talked about:

Q: Were the Mets too conservative with the Gavin Cecchini selection?

A: I thought Cecchini was a slight overdraft but I didn’t really think that about Nimmo. By slight, I think he was more of a late first round guy rather than 12 th overall, but that’s my opinion and obviously the Mets disagreed. Their thinking is that a premium defensive shortstop with excellent makeup and a chance to be at least a decent hitter is not easy to find. As with Nimmo, Cecchini is very young of course, just a college freshman age-wise, so it is way too soon to know who is right.

Q: What do you think of the prospects the Mets got for R.A. Dickey?

A: I thought they did well. D’Arnaud has the offensive and defensive ability to be an All-Star catcher, and at least a solid long-term regular. He just needs to stay healthy. I love Syndergaard, who has made a lot of progress with his secondary pitches. He could be a top of the rotation pitcher. They are both elite prospects.

Q: Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia — bullpen or rotation?

A: Bullpen in both cases. I used to think that Familia might make it as a starter, but at this point I think his command and mechanical problems make him a better fit in the pen.

Q: Vicente Lupo wowed in the Dominican Summer League with a .343/.500/.608 slash line and ten home runs over just 65 games. He is a bit of a mystery to many Mets fans. What do you know about him?

A: Well Lupo was a big-bonus guy out of Venezuela who was supposed to hit for power and average. He was terrible in 2011, but supposedly he was sick most of the summer and not at full strength. As you know, he was outstanding last year, more in keeping with the original reports. However, Dominican Summer League performance is not very predictive, so at this point I think we just have to wait and see.

Q: Will changing Triple-A affiliates from Buffalo to Las Vegas have any impact on player development?

A: Las Vegas is an extreme hitters park in a pro-offense league. In one sense, it can be a useful trial-by-fire thing for for pitchers: if you can survive in Vegas, you are better-prepared mentally and emotionally for the major leagues. On the other hand, it does introduce complications in player development for players on both sides of the ball. Breaking pitches don’t act the same. Hitters can get into bad habits that don’t harm them statistically in Vegas, but can come back to haunt them in the majors.

Read more of Sickels’ work at Minor League Ball.

Brandon Nimmo has gotten off to one of the hottest starts in the minor leagues this season. After another three hit performance on Tuesday, he woke up on Wednesday morning as the leading hitter in the South Atlantic league with a .447.

Nimmo has officially positioned himself to be the No. 2 prospect in the Mets organization once Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud are promoted to the big leagues. Noah Syndergaard still has the keys to the No. 1 spot on the Mets’ prospect list, but Nimmo is making a push.

Many fans thought Nimmo was a bust after 2012. They would look at his numbers and scoff at them. However, Nimmo spent 2012 adjusting to professional baseball. He grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where his high school didn’t even have a baseball team. He grew up playing American Legion ball, and established himself as one of the top high school prospects in the nation moving into the 2011 draft. The thing with high school players is, they only face a good pitcher once per week…maybe. Sometimes, they find themselves playing professional baseball and have never faced a pitcher as good as they will see at that level. Now they see pitchers blowing 90+mph fastballs from the rubber every day of the week. The speed of the game changes drastically, and it takes the hitters time to adjust.

Young Brandon Nimmo has adjusted. 2012 was his adjustment year, 2013 is the result. Not only has he adjusted, he has transformed. He is now a professional hitter. He laces line drives back through the box, into center field consistently. When I look at Nimmo, I think tremendous upside. The risk of drafting this kid that never played high school baseball is starting to turn into reward for the Mets.

After the hot start this year, some are calling for a promotion. Bad move. Leave the kid where he is and let him taste success over the course of the season. Let him dominate, then skip him to Double-A in 2014. There wouldn’t be much of an adjustment skipping from Low-A to High-A ball, but why put undue pressure on a kid if the talent level isn’t much different?

There will still be doubters when it comes to Nimmo. There will still be naysayers. But Nimmo is going to keep producing — his swing and his approach to the game tells us that.

Update 10:40 PM by Satish Ram

Lopez said Mateo’s issue was in his right forearm/elbow. Mateo got checked out by the team doctor, but he may also get an MRI to be safe.

— Lynn Worthy (@PSBLynn) April 16, 2013

Team doctors have examined Mateo and it looks like he’s definitely heading for an MRI in the morning.

Well, let’s all hope for the best…

Original Post 7:58 PM

One of the top Mets pitching prospects, Luis Mateo, has left his Double-A debut in the fourth inning of tonight’s game for the B-Mets. The trainer and head coach Pedro Lopez visited Mateo the mound and escorted him off the field. According to a tweet by Lynn Worthy, they appeared to be inspecting his hand.

Mateo was called up from St. Lucie to replace Cory Mazzoni, who was placed on the disabled list with “Tennis Elbow,” earlier today.

Before leaving the game, Mateo had given up four runs on six hits, one of which was a two run home run.

Once we get word on Mateo we will pass it along. Check back for updates.

After discussing my earlier post with me on Twitter, Mike Newman of FanGraphs conducted his own polling to one of the largest trafficked sports sites on the web. There are the results.

My conclusion?

Too many Mets fans are prospect drunk…

I would speculate that a similar poll on MMO would be somewhere in the middle with the majority of them pulling the trigger on such a deal without hesitation.

Original Post 9:00 AM

I am well aware of how every Mets’ site has their own readership of Mets fans, especially so when it comes to their commenting community, for those few sites like ours fortunate to have a steady commenting community. The differences are stark.

I was very surprised this morning when I saw the results on a poll Mets Blog took yesterday on if they would swap prospects d’Arnaud and Wheeler in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Actually, the word “surprised” might be a bit too mild, I think “stunned” would be a better choice.

Wow, almost two thirds would say NO to the younger and more established Stanton who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

“In a heartbeat,” said one Mets official, who is not in general manager Sandy Alderson’s inner-circle of decision makers but has a voice in discussions. “Nothing against those kids, but it’s Giancarlo.”

Stanton put up those gaudy numbers at ages 20-22. He just turned 23 and is still four years away from his prime 5-6 years of peak production.

I asked no less than – I don’t know – 10-12 different media types from Rosenthal to Callis to Heyman and not one said they wouldn’t pull the trigger. I asked three Mets players who requested to remain anonymous and one said, “Do you really have to ask?”

That is the majority sentiment on MMO as well. That poll up there just showed me the difference between MetsBlog regulars and Mets Merized Online regulars. The two couldn’t be more different.

Almost 75% of MetsBlog readers would rather keep the two unknown quantities rather than adding a proven 23-year old superstar even under the current Mets outfield situation… Wow!

To all of our MMO daily readers… All 16,000 of you… Well 17,000 if you just go by Monday… Have I ever told you how much I love you? :-)

I think it’s cool that when hot button issues come up like this one, that we have two megalithic sites for Mets fans that offer a nice contrast and together comprise the whole of the entire fan base.

Original Post 3/11

The Mets “retain an unfilled craving for a marquee outfielder,” writes Andy Martino of the Daily News.

Martino says that the team is monitoring star outfielders such as Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins and Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.

One Mets person told Martino “there is heat there,” in regard to the team having a preliminary discussion with the Marlins about Stanton, suggesting serious interest.

There is no evidence that GMs Sandy Alderson and Larry Beinfest have discussed a Stanton deal, only speculation. But it does sound like there’s some serious interest on both sides.

This adds to what Ken Davidoff of the New York Post said in a different report yesterday, where he said Stanton, Gonzalez and Andre Ethier are among seven outfielders the Mets might consider acquiring this season or next winter. I didn’t much care for the other four outfielders on his list. Soriano? No thanks.

If the Mets are truly serious and this isn’t just them blowing some smoke up our behinds, they must know it would cost them likely two of their top prospects, namely starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Travis D’Arnaud.

Surprisingly, someone close to Alderson’s told Martino the the Mets GM does not have any particular attachment to either of those players, simply because he traded for them.

The Mets had already considered, but then declined on trading Wheeler to get Justin Upton or Wil Myers, during the Winter Meetings.

There’s nothing  close here so don’t get the wrong idea. But usually where there’s smoke there’s fire so let’s keep an eye on this.

That said, the Mets obviously need a marquee outfielder and they have to stop playing pretend with this current group of flawed outfielders, many of whom wouldn’t be starting on a lot of teams not named the Mets.

Conor Glassey of Baseball America did a very interesting Q&A session with Mets Scouting Director Tommy Tanous. Tanous had some cool insights into the world of scouting, touching on how technology, statistics, amateur showcases, and more have changed the world of scouting. Here is just a little bit of what he said:

Scouting is based on opinions, and it’s always said that you can’t properly evaluate the success of a draft until about five years down the road. So, how do you go about evaluating yourself as a scout, and evaluating the job that your staff is doing?

Nobody knows who has the best draft, until these players actually start playing and start getting deeper into their career. I judge our draft, and our staff, and my own performance by, did we follow our process? There are a lot of different ways of skinning a cat. There are some teams that are stuff-oriented with a pitcher, they want guys with great stuff. There are others who obviously want great stuff, but they’re more concerned about arm action. They’re both right in a way, but what is your process, what is your philosophy, and did you, as a staff, stick to it? I think that’s how you judge yourself as a staff. Because, if your process is solid, and your philosophy is solid—and there can be many different philosophies—but if you stick to them, I think you have the best chance of having success. I think you can get in trouble if you have one philosophy one year, a totally different philosophy another year, and you’re constantly changing. If you have a philosophy you believe in, certainly you’re going to make some small adjustments as the year goes by, but if you have your beliefs and you stick to them, and your staff believes in them, I think that’s the way you have your best drafts.

————————————–

Scouting is obviously a subjective business. But it’s important to remain objective, too. I did a feature a couple years ago called “Scouts On Scouting,” where I interviewed scouts about their jobs, and one thing a guy told me that really stuck out to me, that I really thought was neat, is a thing he does when he does pro coverage. The first day he gets there for BP, he takes all his notes without getting a roster, so that he’s not influenced by the names or the statistics. Are there any tricks like that, that you use yourself, or little things you try to teach new scouts?

Well, they call that scouting with your eyes. It’s nice when you do that, and then at the end of your series, or in the middle of your series, you pick up the stats and the guys you circled, that you feel are prospects, are all having good years. Then it makes you feel better as an evaluator. The main thing I’ll try and stress upon all our scouts—our crosscheckers and our area supervisors—is this: You evaluate with a checklist, whatever that checklist may be. Whatever you feel is important—and obviously I’m not going to go into the New York Mets’ checklist—but we have certain things we like in a pitcher, and certain things we like in a hitter. When you evaluate a player in February, you go down that checklist. He does this, this, this, this, this that we like; he doesn’t do this so well. Well, February turns into April, and we want that same checklist. We want that player being graded on the same criteria he was graded two months earlier on. Otherwise, I’ve seen too many scouts, they’ll go in in February, and they’ll have a certain criteria of what they like. By May, that criteria has changed, and really it’s like having two different scouts at the game. You’re not being consistent, and you’re not being true to the list, or to the player. That’s probably the best advice I can give a young scout. Keep changing, keep getting better—look, my criteria for what I look for now, in 2013, is much different than it was in 1996, because I’ve matured and have more experience, and now I’ve seen certain things that make me feel more comfortable with a hitter. But, I try and have the same process when I go to the game everyday. Therefore, I’m giving it more of a consistent opinion.

I think it will be interesting to see how the scouting world adjusts to advanced technology, which has been taking over the game over the last decade. Pitch f/x and other tools now make every pitch’s release point, movement, location, and velocity are available to the public. Here’s what Tanous had to say about it:

I know some teams are using those, and you see them certainly at the Area Codes and the other events, too. Seeing how hard the ball comes off the bat, velocity, spin rates, I think it’s just starting now with these companies, and I think it’s going to take a few years—like anything new—I think it’ll take a few years before teams have total confidence in it. Just like the video camera took a few years, but I think it’ll eventually get there, and there’ll be a system that’s probably used more than others, and a system that teams probably feel more comfortable with.

Tanous has been with the organization since June 2011 and in his current role since November 2011. He was previously the Director of International Scouting for the Diamondbacks in 2009 and 2010. Before that, he worked in the Rangers, Angels, and Brewers organizations as a scout.

Read the rest of the interview here.

With Pacific Coast League action kicking off tomorrow, April 4, MiLB.com has released their top ten prospects to watch from the PCL in 2013. The Mets will have two of the top five players on that list when play opens up tomorrow in Travis d’Arnaud (4) and Zack Wheeler (5).

It’s unclear how long many of these players will remain in the PCL, as they are some of the more exciting prospects in all of baseball, and it may not be long before some of the big league clubs will be calling for some additional help.

The abbreviated list is below. You can see the list in its entirety here.

No. 1. Jurickson Profar (SS, Round Rock Express)

No. 2. Oscar Taveras (OF, Memphis Redbirds)

No. 3 Taijuan Walker (RHP, Tacoma Rainiers)

No. 4. Travis d’Arnaud (C, Las Vegas 51s) – The Mets’ backstop of the future, d’Arnaud is expected to reach Citi Field by the summer — assuming he suffers no setbacks in Sin City. The 24-year-old came to New York in the trade that sent Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to Toronto, and he stayed with the Mets in big league camp until the final week of Spring Training. d’Arnaud is among the Minors’ best defensive catchers, but he also can hit for a high average with plus power — he batted .333 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs in half a season in 2012.

No. 5. Zack Wheeler (RHP, Las Vegas 51s) – Wheeler advanced to Triple-A Buffalo in 2012 after spending most of the year honing his craft in the Eastern League, where he went 10-6 with a 3.26 ERA. His mid- to high-90s sinking fastball is his primary weapon, but he’s not afraid to keep hitters honest by throwing his curveball and slider early in counts. The Mets insist they won’t rush Wheeler to the Majors, but a hot start in hitter-friendly Las Vegas could force their hand.

No. 6. Tyler Skaggs (LHP, Reno Aces)

No. 7. Danny Hultzen (LHP Tacoma Rainiers)

No. 8. Mike Olt (OF/3B, Round Rock)

No. 9. Jonathan Singleton (1B, Oklahoma City RedHawks)

No. 10. Didi Gregorius (SS, Reno Aces)

With questions of Shaun Marcum’s health dominating the Mets’ headlines, many are calling for Zack Wheeler’s call up as soon as the team can keep the extra year of control on April 21. I have been arguing with Joe D. back and forth for awhile now, regarding whether Wheeler is ready or not. I am always arguing in Wheeler’s favor, and Joe D. has been basically telling me I am crazy. I was pleasantly surprised to read that Joe D. was finally starting to come around earlier today:

The more and more I hear rival executives, scouts and coaches say that Zack Wheeler is ready the more I keep leaning toward bringing him up once he’s past the service time issue. If he truly is ready, then what do we have to gain by letting him waste his time in the desert where he will get his bell rung more frequently than not in the hitter friendly PCL?

Who cares about any Super Two ramifications? If Wheeler is as good as everyone says, wouldn’t he be signed to an extension deal that would buy out all his arbitration years anyway? Much like Jon Niese?

Exactly what I have been preaching for months…he should have credited me in his quote

Historic Grayson Stadium : Home of the Savannah Sand Gnats

Savannah, which starts playing on Thursday, has been speculated over and over to continuously have some top talent this season, and the people who speculated these were mostly right. There are a lot of prospects to be watching on this roster, both on the hitters and pitches side. I will list them as a convenience, as well as two potential sleepers for both hitting and pitching.

Starting Pitchers
Matthew Bowman
Gabriel Ynoa
Steven Matz
Rainy Lara
Logan Taylor
Matt Koch
Luis Cessa

Relievers
Hunter Carnevale
Julian Hilario
Jake Kuebler
Bret Mitchell
Timothy Peterson
Paul Sewald

Catchers
Kevin Plawecki
Jeffrey Glenn
Nelfi Zapata

Infielders
Jayce Boyd
Chad Zurcher
Phillip Evans
Cole Frenzel
Yucarybert De La Cruz
Jeff Reynolds

Outfielders
Brandon Nimmo
Stefan Sabol
Eudy Pina
Gregory Pron

Pitchers To Watch

Matthew Bowman:  A righthanded pitcher drafted in the 13th Round out of Princeton. He throws from 88-92, and has touched 95 according to Paul DePodesta. He throws both a curveball in the low-70’s, which is an average offering, a slider, with more promise, but less consistency, and a changeup in the high 70’s, but is the most consistent off-speed pitch in his arsenal. What really separates him from the rest is the delivery he uses, which is incredibly similar to Tim Lincecum. He is the Savannah’s opening day starter.

Steven Matz:  A 2009 Second round pick, out of Melville HS, East Setauket, N.Y. Matz went under the knife in spring training in 2010 with Tommy John surgery, and didn’t pitch for 2 years. He burst back onto the scene, throwing harder than ever, getting up to 98 and dominating the competition in Kingsport, before succumbing another injury. He will be an interesting arm to watch if he can stay healthy.

Gabriel Ynoa
Rainy Lara
Luis Cessa

According to Aaron Fitt of Baseball America, Luis Cessa has the most promise of the three, running his fastball up to 95, but showing an average Changeup and fringy curve. He also lists that Lara and Ynoa both throw 88-92. Ynoa has an average changeup, and below average Slider, while Lara had below average secondary pitches. They all have impeccable control, but will look to develop their secondary pitches this year.

Hitters to Watch

Brandon Nimmo:  You know the story, Wyoming kid, potential 5 tool player, I wrote an extensive analysis on March 6th about him. Baseball America ranked him 11th on their top 20 prospects list for the league. It would have been preferable to see him in the top 10, but he has enough time to prove himself to the scouts. He has proved to me from what I’ve seen and reports I’ve had the opportunity to analyze that Nimmo is a legitimate first round draft pick. You can read the rest of my projection and analysis on Nimmo here.

Phillip Evans:  A high school shortstop from California, Phillip Evans hit .252 with 5 home runs and an interesting eye at the plate (31 – 48 BB/K) with the Brooklyn Cyclones. He proved doubters wrong as someone who is able to stick at shortstop for the time being. He is an above average hitter with average power.

Kevin Plawecki:  The supplemental first-round pick from the 2012 draft. He is an average hitter with average power, but an amazing eye at the plate (25 BB to 24 K). Mitch Petanick has a excellent write-up on Plawecki on his Prospect Pulse segment.

* * * * * * * *

Here are two more previously unmentioned sleepers:

RHP Julian Hilario:  Apparently throws 90-92, touches 94, with a low-80’s slider and stiff changeup.

OF Stefan Sabol:  Mets 17th Round Pick, who was a former catcher, a highly touted one at that. He is going to be starting left fielder, and has a lot of power in his right-handed bat.

* * * * * * * *

In Savannah this year, the Mets are showing a very promising team, featuring two young top picks in Brandon Nimmo and Steven Matz. They also feature a very interesting middle infielder prospect in Phillip Evans. The only thing that is evident, is the lack of hitting prospects on the team besides Nimmo, Evans, Plawecki, and Sabol.

The rotation, which is seven pitchers deep, has a large influx of interesting arms, with Steven Matz headlining the bunch. Pitchers though will be experiencing some piggy-backing. Matt Koch and Logan Taylor will probably piggy-back together, since they both were college relievers, and then relieved in Brooklyn before being converted to starters.

Most of the relievers aren’t high up on the prospect radar, and are mostly of the soft tossing variety except Julian Hilario, who is my sleeper for this year.

Either way, this team has many arms to keep an eye on, and a few high-upside bats as well. It will be interesting to see how this team progresses through this season which begins Thursday evening at 6:30 PM at Historic Grayson Stadium. They should be a fun bunch to watch.

Most of you read my initial thoughts on Wheeler-gate early this morning; I think it was overblown. I wanted to just say one last thing in lieu of Sandy Alderson’s comments regarding the situation while a guest on WFAN. Here is what he said:

“We didn’t want this to escalate into an issue,” Alderson said. “We have had extensive conversations with both players. We think it’s done. When an incident like that becomes known, we have to address it. That’s the big leagues in New York.” (MetsBlog)

Good. They nipped it in the bud as any good organization would have. Whatever happened, happened, and now it’s over.

One person who was right there in the thick of it, told me that it was much ado about nothing and it all started with something a third player said that he shouldn’t have, after the plunking, “Good. That a**hole deserved it.”

The important thing to take away is that almost immediately, the situation was handled appropriately by the coaching staff, and then the front office, and that all is now good in the neighborhood.

I think what was more appalling than the minor incident itself was how some used it as an opportunity to make the team look bad, create more divisiveness and garner some extra attention for a day. Sadly many of them were Mets bloggers. Anyway…

Have a great weekend and think happy thoughts for Opening Day.

We will be live blogging the event and will have nine writers from MMO on hand from the pressbox to the Pepsi Porch to field level and basically anywhere else you can think of.

We’ve got it all covered on MMO…

Original Post 6:00 AM

Zack Wheeler, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, was reprimanded last weekend along with teammate Aderlin Rodriguez for an on-field incident that led to ethnic tensions in the Mets’ minor league clubhouse, according to the Daily News.

Team sources told Andy Martino that during a minor league intrasquad game last Saturday, Rodriguez, a 21-year-old infielder from the Dominican Republic, homered against Wheeler, 22, and “pimped it” around the bases, as one witness described it.

Rodriguez apologized to Wheeler, but the phenom still hit Rodriguez’s teammate with a pitch later in the game. That drew a long glare from Rodriguez, who shouted at Wheeler during a slow walk to first base. At one point, the home plate umpire stepped between the two prospects.

Later, ethnic tensions arose in the clubhouse, according to two people present at the time. “Some of the American guys and some of the Latin guys were circling and yelling at each other,” one source said. The same source added that Wheeler and Rodriguez “are both great kids, competitors, and this stuff just happens sometimes.”

Mets brass reprimanded both players, and the team considers the issue closed. Vice president of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta acknowledged the incident, and said, “We’ve talked to everybody involved, and I think at this point it’s done with.”

Asked if there was any concern about ethnic tensions arising from the incident, DePodesta said: “From our perspective, we treated it as any parent might treat a dispute between two of their kids. You don’t take sides. There is no such thing as sides. You just try to tell them what the right thing to do is, the responsible thing to do, and you go from there. There aren’t any sides taken (by the organization).”

While most of you all know about Wheeler, Rodriguez is considered one of the organizations top power hitter and led the system in home runs in 2012.

Thoughts from Joe D.

This sounds a little overblown to me and it doesn’t matter what the ethnicity is of the players involved. This is baseball and this happens all the time. It seems that the Daily News wanted to sensationalize this simply because of what the ethnicity of the players involved were, rather than the fact it was just two Mets prospects and that’s it.

1. Player A throws pitch down the middle of the plate.
2. Player B hits home run and showboats it.
3. Player A plunks the next batter.

You’ve seen this before. The only thing that’s different is that it was an intrasquad game and both players went into the same clubhouse after the game – both of them still a little hot.

This is no big deal.

Well today, Baseball America released their 2013 Organizational Rankings and the Mets did come in at No. 16.

Here’s the top 16 overall:

1. St. Louis Cardinals

2. Seattle Mariners

3. Texas Rangers

4. Tampa Bay Rays

5. Miami Marlins

6. Boston Red Sox

7. Pittsburgh Pirates

8. Arizona Diamondbacks

9. Houston Astros

10. Minnesota Twins

11. New York Yankees

12. Chicago Cubs

13. Washington Nationals

14. San Diego Padres

15. Cincinnati Reds

16. New York Mets

How They Got Here: The best Mets farmhands are the products of trades—Wheeler from the Giants for Carlos Beltran, d’Arnaud and Syndergaard from the Blue Jays for R.A. Dickey. New York also has an intriguing crop of homegrown righthanders led by Matero, Montero, Fulmer, but the majority of its prospects has yet to surface above Class A.

High-Ceiling Sleeper: After missing his first full pro season because of Tommy John surgery, RHP Jacob DeGrom bounced back in 2012 with a 93-98 mph fastball and flawless control.

As Callis points out, this new Mets ranking is fueled by the trades of Carlos Beltran and R.A. Dickey who were dealt for Zack Wheeler, Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard who are among the top five overall Mets prospects.

So what does this mean in the grand scheme of things?

Nothing really.

The Mets could easily fall back to No. 24 once Wheeler and d’Arnaud are called up at some point this season.

The true test will come when the top five prospects are populated by players that were drafted/signed and developed through the system and how those players rank among all the other team’s prospects. That will be a truer indication of how well we are developing players.

‘Spin Watch 2013 rolls on with another multi-hit game against the Houston Astros.

I don’t know how many different ways I can say “Jordany Valdespin’s numbers have been impressive this spring.” He’s now batting .348/.388/.996. He also leads the team in hits (16), home runs (4), RBIs (9) and runs scored (8). He’s been so impressive, in fact, that Terry Collins’ latest comments about the young out-second-field-baseman have been nothing but complimentary.

Joe D made a post about Collins’ optimism on Valdespin leading off as well as his attitude. It’s about time the guy gets some respect. Committing to him is the right move. Now it’s just a matter of where to play him in the field.

I have an idea. Are you sitting down? Trade Daniel Murphy and play Valdespin at second base.

I know. It’s such a blasphemous request for me to make. I think Murph’s a good player, but that’s a contributing factor in my request.

Last season, the Mets turned down an offer from the San Diego Padres that would have sent right-handed relief pitcher Luke Gregerson to the Mets for Murphy. At the time, I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but now it makes a bit more sense. Murphy for a bullpen arm sounds a lot more appealing these days—maybe an established left hander. I don’t doubt there’s a lack of desire for a guy like Murphy. That kind of move would give Valdespin the opportunity to develop into an everyday second baseman.

Collins alluded to Valdespin playing so well he could take Lucas Duda’s spot, which gives me this queasy feeling that they would trade Ike Davis, move Duda to first base and have Valdespin play left field. It’s a radical concept, but trading Murphy would eliminate that half-baked idea from my head immediately.

Despite the flak the Mets’ outfield has endured this offseason, I think freeing up another spot is a good thing. It gives the Mets a chance to experiment with some different outfield combinations. Every once in a while you can mix Valdespin into the outfield (to keep his 2B and OF eligibility in fantasy baseball).

Young guys seem to have taken the reins of the Mets. It’s looking like a modern take on a 1986 classic—a remix, if you will. The Mets have guys like Matt Harvey, who wants to win at all cost. They have top prospects like Travis d’Arnaud, who is slowly proving that he can hit Major League-pitching. They have guys that are proving they can be who we expected them to be like Davis and Jonathon Niese. And who could forget Captain America?

Valdespin has done everything we all could have hoped for thus far. Let’s hope he can keep it going.

BRANDON NIMMO: The future is coming his way.

The Mets currently boast a minor league system that ranks in the top half amongst the other organizations in the league. This ranking is primarily due to a crop of promising young right-handed pitchers.

In the most recent edition of Baseball America, they gave their 2013 rankings for pitching prospects. They separated it into three categories: Right-Handed Pitchers, Left-Handed Pitchers and Relief Pitchers. The Mets had five right-handed pitchers ranked in the top 75 right-handed pitchers in the minors. They are Zack Wheeler (5), Noah Syndergaard (19), Luis Mateo (65), Rafael Montero (66) and Michael Fulmer (75).

There were very few teams who had as many, or more, right-handed pitching prospects listed in their top 75. After looking at that list, it’s hard to fathom that the Mets aren’t ranked in the top ten, or even top five minor league systems. However, it’s when you look at the rest of the positions that you get a better idea of why the Mets are sitting just outside the top ten, and probably closer to the middle of the pack.

Baseball America goes on to rank the top 50 left-handed pitching prospects, and no Mets’ prospects cracked their top 50. Not even Jack Leathersich (ranked No. 16 on MMO’s Top Prospect List) or Darin Gorski made the list. On Baseball America’s top 35 relief pitcher rankings, Jeurys Familia came in ranked at No. 15.

When you do the math, Baseball America ranked a total of 160 pitchers. The Mets had six players ranked, good for about 4% of the pitchers ranked.

The minor league system is carried by that crop of right-handed power pitchers, two of which cracked the top ten on MLB.com’s rankings (Wheeler and Syndergaard). Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores lead the pack of position players, but once you get past those names, the system really starts to thin out. The system is very top-heavy, but that doesn’t mean that some of the other guys won’t step this year to help boost the Mets system to new heights. The talent is there, these guys just have to start performing.

Here is a list of position players you should keep an eye on in 2013:

Brandon Nimmo, OF

Gavin Cecchini, SS

T.J. Rivera, 2B

Camden Maron, C

Vicente Lupo, OF

German Ahmed Rosario, SS

Phillip Evans, SS

Wuilmer Becerra, OF

Aderlin Rodriguez, 3B

Wilfredo Tovar, SS

As you can see from the list, there is no shortage of shortstops in the organization, and there are actually a few more that I left off this list. On MLB.com’s position rankings, no Mets’ players rank in the top ten of their respective position aside from d’Arnaud and Flores. While some of the players listed above may never crack a top ten list on MLB.com, they do have the potential to make some noise and boost the system’s prospect rankings. Keep an eye on those guys and look for some Prospect Pulse features on them in the near future.

GAVIN CECCHINI: Brighter days lie ahead.

We have to remember that the Mets are a business and a franchise, that while their “brand” is the New York Mets, they also represent MLB and they were not about to allow the National League’s Gotham City franchise to sink into bankruptcy. No way, no how.

Alderson’s mission, was not to create a winning product in New York or to bring a World Series to Flushing, his mission was to put the NY Mets organization back on the path to profitability. That’s it, nothing else. Many of us lament the fact that Alderson let established stars depart, that he’s failed to exploit free agency — but these may very well be obsolete paradigms. Free agency is going to be greatly diminished in the coming years.

The most successful teams will be the teams who can develop a steady stream of talent from their minor league systems. Small market operations  will get a leg up by utilizing legal devices designed to help them secure elite talent in the draft. Revenue sharing dollars for big markets? Gone. The practicality of the mid-season trade? History. What Alderson has essentially done is adapted the Mets to life under the new CBA ahead of just about every other major league club, while relegating almost a third of the 2014 budget to the “available but untapped” column.

If there is a benefit to having an MLB insider running our team, this is it. The Mets are going to be supremely adapted to life under current MLB operational parameters. You don’t like how the Mets have done business over the past few years? Get used to it, the Player’s Association signed a 5 year deal. Even the Yankees are scaling back and reassessing their approach.

Now I ask you this, what would be better, to adapt to these changes ahead of time (and ahead of other teams) or (like the Nats did in 2011) to take one last shot at using the old paradigm’s flexibility? If you aren’t currently in a position to contend I think the more prudent approach is the former.

Alderson is not a player acquisition guy, he’s not a “baseball” guy … he’s a businessman and a lawyer. His job has been to overhaul the organization, to build a “lattice” if you will, one that will support the systems and operations (the vines) necessary to produce a quality on-field product (the fruit). The grape vine analogy is a good one because it demonstrates how far removed from the players Alderson really is. It’s really Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi who are in charge of the players — in fact it’s the scouts assembling the aggregate performance data and writing the detailed reports who do the “target acquisition” legwork.

Alderson’s job was to rebuild this lattice, to restructure finances in support of the team’s systems and operations so the team could again make money. That’s it, that’s all he’s had to do. Slash, burn, and redistribute with a focus on the minors. That’s all he did in San Diego and that’s pretty much all he’s doing here. Does that make him a hatchet man? Maybe, if that’s what you want to call it.

Recently Alderson was asked whether his conversation with Johan Santana had “cleared the air,” whereupon he described a more nuts-and-bolts discussion, saying it centered on Santana’s workout plan.

“If that was clearing the air, that was clearing the air, I guess,” Alderson said.

He’s a bitter pill, I’ll admit, but a necessary one nevertheless. Nobody expects veteran players to like him, especially now that he has the legal framework to offset their worth by hugely increasing the value of cheap under control prospects. Do you think he cares that veteran players don’t like him? Do you think he’s worried that free agents might not want to come to NY? Is he acting like it? I don’t think he gives a damn. I think he’s seen the future and investing heavily in pricey veterans isn’t a big part of it. Who is going to win this tussle between veteran interests and Ownership? Baseball is a young man’s game and Alderson is not out to win any popularity contests. That’s not why he’s here. He’s here to fix the Mets structurally.

Whether or not the Mets win now or later really doesn’t matter in this respect. GM’s come and go, some are good and some stink. If DePo and Ricciardi stink and the Mets don’t succeed in the short term, well then hopefully they’ll be replaced by someone better. But the structure, the lattice, remains. If that structure is well-adapted, profitable, self-sustaining, then it will make any GM’s job that much easier. Think of it this way, what GM in his right mind wouldn’t want to run a team with a solid core of young inexpensive players, a vastly improved farm system stocked with a ton of quality pitching, and 40 million in spending money for 2014?

A quality farm promises to remain the primary feeder of major league talent for any successful organization, as such, the importance of its success is not just paramount, it is incalculable. Mitch Petanick in his article yesterday, pointed out how the Mets have some of the finest right-handed pitching prospects in the Minors. Our Florida State League A-ball affiliate (a big performance marker for our current front office strictly in terms of player turnover) last year went to their league championship with by far the best pitching and lowest ERA in their league. There is a wave of pitching heading our way that is larger and more promising than “Gen-K.” Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler are just the beginning.

Fan support can be fickle, Met fans can be temperamental and impatient, we’ve had so much disappointment it’s hard to see a silver lining even when it’s obvious, but it’s hard not to feel good about the pitching heading our way and the amount of financial flexibility this team is going to enjoy come 2014.

I have a feeling we’re going to look back on Sandy Alderson’s tenure as a huge turning point.

According to Miami owner Jeffrey Loria, is “absolutely not available.” But despite Loria’s insistence, we all know everyone is available. It just depends on the price. Or as one Marlin operative told me the other day:

“I understand Jeffrey’s getting killed in Miami over blowing up the team this winter and why he doesn’t want to trade Stanton. But how much more can we get killed? The fact is, this is the right time to trade Stanton. He’s never going to have more value than this. He’s already had some injury issues, and we’re never going to sign him to a long-term deal.”

We’ve discussed the scenarios about what it would take to acquire Stanton from Miami just last week on MMO.

The majority agreed it would take both of our top prospects to get him; Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud. But it was kind of split as to whether the Mets should do it or not.

Last week, Sports on Earth wrote that the Mets were one of only four teams in baseball that had the pieces to snatch the superstar away from Miami where he seems very unhappy since they blew the team up.

I would be very shocked if Stanton were still a Marlin after the trade deadline.

At the start of the show…

Yes. That title is for real. We have been so busy ridiculing the man for his cost-cutting style of management, that we are not taking the time to take a step back and see the big picture.

You could sit and watch the thirty minute episodes of Bob Ross’ show, which featured him painting, and witness him scratching and poking away at that canvass, switching from brush to brush and color to color, and wonder what the heck he was doing. It looked about as far from anything considered art at that point as you can imagine. I would often wonder if he actually had his paintings planned out, or if he would just get up there in front of his canvass and get his paint on.

The viewing audience finds themselves sitting there, trying to figure out what in the world Ross is painting, because all you see are some lines, some blotches of paint here or there, and are simultaneously being hypnotized by the soothing sound of Ross’ voice. Then, all of a sudden, everything starts coming together.

A couple of those lines become a barn in a field. Those blotches, they become clouds in the sky and a snow capped mountain. Then there is the “happy tree” that always seems to tie the Ross paintings together. He blots the brush on the canvass to create the effect of leaves on the tree, and if you tried it, would look like someone just blotted the brush on the canvass aimlessly. If you’re lucky, you will see him throw in a pond which reflects the image of the snow capped mountain. And finally after thirty minutes, we have a work of art.

The problem is if you turned off the show ten minutes in, you would have no clue as to what Ross was painting.

Similar to a viewer who tunes in to the first ten minutes of The Joy of Painting and thinks Ross is a terrible painter, Mets fans, only seeing some blotches and lines scribbled on the canvass, have wrongly judged Alderson’s plan after the first ten or twenty minutes of his episode. But now we are getting closer to the end of the episode, and things are starting to take shape with Alderson’s plan.

We are seeing some top flight prospects materialize before our very eyes. It doesn’t matter how they got here—they’re here. And they arrived on Alderson’s watch. The outfield doesn’t look spectacular right now, but it won’t be as bad as people are making it out to be. I went out on a limb a couple of weeks ago and said the Mets could win over 85 games, and I’m sticking by that prediction.

David Wright, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell, Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey, Josh Edgin…

The Mets have a young core of guys that want to win and have something to prove. That can be an incredible driving force and motivating factor that can make a difference in the win column. The Mets minor league system has improved, and I am now convinced it will continue to improve as long as Alderson is the general manager.

This quote from Alderson in the New York Times sums it up nicely:

We’ve got the basic building blocks. We’ve got some talented players. We’ve got a lot of pitching depth in our system. And I think we’re going to have some financial flexibility; we’re not saddled with even two-year contracts. But, ultimately, you’ve got to put it all together, too.

It may have taken me awhile, but I’m coming around. It’s time to believe in the plan and the man behind the plan. I’m a Mets fan…always have been and always will be. Nothing will ever change that. This team needs the fans’ support if they are going to be contenders, no matter what the circumstances are. Either that, or we can continue complaining about the crappy painting, and change the channel ten minutes into the episode before it starts to take shape.

It’s time to be grateful for what Alderson has done so far and have faith that this team is in the right hands.

While the Mets try to make do with an outfield made up of what would likely be utility outfielders on most other teams, John Harper of the Daily News sheds some new details on the Mets’ failed pursuits of Justin Upton and Michael Bourn.

Regarding Upton, the Mets were hoping he would just fall in their laps for either Daniel Murphy or Ruben Tejada plus two A-Ball pitching prospects, believing Arizona GM Kevin Towers was desperate for a third baseman or shortstop.

In addition to either Murphy or Tejada, the Mets would have included one or more of lower-level pitching prospects, presumably someone from the likes of Rafael Montero, Luis Mateo, Michael Fulmer, or even recently-acquired Noah Syndergaard.

But while Alderson actually thought he was in the game, a baseball executive from another club who knows Towers well says the D-Backs GM never got close to doing anything with the Mets before finally trading Upton to the Braves.

As for the Bourn situation, for one thing it’s now clear other teams complained about making an exception to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement just to appease the Mets and also let Scott Boras beat the system.

The Mets were going to have to win a grievance to keep the draft pick, and Alderson didn’t want to go through that process before having an agreement because he believed it would give Boras more leverage. It was that fear and tentativeness that blew any chance to sign Bourn, sources told Harper.

“Typical Mets.”

“They can say this happened or that happened but the bottom line is they didn’t act decisively,” one major league executive said. “They should have gotten the draft pick decision settled — it wasn’t going to change Bourn’s market. To let the delay of the draft-pick decision get in the way of a deal was small-time thinking.”

The executive added that while neither Bourn or Upton was going to make the Mets winners in 2013, it now makes building a contender-worthy outfield in 2014 considerably more difficult, and that Alderson will be under the gun to finally deliver a winning season in his fourth and final year of his contract.

There are far more hideous things in the world than the state of the 2013 Met roster. For instance, what if the Mayans were only off by a few months? Sure how smart could they be if they got annihilated by a bunch of guys in tin hats, but still, it could all end tomorrow, POOF!

We could be hit by a massive wayward asteroid. NASA didn’t even see the one that scared the heck out those Siberians so not a whole lot of faith there — the cosmos kind of snuck that one by them. We could have a zombie apocalypse. That would be bad — though less bad for some. I know I’d be ready – even my kids agree I was made for that sort of thing. My compulsive tendency to hide weapons in convenient places  (a trick I learned on my long walks to I.S. 61) and my agility putting a choke-hold on the dog speak for themselves.

The world could end with another ice age, you could be trampled walking out of Zabar’s staring at your new garlic press by a stampeding herd of Mastodons or you could be flattened crossing the street by a rogue high speed glacier. Or, like those slower than lava Pompeii people, you could end up covered in ash and molten rock, frozen forever in your last act – just as you were about to take a bite of your toaster strudel or obsessing about your fantasy baseball draft order.

Jeez, you’d think we could find other things than the quality of Met outfielders to complain about. Now we’ve got this Higgs Boson particle. Bunch of eggheads at the “Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory” in “Geneva” crashed some stuff together at high speeds and decided our universe is fundamentally unstable and therefore vulnerable to being wiped out by a more stable better looking universe with great hair. My thinking was, you’ve GOT to be kidding me? I just scheduled a teeth cleaning! Unstable universe?

When I was a kid I used to crash trucks together at high speeds all the time but I don’t think it ever resulted in a negative time vortex expanding in every direction at the speed of light. Heck, even the Beltran/Cameron collision of 2005 didn’t trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.

Higgs (not to be confused with “Higgins” from Magnum P.I.), the energy field that gives subatomic particles their mass, is unstable? Unstable how? Like a three legged chair, or like Lindsay Lohan? Is our universe going to pop a bunch of pills and crash a car into a jewelry store? Why would God make our universe unstable? Was he cutting corners? Did he run out of rebar by the time he got to our universe? Maybe we should ask for a refund!?It all makes Daniel Murphy’s oblique injury seem trivial doesn’t it?

We Met fans need to keep things in perspective because honestly, at least we’re not the Marlins. So much complaining about Sandy Alderson, really?

Over the past 30 years the guy has worked for two organizations. The first is a perennial contender that manages to be competitive on a shoestring budget year after year. The second, was a moribund mess when he took over in 2005 and people say he left it not much better in 2009, but here’s the rub, sports fans, when I did an unofficial survey of minor league system rankings on 5 major sports sites, the Padres minor league system was ranked in the top three in every one and was ranked the top system in baseball in 3 of the 5, with comments like “system rife with both depth and quality.”

Yep, rife, that means their system stinks of talent… say your prayers NL West. I wish we were rife. Oakland has had a pretty nice run too, sustainable even. They recycle their seemingly never ending stream of prospects every few years — bringing up talented youngsters and trading off the older and too expensive players for even more prospects. Sound familiar? That’s Sandy Alderson,. That’s who he’s been and that’s what he’s done.

Now fast forward a few years to Fred Wilpon in dire financial straits sitting in Selig’s MLB offices. Bud looks at Fred (who is sweating profusely) and says, “OK Fred, I won’t do you like Frank McCourt because, well… because we’re pals right?”

“Sure Bud, we’re tight, just like this,” says Fred twisting his fingers together.

“But, here’s the thing Fred, you’re going to do me a little favor. These big market bullies, we need to bring them down a notch. This league screams for parity like a 2006 LeSabre with a busted engine rod. I’m going to cut their brake lines and undermine their business model.”

“Freddy my boy, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse. We’re going to show the world how a big market team can succeed using small market methods. We’re going to bring them all down to our cheapskate level. I’ve got this friend of mine I want you to talk to, name of Sandy… He’s in the Dominican right now… Cigar?”

Sure it didn’t go down exactly like that, It probably never even happened, but hey it makes for a good Godfather-like Mets spoof and there’s probably a kernel of truth somewhere in the premise. Namely that Selig’s guy is here to put another organization on an Oakland / San Diego sustainable trajectory.

Things could be a lot worse Met fans. Our farm could still be a shambles. We could be Kansas City having just traded our best prospects for James “I just pitched 8,000 innings” Shields  We could have signed Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher to huge contracts. We could have traded Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler for Justin Upton.

Instead? We have three ace level pitchers heading our way in Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, and Noah Syndergaard, with several other babies in the low minors making some big noise.

We have two division foes in the Phillies and Nationals with acknowledged minor league weaknesses in right-handed pitching. Our strength? You guessed it, right handed pitching.

We finally have a catching prospect who looks like he might be up to the task of ushering in a new era where we’re not getting our asses handed to us by the likes of Shame Beefarino, Chased Mutley and Jimmy “I’ve eaten stacks of pancakes taller than” Rollins. These guys are going down people, like asteroids burning up in the Met stratosphere, like glaciers melting from Met carbon emissions, they’re going to whither like crackling thistles under a wave of molten Met lava, mark my words.

Seriously, If I were Ruben Amaro or Mike Rizzo I’d be concerned with what this Alderson guy is up to. So yeah, things aren’t so bad, they can’t be, not with the tsunami of pitching we have coming our way. My only regret is that we ditched Acosta before I could use my Acostalypse jokes.