It’s funny how some fans view things when it comes to Mets prospects. On Tuesday, I saw some tweets regarding reliever Josh Edgin and that he’s somehow nearing a promotion to the Mets bullpen. Really? That’s news to me. I know this isn’t something they read anywhere because it’s simply not true so I have to assume it’s just this perception that surrounds him and a few other prospects.

I’m not going to go into another diatribe on why Josh Edgin isn’t ready like I did a couple of weeks ago, but I wonder how many Mets fans realize that among pitchers who have thrown ten or more innings this season for the Bisons, Josh Edgin (5.02 ERA) has the worst ERA followed by Matt Harvey (4.35 ERA) and Jeurys Familia (4.31 ERA). That’s right, those three have the worst ERA’s on our Triple-A team. And yet you can’t go one day without reading or hearing about them coming to Flushing. There’s a ton of noise out there.

I always feel bad for the players who are more deserving that nobody ever talks about like Jack Egbert and Elvin Ranirez who we have been writing about almost on a daily basis on MMO. Yesterday Ramirez got a mention on MetsBlog, thank goodness, but now I suppose it means that everyone will now memorize the name and start clamoring for him to join the Mets bullpen before long. Actually by the looks of the comments over there, it’s already begun. Good for Elvin Ramirez, but it’s still too early for talk like that where he is concerned.

On May 8 we highlighted Ramirez and Egbert on our weekly “Who’s Hot” list:

Jack Egbert (AAA) – Yet another great off-season pick-up for the Mets, Egbert has been the model of consistency thus far this season. He’s one of Wally Backman’s favorite pitchers in his pen, and he continues to get outs in big spots for the Herd. This season his numbers are: 2-2 with a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings. He’s given up only 3 ER’s on 12 hits, 4 BB’s and 12 K’s, his BAA is .190, and his WHIP is a tidy 0.89. The 6’3″ right-hander who turns 29 this week could also be pitching his way closer to the majors with each passing day.

Elvin Ramirez (AAA) – The smokin’ hot start to the season for Ramirez already has gotten him a promotion from AA Binghamton to AAA Buffalo a few days ago. Continued success will land him on the same conveyor belt headed towards Citifield as his teammates listed above. What got him the AAA promotion? Here’s the numbers he put up with Bingo in April: 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 7 BB’s, 16 K’s, a BAA of .152, and a WHIP of 1.08. This 6’3″ 24-year-old right-hander has some nasty stuff, and unlike the three relievers above who are veteran players, Ramirez is actually a prospect.

Actually, these two have made every Hot List this year so far including last weeks. 🙂 They’ve always been hot around here…

Yesterday they had a Mets meet and greet before the Binghamton game. Our man Pete was there and when he asked a girl in a Met jersey what was going on, with a smile she said, “Zack Wheeler is talking to fans and signing autographs, and some other guy named Gruberstein.”

Sure enough there was a mob of fans surrounding Wheeler, and poor Darin Gorski, AKA Gruberstein, was all alone. It’s okay, it turned out to be a great moment for Pete who scored an interview and a photo opp with the young left-handed prospect.

I guess the point of this post is to simply say that if you read our minor league stuff, you’ll have a much better idea and understanding of what’s happening in the Mets minors. You’ll pick up a lot more than the little bits and pieces you can get from a box score or a 50 word game recap.

We have our own beat writers covering each Mets affiliate and the knowledge you can glean from any of their daily reports is first hand and insightful.

We have our Minor League Editor Pete currently travelling with the B-Mets in New Britain and he’s picked up some great information from hitting coach Luis Natera, pitching coach Glenn Abbott add interviews with Matt den Dekker, Greg Peavey and another name we keep talking about, fireballer Adrian Rosario, who we got in the K-Rod trade. That kid’s the real deal people and he’s coming on fast.

By the way, we are officially putting it out there – that Collin McHugh will soon be getting promoted to Buffalo and deservedly so. We mentioned it a few days ago, and now the buzz we’re getting is telling us it will happen sooner rather than later and he deserves it.

Andrew is in Daytona covering the 4-game series between the St. Lucie Mets and Daytona Cubs this week, and he’ll be filing a full report sometime today or tomorrow with some updated information on Ruben Tejada, Jason Bay, Josh Thole and of course the kids Chase Huchingson, Cory Mazzoni, Darrell Ceciliani and Wilmer Flores.

What I’m trying to say is don’t get tunnel vision on our prospects. If you went by the hundreds of posts out there each week, you’d get the false impression that we only have six or seven prospects worth talking about. Believe me when I tell you that there are dozens and dozens of great prospects on the horizon and you should do your due diligence as a fan and learn all  about them. Don’t buy into that crap that our minor league system is ranked 25th or 27th because there’s no truth to it at all. We have a great system.

Yesterday, Pete asked a couple of the newcomers to the organization like Egbert and Rosario a simple question. How does the Mets organization compare to the ones you came from?

“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME”, one exclaimed in shock. “This organization is a first class operation and professional from top to bottom…there’s no comparison”.

Anyway, we have some cool stuff in store for you in the next ten days including plenty of interviews and boatloads of insights from the coaches and managers who are charged with developing all this great talent in our pipeline. So keep your hand off the remote and stay tuned into MMO.

I do have a question for you.

Do you prefer audio and video clips, or do you want us to keep transcribing our interviews the way we’ve always have?

I see a lot of video and audio being done these days, and it seems to be gaining in popularity. MetsBlog seems to have ramped up those formats on their site. Would you like to see that here too? Drop me a line and let me know.

Personally, I’m old-fashioned and I prefer a good read to a good listen and when we transcribe it gives us an opportunity to throw in some insights and afterthoughts which you cant do on a video clip.

Also, I still haven’t found someone to cover the Kingsport Mets who will get things going this summer. If you live in the area, love to write, and would like to attend the games for free, let me know and I’ll hook you up.