Here is the full list of Mets minor league free agents as comprised by Baseball America:

RHP: Giancarlo Alvarado (AAA), Buddy Carlyle (AAA), Joel Carreno (AAA), Jeremy Hefner (A+), Ryan Reid (AAA), Miguel Socolovich (AAA), Ismael Tijerina (A)

LHP: Angel Cuan (A+), Dana Eveland (AAA), Scott Rice (AAA)

C: Kai Gronauer (AAA)

1B: Brandon Allen (AAA), Allan Dykstra (AAA)

2B: Anthony Seratelli (AAA)

3B: Brian Burgamy (AA), Josh Satin (AAA)

SS: Dimas Ponce (A)

Notes:

Andrew Brown (Oakland A’s) and Juan Centeno (Milwaukee Brewers) were also claimed last week after the Mets placed them on waivers to clear room on the 40 man roster which now stands at 36 players.

The Mets have not reached out to the representative for minor leaguers Anthony Seratelli and Ryan Reid. Their agent, Joe Rosen, says he expects both to play for other organizations next year. (NJ.com)

It’s surprising that Dykstra, a 2008 first round selection by the San Diego Padres, didn’t get a September call-up. The 27-year old posted a .280/.426/.504 line in 439 plate appearances for Las Vegas and owns a .406 OBP and .858 OPS in seven minor league seasons.

The post Dykstra, Satin, Seratelli Among 17 Mets Minor League Free Agents appeared first on Metsmerized.

Angel Cuan will be celebrating his 24th birthday today, and he has an early birthday present to enjoy. The St. Lucie southpaw has been awarded the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors following a dominant performance against Bradenton.

Following his first seven-inning performance of the season on May 18th (also against Bradenton), Cuan came back to do the same in his most recent start, but even better. In those seven shutout innings, he allowed only two hits and no walks, while striking out nine hitters. It the second consecutive time he’s kept an opponent scoreless, while the nine whiffs are a season-high.

He didn’t allow a walk for the fourth time in 2013, and has now only allowed five free passes in 39 innings pitched this season. His most recent dominant start brings his season record to 5-1, to go along with a 3.69 ERA and 33 strikeouts. On the heels of twirling this gem, St. Lucie manager Ryan Ellis said he would have left him in the ballgame for all nine innings if he didn’t need to get Jeurys Familia and Scott Atchison an inning of work each for their rehab assignments.

What I thought was interesting was that Cuan is awfully used to beating Bradenton. He’s taken the mound against them four times this season, and sports a 4-0 record. In total, he’s thrown 24 innings against the Marauders in less than a two-month span, allowing four runs on 16 hits, four walks, and 27 strikeouts. Sounds like he has their number.

Congratulations to Cuan on this accomplishment! What a way to begin his birthday celebrations.

The post Angel Cuan Named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week appeared first on Metsmerized.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas topped Salt Lake, 13-9.
• Binghamton shut out Portland, 5-0.
• Savannah dropped to Augusta, 3-1.
• St. Lucie shut out Bradenton, 8-2.

Prospect Pipeline

• Rafael Montero killed it last night…again. The righty was absolutely dominant through six innings today – allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. He allowed no earned runs and dropped his ERA in AA down to 3.08. He was touching 95 mph on the guns last night. #promotemontero
• In case you missed the Prospect Spolight over at MetsMinors.net yesterday, Aderlin Rodriguez is having a month for the ages. Over the past thirty days, his stat line heading into last night’s game is a ridiculous: .321/.353/.571 with 6 HR & 30 RBI.
• Sandy Alderson told reporters yesterday that the organization will limit top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler to 180 to 185 innings this season, likely meaning he will have to go through an end-of-season shutdown, similar to Matt Harvey last year.
• When Zach Lutz was removed from the game in the fourth inning yesterday, speculation ran across Twitter that he was on his way to Flushing to spell the struggling Ike Davis. Unfortunately he was removed due to an oblique injury. With Andrew Brown recently injuring his oblique, Lutz looked to be the favorite. He has more corner infield experience, and currently resides on the Mets’ 40-man roster. Looks like it’s down to Josh Satin and Wilmer Flores as the primary call up possibilities right now — I give Satin the edge.
• Every batter in the starting lineup reached base safely for the 51s last night, and six players had multi-hit games including Omar Quintanilla, who went 4-for-4 with a homer and a walk. If Tejada continues to struggle at the major league level, don’t be surprised if you see Quintanilla get called up to take some time away from him.
• Matthew Bowman (3-0), a 13th-round selection in last year’s MLB Draft out of Princeton University, has worked at least six innings in all four of his starts since being promoted from Savannah earlier this month. Boasting an arsenal that already contains four quality pitches — the changeup being viewed as his primary out pitch — he painted the corners masterfully and sent down the first six Marauders batters he faced last night on during his solid seven inning outing. He struck out five batters and walked only one.

Stat Line of the Day

Omar Quintanilla: 4-for-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 RBI, 2 R

Transactions

None.

Happy Memorial Day from all of us at MMO and MMN.

The post Mets Minors Report 5/27: Montero and Bowman Spin Gems, Lutz Injures Oblique, Wheeler Starts Today appeared first on Metsmerized.

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas lost to Salt Lake, 7-5.
• Binghamton slipped by Portland, 3-2.
• Savannah defeated Augusta, 2-1.
• St. Lucie shut out Bradenton, 1-0.

Prospect Pipeline

• Logan Verrett was pretty damn good in yesterday’s game, scattering three hits over seven innings while striking out nine. He allowed just one earned run and walked none. In fact, as Mitch pointed out, “over Verrett’s past two starts, he has pitched 13 innings, striking out nineteen batters and walking none. That’s completely ridiculous.” Verrett is the midst of a really impressive season and is thrusting himself right into the middle of prospect radars.
• Mitch also mentioned last night that Rafael Montero was on the mound today – and he will be looking to build on a successful outing during his quick stint in AAA, where he lasted six-and-two-thirds innings and allowed just four hits and two earned runs.
• Angel Cuan was not to be outdone by anyone last night, as he twirled seven shutout innings for St. Lucie and allowed just two hits. He struck out nine in a surprisingly dominant performance. Cuan may not find himself on any prospect lists any time soon, but you could do a lot worse for an organizational lefty.
• Jeurys Familia and Scott Atchison both pitched a scoreless inning of relief to back up Angel Cuan last night, striking out one each. They both looked sharp in their first rehab appearance in St. Lucie.
• Kevin Plawecki went 0-for-4 last night and failed to reach base for the first time in 34 straight games. The fact that it even got that far was enough for me to make a joke about promoting him here.
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis slammed his fifth home run of the year last night – but with a .217 batting average, he was failed to justify the hope a lot of us had for him to fight for the center field job with the MLB team. Collin Cowgill went deep last night as well, but also owns an unsightly .225 average.
• Darrell Ceciliani stole two bases last night to give him a total of 11 on the season so far, which is a pretty nice total. In other Binghamton Mets Outfield News, Cesar Puello walked twice last night, for the first time in a single game since April 12th of last year.
• I know Chris Schwinden doesn’t really qualify as a prospect by any means, but he has been struggling immensely during his time in Las Vegas, posting a 6.24 ERA over ten starts. He is basically placeholding for Rafael Montero or even Logan Verrett at this point.

Stat Line of the Day

Angel Cuan: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 9 K

Transactions

Scott Atchison was sent to rehab in St. Lucie.

Jeurys Familia was sent to rehab in St. Lucie.

Which one of you Met farm hands are ready for The Show? Let’s ask Joe D.

The post Mets Minors Report 5/26: Verrett And Cuan Both Strike Out Nine In Dominant Performances appeared first on Metsmerized.

Las Vegas 9, Omaha 4 (Box)

Josh Satin: 3-for-5, 2 R

Andrew Brown: 2-for-3, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 RBI, 3 R

Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 R

Zach Lutz: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI

Carlos Torres: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 ER, 5 K

Greg Peavey: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Sean Henn: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Portland 10, Binghamton 7 (Box)

Cory Vaughn: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

Wilfredo Tovar: 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 SB

Mark Cohoon: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 ER, 5 K

Chase Huchingson: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 2 ER, 3 K

Shawn Teufel: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 K

Jeff Walters: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 ER, 2 K

St. Lucie 10, Bradenton 0 (Box)

T.J. Rivera: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R

Dustin Lawley: 2-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 4-for-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

Matt Reynolds: 2-for-6, 1 RBI

Rylan Sandoval: 2-for-4, 1 RBI

Charley Thurber: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 R

Angel Cuan: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 6 K

Estarlin Morel: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K

Savannah 3, Augusta 1 (Box)

Jayce Boyd: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Kevin Plawecki: 2-for-2, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 HBP

Cole Frenzel: 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI

Matthew Koch: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 K

Jake Kuebler: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Bret Mitchell: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K

(Don’t worry, readers…this is not the norm going ahead – but rather a one-time occurrence. Stay locked in to MetsMerized on Monday morning… we’ve got some big news on the horizon.)

The post Minors Wrap-Up: Brown/Rodriguez Fill Up Stat Sheet, Cuan Dominant appeared first on Metsmerized.

Bradenton 5, St. Lucie 4

Willy Garcia drilled a bases loaded walk-off single to right off of reliever T.J. Chism as the host Bradenton Marauders defeated the Mets 5-4 on Friday.

Jenrry Mejia allowed two runs and five hits over three innings with three walks and six strikeouts in his first start on a major league rehab assignment with St. Lucie. Mejia had originally been scheduled to make an earlier rehab start, and he did – where he pitched two innings, but it was rained out so the stats were a wash…no pun intended. Mejia threw 61 pitches, 41 for strikes.

Chism allowed a leadoff single to Benji Gonzalez in the ninth and then served up a double by Gregory Polanco. After an intentional walk to Jose Osuna, Chism struck out Dan Gamache. Garcia followed with a line-drive single to score Gonzalez with the winning run.

The Mets trailed 3-1 entering the eighth inning, but rallied for three runs with two outs. Matt Reynolds drew a four-pitch walk. Dustin Lawley ripped an RBI triple to center and scored the tying run on an errant throw into the dugout by shortstop Alen Hanson. Aderlin Rodriguez launched his seventh homer of the season, a go-ahead solo shot to right-center to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.

Garcia hit a game-tying home run to right off of Mets reliever Chasen Bradford in the eighth.

Jim Fuller allowed one run over three innings in relief and Bradford allowed one run over two innings.

Lawley had two hits and two RBIs, including a solo homer in the sixth.

Key Stats

Jenrry Mejia: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, 6 K

Jim Fuller: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 2 K

Chasen Bradford: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 1 ER, 3 K

T.J. Chism : 0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 K

Dustin Lawley: 2-for-4, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

(Team Report)

The post Meija Strikes Out Six In Rehab Start But St. Lucie Loses 5-4 appeared first on Metsmerized.

Palm Beach 7, St. Lucie 3

St Lucie’s six game winning streak was snapped tonight by the Palm Beach Cardinals.  St Lucie’s starter Angel Cuan pitched six solid innings in the loss. Cuan allowed one unearned run in the second inning, and surrendered a solo home run to Stephen Piscotty in the fourth inning. St. Lucie was leading 3-2 in the seventh when Cuan exited the game. While Cuan was not dominant, he pitched effectively enough to deserve the win. Unfortunately, the St. Lucie bullpen couldn’t hold on to the lead.

Estarlin Morel entered the game in relief of Cuan with a man on base and quickly yielded a RBI double to the first batter he faced. However, Morel was able to escape the inning without allowing any more runs.

The Palm Beach Cardinals took the lead in the eighth off St Lucie reliever Randy Fontanez.  Fontanez allowed three runs in the inning, which put the game out of reach for St. Lucie.

Offensivley, Dustin Lawley was St. Lucie’s lone producer. In the fourth inning, Lawley put St Lucie on the board with a RBI triple off the centerfield wall. In his next AB, Lawley crushed a two-run home run to left field that put the Mets up 3-2.  Lawley finished only a double short of the cycle.  The rest of St. Lucie’s lineup went a combined 2-for-26.

Key Stats

Angel Cuan: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 0 BB, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 K

Estarlin Morel: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1-1 Inherited runners scored

Randy Fontanez: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 K

Wanel Vasquez: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 HR, 1 ER

Dustin Lawley: 3-for-4, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 1 RBI

Gilbert Gomez: 1-for-2, 1 BB, 1 R

The post St. Lucie Bullpen Falters Behind Cuan, Mets Lose 7-3 appeared first on Metsmerized.

St. Lucie 6, Daytona 2

It was a good day for Hansel Robles, who retired the 12 Cubs that he faced en route to his third victory of the 2013 campaign. Robles went five solid innings and allowed just two hits over that span, striking out five and walking none. He struck out the side to open the game. The only run he allowed crossed the plate in the fifth, where allowed a triple to Jorge Soler and he scored on a sacrifice fly.

Outside of Angel Cuan allowing a solo home run in the top of the seventh, the St. Lucie bullpen combined to close out the rest of the game relatively uneventfully. You can thank Cuan himself, along with Frank Francisco and Randy Fontanez for that much. Francisco pitched in his second straight game and the velocity/movement on his pitches all seemed to be there. It is safe to say that he is nearing his return to the MLB.

On offense, Rylan Sandoval was the spark plug in the fourth, as he doubled home a run and was eventually brought around to score himself on a Charles Thurber grounder. The St. Lucie Mets ripped five straight hits to open up the bottom of the fifth, capped off by Aderlin Rodriguez‘s bases loaded double, which plated three men. Dustin Lawley had provided an RBI single right before that.

T.J. Rivera had a ridiculous five-hit afternoon – and two of them went for doubles.

Key Stats

T.J. Rivera: 5-for-5, 2 2B, 1 R

Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI

Dustin Lawley: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

Rylan Sandoval: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB

Hansel Robles: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 5 K

Angel Cuan: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 ER, 4 K

Frank Francisco: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

Randy Fontanez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

The post Robles Goes Five Strong To Fuel St. Lucie 6-2 Win appeared first on Metsmerized.

St. Lucie 5, Bradenton 2

St. Lucie starter Angel Cuan had a decent bounce back start tonight to pick up his third win of the season. Cuan pitched in and out of trouble most of the night, but he escaped without incurring too much damage.  In the third and fourth innings, the first two batters reached base against Cuan, but he managed to not allow any runs in either frame. However, in the fifth, Cuan yielded two runs off three hits.

Jim Fuller came in relief of Cuan in the sixth inning and St. Lucie received outstanding relief work from Fuller and T.J. Chism. Fuller pitched two scoreless innings and only allowed one hit.  Chism also pitched two scoreless innings and picked up a six out save. T.J. Chism has been superb this season, with a 1.35 ERA so far.

St. Lucie was found success against Bradenton starter Eliecer Navarro. Rylan Sandoval led off the second inning with a line drive single to right field. The next batter, Dustin Lawley, launched a 2 run home run that put St. Lucie ahead 2-0. St. Lucie tacked on another run in the inning off an RBI single by catcher Cam Maron. Cam Maron had an eventful night behind the plate. He threw out two runners that were attempting to steal, but he was also charged with catchers interference in the third inning.

Dustin Lawley crushed another home run in the 6^th that extended the Mets lead. Lawley looked like he busted out his slump with a terrific night at the plate. Lawley was hitting .164 on the season before tonight’s game.

Key Stats

Dustin Lawley: 2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB

Cam Maron: 1-for-4, RBI

Travis Taijeron: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Albert Cordero: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB

Rylan Sandoval: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB

Angel Cuan: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

Jim Fuller: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K

T.J. Chism: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K

The post Lawley Crushes Two Home Runs In 5-2 St. Lucie Win appeared first on Metsmerized.

Rafael Montero is fast approaching a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas

Last Night’s Quick Scores

• Las Vegas Tops Colorado Springs 10-6
• Binghamton Shuts Out New Hampshire 3-0
• St. Lucie Edges Fort Myers 6-5
• Savannah Tops Lakewood 6-4

Prospect Pipeline

• Brandon Nimmo had another triple last night and reached base three times (two walks). Let’s face it, if Nimmo isn’t getting on base as much as he is (.520 OBP), then Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki wouldn’t be having as good of years as they currently are. I didn’t research it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that 50% or more of Plawecki’s and Boyd’s RBI came from driving in Nimmo this season. Nimmo is the prime example of how having a solid lead off and No. 2 hitter in the lineup are the keys to the success of a team’s offense as a whole.
• Catcher Juan Centeno, who was called up from Double-A Binghamton to replace the injured Travis d’Arnaud, had an impressive Triple-A debut. Centeno went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, and also did a nice job behind the plate blocking a couple of pitches in the dirt. (Joe D.)
• Shortstop Phillip Evans was pulled from the game after not running out an infield popup. Gnats’ manager Luis Rojas explained that he had no tolerance for a lack of hustle and gave Evans an earful after the game. (Joe D.)
• Savannah first baseman Jayce Boyd had three hits and drove in four runs as the Sand Gnats defeated Lakewood 6-4 on Saturday. The hot-hitting Boyd is batting .367/.473/.532 in 16 games with 16 RBI this season. (Joe D.)
• Newly signed ex-Yankee Sean Henn made his Mets debut at Triple-A Las Vegas in relief on Saturday night. The left-hander allowed three hits and an earned run in two-thirds of an inning. (Joe D.)
• Sports Media Watchdog caught up with Brandon Nimmo who talked about his hot start. “We’re just going to keep going with this and keep having fun,” said Nimmo. He also praised the organization’s coaching staff for always having something helpful to say when he needed to hear it. “I’m not a major-leaguer yet, but even then, I’ll work on being more consistent, both physically and mentally.” By the way, Sports Media Watchdog is owned by Mike Silva, formerly of New York Baseball Digest. A sharp guy who knows what he’s talking about. (Joe D.)
• How many more games does Rafael Montero have to dominate before he gets the call to Las Vegas? Then how many games will he have to dominate before reaching Citi Field? Because as we learned yesterday, “all he does is dominate.” I’m trademarking that phrase, and going to make a fortune on t-shirts. Seriously though, the kid has a solid fastball, a sharp slider, he’s working on a change up (which is usually the last pitch to develop for young pitchers), and he has complete control over the strike zone — he’s going to be a good one.
• Juan Lagares is slowly proving that he is ready for big league action. He’s been hitting lead off for Las Vegas and he is batting .356, with two home runs and a .390 OBP. The last time I checked the Mets could still use some outfield help and a leadoff man…what’s the hold up?
• Domingo Tapia seems like he has completely bounced back from his start on April 11, where he didn’t make it out of the first inning. Even with that anomaly, his stats are still ridiculous this year — in 19.2 innings of work, he has an ERA of 2.29, and 18 strike outs to seven walks. Now take into account that four of those walks came in the game where he only pitched .2 of an inning. So in his other 19 innings of work he’s only allowed two earned runs, three walks and struck out 17 batters…wow.
• I’ve been preaching it for months — T.J. Rivera is for real. All he does is hit wherever he goes. The native New Yorker from the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx seems determined to make the long journey from undrafted free-agent to Citi Field. We are all rooting for you T.J.!

Stat Line of the Day

Rafael Montero: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 6 K

Transactions/Injuries

• According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, left-hand reliever Robert Carson is due to join the Mets, a baseball source told him. MMO’s Joe D. is projects that Josh Edgin could be heading to Triple-A Vegas to make room for Carson on the Mets roster.
• Rehabbing Frank Francisco threw an inning of scoreless relief in the eighth inning, in his second outing with St. Lucie. That’s two scoreless innings for Francisco since getting back into real game action..

Quote of the Day

Rudy Terrasas on Matt Harvey: “My first impression was that this was a big, strong kid who was built for innings. And then when you saw what came out of his hand, you put it all together and thought, boy this is a pretty good-looking pitcher. He had a plus fastball and plus secondary pitches. The good ones are going to be more polished, and that was the case with Matt. The other thing that impressed me was Matt’s demeanor on the mound. He didn’t let anything bother him; he had a game plan, and he stuck with it.”

Photo of the Day

Brandon Nimmo?! Brandon Nimmo?! Wait until they get a load of me…

The post Mets Minors Report 4/21: Nimmo Is Having Fun, Montero Is Dominating, And Tapia Is Back On Track appeared first on Metsmerized.