Mack Attack, May 25, 2008

May 25, 2008

Mets News:

Marlon Anderson is going on the DL with a strained left hamstring. 1B Nick Evans was promoted to fill the utility slot.

Observation: this is a clear indication that Mike Carp is no longer the number one 1B prospect in the organization

Nick Evans 1B R R 6' 2" 180 20 01-30-1986

Evans came to pro-ball straight out of St. Mary’s High School, Phoeniz, Arizona.

The Mets chose Evans in the 5th round of the 2004 draft and received a $217,500 bonus on his signing day. He immediately reported to the GCL Mets and hit .258 in 50 games. Evans was 3rd in the Gulf Coast League in extra-base hits and runs and 5th in homers. Scout.com ranked him the 34th Mets prospect that year. In 2005, Evans played a ‘full’ season for the short-season Brooklyn team, hitting .252/.302/.407. He was named Player of the Week during the period of 6/20-6/26/05.

Baseball America ranked Evans as the 30th prospect in the system, OnDeck had him 28th, and InsidePitch put him #14. In addition, the pre-season John Sickles rating was C and Evans was ranked as the 18th Mets prospect. Baseball Thnk Factory said in Nov ’06 that Evans might the Mets’ ‘sleeper’ prospect. Their actual quote: “33 doubles and 15 HR at Hagerstown this year – some of that, particularly the double total, is helped by the ballpark, but it’s not all park-fueled. He was drafted as a 3B but was quickly moved to 1B; if he’d stayed at 3B he’d probably be on a lot more radars. I think he’ll add power; the question will be “how much” and “how soon”.

In 2006, Evans played a full season at H-Ball and posted .254/.320/.419. He led the South Atlantic League in games played, and was 5th in at bats.
John Sickles has him as the #14 2007 Mets prospect. In February 2007, Scout.com ranked Evans as the 9th top Mets prospect.

In 2007, Evans played the entire season for St. Lucie (.286/.374/.476 in 378 at bats, 15 HRs, 54 RBIs, 25 doubles, 64 strikeouts).

In September 2007, Evans was assigned to play in the Hawaiian Winter League (which is always a sign that the organization wants to invest more time and money in you). Also in September, Baseball America ranked Evans as the 9th top player in the Florida State Leauge for a ‘big season’.

In November 2007, ‘Project Prospect’ listed Evans as the 70th top prospect in baseball, Baseball America had him on the ‘best of the rest’ Mets prospect list, and Scouts.com had Evans as the 9th top Mets prospect. ‘P.P.’ said:

It’s true. There simply isn’t an argument to be made that Carp out-hit Evans in 2007. Evans had a much more productive offensive season. But we’re not going to look past the fact that Carp was significantly better than Evans at the plate in 2006 and has played a level above the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder for each of the last two seasons – despite being five months younger. Our developing speed metric has them as similar runners, as well. Evans showed above-average strike-zone judgment in St. Lucie. His 2006 and 2007 power numbers are pretty similar, his contact rate just increased. A product of the 2004 Draft (134th overall pick), Evans could be big-league ready by 2009. We see him as a potential solid-average regular at the moment.

In December 2007, Jonathan Mayo/MLB.com said:

A 2004 fifth-round pick, Evans put up some pretty solid numbers in the Florida State League, with 15 homers, 25 doubles and a .476 slugging percentage at age 21. That might not sound that terrific, but it put him seventh in slugging and tied for ninth in homers.

In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Evans as the 20th Mets prospect.

In February 2008, ScoutingBook.com listed the 238 top prospects in 2008 baseball and they ranked Evans as 139th, stating:

The Mets 5th round selection in the 2004 amateur draft, Evans always put up solid numbers, but really broke open in the summer of 2007. Firmly taking hold of his future as middle of the order power bat, Evans hit .286/.374/.476 in 378 ABs for St. Lucie. His blossoming as a power threat has scouts not only relisting him over the Mets other 1B prospect, Mike Carp... they're looking at a 30-homer, 100RBI future in the middle of the Mets lineup.

Also in February 2008, Rotoworld ranked Evans as the #10 Mets prospect, saying:

Evans replaced Carp as St. Lucie's first baseman and posted the same kind of line that Carp did in 2006. Carp was a year and a half younger at the time, but at 21, Evans was hardly old for the FSL. Also impressive was that he went from a 99/45 K/BB ratio in 511 at-bats in the Sally League to a 64/54 mark in 378 at-bats. Unfortunately, most of the right-handed hitter's success came against lefties (.354/.440/.596). He hit just .262/.351/.434 against righties. He's probably not going to blossom into a 25- or 30-homer guy, so he'll need to do a much better job of hitting for average versus righties going forward. Since he and Carp do cover up each other's weaknesses pretty well, there's a slight chance they could form a cheap platoon for the Mets in 2010. It'd be a more likely scenario if they were Giants or Royals.

April 2008 Totals: .323/.367/.576 | 4 hr | 21 rbi | 19 runs

Observation: not a bad first game… I’m sure we’d all take 3 doubles in our first MLB game. I found this promotion surprising and expected a typical Omar move, calling up some old fart. Maybe he read the comments by Adam Rubin…

Comments from Gary Carter during Friday night’s game:

"I could be in New York tomorrow, if necessary, because if there's anything at the major league level I can leave this job. The comments that David Wright made saying that, you know, there's no spark, there's no fire - if anything I would love to bring that to the table because you know me, guys, I love the game, have a great passion for it and you know my enthusiasm."

A very interesting live appearance on WFAN last night by Adam Rubin. He really took off against Omar Minaya, saying he has done a terrible job. Said that Omar basically killed the farm by trading prospects for, as he puts it, ‘old people’. Also said that the so-called pipeline from the Dominican Republic never happened and the only true prospect the Mets have signed there was Fernando Martinez, while has been hurt 3 years in a row.

Mack’s Facts:

“The Future Mets – By Position: C

At AAA, Raul Casanova only has 18 at bats so far, but he’s making a quick impression (.500/.500/.661/1.111), until he was called back up again. Gustavo Molina (.244) and Mike Nickeas (.242) are filler. At AA, Salvador Paniagua (.320 in 25 at bats) has taken over the starting job after being demoted from New Orleans. He, Salomon Manriquez (.232), and Rafael Arroyo (.217) are more filler. At Lucy, Sean McCraw (.151) has had a miserable year, and has lost the starting job to Josh Thole (.259). And the Gnats’ Francesco Pena (.274) is showing signs of maturing, while backups Tony Macanni (.417) and Jordan Abruzzo (.319) are being primarily used as DHs. Still in Extended Camp are Luis Alen, Luis Campusano, Juan Centeno, Cesar Cordido, Rogelio Del Campo, Teddy Dziuba, Aaron Garcia, Ralph Henriquez, Patrick Maat, Stephen Malvagna, Samuel Martinez, Paulo Nunez, and Jefferies Tatford

Observation: Not much here, with the only hope being Pena in Savannah; however, the Mets might not need someone for quite awhile if Brian Schneider works out. Look for continued drafting at this position.

Mets Top 10 Draft Picks:

1992:

# 1 SS Preston Wilson - 4,703 Abs 189 HRs .797 OPS
#1 LHP Chris - poof
#1S RHP Jon Ward - poof
# 4 RHP Steve Lyons - poof
# 5 RHP Joe Petcka - poof
# 6 OF David Sumner - poof
# 7 3B Chris Saunders - poof
# 8 RHP Robert Spang - poof
# 9 RHP Andrew Trumpour- poof
# 10 RHP Derek Baker - poof

2008 Draft:

Top Catchers in the 2008 draft, per BA:

Jason Castro, Stanford
Tim Federowicz, North Carolina
Jake Jefferies, UC Davis
Taylor Hightower, Cartersville HS, Ga
Brett Lawrie, Brookswood SS, Langley, BC
Brandon Miller, Woodward Academy, Tyrone, Ga
Adrian Nieto, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla
Petey Paramore
Buster Posey, Florida State
Kyle Skipworth, Patriot HS, Riverside, California

Zephyrs

Tony Armas Jr. allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings and struck out nine Friday for Triple-A New Orleans. He has a 2.34 ERA and a 50/14 K/BB ratio in 61 2/3 innings for New Orleans

VSL/DSL:

The VSL Mets won again, 1-0. Their record so far this season is now 10-2. 4 pitchers (Orlando Tovar, Jhoan Burgos, Rafael Guerrero, and Johan Romero combined for the shutout. The 0-0 Tovar has now pitched in 3 games, has an 0.00 ERA, and has 15 Ks in 14.0 IP.

Minor Mets Bios:

Nathan Vineyard LHP L L 6-3 200 10-3-88 Woodland HS (GA.)

Vineyard, a 6-3, 200-pounder, went 8-2 with a 0.84 ERA in 10 games with Woodland this year. In 59.0 innings, he allowed 29 hits with 12 walks and 105 strikeouts. Vineyard, 18, was a 2007 Louisville Slugger High School Pre-Season All-American

A scouting report put out just before the draft had his fast ball clocked in the 88-91 mph range, with ‘average’ life. Vineyard's slider is also average, but it's already an out pitch. He's got good athletic actions on the mound and excellent aggressiveness in attacking hitters.

Another scouting report:

Vineyard has an average 88-91 mph fastball and slider. His change-up is currently below-average. Vineyard has a solid delivery but his command is below average at this point in his career. He is athletic and likes to aggressively attack hitters.
BA on Vineyard:

Like fellow Georgia high school lefty Josh Smoker, Vineyard has been on the map as a prospect for several years. His performance has been far less consistent than Smoker's, but he re-established himself as a potential high-round pick last fall when he dealt in front of more than 100 scouts in the featured game of a World Wood Bat tournament in Jupiter, Fla. His delivery is loose and easy and the ball jumps out of his hand. His fastball comes in at 88-91 mph, but because he leans heavily on his plus slider, there's reason to believe he will add velocity once he learns to pitch off his fastball. His slider has late break with good depth and tilt. He'll throw it in any count and can spot it down in the zone or bury it as a chase pitch. Vineyard profiles as a No. 4 starter or set-up man in the big leagues and could be drafted as high as the supplemental round.

Vineyard was drafted in the supplemental portion of the 1st round by the Mets in 2007.

He pitched the entire 2007 season with the GCL Mets, where he went 0-3, 5.27 in 9 games (7 starts) with 33 Ks in 27.1 IP.

In November 2007, Scouts.com named Vineyard the 14th top Mets prospect, while BA had him 9th
.
In December 2007, Jonathan Mayo/MLB.com wrote:

The Georgia high school product was another of the Mets' supplemental first-round picks. He got his feet wet in the Gulf Coast League, where he struck out 33 in 27 1/3 innings. He allowed only four earned runs over his final 18 innings (1.78 ERA), spanning five games.

In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Vineyard as the 9th overall Met prospect, adding:

"throws 3 pitches that presently grade average or better, with some projection remaining"

In February 2008, Baseball Prospectus gave Vineyard a 2-star rating and ranked him as the 6th overall Mets prospect.

Also in February 2008, Rotoworld ranked Vineyard as the #4 Mets prospect, saying:

The Mets had six picks in the first three rounds of last year's draft and used them all on pitchers. Vineyard, the 47th overall selection, looks like the best of the bunch at the moment. A projectable left-hander with a 88-91 mph fastball and a quality slider, he could be a No. 3 starter. The Mets will surely have him focusing on improving his changeup over the next couple of years. He's probably not going to advance more than a level per year, at least not until 2010.

Ex-Mets:

Jesus Flores knocked in 2 runs to lead the Nationals to a 5-1 win over the Brewers.

This Day In Mets History:

2000 - The Devil Rays released Doc Gooden (2-3, 6.63). The former Cy Young Award winner was acquired from the Houston Astros on April 13 for cash considerations giving him a chance to pitch for his hometown team.

2002 - With four homers on Thursday (5/23), one on Friday (5/24) and two more on Saturday (5/25), Shawn Green becomes the first major leaguer to hit seven homers in three games. The Dodger outfielder's nine home runs in a week also breaks a National League record, established by Ralph Kiner with eight and tied by Ted Kluszewski and Nate Colbert

2002 - Former major league pitcher David Cone is hired as a part-time television analyst by the YES cable network. The assignment also includes serving as a studio analyst on selected pregame and post game shows, covering five games Staten Island Yankees (Class A) and being a WCBS announcer for the June 14th Yankees-Mets game.

And lastly:

During three years in the low minors, John Odom never really made a name for himself. All it took was 10 maple bats to trade for him. That sure changed this week - he's the guy who was traded for a bunch of bats. "I don't really care," he said Friday. "It'll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues." For now, Odom is headed to the Laredo Broncos of the United League. They got him Tuesday from the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League for a most unlikely price: 10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style. "They just wanted some bats, good bats - maple bats," Broncos general manager Jose Melendez said. According to the Prairie Sticks Web site, their maple bats retail for $69 each, discounted to $65.50 for purchases of six to 11 bats. "It will be interesting to see what 10 bats gets us," Melendez said.