The Mack Attack - 5-23-8

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Friday, May 23, 2008

May 23, 2008

Mets News

Pedro Martinez, who returned to the Dominican Republic to be with his sick father, said Wednesday that he plans to stick around for at least two more seasons. "I feel great physically and for the record I haven't considered retirement. Retirement would only take place if my arm is badly hurt and if I have to face surgery or something near that nature," Martinez told ESPNdeportes.com while visiting his father, Pablo Jaime, who has a form of brain cancer. - ESPN

Buster Olney reports in his blog for ESPN.com that Johan Santana's velocity is down 3-4 miles per hour from a couple of years ago - according to some talent evaluators. Olney further explains: “He is short-arming the ball more than he has in the past — and this is after some red flags appeared in the physical examination he underwent before signing with the Mets. Sources say his shoulder showed some wear and tear, which is not unusual for a pitcher of Santana’s age. This is not to say Santana is not an effective pitcher now, but all of this information makes you wonder how effective he will remain during the course of his multi-year deal.”

Mack’s Facts:

“The Future Mets – By Position: SS

Every time I do this, I remind people that the need for the Mets to develop a SS is kinda low priority these days. With that being said:

In AAA, there is Anderson Hernandez (.182). Moving on, the B-Mets had had a good season so far from Jose Coronado (.250), but he basically has no chance to break the Mets lineup. The closest thing the Mets have to a prospect SS would be Lucy’s Ruben Tejada (.220) who expectantly is struggling through his first year stateside. And, the Gnats Mathew Boussard (.215) rounds out the under-producing foursome currently starting for minor league Mets teams. Ernesto Gonzales, Juan Legares, Luis Nieves, and Miquel Tejada are currently on the Extended roster.

Observation: Like I said, there really is no rush here… the kid to keep an eye on is the 18-year old Tejada playing at Lucy. I expect him to continue to struggle through this season and return to the same team next year, especially since no one is pushing him at the A level. Will the Mets draft a SS? Never know.

Mets Top 10 Draft Picks:

1990:

Round 1 Jeromy Burnitz OF (5,710 Abs - 315 HRs - .826 OPS)

2 Aaron Ledesma SS (754 Abs 2 HRs .703 OPS)

3 Micah Franklin SS ( 34 Abs 2 HRs .878 OPS)

4 Mike Petrizi C (poof)

5 Darwin Davis 3B (poof)

6 Demond Smith OF (poof)

7 Pete Walker RHP (20-14 4.48 1.46)

8 Raul Casanova C (1,072 Abs 35 HRs .684 OPS)

9 Fernando Vina 2B (4,240 ABs 40 HRs .727 OPS)

10 Michael Quillin OF (poof)

2008 Draft:

From ClutchPick – Top 3 Hitters in 2008 Draft:

Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt: Hitting .294/.400/.471 in 24 games, his OPS is approximately +10 percent compared to context. Obviously this is much below expectation and his previous standards, however the injury is the main factor here. Scouts are cutting him slack and he’s still expected to go in the Top Five overall, and at this point I don’t see any reason to override consensus given his track record.

Buster Posey, C, Florida State: HItting .464/.562/.827, OPS is about +63 percent better than context. Posey’s stock is rising due to his tremendous hitting this year as well as the fact that he’s proven to be a reasonable-enough defender behind the plate. Ranking him ahead of Smoak and Alonso may be a bit controversial but he’s done everything asked of him and finding a catcher who can hit and field is harder than finding a first baseman who can hit.

Gordon Beckham, SS, Georgia: Hitting .412/.524/.874, OPS is about +79 percent better than context. Has also stolen 16 bases in 17 attempts, producing power, plate discipline, etc., and he can play shortstop. Some people compare him to Khalil Greene, others say he’ll hit better than that. Again, this might be controversial ranking him ahead of Smoak and maybe I’ll change my mind.

Zephyrs:

SP Adam Bostick gave up 6 ERs in 1.1 IP on Thursday, which may just be enough for the Mets to admit this was a really bad trade (Bostick and Jason Vargas for Lindstrom and Owens). Not exactly a Kazmir deal, but loooks close to it. The Mets pitching prospects are really non-existent for the next couple of years, what with Niese being erratic, Ruckle out for surgery, and Parnell blowing up.

Don't be surprised if Nelson Figueroa doesn't become part of the rotation here, after throwing 4.1 innings of run-less ball in relief of Bostick.

The New Orleans Zephyrs dropped its 4th consecutive game and its tenth in its last 11 road contests as the Oklahoma RedHawks defeated the Z’s 6-2 on Thursday afternoon. The Z’s allowed a first inning run and then five additional runs in the 2nd to chase New Orleans starter Adam Bostick. Oklahoma starter Eric Hurley pitched seven scoreless innings and earned his second win of the season. Bostick suffered his second consecutive defeat. Oklahoma’s Travis Metcalf and Joaquin Arias each drove in a pair of runs for Oklahoma. Nelson Figueroa pitched 4.2 scoreless innings of relief and Chris Agulia hit a solo home run for the Z’s. Oklahoma finished off a three-game sweep of the Z’s.

B-Mets:

SP Jacob Ruckle has a torn labrum and is out for the year.

ProjectProspect had a story on the “Top 25 Non-Prospect Players” in the minors. Featured were:

#14 - Jonathon Niese LHP Combination of strong numbers makes him a very good prospect

#16 Nick Evans 1B Proving that April BB/K (6.7%/21.0%) was a fluke, May closer to career (13.7 BB%/9.6 K%)

The Connecticut Defenders used three home runs and a four-run fifth to beat the Binghamton Mets 7-4 at Dodd Stadium Thursday. The loss is Binghamton’s third in their last 14 games. Connecticut (21-23) got to B-Mets starter Jose Sanchez in the first, as the first two hitters reached base, with Kyle Haines scoring on Travis Ishikawa’s sacrifice fly. However, Sanchez (4-3) was able to retire 10 in a row thereafter. Binghamton (22-23) rallied to tie in the third. Eric Reed began the frame with a bunt single off Adam Cowart before Sanchez bunted him to second. Two batters later, Daniel Murphy ripped a double down the rightfield line, scoring Reed. The B-Mets took the lead the very next inning. Salomon Manriquez reached Cowart (3-2) for a two-out double before the righthander walked Jose Coronado. Reed followed with a bloop single to center, bringing in Manriquez, for a 2-1 B-Mets lead. After the Defenders tied the score on Simon Klink’s RBI double in the fourth, the B-Mets reclaimed the lead in the fifth. Emmanuel Garcia began the rally with a bunt single before Murphy bunted him to second. Once Cowart (3-2) intentionally walked Mike Carp with two outs, Ambiorix Concepcion followed with a base hit up the middle, scoring Garcia, for a 3-2 Binghamton advantage. However, five of the six batters Sanchez faced in the fifth picked up hits, including Jake Wald, who led off with a game-tying homer, and Ben Copeland, whose three-run shot gave Connecticut the lead for good. Sanchez was pulled after 4-1/3 innings.

Connecticut’s Adam Witter homered off Tim Lavigne in the eighth, accounting for the game’s final run. Defenders reliever Steve Palazzolo tossed two shutout innings to earn his first save in two chances.

Gnats:

The Augusta GreenJackets (27-20) were shutout by the Savannah Sand Gnats (19-28) 3-0 on Thursday night. Starter Steven Calicutt suffered the loss and Augusta was held to just three hits by Savannah starter Maikel Cleto.

Cleto (1-3) worked the full nine innings allowing just three hits, no walks and struck out two for his first win of the season.

Already leading 1-0 heading into the sixth inning, the Sand Gnats plated two more runs for a 3-0 lead. With two on and one out Joaquin Rodriguez connected for an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Richard Pena scored the second run of the half inning on a throwing error from shortstop Ramon Corona on a ball hit by Tony Maccani.

VSL:

The 9-1 VSL Mets beat the Rays, 7-5. Angel Cuan gave up an unearned run over 5 innings, striking out 10. Cesar Diaz had 3 hits. So far this season, Cuan has 18 strikeouts and 1 walk in 11.2 innings

Potential Free Agents for 2009

Starting Pitchers:

Kris Bensen BAL - A.J. Burnett TOR (may opt out) - Paul Byrd CLE - Jon Garland LAA - Tom Glavine ATL - Mike Hampton * ATL - Rich Harden * OAK - Orlando Hernandez NYM - Jason Jennings TEX - Randy Johnson ARZ - John Lackey * LAA - Esteban Loaiza OAK - Braden Looper STL - Derek Lowe LAD - Pedro Martinez NYM - Matt Morris * PIT - Mike Mussina NYY - Jamie Moyer PHI - Mark Mulder * ST - Carl Pavano NYY - Brad Penny * LAD - Odalis Perez WAS - Oliver Perez NYM - Andy Pettitte NYY - Mark Prior SD - Horatio Ramirez SEA - C.C. Sabathia CLE - Ben Sheets MIL - John Smoltz * ATL - Julian Tavarez BOS - Steve Trachsel BAL - Brett Tomko KC - Claudio Vargas NYM - Randy Wolf SD

Minor Mets Bios:

Milvin Vargas C Domincan Republic

Vargas was signed by the Mets in the International signing period in October 2007. He’s 16 years old.

Tyler Vaughn 3B R R 6-2 200 3-21-85 Univ. of Nebraska

Vaughn’s stats in his last year at Nebraska: .316/.388/.412 with 7 steals. Vaughn was selected in the 22nd round of the 2007 draft by the New York Mets. He signed and was immediately assigned to Kingsport (rookie). In 2007, Vaughn excelled at Kingsport, going .284/.351/.489 in 88 at bats. He also played errorless 3B.

Gregory Veloz 2B S R 6-1 175 6-3-88

Veloz was signed out of the Dominican Republic and assigned to the DSL Mets. He was one of 2005’s top 10 International prospects. In 2006, Veloz hit .271 for the DSL team with an OBP of .373. The Mets named Veloz as the winner of the 2006 Sterling Award as the best player with the DSL team.

In 2007, Veloz started out with Savannah but couldn’t get enough play time. He was sent down to Kingsport where he batted leadoff throughout the season (.271/.344/.450 in 258 at bats, 18 SBs, 18 E) and went back to Savannah to end up the season there (.171/.243/.236 in 234 at bats).

In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Veloz as the 16th overall Mets prospect, adding:

"the ball jumps off his bat and he could hit 25 homers annually..."

Ex-Mets:

The form chart offers an imposing daily double that favors the Royals as they seek to avoid a sweep in today's series finale against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Brian Bannister and an afternoon game. "To me," he said, "it's not a big deal. I don't pitch any differently. I don't change anything." And yet Bannister is the anti-vampire who becomes Herculean in the sunshine. He is 4-0 in his four daytime starts with an 0.62 ERA after allowing just three runs in 29 innings pitched. Contrast that with his numbers in night games: 0-5 in five starts with an 8.13 ERA. "It just seems that in the few games I've thrown this year," he said, "the weird things have happened at night. By weird, I mean the big home runs. It happened down in Miami; it happened against the Angels; and it happened in Texas. "To me, the thing that jumps out is I haven't given up a home run in a day game." Except it's not just this year. Bannister is 10-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 14 day games throughout his brief big-league career but just 8-14 and 4.73 in 30 night games. -- KC Star

This Day In Mets History:

1965 - Mets' outfielder Ron Swoboda takes up his position wearing a batting helmet - on his foot. After kicking the protective head gear it got stuck on his spikes, and manager Casey Stengel ordered the young player to go out to the field.

1998 - Carl Pavano, making his major-league debut for the Expos, allows two runs one earned on three hits and strikes out six in the 3-2 win over the Phillies. The Southington, Connecticut native was acquired by Montreal in the Pedro Martinez trade with the Red Sox.

2000 - Joining Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, Seattle's Rickey Henderson draws his 2,000th career walk becoming only the third player in baseball history to reach the milestone

2004 - Surpassing Tommy Agee’s 1969 team record, Kaz Matsui sets a franchise mark with his fifth lead-off home run of the season and becomes the first Met to hit lead-off homers in consecutive games. The Japanese shortshop is also the first big league player to have his first five round trippers of his career be hit batting first in the first innings of a game.

And lastly:

An Atlanta Braves fan died after falling from the stands at Turner Field, police said. The 25-year-old man, who wasn’t immediately identified, fell an estimated four levels inside the stadium to field level, striking concrete and metal railing, according to Atlanta Police spokesman Ron Campbell. The man was reported to have been sliding on a handrail in the bottom of the eighth inning when he slipped off.