At his surfing the Mets Blog, Adam Rubin did a nice feature on SS Wilmer Flores.  Here are a few of my favorite nuggets.

On Flores’s amateur exploits:

As a 14-year-old at the Agua Linda Academy in Valencia, Venezuela, Flores already stood out against players preparing to sign contracts as international free agents, belting 90 mph fastballs at the young age and clearing a 300-foot wall to the opposite field.

On Flores’s approach

He began taking more pitches, getting a sense of the pitcher’s approach against him and began to look for the offspeed pitches – which he steadily received. …. “He expands his zone a bit, and he likes to hit early in counts, but he makes it work,” one scout said. “I saw him hit some crazy pitches. He’s the best guy I saw in the league.”

“Best guy I saw”  – That’s high praise friends.

On his play and future at SS:

Flores has a plus-arm at shortstop, though he doesn’t flash it on routine plays…..Scouts weren’t impressed with the speed of his first step, and timed him at 4.6 seconds down the line. A lack of range at shortstop might be partly explained by fatigue….

“Some people say, ‘I don’t know if he’s a shortstop.’ He’s going to be playing shortstop until he shows cannot play shortstop or he outgrows it,” said Tony Bernazard, the Mets’ VP for player development. “This kid is 6-3, 175 pounds. He shows good actions at shortstop, good instincts. He’s advanced in terms of the anticipation of the game.”

On this, I absolutely agree with Bernazard.  Flores will and should play SS until he proves he cannot.  Actions is usually used as a catchall for movements and includes, but is not limited to: hands, footwork, agility and usually implies some smoothness.

Right-hander Dillon Gee continued his successful winter league season with Leones de Ponce on Saturday, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing just five hits against Carolina. After being promoted and allowing just four runs in 27 innings to end last season with Binghamton, Gee is 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 46.2 IP in Puerto Rico. His pitching coaching is Ricky Bones, who was also his coach with the B-Mets.

… the twenty-two-year-old continues to impress, relying on a high 80s to low 90s fastball with very good location… he’s not going to overpower you by any means but works the corners very well, mixing in a changeup and soft curve…he’ll likely begin the 2009 season with the B-Mets…

…and on a side note I’d like to thank Toby for the warm introduction and the opportunity to contribute… i look forward to the months ahead and certainly wish we could fast forward to March and spring baseball, to say the least… i’m sure you all agree…

I’m pleased to introduce a new writer to Mets Minor League Blog: Christopher Guy.  Mets fans, and minor league aficionados in particular, might remember Chris’s work on the minor leagues at the old Mets Inside Pitch website and his own site FlushingsFuture.com thereafter.

I’d like to use this moment as an open-casting call as well.  I’d like to add another writer for the 2009 season, if I can find the right person.  If you’re interested, please shoot me a note and a writing sample, which does not have to be baseball related.

On the New York Baseball Digest Blog Talk Radio Show, Howard Megdal of the New York Observer named Mets Minor League Blog the Mets Blog of the Year.  You can listen to the complete show here.  Howard and his co-host Mike Silva hand out the hardware right near the end.

I’m thrilled by the honor.  Thank you Howard.

Here are actual quotes from Howard, and yes, these will find a way onto my resume:

On Toby:

The man knows the minor leagues ….. and is just a tremendous baseball mind. … He has a tremendous handle on being able to project minor leaguers to the major leagues.

On the site:

Absolutely tremendous.

Of course, I owe a big thank you to SNY and Matt Cerrone for bringing me into the SNY.tv blog network in the first place.

Even more importantly, thank you to you readers who take time out of your day to read, comment and challenge me to be better everyday.  And of course, I like it when folks help me out by sending links my way.  Your feedback absolutely helps make the time I spend on MMLB worth it!

The rumor making the rounds on the internet is that LHP Nathan Vineyard has retired.  The Mets picked Vineyard out of GA HS in the supplemental first round, 42nd overall in 2007.  Vineyard pitched just two games in 2008 for the Savannah Sand Gnats before shutting it down for shoulder surgery.

I believe I’ve found the origin of the rumor with a hattip to reader Darin.  Over at Scout.com, the site administrator wrote in a message board post:

Vineyard did “retire” or quit, whatever you want to call it so early in a career.

Maybe he returns down the road, but for now, he’s out of the system.

…..
I found this out from my sources.

The author then follows that up with this:

I’ll have to leave it at this, but all I can say is Vineyard’s departure from the organization was not because the kid couldn’t pitch.

This is clearly unconfirmed, but now I’m inclined to believe that Vineyard will not be at Spring Training in 2009.  … Still looking for official confirmation.

I will be joining Mike Silva of New York Baseball Digest on WGBB AM 1240 live in the 10 PM hour tonight.  We should begin our segment around 10:10 PM.

It’ll be a really good show prospecty-focused show.  Mike also has BP’s Kevin Goldstein linedup up as well.

You can listen live at www.nybaseballdigest.com