Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’5”/190 lbs

Acquired: 9^th Rd 2008 (Le Moyne College (NY))

Born: 11/13/86

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: Although he was a little old for the SAL at age 22, Beaulac’s 10.32 K/9 is very pretty and very hard to ignore.  Tall and lanky, Beaulac did it with a fastball that sat at 89 mph, but touched 93.  Beaulac’s out pitch is his slider which he threw from 79-83 mph, solid average velocity to a little better than that.  The invaluable Mike Newman of scoutingthesally.com noted that the slider “flashes plus.”  Beaulac’s changeup is a very distant third offering, but a tall RHP who can touch low nineties with a promising slider sounds like classic MLB bullpen material.

2009: Beaulac finished eight in the SAL in strikeouts and tenth in ERA in a fine campaign.  He began the year piggybacking with Kyle Allen, alternating starts with his younger rotation mate in April, before starting in every one of his appearances in May.  Moved to the bullpen in June, Beaulac was simply untouchable in the month, putting up a 0.53 ERA in 17 innings with 20 strikeouts against just four walks.  Returned to the rotation for the duration of the season, Beaulac put up good numbers, but averaged under five innings per start indicating a lack of command.

Dr. Pangloss Says: Beaulac will be a key part of a strong MLB bullpen where, working all-out, he velocity will stabilize in the low 90s and his slider will be a nasty, plus pitch.

Debbie Downer Says: Fastball/slider righties are dime a dozen.

Projected 2010 Start: St. Lucie

MLB Arrival: 2012 in the bullpen

Image courtesy Fred Davyatkin

# 31 – OF Chase Greene

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 5’11”/180 lbs

Acquired: 16^th round 2009 (West Boca Raton HS)

Born: 4/22/1990

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: Tools, tools and tools.  The Mets believed in Greene’s tools enough to buy him out a commitment to the University of South Florida with a $125,000 signing bonus, the sixth highest in the class.  Baseball America called Greene the best athlete from the Mets 2009 draft.  Greene is a plus runner with above average bat speed and an average outfield arm. You can watch Green’s body change and mature through this series of pictures from the Perfect Game website.  It’s pretty cool.

2009: A shortstop in HS, the Mets wasted no time moving Greene to CF in the GCL, where he performed well.  Greene hit .286/.361/.397 in 22 games in his professional debut in the GCL with two stolen bases without a CS.

Dr. Pangloss Says: Greene becomes an above average centerfielder defensively with a well-rounded offensive game with some speed, a little pop and some strike zone control.

Debbie Downer Says: He’s too short.  He’s a fourth outfielder or a AAA all-star.

Projected 2010 Start: Kingsport.

A few things I wanted to get caught up on from last week.  By the way, Opening Day should be a national holiday.  Pitchers and catchers and the first full workout of the year clearly should not, but they start the good feelings leading up to Opening Day.

Philosophy Change?

At Baseball America, Adam Rubin talked to new Mets Field coordinator Terry Collins.  Collins talked about the success of Dodgers’ youngsters during his years with LA:

“We put together a program with what you have to be able to do to execute to have some success in the major leagues, such as for a pitcher, ‘Hey, you have to command your fastball.’….If you can’t command your fastball, you’re not going to be able to have success at the major league level.

Notice that although Collins uses pitchers’ commanding the fastball as an example here, he began by referring to a program for all players.  Now, back to the pitchers’ example:

“Before any of those kids moved from level to level, one of the things we asked is for there to be some criteria accomplished before we move them. One was, obviously, to be able to command your fastball on the outside of the plate.”

I’m curious what the criteria looked like for position players.  I haven’t heard Mets people talk in recent years about specific benchmarks they were looking for from a player before he was promoted.  The existence of a structured set of expectations to be accomplished at each level seems to be a fairly significant break from the recent Mets practice of assigning a player to the highest level the team thought he could handle.  A shift towards Collins’ view that there are specific types of skills to be learned at each level could result in more clear instruction, and even more wins in Savannah, Port St. Lucie and Binghamton.

Mejia vs. Withrop

Our very own Mike Diaz made an appearance in Kevin Goldstein’s last chat at Baseball Prospectus.

mikediaz (MO): Who would you take Mejia or Withrow? And why?

Kevin Goldstein: Obviously this isn’t everything, but if I give you two guys with similar power righty plus-plus velo profiles, and one is 6-foot-3 and one is 5-11, who are you favoring

KG had Withrop ranked as the Dodgers #2 prospect and Mejia the Mets #1 prospect.    KG had nicer things to say about Withrop’s curveball than Mejia’s.

Numerically, both guys have excellent strikeout rates and walk rates that are a touch high. The major statistical difference is the pitchers’ groundball rate where Mejia blows away Withrop. It’s all well and good to prefer bigger pitchers in the abstract. Usually the reason to like bigger pitchers is because 1. they’re expected to be more durable than their smaller counterparts, and 2. they should be able to stay on top of the ball better and get more downward plane. Mejia at least, renders the second argument moot. His gb rate ranks alongside anyone’s.  With his ability to keep the ball down and generate sink, he just does not give up homers, and extra base hits are hard to come by.

Mejia to 8th Inning?

The New York Post’s Kevin Kernan tweets that Jerry Manuel has been so impressed with RHP Jenrry Mejia, that Mejia is now competing for the 8th inning role in the Mets bullpen.  My take from here?  Really?  I just don’t believe that Mejia is ready to contribute to an MLB bullpen on Opening Day.  Why would you believe Manuel at this point in spring training? Escobar hasn’t thrown yet….  The rest of the veterans are still easing back into game action.

Barajas’s Arrival Hurts Santos More than Thole

Rod Barajas will be a Met when (if) he passes a physical.  This is the same guy who hit .226/.258/.403 for the Jays last year on the heels of a.249/.294/.410 2008.  He’s not a good hitter.   Driveline Mechanics catcher’s defensive rankings last year had Barajas +4 runs, and he’s a few runs above average in Baseball Reference’s Total Zone, but Baseball Prospectus has him a few runs below average.  Is his defense strong enough to outweigh the extra outs he’ll make in place of Josh Thole?  I still think Thole will be catching games for the Mets this summer.  Signing Barajas just means that either Thole will have less opportunity to prove he belongs on the MLB squad during camp or he’ll just have to wait until June for his time.

Santos offers nothing that Barajas doesn’t; not at the plate, nor behind it.

Also, thanks to Mike Diaz for his coaching in the opening rounds of my scoresheet draft.  In a 10-team AL-only universe, keeper league where we can/must keep 13 players every year, picking #4 in odd-numbered rounds, I now have Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Gordon Beckham.  Suggestions always welcome.

Bats/Throws: S/R

Height/Weight: 6’2”, 192 lbs

Acquired: 16^th Rd 2006 (Davis & Elkins College)

Born: 12/03/84 (Landstuhl, Germany)

2009 Rank: 31

Why Ranked Here: Stoner made his MLB debut last season, and has the most outside of outside shots (like 5%) to break camp with the Mets this year.  That counts. Stoner sat at 87-89 mph with his fastball when I saw him at the end of June in Buffalo.  His curveball had below average velocity as well at 67-71 mph while his change (78-81) and slider (81-82) had average velocity.  His slider was probably his best pitch.  Stoner makes the whole package work by throwing strikes.  He commands his arsenal well, which combines with his strong feel for sequence and preparation, lead to an ability to set up hitters.  His coaches rave about his work ethic, and it does show on the mound.  However, despite the fact that Stoner is on the verge of the big leagues, scouts who saw him, just didn’t think he was ever going to help a winning team all that much.  None were ready to put more than a 45 on him. 

2009: Stoner’s season began late with a shoulder problem, but he needed only seven starts at AA to prove that his full, four-pitch repetoire, and his ability to throw strikes with each pitch was too much for the Eastern League.  After 16 starts in Buffalo, Stoner made his MLB debut out of the bullpen in September.

Strange but true: Despite a much better strikeout rate and K/BB ratio on the road, Stoner’s ERA was over half a run better at home with AAA Buffalo:

ERA            IP             BB             K

Home            3.60             45.0            16            23

Road            52.2             52.2             18             41

Dr. Pangloss Says: Stoner sticks as a middle reliever who can make a spot start.

Debbie Downer Says: He’ll be a below replacement level MLB pitcher who belongs in AAA or Japan.

Projected 2010 Start: Buffalo

Bats/Throws: L/R

Height/Weight: 6’0”/174 lbs

Acquired: NDFA

Born: 12/23/87 (San Pedro de Macoris, DR)

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: Valdespin has some obvious gifts: he’s a plus runner with a live body.  Moreover, Mets people complemented the work he did in instructional league in the DR after season’s end. 

2009: It was a long and windy year for Valdespin.  An incredibly hot April in Savannah (.385/.406/.615) carried him to a .322/.366/.480 line in Savannah through June 2.  Valdespin was much more ordinary in May (.267/.330/.372) before an injury sidelined him for almost all of June and July.  When he reappeared in August, he played a games in the DSL, a week in the GCL and then three weeks for Brooklyn to help the Cyclones’ playoff push.  With Brooklyn, Valdespin hit like it was May in the SAL going .279/.338/.397 in 18 games.  Scouts, who liked his speed, scoffed at his baseball instincts.

Dr. Pangloss Says: With his speed, Valdespin could be a top of the order threat if he learns to control the strike zone.

Debbie Downer Says: Um, yeah, what are the odds he does learn that crucial ability?  He drew five walks in 18 games in the NYP and 11 in 39 games in the SAL as a 21-year old.  He’ll be 22 in 2010 in his first taste of the FSL.  He’s just another guy who can run without the actual skill set that would help a MLB lineup.

Projected 2010 Start: The starting 2B at St. Lucie.

Following Tuesday’s on-field staff announcement from Savannah, the coaching staffs for all of the Mets full-season affiliates are set. Pedro Lopez, who coached in Savannah for the Mets in the first half of 2008 before being promoted to manage Kingsport in the first week of the Appy League season will be reunited with his staff from that season: Pitching Coach Marc Valdes and Hitting Coach Ryan Ellis, who were both in Savannah last year.

Here’s the full release:

Pedro Lopez begins his first full season as the Savannah Sand Gnats’ manager and his second full season as a skipper in the New York Mets organization.  It is a return to Savannah for Lopez, who managed the Gnats for the final half of the 2001 season, when the team was a Texas Rangers affiliate, and coached the team in the first half of 2008 when the Gnats were a Mets affiliate.  Following a 12-year playing career in the minor leagues, Lopez began the 2001 season as a coach for the Gnats before the Rangers promoted him to be the team’s manager halfway through the season.

The new Gnats skipper is eager to return to Savannah. “I’m excited,” he said, “I can’t wait.  The season is around the corner, and I’m just glad.  [Savannah] was the first place I managed when I was done playing in 2001.  I’m just hoping we can have a great year for the fans and everyone.”

Gnats team President John Katz echoed Lopez’s enthusiasm for the coming season. “We’re excited to welcome Pedro back to Savannah,” he said, “Gnats fans will appreciate how hard Pedro’s teams play and his ability to balance player development with exciting, competitive baseball on the field.  We also look forward to continuing the Mets strong tradition of player outreach in the community under Pedro’s leadership.”

In 2009, Lopez led the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets New York-Penn League affiliate, to a 45-30 record and the league’s wild card berth.  The team’s 16-2 record to start the season was the best start in Brooklyn’s history.  In June 2008, when he was working as a coach for the Gnats, Lopez was promoted to manage the Kingsport Mets after K-Mets Manager Nick Leyva resigned to take a job as the Toronto Blue Jays third base coach just two games into the Appalachian League season.  The K-Mets finished 2008 at 34-32. Before joining the Mets, the 41-year-old Lopez coached and managed in the minor leagues for the Texas Rangers for seven years.

Lopez was originally drafted as a catcher in the 21^st round of the 1988 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres out of Arizona Western College.  He reached AAA Las Vegas with the Padres in 1994 before moving on to the Milwaukee organization in 1995 and 1996 and the Houston chain from 1997-2000.  Lopez finished his 12-year minor league career as a .249/.318/.364 (AVG/OBP/SLG) hitter in 877 games.

The Mets have reunited Lopez with Pitching Coach Marc Valdes and Hitting Coach Ryan Ellis, who were both with Savannah in 2009, and on Lopez’s staff in Kingsport in 2008.  Lopez was excited to have both coaches.  “Last year, I asked for those guys,” Lopez said.  Valdes will begin his second year as Savannah’s Pitching Coach after his Gnats led the SAL in ERA (3.23) in 2009.  He was the K-Mets Pitching Coach in 2007 and 2008.  A former major leaguer for six seasons from 1995-2001 with the Florida Marlins, Montreal Expos, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, Valdes finished his career 12-15 with four saves and a 4.95 ERA. The former first round pick is the University of Florida’s all-time leader in wins (31) and innings pitched (394.2).

Ellis will begin his fourth season in the Mets organization and his second with the Gnats.  Ellis, a 28^th round pick of the Expos in 2000, played for the Vermont Expos in 2000 and 2001 before joining the independent Washington (PA) Wild Things of the Frontier League in 2002.  He coached the Wild Things from 2003-2005.

Bench Coach Luis Rojas begins his fourth year with the Mets after working for the team’s Gulf Coast League affiliate in 2009 and the Dominican Summer League Team in 2007-2008.  He managed the DSL Nationals in 2006.  Rojas is the son of former MLB player and manager Felipe Alou.

Trainer Brad Hutson begins his second year with Savannah and his third with the Mets in 2010.  Strength Coach Kyle Huckins will begin his first year with the Mets organization.

Kevin Burkhardt tweets “Josh Thole spent 3 weeks working with Mets catching instructor on his D this offseason.”  Also in a response to a question from Beningo and Roberts about who calls a better game, Thole or Santos, Burkhardt wrote, “Thole. Not only calling a game, but setting a solid target. That’s why he has a shot to stick.” 

Adam Rubin in the NY Daily News wrote about Thole today, noting that the “organizational preference is for the rookie to get more seasoning at Triple-A while being mentored by ex-Phillie Chris Coste.”  That’s all well and good, but it’s possible that Thole’s presence on the MLB roster would actually make the Mets a better team than a Santos/Blanco duo.  Rubin also elaborates on the work that Thole and Natal did this winter, using a virtual machine. 

At ESPN.com, Keith Law wrote about Thole,

“His bat is ready for him to play everyday in the majors right now, especially considering the Mets’ other options, but he needs a half- to a full year in the minors to improve his defense, as he doesn’t have much experience behind the plate.”

One of the best stories this spring will be whether Thole has improved enough defensively to break camp with the team.  It’s a question I just can’t answer now.  Truthfully, no one can.