Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’11”, 235 lbs

Acquired: 2^nd Rd ‘07

Born: 5/7/88 (Lakewood, OH)

2009 Rank: #9

Why Ranked Here: Roughly a year after I ranked Moviel #9 on a package that included height, background and potential, he’s still tall.   His athletic background and lofty draft position matter less now that he’s been a professional for two-and-a-half years.  There’s less potential in there now that he’ll be 22 in May.  First, the good.  He’s still huge, and a good athlete for his size who repeats his delivery reasonably well for his size.  He hit 93 out of the bullpen in the AFL, but averaged 90. That’s just average, or maybe even a little bit below.  He hasn’t developed a plus secondary offering, despite showing some feel for breaking balls.  Moviel struggled with his curveball during the summer in St. Lucie, but developed a feel for a slider, which both has potential and is not yet an MLB weapon.

2009: Moviel’s 2009 started late because of knee surgery.  Actually, two knee surgeries.  We’ll let him explain:

“The first one was a repair.  Basically, they said they were trying to hit a home run with it because the tear was so big and I’m bigger than most people obviously.  They said that if they scoped it out, I wouldn’t have much left, so they said they were going to repair it.

Dr. Coleman told me that he felt as though if I cut it out, it might end up hurting me down the line.  So he repaired it.  They stitched it up.  Then in April, I popped the last stitch of the repair and it came undone and made my knee lock up again.   So, then they went in and trimmed it up because then it was only a little piece that flared up.  Actually, the second surgery, I was walking out of the hospital.  …  It probably bumped my time to throwing quicker than normal.    The second surgery they just scoped it out.”

After the surgeries, Moviel did not take the mound in St. Lucie until July 3^rd against Sarasota.  Moviel was pretty dreadful in July (5.67 ERA, 27 IP, 30 H, 20 R, 9 BB, 11K, 0.74 gb/fb) and by the time fall rolled around, he had an explanation for his early struggles, “I was trying to do too much and pretty much [trying] to be a pitcher I’m not….. I’ve had a good curveball my whole life,  and  for some reason lost my curveball.  I couldn’t throw it.  I was throwing it behind guys, hitting guys.  We decided to go with the slider, and the slider has been working tremendously for me.”

Moviel pitched much better in August (2.53 ERA, 32 IP, 26 H, 15 BB, 32 K, 1.48 GB/FB) than he did in July and then held his own in the AFL.

Strange but true: Batters hit exactly .250 off Moviel in both the FSL and the AFL.  He also hit 16 (!) batters in the FSL which led the FSL, despite pitching just 64.1 IP.  Milwaukee’s Dave Bush led the big leagues with 15 HBP in 114.1 IP.

Dr. Pangloss Says: Moviel might figure out the slider and become a back of the rotation or bullpen candidate by late 2011 with a shot at the Opening Day roster in 2012.

Debbie Downer Says: Or he might not, and he’ll never get anything except a cup of coffee past AAA.

Projected 2010 Start: AA Binghamton

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’1”/195 lbs

Acquired: 3^rd Round 2009 (Florida Southern)

Born: 12/7/87

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: Shields was the 2009 winner of the 2^nd annual “Ike Davis Award” for a disappointing debut by a top Mets draft pick.  An earnest interview, Shields has nice hands in the field, and enough arm to play SS.  However, scouts were very underwhelmed by his other tools.  He was no better than an average runner, and some had him below average.  That’s going to leave him without enough range to play short at the MLB level.  Worse, where Davis recovered with a big second season, Shields needed Tommy John Surgery in the fall of 2009, so could miss the entire 2010 season.  If he misses the entire 2010 season, he will be 23 to start 2011 with just 146 AB in the NYP to his credit.

2009: Bad statistically, and scouts who saw him in the NYP thought he was short on tools.

Dr. Pangloss Says: MLB 2B.

Debbie Downer Says: Organizational player who doesn’t get above MLB replacement level

Projected 2010 Start: Rehab

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’4”/194 lbs

Acquired: NDFA

Born: 9/5/89 (Santo Domingo, DR)

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: In a system a little short on athletic outfielders, Concepcion, the ’09 Sterling Award winner on the GCL team is one to watch out for in the coming years.  A scout who saw him in the GCL said he “stood out” on the field among his peers because he “has a nice body and should add strength” and already his “bat has some juice and [he] should end up hitting for power as he physically matures.” 

2009: Concepcion led the GCL Mets in G, AB, and H and was third in SB on his way to winning the team MVP award.

Dr. Pangloss Says: There’s a lot of room for growth here as an OF with some speed who could hit for power when he matures physically.

Debbie Downer Says: Concepcion will be 20 in 2010, so he doesn’t have that much time to turn his size into usable game power.

Projected 2010 Start: The Spring Training competition for the Opening Day OF spots in Savannah should be very interesting (and completely under the radar).   My best guess is that Concepcion begins 2010 in Kingsport, but Savannah is an outside possibility.

Kevin Goldstein, of Baseball Prospectus, published his Top 11 Mets Prospects. Here is the list with a few notes from Goldstein:

1. Jenrry Mejia-His heater sits at 93-95 mph, touches 98, and features heavy, hard sink.
2. Fernando Martinez-Martinez still shows star-level offensive potential. He’s a good outfielder with an above-average arm.
3. Wilmer Flores-Flores has big offensive potential. His bat speed ranks with anyone in the system.
4. Ike Davis-Davis has classic first-base tools, with a good feel of the strike zone and plus to plus-plus raw power.
5. Jon Niese-The most advanced pitching prospect in the system.
6. Brad Holt-He fills the strike zone with a 91-94 heater that touches 96 mph when he reaches back for more.
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis-Nieuwenhuis is a big athlete with solid tools across the board.
8. Josh Thole-Thole is a pure contact hitter who slaps balls to all fields, is especially difficult to strike out.
9. Kyle Allen-He’s long and projectable, and he flashed a solid slider and changeup at various times last year.
10. Ruben Tejada-Tejada could be a second-division starting middle infielder or, at the very least, a nice utility player.
11. Reese Havens-He could be a low-average second baseman who makes up for it with walks and power.

Goldstein also adds 4 more:
12. Jeurys Familia-Familia had the best pure arm on an impressive staff at Low-A Savannah last year.
13. Cesar Puello-An athletic Dominican who has impressive tools.
14. Jefry Marte-Marte wasn’t ready for a full-season league, but he has the ability to move back up the list.
15. Juan Urbina-He’s a big bonus Venezuelan who has crazy upside, but he needs considerable refinement.

To read about Goldstein’s summary of the Mets’ farm system, as well as more detailed notes on these players, click here.

Bats/Throws: L/L

Height/Weight: 5’10”/172

Acquired: International FA 2/11/10

Born: 4/2/75

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: He goes to Spring Training in St. Lucie with a chance to break camp as a fifth starter.  Crazy, but true.  His fastball lives between 85 and 90 mph, but he uses a sinker at 80 mph almost as much as his heater.  He mixes in a cutter around 85, a slider in the upper 70s-low 80s and an goofy curveball at 65 mph.  He throws so many pitches with a full range between 75 and 90 with a few 65s that it’s not hard to see him keeping the league off-balance his fist time through.  Thanks NPB velocity tracker!

2009: 10-6, 2.94 Era in 25 G with 126 K in 144 IP for the Yomiuri Giants.

Dr. Pangloss Says: The Mets fifth starter.

Debbie Downer Says: He’s old, small, he doesn’t throw hard, and the NL will eat him alive, but he’ll be a dominant force in the International League.

Projected 2010 Start: Sampling the sushi in Buffalo.

Sandoval Signing Helps Flores
So the Mets signed SS Rylan Sandoval out of the Arizona Winter League on Thursday.  Sandoval was 7-for-21 with a double, two triples and a HR in a league where 24 players were hitting at least .333 after a 10 games.  He was the California Junior College Player of the Year at Chabot in his freshman year in 2006.  The A’s drafted him that year, but he went back to school and the Mets took a chance on him in 2007 only to watch him head to Long Beach State.  He didn’t hit much in college.  In 34 games in 2008, he hit .263/.411/.434 and then followed that up with a .250/.321/.375 performance in 27 games in 2009.  At 22, just beginning his professional career, with no record of collegiate success, it’s pretty hard to be at all excited about Sandoval.  On the other hand, his addition adds welcome depth to the SS position around A-ball, and gives the Mets a tiny bit of flexibility with their SS assignments.

I figure Ruben Tejada will go to AAA Buffalo to play SS everyday.  Jose Coronado will play SS at Binghamton, with Reese Havens at 2B.  Maybe, just maybe, Sandoval will play SS for St. Lucie, and the Mets will return Wilmer Flores to the SAL as an 18-year old.  Such a move would be a welcome departure from the aggressive promotion schedule for young international prospects in recent years.   Robbie Shields would have been a candidate to play SS in St. Lucie, but his fall Tommy John surgery precludes such a move.

Riggans Signing Helps?
The Mets also announced that they have signed 29 year old C Shawn Riggans to be their 12th string catcher.  In 188 AB, he’s a career .202/.266/.356 hitter.  Averaging Chone and Marcel, he’s projected to hit .242/.302/.395.  Maybe the idea is that with Riggans around, if Josh Thole wins an MLB job, Buffalo will have another option.

Mike Jacobs
I’m not going to read too much into this one.  If Jacobs and his sub-.300 OBP bat in the same lineup as Omir Santos, the Mets are going to have a lot of trouble scoring runs.  His signing helps Buffalo, but if he, and his abysmal defense play 1B regularly in NYC, the Mets are in big trouble.  Buffalo could hit a lot of HR this year.

GM Shuffle
Former Binghamton Mets General Manager Scott Brown has left the AA B-Mets to take the GM job with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Atlanta Braves Advanced-A Carolina League affiliate.  Brown had been the B-Mets GM for the last five seasons, and will officially begin his new job in early March.  Meanwhile, back at NYSEG stadium, the B-Mets promoted Jim Weed, who had been the team’s assistant GM for the last five years, to be the club’s new GM.  Weed, who has been with Binghamton for 14 years, went fromintern to Director of Business Operations in one year.

#38 – LHP Angel Cuan

Bats/Throws: L/L

Height/Weight: 5’11”/150

Acquired: NDFA

Born: 5/29/89 (Panama City, Panama)

2009 Rank: NR

Why Ranked Here: As more than one scout who saw him this year said, this “slight” lefty “has a chance.”  At this point, on the list, that’s all one can ask.  Both of Cuan’s secondary offerings, a true curveball and a changeup have a chance to be MLB average.  His fastball, which lives at 84-89 mph is the weak link in his game.  Lefties can get by with middling heaters, but he’ll need to at least maintain 87-89 to give himself a real big league chance.

2009: The Mets started Cuan off in Brooklyn, where he was hit hard in two starts (15 H, 7 R, 8 IP) before he was sent down to Kingsport, because as we all know around here, losing in Brooklyn is simply unacceptable.  Even with the Cyclones, Cuan’s ratios (9 K, 2 BB) were fine.  With Kingsport, he was still hittable (76 H, 59.2 IP), but his K/BB was strong: a touch above three.

Dr. Pangloss Says: A lefty at the back end of a big league rotation

Debbie Downer Says: Cannon fodder at AA.

Projected 2010 Start: Savannah with a reasonably strong Spring Training