1/27/11

Cutnpaste: - Daniel Murphy, Mo Vaughn, Lucas Duda, Sean Ratliff, and Robin Ventura

Mack Ade
Daniel Murphy:

Murphy, a third baseman for most of his minor league career, was thrust into left field at the start of his major league career despite extremely limited experience there. He then was poised to be the Mets' Opening Day first baseman last season. That plan abruptly ended when Murphy "popped a little bit" the medial collateral ligament in his right knee while trapped in a rundown during a Grapefruit League game the final week of spring training. -
espn   














Mo Vaughn:

Mo Vaughn won an arbitration case against his former money manager, and now the manager faces a federal lawsuit: The arbitrator ruled that RKM Business Services, owned and operated by Ra Shonda Kay Marshall, committed fraud in handling Vaughn’s finances from 2004 to 2008. Vaughn alleged that Marshall had diverted money from his bank account to her own accounts. The arbitrator also concluded that RKM breached its contract with Vaughn and its fiduciary duty to him. Mo gets back the $1 million taken from him and an additional $2.5 million. -
http://baseballmusings.com/



Lucas Duda:

1-24-11 from: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/2011/01/24/tim-teufel-teaching-hitting-an-impressive-record  - Entering the 2010 season, Lucas Duda was a career .277/.374/.422 hitter with 24 career home runs in 310 games. He’d never hit more than 11 home runs in a season or had 30 doubles. He’d hit .281/.380/.428 with 29 doubles and nine homers in 110 games at AA in 2009 and .263/.358/.398 for Teufel in St. Lucie in 2008. For Teufel, as a 24-year old in 2010, Duda hit .286/.411/.503 with 17 doubles and six home runs in 45 games. Promoted to AAA, he was even better: .314/.389/.610 with 23 doubles and 17 jacks in 70 games. His big league line of .202/.261/.417 in 29 games, is superficially disappointing, but was held down by a .220 BABIP and he still managed an ISO SLG of .214.



Sean Ratliff:

1-24-11 from: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/1/24/1951399/mets-farm-system-top-5-power-hitters  - You rarely see a center fielder lead an entire league in OPS yet that's what Ratliff nearly did in the Double-A Eastern League in 2010, had he gotten about 30 more ab's. Underrated in prospect circles thanks to his poor plate discipline -- 72 strikeouts vs. 23 walks in 2010 -- the 23-year old Ratliff still showcases the kind of lefty power (0:30) that could make him an impact player in the big leagues. In 2010, Ratliff was one very few Mets farmers to reach the 20 homer plateau in the last few seasons and his exceptional .246 ISO and .333 average against lefties really bear watching. Though he won't likely stick in center and I doubt he keeps that average much above .250-.260 in the bigs, Ratliff has the kind of pop to expect 15-20 homers from the very first day he shows up.



Robin Ventura:

Chants of “MVP’ rained down on Ventura throughout his ’99 campaign (32 homers, 120 RBI, .301 batting average, Gold Glove). That year might be the best overall individual season for any Mets third basemen. Who can forget his penchant for Grand Slams, including the famous “Grand Slam Single” in the 1999 NLCS. Injuries slowed him the final two years of his contract, but he still provided great defense, leadership, and clutch hitting. Personified what the 99-00 Mets were all about. - http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=32447  

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