6/21/11

Cesar Puello, Armondo Rodriguez, Cyclone Game, Trading Reyes, VV on Jose

Cesar Puello:

6-21-11: - minorleaguebaseball  - Cesar Puello delivered a two-out double down the left-field line in the bottom of the 11th, driving in Travis Ozga with the winning run. Ozga, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, drew a one-out walk to set up the run. "It was unbelievable," manager Pedro Lopez said of the reaction in the dugout. "I thought that Puello came up with a big hit for us. I was just hoping the ball wouldn't bounce over the wall (for a ground-rule double) and make things more interesting. Ozga did a helluva job drawing a walk after being down 1-2 in the count."


Armondo Rodriguez:
6-20-11: - http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/20/2230852/minor-league-notes-june-20th-2011  - New York Mets pitching prospect Armando Rodriguez is off to a good start for High-A St. Lucie. Since being activated from extended spring training in late May, he's made four starts and pitched 17 innings, allowing five earned runs for a 2.65 ERA, with 16 hits allowed and a 21/6 K/BB ratio. 10 of those strikeouts were over five innings in his last start. The 23-year-old right-hander is one of the more interesting prospects in the Mets system. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2007, he had a fine year in 2010, posting a 152/46 K/BB in 146 innings for Low-A Savannah, with just 116 hits allowed. He entered '11 with 322 career strikeouts and just 225 hits allowed in 306 IP. Despite his excellent component ratios, scouts are lukewarm on him, pointing to mediocre right-handed velocity (87-90, hitting 92 on his best days) and a fringy slider and changeup. He does have a decent cutter, but his success is primarily reliant on sharp control and deceptive mechanics. Scouts admit this works in A-ball, but there is a lot of skepticism about how it will translate to higher levels. Rodriguez has definitely earned to chance to show us, however, and continued quality pitching at St. Lucie could/should result in a Double-A trial later this year.


Cyclone Game:

Watched the Cyclone game on SNY… frankly, the lineup didn’t impress me when it was flashed up. It was good to see Brian Harrison, though I wish he was playing third base instead of Richard Lucas. Lucas was considered prospect material a few years ago, and does have some pop, but he has disappointed since becoming a Met in 2007. Five years and still in Brooklyn? I saw that SP Chris Hilliard figured out early that the home plate ump was going to call strikes on curves… wonder if that came from him the coach, or catcher Nefli Zapata. SS Danny Muno reminds me of a 1000 kids that have come through here, like Jon Malo and Matt Bouchard. Excellent throw to second from Zapata… hoping he starts off as hot as he was last season. If you think Lucas has been around too long, RP Orlando Tovar is in his 6th year as a Met. Six years and you’re still in Brooklyn? Looks like a long season in Kings County.


Trading Reyes:



Trading Reyes, who leads the NL with 103 hits, 12 triples and a .341 batting average, will "have to be a clear win'' for the Mets to make, the NL exec suggested. The Giants have been named by several competing execs as a logical suitor, as Reyes would provide the offensive spark and defensive glue needed by the pitching-rich defending World Series winners. The Giants' best young players include pitcher Madison Bumgarner and first baseman Brandon Belt, but the Giants have resisted considering a trade for Bumgarner (last year they wouldn't part with him for Jose Bautista) and Belt really doesn't fit the Mets as a young power-hitting first baseman is one of a few assets they don't need. "I don't see San Francisco moving guys of their major league club,'' the exec speculated. Even if they kept their 25-man unit intact, the Giants could still make a respectable offer that starts with top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. But even if their proposal includes a few others, that may be a tough sell for Mets fans : http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jon_heyman/06/20/trade.market.hitters/index.html#ixzz 1PuWBBCyo


VV on Jose:


Why then would Jose want to stick around on a mediocre team that has little chance of making the playoffs even if the Mets did meet his asking price? "The Mets," writes Smith, "have to decide whether their championship hopes rest with Reyes or the pieces they can assemble without him." I'd say that's putting it all too grandly. I'd say what the Mets have to do first is decide whether they really have any "championship hopes" with or without Reyes. If the Mets are serious about being contenders any time in the next three-four years, then there isn't any question that they had better make every effort to convince Jose Reyes that Carl Crawford is soon going to be wishing he was getting Jose Reyes money - http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/jose_reyes_a_fr.php  


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