6/30/11

Chad Zurcher, Mike Harvey, Nick Evans, Cost of Reyes, Justin Verlander


Chad Zurcher:


6-29-11: - http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/zurcher_chad00.html  - With the 2011 NCAA Baseball season complete, University of Memphis infielder Chad Zurcher has officially claimed the NCAA batting title with his .443 batting average. "We are extremely proud of Chad and this is another honor in a long line of awards for him," head coach Daron Schoenrock said. "He is going to go down as what we feel is one of the most decorated and celebrated players in Tiger baseball history. This is an award that nobody votes on or can play favorites on since it is based strictly on production. He definitely deserves this honor." The Knoxville, Tenn., native also led the nation with a .547 on-base percentage. Drafted by the New York Mets in the MLB Draft in early June, Zurcher has since begun his pro career with the Kingsport Mets.


Mike Harvey:


6-29-11: - http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=law_keith&id=6711904&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dlaw_keith%26id%3d6711904  - Harvey was the seventh pick in last year’s draft and came into pro ball boasting a plus fastball with good downhill plane and a solid average-or-better changeup but struggled with both breaking balls. Reports this year have the breaking balls improving but the changeup regressing — which would still leave him a three-pitch guy, plenty to be a front-line starter given the strength of his fastball.


Nick Evans:


Nick Evans only needed one hit to continue his recent hot streak Wednesday. He didn't settle for that. Evans went 5-for-5 with a double and a run scored to extend his hitting streak to 19 games in Triple-A Buffalo's 7-5 win over Lehigh Valley. Evans, who appeared in two games with New York this year after hitting .306 in 20 games last year, is batting .513 (38-for-74) with three homers and 15 RBIs during his run. It's the longest streak this season in the International League, matching the mark of Columbus' Luis Valbuena, whose streak came to an end June 9. Louisville's Juan Francisco also had a 19-game streak, although it began in 2010.- http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110629&content_id=21181928&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&tcid=tw_share  


Cost of Reyes:


For the Mets, we’ll start here: Six years, $126 million. Slightly higher average value than (Carl) Crawford, one less year, a nod to a legs-driven player. For the Mets, it means a $10 million raise over Reyes’ current deal, offset nicely by the disappearance of $36.5 million worth of Luis Castillo/Oliver Perez/Carlos Beltran -- and nearly matching the $11.5 million the Mets are paying Frankie Rodriguez this year (we’ll put K-Rod’s $17 million vesting issue in that vacuum, for now). That’s a cool $21 million a year, which still only would place him fourth (behind A-Rod, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Johan Santana) on the yearly salary scale of New York baseball players. If that’s not enough? Well, that’s more motivation for the Mets to find viable ownership again so they can play varsity ball again - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/27949/mets-morning-briefing-6-30-11  




Justin Verlander:


Verlander said he didn't recall meeting anyone from the Mets in 2004. But he knew New York was a potential landing spot for him. "I remember my agent calling me right before the draft and saying, 'The Mets want you bad,'" he said. So did the Tigers, though. Detroit considered taking two other pitchers, Jeff Niemann and Jered Weaver, along with shortstop Stephen Drew. But Greg Smith, the Tigers' scouting director at the time, was convinced Verlander was the best prospect, even though the San Diego Padres showed little interest in taking him with the first pick. - http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/27949/mets-morning-briefing-6-30-11  

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