11/23/13

Mack’s Morning Report – 11/23 – Dustin Lawley, Chris Young, ‘Player Evaluation By Position’ – SS


 

Dustin Lawley –

Dustin Lawley, St. Lucie (122 games), Las Vegas (six games): After two solid seasons in the system, Lawley exploded in 2013, leading the organization with 26 homers and 96 RBIs. The 24-year-old batted .262, earned Florida State League All-Star honors and ended up being named the league's Player of the Year as well. "It was a big, big year," DePodesta said. "He didn't come with a lot of fanfare, he was a senior sign in 2011. Last year, he went to Savannah and had a very good year but was obscured a little by the ballpark. Then he goes to St. Lucie this year and had a monster year -- 25 homers there, went to Vegas and hit a few more. "He hits the ball extraordinarily hard, he's super strong, he also plays third base. He's a good athlete, he really does move well defensively. He's a legitimate right-handed power bat, which can be hard to find." http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20131121&content_id=63739820&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb&tcid=tw_share

Mack – I’m a big fan of Lawley which begins with the fact that we have met and I like him. He survived his time in Grayson Stadium and he’s now putting up the kind of power numbers that Chris Young would be proud of. He managed to get in 20 at-bats in Las Vegas (.300) due to injuries on other outfielders and the assumption is he will open there in 2014. The career .805 OPS is impressive, but also remember only 287 strikeouts in 1,214 at bats.  

Chris Young

Defensively Young played to a Gold glove caliber level in his last two season in Arizona with an UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating – the closest thing to a definitive catch all defensive stat) of 15.9 in 2011 and 10.00 in 2012 before seeing it plummet to league average with a UZR of 0.2 in 2013. for the duration of his time in Arizona, Young played solely in Center field before spending time in all three outfield positions this past year. young played 381 full innings in center with 164 and 194 innings in left field and right field respectively. Youngs outfield defense cost the A’s 6 runs more than the average player in 2013. His arm strength was an issue again in 2013 as his lack of arm strength allowed 2.2 more runs than average. Young’s arm has never one of his strengths (no pun intended) with -6.8 run allowed overall due to his arm in his career. http://nymetsnow.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/could-chris-young-bring-any-value/

Mack – Look, I don’t like this signing, but I’ll wait it out and see what the final Mets outfield looks like on opening day. He had two shit years in 2012-2013, but he produced 116 home runs and 357 runs batted in during the five seasons before that… and, he’s only 30-years old.

 Player Evaluations -

The series continues with shortstop.

Queens wise, everything is up in the air. Omar Quintanilla is holding down the off-season fort while Ruben Tejada’s broken leg heals. Past that, who the heck knows.

It’s no big secret that Tejada and Sandy and Company aren’t having Thanksgiving dinner together. I though the Mets would have already signed Jhonny Peralta by now (yes, it is early, but this was supposed to get done early) but things are now hung up on the amount of years Peralta wants.

We don’t include ‘maybes’ in these position evaluations, so we are limited on who is currently on the team. The Mets themselves list their depth chart at short as Tejada, Quintanilla, and Wilfredo Tovar.

In Las Vegas, I have Tovar (Bing: .263, Mets: 15-AB, .200) and Rylan Sandoval (Vegas: 110-AB, .327). Tovar could possibly be the backup in Queens but my guess is that would only happen if Tejada replaces him in Vegas and the Mets go outside the organization for their starter. Sandoval is a utility AAAA player at best.

I’ve got Matt Reynolds playing Binghamton though he didn’t set the world on fire last year for St. Lucie (433-AB, .226). Frankly, he’s the only shortstop in the organization ready to play at this level.

St. Lucie is a guess right now. On paper, Gavin Cecchini (Brooklyn, .273) would go to Savannah, but Amed Rosario (Kingsport, .241) impressed scouts and Cecchini’s old enough to make the two level jump to Florida. Both don’t ETA until at least OD 2017 so the Mets would need someone here for three years (hint), not two.

Rosario could be backed up in Savannah by either Anthony Chavez (Brooklyn, .201) or Dimas Ponce (Savannah, .198).

But we’re not done yet and one of the interesting battles looks to be Brooklyn where two players, 12th round draft pick Jeff McNeil (Kingsport: .329) and Victor Cruzado (Kingsport: .328), had a great 2013.

Luis Guillorme (GCL: .258) probably earned his Kingsport wings and will be backed up by Jean Rodriquez.

Past that could be some more middle infield excitement someday. Sandy and Company have secured for the future Alfredo Reyes (DSL2: .316), Yeffry de Aza (signed in July 2013 for $475K), and Luis Carpio (30th ranked Int’l SS signed July 2013 for $300K). Look for Reyes to come stateside for the GCL team while de Aza and Carpio play for the two DSL teams.

Summation: Lots of young projectable talent here that should result in a genuine every day star by 2017. Maybe two.

Grade – B+

14 comments:

jonah said...

Mack, could you see Lawley and Puello make it to Queens next year, around the ASB perhaps?
With Puello in RF and Lawlay in LF who is your CF-er in Las Vegas? Den Dekker? Or Kirk?
Is Tovar improving enough with the bat so he can become a starter in 2015? If so, should the Mets give Tejada a final shot at SS? Or do you think they need to sign a SS for 3 years like you hinted?

Mack Ade said...

Jonah -

As you know, I'm doing the position evaluation this week... Monday is 3B, Tuesday is the OF

There are a lot of candidates for the opening day Las Vegas outfield.. Puello, Lawley, Cecilliano, Nieuwenhuis, Seratelli, Valdespin, and Alonzo Harris

My guess is prospects come first which means both Lawley and Puello start 'somewhere'. Lawley could wind up on 3B and either could DH.

Yes, I would like to see Tejada get another shot but I don't think it's going to happen. I expect Peralta to eventually get a three year contract out of Alderson, which fits nicely into future plans for that position in the organization.

I've never projected Tovar as being a major league player. He does play defense well enough to back up some day.

David L. Whitman said...

Mack-Where's Phillip Evans? Did we cut him loose? He was awful last year but I'd be surprised the Mets would give up on him this fast.

Mack Ade said...

Evans will most probably repeat Savannah but he's been eased out with Gavin Cecchini probably jumping to St. Lucie and Amed Rosario playing for the Sand Gnats

greg b said...

Mack you really think rosario will be in savannah because the mets are usually conservitive witj there prospects?

Bill Metsiac said...

I'd forgotten about Tejada's broken leg (though I vividly remember the collision that caused it) until you mentioned it today.

Do you know anything about his progress in rehabbing? Will he be ready by ST, or will his recovery take until after OD?

Mack Ade said...

Greg B - Yes I do, because of the progress he made in the previous organization

Mack Ade said...

Bill -

Tejada is working out in a private location with other Mets minor leaguers (Duda, Nieuwenhuis)... he's be physically ready at least five days prior to when the camp opens

Ernest Dove said...

Question number 1:
Can an outfield of Lawley, Lagares and Puello be considered a projected legit MLB outfield?

Question #2
If Mets get priced out of all shorstops, what happens if Tejada comes out the gate hitting around .200 ?

Mack Ade said...

Ernest, regarding Lawley, Lagares, and Puello... no, not at this point. Not one of these have ever been projected as a flat out prospect. They are creating their role on this team as we speak.

Re SS... your only internal options right now would be Quintanilla, Tovar, or the return of Valdespin.

jonah said...

Mack, I thought that Puello was a prospect a few years ago. Didnt he end up around 70 in BA's top 100?

Mack Ade said...

Jonah -

Yes, he 'was' a prospect until the Biogenesis mess... now there are doubts that need to be addressed on the field

bill metsiac said...

Thanks, Mack. Does he still have options, if the Mets want to start him off at Wally World?

Mack Ade said...

Bill -

I believe he actually does