12/16/14

Tom Brennan - MAJORING ON THE MINORS - 2012 METS' DRAFT - PROGRESS UPDATE


MAJORING ON THE MINORS
2012 METS DRAFT – HOW ARE THEY DOING? By Tom Brennan

Here’s a quick recap of the 2012 draft.  Each draft year deserves to be evaluated, and while it is early in the 2012 draft’s gestation period, I think that the 2012 Met draft is shaping up to be a very fruitful one for them. 

Some real talent, led by:

·       4 nearly ready guys who can be high impact - Kevin Plawecki, Matt Reynolds, Matt Bowman, and
Jayce Boyd (yes, Jayce Boyd.  Contrarian that I am, I like him.  Sweet bat, and power's coming).

·       4 potentially highly promising talents, going by the names of Gavin Cecchini, Rob Whelan, Paul Sewald, and Corey Oswalt.  Gavin in 2015 may pull a “Matt Reynolds 2014” on us (Matt jumped 117 points in average in 2014), so be patient with Gavin.  Just hurry up, man!

·       4 guys who could lead to pleasant surprises within a few years, such as Matt Koch, Logan Taylor, Tomas Nido, and Chris Flexen. Ahh, and perhaps Tim Peterson (wait, is that 13?)

The upcoming 2015 season’s performances by the aforementioned gents should show if the 2012 Mets’ draft was merely good…or great. But here is a recap of all of those who signed with the Mets from that draft (and only 22 of the 40 did sign – unusually low):

                                                                                    

Name
Pos
B/T
Ht
Wt
DOB
Rd #
Rating
Comments
SS
R / R
6' 1"
180
12/22/1993
1
2
.247/.328/.378 in 2014 in two A ball levels.  Gavin at age 21 in 2015 is key...is he about to surge?  My “2” rating sees him as a utility player in the future. Prove me wrong, Gavin.
C
R / R
6' 2"
225
02/26/1991
1
.295/.372/.439 in 3 years in the minors.  Low Ks. Sky is the limit.
3B
R / R
6' 1"
198
12/03/1990
2
1-2
.343/.405/.454 in AA and AAA in 2014.  What he does in 2015 will hold the key.
RHP
L / R
6' 3"
185
11/02/1990
3
3
2014 St Lucie. 10-4, 4.64, 1.44 WHIP, just 63 Ks in 120 inn. 4.70 ERA in 3 minor league yrs.
2B
S / R
5' 7"
175
04/10/1994
4
4
Young 3 years, almost 500 plate appearances .214/.355/.245.  Played in K Port in 2014.  .260 with slightly more pop in 2014. We’ll see if anything is there in the coming season.
RHP
R / R
6' 1"
185
08/24/1991
5
4
Only 5.28 ERA in Bklyn in 2014. Just 56 innings and 21 gms in his career so far.
1B
R / R
6' 3"
185
12/30/1990
6
2
Career .299/.382/.425. Similar full year #s in AA after a very slow 2014 start. Dude can hit.
RHP
R / R
6' 4"
200
09/03/1993
7
2
Corey was impressive in Bklyn in 2014, 6-2, 68 inn, 2.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 59K.
C
R / R
6' 0"
200
04/12/1994
8
3
Solid Bklyn 2014 at age 20: .277/.325/.335.  A full season in Savannah in 2015 will be telling. Maybe a real future piece?
2B
R / R
5' 9"
170
02/15/1990
9
Retired
Hit .161 in 2012-13. Uhh, uhh.
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
190
05/26/1990
2
Overachiever: 2012-14, 141 inn, 171 Ks, 1.85 ERA, 1.01 WHIP.  Lots of Ks so far in winter ball. His stock has to be rising.
RHP
R / R
6' 5"
205
12/13/1991
3
Just 114 inn in 3 years due to injury; strong finish in 2014. 6-4, 2.20, 9K/9, 1.06 WHIP Career.
A strong 2015 boosts “3” rating.
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
200
01/31/1994
2
3 years, 12-4, 1.89, 9K/9, 0.96 WHIP.  Already in winter ball, which was a challenge.  A strong 2015 could move him to a 1 rank
RHP
R / R
6' 0"
165
05/31/1991
1
Flying thru system.  10-8, 3.21 in AA and AAA in 2014.  Attention, folks: Similar progress to our ROY Jake deGrom.
RHP
R / R
6' 3"
215
07/01/1994
3
Tommy John in 2014.  A fine 2013, and pitched well in 2014 just before his July surgery.
C
R / R
6' 0"
200
02/02/1992
5
.211/.315/.355 career, most recently in Savannah. 21 HRs since turning pro.
LHP
L / L
5' 9"
185
04/29/1992
Released
Only pitched 2013-14.  62 inn. Solid 2014 year in Savannah  but gone anyhow. It’s tough to keep swimming upstream..
RHP
R / R
6' 2"
175
06/27/1990
5
7-3 career, but ERA slightly over 6.00 in 2013 & 2014. Last pitched Savannah in June 2014; still listed as active. Is he?
RHP
R / R
6' 1"
190
02/22/1991
3
Overachiever, who hit some head winds in St Lucie, but great prior to that.  Career 7-3, 4.22, 1.19 WHIP, 143 Ks in 121 inn.
RHP
R / R
6' 1"
170
01/27/1994
5
Struggled in 3 years, 3-9, 5.58
1B
R / R
6' 1"
205
09/19/1990
5
Some pop. Last in Savannah. 109 games in 3 years, .240.
3B
R / R
5' 10"
175
07/28/1989
5
Similar to Jon Leroux.  .241.

 RATING SCALE:

1 – future impact major leaguer and performing at a high level

2 – future major leaguer – unclear if he will be an impact player

3 – decent shot at making it to the big enchilada in some capacity

4 – long shot to make the majors

5 – extremely long shot to make the majors

Where am I wrong, people?   Share your thoughts, please. 

Have a great day.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

This draft was a perfect example of why you need to wait a couple of years to look at a draft

After 2013 - this looked like a bad draft as Reynolds had crappy numbers and Cecchini wasn't looking to good.

Fast forward to the end of 2014 and Reynolds looks like a real bat and Cecchini looks like at least and average ML SS.

Big difference

Tom Brennan said...

Darned tootin', Lew.

These guys really need a year in full season ball before they can be well projected, especially if they are real young when signed.

Blake Taylor in the Davis deal is listed in the Mets' Top 20 prospects on their website, but had a shaky short season, with control issues. Yet he is young, young, young, and it may take a year or 2 to see if he is prospect or suspect.

Short season leagues can be misleading as to future growth. Cory Vaughn is a case in point - a quite promising start in Brooklyn about 4 years ago, disappointing ever since he hit full season ball.

And then the case of a Reynolds, who excelled in his 2nd full year. Some guys figure it out, adjust, and then BOOM, off to the races.

Lots of guys from this year to look forward to. I really want to see what a healthy Jayce Boyd does in 2015. And of course Gavin C.

That Adam Smith said...

Nice piece, as always Thomas.

Glad to see some Jayce Boyd love (as promised.) I too think that there's some more power in there. His injury/shoulder surgery came at a tough time career-wise, but great to see the second half he put together once he seemed to get healthy. I don't think there's anyone in front of him at 1B in Vegas. Excited to see what he can do.

Tom Brennan said...

Thanks, Adam, and I think Boyd will show something special in Vegas this year.