The Last several days in the Winter League Action articles, I have been reporting the boxscores of Victor Mendez, and outfielder in the Mets system. Who is Victor Mendez? Mendez will be 29 years old next year and he has been bouncing around the Minors since 2002 (seven seasons). He was signed by Detroit and then the Mets got him in 2007. Since 2007, Mendez has been playing in three levels for the Mets. They started him off in the Rookie League (Gulf Coast Mets), then moved him to low A with the St. Lucie Mets, and for the last chunck of last season, moved him to AAA. Its unsual that when the Mets got him, the put him in the Gulf Coast League, because he was in the minors for a while to that point. He does well in the lower levels, but then struggles at higher levels, which will cause problems if he ever wants to move up to the majors. Here are some stat lines:
MiLB Carear- 601 Games, 2025 AB, 509 H, .251 BA, 97 2B, 32 3B, 51 HR, 270 RBI
2008-St Lucie- 34 G, 113 AB, 19 R, 32 H, .283 BA, 9 2B, 4 HR, 17 RBI
2008- N.O.- 51 G, 105 AB, 10 R, 25 H, .238 BA, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI
With Mendez, there isn't that much to write home about. If his contact was up, then his power numbers would look better, and there would be talk about Mendez being a utility man. The problem is his contact isn't up. According The Baseball Cube, they give him a 71 for Power, 71 for Speed, 31 for Contact, and 54 for Patience (all scores out of 100). As much as I want to like Mendez, I just don't see him moving up unless he really starts to hit AAA pitching well this year, then he could be moved up for bench injuries. If he continues to hit Winter pitching well, then there could be hope. I will continue to include him in the Winter League Action reports and to see how he does.
