213 Miles From Shea

This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.

Desmond Lindsay was the Mets 2nd round pick in 2015 (also their highest pick) and has struggled the last several seasons. BA wrote about his injuries from 2017 and 2018, mainly an elbow injury from a nerve surgery and that even when healthy, recently Lindsay wasn’t producing. But before the book went to print in 2019, Desmond had a strong Arizona Fall League where he hit .286/.355/.643 in 31 PA’s with 3 homers, which is the same total he hit in all of 2018. BA credits this to a “new swing that allowed him to contact the ball out front. That enabled him to hit the ball in the air for power thanks to his above-average exit velocities.” Things were looking like they may start to go in the right direction. They ended their preview that he is one of the strongest and most athletic players the Mets have. In 2019 they thought he would reach Binghamton but there was a chance he would have to go back to St. Lucie first.

This is where the story takes a turn for Desmond. He’s assigned to St. Lucie and he struggles over 15 games and 59 PAs hitting .196/.305/.294. He then tears a hammy and is out for the rest of the season. So while BA’s prophecy wasn’t true, his performance was in line with their opening thoughts about his injury history.

The Mets are faced with an interesting choice of where to play the 23 year old next season. Does he start in a league he is definitely older than? Do they have room in Binghamton for him to figure it out and get regular reps? Can he put it all back together? We certainly hope so.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Pedro Payano made his major league debut last season with the Texas Rangers. Pedro was signed by the Rangers back in 2011 and resigned with the Rangers before the 2019 season. The righty pitched in 6 major league games and made 4 starts logging 22.0 innings with a 5.73 ERA, 5.62 FIP, 1.864 WHIP and a 92 ERA+.

With the Rangers AA team in Frisco last year, he posted a 4.43 ERA over 8 starts and 42.2 innings and with their AAA team in Nashville he posted a 5.44 ERA over 11 games and 41.1 innings. Overall in the minors he has a 3.68 ERA over 686.1 innings. There’s a good write up about Pedro here. Key points: he has a fastball that sits in the low 90’s with a low 80’s changeup and a fall off the table curve. He spent 3 years in the DOSL after being signed for 650k, then rocketed through the system in one year before he hit another wall that he couldn’t get over.

The Mets signed him for starting depth. For the 4th day in a row we feel compelled to mention that the Mets are thin with pitching at the top. Where they are really thin is starting pitching. Even though the Mets signed Porcello and Wacha after that, it’s question marks. Pedro Payano doesn’t directly fit in with the team, but the Mets need somebody who could eat up starting innings in triple A and in an emergency can do it in Queens. At the end of the day, he’s also only 25, so maybe he can find what he had in Syracuse.

This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.

Francisco Alvarez‘s stock has been rising! In the Baseball Prospectus 2020 Annual he’s ranked as the 88th overall prospect in baseball and last year was his first year playing professional ball. The Mets signed him as a 16 year old in 2018. He was the 9th overall prospect in the 2018 international signing class. BA notes that “Alvarez hits for above-average power. He has the barrel control, bath path and plate discipline to hit for solid average.” They finished his profile by saying he has a long trek to the majors but should be worth the wait. At #12 on the prospect list, he’s the first prospect that has a ranking grade of 55 (Szapucki, Woods-Richardson, Newton, Vientos, Alonso and Gimenez are the others, Mauricio has a 60).

So how did he do in his first year of professional ball?

2019 Gulf Coast Mets: 7 G, 31 PA, .462/.548/,846
2019 Kingsport Mets: 35 G, 151 PA, .282/.377/.443

Alvarez came on the scene in a big way with a smooth 1.395 OPS in 7 games in the Gulf Coast league where he was 2.5 years younger than the average player. He then destroyed Kingsport with a .812 OPS. He was 3.5 years below the average age in that league.

Alvarez is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Just don’t BVW anywhere near him.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

The Mets acquired Stephen Nogosek in the Addison Reed trade from several seasons ago (the trade included Gerson Bautista who was part of the Kelenic trade last year and Jamie Callahan who is no longer in the Mets system). Nogosek debuted in the majors last year at age 24, seeing time in 7 games and 6.2 innings where he allowed 12 hits, 8 runs, 2 homers, 2 walks while striking out 6. The righty didn’t have the greatest first season in the world.

The Mets depleted their top level prospects last year, a theme we are repeating now for a third day in this article series, which leaves the door open in 2020 for players like Nogosek, not on the roster yet but if players really falter, end up on the 60 day IL, etc, then he could find himself on the 40 man and later in Queens, again.

After the trade that brought him to the Mets, the Mets put him in St. Lucie where he posted a 5.06 ERA over 9 games and 16.0 innings with a 1.500 WHIP and a 8.4 K/9. The following year, when he was exactly the right age for St. Lucie, he destroyed it, posting a 3.06 ERA over 23 games and 32.1 innings with a 1.237 WHIP and 10.3 K/9.

The Mets then moved him up to Binghamton where he struggled in in his 16 games and 20.0 innings posting an 8.10 ERA. But then last year in 11 games he had a 0.95 ERA in 19.0 innings. Breaking the pattern, he went to Syracuse where he posted a 1.15 ERA in 31.1 innings despite being 2.2 years below the average age.

Essentially I go through this to note that with the exception of Syracuse, in the Mets system he goes from struggling at a specific level on year, to dominating it the next (and struggling at the next level). So if the pattern continues, then he should be better in Queens this year. While that is meant to be more tongue in cheek than predictive – Nogosek has shown improvement in performance at each level at the Mets system. It makes a lot of sense that a player who got a cup of coffee with the Mets last season and performed well in Syracuse last year gets a long look for a 40 man spot this spring. His ability to come back each year better than the previous is why we are rooting for him at 213.

This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.

As we continue to push in top half of the prospect list, my energy to keep going is starting to dwindle. I’m starting to drag my feet a bit because I know there are a lot more articles to write like the one today – today’s prospect, Luis Santana, was traded away last year. While the Santana/Adolph for J.D. Davis trade may be one the Mets have won, the same can’t be said for a lot of the other trades that have depleted the Mets system.

For context – the Mets acquired J.D. Davis for Santana/Adolph not too long before the Mets signed Jed Lowrie. Initially that made giving up Santana/Adolph superfluous. Alas, Lowrie is a zombie and hasn’t played and Davis went on to have a shockingly good 2019. But who was Luis Santana, the centerpiece for the trade?

BA notes that the Mets only took one look at Santana and were so impressed that was all they needed to sign him to a 200k contract. They were rewarded when Santana hit .348 in Kingsport, the 5th best average in the league. BA wrote his “bat-to-ball skills, fearlessness and hitting rhythm give him a ceiling of a plus hitter.” He was projected to open the season in Columbia before the trade.

Instead he opened the season at Tri-City, who play in the same league as the Brooklyn Cyclones. In 52 games and 186 PAs he hit .267/.339/.352 which was enough for the Astros. He played the last 18 games at the season in Corpus Christie, their AA team where in 66 PAs he hit .228/.333/.263 while being an incredibly 4.8 years younger than the average player in the league (he’s 19). He’ll probably continue to rocket through their system (no pun intended)

It hurts to see a prospect go in a trade and do well but only because they aren’t doing well for us. We are happy for the prospect. What makes seeing Santana do well hurt less is J.D. Davis. Davis has blossomed in Queens in a way that he couldn’t in a crowded lineup in Houston. Maybe both clubs are winners here.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Every once in a while the Mets draft a player who ends up rocketing throughout the system due to a combination of talent, age and talent around the player in the system. Gilliam has gone from Brooklyn in 2018 (he was drafted in the 5th round of the 2018 draft) to Syracuse. The (now) 23 year old righty was half a year below the average age in Brooklyn in 2018, 0.9 years below the average age in St. Lucie (2019), 2.3 years below in Binghamton (2019) and a whopping 4.2 years below the average in Syracuse (2019). Along the way he has posted these stats:

2018 Clemson: 27 G, 38.1 IP, 1.41 ERA, 1.148 WHIP, 12.7 K/9
2018 Brooklyn: 17 G, 17.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.385 WHIP, 16.1 K/9
2019 St. Lucie: 7 G, 10.2 IP, 2.53 ERA, 0.938 WHIP, 13.5 K/9
2019 Binghamton: 12 G, 18.2 IP, 4.34 ERA, 1.179 WHIP, 13.5 K/9
2019 Syracuse: 10 G, 9.1 IP, 13.50 ERA, 3.000 WHIP, 11.6 K/9
2019 Arizona Fall League: 7 G, 9.1 IP, 0.96 ERA, 1.071 WHIP, 10.6 K/9

With the exception of Syracuse, he’s performed well at every single level, which is astounding considering how much he had to uproot his life in the last two years to play in so many places. Also encouraging – after a rough stint in Syracuse, he went on to dominate in the Arizona Fall League.

Gilliam has a 95-97 fastball and a high 70’s/ low 80’s curveball and the two pitch combination has allowed him to mow down the competition in the minors. If he starts off in Syracuse ripping through lineups like he was at other levels last year, than we will probably see him in Queens sooner than later (around when the first set of relievers start to falter or get injured). If not, I expect him to be in Syracuse for most of the season. Gilliam is still young and has less years in the Mets system than someone like yesterday’s NRI Preview Matt Blackham and the won’t feel pressure about Gilliam on the roster like they would for other rule V eligible players at the end of the season.

Gilliam of course can write his own story this spring. He’ll get a look at Triple A, Major League and inbetween talent. The Mets will be looking at what progress he made this off-season.

This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.

Luis Guillorme, who became a household name a few years ago in spring training by catching a bat with one hand, got more playing time last year and we were thrilled here at 213. We agree with BA that Luis “is the best defensive infielder int he system, with quick reflexes and sure hands that make him reliable at second, third or short.” For Luis the question has always been can he hit at the major league level, and since he doesn’t hit for power, can he continue to spray the ball all over the place and be a consistent hitter. In 2019 we saw improvements towards that:

2018: 35 G, 74 PA, .209/.284/.239, .523 OPS
2019: 45 G, 70 PA, .246/.324/.361, .684 OPS

Significant progress. His playing time was still played around with, much like it was during his time in 2018. With the continued injury to Jed Lowrie we are hoping that Luis gets more time as a utility infielder on the Mets. A good spring and he could possibly break the club with the team. The fear is that he has another year of the Mets sending him up and down, not getting consistent reps at the major league level.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Today is the first official day of spring training! What better to celebrate than kicking off this series! Today we’ll look at Matt Blackham, who was drafted out of Middle Tennessee State by the Mets in 2014. The 27 year old right handed reliever has been with the Mets his whole professional career and finally made it to Syracuse last year.

Let’s just get the numbers out of the way:

Career: 136 G, 211.2 IP, 2.38 ERA, 1.087 WHIP, 12.1 K/9
2019 Binghamton: 28 G, 39.2 IP, 2.72 ERA, 1.059 WHIP, 13.4 K/9
2019 Syracuse: 12 G, 15.2 IP, 2.30 ERA, 1.085 WHIP, 6.3 K/9

Matt has put up impressive numbers throughout his minor league career and continued to do that last season. Age wise, it’s about time for him to come up to the major leagues. He makes it out of camp with the ball club if there are injuries and he is able to rise above the other pitchers on the Mets 40 man who could also slide into that spot. So he is definitely on the outside looking in. On the other hand, his age makes it about right for him to come to Queens and the Mets have recently lost players that he would be competing against in the bullpen for various reasons (Eric Hanhold, Donnie Dart, Ryan O’Rourke, etc)

He has a fastball that sits in the low 90’s, a knucklecurve and a change up. He is also rule 5 eligible which could play a role in the Mets trying to find a way to force him on to the 40 man by the end of the season, depending on how he does in Syracuse.

Overall, the Mets have a lack of pitchers at the top levels of the minor leagues that can step in if something goes wrong this year. Matt Blackham could potentially be one of those pitchers. With the general shuffling of players on an off the 40 man as the year progresses, I expect to see Matt on the 40-man by the end of this year, possibly in Queens by September.

This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.

I lied yesterday when I said that Tomas Nido is the name on the list you are probably most familiar with. That honor has to go to today’s prospect who made it to the bigs one year earlier than Nido, Gavin Cecchini.

Gavin first saw time with the Mets for a cup of coffee in in 2016 at the age of 22. He hit .333/.429/.667 over 4 games and 7 PAs, so pretty much the definition of a small sample size. The Mets got a much longer look at him the following year were he played in 32 games with 82 PAs hitting .208/.256/.273.

BA talked about how he had a lot to prove in 2018 after that slash line in 2017. And he started too, hitting .301/.347/.469 in the minors that year before he took a pitch off his hand that knocked him out of playing for a while. BA wrote that his future in 2019 would be determined by his bat as he would be back in Triple A for a 4th season. Across the minors last year he did ok, hitting .248/.305/.344 over 177 PAs while other players on the Mets system started to move up around him.

He was granted free agency at the end of the season and hasn’t signed with a team yet for 2020. A long time fixture in the Mets system, since he was 18, we wish him nothing but the best and hope that he make it back to the majors with another team in 2020.

The New York Mets invited 25 minor league players to major league spring training last year with Non-Roster Invites. Like most years the group was a mix of veterans looking for another chance and prospects looking to get more experience. Last year’s group included the 2019 Rookie of the Year winner, a player who couldn’t wait to get released from the Mets, and a player who the Mets essentially forced to retire. Like everything else with the Mets of the last few years it was a mixture of terrific luck and talent swirled with front office mismanagement.

I’m sure I missed a few players as the Mets made several signings last year during spring, if you know someone I forgot, drop their name below. And now the list:

Tim Tebow: Tebow sells tickets, we know this about him. It’s easy to forget that before breaking his hand in 2018, he had a decent year, hitting .273/.336/.399. That didn’t continue in Syracuse last year as he hit .163/.240/.255. He currently has a NRI to this year’s spring training big league camp.

Rymer Liriano: Liriano was one of several former major league outfielders trying to get back to the big leagues with the Mets last year. He ended up playing in 82 games in Syracuse hitting .209/.346/.403

Rajai Davis: Davis saw some major league time with the Mets last year while everything was falling apart. He got into 29 games getting 26 PA’s hitting .200/.231/.400. He’s currently a free agent

Gregor Blanco: Blanco did not see time with the major league club after spring training, playing 118 games in Syracuse getting 426 PA’s, hitting .246/.339/.745. He recently accepted a job with Major League Baseball, ending his major league career where he saw games between 2008-2018.

Dilson Herrera: Herrera was a huge surprise all season in the Mets minor system making a tremendous comeback, yet the Mets never called him up. In 117 games and 460 PA’s he hit .248/.330/.501. He currently has a NRI with the Baltimore Orioles

Danny Espinosa: Espinosa failed to make the majors for a second straight year. He saw a lot of playing time in Syracuse getting 542 PAs over 129 games hitting .256/.338/.440. He is currently a free agent.

Gavin Cecchini: Drafted by the Mets in 2012, it looks like his time with the Mets organization is over as he was granted free agency after the season season. He saw time with the Mets in 2016 and 2017 and for various reasons since then couldn’t make it back. Across three levels in the Mets system last year he he played in 48 games and had 177 PAs with a slash line of .248/.305/.344. This past winter he went to the Australian Baseball League and had 76 PAs over 19 games and hit .278/.303/.417.

Pete Alonso: Probably the most well known player on this list. It’s worth remembering at the start of last season there were voices in and outside of the Mets system calling for Alonso to start the year in the minors to manipulate his playing time. Luckily that didn’t happen and Alonso went on to hit over 50 homers, win the Home Run Derby, win the rookie of the year and coin “LFGM”. He had one of the best years a Met could have, one that we’ll all remember forever.

Ali Sanchez: Ali is a catching prospect that is high in the Mets system and because of both being not ready yet and the team wanting to get him regular reps, he remained largely unaffected by the Mets catching drama that plagued the team in Queens for much of the season. In Binghamton last year over 71 games and 294 PAs he hit .278/.337/.337. The good times didn’t continue when he was promoted to Syracuse, at a whopping 4.9 years below the average player age. In 65 PAs (21 games) he hit .179/.277/.250. Sanchez is now on the 40-man roster and will be back in camp this year.

Colton Plaia: Colton saw some playing time in Syracuse this year over 43 games hitting .152/.200/.224. He was granted free agency in November.

Devin Mesoraco: This was one of the harder to understand stories of the Spring last year. The Mets knew that Travis d’Arnaud was not ready for the start of the season, and should have just put Mesoraco on the roster, instead they placed him in AAA. He thought he had a deal that if he wasn’t going to make the major league club, he would be released, which is a normal thing for baseball teams to do with the type of NRI that Mesoraco had + his history as a major league hitter. The Mets refused to bend and instead forced Mesoraco into an early retirement. This probably has impacted the type of veteran players the Mets have been able to get to come to Spring Training this year. Who wants to get played by an organization that was trying to stack and trap former MLB players on their new AAA club?

Steve Villines: A relief pitcher for the Mets who is still part of the organization, Villines pitched in 41 games last year. In his 28 for Binghamton, he was wonderful, pitching 45.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA and a 1.067 WHIP. In Syracuse things didn’t go so well in 13 games, 16.0 innings with a 7.31 ERA and a 1.938 WHIP.

Patrick Mazeika: Mazeika has another spring training invite with the Mets this upcoming season as well. The 25 year old played 116 games in Binghamton last year with 462 PAs hitting .245/.312/.426. He then went to the Arizona Fall League where in 13 games and 48 PAs he hit .174/.208/.239. We’ll say more about him later on in our 2020 preview article series.

Joshua Torres: Currently a free agent, Joshua saw 17 games and 29.0 innings with Binghamton this year were he posted a 7.45 ERA and a 1.621 WHIP. This winter he has pitched in 15 games with 15.0 innings of work for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico league posting a 4.80 ERA and he has 1.0 innings of no run ball in 2 games in the Caribbean World Series.

Corey Taylor: Still with the Mets, currently does not have an invite to major league camp. Taylor, drafted in 2015 was limited due to injuries last year and missed time between May and September. When he was playing, he did well, posting a 2.37 ERA over 19.0 innings and 10 games. Maybe he’ll find his way back into the conversation this summer depending on how the Mets bullpen does.

Hector Santiago: I was rooting for Santiago last year, from Newark, NJ where I spent the 9 years of my life as a teacher, 7 years as a resident. The Mets signed Santiago as rotation depth and needed him for the bullpen, bringing him up for 8 games and 8.0 innings where he posted a 6.75 ERA. He was given free agency in June and signed with the White Sox where he he pitched in 11 games with 25.2 innings posting a 6.66 ERA. He currently has an NRI deal with the Tigers for the 2020 season.

Ryder Ryan: He is still kicking with the Mets and was the #23 prospect in the Mets system last year according to Baseball America. He had a successful 2019 pitching in 44.1 innings with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.263 WHIP. He doesn’t have an official NRI this season, but because he was part of those trades from a few years ago and his age, 25, I wouldn’t be surprised if he slips into some split squad games. Depending on how the Mets bullpen goes this year, if Ryan is successful in the minors he could force himself onto the 40 man at some point this year.

David Peterson: Thanks to all of the trades from the last 14 months, Peterson is now the Mets #1 starting pitching prospect in terms of a combination of talent and age. (departures of Justin Dunn, Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson helped create this situation). Peterson has another NRI to Mets camp this year. Last year he pitched in 24 games and 116.0 innings with a 4.19 ERA and 1.345 WHIP. He then pitched in the Arizona Fall League for 13.0 innings over 4 games with a 3.46 ERA.

Ryan O’Rourke: The former Twin signed a minor league deal with the Mets before last year and saw some time at the major league level, like literally just some time. He got into 2 games totaling 1.1 innings allowed 3 walks and nothing else. In Syracuse he had a 3.27 ERA over 36 games and 44 innings before he was granted free agency and signed back with the Twins organization who let him go at the end of the season.

Anthony Kay: We had a lot of high hopes for Kay going into last season but he was traded at the deadline with Woods-Richardson for Marcus Stroman. In the short term, this is a good deal for the Mets that they made weaker by not resigning Zack Wheeler. This half step in / half step out mentality with prospects in the long run will hurt the Mets as Anthony Kay continues to develop with the Blue Jays. We wish him nothing but the best and miss him in our system.

Arquimedes Caminero: Another signing for pitching depth, Arquimedes never made it to the major league level last year. He pitched in 17 games in Syracuse totaling 17.2 innings with a 5.09 ERA. He was released from the Mets in the middle of the season and then he transitioned to the Mexican Baseball League.

Luis Avilan: From the moment the Mets signed Avilan to a non-roster deal it was inevitable that he would make it to the major league club. With the departure of Blevins, the only lefty the Mets had in the bullpen was Zamora so Avilan was brought in to directly compete for that role. Avilan ended up pitching in 45 games and 32.0 innings with the Mets with a 5.06 ERA, a huge departure from his career ERA over 3.28. He is currently in Yankees camp with a NRI.

Adeiny Hechavarria: Signed to be a defensive depth, Adeiny saw quite a bit of playing time with the Mets getting 151 PA’s and slashing a .204/.252/.359. Once the Mets released him in August he signed with the Braves and hit .328/.400/.639 all while bashing the Mets as a franchise. The Mets deserved every bit of it.

Carlos Gomez: Things come full circle and Gomez, traded by the Mets after his rookie year, almost acquired by the Mets for Flores in 2015, came back to the Mets and saw some playing time this year getting into 34 games and 99 PAs hitting .198/.278/.337. He retired at the end of the year.

P.J. Conlon: The Mets released the pitcher from Belfast in the middle of the season, who didn’t make it back to the majors. Across various Mets levels last year he pitched in 13 games and 14.2 innings with a 4.91 ERA.