213 Miles From Shea

Our journey through the Mets minor league system, 40-man roster and non-roster Spring invites continue today as we look at another player in the latter group, Vinny Rottino. Rottino is a veteran who has had minor league (and a little major league experience) at a collection of positions including pinch hitting, catching, the corner infield positions and in the outfield. Rottino was signed in 2003 by the Brewers as an amateur (un-drafted) free agent. He was traded at the 2009 trade deadline to the Dodgers for Claudio Vargas. At the end of 2009 he signed a contract with the Marlins and then signed a contract this year with the Mets.

Rottino’s statistics have up-ticked recently. In the early 2000’s he had 4 seasons in a row where he batted .299 or better, and then slipped from that point. In the last two seasons in the minors, he has hit above .300:

2010: 441 AB, 68 R, 136 H, 27 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, .308 BA, .390 OBP
2011: 467 AB, 81 R, 142 H, 31 2B, 2 2B, 10 HR, .304 BA, .374 OBP

Since Rottino is not on the 40 man, it will be very difficult for him to make the team coming out of camp. His age provides probably the largest road block for his call up this year. For him to make it to the bigs, in any month not September, he has to first be added to the 40 man and show the Mets that he deserves playing time over Captain Kirk and F-Mart. The only way that happens is if the Mets are in the playoff hunt, need a hitter, and Rottino is doing better than those two, any one on the Mets bench and Pascucci.

However, if the Mets need to go through their depth chart this year, he could be the type of player they can use. I like the Rottino signing because he adds good depth to the system at a cheap price and allows the Mets to have options before diving into their prospects that won’t be ready yet.

Juan Lagares is a member of the Mets’ large group of young, far away prospects. Lagares has been in the Mets system since 2006 when he was only 17 years old (played in the Mets Dominican Team). Since then he has worked up the Mets system, reaching AA last season. In terms of his progression since playing in America (2007), his batting average and power (doubles, homers, SLG) have improved every season (with the exception of 2009, where his power dipped a bit).

Statistically speaking, last season was by far his best as he destroyed A+ ball, and then did even better at the AA level:

St. Lucie: 308 AB, 51 R, 104 H, 15 2B, 6 3B, 7 HR, .338 BA, .380 OBP, .494 SLG
B-Mets: 162 AB,  21 R, 60 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, .371 BA, .391 OBP, .512 SLG

In his last season, his hitting pace really increased as did his slugging. There has been a lot of buzz that Juan is knocking down the door to be named a top 10 prospect in the Mets system, and it will probably happen if he has another year in AA like he did last season. In 2012 he’ll be 23 and with a positive year, depending on how positive and the health of the Mets, he could be looking at a late season call up, to competing for a spot on the 2013 roster (and entering starting talk in 2014).

Experts are crediting his jump in numbers to his plate discipline. He tabled his free swinging nature, and if he can consistently do that, he could turn himself into an interesting player for the Mets. Mainly by 2014, the Mets OF picture could look very different than it does today, and with the crop of players he is coming up with, his stock could land him as a trade candidate.

When Adam Loewen made his debut in 2006, he made history. It wasn’t about what he did, but more about who he faced. In his first four starts he drew Roy Halladay twice, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson. I remember these starts and the excitement about his arrival to the majors since I was living in Baltimore back in 2006. Alas, he is not the same player that he was in 2006, and that is due to his new position. He came up through the Orioles farm system as a starting pitcher, and after the 2008 season, due to injuries he started his transition to become an Outfielder. Loewen then signed with the Blue Jays and during the  Minors he put up these numbers as a hitter:

2009: 335 AB, 47 R, 79 H, 22 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, .236 BA, .340 OBP
2010: 459 AB, 70 R, 113 H, 31 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, .246 BA, .351 OBP
2011: 520 AB, 83 R, 159 H,  46 2B, 4 2B, 17 HR, .306 BA, .377 OBP

His year in the Minors earned him a short stint in the majors:

2011: 32 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, .188 BA, .297 OBP

Despite his struggles in a limited exposure in the majors, he crushed it at AAA last season. I doubt he will make it with the team up north to start the season, since he is also not on the 40 man, but if he does well in spring and starts off well in the minors, then he might work his way onto the Mets depth chart which is crowded with players with similar numbers and similar ceilings.

Val (Valetino) Pascucci is a Minor League Veteran, who is on the outside looking this Spring. Pascucci put together a really strong 2011 season, but he is not on the 40-man roster, so for him to break spring with the Mets going North, he is going to have to have a really strong Spring Training. Val is 33 years old and led all of the Mets system in RBI with 91 and was second in the Mets system with 21 homers. He also finished the season with a brief stint with the major league club:

Minors: 443 AB, 58 R, 117 H, 29 2B, 1 3B, 21 HR, 91 RBI, .264 BA, .375 OBP
Majors: 11 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 1 HR

What Pascucci has going for him, is what he has always had going for him. He packs some pop in his back. In fact, back in 2007 he had 34 minor league homers. In his time in the Minors, he has smacked 234 balls over the wall.

He first started in the Minors way back in 1999 at the age of 20. He came up through the Montreal system where he debuted in 2004. After the 2004 season, he was released by the newly minted Washington Nationals and went to Japan until 2007. He then signed with the Cubs in January of 2007, only to be released by them in March. The Marlins then signed him, and then after 2007 he returned to free agency, where he signed with the Phillies. At the end of April in 2008, he was released by the Phillies, where he was actually signed by the Mets. At the end of the 2008 season, he went back to free agency where he was picked up by the Dodgers. In June of 2009 he was released by the Dodgers and then he signed with the Padres. Finally, before the start of the 2010 season, he was signed by the Mets, again and then resigned by the Mets this offseason.

The purpose of the above paragraph is to show how he has traveled quite a bit, and has played for several teams in the NL East including the Expos, Phillies, Marlins, and the Mets twice. Realistically, he needs a monster spring to show the Mets that he is a powerful option to have coming off of the bench.

Garrett Olson (28 years old) was a former first round pick (supplemental round – pick 48) by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2005 draft. I was still living in Baltimore when he made his professional debut in 2007, and there was a lot of local hype around Olson (at the time, the Orioles were looking for hope anywhere and everywhere, and to some degree, still are). He struggled as a starter for two seasons as an Oriole, but before we get to his numbers, and his development as a player, his travels are equally interesting.

As stated before, he debuted with the Orioles in 2007. In January of 2009, he was traded with another Minor Leaguer to the Cubs for Felix Pie. Only 10 days after that, he was flipped to the Mariners, with Ronny Cedeno for our good friend, Aaron Heilman. This past March he was selected off of waivers by the Pirates, and then more recently, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.

Since coming up to the majors, Olson has struggled as a starter. The Mariners were the first team to try him out as a reliever with moderate success. His numbers in the majors were never really great (last year’s 2.08 ERA was just over 4.1 innings). For the most part his numbers have been bad. However, he did show some promise in the minor leagues this year:

2011: 24 G, 15 GS, 85.2 IP, 3.05 ERA, 4.9 BB/9, 6.4 K/9

His stint in the minors last year shows two things. First, if he has to, he can be a starter. Second, he could also be an interesting reliever. For the Mets, he isn’t on the 40 man roster, so it will be difficult for him to break camp with the Mets after Spring Training. The only way I see this happening is:

1. He is tried as a starter during the Spring, blows away his competition (Hefner, James) and the Mets have an open rotation spot for him
2. He dominates the bullpen crowd, including the players on the 40-man trying to get on the 25 man

If Chuck James sounds familiar, that’s because you remember him as a pitcher on the Braves. Chuck James was signed to a minor league contract this offseason by the Mets and is next in line with Jeremy Hefner on the outside looking in for a spot in the rotation this season. As already described in an earlier post, the Mets rotation is probably set right now, with Santana’s mark being the current question mark. Both Hefner and James could step in for the next available role, so who ever performs better in the spring will get the spot.

Chuck debuted with the Braves in 2005. He had a very successful 2006 season where he posted a 3.78 ERA in 116 innings of work. His 2006 season was OK, his ERA was good at 4.24, but he allowed a lot of homers (32) over 161 innings of work. 2008 was a bad season for James as he bounced around from the minors and the majors, while posting a 8.10 ERA in the majors. During the 2010 offseason, the Nationals signed him to a minor league deal, where he recorded his second straight season without making it back to the majors. The next offseason he signed with the Twins, where he spent time in the minors and the majors:

Minors: 38 G, 0 GS, 62.0 IP, 2.30 ERA, 9.6 K/9
Majors:  8 G, 10.1 IP, 6.10 ERA, 7.0 K/9

He put up great numbers in the minors as a reliever last year, just couldn’t match it in a limited exposure setting in the majors. I am really curious to see what the Mets decide to do with James in the Spring. If I had to guess, he would start off as a starter, since starters only pitched 2 to 3 innings at the beginning of Spring anyway. If he has success, then they will continue to stretch his arm out as a starter. If he has sorta success (like earlier in his “starts” but not in the latter part), then I think they will switch him back to a reliever to try out for a spot in the pen. If it doesn’t work, then he will probably get sent right back to the minors.

James is a good low risk, high reward sign. This is the type of move I like this time of year because it yield great reward without strain on the major league roster / budget.