Kids Youth Shirts For Early Mets 00’s Players Still Available?

You never know what you will find when you look through the clearance section of the Baseball Hall of Fame website. It’s not just throwbacks there but looks like items that were too old for the actual baseball store, so they get shifted to the hall.

You could get this.
For some reason this.
Remember those times with this.
I would never object to this.
And if you get your child this, you are my hero.

The mental tip off in my head these are just items shifted from one warehouse to another is the color. Back when I was in high school, I loved Name and Numbered shirts. I had quite a few of them. The Cooperstown ones were all the color’s of the Floyd shirt and were only for the great players in Mets history. The current Mets shirts were all orange at the time. I actually have that Leiter one. It’s a bit harder now to find Mets name and number shirts in that color as in the mid 2000’s to the late 2000’s the black shirt really took off.

Anyway, just found this stuff on the Hall of Fame website and rather than bore my friends who don’t care about baseball with it, I thought I would just share it with you all.

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Get To Know a Mets Minor League Player: Lucas May

In December, the Mets signed two catchers to help at depth behind the plate. The starting catcher is Josh Thole and the back up catcher is Mike Nickeas. However, as we know, it is very common to have to go deep into the minors for a 3rd string or 4th string catcher. It won’t be until Spring for the team to organize themselves in the depth chart but the projected 3rd and 4th string catchers are Lucas May and Rob Johnson.

Lucas May (27 years old) was in the minors all of last season, and had a very brief stint in the majors back in 2010. He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2003 in the 8th round. He was then traded in 2010 to the Royals with another minor league pitcher for Scott Podsednik. This past June he was trade to the Diamondbacks for another minor league player. This past offseason he was granted free agency and then signed with the Mets. Here are some of his numbers from the last few years:

2010 Majors: 12 G, 37 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 2B, 6 RBI, .189 BA, .205 OBP

Minors:
2009: 235 AB, 32 R, 72 H, 18 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 32 RBI, .306 BA, .390 OBP
2010: 375 AB, 63 R, 106 H, 21 2B, 3 3B, 16 HR, 59 RBI, .283 BA, .349 OBP
2011: 248 AB, 40 R, 59 H, 15 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 44 RBI, .238 BA, .330 OBP

From 2003 till 2008 in the minors, May’s numbers stayed fairly consistent. In 2009 he had a breakout year that continued into 2010. He a rough debut in 2010 and that followed him back into 2011. On a minor league contract, on a team with some fairly alright options for back up catcher, the May signing makes sense. If he can return to his 2009/2010 form in the minors, he could make to be an interesting call up.

I don’t know much about his catching ability, his ability to call a game, which will ultimately determine if he is called up. Rob Johnson is the better defensive catcher out of the two as Johnson had recent success in the catcher’s ERA department. Nickeas is a similar type of a catcher to Johnson.

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Get to Know a Mets Minor League Player: Jeremy Hefner

Depending on the health of the Mets 2012 rotation, Jeremy Hefner could be a name you hear a lot of. Hefner, who will be 26, was claimed by the Mets this offseason, and his history of Major League squads tells an interesting story about the Mets:

  • Drafted by the Mets, round 46, 2004
  • Drafted by the Mets, round 48, 2005
  • Drafted by the Padres, round 5, 2007
  • Claimed by the Pirates, November 2011
  • DFA’d by the Pirates, December 2011
  • Claimed by the Mets, December 2011
Basically, the Mets really wanted him back in the day, and after college, the Padres got him. Before last season, he was actually considered to be the 15th best prospect for the Padres, and now he is finally united with the Mets. According to MLB Trade Rumors, his stuff suits him to be a back of rotation type pitcher.  His numbers over the past few seasons:
2011: 9-7, 4.58 ERA, 157.1 IP, 6.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9
2010: 11-8, 2.95 ERA, 167.2 IP, 6.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
Hefner had a good to great first few seasons in the minors. His stock fell last season though as his ERA jumped, which is probably related to the increase in his walks per 9 innings. In the last 3 seasons he has pitched well over 150 innings, and 4 seasons if you dropped that number do 140 innings. The Mets won’t be striving for a star out of the minors this year as they feel they have that in their younger pitchers, but they are hoping to find some pitchers in the system that could eat up innings and provide stability in the rotation long term if the Mets need a fill in.
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2012 MLB Uniform Changes: Los Angeles Dodgers (New Patch)

The Dodgers have a minor change to their uniforms for the 2012 season by adding a new patch that celebrates the 50th season of Dodger Stadium:


It’s not a surprise that this is a nice patch. In the last decade, the Dodgers have been known for making nice patches. Good work like always.

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2012 Mets Starting Rotation Possibilities

At best, the 2011 starting rotation was mediocre, however it was extremely reliable. The Mets had 5 starters each make over 26 starts including three pitchers who made over 31 starts. It is pretty unusual for a team, that struggled overall, to not have at least one revolving starting slot. To put this in perspective, here are some numbers in the last few seasons:

(How to read this, X over 30 is how many pitchers made over 30 starts, X over 26 is how many pitchers made over 26 starts, X overall is how many pitchers started a game):

  • 2011: 3 over 30, 5 over 26, 9 overall
  • 2010: 2 over 30, 4 over 26, 12 overall
  • 2009: 1 over 30, 1 over 26, 11 overall
  • 2008: 3 over 30, 3 over 26, 11 overall
  • 2007: 2 over 30, 3 over 26, 12 overall
  • 2006: 2 over 30, 2 over 26, 13 overall
So looking at the above, the last two seasons have been some of the most consistent for the Mets in terms of their starters (although it may not be the starters they wanted to be consistent in making their starts, or consistent in their performance). Last year, the Mets also used the lowest amount of starters that they had in a long time.
If Santana is ready to go for Opening Day, then the starting rotation would probably look something like this (not necessarily in this order):
  • Johan Santana
  • Mike Pelfrey
  • R.A. Dickey
  • Dillon Gee
  • Jon Niese
If anyone goes down to injury, is not ready, is traded in the above group, or whatever, then the following pitchers could fill in for either a short term stint as a starter or as a long term replacement:
  • Chris Schwinden
  • DJ Carrasco
  • Jeremy Hefner
  • Jenry Mejia (Won’t be ready until mid-season)
  • Chuck James
  • Garrett Olson
  • Josh Stinson
  • Dylan Owen
From the shear amount of names in the above group, unless Harvey and Familia and are tearing it up in the minors, they won’t get promoted this season, which is the best for their development. Out of the above group, we can pretty much assume that DJ would only be used in an emergency out of the pen and that Mejia would also be a pitcher used if he is crushing it in the minors.
Schwinden made several starts at the end of last season after being one of the leaders for innings for Buffalo. Stinson debuted as a reliever for the Mets last season, but he could also start.
The three pitchers on the above list that I could see making it in to the Mets rotation at some point this season are Hefner, James and Owen. Hefner is young, and could become a back of rotation of guy. Chuck James has already pitched in the majors, which could make him an appealing starter. Owen has put up average, but consistent numbers throughout his career in the minors (he is also young). If the Mets do not sign another starter, and if Santana is isn’t ready for opening day, I expect the Spring Training competition for that starter spot to be between these three pitchers.
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Use of Circular Logos in the MLB

It isn’t a surprise that there are a lot of teams with circular logos in baseball. It make sense, a baseball is circular, and a circle is a shape that is aesthetically pleasing, so a lot of teams use it in their logos and patches. Over the last 5 years or so, a lot of teams as they have redeveloped their uniforms have included a new circular logo in the set. These new patches don’t include teams like the Mets, Cubs, or Yankees, who all have logos based on a baseball, so their primary logos are going to be on a circle. Rather a new crop of teams have started, or reinstated and joined other teams who take their primary logo and place a circle and border around it:

Baltimore (Home and Away)
DC (and another)
Pittsburgh (Although I don’t know when they wear this)
San Francisco
Toronto (Although not a patch, just their new primary logo)
Boston
Minnesota (Only used in 2010)
Oakland 
Texas
Seattle
Los Angeles  Angels
San Diego

In that above list, Baltimore, DC, Minnesota, Angels, Toronto and San Diego were definitely added within the last few seasons. If I had to guess, the circle with border feels older, retro, even if it isn’t and the majority of uniform changes we have seen in the last few seasons have been to make uniforms feel more like the older days. Some other trends include that currently, there are no teams in the AL Central that have a circular path while every team in the AL West do have one.

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Get To Know a Mets Minor League Player: Gregory Pron

Today we will take a look at Gregory Pron, a 23 year old, right handed batter in the Mets farm system who will be getting another look this season from the Mets front office. Pron was drafted in 2011 all the way back in the 42nd round and then played for Kingsport (Rookie Level) where he put up the following numbers:

2011: 58 G, 211 AB, 42 R, 67 H, 14 2B, 3B, 7 HR, .318 BA, .389 OBP

Even though he played a short season, he had a great batting average and also a good amount of pop (in a full season, this translates to hitting almost 20 homers in a season). The pop isn’t too surprising because of his height (6 feet, 6 inches). His numbers, size and ability are interesting enough to the Mets that DePodesta wants to see him start the season at a full season minor league team. I think he is going to start at Savannah this season.

For Pron to move up through the system, maybe see his name in trade talks, or take a path similar to Duda, he is going to have repeat both his average and his pop next year. Greg is one of those players when I say it will be interesting to see what he does, I actually mean it. I am very interested in seeing how he develops through the next few seasons.

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Buster Olney Lays Out a Series of Events that Could Make Hamels a Dodger

The Dodgers are gearing up to sell their franchise (something a lot of Mets fans would wish would happen to the Amazin’s) and there is a possibility of a bidding war for the rights to the team. In a blog post by Buster Olney (described by MLB Trade Rumors), Olney describes a possible scenario that would make Cole Hamels a Dodger.

Essentially the situation starts with the sale of the Dodgers. If a bidding war takes place, the sale, as projected by both websites, could go up to 1.6 billion.

Buster Olney then points out the obvious that if someone invests that much into a team, they are going to do what it takes to win, probably by spending money.

Olney then notes that Hamels, who will be a free agent next year, could be offered a lot to be in LA.

 

Obviously there is much to this story, just a lot of hypothetical statements with no rumor basis in reality, but it does pose an interesting situation for the Phillies next season. Their very strong rotation right now needs Hamels as he is still rising while the rest of that rotation looks to start declining soon. A 2013, or even 2014 seasons without Hamels will first be alright, then manageable, but down the road it becomes hairy, especially in a division that projects to have a young, talented Mets team in 2014, a young, veteran Nationals team in 2014, and a Marlins team with a lot of money.

I guess this story struck me because I hadn’t thought too much recently about the Phillies without Hamels, and how it could easily happen.

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2012 MLB Uniform Changes: San Diego Padres

The Padres made a good amount of changes to their uniform set this year including updated logos. An aspect that has plagued the current Padres set is a multitude of colors, fonts, and lack of simplicity. For the current upgrade, they decided to make things simple and the result is plain, but pleasant:

Team Logo Patch
Home Sleeve Patch
Away Sleeve Patch
Home Jersey
Alternate Jersey
Away Jersey

At the end of the day, these are changes you either love or hate. I like when teams use less colors in their uniforms, and make the jersey’s similar, so I’m for this. If you recall, this has actually been a soft transition for San Diego. Their away uniforms used to be sand color with that really odd writing of San Diego across the front. Last season they kept the font, but made the uniforms a more traditional road gray. This year they updated the font. It looks more typical now, but that is not a bad thing.

I do find it interesting how many teams are now doing the circle patch on the sleeve for the primary logo. The Orioles have two different ones for home and away that they started using a few seasons ago, and the Nationals introduced last year. I’m going to start to look at how many teams actually use the circular logo.

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Get To Know A Mets Minor League Player: Daniel Muno

When you think of young talent at shortstop in the Mets system, you think of Ruben Tejada. This past season, another player ended up performing so well at shortstop that DePodesta stated that he will have a chance to remain at shortstop moving up through the system – before Jose Reyes signed with the Marlins.

The player here is Daniel (or Danny) Muno, the soon to be 23 year old that was drafted in the 8th round of the 2011 draft by the Mets (and also the 26th round of the 2010 draft by the Cubs). Muno is a 5’11” and bats from both sides of the plate very well as his numbers in his first Minor League season show:

2011: Brooklyn – 59 G, 220 AB, .355 BA, .466 OBP, 45 R, 78 H, 23 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 43 BB

Those numbers are incredible. He actually ended up leading the Mets farm system in batting average, which isn’t hard to do with a .355 BA. His walks as a 22 year old is also amazing. In fact, this was enough for Baseball America to name Muno as having the best strike zone discipline in the farm system. In order to be considered a real prospect in this farm system, he will need to repeat this next season, and at a higher level. His age is starting to work against him. Being 23 is still very young, but to be considered a major prospect to the Mets or to other teams he needs to be near major level within the next three seasons, which is entirely possible.

Whenever a player puts up numbers like the ones he did last year, All eyes will be on him to see if he can do it again. If starts off well this season, he will start to become a household name. I’m not sure about how his defense is, but even if he is average, without Reyes on the Mets he has a clear path to the majors (with Tejada shifting to second base).

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