In 2009, the South Atlantic League has been a hotbed of talented young arms as I have had the opportunity to see a number of former high round picks, talented international prospects, and of course, the Sand Gnats staff which consists of arguably half of the Mets best young arms in Jeurys Familia, Robert Carson, and Kyle Allen.  As a former college catcher who took great pride in managing a pitching staff, I can’t help but wonder why the Mets haven’t left their talented arms in more experienced hands like the Greenville Drive (Red Sox), or Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) who also have talented staffs.[...]

MMO – MetsMerized Player Of The Week! 7/12-7/19

Most people won’t be paying attention to the Mets blogosphere anymore, and I can understand why. But that doesn’t mean the bloggers are going to stop blogging! The “Fan Confidence Rating” on Metsblog continues to amaze me by staying above 0%. Really. Because I’ve been reading a lot about giving it in and sadly, it does make sense. I don’t want this season to be a total loss, and I don’t think it is or will be. Rebuilding is for teams that are just bad. We’re just injury plagued. However, this team, as with many others in the past, [...]

The ‘Ropolitans – The next 14

The Mets have 14 very important games coming up. If the season outcome hasn’t already solidified, it will be soon.  The Mets kick off in Washington tonight for a three game series, then on to Houston for three more.  They return home next Monday for four games against Colorado and four more against Arizona.  Those 14 games, coming against the good and the bad of the National League, will be the the true sign of the Mets season.  If the Mets can make some sort of run here, they might just have a shot.  If they flounder like they have been for all of June and July, then the nail is officially in the coffin.

NY Baseball Digest – Mets, Even As Sellers, Not in Great Position

The Houston Astros were dead and buried back in 1990. During the month of August they made a trade which seemed innocuous at the time. The Boston Red Sox, in need of a right handed reliever, traded a rookie named Jeff Bagwell to Houston for Larry Andersen, Houston’s top flight right handed set up man. The Sox made the playoffs only to be swept by Oakland. Bagwell, unknown in the pre-internet dark days, went on to a Hall of Fame caliber career with the Astros.  The Mets are in a position where they will be sellers come July 31st. Can they find their version of Jeff Bagwell?

Mack’s Mets -  Q&A With Mack

Mack, great post this morning. Living in Boston I am surrounded by Red Sox minor league teams that are not only good, but loaded with prospects. I go to the see the Binghamton Mets and and Buffalo when they make to Pawtucket and Manchester NH. I have to tell you, I noticed the sever lack of talent on both teams. Omar has a few stars in the minor leagues, and a few stars on the majorleague roster. But the depth of the system severly lacks. That has to be a reflection on him. Lets hope Adam Rubin’s post about a shake up of the mets roster and front office is correct[...]

Robert Carson (5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 K) - After receiving some serious publicity by tossing a 3 hit, 9 inning shutout versus the Lexington Legends, prospect junkies are clamoring for whatever information they can find on the young lefty. On the evening I watched him pitch, he threw against Tim Beckham and the Sally League Tampa Bay Rays affiliate.

MMO – Will The Mets Party Like It’s 1987?

Much has been made about the 2009 Mets resembling the 1987 team because of the injuries.  The difference is that this year’s injuries have mainly cost the Mets their offensive spark plugs while the 1987 team lost their starting pitchers to various injuries.  I have done extensive research on the 1987 team and I will try to show why the current team is not dead yet.  For those of you who already know the ending to the saga of the 1987 season, please don’t spoil it for our younger readers.  I’m trying to give them a little bit of hope here.

Around the Majors – End of Francoeur Era A Good Thing For Braves

Frank Wren pulled one over on Omar Minaya last Friday by trading Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church. As a Braves fan I’ve been waiting on Atlanta to trade Francoeur, send him down or make him a fourth or fifth outfielder. Best-case scenerio, I thought, they would trade him for something. Braves fans got the best-case scenario.  It’s not that I took pleasure in Francoeur’s fall from grace or hope that he continues to be as bad as he was for Atlanta. The Atlanta native seems like a nice enough guy, and I don’t believe he was loafing or being lazy.

Amazin Avenue – Schneider On Fire – Enjoy It While It Lasts

From the time he came off the DL in late May through the All Star Break, Brian Schneider hit .258/.351/.500 in 74 plate appearances.  Small sample size, but this is a respectable line at any position, and outstanding for a catcher.  Also, all 3 of his home runs were hit at Citi Field.  This hot streak has helped compensate for a brutal first 2 weeks of the season that saw him post an OPS of .440 over 25 plate appearances.

Newsday – “We didn’t actually beat ourselves”

Wow. Talk about setting the bar low. That’s what Jerry Manuel had to say after the Mets fell to the Braves, 5-3, last night at Turner Field. Translation: Look Ma, no errors! Give it up to the Mets, folks. They threw to the right base, ran out every batted ball and didn’t wear their caps backward on the field. Well, that and $6.50 will get you a Shack Burger at Citi Field if there isn’t a W at the end of the day.

interest in trading Double-A RHP Brad Holt or Jennry Mejia, as well as Fernando Martinez or Ike Davis, among others. The 22-year-old Holt is 0–3 with a 8.40 ERA in four starts since being promoted to Double-A Binghamton, though he allowed five earned runs in just 0.1 innings in his second start. Last month, during my trip to Double-A Binghamton, I talked with Holt.

Scouting the Sally - Scouting Report: Jeurys Familia, SP, Mets

Earlier in the year, I wrote a so-so game report on 19-year old Jeurys Familia who, at the time, was armed with a low-90′s fastball and not much else. In only a couple of months, Familia has grown significantly as a prospect and should be garnering much more attention than he currently is. Behind Jenrry Mejia and Brad Holt, Familia is quickly becoming the third best upside arm in the entire organization and should have a place in the Mets top ten organizational prospects.

Hot Foot - Time to Sell

Even as far back as last week, I had deluded myself into thinking that the Mets would be able to hang on until the reinforcements arrived from the disabled list.  I bought the idea that the Mets could tread water in a weak division, and then squeeze into the playoffs.I still believe this is within the realm of possibility, yet I do not believe it is likely.  In fact, I believe the Mets should consider selling some of their useful pieces.I do not think the Mets should break up the core, unless they are blown away by some ridiculous

The Musings and Prophecies of Metstradamus – Conducting a Symphony of Kazoos

He’s not a manager, and he’s not a gangsta. He’s a bandleader now. By choosing to bench Murphy after a good start on Wednesday, he’s got us all scratching our heads as to what exactly you have to do to stay in a major league lineup. Yup, it’s spring training in July as Snoop continues to force feed Tatis to the world to “get him into a rhythm”, as if making sure that Tatis can count in 4/4 time is a component to winning baseball.

No No-Hitters – 7,566: Mets win streak snapped at … um … 1

The Los Angeles Dodgers jumped on Livan Hernandez early and often Thursday night en route to an 11-2 victory to snap the Mets’ one-game win streak. Hernandez got off to a horrid start, giving up a leadoff ground-rule double to Rafael Furcal during a four-run first inning. Not only did it advance our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,566