The minor leagues serve many purposes but as a fan of the Mets, my interest in the minors is strictly in developing players for the major league club, whether for the 25-man roster or for use in trades. There’s no right way to develop prospects and what might be proper for Player A could be disastrous for Player B. Understanding that, it seems that each organization should have a basic guideline on how to handle prospects. Here’s what mine would be for the Mets.
Rookie Leagues
The Mets have three short-season league teams with clubs in the Gulf Coast League, the Appalachian League and the New York-Penn League. The Mets have a definite hierarchy, with Brooklyn being their top club and the Gulf Coast Mets being their bottom club. To me, these clubs are treated too much like separate levels, especially when it comes to guys with a major league future.
If any team should be considered different among these three, it should be the GCL entry. The Mets should use their GCL franchise for guys coming up from the Dominican or any other young international free agents and be supplemented with lower round high school picks and anyone recovering from an injury or who needs special attention/coaching.
The APPY franchise should be used for the best international free agents making their debut, the less-heralded guys from the previous season’s GCL team and high school picks from the current year’s draft. The NYP franchise should be used for college picks from the current draft, less-heralded guys from the previous year’s APPY team and an occasional international player.
A-ball
New York has two A-ball teams, with the Lo-A Savannah Sand Gnats and the Hi-A St. Lucie Mets. Generally speaking about guys you hope will wind up in the majors, high school players the year after they’re drafted should be in Savannah and college players should be in St. Lucie at the start of the season. Savannah should also be the entry point into full-season ball for most international players.
Double-A & Triple-A
The Mets have to be careful with their top pitching prospects and be aware that pitching in Las Vegas is at best a challenging situation. Sandy Alderson is already on record saying that he wants pitchers to have at least 150 IP in the upper levels before they come to the majors. At this point it would not be the worst thing in the world if these pitchers had 125 IP in Binghamton and 25 IP in Las Vegas. Even for hitters, ones who prove themselves at Double-A should be considered eligible for a promotion to the majors if the coaches feel they are ready for things. If hot-shot prospect puts up a .325-425-.600 line in Double-A, chances are he’s going to do just fine hitting in the Pacific Coast League. So, if the player is ready and the need is there – send him to the majors and do not worry about logging Triple-A experience.
Finally, run a star system. The Mets should slot their top prospects where their development says they need to be and fill in around them. If Dominic Smith is ready for Hi-A – that’s where he goes. He doesn’t go to Lo-A because last year’s Lo-A first baseman put up a .750 OPS and has a starting spot in Hi-A as his birthright.
When the Mets drafted Gavin Cecchini in 2012, they sent him to the APPY, where he did not dominate but he did not embarrass himself, either. My preference for the first-round pick would have been for him to get a full season’s worth of ABs in Savannah. Instead, the Mets held him back in Extended Spring Training and sent him to Brooklyn. Cecchini ended up getting hurt and only got 212 PA in this season.
If he started in Lo-A he would have had twice that many PA, even with the injury. Some will say that Cecchini’s less than glowing season at the plate was proof that he wasn’t ready for a full-season league. Perhaps they’re right. Or perhaps with 200-something more chances to bat he would have found his stride. Ultimately, it’s a question that cannot be answered. However, the bottom line for me is that young guys need to play and they should not be in short-season leagues any longer than they have to be.
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Now let’s talk about some individual players. David Groveman is going to join me and we’ll discuss individual players and where we think they should open the 2014 season.
Noah Syndergaard
David – I would start Syndergaard in Las Vegas. I think that while he might get scuffed by the PCL a little that it might also help to discover the final flaws in his game. Plus if he can manage a sub 4.00 ERA in AAA Vegas he can do it in Citi Field.
Brian – I’m okay if Syndergaard starts in Triple-A. Without knowing the crunch for positions and if it hits one level more than another, I would probably start him in Double-A.
Michael Fulmer
David – If Fulmer goes to Port St. Lucie he only needs two or three solid starts to earn a promotion.
Brian – I don’t get starting a player at the beginning of the year at one level with the idea that three starts could earn him a promotion. I would start him at Hi-A and expect a mid-season promotion to Double-A.
Dominic Smith
David – I don’t put Smith in Savannah; while I think he could handle it, I think that I’d prefer he play in Brooklyn and skip Savannah than having him skip Brooklyn.
Brian – Smith should be in a full season league. To me the question is Lo-A versus Hi-A. As a high school guy I send him to Lo-A Savannah.
Amed Rosario
David – Rosario belongs in Brooklyn… unless we can trade Cecchini.
Brian – In a perfect world I would place Rosario at Savannah but as Cecchini was slow-played last year, that’s where he’ll be at in 2014. Rosario goes to Brooklyn by default and there’s no reason to have him repeat at Kingsport.
Domingo Tapia
David – I think Tapia proved he was up to the task of pitching in A+ in 2013 but that he still hasn’t shown the durability to pitch a full season as a starter. I’d put him in AA and switch him to relief when he starts showing signs of fatigue.
Brian – I was bullish on Tapia coming into the 2013 season but he had a pretty poor year overall. His walk rate is killing him and I don’t see that getting better with a promotion to Binghamton or a move to the pen. I send him back to Hi-A and keep him as a SP at the start of 2014.
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Here are some other thoughts from David to finish out this piece:
Dilson Herrera vs. L.J. Mazzilli for (A vs. A+): BOTH are ready for A+ but both play the same position. How do you handle it?
Dilson Herrera is a Top Tier prospect so his development takes precedence. I would consider Mazzilli in A+ as the 3B/SS/2B to begin grooming him for a future IF role, but that is being a BIT hasty. It wouldn’t hurt to keep Mazzilli and Cecchini together in Savannah and let double-play tandem continue to work together.
Brian – I want to see both Robert Whalen and Chris Flexen in Savannah.
David – You might see it, but I think it would be handled like Robert Gsellman. Where they start in Savannah and then go to Brooklyn when short-season starts up.
Brian – Is there a case for Steven Matz in Double-A given his age?
David – Is there a case? YES, but I don’t think you do that. For one, there is little room in Bringhamton’s rotation, for another, I’d prefer to see a mid-year promotion.
Obviously, there are many ways to skin a cat.
It’s obvious that one of the Mets priorities must be finding a better home for their AAA team. Evaluating players at that level, usually the next stop to the big show, is awfully tricky due to the way playing environment in LV.
Brian and Dave, any chance of the Mets moving from LV?
Mets are locked into Las Vegas for 2014.
Already in talks to move in 2015
Thanks for the reply, Brian. Too bad.
That raises another question, if you don’t mind. From 1969 to 2006 the Mets AAA affiliate was in the Tidewater/Norfolk area. Then two years in New Orleans, four years in Buffalo and now sit least two in Las. Vegas. Is this normal or is it somehow attributable to the Wilpons?
Depends on who you ask. Norfolk partnered with Baltimore so they may have just preferred the closer MLB team. Mets didn’t want to be in New Orleans. Buffalo only cared about winning but there were rumbles about how one of the Wilpons didn’t help matters.
Norfolk got rid of the Mets for two reasons. Publicly, they said the Mets had been ignoring Norfolk in yhe 2000’s.They were upset about not having any exhibitions here in that period. Also, no one from the Metd FO had visited Norfolk since Minaya took over.
The unpublished reason for the change is that Ken Young, the team owner, owned the Orioles AA and A+ team. Guess he wanted to switch the Norfolk france too – there had been rumors for years.
I used to at least see the Mets AAA team once a year when they were in Buffalo. Now, they’re just a memory. Still a lot of Mets fans here. Ask David Wright.
>> However, the bottom line for me is that young guys need to play and they should not be in short-season leagues any longer than they have to be. >>
I am assuming that Extended ST is not simply a rehab-like regimen, but getting significant reps at aspects of the game (A) tailored for individual development and (B) not necessarily accumulated in the randomness of competitive play.
Maybe I’m off-base on this, and it doesn’t happen that way—but for a teenager, whom the organization has high expectations, the XST + short season A (and perhaps an instructional league recap in October) is a legit part of the development process IMO.
Hey Hobie,
I tend to agree. I think that unless you are a college player you need your time in the short season leagues. (More about extended ST)
You want to send your 30th-round pick to extended ST — go ahead.
My issue is with the kids who should be making the majors. When the Mets take Cecchini because he’s the most polished high school SS in the draft and then send him to extended ST — what’s the point? He doesn’t need simulated action — he needs real action.
History shows that first round HS picks should not be spending two full years in short-season leagues. In the 2005-2007 Drafts, we have 29 high school players taken on the first round who reached the majors. Of those 29 only one spent two full years in short-season leagues – Josh Vitters, who has a .395 OPS in the majors.
Yet another question I have of Sandy Alderson’s abilities.