If only bringing prospects to the majors were as easy as cooking poultry. They’d have these little plastic buttons and when they popped you’d know it was time for them to be promoted to the next level. However, until baseball decides to implant devices in players that monitor their physical, mental and emotional well-being a lot of it comes down to guess work. Let us look at Matt Harvey.
Is He Physically Ready?:
- Height: 6’4”
- Weight: 210 Lbs.
- Pitches
- Fastball: 93-95 (97 MPH)
- Changeup: Plus
- Curveball: Plus
- Cutter: In Development
- Conditioning: Harvey threw over 135 innings between high A and AA in 2011. In 2012, I would imagine the Mets desire to keep his inning count South of 180 which could still easily qualify him for 30+ starts.
Physically, Matt Harvey has that big “Pitcher’s Body” that scouts look for. His delivery doesn’t warrant concern in the same ways that Mejia’s or Familia’s do and his repertoire has the necessary pitches to survive facing a lineup more than twice through. It’s not unrealistic to think that Matt Harvey could physically survive the transition to the majors in 2012.
Is He Mentally Ready?:
I’ve seen a few interviews and read many to get the a glimmer of an idea about Harvey’s mental state. He seems to be well spoken and the right mix of confidence and humbleness that leaves me feeling he’s been trained to deal with the media. None of it gives me all that much information. I will say that he doesn’t have any of Mike Pelfrey’s nervous ticks on the mound.
Is He Emotionally Ready?:
YES! He looks composed on the mound and goes about his business as a professional. Also, when he has set-backs he works things out and moves past them. He pitched in college and has already looked sober and composed against MLB regulars.
NO! He has a single year of minor-league baseball and had mixed results in AA. He needs to establish dominance over minor league opponents before he tastes the majors. Anyone who says otherwise is CRAZY.
Maybe? I think it’s impossible to know when a player will be ready for the majors. I know that Met fans, the Met organization and the benign baseball Gods want Harvey to succeed sooner than later for the good of the Mets as a team. We’ll just have to wait and see.
When is a prospect ready? Baseball is a business and you can only keep a player for six years before he reaches free agency.(interesting article on MLBTR.com the worst extensions from two seasons ago). Promoting a prospect too early means that they are learning on company time. This can be costly to the company. I think a prospect is ready when he has succeded at the AAA level and appears to be better than the person he is replacing. At this point management should try to trade the person he is replacing. Of course, the exception is when the prospect is going to possibly be the difference in making a playoff spot. Then his promotion and subsequent contribution will lead to increased revenue. Making the playoffs is the primary goal. I would apply this theory to Matt Harvey.
You are correct in making the connection to helping win meaningful games. If you were 100% in charge of the team I would get behind this mentality. I will repeat my thought in regards to the Wilpons and money though…
You have a team that people are already willing to write off. Getting ad revenue isn’t a sure thing when the fan base is disenfranchised. SO… you might look to insert a positive storyline to get the fans watching again. It’s not the best BASEBALL decision and financially it’s short-sighted but I think the Wilpons and their lack of cash on hand are pretty likely to be short-sighted.
I think the lesson of Bryce Harper applies here. Reassigned after being the talk of the town. And thats exactly the matter with Matt as far as Im concerned. Whether he gets a full season of dominance in 3A or not, he really does need the additional seasoning at a higher level. I’d like to see him get some big-league starts in August-September to taste the real thing.
As for Pelf. Im overcome by a deep sadness and continued wonderment on why the rotation was not dealt with this winter.
Chris
Well Chris,
The rotation wasn’t dealt with because the Wilpon’s had a poor business model in regards to being sued for $1 Billion and also running a baseball franchise. There money was tied up because whilst being sued they could only use team money on the team. So… the starters who I’d label worth the money were all out of Alderson’s price range.
In regards to Harvey… again, I agree that it’s right to hold him back until he makes a difference to winning. AND… again I point out that if there are no other storylines that draw fans for the Wilpons then they might pressure the team to promote him earlier.
Hi David, I thInk the staff is more of a Sandy issue, of course wrapped up in the confines of Wilpon’s folly. But why let Cappy go? He had the best start in Mets-dom last year, and was in his price given what he paid for the excommunicated Blue Jay pen experiment we have going on. In my opinion, it’s not worth worrying about 8 and 9 if inning 1-7 are in bad shape. Based on his longitudinal performance is Pelf worth $6M? What could we have had instead? Hopefully Harvey will make a few impressive starts this year and we can look ahead to 2013!!!!
Chris