Interesting Reads: Prospects, Piazza, Tatis, FA RHP

Jason Pozarowski of MetsGuide takes a look at the remaining free agent RHP.

Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog gives his top 10 prospects in the Mets' farm.

Eli from Mets Underground has a great (but kind of corny) Mets 2010 video.

Pat Andriola from the Hardball Times wonders what cap Piazza will wear in the Hall of Fame.

Roy Levine of the Bleacher Report wonders if Fernando Tatis will be a good match with the Yankees.

Aroldis Chapman for New York

"I want to be the best pitcher in the world. That's my objective."

The 22 year old Cuban phenom hasn't made a decision yet where to sign, and I believe the Mets should look into him heavily. Chapman is young, full of talent, and could be the Mets' project over the next few years in the minors.

Since the Mets are clearly not spending on top pitching this off season, this would be a good investment. In a post in October here, I said that the Mets had too many holes to fill to pay him the money he seeks and that its not worth it. Now seeing this off season was a bust for pitching for the organization, he would be a great asset.

Chapman has been labeled as "one of three greatest pitchers not in the majors" along with LHP Stephen Strasburg and Japanese RHP Yu Darvish. He is a workhorse and bound to be a star.

Aroldis has a great build and has been labeled as "mature, limber and powerful." His electric fastball sits at 93-95 while hitting 100 and not uncommon for him to hit 97 regularly. He's been clocked at 102 in the first inning and has hit 102 later on in the game as well. His 2-seam sits at 91-92 and also throws a hard, plus-slider at 81 and a plus-curveball at 75.

If the Mets want to start rebuilding for the future and get serious about contending, Chapman is their guy. By signing him, we'd get major coverage and attention as he climbs the ranks in the minors.

He's exactly what we're looking for to shake up this organization. He's young, promising, and full of energy and upside projection. Chapman would be more than welcomed in New York by me. What do you think?

To learn a little more about Aroldis Chapman, watch this video.

An ace from the farm

Every team (mostly) has a young farmhand who has tremendous potential on the mound. They are brought up from the minors and either dominate MLB hitters or have shown great flashes of greatness in doing so.

The Yankees have Phil Hughes, Red Sox have Clay Buchholz, Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, A's have Andrew Bailey, Phillies have JA Happ, Tigers have Rick Porcello, and the Braves have Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson.

Who will the Mets get? Eventually a pitcher will arise from the depths of the Mets' farm. Who will it be? Will it be the praised prospects such as Holt or Mejia? Will it be Niese, Moviel, Familia, or Urbina who step up?

Or, can it be Pelfrey? Having a few seasons under his belt and still not showing signs of dominance, I doubt it. Someone in the farm has to be one of these pitchers. At least one of the pitchers in the Mets farm is destined to fill these shoes. Who will it be?

Thoughts?

Michael Antonini

In a recent post on MetsBlog, Matt Cerrone writes about the very possible re-signing of RHP Elmer Dessens. When talking about another lefty for 2010, he wonders if LHP Michael Antonini will be in "the mix" and called up from AA.

Antonini has a five pitch arsenal which consists of, thanks to Mets Prospect Hub, a two seam fastball, four seam fastball, slider, change up and curveball. They label Antonini as a "ballsy" and "tough kid" who is a solid strike zone pitcher.

Thanks to Toby Hyde's Mets Minor League Blog, Antonini's stats are:

A: 2.71 ERA, 73 IP, 63 H, 22 ER, 61 Ks

A+: 1.84 ERA, 44 IP, 34 H, 9 ER, 33 Ks

AA: 3.74 ERA, 45.2 IP, 43 H, 19 ER, 32 Ks

If he joins the team, I'm curious about how he'll do. Probably not too bright considering we haven't had much success with minor leaguers in the majors, such as F-Mart, Parnell, and Niese, who are all ranked higher than Antonini on Toby Hyde's Top 41 prospects list.

Whatever the case may be, it'll be nice to see a fresh face and new blood in the organization.

What's the big deal about F-Mart?

I recently was thinking about the Mets prospect's in potential deals for other players and did an investigation on one prospect the Mets are very high on, Fernando Martinez.

The 21 year old prospect that the Mets generally feel is one of their best is not as stellar as everyone thinks. In his minor league career he has played 274 games hitting .282 with 30 homers and 132 RBI's. But what concerns me in the 274 games he has played he has struck out 226 times.

Now I know it's a stretch but I went back to some well known players and checked out their stats at his age. In 1996 at age 20 Alex Rodriguez hit .358 with 36 homers and 123 RBI's in 146 games. Jeter in his few years in the minors was a .308 hitter from age 18-21.

So after reviewing the stats not to mention his very sub par performance this year in the majors. I think it's time for Met fans to stop shouting from the roof tops that Fernando Martinez is the next messiah for the Mets, and realize that right now he's on pace to be a middle of the road everyday player. He may never live up to the young stars who have been hyped up by their team before him and may never become the incredible pro that we think he will become.

Jenrry Mejia and the AFL, 2010 Mets

Jenrry Mejia has been struggling in the Arizona Fall League starting rotation. According to Toby Hyde's Mets Minor League Blog, Mejia has posted a 12.91 ERA for a combined 7.3 innings pitched with 14 hits and 9 walks.

Should we be worried? No. He's 20 years old. He still needs a couple more years of maturing in the minors before he fulfills his projection of being a top-notch starter.

Jerry Manuel and friends watched Mejia pitch in the AFL to see if he can help the Mets bullpen in 2010. Why would they do such a thing? Though he has a minor league career ERA of 2.91, he has posted a 4.47 ERA in AA. If he went from dominating the A+ league with a 1.97 ERA to struggling in AA with a 4.47, what makes you think he's major league ready? I think this would be a huge mistake, especially at such a young age. He needs to develop his pitches more and get more experience before he gets a chance in the majors.

Jon Niese

I enjoyed watching Niese pitch (the two games he was recalled for after his not so good run in the beginning of the season) until he got hurt. I'd like to see him in the rotation for 2010. If he doesn't work out, he doesn't work out. Worst that can happen is that you send him back to the minors. On the upside, he gets serious MLB playing time in a hopefully healthy team that can back him up offensively and defensively.

If Niese pans out to be a solid pitcher, that would go wonderful with Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia in a couple of years. If Holt and Mejia are major league ready and able to prove to us the reason why they're our best pitching prospects, that could get dangerous. Assuming Pelfrey finds his groove, that is one dirty rotation. But still, that is years away from happening.

Prospects excite me. So much talent yet a lot of it is just hype. The majors and the minors are day and night so you really don't have any idea. I'm just hoping for the best. Us Mets fans can use a little exciting news to look forward to, right?