The first waves of Spring Training cuts have come in for Boston, the Mets, and the Yankees. The Red Sox made their first cuts on Thursday when they optioned 3B Will Middlebrooks and CF Che-Hsuan Lin to Pawtucket and LHP Drake Britton and 2B Oscar Tejeda to Portland. They made their second wave of cuts on Friday when they released RHP Carlos Silva. The team made its third wave of cuts on Saturday when they optioned RHP Stolmy Pimentel to Portland.
The first wave of cuts came on Thursday for the Mets when they optioned LHP Robert Carson, RHP Jeurys Familia, RHP Jenrry Mejia, 2B Reese Havens, 3B Zach Lutz, and CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis to Buffalo and RHP Armando Rodriguez, SS Wilmer Flores, and LF Juan Lagares to Binghamton. The second wave of cuts came for the Mets yesterday when they optioned RHP Jeremy Hefner to Buffalo and RF Cesar Puello to Binghamton.
The Yankees made their first cuts of the Spring on Friday when they optioned 2B Corban Joseph and CF Melky Mesa to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and 2B David Adams and CF Zoilo Almonte to Trenton.
Showing posts with label mets shortstops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mets shortstops. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wright's Injury Diagnosed, Timetable set, sort Of
Mets 3B David Wright has now been diagnosed with a tear in one of his abdominal muscles. He is currently wearing an ice cap over the injury. Wright will wait 48 hours for the cortisone shot to take effect, and then get back into baseball activities and be ready by Opening Day, which is the timetable he has set for himself.
But even Wright admits that that is only a tentative schedule. After all, Wright has torn his left rectus abdominis (an injury that was underdiagnosed for ten days), the same injury that ended in surgeries for Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman and Baltimore RF Nick Markakis. Wright insists that his injury is less severe than those of the other two players.
Right now, the timetable for Wright's return is Opening Day. This news comes a day after manager Terry Collins blew a gasket (publicly) over the high number of injuries on his team after IF Ruben Tejada went down with a groin injury. Collins explained later that he was merely frustrated and was not blaming his players in any way for being injured.
But even Wright admits that that is only a tentative schedule. After all, Wright has torn his left rectus abdominis (an injury that was underdiagnosed for ten days), the same injury that ended in surgeries for Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman and Baltimore RF Nick Markakis. Wright insists that his injury is less severe than those of the other two players.
Right now, the timetable for Wright's return is Opening Day. This news comes a day after manager Terry Collins blew a gasket (publicly) over the high number of injuries on his team after IF Ruben Tejada went down with a groin injury. Collins explained later that he was merely frustrated and was not blaming his players in any way for being injured.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Mets Shortstops
The Mets are in the second year of their rebuilding phase. They are proceeding with an eclectic mix of players that includes returning Mets, young players and prospects, and free agent signees. One area where a youth movement is taking place is shortstop.
1. Ruben Tejada: The Mets are counting on Tejada to complete the considerable task of replacing the departed SS Jose Reyes. Tejada is still a young player and he has never really been a can't-miss prospect, and there are still a lot of questions about him at the Major League level. Tejada looked decent in his time in the Majors last season, batting .284 in a limited 328 at-bats.
2. Ronny Cedeno: Cedeno was signed to replace SS Chin-lung Hu as the utility player for the Mets. The role was vacant for most of last season, as Hu was demoted early and never returned and was essentially never replaced. Cedeno was also brought in as an insurance policy in case Tejada falters as the team's starting shortstop. LeRoy predicts that Cedeno will be starting at short by May. He batted .249 last season with Pittsburgh.
3. Jordany Valdespin: Valdespin is a player coming up through the Mets system who they protected from the Rule V Draft by placing on the 40-man roster. Valdespin was converted to shortstop last season and had a good season at the plate, batting .294 with 37 stolen bases in 511 Minor League at-bats. There is some opportunity at both short and second (Valdespin's original position), but he's not likely to win either job as he needs almost a full season at Buffalo, but he'll almost surely be recalled in September.
4. Wilmer Flores: Flores is a top prospect who the Mets are taking a look at in Spring Training. He batted .269 in 516 at-bats last year at St. Lucie and had a bad year in the field. Flores has never played second base and he probably doesn't have much of a chance of winning the somewhat open shortstop competition, but that's not really a concern. Flores needs at least two more years in the Minors before he'll be ready to tackle Major League duty.
5. Omar Quintanilla: Quintanilla is a veteran player who the Mets have signed to a Minor League contract and invited to Spring Training. A former top prospect with Oakland and Colorado, Quintanilla hasn't had much success at the professional level. Last season he batted .045 in 22 at-bats with Texas. Quintanilla will be looked at and will probably last in Spring Training longer than Valdespin and Flores, but he's really only been brought in for the purposes of depth.
The Mets don't look good at shortstop. Tejada is a decent-looking young player who might be worth a shot at shortstop in 2012, but he hasn't proven anything at the big league level yet and he was never a standout offensive player in the Minors, although his fielding is superb. Cedeno is a veteran player capable of being a sub-par starting shortstop on a bad or rebuilding team and he'll probably fill that role with the Mets, but his presence here is more of a negative than a positive. Valdespin is a player coming up through their system who the Mets like, but he needs most of a year in the Minors before he's ready and there's no reason to believe he'll ever be more than anything but a decent player in the Majors. Flores is a top prospect but he's two years away from being ready. Quintanilla is a decent player to have in place for depth and will probably get some time in the Majors this year, but that's it.
1. Ruben Tejada: The Mets are counting on Tejada to complete the considerable task of replacing the departed SS Jose Reyes. Tejada is still a young player and he has never really been a can't-miss prospect, and there are still a lot of questions about him at the Major League level. Tejada looked decent in his time in the Majors last season, batting .284 in a limited 328 at-bats.
2. Ronny Cedeno: Cedeno was signed to replace SS Chin-lung Hu as the utility player for the Mets. The role was vacant for most of last season, as Hu was demoted early and never returned and was essentially never replaced. Cedeno was also brought in as an insurance policy in case Tejada falters as the team's starting shortstop. LeRoy predicts that Cedeno will be starting at short by May. He batted .249 last season with Pittsburgh.
3. Jordany Valdespin: Valdespin is a player coming up through the Mets system who they protected from the Rule V Draft by placing on the 40-man roster. Valdespin was converted to shortstop last season and had a good season at the plate, batting .294 with 37 stolen bases in 511 Minor League at-bats. There is some opportunity at both short and second (Valdespin's original position), but he's not likely to win either job as he needs almost a full season at Buffalo, but he'll almost surely be recalled in September.
4. Wilmer Flores: Flores is a top prospect who the Mets are taking a look at in Spring Training. He batted .269 in 516 at-bats last year at St. Lucie and had a bad year in the field. Flores has never played second base and he probably doesn't have much of a chance of winning the somewhat open shortstop competition, but that's not really a concern. Flores needs at least two more years in the Minors before he'll be ready to tackle Major League duty.
5. Omar Quintanilla: Quintanilla is a veteran player who the Mets have signed to a Minor League contract and invited to Spring Training. A former top prospect with Oakland and Colorado, Quintanilla hasn't had much success at the professional level. Last season he batted .045 in 22 at-bats with Texas. Quintanilla will be looked at and will probably last in Spring Training longer than Valdespin and Flores, but he's really only been brought in for the purposes of depth.
The Mets don't look good at shortstop. Tejada is a decent-looking young player who might be worth a shot at shortstop in 2012, but he hasn't proven anything at the big league level yet and he was never a standout offensive player in the Minors, although his fielding is superb. Cedeno is a veteran player capable of being a sub-par starting shortstop on a bad or rebuilding team and he'll probably fill that role with the Mets, but his presence here is more of a negative than a positive. Valdespin is a player coming up through their system who the Mets like, but he needs most of a year in the Minors before he's ready and there's no reason to believe he'll ever be more than anything but a decent player in the Majors. Flores is a top prospect but he's two years away from being ready. Quintanilla is a decent player to have in place for depth and will probably get some time in the Majors this year, but that's it.
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