Am I worried about the Mets skid and their sweep in Chavez Ravine? Sure, but I still think this is the best team in the division. If you buy that a team’s run differential is a better indicator of their talent level than plain wins and losses, be consoled by the NL East run differentials where the Mets are +38, the Braves -7, Phillies +2 and the Marlins -5.
At a reader’s request, I’ve started to include records for both teams. Why didn’t I do this before? I’m not sure it was a conscious decision. If it was, it had something to do with the fact that the goal of a minor league system is developing productive big leaguers rather than winning games in the PCL, the Eastern League, the Florida State League, the Sally League or the New-York Penn League. By the way, I really like it when readers ask questions, or suggest things I can do better.
Monday, at BP, in a chat with Bryan Smith whose immediate reaction to the Mets draft was filled with scorn and derision, recanted slightly:
Jonathan (Memphis): Hey Brian- I know the Mets
are getting knocked around for their draaft, but wasn't it a kind of Moneyball type way of going about a draft in that they
drafted at a postion (relievers) that is overvalued in the marketplace (see: Orioles,
Baltimore) and they wanted quick returns on their investments? Or was it just a
poor display by Omar & Co.?
Bryan Smith: I didn't like the draft, because it's a team with deep
pockets taking low-upside players. However, I thought about this and talked
with Will
Carroll about it, and something hit me ... Omar Minaya and Rudy Terrassas
both have backgrounds in international scouting. Both highly respect the talent
you can get from Latin America, and typically, I think they might have the
game's largest budget for Latin signings. That means the draft has a little
less dollars in it. So, if that's the idea, the draft isn't as bad as I once thought.
Stars of the Day:
AAA: Brian Lawrence
AA: Caleb Stewart
A+: Jose Castro &
Dustin Martin
A: Francisco Pena
AAA – New Orleans
(Pacific Coast League)
Zephyrs (35-32) 3, @
Rock Rock Express (30-36) 1
Brian Lawrence recovered from a pair of crummy performances with a strong seven inning-one run start. He fanned eight and allowed just four hits. David Newhan, Sandy Alomar Jr. (.327/.349/.510) and Jake Gautreau (.358/..357/.657 – 67 AB) all had two hits.
AA –
Reading Phillies
(30-34) 6, @ Mets (27-34) 1
Marcos Carvajal (1-5, 4.78) took his fifth loss for allowing five runs and two homers in six innings. However, he was 2-2 at the plate.
Caleb Stewart, (.308/.346/.487) who was 2-4 had the Mets only other multi-hit effort. After his torrid start in AA, Stewart is hitting .220 in his last ten games.
After playing well for a few weeks, Binghamton has lost three games in a row and eight of their last ten.
A+ -- St. Lucie (
@ Vero Beach Devil
Rays 2, Mets 1 (8 innings)
@ Vero Beach Devil
Rays (33-33) 4, Mets (30-36) 2 (7 innings)
The Mets were swept in one of four doubleheaders played Wednesday in the FSL.
In game one, the Mets led 1-0 after Dustin Martin drove home Sean Henry in the top of the sixth. Henry (.283/.335/.466) was 2-4 with a double. However, the D-Rays sent the game into extras with a run off Eric Brown in the seventh, and won it in the eighth against Kevin Tomasiewicz. Brown was very sharp, yielding just one run on three hits in 6.1 innings, fanning five and walking two.
In game two, Vero scored two runs in both the third and fourth innings against Jacob Ruckle for the sweep. Jose Castro (.326/.367/.389) was 2-4 in the nightcap after one hit in game one to extend his hitting streak to eight straight games and 12 of 13. Martin, who was 1-4 in both games ran his hitting streak to 14 games.
A –
@ Charleston River
Dogs (35-30) 5, Sand Gnats (19-46) 2
Francisco Pena, (.269/.333/.347) who was 2-4, drove home both of the Gnats runs and accounted for half of the Gnats hits.
Tim Stronach was saddled with his seventh loss of the year, while Todd Privett worked a scoreless eighth.
Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report
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