Carlos Delgado Sucks. There has been a lot of talk of promoting Carp, but I wouldn’t do it unless you have a right handed platoon partner for him. Say Moises Alou?

Carp is hitting lefties at a .424/.441/.747 clip so far in 33 AB so far. Of course, some flukey things can happen in 33 AB’s, but perhaps most impressively is he’s only struck out 3 times in those AB’s which to me says that he hasn’t been overmatched at all really. So the needing a platoon partner talk seems to be extremely overrated. He’s been playing 1B/LF for Binghamton so far.

Murphy and Evans’ numbers at first glance would seem to indicate platoon partners, as they’re only hitting one side of the plate with power, but it’s in the opposite way as you would normally expect (Murphy (L) is Crushing LHP but only hitting singles off of RHP and Evans® is Crushing RHP but only hitting singles off of LHP), and their 2007 numbers directly contradict what they’ve done so far in 2008 where they showed XBH power against their achilles heel so far. So for now I’m going to chalk that up to early season numbers fluke. If it doesn’t correct itself though I would be suprised. They’ve both played 3B/1B/LF so far.

I’m not advanced enough in scouting, but the consensus was that Murphy has one of the best swings in the system and probably the best Defensive tools of the 3 but is really still learning how to play the position. Carp and Evans both show the best power potential out of the bunch. Despite all playing at the same level, Carp is the furthest along as he is repeating the league, so it’s likely that he gets the first crack at AAA and eventually the big leagues.

Heading into 2008, I basically agree with the general consensus opinion on these guys. Evans is slightly better than Carp. Evans has more power (ISO .187 to .165), strikes out less (20% of his AB vs. 24%), but Carp has a better eye (.098 to .069).

Going into tonight’s action, Murphy has exactly 666 career minor league at-bats, so he’s basically screwed. He has really good contact rates (struck out in only 12% of his professional at-bats), but only slugged .485 in college, so unless he’s gotten stronger, he’s probably a little light for a corner spot.

So far in 2008, Carp is repeating the level, so he should show some improvement, despite his injury last season. He’s cut down on his strikeouts dramatically (14% vs. his career average of 24%). He’s shown steady improvement in that area for the past few seasons, so perhaps this is a positive thing for him. He’s currently carrying an unsustainable BABIP of .446. His career BABIP is .317. I also agree that 33 at-bats is a small sample size to judge his improvement vs. LHP.

Evans is right around his established career norms as far as plate discipline, but he’s also carrying a BABIP of .383, 81 points higher than his career .302 mark.

I just think when you’re striking out roughly 20% of the time, and walking roughly 10% of the time in Double-A, it’s going to tough to be a major-league regular. I think it’s worth pointing out, however, that these guys are only 21 and could conceivably improve their skills.

If Murphy’s improvement is real, he might have a shot, but probably not this season.

I think the most likely scenario for the Mets is a trade. I’m mildly surprised they didn’t take a flyer on Dan Johnson.

Evans – narrowly my favorite right now. Good defender at 1B, good plate coverage, tough to jam. Not a lot of loft in his swing right now, so may be a bit underpowered at 1B. But still some room to get stronger. I think Austin Kearns is a decent comp for what I expect he’ll be as a hitter. Kearns had a lot more SO, but also more power in the lower minors. Evans’s strikeouts will probably increase some as he hits for more power. But I’d like him to keep doing what he’s doing for now. His ratios of 1 SO per 6.9 PA and 1 BB per 8.3 PA last season were outstanding for a guy with good power. But 1 XBH per 10.7 PA last season was a bit low to be a really “top” prospect. Especially at 1B.

Carp – More loft in his swing right now than Evans, more over the fence power, and 5 months younger. That might indicate a higher ceiling than Evans and you could argue he should rank higher. But maybe a couple of more question marks as well. While he was hampered by a mid season finger injury in 2007, the Mets thought he struggled on his return in part because he let his conditioning lapse during the 6 week layoff. He also struggled against some of the better pitching, as well as lefties, and the Mets thought he didn’t handle the adversity well. The Mets did not extend a spring training camp invite this year (after inviting him in 2007) in part to send a message. The Mets apparently believe he has the talent to be a starter in MLB, but they also won’t be handing a job in NY to a player if there are any doubts about work his ethic, conditioning, or ability to handle adversity. So far he seems to have responded this season. Also needs to continue to show improved XBH ability, after averaging only 1 per 13.7 PA over the last 2 seasons.

Murphy – Smart hitter. Quick short swing, very nice approach. I don’t think his ceiling is quite as high as the other two. Defensively, he was very raw, making 35 errors last season at 3B. He really wasn’t a 3B until he split time his Sophmore college season between there and LF. So perhaps he could improve some with more experience and work. Tools are still better than say, Andy Wilson’s were, but I still think he looks more like a good bench player. I think the bat is good enough to still hit some at higher levels. Think of a bench guy somewhere between say, Eric Valent and Dave Magadan.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the BABIP stuff, that’s more useful for pitchers. Hitters have too much persistent variance in BABIP ability to say how much is luck not skill. I would keep an eye on the XBH rates. Carp is at 1 per 7.15 PA so far this season and Evans 1 per 7.4 PA. If they just keep those rates under 1 per 9 over the next 300 PA both will be pretty good prospects (I’m not expecting either to be really elite). XBH aren’t usually luck. If you took 7 singles away from Carp this year, giving him a more typical BABIP around .310, he’d still have a .942 OPS.

would almost never be talked about if they didn’t play for NY teams.

How about him? Great line at St. Lucie so far (.337/.407/.455, 2 HR, 19 RBI)....

He is not young for the league (22), but did skip Low-A ball. He was also impressive in the HWL.

The power could be better, but the FSL is generally considered a pitchers league…

Can’t say I’ve heard anything about his glove…