The new favorite toy says Fernando Martinez would be putting up a .316/.369/.467 line were he playing for Savannah this year, and a .330/.382/.489 line in a neutral context in the Sally league.

Could be a poormans Utley if he stays at 2nd. Martinez has a great bat but is poor in the field. Niese didn’t impress me when I seen him in Binghamton, he’s more of a 4 or 5 and possibly a good left handed relief pitcher. I may go down next week to check out new hampshire and give you a report on Snider, the catcher there, and maybe check out Martinez again if he’s back.

John, have you been following the progress of Wilmer Flores? Do you that he could be for real?

Veloz is starting to turn those considerable tools into production.

Post All-Star Break numbers: 144 AB, .326/.386/.514/.900, 13 BB, 25 K

He’s certainly better than a C prospect at this point.

I know, nobody expects you to be able to speak completely accurately about 100% of the prospects, but….

“8) Brant Rustich, RHP, Grade B-
4.81 ERA with 30/14 K/BB in 34 innings for Class A Savannah, 32 hits allowed. Not much to get excited about here.”

Was dealing with injuries most of the year, didn’t make his debut until May 31, and hasn’t pitched since Jul 11. You’re failing to put his production (or lack there of) into a proper context based on the injuries. Same could be said for Maldonado, but I’ve never been a big fan of his.

“12) Scott Moviel, RHP, Grade C+
4.54 ERA with 71/31 K/BB in 105 innings for Savannah, 113 hits. Quite mediocre performance, although this is another guy that gets grounders. “

The Mets changed his pitching grips, across the board. As a result, he had a 9.68 ERA in April while he was adjusting to the new grips. In the 3 months since he’s put up a 3.50 ERA, including a 3.08 ERA Post-ASB. Not bad.

“15) Robert Parnell, RHP, Grade C
4.32 ERA with 85/56 K/BB in 117 innings for Binghamton, 113 hits. Another ground ball guy with mediocre/adequate peripherals but nothing that makes you think he can dominate.”

Very similar to Moviel, Parnell had a 7.15 ERA in April. In the 3 months since he’s put up a 3.63 ERA, and with Mid 90’s heat (Hit 97 out of the bullpen in the Eastern League ASG) really should have been ranked much better then 15th entering this season.

“20) Greg Veloz, 2B, Grade C
.282/.332/.402 for Savannah, 26 steals. Fast, but shaky plate discipline.”

Has looked like a superstar in the past month, always had the considerable tools but has turned it into elite production hitting for a 900 OPS since the ASB. Still only 20 years old.

I remember last year when he was doing the list, he posted that he was having trouble finding 20 interesting guys because the Mets system looked so thin at the time. I think he did a pretty good job of choosing who made this list.

The two that are looking like over ranks at this point have been Clyne and Maldonado. Pellot is the other disappointment there, but I think that may be more due to injury, and he wasn’t as high on the list either. All three of those guys probably don’t currently make the top 30.

But, still a good job picking who to fill out the top 20 with; Murphy, Carrera, and Veloz all look like astute picks at this point for the last 3 spots. Ranking Nick Evans highly ahead of Carp was also a pretty good call that not everyone would have made last year (and some may still debate).

At this point, the Mets position depth is looking a lot better than it did a year ago, but they still are lacking in high end talent. Parnell may have been a bit under rated here but he still doesn’t command the secondary stuff enough to really look special, and probably ends up a bullpen arm due to inability to maintain stuff deep into games.

For next years list, you may have a tougher time cutting it to 20, with bats like Thole and Veloz coming on strong, pitchers like Gee and Antonini maybe in the discussion, recent draft picks Holt and Havens looking good, and some of those IFA like Flores, Marte, and Mejia starting to perform.