My Personal Top 10

My how much has changed in the last few weeks in terms of the Mets system and now is as good a time as any to take a look at The Metropolitans favorite top ten prospects. But first, here is a run down of how things looked before, and after the 2005 season.

John Sickle's Top 20 Metropolitan Prospects (pre-season)
1) Yusmeiro Petit, RHP
2) Phil Humber, RHP
3) Lastings Milledge, OF
4) Gaby Hernandez, RHP
5) Victor Diaz, OF
6) Alay Soler, RHP
7) Aarom Baldiris, 2B-3B
8) Ambiorix Concepcion, OF
9) Matt Durkin, RHP
10) Brian Bannister, RHP

Mets top ten prior to 2005 season according to BA:
1. LASTINGS MILLEDGE
2. YUSMEIRO PETIT
3. GABY HERNANDEZ
4. IAN BLADERGROEN
5. AMBIORIX CONCEPCION
6. ALAY SOLER
7. SHAWN BOWMAN
8. VICTOR DIAZ
9. JESUS FLORES
10. MATT LINDSTROM

A quick look back reveals a fugly top ten. A lot had changed over the course of the season as it usually does with prospects. Some rocket up and some like Ambiorix lose some steam. Watch for Ian Bladergroen this year in the Sox system to see if he can recover from his injury riddled 2005.

Baseball America's top 10 prospects (current, but prior to the trades)
1. LASTINGS MILLEDGE, of
2. YUSMEIRO PETIT , rhp
3. GABY HERNANDEZ, rhp
4. MIKE JACOBS, 1b
5. PHILIP HUMBER, rhp
6. CARLOS GOMEZ, of
7. FERNANDO MARTINEZ, of
8. ANDERSON HERNANDEZ ss/2b
9. BRIAN BANNISTER, rhp
10. ALAY SOLER , rhp

I feel better about the above top ten knowing Pelfrey will be in there. Some serious talent and some guys ready to help soon. Petit, Milledge, Jacobs, A Hern, Bannister, and Soler are all guys that could figure into a 2006 Major League role at some point.

Ricardo's Metsgeek.com Top 10 prior to trades:
1. Lastings Milledge
2. Yusmeiro Petit
3. Mike Pelfrey
4. Gaby Hernandez
5. Phil Humber
6. Grant Psomas
7. Brian Bannister
8. Anderson Hernandez
9. Brett Harper
10. Mike Carp

Now? My list. This is not necessarily as scientific as this is just my personal top ten of players that I like the most in the system in terms of what I think of their future.

1. Lastings Milledge - Obvious choice. The kid can play and undeniably has five tools.
2. Mike Pelfrey - I wish I was born with his right arm. Instead, I have trouble holding my own with nine year old girls right now.
3. Fernando Martinez - The boy, the myth, the legend. Will he start at full season Hagerstown? He might. If they think highly enough to put a 17 year old there, he has to be special.
4. Carlos Gomez - He has tools and talent oozing out of his ears and he held his own at Hagerstown at 19, where Fernando will be at a full two years younger. I'm also happy with his 32 walks. Usually toolsy guys are horrendous in the free pass dept and he went from 6 in 45 games to 32 in 120 games. You have to start somewhere and he is young.
5. Phil Humber - He's off track a bit since 2006 will be a complete wash. When he comes back in 2006, he should spend the entire second half working his way up from a rookie league to A-Ball for a best case scenario.
6. Deolis Guerra - Yeah, yeah, but I'm a sucker for the unknown. I am intrigued with any guy that young that gets a boatload of money at 16 years old. He is 6-5 and has a fastball that touches 90 and a plus change while not being able to drive a car in New York yet. I'm curious....
7. Alay Soler - You read different things with Soler, but BA says he immediately has the best slider in the system and can throw mid 90's. He has the stuff to start, but might end up being the closer of the future. The closer thing probably isn't going to work out at this point since he'll be 30 by the time Wagner is done, but maybe he'll get a shot to start this year when someone goes down.
8. Brian Bannister - Not only am I a sucker for the unknown, but I'm also a sucker for the cerebral pitcher who throws fifty pitches. His ceiling is a back end guy, but if a team can find a consistent #5 for no money for four or five years, it's a plus. Who likes watching five different guys start and fail out of the five spot?
9. Andy Wilson - He was an undrafted free agent and was 24 last season when he hit 28 homers in St. Lucie. Wilson plays a few different positions and shucks the organizational philosophy of swing at everything. Yeah, he is old for the league and all being 24 in St. Lucie and a guy like him has an uphill battle to beat the odds, but he looks like a solid all around player. He has a good approach at the plate and he hits the ball to all fields. With guys like this, I would like to see the Mets push them more to see what they can take. He is not getting any younger and better find out if he is worth anything.
10. Bobby Parnell - This was a tough spot for me because I like any player named Emmanuel, but I have to say, Parnell's .185 BAA and one homerun allowed in 73 innings for Brooklyn is impressive. He still walked too many, but has a low 90's fastball, a hard slider, and a nice penchant for keeping the ball down and in the park.

Just missed and in no particular order: Anderson Hernandez, Brett Harper, Shawn Bowman, Matt Durkin, Mike Carp, Nick Evans, Emmanuel Garcia, Jeff Keppinger, Evan MacLane, Hector Pellot, and Aaron Hathaway.

Before anyone bites my head off, keep in mind, these are my personal favorites and not a true top ten. These are the players I feel best about in terms of their future success in what limited knowledge I have of them. It was hard to ignore Harper's 36 dingers and his supposid iron mitt, but he just missed for me. I'm fringing him and calling him a poor man's Mike Jacobs. As for A Hern, I just wasn't impressed with his at-bats for the Mets. Sure there were only 18 of them, but he has a lot of work to do and it is clear Jeff Keppinger should be first in line for second base should Kaz fail again in 2006 until A Hern refines he game a bit more. There were a lot of near misses that I'm sure a lot of people can make compelling arguments for when put up against the bottom five of the top ten. It is not unreasonable to see some of the 'just miss' guys hit up to six on some lists at this point, but that is the problem after the top five, the talent pool is seriously dilluted and top heavy.

* * *

"First of all, I learned that I can manage, knowing that I could lead a ballclub," Randolph said. "Just that all of the things that I've learned over the years, I can apply when I have to. You never know until you're in the situation how you're going to react."

I like confidence. I like that 'can do' attitude. However, I'd also like to know where this 'I can apply what I've learned over the years' crap was last year. Didn't look like he was around the game that much from what I saw.

Wiggie catches on with the Devil Rays and The Metropolitans wishes him well.

Posted on NYFANSITES.com's message board, the Mets sign a 17 year old Aussie pitcher. He was a two way star and throws 90 mph with good movement on his fastball. He hates snakes, likes Team America, talks too much, likes Chipper and Greg Maddux, and likes Brazil.