Could the meteoric rise of baseball’s latest phenom, 22-year old Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Yasiel Puig be instructive to the New York Mets? Puig’s accelerated elevation to the major leagues and his National League Player of the Week status in his first week as a big leaguer has been breathtaking. Is there anything the Mets might learn from Puig’s improbable baseball story?
Bizarre circumstances fast-forwarded Puig’s assent to Los Angeles. He arrived on the major league baseball scene somewhat of a Mystery Man. A Cuban defector, the 6-feet-3-inch, 245 pound baseball prospect is the latest of a wave of young baseball players from Cuba to find their way to America to play the grand old game.
The irony of Puig’s story is the fact that America’s major league baseball teams knew almost nothing about him when he arrived. In fact, as punishment for previous attempts at fleeing his homeland government officials there had banned Puig from playing baseball for almost all of the previous year.
New restrictions on signing international players also played a central role in the Puig script. With teams having almost no time to decide to tender a contract to Puig before the new regulations went into effect, the young Cuban baseball star almost wasn’t scouted at all.
Interested teams were required to throw caution to the wind and forgo tried and true organizational practices that inform the decision making process before committing to young prospects. In a piece written for the New York Times by Billy Witz, you learn the Dodgers had only three days to observe Puig in controlled baseball circumstances before deciding whether to make a play for him. Even so, scouting director Logan White suggested offering the young Cuban a $42 million dollar contract over seven years, an offer many would consider ludicrous under the circumstances.
As White explained in the New York Times piece, he was adamant. “I know it sounds arrogant, but I’ve done this too long,” White told Witz. White claimed Puig had the best tools of any baseball prospect he had ever scouted.
Ironically, it appears Puig had some of the behavioral characteristics of the Mets Jordany Valdespin, too. Although he hit .519 during spring training, Puig raised eyebrows for failing to run out a ground ball and gesturing his disgust at a base coach who failed to allow him to steal third base. Former major leaguer Manny Mota was sent to Chattanooga where Puig was assigned to play AA baseball to begin to work through some of those issues.
The headlines of the Times piece chronicled Puig’s incredible major league start. “Puig Brings Vigor To Lifeless Dodgers, A 22-Year-Old Cuban Fires Up A Team of High-Priced Stars” almost shouts at you from a Times sport page, especially if you’re a Met fan.
Puig’s first week as a National Leaguer was all fireworks and no duds. The rookie outfielder hit .464 with four home runs, ten RBIs, and two defensive assists from the outfield.
Those kind of numbers got me wondering about how well Puig performed in Chattanooga playing AA baseball. I’ve been to NYSEG Stadium to watch the AA B-Mets several times this spring and have come away universally shouting the praises of another 22-year old kid, Cesar Puello. Like Puig, he’s big. His reported stats of 6-feet-2 inches and 195 pounds don’t seem possible when you actually meet the guy. Like Puig, Puello hits with power, has a cannon of an outfield arm and is fast. I wondered how Puello’s AA statistics for the B-Mets matched up with Puig’s AA numbers for Chattanooga. Let’s take a look.
AB R H EBH HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS
Puig 147 26 46 23 8 37 13 .313 .383 .549 .982
Puello 217 39 63 26 13 46 17 .326 .401 .606 1.007
As you can see Puello’s AA number compare favorably to Puig’s.
Truthfully, the pay value of this comparison might not amount to much. Puig’s major league sample is one week old. Everyone knows his torrid start is temporary. The Cuban youngster is an unknown commodity. The book on his plate approach is only now taking shape.
With that said, it’s hard to devalue the impact the young outfielder has had on his teammates and the fan base in LA. Puig has brought back a buzz to the ballpark and a sense of anticipation and hope in the fan base. We desperately need a dose of both in New York.
I’m not suggesting the number comparison of the two 22-year old prospects is cause for the Mets to alter course and rush Cesar Puello to the major leagues. I, nor any of the folks reading this post, really understand what makes Puello tick. The professional personnel working with him every day are far better positioned to make decisions in his best interest.
Instead, I hope the major league performance of guys like Puig open conversations about the often overly cautious approach the Mets take with their prospects. Every prospect has a different success/failure quotient that gauges how well they can deal with disappointments. Like the individual profiles of Met prospects, there is no cookie cutter, one-fit model to determine the exact moment a prospect should be elevated to the Big Show.
I’m hoping starts like Puig’s encourage front office folks, especially during a lost season, to develop attributes and qualities a prospect might possess that make it more likely they can deal with the stresses and disappointments that come with playing in the major leagues without suffering long-term player development regression. With that in mind, we might also sometimes throw caution to the wind and see what select prospects can do in the major leagues on an accelerated time schedule. In so doing, we also might provide some hope and some buzz for a disillusioned fan base.