I was scanning through Josh Norris’ Baseball America chat on the EL prospects — and it took me all of five seconds to find something to write about.
@Jaypers413 (IL): Thanks for the chat, Josh. What did evaluators have to say about Cesar Puello's season, and did he end up close making your list?
Josh Norris: He didn’t end up close to making the list, and quite frankly, a great deal of it had to do with the Biogenesis scandal. It also didn’t help that people within the Mets organization have told me beforehand that they don’t really consider him a prospect.
Well, that’s exactly what I did not want to hear concerning the young outfielder. As much as any of us would like to put it behind us or downplay the whole thing, it looks like the BioGenesis scandal is going to hang over Puello this season like a dark cloud. I was almost certain Puello would crack the top-20 list alongside Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero, but I was wrong.
What might have been the most saddening about that statement, however, is Norris’ statement on the organizational view of Puello. First off, there can be internal debate over players in the same way that we do — so that’s not saying that every single person in the Mets organization feels he is a non-prospect. That being said, it is no fun to watch a player you have been touting as a potential Top-5 Prospect get thrown under the bus like that.
All we can hope for is a strong season from Puello in ’14 — because that will be the defining factor in getting the proverbial monkey off his back.
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
I´d take an isolated comment like this with a grain of salt. It´s the only time I´ve read anything like that about Puello– I´ll I´ve heard before is how good his tools are and that it just depended on him putting it together. As to the Biogenesis thing, he´s obviously being penalized for that on prospect lists. But you can´t ignore his numbers in a season when he was probably being tested regularly. If he has a similar year in 2014 he´ll be back on the prospect lists– or in the majors.
To be honest, and I think I’ve stated this previously, I was never as keen on Puello as others around these parts. I saw him three times (I believe, at least two for sure) this past season before his suspension and he came off to me as a guy who could hit a fastball but could easily be gotten out with a decent breaking pitch. Surely that’s an adjustment that can be made, but it didn’t even look like he was close. I didn’t see a carrying tool, just a lot of 50-55’s.
“Thrown under the Bus?” You gotta be kidding. He threw himself under the bus and deserves no accolades. He hasn’t accomplished anything but shown he can have one good season on the heels of cheating, his numbers skyrocketed doing so to .950 OPS after season of .751. Makes me wonder, Satish, is this about him, or you wanting your prior hopes and analysis accurate even at the expense of playing by the rules.
The Mets have not and will not give up on Cesar Puello unless Puello proves he can’t continue to grow and develop on his path to the major leagues. It’s easy to make assertions about someone without seeing him play or only watching a small sample size. This kid has incredible focus, hustles every second he’s on the baseball field, and from what I’ve been told by those who should know, has an incredible work ethic. There’s always a “Rest of the Story.” Some choose to equate his performance this summer only to PED’s, even when the clinic that dispensed the PED’s had been closed for a long time. I’m hoping his other traits, those positive intangibles scouts reference all the time, also have validity.