18. Dustin Lawley, UTIL 
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 195
DOB: 04/11/1989 (Age: 24)
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Hit: 45/50 Power: 55/55 Arm: 55/55 Field: 50/50 Speed: 45/45
If you didn’t know who Dustin Lawley was a year ago, you probably do now. After leading our organization with 26 home runs and 96 RBI across two levels, Lawley thrust himself into the conversation of position players with potential for the New York Mets. Lawley plays both third base and the corner outfield positions, and I personally think he plays at least passable defense at either of three positions. He demonstrated tremendous power this year with 35 doubles, five triples, and 26 home runs in 535 plate appearances. He also threw in six stolen bases for good measure.
Even Paul DePodesta seemed pleased with him. “”It was a big, big year…He hits the ball extraordinarily hard, he’s super strong, he also plays third base. He’s a good athlete, he really does move well defensively. He’s a legitimate right-handed power bat, which can be hard to find.” Lawley struck out 113 times last year, leading to a .262 average, but it was basically par for the course with his power numbers. His lefty-righty splits were a little troublesome — .308 vs .242 — but his power splits were somewhat even with 11 home runs coming off lefties and 15 off righties.
Outlook: So here’s the unfortunate skinny: Lawley will be 25 as next season rolls around, and that is not a prime age to consider somebody a prospect. However… it’s hard to just discount the fact that he mashes lefties and is a reliable power source. If I had to guess, I’d say the Mets could find a platoon partner for him at the MLB level if they really wanted — Ike Davis? — and he would be a successful part of said platoon.
(Photo Credit: MILB.com)
MMN Top 40 Prospects
18. Dustin Lawley
If you´re suggesting Davis as a platoon partner for Lawley, at what position would they play? Ike plays 1B and Lawley plays 3B and the OF corners….
Not mentioned here is that Lawley can fire a rocket from LF to home plate, seen it several times last season
Sorry that I didn’t go further into it, this weekend has been busy for me. 🙂
I wondered about how he would fare at 1B. It’s not inconceivable, but it’s certainly a risk in trying it. Plus, as Shemp mentions here, he’s got a solid arm, so we could be taking away at least a league average defender.
Its premature to talk about Lawley as an option for the Mets this year.
Last year was a breakout year for him, but thats all it was: a break out year.
Lots of players have setbacks after their first big year in the minors. And Lawey simply doesn’t profile as the type of superstar talent who makes the jump from single-A to the majors in just one season.
He put up some good #s in AAA, and that is promising. But he was only there for a week, and he was sent there on a fluke: the Mets FO didn’t want to disrupt the AA roster before the playoffs. So instead of promoting a AA guy to Vegas, they sent up an A-ball guy instead.
Here’s a note for you: While Lawley hit lefties well at both levels, he hit only .144 against righties in AAA after hitting .245 against them [with 15 HRs] in A ball .
This signals two things 1) that he still needs some experience at the minor league level, and 2) he can be an EVERYDAY player, and not just a platoon if he is given the chance to develop properly.