Photo Credit: Ed Delany
The St. Lucie Mets, the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets, released their preliminary roster today. The roster is headlined by right-hander Justin Dunn, who the Mets drafted with their first round selection in 2016.
St. Lucie will be led by Chad Kreuter, who joins the organization for the first time in 2017. Kreuter, a former catcher, played 16 seasons in the major leagues before joining the coaching ranks. He was the head coach at the University of Southern California from 2007 to 2010, where he managed current Mets first baseman Lucas Duda. Since 2011, Kreuter had served as the minor league field coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Mets’ roster is listed in its entirety below:
Pitchers (14):
RHP Tyler Bashlor
RHP Justin Brantley
LHP Kevin Canelon
RHP Andrew Church
RHP Nabil Crismatt
RHP Justin Dunn
RHP Chase Ingram
RHP Johnny Magliozzi
RHP Thomas McIlraith
RHP Craig Missigman
RHP Marcos Molina
RHP Alex Palsha
RHP Joe Shaw
RHP Joshua Torres
Catchers (2):
Infielders (6):
Outfielders (4):
This strong roster includes two other 2016 Mets draft picks in first baseman Peter Alonso and Colby Woodmansee in addition to Dunn. Also includes outfielder Wuilmer Becerra and right-handed starting pitcher Marcos Molina, both of whom were added to the 40-man roster this past offseason.
The rotation options of Dunn, Molina, Kevin Canelon, Andrew Church, Joe Shaw, Thomas McIlraith and Nabil Crismatt should make that the strength of this roster.
That is one stacked team, which seems likely to add some more talent from Columbia around mid-season (but likely with simultaneous losses of other talent that similarly gets promoted). But a great year to be watching St. Lucie games.
long live my Lucie Mets !
I am a bit surprised not seeing Eudar Garcia on the St. Lucie Mets and not seeing Richardo Cespedes on either St. Lucia or Columbia.
I now Cespedes had a terrific year last year. But Iingsport to Lucie is a huge jump and one that the Mets would never take. He’s still young and they might feel he is better served in Brooklyn. Yeah, Garcia is a surprise. Maybe injured and going to XST for a few weeks?? (or maybe another impending suspension that has not yet been reported to the press/public – there is usually a big group of them around this time of year).
Stacked on the pitching side, maybe. Much less so on the position player side, both offensively and defensively. A couple of bright spots surrounded by a lot of middling prospects.
I thought Cespedes would have gone to Columbia, but I did not see him on that roster either. They gave him some ST exposure so I thought he was destined for full-season action, but as you suggest he is probably going to Brooklyn.
Pitching side is definitely more so, but don’t sell the offense short. Alonso should be an absolute beast and same with Becerra if healthy. Woodmansee and Urena both have the chance to really establish themselves this year. (Believe that the broken hands are the main culprit for Urena’s sub-par past two years). Mora is intriguing as well, and while I question their LT prospects, both Sienna and Mazeika should be productive players at this level. Then add in potential mid-season promotion of Lindsay and there are more than enough exciting and intriguing players to watch offensively.
Intruguing possibilities is not nearly the same thing as ‘stacked”. Your use of terms like “have a chance”, “should be”, and “I believe will” speaks to what I am saying. Lots of conditionals, question marks, and supposition surrounding a few bright spots. I didn’t trash the team. Just think there are a few highlighters and too many ‘maybes’ for this to qualify as “stacked”.
Agree, I saw him in Columbia, too (and Lindsay jumping to Lucie). But the Mets are sometimes painfully conservative with these things. Sometimes, ST exposure is simply a matter of grabbing the guy who happens to be available because he did not play in a minor league game that morning or his game ended early.
BTW, I found a list of suspensions that were announced yesterday, and Garcia was not there (nor were any other Met farmhands).
Jake/Mike/and rest of MMN staff, will you guys be putting up a game thread for the minor league games … don’t think you did last year, but would appreciate it
Hey Nessim. I think you misinterpreted my tone as I did not mean to accuse you of trashing the team and certainly did not mean to come off as overly optimistic about the LT future of all players. I am just a little more optimistic about the position players than you appear to be and was trying to explain why I believe there is real reason to be. But none of us “know” that any prospect will succeed, especially ones in A+ ball.
And to be clear, my optimism is not that they are will be MLB players, as we all know that most will never sniff the majors. And you’re right, I added qualifiers like “have a chance” and “intriguing” as Urena and Mora for instance could be busts just as easily as have good years. I am a little surprised that you appear less optimistic about Alonso as I think he is just a notch below our top younger prospects (Lindsay, Dunn, Szapucki, Gimenez) with a real chance to cement himself in the top group. View Becerra pretty much the same way, though the injury is still a concern.
But I actually used the word “stacked” intentionally, as I do believe that this team will be very solid offensively and has several positional prospects I would pay to see, even though some will likely lose their luster before MLB and maybe even this year. We all have our different perspective on things and, in truth, we may not be too far apart on our overall assessment of the players as much as we have different things that interest us when it comes to MiLB and and how a team will stack up against the competition at this level.
We will be to start the season, it will depend on interest whether they stay or not.
Apparently, we have different views of what “stacked” means. I see a “stacked” lineup as one that has good, solid hitters throughout, and is notably better than the lineups of its competitors. What you and I have both described does not meet that standard.
Like you, I am not talking about their long-term MLB chances, and am looking only at this year and this level.
And I am, in fact, optimistic about Alonso. He is who i had in mind when I mentioned a few bright spots. But outside of Alonso, Becerra, and perhaps Mazeika, I’m not sure who else here actually inspires optimism or “stacks” the lineup. I see the rest as fairly typical advanced A prospects. Not bad, but not special. Any one of them can, as you said, have a good year, or a bad one. And that to me, does not constitute “stacked”.
Fair enough that we can agree to disagree. Me, I think Wooansee, Sienna, Urena and Mora can all be above average hitters in the FSL along with Mazeika (though none are top prospects in ny book). So having 2 potential stars with 5 other above average (for the FSL) hitters is a pretty stacked lineup to me.
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It looks the following players are missing that one might expect to be at PSL:
Tyler Moore
Tharp
Duff
Johnson
Garcia
I know Flecon and Prevost are hurt , but does snyone know if the other 4 are hurt, released or in EST?
Duff was been released in March. No word on the others. I’ve been wondering about them myself. I went back through all of the minor league transaction reports on BA since September and no word on any of them. Would not be surprised if Johnson, Moore, and/or Tharp had been released. Still quite curious about Garcia. Note that the Mets do not report their XST assignments. So if they’re hurt, they could be there.
I don’t disagree. But that is if, and only if they all turn out well.
“Can be”… not the same as “expected to be”. And that, to me, is the difference between “stacked” and merely potential. Its only stacked if they’re reasonably proven or can reasonably be expected to be good (or even above average).
Again fair enough and I think I understand where you’re coming from – distinguishing between elite propects like Rosario, Lindsay, Gimenez and others. It seems that it would be extremely rare for almost any MiLB team to be filled with such prospects that are “expected to” be great at that level. I’all also add that some of those elite prospects are not necessarily expected to excel in terms of numbers at the lower levels (and I view A+ as a sort of a bridge between lower and upper levels) – they could simply display tools that are projectable to the big leagues.
So I agree that this years St. Lucie team is not this years FSL version of the 27 Yankees. But I think there are more than enough “could be” prospects who are likely (or at least have a good chance) to put up good numbers this year in A+, which is what I based my stacked comment on.
Either way, think we both can agree that we’ve spent enough time (probably far too much) on the nuance of what constitutes “stacked” in A+ ball, although I really appreciate hearing your views and engaging in the dialogue. All the best.
Well, no, you don’t understand where I am coming from. (And I’m not sure why). You keep putting words in my mouth and reading [far] more into what I am saying other than what I’ve actually said. I never said anything about elite prospects, and nothing I’ve described speaks of elite, or even anything close to elite. I don’t know how you take my description of, “reasonably proven or can reasonably be expected to be good or even above average”, and interpret that as a reference to elite prospects. Its not. There’s a whole lot of ground between my description and ‘elite’. I’m not asking for elite. I’m asking good or above average, and I’m asking that it be based on more than just speculation. Except for a few (three) players, the hitters on this team are, to date, merely average, middling, typical players for this level. That you think they “can be” something better is speculative, and not expectation.
Your own description was, “So having 2 potential stars with 5 other above average (for the FSL) hitters is a pretty stacked lineup to me”. Here’s the problem. You DON’T have those ‘5 other above average (for the FSL) hitters”. You have five thus far average or middling hitters whom you have SPECULATED to become above average. (You, yourself referred to them as “can be above average” in a previous sentence).
Well, no. You clearly do NOT understand where I am coming from. You keep putting words in my mouth and reading [far] more into what I am saying than what I’ve actually said. I never said anything about elite prospects, and nothing I’ve described speaks of elite, or even anything close to elite. I don’t know how you take my description of, “reasonably proven or can reasonably be expected to be good or even above average”, and interpret that as a reference to elite prospects. Its not. There’s a whole lot of ground between my description and ‘elite’. I’m not asking for elite. I’m asking good or above average, and I’m asking that it be based on more than just speculation. Except for a few (three) players, the hitters on this team are, to date, merely average, middling, typical players for this level. That you think they “can be” something better is speculative, and not expectation.
Prospects are speculation and projection. The elite prospects are about the only that you can reasonably expect to be good. All others are more speculative. Plain and simple. You are getting stuck on words. But whatever.
That’s you’re view of them. Mazeika is likely an above average player for A+ this year. Same goes for Urena, Siena and Woodmansee. Sure there is speculation but that is tru for all prospects. Your clarifications this morning are starting to sound less and less realistic.
Yes on Mazeika. Not so for the others. The others are all maybes more than likely. Calling them likely is overselling it. Woodmansee… .257 and now jumping two levels. Siena – hit well in Columbia for the first time in his career, then struggled at this level. Maybe yes, maybe no. Urena – also more of a maybe than a “likely” based on his track record. How much his injuries led to his struggles are pure speculation for those of us who have not seen him play in the past 8 months.
That evaluation is completely, categorically wrong. This is A+, not AAA. Many, many players who are not elite prospects still have success at this level. Successes that can be reasonably expected based on their track record prior to getting here. Cory Vaughn, LJ Mazzilli, Kyle Johnson, Michael Fisher, Dustin Lawley, Allan Dykstra, Greg Peavey, Adam Kolarek, Darin Gorski, etc, etc. All of those guys had track records that suggested continued success here. And those are only the guys who washed out bfore reaching the majors. Danny Muno, Josh Satin, Darrell Ceciliani… none of these guys were elite prospects. All were good or at least above average players for this level, and all were reasonably expected to be.
Looks we just evaluate the situation differently. See little use continuing to go in circles. I respect that you have a different view even if I disagree with both your process and your conclusions. Wish you the best and lets go mets