In another question during his afternoon chat with fans on ESPN New York, Adam Rubin was asked how many current Mets prospects will find their way to the 40-man roster this winter.
While he mentioned right-hander Rafael Montero does not need to be added to the 40-man this winter, he did say outfielders like Cory Vaughn and Matt den Dekker would be logical candidates. Rubin also added that Francisco Pena’s production will help him grab a spot.
It would make a lot of sense to put Vaughn on the 40-man if he continues hitting in Double-A Binghamton. The outfielder was hitting .294/.376/.444 with five home runs and 29 RBIs going into today’s mid-morning series finale with the Altoona Curve at NYSEG Park. Rubin shed the spotlight on Vaughn last week in his weekly Farm Report, and said the Mets would have to put Vaughn on the 40-man at the end of the season if they want to protect him from the Rule-V draft. If he continues to have a good year, it should be a no brainer to protect him.
Francisco Pena (son of Tony Pena) is an interesting choice to make it onto the 40-man. Last week, Rubin tweeted there’s a good chance we could see Pena in the big leagues sometime this season. Since getting promoted to Triple-A to fill the open spots at catcher, Pena has been tearing the cover off the ball. He currently owns a .367/.387/.800 line with four homers and 10 RBIs in 30 at-bats with Las Vegas. In those 30 at-bats, he has more total bases with the 51s (24), than he did in 69 at-bats with Binghamton (23). He’s been around for quite some time, but may be starting to put everything together.
Which prospects do you think should be added to the 40-man roster this winter?
Photo courtesy of Gordon Donovan
How about a list of who needs to be added this year? I think there’s actually quite a lot of guys that are eligible for the Rule 5 draft this December. If we knew the list it could be a really interesting debate.
Thanks for your comment, Dave. We’ll work on that and try to get it on the site so we can all chime in.
The list of who’s eligible would make things much easier. For me, it would also be nice to talk up who’s probably gone off the list after this year. It’s sad, but clearing the 40 man and actually bringing in talent or hopeful talent in the forms of prospects is the game I play in my head.
I found a list.
http://tpgmets.blogspot.com/p/rule-5.html
To me, besides Montero who isn’t eligible yet but will likely be added anyway, the most interesting names are:
denDekker
DeGrom
Ceciliani
Vaughn
Jeff Walters
Maron
AderRod
Tapia
Cessa
Matz
Leathersich is another name that isn’t eligible yet, but will likely be added at some point.
I see at least 8 names that are likely to be added, which means 8 names have to come off the 40-man. While some have expiring contracts, there will be some hard decisions. This is why I see a strong likelihood of some of these players getting packaged for better talent, particularly in the OF.
(Note–I think JuanCenteno and F.Pena are also names that aren’t necessarily eligible yet, but likely to be added. So it might be 10 guys getting added.)
Let’s see, among eligibles I’d expect the following additions:
RH Domingo Tapia
LH Steve Matz
RH Jake DeGrom
3b-1b Aderlin Rodriguez ( this time)
OF Matt Den Dekker
OF Corey Vaughn
– all of them seem like “locks”
C Francisco Pena
C Juan Centeno
C Blake Forsythe
will all be candidates – though I doubt more than one makes it.
Several arms like RH Eric Goeddel, RH Rainy Lara, LH Angel Cuan, RH Jeff Walters or LH Chase Hutchigson could be considered.
OF Darrel Ceciliani & OF Alonzo Harris might get added in case they do well in the 2nd half.
Of these latter dozen,maybe 2 or 3 could make it.
Then there are non-eligibles such as Rafael Montero, Cory Mazzoni or Jack Leathersich who could force their way onto the roster.
Locks to come off the 40-man:
Francisco
Hawkis
Marcum
Santana
Ankiel
Byrd
Recker
Other bullpen guys on the bubble-
Rice, Atchison, Lyon, Carson, Burke, Germen, edgin
Other players on the bubble-
Q or Tovar, Lutz, Valdy, Cowgill, Nieuwenhuis, Brown
I think Buck stays as backup/mentor to d’Arnaud.
Is Gabriel Ynoa ( signed Nov 2009) eligible ? If so, he also needs to be protected.
Lara signed in Oct. 2009 – so he may be eligible.
Is the cutoff the caldendar year or the ” Baseball” year which ends before Dec. 31st of any give year of course.
In general, players who signed at age 18 or younger get five seasons ( from time of signing) while players who signed at age 19 or older get four.
So this year, 2009 HS picks ( and Int. Signings) will be eligible while 2010 college players will be as well. Just not sure about cutoff date..l
Reese Heavens comes off the 40 man without a doubt. Recker comes off the list. Zach Lutz who can never stay healthy comes Off. Since the mets have so many elibiglble guys wouldn’t it make sense to package some of them for a decent outfield bat.
For instance there is not a crop of young catchers, you have some guys like carson that can go and bring of leatherrocket.