Cutnpaste: Reese Havens, Jon Niese, RBIs, Evans to Catcher, Albert Cordero

9-3-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/09/prospect-pulse-buffalo-2012-help-on-the-way.html  - Reese Havens - Havens will be embroiled in a fierce competition for the Mets 2B job in 2012. If they manage to retain Jose Reyes, the inside edge for 2B goes to Ruben Tejada, with Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, Jordany Valdespin, and Havens all vying for the job. On natural ability and a balanced game, Havens may be the best baseball player here. His sweet left-handed stroke, is ideal for not just hitting, but hitting for power. And being a natural shortstop, he has made a fairly seamless transition to 2B. He just needs to stay healthy in order to open some eyes, and he could force his way into the picture anytime in 2012.

9-6-11: - .mlb.  - Though the Mets are not ruling out a return this season for starting pitcher Jon Niese, the left-hander has not progressed significantly since straining his right intercostal muscle last month. Niese is currently doing pool work in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and is "not close" to returning, according to assistant general manager John Ricco. "That midsection is kind of tricky, so we've just got to wait until he's pain-free," Ricco said. "When he sneezes, he feels it. It's not a sharp pain, but he still feels something in there, so we're not progressing him until he totally feels good."

9-6-11: - http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/  - RBI clearly is not a predictive statistic. A predictive statistic is one that correlates highly from year to year.[1]. What a player accomplishes in year X, we should expect him to accomplish in year X+1. As an example, look at xFIP. xFIP does not tell us what happened in the current year - how a pitcher was able to prevent runs - but rather tells us how one should have been able to prevent runs by looking at one's strikeouts, walks, while assuming a league average homerun rate. The assumed home run rate isn't even something that actually happened.

9-6-11: - http://mets.lohudblogs.com/2011/09/06/nick-evans-for-catcher/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mets+%28The+LoHud+Mets+Blog%29  - Way back in October of 2009, I wrote that moving Nick Evans to catcher made a ton of sense for the New York Mets. After all, Evans had a plus bat, no clear on-field destination, and the Mets certainly needed depth at the position. Like many things concerning the Omar Minaya Mets, this was n apparently fleeting idea with no follow-through. Two years later, it is hard to see how anything has changed concerning Evans, or how he could best help the Mets. Evans certainly holds his own at first base- his 143 OPS+ this season is more than adequate for the position. Among catchers? It would make him a superstar, assuming he could merely hold his own behind the plate.





photo by Allan Greene

 9-3-11: - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/833229-new-york-mets-ranking-their-current-best-prospect-at-every-position/page/7#/articles/833229-new-york-mets-ranking-their-current-best-prospect-at-every-position/page/2 - Fantastic news, Mets fans! For a team that is basically using a platoon role for their current catcher, they also don’t really have a top prospect catcher anywhere in the minors! Luckily, I was able to find a bit of a sleeper candidate in Albert Cordero. Cordero has a good glove the plate, puts up decent power numbers (eight home runs, .189 ISO, 32 RBI in rookie ball), and shows breakout potential as a prospect. His power numbers were behind only Aderlin Rodriguez in rookie ball last season, and at 20 years old, he has already shined behind the plate defensively.