Tag: Josh Thole

Mets Catchers Barajas, Blanco Not Cutting It

The Mets made a big mistake when they signed Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco. They should have gone with a platoon of Omir Santos and Josh Thole.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

The problem that I had with Brian Schneider in 2008 and 2009 was that he was an automatic out. Now, I’m starting to long for the days of Schneider hitting .218. After watching Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco over the last three weeks, I’m wishing we had a .218 hitter behind the plate.

Mike Pelfrey has been astounding so far this season and he’s given credit to his personal catcher, Henry Blanco. And everyone seems to like what Barajas is doing in the field as well. But let’s not forget that catchers have to bat! Barajas and Blanco are rally killers.

I wrote last October that the Mets needed a youth movement at catcher. As it turns out, I was right. Although Omir Santos and Josh Thole haven’t done much hitting at Buffalo in the early season. But they aren’t doing any worse than Barajas and Blanco. Continue reading “Mets Catchers Barajas, Blanco Not Cutting It”

Video: Mets 2010 Prospects Preview

This is another video in the series of installments previewing the 2010 season that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. In this episode we look at the Mets prospects to could have an impact on the Mets big league club this season.

http://blip.tv/play/guougczUFQI%2Em4v

Video: Review of Mets Catchers, Daniel Murphy, Luis Castillo

This is the second in a series of videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. You can see the first video in the series about grading the Mets’ 2010 offseason.

This video is tackling a few tough subjects: the catchers, Luis Castillo, and Daniel Murphy. See what we have to say below and add your comments.

http://blip.tv/play/guougcvaRAI%2Em4v

Mets Five Prospects That Could Impact 2010

Mets Thole Singles for First Major League Hit in Denver

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsAs promised, here is my list of five prospects, in no particular order, that could potentially help the Mets in 2010. Enjoy!

1. Josh Thole, C (age 23)

Josh Thole is coming off of a tremendous season in which he hit .328/.395/.422 in the Eastern League (AA) followed up by an impressive .321/.356/.396 performance when called up to the Mets in September. Since his power is limited, Thole’s defense will go along way in determining whether he will be a starter or backup at the big league level. I do expect Thole to potentially help the Mets in 2010. Right now the current catching tandem is Omir Santos and Henry Blanco, which I can’t really see lasting the full season, especially if the Mets are getting little production from the catching position and Thole is tearing up the International League (AAA), both of which are realistic scenarios.

Continue reading “Mets Five Prospects That Could Impact 2010”

Mets Lose Bengie Molina, Fans Rejoice

San Francisco Giants Photo Day

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

If you could draw up a player that doesn’t fit the Mets team and their new stadium, that player would be Bengie Molina. As part of my full disclosure, I’ll tell you that I can’t stand Yadier Molina. Sure, it goes back years now to 2006. But it’s hard for me to picture in my mind a Met player with “Molina” on the back of his jersey.

Bengie ended up signing a 1-year/$4.5 million deal to go back to the Giants and I couldn’t be happier. I wrote that I’d like to see the Mets go into the season with a Santos/Thole platoon behind the plate. The biggest reason was because the list of free agent catchers this year is so weak. That won’t happen because Henry Blanco will be on the roster. But I can live with that.

Molina has some nice offensive stats but a 35 year-old, overweight catcher is just what the Mets don’t need right now. That’s not the profile of the type of player that the Mets should be committing their financial resources to. The Mets would be much better served to put a little more money into a starting pitcher than they had planned, and work on upgrading at first base.

Continue reading “Mets Lose Bengie Molina, Fans Rejoice”

Mets 2010 Prospect Rankings

Mets vs. Brewers

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

I was reading a post by Tejesh at Mets Prospect Hub on his final ranking of 2009 for the Mets top prospects. Sometimes I think that minor league prospect lists require some explanation about the logic used to determine value in a list. For example, the players that spent significant time on the Mets Major League team in 2009 were Fernando Martinez (#1), Jon Niese (#9), Josh Thole (#10), and Nick Evans (not on top list).

Readiness for big league play isn’t prioritized as a qualifying factor. Total future upside appears to be the priority. I love to read blogs about the Mets minor leaguers, and there are several good ones, because I just don’t have the opportunity to see the minor league players in action especially the low-level leagues. My focus is always on which players are Major League ready or will be in the near future.

I’m still hoping to see Niese get a shot at the rotation in 2010 after missing the rest of the season last August when he tore his hamstring in an ugly scene on the mound. The 23 year-old made five starts last season, having two good ones and two that were kind of ugly, and the final start on August 5 when he got hurt. He ended with a 4.21 ERA over 25.2 IP. Not bad.

Continue reading “Mets 2010 Prospect Rankings”

Mets 2010 Catcher- Youth Is The Way

Omir Santos

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

Now that I’ve written about what the Mets should do at first base next season, I thought it was time to move on to catcher. The 2009 season was filled with dichotomy at catcher, Brian Schneider was a complete bust in his walk year and Omir Santos emerged as a viable everyday player. Then September rolled around and we got a look at a good-looking young player in Josh Thole. There certainly is hope for the future at the catcher position.

I want to start by writing that Schneider has absolutely no shame to be cashing the paychecks that the Wilpons gave him this season. He seems like a good guy but for him to accept $4.9 million for the performance he put up this season is criminal. It goes without saying that there isn’t even the slimmest of chances that he’ll be back next season at 33 years-old and coming off a season in which he hit .218 with 3 HR’s and 24 RBI’s in 170 AB’s. That line is disgusting… It’s even painful to write it! When you talk about the problems with the Mets poor performance this season, you can blame it on injuries but don’t forget to point the finger squarely at Schneider.Enough about Schneider, he’s done here.

Continue reading “Mets 2010 Catcher- Youth Is The Way”