Thursday, April 05, 2007

Savannah Sand Gnats article

A Latin influence

Most major league baseball clubs build their minor league system through the draft. But since Dominican Republic native Omar Minaya took over as general manager in 2004 the New York Mets have aggressively pursued the Latin America market.

Of the 25 players on the Savannah Sand Gnats roster this season, a combined 13 are from the Dominican (nine), Puerto Rico (three) and Venezuela (one). All of those were signed as undrafted free agents.

But Savannah manager Tim Teufel said that's not an indication of the talent level as the Sand Gnats open the 2007 season tonight at home against the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists in their first year as the Mets' low Class A affiliate.

The Mets have a baseball academy in the Dominican, which operates all year and has produced major leaguers such as All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes.

"We don't have a lot of high draft picks,'' Teufel admitted, "but what you're forgetting is these kids came out of the academy. They were high picks in the Dominican, but they signed as free agents. They didn't go through the draft. There's a lot of young talent out on this field. There are some prospects out there that will possibly open up some eyes down the road for the big league club.''

Overall, of the 849 players on major league rosters at the start of the season, 177 were from Latin American - 20.8 percent - according to a report by the commissioner's office. The Dominican Republic had the most with 98, followed by Venezuela with 51 and Puerto Rico with 18.

Teufel, who played 11 years in the major leagues (1983-1993), was impressed by his players' work ethic in spring training. But he said it remains to be seen how good the Sand Gnats will be this season with a young squad.

Five players on the roster are under 20 years of age. Three are from the Dominican Republic - Francisco Pena, 17, at catcher; Juan Lagares, 18, at shortstop and Gregory Veloz, 18, at second base. Teufel said all three will be in the starting lineup.

"That's unheard of at this level,'' he said. "This is usually a 20, 21-year-old league. Now we're throwing out guys who will be three years younger than most of the players they'll be playing against. They should be playing high school ball right now and they're playing pro ball at the third level of our organization.''

The son of former major league All-Star and current Yankees first base coach Tony Pena, Pena received $750,000 to turn pro last summer, the seventh-largest bonus handed out to international players. Lagares, who turned 18 on March 17, made his pro debut in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League, batting .255 with 18 extra-base hits and 12 steals in 57 games.

"Our organizational philosophy has changed a little bit,'' said Teufel, who is in his fourth year with the Mets. "If you have talent that stands out among the crowd, they're going to push you.''

Teufel said Pena is still learning how to play the game, "but he hits very well - he gets the barrel (of the bat) on the ball. He challenges pitchers to pitch inside. Catching-wise, he's getting better at blocking the plate. He calls a decent game. He's a big kid. He comes from good stock. It's just a matter of him getting repetitions.''

Pena, rated the Mets' No. 12 prospect by Baseball America, played in the Instructional League last winter in the Dominican Republic. The 6-foot-2, 229-pounder was impressive enough to earn join the Mets in spring training as a non-roster invitee.

Pena, whose brother Tony is in the Kansas City organization, said he spent about a month with the major league club.

"They sent me over there to get a little more experience,'' he said. "It helped me a lot, seeing all those players like (Paul) Lo Duca, (Carlos) Beltran, (David) Wright and Reyes. You want to be like them, you have to work hard.''

Aside from the Latin America players, the rest of the Sand Gnats' roster is made up of players who played last year at rookie-level St. Lucie (Fla.) and Kingsport (Tenn.), short-season Brooklyn (N.Y.) and low Class A Hagerstown (Md.).

Nine played with Hagerstown, which finished 58-82 (.414) in the South Atlantic League, 14th out of 16 teams. The Sand Gnats were 56-83 (.403), 1 1/2 games behind, as a Washington Nationals affiliate.

Only three players on the roster were drafted in the first 10 rounds the last two years - second baseman Hector Pellot (fourth round, 2005), outfielder Dan Stegall (seventh round, 2006) and catcher Sean McCraw (eighth round, 2005). But the Sand Gnats have five of the Mets' top-30 prospects. The others are pitchers Josh Stinson (No. 17), Tobi Stoner (No. 22), Todd Privett (No. 24) and Stegall (No. 29), along with Pena.

Stinson, Stoner and Privett all had ERAs under 3.00 last year. Stoner was 6-2 with a 2.15 ERA in 14 appearances for Brooklyn, finishing fourth in the New York-Penn League in ERA.

Stegall, who hit .214 in 40 games for St. Lucie, was rated the best athlete in the Mets' draft last year. The 6-3, 182-pounder signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Miami, but instead opted to sign with the Mets for $145,000.

Among the position players, outfielder D.J. Wambick posted the best numbers at the plate. The former College of Charleston standout was fourth in the Appalachian League in batting with a .327 average in 45 games for Kingsport.


Sand Gnats lineup:

2B Hector Pellot

DH Gregory Veloz

SS Juan Lagares

C Francisco Pena

CF Dan Stegall

RF Jonathan Sanchez

3B Leivi Ventura

1B Josh Thole

LF Brahiam Maldonado

Starting rotation:

Tobi Stoner

Josh Stinson

Tim Stronach

Jorge Reyes

Julio Polanco

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