Prospects We Traded In the Past Year - Part II

OF Dustin Martin L/L 4/4/84 24 years old (traded for Luis Castillo)

AA New Britain

Previously: .520/.517/.720/1.237, 13 for 25, 5 runs, 5 2b, 8 RBI, 2/3 BB/K, 3/3 SBs

My thoughts: Can you imagine him in Binghamton's lineup in front of the Trinity? My god.

Now: .352/.398/.495/.893, 32 for 91, 19 runs, 6 2b, 2 3b, HR, 19 RBI, 8/22 BB/K, 8/9 SBs

My thoughts: Again, I was against this trade (I wanted to go with Gotay), but Martin's 24 in AA, and was drafted in the low 20th rounds in 2006 as a senior. Maybe he becomes another Jason Tyner for the Twins. He, like Carp and Murphy, is hitting better vs LHP (.441/.487/.529/1.017) then RHP (.298/.344/.474/.817). There isn't much upside here, IMO. Just would be nice to have with Milledge/Gomez gone.

C Drew Butera R/R 8/9/83 24.75 years old (traded for Luis Castillo)

AA New Britain

Previously: .300/.364/.300/.664, 6 for 20, 4 runs, RBI, 2/3 BB/K

My thoughts: Would be nice to have around as another catching prospect, has never hit in the minors, lets see what he's doing in June.

Now: .177/.257/.194/.451, 11 for 62, 8 runs, 2b, 2 RBI, 7/14 BB/K

My thoughts: Well, it didn't take to June. Obviously, he's not quite this bad of a hitter, but he's not much better. He hit .258/.348/.418 in high A for the Mets last year, then .188/.208/.231 in AA in 117 ABs. He's sound defensively, but obviously needs to hit better. And he's not getting much younger, being close to 25.

SS Jose Castro S/R 11/5/86 21.5 years old (traded for Jeff Conine)

AA Chattanooga

Previously: .280/.280/.440/.720, 7 for 25, 2 runs, 4 2b, 2 RBI, K

My thoughts: We could've had the best AA team ever if none of these trades had been made. They likely could've hung with any AAA team. Castro's no big loss, especially with the idiotic signing of Castillo for 4 years. Still, he did put together a great season in 2007 for the St. Lucie Mets, his first great season of hitting in his career, so the jury is still out here.

Now: .250/.304/.344/.648, 16 for 64, 6 runs, 4 2b, 3b, 7 RBI, 4/4 BB/K

My thoughts: It remains to be seen just how much of a loss, if any, Castro was. As I said earlier, his 07 was his best offensive year to date, and it was coming off a complete and utter disaster in 2006 (.217/.285/.245/.530 in Hagerstown). Binghamton would've been insanity with all these guys there, though.

OF Sean Henry R/R 8/18/85 22.75 years old (traded for Jeff Conine)

A+ Sarasota/AA Chattanooga

Previously: 293/.370/.415/.784, 12 for 41, 6 runs, 3 2b, 3b, 7 RBI, 3/7 BB/K, 4/4 SBs

My thoughts: Would've been nice to have a toolsy OFer still around after we raped our OF depth this offseason (Milledge especially). Not sure why he's repeating the FSL after hitting .293/.355/.456/.810 there with us last year, he should be in AA.

Now - AA Chattanooga: .340/.404/.640/1.044, 17 for 50, 12 runs, 2 2b, 2 3b, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 5/12 BB/K, 3/4 SBs

Total 2008 Stats: .319/.388/.538/.927, 29 for 91, 18 runs, 5 2b, 3 3b, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 8/19 BB/K, 7/8 SBs

My thoughts: Immediately after I posted my thoughts on 4/14, he was promoted to AA, where he has continued to rake. The weird thing about Henry is he's hitting .182/.280/.455 vs LHP and .464/.500/.786 vs RHP. Last year in St. Lucie, he hit .281/.344/.430 vs LHP and .296/.359/.470 vs RHP, as a comparison. As with Martin, it would be nice to have with Milledge/Gomez gone.

SP Deolis Guerra R/R 4/17/89 19 years old (traded for Johan)

A+ Fort Myers

Previously: 0-0, 0.90 era, 2 GS, 10 IP, 6 H, ER, HR, 6/8 BB/K

My thoughts: Obviously we had to make that trade, but it would've been great if we'd been able to keep one of Gomez/Guerra out of it.

Now: 2-1, 4.61 era, 6 G, 5 GS, 27.1 IP, 29 H, 16 R, 14 ER, 2 HR, 12/20 BB/K, 1.50 WHIP

My thoughts: Same as before. Since the last update about 2 1/2 weeks ago, he's had 4 more outings, including 3 starts, and his last two have been brutal (8.1 ip, 15 h, 11 er, 3/5 bb/k, 11.88 era). I'm still not sure why he's repeating high A, but whatever. He's yet to go past 5 innings in any outing this year.

SP Kevin Mulvey R/R 5/26/85 23 years old (traded for Johan)

AAA Rochester

Previously: 1-1, 0.84 era, 2 GS, 10.2 IP, 9 H, ER, 3/11 BB/K

My thoughts: I've been, in the back of my mind, thinking for a while now that Mulvey would end up being the best of the Trifeca (Pelfrey, Humber, Mulvey) - and so far, he's doing nothing to dissaude that thought. We'll see, though, he very likely will join the Twins rotation sometime this season.

Now: 2-3, 3.82 era, 6 GS, 33 IP, 37 H, 15 R, 14 ER, 4 HR, 12/34 BB/K, 1.48 WHIP

My thoughts: Since the last update, he went 7 innings allowing a run, 5.2 allowing a run, and then has had back to back awful outings totalling 9.2 innings, 17 h, 11 er, 5/9 bb/k, 10.24 era. I still hold to my prediction he'll be better then Humber, and the jury is out on Pelfrey.

P Philip Humber R/R 12/21/82 25.33 years old (traded for Johan)

AAA Rochester

Previously: 0-2, 5 era, 2 GS, 9 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1/5 BB/K

My thoughts: Not good early, and the low K rate through 2 starts would seem to indicate he hasn't gotten his fastball back yet (remember, he's a low to mid 90s pitcher, 92-95). The jury is still out on Humber.

Now: 1-3, 5.40 era, 8 G, 5 GS, 25 IP, 33 H, 20 R, 15 ER, 2 HR, 11/14 BB/K, 1.76 WHIP

My thoughts: Yeesh. For a while, I ranked Humber ahead of Pelfrey...that's not working out well. Since the last update, Humber had 3 more poor starts, and has now been banished to the bullpen. The jury may have finished deliberations, and the verdict isn't good. It's still a small sample size this year, but the lack of Ks and loss of control is alarming, as is the .320 BAA.

OF Carlos Gomez R/R 12/4/85 22.33 years old

MLB Twins

Previously: .269/.296/.385/.681, 14 for 52, 4 2b, 3b, 4 RBI, 2/12 BB/K, 5/6 SBs

My thoughts: I loved Gomez, and I still do. He bleeds and oozes talent, and if/when he puts it together, he is going to explode onto the baseball landscape. Again, you absolutely had to trade for Johan, but keeping one of Gomez/Guerra would've made it infinitely less painful.

Now: .271/.297/.374/.671, 29 for 107, 6 2b, 3b, HR, 8 RBI, 3/26 BB/K, 13/14 SBs

My thoughts: He's incredibly raw. Ugly IsoD of 26, and equally ugly IsoP of 103, but it's not terrible for where he is in his career. His career numbers aren't awful, either. Not good, but not terrible: .250/.292/.336/.628, 58 for 232, 31 runs, 9 2b, 3b, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 11/53 BB/K, 25/29 SBs. Very comparable to Jose Reyes' 2005 season. I reiterate: if/when he puts it together, he is going to explode onto the baseball landscape.