The new prospects
Aside from getting Franklin Gutierrez, Endy Chavez and Aaron Heilman, Zduriencik also pulled in four prospects in yesterday’s mega deal. Let’s take a closer look at the younger players in the deal…
Mike Carp
The Mets drafted Carp in the ninth round of the 2004 draft out of California baseball powerhouse Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Calif. The lefthanded hitter signed for $60,000 and got off to a modest start in the Gulf Coast League. He put himself on the prospect radar the following year by hitting .249/.358/.476 with 19 home runs over 313 at-bats in the Sally League. He improved in 2006 by putting up a line of .287/.379/.450 in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. 2007, however, was a different story. He broke his finger in spring training and then had a disappointing season in his first taste of Double-A, hitting just .251/.337/.387 over 359 at-bats before getting some extra time in the Arizona Fall League. He repeated Double-A this year as a 22-year-old and did a nice 180, hitting .299/.403/.471 with 29 doubles and 17 home runs over 478 at-bats with an Eastern League-leading 79 walks (14.2%) and 88 strikeouts (18.4%). There has been some concern that Carp can’t hit lefties, but he seems to have improved against them this year, hitting .263/.347/.434 over 152 at-bats against southpaws. Carp doesn’t have huge power like some first base prospects, but he compares favorably to guys like Lyle Overbay and it’s nice to see Zduriencik bring in a player with good place discipline. For what it’s worth, his 79 walks last year would have led all Mariners’ farmhands and he easily becomes the M’s best first base prospect. Not that there was much competition…
Maikel Cleto
Savvy Mets fans are not happy about losing Cleto—and for good reason. On the surface, the 19-year-old Dominican righthander doesn’t look like much. He pitched 136 innings for Class A Savannah last season, striking out 81 and walking just 34 on his way to a 4.25 ERA. Dig a little deeper though and you learn that the 6-foot-3, 215 pounder features a mid-90s fastball and has even flirted with triple digits. That’s a rare arm and, although the mainstream media made Cleto seem like a throw-in in the deal, he reportedly would have been the Mets’ eighth-best prospect had he stayed in their system and Sally League managers rated his fastball as the best in the league. While the strikeouts seem low for a guy with that kind of heat, he’s a guy that could really take off if his secondary stuff comes around. At the very least, Cleto’s an electric bullpen arm. Cleto should join Phillippe Aumont, Juan Ramirez and Michael Pineda to form the California League’s best rotation next season.Â
Jason Vargas
The Marlins drafted Vargas in the second round of the 2004 draft as a senior out of Long Beach State, where he was a member of the Dirtbags’ rotation with Jered Weaver. Vargas started his professional career with the short-season Jamestown Jammers of the New York-Penn League where the stocky southpaw made eight starts, striking out 41 and walking 13 over 41 innings before getting promoted to the Sally League to finish the season. That winter, Baseball America ranked Vargas as the eighth best prospect in their system. He worked his way up their organizational ladder before being traded to the Mets in November 2006 along with Adam Bostick for Matt Lindstrom and Henry Owens. Vargas has a solid minor-league track record, but has struggled with injuries and inefficiency over his first 127 major league innings. Vargas has a mid-to-upper 80s fastball, a slider and a changeup. While it’s not shutdown stuff, he will compete with Justin Thomas and Jose Lugo to become the second lefty out of the bullpen.
Ezequiel Carrera
Coincidentally, Carrera profiles pretty similarly to Endy Chavez. The small-framed outfielder doesn’t have much juice in his bat, but he’s a good defender—rated as the best defensive outfielder in the Florida State League by the league’s managers—he can draw a few walks and has good speed. He stole 28 bases in 37 attempts and led the league with 12 triples … not too shabby for the seventh player in the deal.
Thanks for the info, Conor.
Care to venture a guess where these guys fit into the recent prospect rankings from baseball prospectus?
I have Logged in at least 15 times today to look for updates and they just keep coming. Thank you so much for giving us all of this info. Honestly have not been this excited about the future in years. Albeit this will take time but WOW bavasi couldnt have dreamed of this trade. He probably would have traded puts for ankiel who would only have a year left on his contract and then would be gone. Glad to have the new GM in Seattle
So is Cleto the reason Dave thinks this is a ‘Fantastic’ deal? I know he liked it but he said after getting more info on the low level guys, he likes it even better. Any ETA on Cleto? He is only 19, so I’m thinking 2012?
I’d like to see how these guys fit on The Future Forty graphs. It looks like we got a big depth boost, which is definitely nice to see.
How nice is it to have a GM (finally) that doesn’t get totally ripped apart on a trade? I’m really enjoying watching Z go to work. Should be a fun season to watch unfold, eh? Keep ’em comin’, Jack!
Also a BIG thanks to Dave, Conor and crew for all the hard work on this site. It’s great to be able to read about these guys. Very encouraging. I’m really liking this deal.
BP does rankings, but I think you’re asking about Baseball America. I should say that Vargas doesn’t technically qualify as a prospect anymore, so he won’t be in there. I would guess that Carp and Cleto would be in the 11-15 range, especially with Valbuena (who would have been #11) gone now.
ZTastic…love the enthusiasm and I agree, it feels good to be an M’s fan again but c’mon…Putz not puts, capital letters, punctuation…you can do it!
It’s certainly a nice boost and Dave and I will be updating the Future Forty shortly.
If he’s a starter, that’s probably pushing it. If they put him in the ‘pen, he could move more quickly.
So from the accounts of this trade it seems as if one of the priorities was getting the farm system restocked from the Bedard debacle?
It seems the M’s made out with a good amount of talent for Putz who really didn’t seem to be himself last year, and could be well on his way to a serious decline.
I’m loving the moves so far – a GM who seems to understand the old ways of thinking are just that (old) and that a bold new direction needed to be taken.
Thank you to all that you guys do! I am so impressed with all of the work everyone here does! And you just keep the great info and analysis coming. I’m a long time reader, and I don’t think I have expressed my gratitude for you guys enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You make being a Mariners fan fun again (as well as educational!).
I think this was a great trade. I hate to see Sean Green go (he was very good and very cheap), but what we got back in return will (hopefully) be very good for a long time. Keep up the good work ussmariner and Big Z!
Thanks for the info. Carp sounds like someone who could develop. I like the sound of a .403 OBP.
It looks like we’ll be adding another few prospects come draft time courtesy of the Phillies who have gone out and snatched up our favorite slow-footed slugger! Something tells me this Mariner won’t be quite as successful as Moyer or the Dobber were…
What do we think about Carp’s defense? Is it as bad as advertised?
Makes me wonder if we’ll ever get UZR for the minors! heh… we can dream at least.
Another interesting development, the trade didn’t get nixed by Howie or Chuck, a la the Washburn trade that didn’t happen.
Does that mean the front office is taking more of a hands off approach? If so, yippee!
I was thinking that too. Stoppers seem to have short careers, in the main. Relatively few of them have lengthy careers, must be the toll it takes on the arm making 60 or more appearances a season in situations where the pitcher is called upon to use his best stuff on every pitch.
All this new depth begs the question, “Will the M’s continue their ‘Promote to Failure’ approach to player development and push young guys up through the ranks as quickly as possible?”
Dan Z
Paul B said: “Another interesting development, the trade didn’t get nixed by Howie or Chuck, a la the Washburn trade that didn’t happen.
Does that mean the front office is taking more of a hands off approach? If so, yippee!”
Paul B…I never even thought of that regarding Howie and Chuck. Puhllleeeease tell me this will be the case and those two will stay OUT of the picture and let Jack Z do his thing! Perhaps that will be the most important part of this trade to watch. 🙂
BTW, how do you do the quotes without just doing a copy and paste like I just did?
Deleted post.
I think it should be mentioned that while Carp had more walks than any player in the M’s system, Marshall Hubbard had a better walk rate (15.3%), and his K rate wasn’t much worse (20.4%). I know Hubbard is old for the league, but he seems like a very similar player. I’m not trying to disparage trading for Carp, as being younger he’s clearly got the higher potential, but is it that much higher than Hubbard’s?
I don’t think so, Dan. Gutierrez buys some time for Halman and I think the M’s will slow down their promotions with a new GM and farm director at the helm.
Hubbard isn’t a prospect – Carp is.
There was at least one report that Zduriencik had originally targeted Jon Niese (I’m not sure which of these guys he accepted instead), but the Mets wouldn’t give him up. Interesting.
I have seen Cleto play and wrote it up for my blog
I thought you all would enjoy a detailed game report.
Maikel Cleto, RHP, NYM -19-year old IFA from the Dominican Republic; (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K)
* Looked every bit of 218 lbs, but seemed shorter than his listed height of 6’3″
* Spent first two innings in the 92-94 range with his fastball.
* Velocity spiked in the 3rd and 4th as he was consistently hitting 94 and topping out at 97 MPH.
* Fastball seemed to lack movement.
* Breaking pitches were rudimentary at best. Looked as if he threw a cutter at 88-90 and a very poor curve in the upper 70’s.
* Slowed arm action and altered mechanics tipped curve badly.
* Sling shot arm action. with size/mechanics, not much room for projection with the fastball. With it already at 92-97, does he need it?
* Bulldog on the mound, really attacked hitters and had a nice “swagger.”
His fastball velocity, along with his demeanor has me thinking closer. Attitude and swagger resembled Ugueth Urbina. Needs SIGNIFICANT refinement or addition of a true second pitch to reach potential.
Interesting info. Much appreciated.
His fastball velocity, along with his demeanor has me thinking closer. Attitude and swagger resembled Ugueth Urbina. Needs SIGNIFICANT refinement or addition of a true second pitch to reach potential.
Hey, maybe JJ can teach him the split-finger… oh, right. Nevermind.
I hear Eddie Guardado’s available.