Mets Kids Showing Promise
By Mike Silva ~ March 7th, 2010. Filed under: Mets Minors, Mike Silva.
Don’t look now, but the Mets top prospects haven’t been told that experts aren’t sold on their value. The big story this week was the health of Jose Reyes, but on the field it was about the kids the Mets are relying on for their future. Fernando Martinez, Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada and Kirk Nieuwenhuis all are off to outstanding stars this spring.
Fernando Martinez: 8-12, 2 HR, a triple and 4 RBI
Ike Davis: 7-13, 1 HR and 6 RBI
Ruben Tejada: 5-14, 3 RBI
Kirk Neiuwenhuis: 3-9, 3 RBI
Jenrry Mejia: 2.1 innings , 0 runs, 4 K’s
Before we get crazy it’s the first week of spring training and not all of this production is against pitchers that will sniff a big league job. Regardless, we keep hearing how bad the Mets farm system is, but it’s conceivable that three of those kids have a role on the 2010 ballclub. If you add in Jonathan Niese, Mike Pelfrey, David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Jose Reyes the Mets could have up to 8 players on the 25 man roster who are homegrown.
Even if Tejada and Neiuwenhuis turn out to be backups these are players that will be costs controlled for a few years and help the Mets, who have a finite budget, spend their available payroll more wisely. There will be no need to acquire free agents and pay them a couple of million dollars to sit on the bench and pinch hit.
Remember the old saying “hope springs eternal,” and with April around the corner these numbers will long be forgotten. There will always be a million reasons for skepticism about a young kid, but for once let’s focus on some of the positive aspects of the Mets upper tier of their farm system.
