Mets Designate Tobi Stoner, Jason Pridie For Assignment

by Eric Simon on Jan 20, 2011 7:15 PM EST

As their 40-man roster was already maxed out even before signing Chris Young and Scott Hairston, the Mets had to shuffle things around to make room for their newest acquisitions. To that end they designated Tobi Stoner and Jason Pridie for assignment. The Mets can attempt to trade either or both, otherwise the players will be placed on waivers during which time they can be claimed by any of the other 29 big league teams.

Adam Rubin has the implications of these moves.

Pridie, if he clears, can refuse the assignment to the minors and elect for free agency because he previously has been outrighted off a 40-man roster. Stoner, if he clears, would need to report to Triple-A Buffalo, and likely would be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee -- the path of Ryota Igarashi.

Pridie is a 27-year-old defense-first outfielder with little offensive utility. Stoner is a 26-year-old finesse righty with an amusing surname. Each provides a little bit of organization depth, which is all the Mets will really lose if either doesn't wind up returning. Listen to Rob's December interviews of Pridie & Stoner here and here.

Discussion topic: If Stoner gets traded or claimed by another team, who would then have the best name in the organization?

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stoner doesn't even have the best last name

in the organization amongst soft tossing righties.

What Would Matt Szczur Do?

Fact on Villanova Sports

by Hoyadestroya85 on Jan 20, 2011 7:19 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Surely ZeErika McQueen still holds the name crown

Man, what’s it gonna take for Ollie to get cut? I’m pretty confeident Pridie and Stoner are both better pitchers than him.

by psiogen on Jan 20, 2011 7:47 PM EST reply actions

I thought Dickey had the best name in the org.

But if not, here’s a few candidates:
Yoryi Nuez, Kevin Weijgertse, Yeixon Ruiz (DSL)
Yucarybert de la Cruz, Jeyckol de Leon (GCL)
Ray Van Gurp, Gonzalez Germen (Kingsport)
ZeErika McQueen (Brooklyn)
Travis Ozga, Dock Doyle, Guillaume Leduc (Savannah)
Rhiner Cruz, Jean Luc Blauqiere (St. Lucie)
Valentino Pascucci, Boof Bonser (Buffalo)

I am willing to wait to build a world class franchise (h/t to millsy)

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jan 20, 2011 9:34 PM EST up reply actions

wow

Those are all fantastic

Image credit for Jerrysaurus goes to astromets

by hotspur on Jan 20, 2011 9:56 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

My favorite has always been....

…ZeErika McQueen !

by Steve OnceBrooklynNowMets on Jan 20, 2011 9:57 PM EST up reply actions

Yowza

by SuperT on Jan 21, 2011 12:20 AM EST up reply actions

Let's not forget

Eudy Pina who also played in the DSL

by CatchDog on Jan 21, 2011 9:12 AM EST up reply actions

Boob Fonser...

How about an Orange Monster at Citi Field for Bay?

by Mets-Suns-Texans on Jan 20, 2011 8:12 PM EST reply actions

.

by bjk3047 on Jan 20, 2011 8:39 PM EST up reply actions 9 recs

Oh my god that's creepy

by TheBigStapler on Jan 20, 2011 10:52 PM EST up reply actions

Boob Fondler

That would be a good nickname for Boof Bonser, surely. But only if you say the whole thing, which is not easy. Boof ‘Boob Fondler’ Bonser.

by deadspy3 on Jan 21, 2011 6:53 AM EST up reply actions

+1

It's a triumph of number crunching over the human spirit...aaaaaand, it’s about time. -- Play-by-Play Announcer, The Simpsons.

by MookieTheCat on Jan 21, 2011 10:31 AM EST up reply actions

Is Tuuu Timp still a part of the organization?

"I think Murdertron makes a good point though."

by Joamiq on Jan 20, 2011 8:50 PM EST reply actions

Always and Forever

by deadspy3 on Jan 21, 2011 6:53 AM EST up reply actions

I certainly hope Stoner makes it through waivers. Theres still a chance he can turn it around and become an effective starter, and at the very worst hes a strong AAA starter. Itd be a shame to lose him.

by esovia on Jan 20, 2011 10:13 PM EST reply actions

Actually at the worst he's a bad AAA starter

and a mediocre AA starter, like he has been the last few years.

I really wouldn’t mind if we lost him. The Nationals just released JD Martin, who’s better. Every year you can sign guys to MILB deals that are better than Stoner.

by supermets on Jan 21, 2011 9:30 AM EST up reply actions

whether true or not,

he’s more than capable of competing for one of the final 3 pen spots.

he’s really no worse than the other 8 or 9 warm bodies that are will be competing for those last 3 bullpen slots… so either people are underrating Stoner or seriously overrating the other candidates like the great Boof Bonser, Manny Acosta, Manny Alvarez, TimByrdak, or Taylor Tankersley.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 21, 2011 10:08 AM EST up reply actions

No he's not.

I think you’re really overrating Stoner. The guy struck out 6.2 batters per nine at AAA last year and that was a career best mark. He had a 4.96 FIP. At AAA. The guy’s not a major leaguer and likely shouldn’t have ever been on the 40 man in the first place.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!

by Steve Schreiber on Jan 21, 2011 12:55 PM EST up reply actions

you're missing the point.

the rest of the crew competing for the open pen spots aren’t any better caliber pitcher, considering injuries and lack of recent success and general ineffectiveness.

I have no problem with the philosophy of throwing a lot of smack against the wall… but then let’s call that for what it is.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 21, 2011 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

Not only does Stoner have crappy results (5.97 ERA, 4.96 FIP last year in AAA)

but he has crappy results and he’s 26.
Acosta is actually a fine replacement level pitcher who make near the league minimum.
Bonser is another guy who always manages to put up a positive WAR (1.3, 1.6, 1.2, and in 25 IP 0.2 WAR). He’s also only signed for 700K.
Alvarez has good results and is 25 (2.87 ERA, 2.67 FIP in AA).
and the other two are lefties.

Stoner is by far the worst option of the 6.

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Jan 21, 2011 2:51 PM EST up reply actions

whoa cowboy...

Bonser hasn’t had an ERA below 5 since 2006, threw all of 25 innings in the majors since 2008 and is already 29… not much there to like.

Alvarez had a very nice year in 2010, actually his 1st good season in the minors at 24…. hard to tell much from that.

Acosta is going to be 30 and has thrown a total of 150 ML innings and was a waiver pickup who had a decent 30+ inning stretch last year pitching in garbage time.

Stoner had a lousy 2010 but a pretty strong 09… considering we’re talking about the 10th, 11th and 12th pitchers on what will clearly be a horrendous bullpen, Stoner could have as good a shot at making the team as any of these other shlubs.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 21, 2011 4:36 PM EST up reply actions

Bonser's ERA might not be all that pretty but he still had >1 fWAR's. He also has a career 7.21 K/9 and a 2.87 BB/9 (both are better than league average).

Acosta is pretty much the definition of replacement level but has a K/9 of 7.44 for his career (it was 9.53 last year).
Alvarez actually has a chance at making the team (and not being terrible). He also has a 7.4 K/9 for his MiLB career.

Why are you so upset with losing a guy who’s not even considered to be failed prospect (you need to have had legitimate upside at one point to be a failed prospect)? Seriously, the highest I can find him rated is #19 in 2007 by Sickels. He was probably #12 on the SP depth chart? How is that a deal-breaker for you?

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Jan 21, 2011 5:19 PM EST up reply actions

missing the point.

no one is going to lose sleep over the loss of Tobi Stoner…

but why excuse the FO for sparing LC when he has nothing to offer the team and has been garbage for years. Cut bait already. Plenty of other teams with far fewer resources in smaller mkts have released players with bigger contracts than his $6M.

Why keep this albatross around any longer? For what purpose?

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 21, 2011 5:34 PM EST up reply actions

You keep saying that we're "missing the point" but

your point continues to jump around. Stoner sucks. That’s the end of it. Stoner will not be a major leaguer.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!

by Steve Schreiber on Jan 21, 2011 6:03 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

You can't just deny what Acosta and Alvarez did while talking up Stoner.

Acosta had a very good year in the majors for a guy making the minimum. I don’t see any way how you can say that Stoner is better than Acosta, considering Acosta has proven to be a decent middle reliever whereas Stoner has been mediocre to awful at AAA. There’s no chance of Stoner making the big league team…he’s a long reliever at best and he’d be a pretty poor one at that.

Alvarez had a very dominant season across A+ and AA and he’s younger than Stoner and has better stuff. And Bonser has struggled with injuries but the guy was a top prospect in the Giants and Twins organizations and a former 1st rounder before those injuries. He was a guy with great stuff and put up a couple of decent years before the injuries derailed him. It’s a decent gamble on a minor league deal to see if he gets his stuff back. All these guys are much better options than Stoner.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!

by Steve Schreiber on Jan 21, 2011 5:33 PM EST up reply actions

irrelevant.

you’re just trying to excuse the FO for the inexcusable. Castillo has nothing left in the tank and Stoner/Pridie could provide depth at some point given certain circumstances… just given the players ages we’re discussing and they’re worth keeping over LC.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Jan 21, 2011 5:37 PM EST up reply actions