Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia Make MLB.com's 2012 Top 100 Prospect List

Wheeler was ranked highest at #28, Harvey next at #38 and Familia at #90. The article also includes some quotes from Paul DePodesta and Wally Backman.

4 months ago Steve Schreiber 34 comments 0 recs |

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Anyone know what to expect from

Steven Matz and Juan Urbina. I know Matz is coming off TJ and wondering what his expectations are going forward. Urbina I haven’t heard much of as late.

by TheKid08 on Jan 25, 2012 11:15 PM EST reply actions

Urbina is still 18 years old and likely going to start the year in extended spring training followed by Brooklyn

He’s still got a lot of growing to do. His fastball is now in the 88-93 range, change and curve still developing, and he’s been hit hard (despite decent peripherals) in rookie ball.

It’s anyone’s guess where Matz’s stuff will be when he finally comes back, but he’s still just 20. The temptation will be to fast-track him to make up for lost time, but I doubt this front office tries it. With the GCL Mets eliminated, he’ll almost certainly start off in Kingsport; he could get moved up to Brooklyn during the season if he’s pitching well. He’ll be Rule V eligible at the end of the 2013 season, which will add a weird angle to his development if he does manage to get healthy.

by psiogen on Jan 25, 2012 11:53 PM EST up reply actions

Looking forward to seeing Urbina in Brooklyn

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 1:53 PM EST up reply actions

Matz expects to pitch and not have his arm fall off for the first time since he got overworked in HS

If nothing else, he made a lot of money, got to call himself a Met, and got a sandwich named after himself at the best deli (Se Port Deli, called ‘the Matz’) in Setauket – and damn if that is not the best sandwich place I ever been to, though I have yet to try his sandwich cause I don’t go home enough. Not bad for a kid who hit puberty and grew up physically right before his senior year of high school, which allowed him to mow through the pathetic schedule of high schools that Ward Melville faces, though he is far from catching up to mankind (the wrestler) in fame among notable graduates.

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by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 1:33 AM EST up reply actions

Wasn't he our first rounder in '09?

Look at how that turned out.

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by SuperSantana on Jan 26, 2012 3:32 PM EST up reply actions

2nd rounder

The Angels got our 1st rounder when we signed K-Rod.

37 - 14 - 41 - 31 - 17 - 42 - SHEA

by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 3:42 PM EST up reply actions

Yup

and took Mike Trout one pick after the pick they got from us. KRod cost us Trout.

by ZZPops on Jan 26, 2012 6:05 PM EST up reply actions

Not necessarily, Trout wasn't a college reliever

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by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 6:12 PM EST up reply actions

O Omar

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by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 7:42 PM EST up reply actions

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

Wow they're high on Manny Banuelos.

12 is kind of crazy high.

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by Ogre39666 on Jan 26, 2012 12:01 AM EST reply actions

Is it too cynical of me to suggest

That they purposely bumped him super high after the Pineda trade just to have a Yankee at the top? I would take any of 13-20 over Banuelos any day. I like Wheeler better, and maybe even Harvey, but 12 is just too high for a future number two with control issues.

37 - 14 - 41 - 31 - 17 - 42 - SHEA

by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 12:18 AM EST up reply actions

I don't see what he did to jump 29 spots

His walk rate went up, his strikeout rate went down and even his traditional stats weren’t great. Granted he played at higher levels but still I can’t figure out what exactly makes him all the sudden the 12th best prospect in the country

by ZZPops on Jan 26, 2012 12:26 AM EST up reply actions

He's a Yankee

by Shevshevy on Jan 26, 2012 12:47 AM EST up reply actions

this is Johnathon Mayo

and the mlb.com list right? Yea, they were a nice introduction into minor league prospects, but like with mac paintbrush to edit photos, most people advance past them quickly and never go back, and that’s for a reason

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by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 1:37 AM EST up reply actions

I usually don't bother with the MLB.com lists

But it was on TV, and it was something to watch.

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by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 8:29 AM EST up reply actions

MLB.com

Loves Yankee prospects. Doesn’t matter if they pan out or not. They have potential!

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 26, 2012 10:02 AM EST up reply actions

I also like

How for Familia they put up his hitting stats as well.

Professionalism at it's finest

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 26, 2012 10:11 AM EST reply actions

If you break out Mayo's list by his point system...

….where #1 get 100 points, #2 gets 99 and so on, Mets rank 20th on that list with 147 point (ZW = 73, MH = 63, JF = 11).

If Wheeler was not obtained, the Mets would rank 26th, while the Giants (currently ranked 29th) move up to 20.

Chicago White Sox? 1 prospect. 1 point.

by barry_hal_oliver_24 on Jan 26, 2012 11:21 AM EST reply actions

The worst part about the White Sox system

is that their lone prospect on that list, Addison Reed, is a future closer. So he could turn out to be Drew Storen, or turn out to be Eddie Kunz. Either way, he’s a relief pitcher, and when that’s all you have, you’re in deep shit.

37 - 14 - 41 - 31 - 17 - 42 - SHEA

by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 11:46 AM EST up reply actions

I don't see why Wheeler should be ranked so high over Harvey

I would rank Harvey over Wheeler to begin with, and that aside, they’d be pretty close. I mean, look at their stats:

Wheeler: 3.68 ERA in 173.2 IP (2 seasons of A and A+ Ball), 7.6 Hits/9, 0.4 HR/9, 4.7 BB/9, 10.3 K/9

Harvey: 3.32 ERA in 135.2 IP (1 season of A+ and AA Ball), 8.7 Hits/9, 0.6 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9, 10.3 K/9

They are almost virtually identical. Wheeler has more innings under his belt, but Harvey has been facing tougher competition.

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 2:01 PM EST reply actions

Very true

I didn’t understand how Wheeler was 10 spots ahead of Harvey myself. Especially when most other prospect writers are at the very least calling them “1A and 1B”. You would think they’d be side by side in a top 100 ranking.

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 26, 2012 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

Ten spots on a top 100 list

really isn’t a wide differential between the ranking of two prospects.

by Ambient on Jan 26, 2012 2:33 PM EST up reply actions

The opinion I keep reading this winter

is that Wheeler has slightly better secondary stuff – possibly a reason he has been a little less hittable, though that could also be the opposing talent.

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by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 2:39 PM EST up reply actions

Flores at 3B

MLB.com also has Flores listed at 3B in the Top 10 3B prospect rankings. Did the front office officially switch him over to 3B? I don’t remember hearing any of this. And if they’re going by Winter League scenarios it still isn’t valid as he’s played a lot of 2B, more so than 3B.

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 26, 2012 2:32 PM EST reply actions

Flores probably would be playing 3B full time by now

if he weren’t spending alot of time on the same team as Jefry Marte. I think Flores’s ultimate destination is 3B, and with that in mind, keeping him at short, on the left side of the infield makes sense.

by Ambient on Jan 26, 2012 2:36 PM EST up reply actions

I know it's his most likely destination

Although he’s been playing a lot of 2B in the winter league, but I don’t remember it being made official by the Front Office, so I was wondering why Mayo took it upon himself to list him there as a 3B instead of SS.

You always root for laundry. Of course, you'd like to have good players in that laundry as well.

by MetsCity on Jan 26, 2012 4:06 PM EST up reply actions

It's nothing official

I’m sure it just reflects Mayo’s opinion about Wilmer’s future.

by psiogen on Jan 26, 2012 5:26 PM EST up reply actions

There's been rumblings but

no word from the Mets as far as I’ve seen. The Winter League teams just move guys around at their own discretion, typically.

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by Steve Schreiber on Jan 26, 2012 6:21 PM EST up reply actions

again, it's Johnathon Mayo and mlb.com

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by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 7:43 PM EST up reply actions

They've said

Flores will play short stop start the year at least. I assume that is subject to change, though.

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by Jeffrey Paternostro on Jan 27, 2012 10:55 AM EST up reply actions

A couple observations

for Bubba Starling actually seems low to me. Didn’t he recieve the highest bonus in history from KC?

And Machado, in my opinion, should’ve cracked the top five. Bat recieving comparisons to another Manny (Ramirez). The fact that Tehran is right behind the big three (Moore-Harper-Trout) is downright scary, and Vizcaino and Tehran at 36 and 42, respectively, doesn’t help.

Also, interesting that Grandal is ranked behind Rosario on the catcher list…

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by santana9237 on Jan 26, 2012 4:16 PM EST reply actions