Last night via email I asked Mets vice president of player development Paul DePodesta about the trio of youngsters — Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, and Wuilmer Becerra — his team acquired from the Blue Jays in the R.A. Dickey trade. Here's what he had to say.
On catcher Travis d'Arnaud:
I think we need to get our hands on him first before we start predicting where he's going to play or what his timetable will be. Considering he missed the back half of last year and the fact that he's coming to a new organization, I think the most important part of spring training will just be about getting back into game shape and learning about 25 new pitchers.
On right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard:
We see a big, physical presence who is athletic and a strike thrower. You just don't see many guys his size at his age command the strike zone the way he has as a professional, especially with big velocity. In addition to the power, there's also deception to what he does. As with D'arnaud, we'll refrain from making any predictions as to where Noah will be next here until we have a better feel for him in spring training.
On outfielder Wuilmer Becerra:
Wuilmer should be fine for 2013. Given the fact that he's the same age as a typical high school senior and has fewer than 40 professional plate appearances, I suspect he'll stay in our extended program, which is what we did with guys like [Brandon] Nimmo and [Phillip] Evans last year (and he is a year younger than those guys were). After that, we'll figure out which short-season club would be the most appropriate for him. As far as position, we see him as an outfielder, even though he played shortstop as an amateur. He's shown above average speed in the past, but he's a big, physical young man. We'll probably play him all over the outfield early on, as we do with most of our younger prospects.