Monday, July 14, 2003
Burnitz heads West
It starts with a B and ends with a Z, but the name of the next man to be shuffled off on to a lifeboat from the sinking SS Metropolitan isn't Benitez. Jeromy Burnitz, who has rebounded impressively from a terrible 2002 is on his way to the offense-starved Dodgers in exchange for three minor leaguers.
Victor Diaz is hitting a solid .291/.353/.472 in AA Jacksonville with 20 doubles and 11 home runs with 27 walks as compared to 60 strikeouts. This is an impressive improvement for the 21 year old, as he hit just .211/.259/.336 with 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 7 walks and 42 strikeouts last year in 142 at bats when he jumped two levels to AA at the age of 20. Baseball Prospectus said before the season that "his suspect defense and bulk have all but silenced hopes of keeping him at second or third base," and the Mets don't really need another first baseman with Mike Piazza and/or Jason Phillips likely to be there and hittng well next year and in the future, but the offensive numbers have looked good in the minors with the exception of the second half of last year, so he looks to be a good pickup from what I can tell from the stats.
Joselo Diaz has pitched 7 2/3 innings of relief in AA this year, giving up five hits, three walks and an unearned run while striking out seven. And Kole Strayhorn has pitched 46 innings at A-ball, giving up 42 hits, 13 walks and 17 runs (15 earned for a 2.93 ERA) while striking out 42 and compiling a 5-2 record with seven saves. The strikeout to walk ratio is somewhat encouraging, but again, he's a reliever in A-ball, so it's hard to say what if any use he'll be at the major league level.
So, as with any deal involving prospects, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but at least Diaz looks like a potentially useful future major leaguer and it's good to see the Mets stockpiling prospects, even if an inordinate number of them are minor league relievers. ¶ joe | 9:11 PM |
It starts with a B and ends with a Z, but the name of the next man to be shuffled off on to a lifeboat from the sinking SS Metropolitan isn't Benitez. Jeromy Burnitz, who has rebounded impressively from a terrible 2002 is on his way to the offense-starved Dodgers in exchange for three minor leaguers.
Victor Diaz is hitting a solid .291/.353/.472 in AA Jacksonville with 20 doubles and 11 home runs with 27 walks as compared to 60 strikeouts. This is an impressive improvement for the 21 year old, as he hit just .211/.259/.336 with 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 7 walks and 42 strikeouts last year in 142 at bats when he jumped two levels to AA at the age of 20. Baseball Prospectus said before the season that "his suspect defense and bulk have all but silenced hopes of keeping him at second or third base," and the Mets don't really need another first baseman with Mike Piazza and/or Jason Phillips likely to be there and hittng well next year and in the future, but the offensive numbers have looked good in the minors with the exception of the second half of last year, so he looks to be a good pickup from what I can tell from the stats.
Joselo Diaz has pitched 7 2/3 innings of relief in AA this year, giving up five hits, three walks and an unearned run while striking out seven. And Kole Strayhorn has pitched 46 innings at A-ball, giving up 42 hits, 13 walks and 17 runs (15 earned for a 2.93 ERA) while striking out 42 and compiling a 5-2 record with seven saves. The strikeout to walk ratio is somewhat encouraging, but again, he's a reliever in A-ball, so it's hard to say what if any use he'll be at the major league level.
So, as with any deal involving prospects, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but at least Diaz looks like a potentially useful future major leaguer and it's good to see the Mets stockpiling prospects, even if an inordinate number of them are minor league relievers. ¶ joe | 9:11 PM |
