Sunday, June 13, 2004
Movin’ on up
Moving day has finally come for David Wright, and he’s taking Prentice Redman home with him. Both have been promoted to the Mets’ AAA affiliate in Wright’s hometown of Norfolk, Virginia after thoroughly dominating the AA Eastern League competition. The twenty-four year old Redman obviously doesn’t have the kind of upside that the twenty-one year old Wright has, but his time was just as obviously being wasted in his second trip to Binghamton, as he dominated the younger competition, posting a .297/.375/.585 line in 229 at bats for the fourth best RARP in the league. He may never amount to much in the major leagues, but this move was overdue all the same, particularly given the lack of serious prospects blocking his progress in Norfolk.
Wright, on the other hand, looks like he could be entrenched at third base at Shea very soon and for years to come, in which case the 223 at bats he spent at Binghamton will be looked back at as the time he really broke through and showed what he could do. Wright led the league in RARP by hitting a ridiculous .363/.467/.619 with 27 doubles, 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 26 attempts. The comparison’s been made before, but it’s still fun to put Wright’s numbers alongside the .365/.429/.609 line posted in AA last year by another hot third base prospect by the name of Miguel Cabrera. Wright’s about sixteen months older than Cabrera was at the same time last year, but he’s also shown the better plate discipline of the two and his defense figures to be much more valuable at third base for the Mets than Cabrera’s has been so far in right field for the Marlins. Many have called for Wright to be promoted straight to the majors just as Cabrera was last year and I certainly wouldn’t have been upset had they done so. But this isn’t the Mets’ year, and there’s no real reason to rush Wright. Let him play in his hometown and kick the crap out of AAA pitching for a while and then we’ll get to see him in a Mets uniform come August or September. And by this time next year, we should be speaking of Ty Wigginton as a pretty good bat to have coming off of the bench. ¶ joe | 3:43 PM |
Moving day has finally come for David Wright, and he’s taking Prentice Redman home with him. Both have been promoted to the Mets’ AAA affiliate in Wright’s hometown of Norfolk, Virginia after thoroughly dominating the AA Eastern League competition. The twenty-four year old Redman obviously doesn’t have the kind of upside that the twenty-one year old Wright has, but his time was just as obviously being wasted in his second trip to Binghamton, as he dominated the younger competition, posting a .297/.375/.585 line in 229 at bats for the fourth best RARP in the league. He may never amount to much in the major leagues, but this move was overdue all the same, particularly given the lack of serious prospects blocking his progress in Norfolk.
Wright, on the other hand, looks like he could be entrenched at third base at Shea very soon and for years to come, in which case the 223 at bats he spent at Binghamton will be looked back at as the time he really broke through and showed what he could do. Wright led the league in RARP by hitting a ridiculous .363/.467/.619 with 27 doubles, 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 26 attempts. The comparison’s been made before, but it’s still fun to put Wright’s numbers alongside the .365/.429/.609 line posted in AA last year by another hot third base prospect by the name of Miguel Cabrera. Wright’s about sixteen months older than Cabrera was at the same time last year, but he’s also shown the better plate discipline of the two and his defense figures to be much more valuable at third base for the Mets than Cabrera’s has been so far in right field for the Marlins. Many have called for Wright to be promoted straight to the majors just as Cabrera was last year and I certainly wouldn’t have been upset had they done so. But this isn’t the Mets’ year, and there’s no real reason to rush Wright. Let him play in his hometown and kick the crap out of AAA pitching for a while and then we’ll get to see him in a Mets uniform come August or September. And by this time next year, we should be speaking of Ty Wigginton as a pretty good bat to have coming off of the bench. ¶ joe | 3:43 PM |
