Is This a Great Game, or What?, by Tim Kurkjian is an excellent baseball book for baseball fans. George F. Will of the New York Times says it "is like a leisurely lunch with Tim." When you read this book, that is exactly how you feel. Kurkjian collects baseball stories throughout his career. If you read this book you will find yourself quoting stories from the book.

I really love the human element of baseball that is shown in this book and it is not just the human element of the players that Kurkjian shows. He shows the human elements of the media, of the managers, of the fans, of fanatics and of Baseball Analysts of TV.

At the start, the book is a claim of why Baseball is the best sport, to which Kurkjian provides a superfluous examples. This turns into the only negative aspect of the book, as this arguement pops up again alot. But when I say negative, I was really searching for something in this book that I didn't like. This really is an excellent baseball book. If you are a baseball fan, you need to read this book.

This is the next part in a series of articles that look into the Mets farm system for a future catcher. So far we have looked at notable statistics from last season from most of the catchers in the system, and 18-year old prospect Francisco Pena. Today, lets look at 23-year old prospect Jascon Jacobs.

Jason Jacobs has had two seasons in the Mets farm system so far. (Last year being his first full season). In 2006, he was drafted in the 20th round and was the 604th overall pick. In 2003, 2005-06 he played for University of Georgia. Each of those three seasons, his BA increased, .279, .286, .331.Overall, his slugging increased from .465 in 2003 to .496 in 2006. His homers and RBI's also increased in each of those seasons.

For the Cyclones in 2006, in 45 G and 138 AB, he posted a .217 BA and .312 SLG with 30 H, 7 2B, 2 HR and 14 RBI's.

In 2007, in 66 G and 238 AB, he posted a .273 BA and .487 SLG with 65 H, 11 2B, 12 HR and 46 RBI.

When compared to Pena's statistics, Jacob's are a lot better. Jacob is also 5 yeats older than Pena and has a lot more buzz around him than Jacob has. Personally I would like to see Jacob take some at-bats at a higher level, he was an allstar last year and it is time for him to move to the next level. With Pena's BA last year (slightly above .210), he should probably stay at low-A. How about trying Jacob at St.Lucie for the first part of the season, if it isnt working, he can go back Brooklyn when they start in June. (I prefer not to drop him and give him a season in A+ ball)

First off, I am glad that Gossage finally got in. There are some stats that important to consider is his 1002 games pitched, 310 saves, and 3.01 lifetime ERA. One is that he had 37 starts and 16 of them were complete games. This stat alone is not enough to get in the Hall, but with his other stats make for a good tidbit.  Furthermore, my personal favorite stat that I heard during an interview on ESPN, over 50 of his 310 saves were for 7 outs or more. Thats a 2+ inning save, which now-a-days is onheard of. There are also the intangebles like how he intimidated hitters and such that show this was about time. His election is also important because it shows how the game is valuing bullpen pitchers more.

Going with that same thought, and the reason why I mentioned it, is why I am upset that Lee Smith was not inducted. Lee Smith had a 3.03 ERA, right along there with Gossage but more importantly in my opinion, is his saves record. He has 478 saves. When he retired, he was the all time leader. Hoffman recently broke that record but we cannot allow that to overlook Smith. He is also number 12 on the all time list for K/9IP. He would be going in because of his saves record, and hopefully he will eventually go in.

On November 28, 2007, the Mets acquired Brian Stokes from the Devil Rays (or Rays, I am protesting the name change), for cash considerations. The move was made shortly after Mota being traded to the Breweres for Estrada. Brian Stokes is another option for the bullpen and is on the 40-man roster. Last season was his first full season in the major leagues.

In 59 games, all of them relief apparences, he posted a 2-7 record, 7.07 ERA in 62.1 IP. He also had 35 K and 25 BB. His minor league totals, which were 7 seasons, were 39-42, 3.54 ERA, 198 G, 101 GS, 7.45 K/9.

He is pitching in the Mexican league right now and his stat line is 3-3, 4.30, 12 G, 3 GS, 23.0 IP, 16 K and 11 BB.

The one option I like about Stokes is that he can become a spot starter for injury situations if he makes the active 25. The other point I would like to bring up is how when the Mets got Mota, he was horrible and they turned him around (and then he fell apart again and I do not want to get into the steriods). In his second season in the majors he might be a more effective pitcher and time will tell.

On January 1st, mlbtraderumors.com ran an article about the Yankees interest in Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish. Yu Darvish is a 21-year old pitching celeberity in Japan. The team he plays for right now, the Hokkuido Nappon Ham Fighters believe he is a large part of keeping Japanese interest in Japanese baseball.

So far in three season in the Japanese baseball league, his numbers have been phenominal. Overall, he is 32-15, 17 CG, 451.2 IP, 377 K, with a 2.53 ERA. In his last season, he went 12-5, 12 CG, 207.2 IP, 210 K, 1.82 ERA. Each of his three seasons pitched, his ERA has dropped, his IP have increased, his CG have increased, his shutout (CG) have increased (1, then 2, then 3) each year he has pitched.

The big question revolving around Yu Darvish is his future in the Japanese Baseball League. As of right now, it seems like he will NOT be posted and seems like he has little intention of going to America. He knows his own importance to the popularity of baseball in Japan and he also has a family there.He will be marrying a Japanese Actress (Saeko) who apparently is already pregnant with their child.

People do draw comparisons between Darvish and Matusaka. These are Matusaka's statistics for his seasons at age 19-21:
16-5, 2.60 ERA, 180.0 IP, 151 K
14-7, 3.97 ERA, 167.2 IP, 144 K
15-15, 3.60 ERA, 240.1 IP, 214 K

When looking at those numbers, you can tell just by looking at them, that Daisuke's ERA was not as good as Darvish's. Further more his record, 45-27, percentage wise is just about the same as Darvish (Darvish winning percentage in decisions is 68%, Matusaka is 63%). Finally looking at IP, Daisuke did pitch a lot more than Darvish, over 130 innings more. Basically, the upside of Darvish over Matusaka is his ERA. Matusaka came over to America when he was 26, Darvish has 5 more years to go to that point. The one thing mlbtraderumors.com pointed out that is true that if Darvish is posted after 2008, the posting price will be a lot more than Matusakas' 51.1 million.

There are three stat lines from the winter league that I found intersting:

As most of you are aware, Edgardo Alfonzo is going to be playing in the Astro's farm system this year but if he hits as well in the minors as he is in the winter, they might have to consider moving him to the major leagues. In 54 Games and 191 AB, he has 64 H, 12 2B, 5 HR, and 33 RBI, which gives him a .335 BA.

The second stat line belongs to Mets' Willie Collazo. Over 5.2 IP (6 G) during the regular season in 2007, Collazo posted a 6.35 ERA while striking out no body and walking 5. In the winter this year, he has gone 3-3 over 12 games (11 of them starts), pitching 59.0 innings. He posted a 3.20 ERA, 30 K, 14 BB, with a 1.37 WHIP. To show another comparison, we should look at his minor league numbers in AAA. He pitched in 53 games, starting 4, going 6-5 pitching 98.2 innings. During that time he had a 2.46 ERA, 69 K, and 19 BB.
I guess this continues the growth of Willie. I am curious to see how he does at Spring Training this year, last year he went 4.1 innings allowing only 3 hits and 0 runs. I feel even with a great spring again, that he will not be starting in New York at the begining of the season, but you never know the shape of the pen.

The last winter line comes from another old friend, Alay Soler. He has gone 0-1 over 9 games, 1 started, pitching 22.2 innings. During that time he has a 1.99 ERA, 18 K, and 5 BB. Milb.com has no parent club listed. I know he didnt work out the last time, but what about offering him a small minor league contract and inviting him to camp? Its a low risk situation that could still have postive aspects.

During the catcher report from a few days ago, I mentioned that Baseball America sees Francisco Pena as the Mets catcher of the future. First off, I made a mistake under Pena's BA, his BA is .210 I stated that it was .263 which is actually his OBP.

Pena was signedon July 9th, 2006 and is the son of Tony Pena. When he signed with the Mets he was only 16 years old. During that time, people were saying that he was the best catching prospect to leave the Dominican Republic in a long time. In 2007, he played professional ball for the first time and his stats were as follows:

103 G, 367 AB, 77 H, 12 2B, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 1 SB, 24 BB, .210 BA, .263 OBP, .283 SLG, .547 OPS

With 17 extra base hits, 22% of his hits here for extra bases. (To put into perspective, last season 37% of Wright's hits were for extra bases, 23% of LoDuca's hits were for extra bases). Milb.com, in there season review article, blames Pena's lower than expected numbers on the level of minor league play. They feel the Mets might have rushed him by placing him in low A (Savannah Sand Gnats) ball. Jonathan Mayo, the author of that article, says " Here's hoping he can learn from adversity because he was given a healthy dose right off the bat."

Statistically speaking, Jason Jacobs, the catcher and DH for the Cyclones last summer, had the best year offensivly. It will be interesting how he is placed next year because power wise, he did well at his level but probably is not ready for a jump to St. Lucie. Pena is not ready for a jump to St. Lucie as well. Maybe they will platoon at Savannah for a period of time and the one with worse stats will drop to Brooklyn in June? I don't know. A lot can happen at the start of the season, especially if one gets an invite to Spring Training, dominates, and finds himself in a higher minor league level.

I was looking at the Milestone Tracker today at mlb.com, so I jotted down a few of the milestones that caught my eye:
Ivan Rodriguez: 2500 H
Carlos Delgado: 432 HR-passes Cal Ripkin for 37th all time. The entire summer he will be passing big names.
Carl Crawford: 1000 H
Chase Utely: 100 HR
David Wright: 100 HR
Ken Griffy: 600 HR
Manny Ramirez: 500 HR
Albert Pujols: 300 HR

There are a lot more milestones similar to these that will happen. There are plenty of other players reaching 100 HR or 1000 H, but I listed the ones that I thought are a big deal based on their age. The three big milestones will be Griffy, Manny, and Pujols.

Also last year I gave frequent updates where Reyes is on the ontime SB list. Right now, he is listed at 248 with 234 SB. He shares that spot with four other players including Sammy Sosa.

Regarding the Nick Swisher trade that happened earlier today, I agree with what mlbtraderumors.com had to say. It really shows that Beane is in a rebuilding mode. Between the Swisher and Haren trade, they have brought in 9 prospects. mlbtraderumors.com would not be surprised to see Blanton and Street be traded and at this point I wouldn't be surprised as well.  

We all know about F-Mart and Carlos Gomez, but what other OF prospects do the Mets have after their more well known names? Well get to know Corey Coles. Corey Coles, who will be 26 next season, was voted best plate disipline in the Mets farm system by the Baseball America staff. He attended University of Louisana- Lafayette from 02 to 03 and in 2003, he was drafted in the fifth round.

During his five minor league seasons, he has played in 397 Games, has 1480 AB compiling 453 H, 68 2B, 8 HR, 62 SB, and 138 RBI's. This resulted in a BA of .306, .387 SLG.

Last year, in three levels of minor league ball (A+, AA, AAA), he posted 111 H, 14 2B, 1 HR, 31 RBI in 98 G and 388 AB. He put up a .286 BA ( he also walked 33 times).

Taking his minor league totals, and then doing some math to convert them down into a 150 Games in a season, he would have 560 AB, 171 H, 26 2B, 3 HR, 52 RBI and 23 SB.

Other notes about his carear is that in 02 and in 03 he was a Sunbelt Conf All Star and in 2006 he was a Florida State League All Star. A lot of people note how he is a leadoff hitter in the making. Although he doesnt have a lot of power, his hits makes a case for him to be a #1 or #2 hitter. Despite Wright batting at #2 for a little time last year, the Mets never really had power in the 2 hole, which makes a case that down the line 2010/2011 if the Mets have traded alway both Gomez and Fmart. He hasn't cracked the top 10 prospects yet but it is nice to know that the mets have somebody in their minor system with a good BA.

I am not saying that Coles is a future allstar or a lock to the make the majors as an everyday. He has speed and he can get hits, so lets see what he can do in 2008.

Today, I took a look into the Mets farm system to see what they have in terms of catchers down the road. Before you see the results, I have to warn you, it’s not pretty.

New Orleans Zephyrs

Binghamton Mets

St. Lucie Mets

Sand Gnats

Brooklyn

Kingsport

GCL Mets

Player Totals (For Players with seasons with Multiple Teams)

            That’s a lot of numbers to digest, but I do have a few points of interest from this list. First, these are not all of the Mets Catchers in the system, at around the Class A Short Season level, Brooklyn Cyclones, I only recorded catchers of that had a lot playing time in comparison to the other catchers on the team or if they had stats recorded for other teams within the system, that being said, time for some analysis.

            The BA’s for the catchers in the Mets system are pretty low. One of the standouts from this would be Jason Jacobs from Brooklyn. He hit .273 for the season including 46 RBI’s and blasted 12 jacks. I went to a Brooklyn game earlier this year where he hit a double and one of those 12 jacks and I remember watching that ball sail out of the ballpark. It was a line drive home run that just kept going well out of the park. Baseball America has listed under their roster for the 2010 Mets, catcher Francisco Pena. He showed a good BA this season and although he had 0 homers, he did hit 11 2B, which could become homers later in his career. I am planning on doing a profile on him later on.

            I am planning on keeping an eye on both catchers that I listed under Kingsport. Although they have low BA’s, they seem to have power as seen by Bruce’s doubles, and Campo’s homers and doubles over only 23 games. They also have a disproportionate amount of RBI’s vs. their playing time and vs. most of the other catchers.

            My overall feeling after seeing these stats all together, is that although we might get a miracle from a few players, the Mets should really consider drafting a catching prospect in an early round this year, or trading prospects with another team.