Usually when I try and explain to your average fan that many of the decisions by the Mets brain trust is the result of veteran loyalty, they respond like you probably would to some mass conspiracy theorist, first by reminding them that life is not that interesting and that my ideas are best suited for some future novel than they are in the great game of baseball. Therefore, I am willing to admit that the reality is a lot more nuanced; The truth is that the Mets are perhaps the greatest paradox in the business when it comes to handling young players. On one hand, I stand by my belief that the big leagues have practically become an off-limits sacrosanct province for young players in favor of declining veterans; Lastings Milledge, Philip Humber, Ruben Gotay, and countless others are victims of this nonsensical attitude.
On the other hand, you have your young, talented prospects who are not quite ready for the big leagues. Many of these guys seemingly fail to catch the attention of the upper echelon of the Mets management, and occasionally such ignorant collousness is worthy of a mention in the mainstream media, as in the case of Aaron Hathaway. The Mets more than make up for it, however, with the treatment of some of their top tier talent, such as Fernando Martinez, Jose Coronado, and Ruben Tejada, whose ascension up the minor league ladder and subsequent lack of development is unparalleled compared to other organizations.
Than you have another group of players- the journeyman, the big league washouts, the 29 year-old AAAA superstar hitting .292/.414/.554 and is just another roster-filler in the eys of many. The guys who had a cup of coffee in the big leagues, but their time spent there was so short it was, as Michael Lewis would put “it almost hadn’t happened at all.” As if it were not were already a foregone conclusion that the Mets organization would rather reincarnate Sean Henry, who is quietly hitting .326/.398/.498 for the Ready AA affiliate, Chattanooga, and trade him off for another Jeff Conine esque player than call up the raking Pascucci, Jerry Manuel offered his detailed analysis of the young Italian a few days back:
“I’ll be honest with you, who is he?” Manuel asked with a laugh.
Told he was a power hitter with the Zephyrs, Manuel added: “Okay. I apologize. I haven’t the slightest idea. Was he in spring training?”
Alright, it is more funny than depressing. I am also pretty sure Jerry Manuel has other priorities on his mind that familiarizing himself with the club’s AAA outfielders, even as Moises Alou continues to prove he cannot jog from the dugout to the outfield between innings without sustaining some type of ailment. Still, that hardly takes away from how frightening this is- although I admit that Bobby Cox had no idea who Charles Thomas before he was called up in 2004.
Manuel and Mets management did not exactly try and redeem themselves- as if there was that much public outrage over Manuel’s comments anyways- by calling up Nick Evans to replace Ryan Church on the Mets roster. The funny part about this move is that I cannot ascribe it to any bias or hidden agenda or any of that sort of nonsense. Do not get me wrong, I think Evans is a good player with a bright future in front of him, and one short trip to the big leagues may be enough of a motivator this time around. The problem is, in his last trip to the big leagues, Evans looked laughably over matched.
Ok, we get it, Valentino Pascucci hit .177 in 62 at-bats for the Montreal Expos in 2004! But why not give the call to Mike Carp, who is hitting just as well at AA as Evans and has a combined 677 AB’s at the level, compared to Evans 296? It certainly not a left-righty issue, as others have assumed. And while Evans is surely more athletic than Carp, both are playing their first year in the outfield in AA, and the Mets are not exactly throwing out gold glovers in Fernando Tatis and Marlon Anderson lately.
Many people I talk to that follow the minor leagues year around and have ties to the Mets organization seem to get the sense that Carp is lacking that certain type of profile to play in New York, and he is never brought up when discussing the organizations “top prospects”, such ad FMart, Jon Niese, and Eddie Kunz. Except Carp’s performance at just 22 years old is nothing to digress over, and while the difference between him and Evans is fairly negligible, I just cannot help but see the dysfunctional logic behind this move.
It is amazing how my personal sentiment over this team, particularly with Manuel, can change with one players returning to the DL. But once again, this organization proves it just does not get it.
Filed under: Nick Evans, mike carp, val pascucci | Tagged: Baseball, mike carp, New York Mets, Nick Evans, val pasucci
