Mets' Eddie Kunz Traded to Padres for Allan Dykstra

After many a struggle in the Mets' minor league system, former Oregon State Beaver Eddie Kunz has been traded to the Padres in return for Allan Dykstra. Dykstra is not related to the Mets great Lenny of the same name, so don't get too excited.

Frankly, I saw this coming for some time, considering that Kunz has never really panned out as a Mets prospect and has come across as somewhat of a bust in recent years. He was rushed to the Majors instead of being given the developmental time that he needed in the Minors, which likely contributed to his demise. Since then, he's had all sorts of mechanical issues and has struggled to find a good release point for his sinking fastball.

On that night I was in Binghamton this past summer, Kunz actually pitched fairly well (left). However, the very fact that he was in Binghamton when most people had projected him to be in the Majors by 2010 is a testament to how poorly he was managed as a player. I felt horrible for him because of how he was rushed to the front when he clearly was not ready to go.

Best of luck to you in the Padres organization, Eddie - you deserve success, and I hope you're able to find it in San Diego!

Pawtucket Red Sox 2011 Opening Day Lineup

Minor League Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year. And now I'm even more excited since Dan Hoard just tweeted this:

PawSox lineup; Navarro, Reddick, Kalish, Exposito, Anderson, Linares, Iglesias, Bates, Khoury with Doubront starting #lookoutIL

Needless to say, this makes me really giddy. That's a damn good lineup. If we were to do this by position, it'd probably look like this:

C Exposito
1B Anderson
2B Khoury
3B Navarro
SS Iglesias
LF Linares
CF Reddick
RF Kalish
SP Doubront

The outfielders are somewhat speculative, I must admit - you can definitely switch Linares and Reddick's positions if you see it fit to. I just wanted to be really, really excited to see the PawSox this season. They look EXCELLENT.

Let's Talk Linares...

On August 24th, 2010, I was in Harrisburg to catch the Portland Sea Dogs playing against the Senators. And this kid was quite the eye-catcher.

My photo to the right is my best shot of Juan Carlos Linares, which I took a week or two before his 26th birthday. He's a little outfielder - 5'11", 190 lbs - who defected from Cuba to play, and I'm impressed. He didn't make Cuba's World Cup team in November of 2009 and therefore decided to sign with Boston, and he played for both the GCL Red Sox and Portland in 2010, where he was decidedly average (.267 at GCL, .239 at Portland). But here's the thing - he absolutely shone in the Arizona Fall League this past autumn. His swing is nice and short and he can use the entire field with his hitting, but he's going to have to take it easy and learn some patience before he can handle Major League pitching.

Now where are we going to put the kid in 2011? There's a good chance he could make his way up to Pawtucket based on his AFL performance. He did enjoy a Spring Training invite this year, so many fans got a good look at him for the first time. Although the Sox have plenty of outfielders floating around, he's an intriguing possibility to keep in mind as 2011 starts up.

So I Really Like Sean Ratliff...

I took this photo on a humid night in Binghamton last June. Josh Stinson was pitching, and it was Boy Band Night. Not many fans showed up due to threats of rain.

I was so glad I went, because I finally got to see one of my favorite Stanford boys in person. (See his Cardinal stats here and please laugh at his goofy roster photo.) Ratliff ended up having an insanely good night, going yard twice, if I recall correctly. I fell in love with his swing. It's a thing of beauty.

The problem is, of course, that the Mets have plenty of outfielders at present. A player like Ratliff has to contend with Duda, Nieuwenhuis, and, of course, people like Pagan, Bay and Beltran at the Major League level to make it. Now, we obviously know that all of these people are pretty darn talented. What are we to do with Ratliff? He was drafted in 2008, so he's advancing fairly quickly. The question is whether or not we bump him up to Buffalo at some point this year. Nieuwenhuis is already there - he made it late in the season last year. I almost feel like he needs to be the one who dictates that by playing well and forcing the Mets to make the move. I don't know how much attention they're paying to him since there's significantly less buzz about Mets prospects than there is about, say, Red Sox prospects, but based on the way he played in Binghamton this past season I feel like they should at least start keeping a closer eye on him. He certainly has the talent - I saw it when I watched him playing at Stanford - and it's just a question of whether he gets the recognition for it and continues to have seasons like he did in 2010.

Oh, and if you want to see my video of his swing, you can do that here.

Kipnis is bordering on ready

I like kids from the Pac-10 Conference. It's probably my most notable trait as a prospect stalker - give me a Pac-10 kid, and I can give you his school and oftentimes even his major. (I'm particularly good at doing this with Stanford boys, of course.) But today we're going to talk about a kid from Arizona State, Jason Kipnis, now with the Indians. (In the photo to the right, he's sitting second from the left, with Josh Spence on the extreme left of the image.)

Kipnis, whose ASU bio claims his nickname is Kip, was a BIS major, which means he majored in Interdisciplinary Studies (Dustin Pedroia actually selected the same Major). In 2009, the year he was drafted, he was named Pac-10 Player of the Year, an honor he shares with fellow Indians player Trevor Crowe, as well as Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and this blogger's all-time favorite baseball player, Jed Lowrie. Baseball America actually ranks Kipnis at #3 in the Indians organization, as well, and he's already made it to AAA Columbus despite being drafted just two years ago. He's a fast mover.

As a prospect, Kipnis has played a couple of different positions - he started out as an outfielder, but he was moved to second base, and it's difficult to tell that he was a converted outfielder. Baseball America points out that he still needs work on his double play pivot, but that's something that takes any infielder some time to truly master, so in due time he'll have that down, as well. Because he is so offensively advanced, he could easily supersede Valbuena and Donald at second by the end of the 2011 season, and he might be called up at some point mid-season if the Indians need an offensive boost.

Oh, and one more thing - BA has him listed at just 5'10" and he's now playing second base. Doesn't that remind you of another ASU player who went on to be a successful second baseman in the Majors at least a little bit?

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m just following the people who have been here before. I’m still trying to not look very stupid.”

That little bit of adorableness comes from the top prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization, Brandon Belt, in a story that ran in USA Today earlier. Makes him sound very humble compared to Bryce Harper, doesn't it?

Belt is 22 and was drafted out of the University of Texas, where he majored in education. There's some huge awesome points right there. He also, according to what Buster Posey says in that article up there, hit ".350" in Fresno last year and should be totally fine. Here's what you need to know about this kid, who, although he's probably starting in Fresno next season, should be ready for the Majors really, really soon. He comes across as so genuine, and I love that.

• Quotes about Belt, from the blog where I found that picture of him.
• Sabean compares Belt to Posey, which really isn't all that surprising.
• Minor League Ball's comparison between Belt and Braves prospect Freddie Freeman. Worth a read.
• Belt is ranked 26th out of MLB.com's Top 50 prospects this year.

With his upside being as ridiculously high as it is, I think we can expect a September call-up at the very least. If not, he'll be up before that, as he likely deserves to be. He's hard-working, educated and totally skilled - what's not to like about him?

Bryce Harper thinks he can make the Nationals' roster out of Spring Training

Ah, the optimism of youth. Remember when you were eighteen and you thought you could do anything? (I do, too. It was only four years ago.)

Bryce Harper, who is still eighteen, is hoping to make the big league club out of Spring Training this season. Says he:

"Why can't it be realistic? Why can't I come in here and think I can make this team. I've exceeded expectations my whole life."

I don't want to be the one to break it to you, Bryce, but you're eighteen and you haven't had any professional experience yet. Yes, young players can break through - Jose Reyes was nineteen when he made his Mets debut. However, the difference is that Jose had significant Minor League playing time before being called up and had proven that he could handle the grind of a full season. Bryce doesn't have that to his name yet - he spent time playing for a community college, which, of course, doesn't play for the full-length season that MiLB clubs do.

Exceed expectations all you like, Bryce, but you're still likely going to start in Hagerstown this season. I'll meet you there if you like and we can see how you're feeling at that point, okay? But for now, don't set unrealistic goals for yourself - you'll just end up beating yourself up when you don't achieve them right away. It's about hard work, Bryce, not just talent.