1/13/15

Tom Brennan - Majoring on the Minors - Top 30 Prospects - Casey Meisner - Vol. 9


MAJORING ON THE MINORS: TOP 30 PROSPECTS – CASEY MEISNER - VOL.9 – Tom Brennan

I’m doing my Top 30 Prospects articles a bit differently – in 2 lists:

·       A top 20 list of guys who are closing in on the big leagues.  Guys who could help us in the near future or be trade bait.

·       A top 10 list of lower minors guys who likely won’t show up until 2017 or later.

I started with the Top 10 List of Down-The-Road Mets Prospects.

Here’s my TOP 10 Lower Minors List So Far:

# 1 - Marcos Molina

#2 – Michael Conforto

#3 – Amed Rosario

#4 – Dominic Smith

#5 - Jhoan Urena

#6 – Vicente Lupo

#7 – Wuilmer Becerra

#8 – Luis Guillorme

Who will get the rose today?  The # 8 slot goes to:

CASEY MEISNER

Casey Meisner was NOT making my lower minor top 10 list the way he was pitching in Brooklyn in 2014....until it clicked in his last 6 starts.  Jekyll and Hyde.  Alpha and Omega.  That was Casey.

"Alpha" finally showed up in those last 6 starts.  The 6'7", 190 righty with good stuff showed why he was a 3rd round pick coming out of high school, tossing 36 innings, with 38 Ks, 6 earned runs, and just 6 BBs, and going 5-0.  Impressive surge.

That surge moved him past 2 highly worthy pitching competitors who are also high on my list, fellow Brooklynites Corey Oswalt and Brad Wieck, both of whom frankly deserve a top 10 ranking as well, but you can't fit 12 into a top 10. I learned enough from the nuns in math in my days in grammer .. err, grammar .. school to figure out that much.

Not turning 20 until late May 2015, Casey is one who will move on to full season ball (likely Savannah) and get some real innings in.   My guess is he'll impress enough to move up to St. Lucie late in the season. My sense is he shows up in early to mid 2018 in Queens.  As another starter...can't have too many of those. By then, we'll have hundreds of major league ready starters.  It will be fun to watch his progress.

One last note.  I am leaving Blake Taylor off my top 10 list because, although highly regarded enough for the Mets site may list him 17th overall prospect, 2014 was a struggle for the lefty.  So for me it’s maybe next year for the list, Blake.

Nine lower minor prospects down, the last and final #10 in my next article.  Many worthy candidates.  Who will # 10 be?  Stay tuned.

3 comments:

Hobie said...

OK Tom, assuming Rosario & LG will handle the MINF & Molina & Meisner piggy-back, you've got a nice low A squad there. You'll need a catcher though, as Casey said.

So, will B. Bosher be ready to go when Brooklyn opens up?

Mack Ade said...

Hobie - Talked to Bosher - he said yes

Tom Brennan said...

I see Rosario, LG, Molina and Meisner all in Savannah, so that would have them in mid-A, not low A. Maybe we're saying the same thing.

Brosher being ready is my understanding. Hopefully, he gets Brooklyn, but after such a short stint pre-injury in rookie ball last year, time will tell. Maybe he repeats Kingsport.

Maybe Miguel Leal cracks Brooklyn. He did not get to bat too much but hit .273 in both Kingsport and GCL, sneaks up to Brooklyn as one of their 2 or 3 catchers.

Mack might like to see Ali Sanchez there in Bklyn! Follow in young Rosario's footsteps.

I think we'll see 20 year old Tomas Nido of Brooklyn in Savannah, as he finished strong with the Cyclones in 2014. So did Tyler Moore, a lefty bat and 6th rounder in 2014, so I could see that tandem in Gnat land.

Their 3rd catcher, Adrian Abreu, might repeat in Brooklyn, if he stays around. His combined 2013 and 2014 was around .210 with a .300 slug, so that is not getting it done for a guy who will turn 24 next June.