It seems most of the reporting on the Mets young studs, and I’m specifically talking about Fernando Martinez and Jenrry Mejia, is geared towards it being better for them and the team to start in the minors.First it was, ‘the Mets farm system sucks, and it’s depleted’. Now it’s, ‘Mets better start them in the minors to not tarnish their growth’, or ‘they need more time in the minors to develop up’. I understand the thought behind being overly careful with them. I understand the minors helps mold and get them major league ready.
But that does not always hold true. There are guys that spend their whole careers in the minors and never get major league ready. Then there are guys that get brought up to the majors on the fast track with success and there’s only one way to determine if they belong. That’s by giving them an opportunity.
So while I understand the thought behind the fact that these guys should start in the minors, I don’t agree with it under the following circumstances. 
First off, let’s look back on other young guys that the Mets brought up and succeeded big time, Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Now no one is saying these guys are Doc and Darryl, let’s get that out of the way. Doc was 19 and Darryl was 21 years old. I’m sure they too probably should have spent more time in the minors to polish up at the time they were brought up, but look at what happened.
There’s no set amount of time that determines when someone is major league ready. Some take longer than others. Some don’t need much time down there at all. Frankly, I also believe that too much time down there can also hamper their growth, so it works both ways.
Now, I don’t have a problem with them going back to the minors to get more work. But if these guys are performing tremendously, which they are, and there is room for them on the team, which there is, why the fuck would the Mets not bring them up to get more experience here at the major league level. That is the best way to gain experience and know what you are up against, not the minors. Yes, you work on things in the minors, but you can also grow and gain more valuable experience in the majors.
With Fernando Martinez, people are saying that he needs to play everyday, so off to the minors he should go. What these people are forgetting is that since Beltran will be out for some time, if Martinez makes the squad, he will play everyday until Beltran is back. Once Beltran is back, Martinez goes back to the minors and continues to play everyday. If the Mets bring him up and he shits the bed, they can always send him down so he will still play daily, and then have Pagan man center until Beltran is back. What’s there to lose?Unless he drops dead in the next week or so, Martinez has outright stolen the job from Pagan. And how did Pagan actually win the job in the first place? Can someone tell me that? In my eyes, Pagan actually needs to win the job considering his mental blunders last year on defense, on offense, on the bases, etc.
Who’s to say Martinez will not continue his torrid pace? The guys is fucking killing it, batting over .550 with most runs scored on the team, most hits, most triples, most home runs, most RBI’s, most total bases, and 1,111 slugging. Is this not enough to win a temporary job? I think so.
Yes, it’s only Spring and it’s not the regular season so you can’t assume he is going to continue killing the ball, but there’s only one way to find out, get him out there. With Beltran being out is actually the perfect opportunity to get him more major league experience.
Martinez looked timid and scrawny last year, this year he looks like a major-leaguer. He has developed, his time is near.
Now on to Mejia. This guy has flat out impressed. Words like Marino Rivera-like are being used to describe his stuff. Has anyone seen this kid pitch? He looks more ready than guys currently on the team. For instance, Mejia is a bull and looks intimidating up there. Take John Maine for instance, this guys still looks scared up there, and he’s been in the majors for years. If you ask me, Maine, Pelfrey, and Perez can also use time in the minors.
Yes he’s a little raw, and more so than Martinez. But he has looked ready, intimidating, and unless he drops dead too in these final weeks of spring, has basically pitched himself onto the team.
If the Mets did not have open positions available I’d say send them back to the minors. This is not the case. There are positions open and there’s no reason to send them back to the minors with how they are performing whether it’s just spring training or not.
Someone had the balls to bring up Doc and Darryl at 19 and 21 respectively. Mejia is 20 and Martinez is 21, what’s the fucking problem? Other teams bring up young talent all the time, some are ready, some not so much, but they get brought up.
Let’s stop kidding ourselves, we may have a ace in the hole here, or two. Let’s not waste them away in the minors. I hope the Mets wise up here and do the right thing.
and i don’t know what’s up with mathews, he hasn’t impressed. not bad, but not great. i dont know the terms of his deal off top of my head.
i’m from the thought that starters are more valuable than relief pitchers so yes, i would prefer him to be a starter if thats what he is. in that case, he should go down to minors and work on being starter, and mets should treat him like a starter during spring training. and considering the state of the starting staff, it makes sense for him to go the starter route as opposed to relief and hopefully we seen him in the near future. but he has looked great so far in spring and if the mets want him to be a reliever an he continues pitching this good throughout camp, he should get a shot. fmart has won the CF job outright to this point, lets see how he finishes spring. thanks for the comment.
You bring up interesting points on both. I like your idea behind Martinez. It makes sense. He would be playing for a month and then upon a Beltran return can go right back to the minors and play the rest of the season there. Problem is the Mets made the deal for GMJ with the thought in mind that Martinez wasn’t ready and they were right basing it off last seasons performance. He looked over matched and young but somthing changed along the way as he now looks great. More patient picking up pitches much better this year. I’m with you, I would love to get a look at FMart this season while Beltran is on the shelf. As far as Meija. I don’t think there is any risk in letting him start the season in AAA as a starter and then bringing him up during the season if they still need the help in the pen. As much as I would love to see this kid on the team, I still think at this point it may be more worth it to try and make him a starter than go the reliever route. I can invision the whole
to your point, even if he hits .400in the minors, it doesnt translate to the majors, so being that there is a small opening with beltran out, lets try him out for a month, there is no harm in that. major league experience is more valuable than minors. lets see if he can hit in the majors. this is a good opportunity. if he does or doesn’t he will still go back to minors and play everyday. so he can still have a chance to hit .400 there even if he replaces beltran till he’s back. why not? it’s not like pagan is the mighty master. plus, even if he goes back to the minors and hits .500, there will be no room on the mets for him right now unless one of the 3 mets outfielders goes down. so this is a valuable window of opportunity for some big league experience. and yes, i’m basing it off of their torrid spring, obviously if they werent doing this good this would not be a conversation. and the simple answer would be sending them back to minors. but they played themselves into the
I don’t see the harm in letting them play in the minors for a little while and prove they can do it outside of spring training. In one breath you acknowledge that it’s spring training but your whole post is base on ST performances. Let’s see FMart show he can stay healthy and keep hitting. He has never shown he can hit like he is even against minor league hitters, though the potential is there. If he’s hitting .400 in a month, then bring him up-let him earn it for real. Most scouts seem to agree that Meija hasnt quite developed his offspeed or breaking stuff. That’s not going to happen in the majors-and he should be groomed to be a starter-not a reliever. Don’t be fooled by this Rivera BS. There is no next Rivera, he’s one in a generation-if that.