The Mets are set to promote infielder Jeff McNeil, as Rich MacLeod of Baseball Prospectus was first to report on Twitter. It’s a long-awaited move to take a look at a late-blooming prospect.
McNeil, 26, has split his time as a professional between second and third base. He is certainly not considered a top prospect. But that hasn’t stopped Mets fans from pining for his arrival during a lost season — just as it hasn’t stopped him from producing at eye-popping rates all year long.
While he has generally produced solid numbers at the plate since joining the New York organization in 2013 as a 12th-round pick, McNeil had never sustained anything like his current breakout. In 241 plate appearances at Double-A to open the year, he posted a 1.029 OPS. Since moving up to the team’s top affiliate, he’s sitting at 1.027 through 143 trips to the dish.
The recent numbers certainly have been impressive. This season, the lefty-swinging McNeil has drawn walks (36) almost as frequently as he has gone down on strikeouts (42). That sort of plate discipline was always a hallmark of his game, though. Now, McNeil is also producing a stunning amount of power. He has already launched quite a few more home runs this year (19) than he did in all of his prior minor-league action (9).
Of course, the real test will come at the major-league level. The BPro team recently discussed McNeil among other prospects (fair warning: in colorful terms), noting both that there seem to be some real changes underlying his breakout and that there’s still plenty of uncertainty in his outlook. Ultimately, it remains to be seen how McNeil will fare, but there’s little reason for the Mets not to give him a shot now, particularly with several existing players likely destined to be moved via trade in short order.
Like a AA/AAA version of Chris Taylor. I hope for the Mets fans’ sake and for McNeil’s that he breaks through and becomes a major-league regular moving forward.
Chosen directly behind Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza and becomes the second player from the 12th Round of the 2013 Draft to make onto a major-league roster.
That seems like a bit much…
Time to DFA Reyes.
It was time to do that approximately a year and a half ago.
Good for him- well deserved.
Yes for the love of God
DFA Reyes enough is enough
I can’t continue to watch this train wreck!!!!
If the organization is hell bent on keeping Reyes in a Mets uniform how about getting him off the major league roster and making him a coach somewhere in the system. It’s a colossal waste to have him taking a roster spot when they could be trying out younger talent like McNeil.
InfieldU strikes again!
Has Cabrera been traded yet? No sense in promoting McNeil this early if you can’t play him every day at 2B.
Plays 3b too. Did you not bother reading, or think that Reyes is the answer there?
It’s about time this team did something different. Good luck kid
The move likely spells either an impending Cabrera trade or Reyes DFA.
He’s getting the call because Tebow broke his hand. The circus just keeps on rolling.
I thought of this as well, I seriously believe they had intentions of calling Tebow up this year.
Most definitely they had every intention.
not likely given they would need to place him on the 40-man roster and eat a roster spot during the winter.
I’m not sure I even understand what you mean when you say calling up McNeil is part of the circus, like calling up Tebow would have been. McNeil is a high-performing AAA player, well-seasoned like a good curly fry. Do you think that this is a blatant attempt to grab some press or deflect negative press? If so, it’s a pretty minor one, given McNeil’s prospect status.
When he said, “well-seasoned like a good curly fry,” G Vanlue won the Best Comment Section Quip Of the Day award. The BCS-QOD.
Take a curtain call.
Agreeing with wubba
What about Alonso? Is there any real reason to NOT be letting these kids get their feet wet so they know what to work on going forward? Dom Smith is not an answer. They also have this boomer OF Borenstein (sp) who is like 29. Why have them at that age if you don’t plan on flipping them?
Team Israel legend Zach Borenstein!
No reason to call up a highly rated prospect in a lost season and lose that extra year of control. He’ll be up next year and we’ll be able to keep him an extra year before he’s a free agent.
Purely to sell tickets to the dumbest fan base in america.
The Miser Wilpon needed a plan B after Tebow got hurt.
Hopefully he has a good month or so.
That will be more than enough to convince met fans they are contenders next year and sell enough tickets to be business as usual.
You think this Jeff McNeil fella that nobody knew about is going to sell tickets?
Met fans have been clamoring for him like hes gleyber torres.
Yes. They are that stupid and desperate.
“Mets fans . . . are that stupid and desperate.”
Dismissing a team’s entire fan base as “stupid and desperate” is stupid and desperate. It’s also pretty much textbook trolling. Not a Mets fan, btw.
“Not a Mets fan, btw.”
But It sounds like you WERE a Mets’ fan? (Pure speculation, on my part)
A lot of Mets fans know who McNeil is because they’re passionate and smart and follow the minor league system attentively. They’re mostly good peeps, and faithful, even when the organization they’re faithful to makes them angry and ashamed. But I don’t think even the most optimistic Mets fan expects Jeff McNeil to be a baseball Messiah. It’s just that they recognize that he may very well be better than guys like Reyes who have been getting way too much playing time. It’s not a stupid or desperate move; it’s a reasonable gambit with little downside.
“But it sounds like you WERE a Mets fan?”
Correct, x, life long NYer who, due to lack of options for much of my life rooted for the locals. Both of them. But if you’ve watched me, I go after buttheaded trolling no matter the target. I’m not here to win some dumb internets war for the Washington Nationals, the Mets or anyone else. Just trying to elevate the level of discussion above the basic “My team is great and your team sucks” level. I’m a baseball fan first, xabial.
major, this guy has just popped up recently and I think he’s passing himself off as a Yankees fan, but who really knows.
By the way is this gonna be round two?
How the hell is this going to be round two? I liked that response, kept it real. Honestly, my favorite MF response. I like that MF never resorts to personal attacks.
“(cough*..3rdSL)” I don’t exactly get it. Does this mean the third round?
3rdSL is abbreviation of a user who constantly harasses me. For more info, check out the latest “Josh Smoker” DFA thread. Criticizes, not Critiques, and always personal. Hate guy
I know just busting beans.
“I think he’s passing himself off as a Yankees fan . . . “
Sorta like mike and eileen, the yank family. From limited exposure this Boogaloo could be mikeyank’s B account (or is that C account?) Keeping an eye there, btw.
“Who really knows.”
Gonna say it again, tgcf, credibility is only earned over time. Anyone can pretend to be anything but it’s difficult to maintain consistency. You, me and xabial (as well as some others) are doing the same stuff under the same name as last year. Give it time and things will shake out.
“ . . . is this gonna be round two?”
Nah, this is completely friendly. Actually most of our disagreements are. Sometimes x says something silly which gets me a bit agitated but it’s never personal. Reasonable people are gonna disagree from time to time. No biggie.
(And for xabial…)
“I like that MF never resorts to personal attacks.”
Not entirely true, x. I’m usually not the first to resort to ad hominems. Sometimes I am even able to refrain from invective despite being on the receiving end. But every now and then I find it desirable to let some miscreant know what a malodorous sack of parrot crap he/she truly is. In short, if someone gives me a substantive, reasonably civil argument they are likely to get the same back. I really am here to talk about baseball.
Don’t forget #Judge Judy in that parameter.
Met fans are known sucjers for wilpons BS.
Watch the articles and talk show guys start treating mcneil as the second coming of he gets off to a decent start.
All in an effort to dupe the dumb fan base into buying tickets next year cause they are going to compete!
Lol, the wilpons cronies in the media will start working their magic in about a month or so.
The same cranks on the blogs who thought Matt Reynolds was the answer three years ago think McNeil is Gleyber Torres. They post a lot and think they are smarter than everyone working in baseball front offices.. Still, I’d rather have McNeil than let a washed up wife-beater mentor Amed Rosario.
“We want the one called McNeil!!”
youtube.com/watch?v=unNsaaCJSC4
“DeGrom (5-5) became the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.00 in his first 20 starts of a season and win fewer than seven games.
“deGrom is on pace to be first pitcher in modern history with 200 + IP, sub-2.00 ERA, nine wins or fewer.”
http://www.sny.tv/mets/news/mets-degrom-on-pace-to-be-first-pitcher-in-modern-history-with-200–ip-sub-200-era-nine-wins-or-fewer/287000412
Maybe McNeil can change that.
A lot of hate towards the Mets over calling up a deserving prospect? Some of these commenters are so biased and moronic on here.
They need all the help they can get. With NL worst record, it’s OK to be pessimistic.
Maybe this Jeff can help, cuz the other Jeff surely isn’t. I bet he helps this team win more than the other Jeff (Wilpon)
Maybe because he was called up 2 months to late while jose Reyes was playing almost eveyday?
All if an effort to no doubt pinch pennies for the Miser owners.
It sounds like you think they should have called up McNeil earlier- so are you not happy that they have at least done it now?
No, cause its just another indication of the cheap, incompetent owners.
If he plays well they will use it as an excuse to not sign a difference making middle infielder in the offseason.
Business as usual in Queens.
The ownership and management of the team is pretty crap, but jiminy, this is a bleak viewpoint. They’re almost certainly going to trade Cabrera soon, which will open up a spot that McNeil could be plugged into. Do you really not want to give a chance to a kid who deserved it simply because that might provide an excuse not to sign a free agent in the offseason? Odds are pretty decent that McNeil is not going to perform like Gleyber Torres at the MLB season, and even if he’s pretty good, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still sign an impact free agent and turn McNeil into a good utility man if he’s capable.
Agreed, its time for the Mets to take inventory and McNeil has more than earned his shot. Perhaps he could have been called up earlier, but both McNeil and Cabrera would need consistent playing time in order for the former to continue development and the later maintain what value he may have on the market. I cannot say why McNeil could not take the place of Jose Reyes other than that ownership must be involved. Perhaps the self described baseball savant Jeff Wilpon felt a breakout coming for Reyes who would magically gain value by the waiver deadline.
The mets will use ANY excuse to not sign someone like Machado.
And yes, if McNeil has a good 6 weeks they will sell that as their reason for not getting a top of the line talent.
And sadly the fan base will buy it.
Rinse and repeat.
There’s a lot of teams who have a good excuse not to sign Machado.
300 plus million excuses actually
Only 2 teams which reside in NY. I believe Mets are a disgrace to NY. Wilpons are “big market” owners with “small-market” mindset.
(How long until Madoff excuse expires)
“How long until Madoff excuse expires”?
That’s really an accounting question, xabial. The Wilpon undertook their current obligations viz:
A) their purchase of Nelson Doubleday’s interest in the team,
B) the construction of their new stadium*, and
C) the startup costs of their teevee station
at a time when they could count on receiving a steady stream of interest income from Bernie M. They obviously have had to revise their financial planning and find another way to pay their debts.
Whether they have finally reached the point where they are able to spend as they did during the pre-Madoff days isn’t something you could answer without reviewing the Mets financials. It’s a question of fact not a question of how much time you think it should take, get it?
Ten years of mediocrity has left many forgetting that prior to Bernie going bust the Mets were regularly among MLB’s biggest spenders. They didn’t spend particularly well—see Bay, Jason, et al—but they did spend money on what the organization perceived as talent.
“Wilpons are “big market” owners with “small-market” mindset.”
They have been in “survival” mode since Madoff, x. They really have done whatever they thought was needed to retain ownership of the team, including selling small pieces of their interest. Folks don’t realize how close the Wilpon group was to being forced to sell the team. As Maxwell Smart would say, “Missed it by that much.”
*unlike the Yankees who are renters, the Mets own Citifield.
in other news, tebow broke his hand in the minor leagues. i think the mets season is over.
Clown car stops in Las Vegas to pick up passenger Jeff McNeil. Jeff, we hardly knew ya. Run Jeff. Run like the wind.
Slightly unrelated— Disappointing that Tebow got to hurt before his call up. Odds that he is on the Mets opening day roster next year??? 7:1?
I kinda like this Mets hat