Every minor league system has their strong points. Last year the Mets strength in the minors was pitching. By a lot.  Some teams focus on centerfielders, since as players age they can switch from center to the corner outfield positions and even down to first base if necessary. It very rarely happens the other way around.

I'm not quite sure that second base is a strength yet for the Mets minors but it could be soon. (BTW, if I had to pick one position that was really coming into it's own in their program it's shortstop. More on that in future posts.)

The reason I wanted to highlight second base this early in the season is because everyone is expecting Dilson Herrera to assume the mantle at 2b for the next decade after Neil Walker leaves next year. The funny thing about Dilson is that he's the ripe old age of 22, and is no longer considered a prospect. He's had too many at bats in the majors to be listed as a "prospect" anymore, and he's 4 years younger than the median age of 26.8 of Pacific Coast League hitters (as of 2013). It's a little silly.

That said, while I think he's going to be a terrific major league baseball player, things happen. Inexplicably, players just "lose it" sometimes, and the most sure thing in an organization is a complete loss and the major league team is left reeling. So, maybe he flames out. Who in the heck would pick up the slack?

Dilson is so far not having the best opener to his Triple A season. With only 9 games played, he's already had a 5 game hitless streak (which is kind of odd, since he only had 7 official at-bats in those 5 games). He's bounced back a little over the weekend and has a .231 batting average. Again, the season is 9 games old, and the Pacific Coast League is weird when it comes to the types of pitches you see. I'm rather confident he'll end up tearing the stitches out of the ball.

There's bunch of players that I think COULD end up playing second in Las Vegas. Matt Reynolds, Gavin Cecchini, T.J. Rivera in a pinch, but they're simply not getting the reps there with Dilson on the same team, so I'm not going to consider them at the moment.

LJ Mazzilli. Son of former Met Lee Mazzilli and drafted by the Mets in 2013 in the 4th round. Had a weird, bouncing around kind of minor league career so far. One game in Las Vegas in 2014, and then he split the rest of the year between A and Advanced A. 2015 was not the best. He had a suspension due to non-performance enhancing drugs and only player 91 games total. Never really got on track, posting a .263 BA in Binghamton over 86 games. Also had a .671 OPS (on-base plus slugging) which is kinda "eh". So far this year he's hitting .241, with an even lower .613 OPS. But it's been 8 games, and the beginning of the season was weird with snow and rainouts for the Binghamton Mets. LJ has been called a gamer, a hustler. I'd love to see him put it all together this year and force his way onto the roster. He had some SERIOUS momentum before the 50 game suspension and it would be nice if he found his way again.

Kevin Taylor. I don't know much about Kevin yet, despite the fact that he's holding down 2b in Advanced A Port St. Lucie. He was drafted by the Dodgers in 2011 and never made it past A ball. He's been in independent leagues for a few years, and was signed from the Lemurs last year. Apparently he was one of the Lemurs top hitters last year. He's splitting time with Phillip Evans. Kevin is hitting .333 and Phillip has a .148 batting average. I don't think it's any question of who will have the bulk of the playing time moving forward, IF the Mets don't promote someone from Columbia.

*Oddly enough, one of the few videos I could find of Kevin online was him being struck out by Noah Syndergaard 4 years ago. So yeah, I'm not going to post that.*

Vinny Siena. Drafted last year out of UConn. He's a little old for his level in the minor leagues, but the profile on him in college was that, while he had good tools and instincts, he needed some refining. That might be why the Mets started him at a lower level. Get some instruction, prove you should move up. And it might not be long before he forces their hand. In 11 games so far, he's got a .324/.444/.441 slash line to go a long with 4 doubles, 9 bb's and 9 k's. That's really pretty good. I don't think Vinny will be in the lower levels for long, and could eventually push his way into Binghamton if he keeps progressing this way. Also, as you can tell from the video below, he's got some defensive skills too.

So, there's your brief overview of second base for the Mets minor leagues. If I had to predict, I'd say Dilson will be the gem of the system, but Vinny Siena is the backup long term plan. LJ, Kevin Taylor are probably super utility players, and a few others could be moved there if there's need and the spot is open.

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