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He may still only be 19-years old and developing in the low minors for the New York Mets, but infielder Wilmer Flores needs to be recognized more frequently from now on. He’s putting up big minor league numbers that could give him an express ticket to pro baseball. 

The Mets signed Flores as an undrafted free agent in 2007 as a very young 16-year old with a lot of upside.

First off, he is flexible on defense. He spends the bulk of his time at shortstop. But he is a tremendous athlete that is fully capable of adjusting to second or third base. This will come in handy when it comes time for him to compete for a spot in the Mets infield.

He is an excellent contact hitter. In 66 games with the Savannah Sand Gnats this year, he hit .278. It was good enough to facilitate his promotion to A-Adv. St. Lucie, where he has only improved upon his hitting. In 30 games, he is raking with a .354 average and 46 hits.

He has a little bit of pop that has plenty of time to develop. He hit seven home runs with Savannah, and three with the St. Lucie Mets. For the most part, he’s strictly a top-of-the-order kind of hitter that knows how to put the ball in play but there is room for the power to grow.

He doesn’t quite have the speed of a leadoff batter, which could work against him. He also isn’t any Rey Ordonez in the field, but he gets the job done.

A career .288 hitter in the minors over the course of 3 years, Flores is pretty well-disciplined. He does a good job of avoiding strikeouts and turning pitchers counts into hits. The biggest concern about his bat is his patience. He needs to learn to draw more walks, but that comes with age.

Some of his class A-Adv. splits are impressive. In these last 30 games with St. Lucie, he’s batting .406 with runners in scoring position. He’s also 17-34 against left-handed pitching.

Wilmer Flores is emerging as a very good looking all-around positional prospect. His defensive flexibility will allow him to adhere to the needs of the Mets organization, so if he doesn’t get traded, he’ll likely have a future with the club.

At this rate, Flores may very well see his first Major League action by the age of 20.

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In a Major League season full of surprises, 2010 has brought on a handful of unexpected producers during the first half of the season.

Whether it has been the utter dominance of young pitchers, or the outburst of power from the big bats, there are veterans bouncing back, and many potential stars in the making.

Between some of baseball’s younger generation and some of the old, a wide variety of players have stood out on an unexpected level.

On the other hand, some of the early surprises of 2010 could be just a brief flash of stardom rather than more permanent dominance.

Whether they are for real, or just a flash in the pan, here is a breakdown of 25 of baseball’s biggest producers in the first half of 2010 that were definitely not predicted to perform as well as they have.

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Following these 18 scoreless innings to open the second half of the 2010 season, the New York Mets might be concerned about the balance of the starting lineup. Things on offense should return back to form soon, but at catcher, the Mets could benefit from a more permanent makeover.

With three catchers on the active roster, Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, and Josh Thole have all been splitting time. Barajas as played most of the time, and may actually be a liability at this point.

Barajas’ average has sunk to .235 on the year and struggles to hit unless he gets ahead in the count. Since his quick 11 home runs, his power has seemingly vanished, and fans are rapidly losing confidence in him as his stellar numbers have gravitated. The remedy for this hole in the lineup may already be in place.

Inserting Josh Thole as the starting catcher would add another dimension to the lineup. Thole would be the scrappiest everyday hitter on the team and would certainly be more productive than either Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco.

He might not have the best credentials when it comes to smacking home runs or managing a pitching staff, but Thole is one of the smartest contact hitters to rise through the Mets system in a while. With little to no power, Thole makes up for that with some excellent discipline.

He got off to an extremely slow start in the minors this year. In April he hit just .172, but quickly got his act together and hit over .300 for the next two months in the minors before earning a call-up to the Mets.

His hitting in 11 appearances with the Mets this year speaks for itself. He’s collected ten hits in 20 at bats, while driving in five runs. He’s also 5-7 with runners in scoring position. The Mets must put some stock into Thole in hopes that this hitting will continue in the future.

Thole has great eyes at the plate and knows how to work a count as well as anybody on this Mets roster. He isn’t first pitch-swing-happy like the rest of the Mets, and he has battled back from 0-2 counts to pick up hits on a full count in several instances. He has hit 2-6 this year while behind in the count.

With Thole in the lineup on a regular basis, there will be more flexibility for Manager Jerry Manuel to make adjustments. Thole has the makeup of a number two hitter in a lineup when he is hitting well, and could be bat out of any slot.

In a lineup that could be considered as struggling, Thole’s ability to hit would really stabilize things along side some of the big swingers. If his numbers through 11 games are at all indicative of what he can produce in the long run, Thole must receive a boost in playing time immediately, and the Mets will find themselves with some extra scoring opportunities.

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For a one-night event, the Home Run Derby attracts a lot of interest. For that matter, there are many different factors that ultimately affect the outcome of it.

Will there be any new records set in this year’s Derby? How many home runs will it take to win it, and who will do so? Will there be another performance reminiscent of Brandon Inge’s no-show last year? How will the hitters be able to take advantage of the size and shape of the venue?

For starters, here are some of the dimensions for Angels Stadium of Anaheim: 330 feet to left and right field, 387 feet to left-center, 370 feet to right-center, and 400 feet to straightaway center field.

These are some of the questions that will surround the Home Run Derby in the days prior to it. Based on the strength of the field, dimensions of Angels Stadium of Anaheim, and the experience of the competitors, here are some odds on who will come out on top in the 2010 Home Run Derby.

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The 2010 Home Run Derby competitors are gradually being unveiled, and it should all lead up nicely to the typical, power-packed slugfest.

Thus far, the participants include Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells, Corey Hart, and Matt Holliday.

These six certainly represent a great variety of home run hitters but the lineup could stand to take on a little pizazz.

There are a ton of big hitters out there that would fit into the 2010 Home Run Derby very nicely, if not more than some of the official participants.

To spotlight some of the big bats in baseball that are not likely to compete in the contest, here are 10 guys that could easily find success in the Home Run Derby while simply making it even more fun to watch.

This list is not geared toward kicking out the current 2010 competitors or to throw them under the bus. It merely suggests that the incorporation of any of these 10 suggested names would make the contest that much more interesting and fun.

These are also just 10 names out of a lot more. Many more sluggers out there are just as credible Derby competitors.

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Player production is quick to change in the New York Mets minor league system. Here is a brief look at some of the current producers and stifling prospects down on the farm in the organization. 

Up: Lucas Duda, outfielder, AAA Buffalo Bisons

The left-handed hitting Duda looked sharp in 45 games at AA Binghamton. His .286 average and six home runs earned him a recent promotion to AAA where he is on the fast track to gaining some serious recognition.

In 19 games with Buffalo, he already has seven home runs, one more that he hit at AA. On this current tear, Duda has hit six of these in his last ten games. His total minor league stats for the season show that he has walked and struck out 38 times each in 64 games. 

The plate discipline must be particularly attractive to the Mets, and he’ll have plenty of more time to prove his worth and potential at Buffalo this year.

Down: Roy Merritt, left-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets

After a quick start to the year that really put him on the map, Merritt failed to prove that he could advance to the next level and still manage to put up the impressive numbers as a reliever.

After his initial relief gig at Binghamton, he got the call-up to AAA Buffalo. In four appearances with the Bisons in relief, Merritt surrendered nine hits and seven runs. He was demoted back to Binghamton and ever since, he has simply looked the same. His consistent stuff out of the bullpen has become very irregular.

Up: Mark Cohoon, left-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets

The southpaw starter ripped apart the South Atlantic League with the single-A Savannah Sand Gnats. In 13 starts, Cohoon tossed a whopping three complete game shutouts while posting a 7-1 record and 1.30 ERA. He allowed just two home runs in 90.1 innings of work and oppositions hit just .213 against him. 

Since his impressive stint in Savannah, he earned a promotion to Binghamton. He’s made two starts. His AA debut was not very successful, but in his second start, he pitched five innings and allowed five hits, a run, and he struck out four. 

Cohoon’s control has been impressive as well. In both AA starts, he didn’t walk a batter over the course of 10.2 innings. He is just one of several interesting lefty arms in the Mets minor league system, and at 22-years-old, the Mets should preserve him.

Down: Eddie Kunz, right-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets (pictured)

Mets fans probably remember the days in which Kunz had the potential to win a spot in the Mets bullpen. They also probably remember that he was viewed as a future closer. Those days are gone completely. 

Kunz has struggled with his command so much that he was tried out as a starter. Having floundered in that operation, he remains a reliever. Kunz is walking batters at an alarming rate and can’t keep up his strikeout numbers. 

Over his last ten appearances, his ERA sits at 5.66 and he has struck out eight and walked 16. Kunz can only hope to improve his control before he is even regarded as a Mets prospect again.

Up: Cory Vaughn, outfielder, A Brooklyn Cyclones

Vaughn, the son of former major leaguer Greg Vaughn, was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of this year’s MLB Player Draft. He’s off to a quick start in the minors, putting some solid all-around numbers.

Vaughn is batting .300 in his last 10 games. In all 18 he has appeared in for Brooklyn, he has hit four homers, driven in 16 runs, and stolen 3 bases. Vaughn has the potential to develop a good all-around game and has gotten off to a rather smooth start.

Down: Brad Holt, right-handed pitcher, A-Adv. St. Lucie Mets

Holt has been a complete mess, and hasn’t even been his recent pitching. All year he has struggled mightily with his command. After nine starts at Binghamton, a stretch in which he went 1-5 with a disturbing 10.20 ERA, Holt got demoted to St. Lucie. 

The issue here is that Holt had been very highly touted in the Mets organization a year ago. Last year, he was more effective and was even speculated to be on the fast track to the Majors. However, with this recent demotion, things have completely changed. He has a lot to overcome at the moment.

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This particular type of talk in the Mets fan base has seemed to die down a bit, but there was a period of time within the last few weeks that the gradual deterioration of Johan Santana’s stuff was fairly noticeable. It seemed Mets fans were pouncing on him from every direction just to put him down.

The point is, even now that he’s gotten things back together a bit, what you see is what you get with an aging pitcher coming off of surgery. It is concerning that Mets fans have been getting on his case so much.

For any fans still up in arms about Santana’s performance, you are asking too much.

Santana simply is not the pitcher that he was with Minnesota, and because of factors like age and injury he is not capable of putting up the same mammoth numbers. 

Despite all the criticism and clouded fan perspective, Santana is still turning in a pretty good year; right now with his ERA at 3.41 and his WHIP at 1.24.

Santana could easily have more than five wins to his name now if it wasn’t for his lack of run support. His run support average is 4.05 on the year. Most of the ace pitchers in the National League have their run support average around six.

People that put down the lack of run support argument have been heard out and understood. But honestly, the lineup does nothing when Santana pitches. He has just five wins despite his 10 quality starts. That is about five more wins Santana could potentially have padded his record with. 

He had that stretch before his handful of iffy starts. Between May 13 and June 2, Santana started five games. He went 1-0 in this stretch. He pitched at least seven innings in all five starts. He allowed runs in two of the five starts; one was the game he won. There isn’t any way to ask more from a pitcher who is shutting out opponents and not collecting wins.

There have been ups and downs, but more often than not Santana has turned in some good starting pitching.

With his downs being noticeable, fans are getting on his case. But it may not entirely be Santana’s own fault.

Sure it can be blamed on his lack of velocity, but again, it is to be expected. His velocity has been gradually been plummeting since his twilight days in a Twins uniform. In 2006, his fastball topped out at around 93 mph, and in 2009 it dropped to 90. His gradual decline was a work in progress and should come as a surprise to nobody, especially after surgery.

With this in mind, naturally his strikeouts and effectiveness against left-handed pitchers will be down. Is it a good thing for the Mets rotation? Of course not. But it should have been expected, so it is more concerning that Mets fans in general haven’t been more supportive of him.

Mets should also remember that Santana is well-known for being a second half pitcher. He knows how to pitch down the stretch. He still has time to rebound from surgery and turn his game around the best he can.

All in all, attacking Santana is unproductive. He is still putting together some solid pitching, but all fans must understand that his best days are behind. There are some limitations in his game now, and if it hampers the Mets at all, it is what it is. It isn’t like no one saw it coming.

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With the Mets starting rotation in a groove right now, all eyes are becoming trained on what could be a more pressing issue. The bullpen has gradually begun to cost the Mets games. The issue has flown under the radar because of the propensity of fans to attack the pitching of Johan Santana and to focus too much on acquiring a big time starter like Cliff Lee; a move that might not even be possible.

The fact of the matter is the Mets would clearly benefit from adding an arm like Lee to the rotation, but for the Mets to be a capable contender down the stretch this year, they absolutely must add a reliable arm to the bullpen. Inking Brian Bruney to a minor league deal barely covers any holes that the big league bullpen presents.

One might call it hitting the panic switch too quickly, but Francisco Rodriguez has recently been one of the Mets biggest enemies. It goes beyond his numbers. K-Rod’s ERA looks good at 2.63, but of late, every time he takes the mound, he seems to be allowing hits or letting multiple batters on base because of erratic control.

He is giving up hits much more often than he ever has and is causing heart attacks amongst Mets fans. His four blown saves during the the first half of the year are putting him on pace for more than he has ever recorded in a season.

Behind K-Rod, the Mets bullpen isn’t entirely deep. The Mets are getting plenty of help from Pedro Feliciano, and Bobby Parnell has settled in surprisingly nicely. Fernando Nieve is beginning to get it together, but between him and Ryota Igarashi, the Mets could do much better. They need a true setup man.

A possible remedy to this budding issue would be for the Mets to focus their trading endeavors on a hard-throwing arm for the bullpen, rather than the rotation. The Mets rotation has been hitting their spots lately, and it has been a bullpen that lacks depth that has struggled to push the Mets to victory on a more regular basis.

The Mets could follow this kind of plan to address their pitching staff. They could likely trade first base prospect Nick Evans straight up for Kevin Millwood of the Baltimore Orioles. In Millwood, the Mets receive an experienced veteran arm that has a positive track record pitching in the NL East.

Millwood’s numbers are ugly with the O’s right now, but he has expressed interest in pitching for the Mets. Being back on a contender could bring out the extra effort from Millwood.

With Millwood filling out the back of the rotation, the Mets would have the luxury of moving Hisanori Takahashi back into the bullpen, a place where he had originally been effective. He adds depth to the pen and gives the Mets a second left-handed option. Takahashi will be able to eat innings as well.

The chips would then be in place for them to put together a package consisting of names like Fernando Martinez or Wilmer Flores, alongside another prospect or two. The Mets could use a prospect package to attempt to trade for relievers on the block like Heath Bell or Kerry Wood.

Matt Thornton or Octavio Dotel could even be on the Mets radar. At the very least, the relief pitcher market should be tested to see who is actually out there.

The Mets starting rotation has looked very good for the most part. A Cliff Lee-type pitcher would power it up more, but the Mets would be left with a similarly weak bullpen who’s ability to finish things off would remain in question.

Adding a formidable relief arm would not only drastically improve the Mets bullpen, but it would provide them a backup plan in case K-Rod continues these unforeseen struggles. The Mets front office should seriously consider trading for a relief pitcher as much, if not more than they are considering a deal for a starter.

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The trade deadline is looming and it is only a matter of time before the most talked about players are on the move.

Position by position, there appear to be players who will definitely find themselves wearing new threads.

Based on the trade rumors that are circulating throughout baseball, here is a starting lineup comprised of some of the best players on the trading block.

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MLB: New York Mets, June record of 18-8, overall record of 44-34, second place in NL East, 1.5 games back

Position Player of the Month: Third baseman, David Wright

Wright’s role as the centerpiece of the Mets offense was perfectly exemplified by his June. He powered the Mets lineup with his team-leading six home runs and 29 RBI’s throughout the month. The 29 runs he drove in during June were the most by any NL hitter and have helped him up his RBI total to a league leading 63 on the year. Additionally, his .404 average during the month led the Mets and the National League. With four stolen bases and a slight cutback on his strikeouts, Wright has had one of the most complete months in baseball, and the most productive in June for the Mets organization.

Pitcher of the Month: Left-handed pitcher, Jon Niese

The young lefty starter turned in a handful of quality starts for the Mets in June. Niese was victorious in four of five starts without losing a game in June. On June 10, Niese shut down a surging young Padres lineup by tossing a complete game shutout, the first of his career. Through 33.2 June innings, Niese displayed some excellent command, striking out 24 and walking just nine. His WHIP in June has ended up at 1.04. With several excellent starts, Niese has extended his 2010 record to 5-2 in 13 starts, with a 3.84 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. If Niese continues to develop and excel, he’ll represent a youthful and reliable force in the middle of the Mets rotation.

AAA: Buffalo Bisons, June record of 12-17, overall record of 41-39, third place in INT North, 4 games back

Position Player of the Month: Outfielder, Lucas Duda

Plenty of credit is due to left-handed hitting outfielder Lucas Duda. Mets fans might not be very familiar with the 24 year-old outfielder, but his power potential is turning some heads. After batting .286 with six home runs into June with AA Binghamton, Duda earned a promotion to AAA and immediately took advantage. In 14 games in June, Duda slammed 4 home runs while batting .308. Duda is young, has strength, and put together a breakout June that will definitely start providing him with some recognition in the organization.

Pitcher of the Month: Left-handed pitcher, Pat Misch

His June numbers may not be his most glamorous of the year, but his control has been phenomenal and makes it surprising that the Mets have not called him to the Majors for a bullpen role. In six June starts, Misch is 3-2 with a 4.08 ERA. Those numbers are simply okay, but what stands out most is that he walked just six batters in 39.2 innings pitched. His excellent command has been present all season long, and if the Mets require left-handed help in the bullpen beside Pedro Feliciano, Misch could get the call.

AA: Binghamton Mets, June record of 17-11, overall record of 41-37, third place in EAS Eastern Division, 6 games back

Position Player of the Month: First baseman, Nick Evans

Evans has been thriving at AA, and it seems that the only reason he is still there is that he’ll be shipped off in a trade. During 28 games in June, Evans has batted .292 with a good looking OBP. He hit three home runs and only drove in eight, but he is showing that he has worked on his plate discipline and at times is looking much more patient at the plate. He’s one of the most important components of the AA lineup at the moment, but he may or may not be around much longer.

Pitcher of the Month: Left-handed pitcher, Michael Antonini

This lefty is interesting in that he has had a great deal of success against lefty batters in 2010. This success contributed to a good looking June. In six starts, Antonini went 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA. He showed off his durability by tossing a complete game on June 10. During June, he walked just nine and struck out 32 in 37.1 innings of work. A solid month for another southpaw arm the Mets are developing in their system.

A Adv.: St. Lucie Mets, June record of 12-12, overall record (second half) of 4-3 in FSL South, 1 game back

Position Player of the Month: Shortstop, Jordany Valdespin

Lost in the muck of Mets middle infield prospects, Valdespin is often overlooked, especially with the 2010 he is having. During the month of June, the left-handed hitting Valdespin hit .310 with a home run and 14 RBI’s. His ability to get on based allowed him to put his speed to good use on the basepaths. The agile Valdespin swiped seven bases during June. He’s an unheralded minor leaguer in the Mets system, but his month of June and ability to connect with the baseball is helping him put together a year that warrants a promotion.

Pitcher of the Month: Right-handed pitcher, Eric Beaulac

Beaulac has been very consistent. Over his last four starts (all June starts), he hasn’t allowed more than two runs in a game. This means that the 23 year-old has put together four consecutive quality starts. In his June starts, he is 1-1. During these starts, Beaulac has struck out 21 and walked just eight. His consistency has stood out down in Port St. Lucie amongst a staff of more highly touted underachieving prospects.

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