Great Read on Young Mets pitchers etc

[SouthernJet]

Looks like the future is bright for Mets.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/03/28/2007-03-28_the_future_has_arrived.html

The future has arrived

Mets look for balance from vets & young guns

BY ADAM RUBIN

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, March 29th 2007, 12:46 PM

PORT ST. LUCIE - Pedro Martinez spends five-hour days working out at the Mets' minor-league complex and rehabilitation center, separated from his major-league teammates. But the ace has seen enough to believe the Mets are in good hands in his absence, with the next generation of Mets arms - Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey - set to try to lead the organization to its first repeat division crown.

"I'm really happy for them to try to pick up the slack for people like me," said Martinez, who's aiming to return around the All-Star break following offseason rotator cuff surgery. "Right now I'm on the bottom. And hopefully they'll keep the team afloat until we get back."

For all the clamor about the Mets having the oldest roster in baseball, one that includes 48-year-old Julio Franco as a clubhouse leader, 41-year-olds Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez atop the rotation and 40-year-old Moises Alou in left field, Mets officials pride themselves on being anything but a win-now-only team. They believe they've set themselves up for a 10-year run of success, like the early stages of the Yankees' success, when homegrown talent such as Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada fueled a dynasty.

With Perez, Maine and Pelfrey - and Philip Humber in waiting at Triple-A New Orleans - the Mets' rotation is expected to be in good hands well into the future. In the outfield, the Mets dream of 18-year-old Fernando Martinez and 21-year-old Carlos Gomez flanking Carlos Beltran when Citi Field opens in 2009 - not that they've discounted 21-year-old Lastings Milledge contributing at that position, either.

Sidearm reliever Joe Smith, a third-round pick last year from Wright State University who just turned 23, is already on the fast track to Flushing in a bullpen that should get a contribution from 22-year-old Ambiorix Burgos in '07 as well. And lest you forget because of their rising national prominence, David Wright is only 24, Jose Reyes 23, and Aaron Heilman the elder statesman of the new guard at 28.

"We've got a great mix." Wright said. "We've got the perfect mix. We've got the young guys who bring the energy and joke around and show a lot of emotion. And we've got the older guys who keep us even-keel and keep that consistency there and provide that leadership.

"When you have that kind of mix - we're not too young, and we're not too old - it balances each other out. You've got guys like Jose that show emotion and bring energy. And then you've got guys like Glav who remain consistent and don't allow us young guys to get that rollercoaster, up-and-down ride."

The youth has made for entertaining moments this spring - on and off the field.

As Wright poses for virtually every magazine cover this spring - someone joked Good Housekeeping would be next, once he moves into his new $7 million lower East Side penthouse - Reyes is emerging as an MVP candidate before his teammates' eyes. Scouts believe Reyes may hit 30 home runs by accident because of his strength, while building on his gaudy steal and run-scoring totals as his on-base percentage continues to climb.

"You don't have to kickstart him," Willie Randolph said. "He's always ready to go."

Pelfrey, the ninth pick in the '05 draft from Wichita State, made his major-league debut on July 8, 2006, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Marlins, allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings. He became the first Mets starting pitcher since Masato Yoshii in 1998 to win his major-league debut. Pelfrey went 2-1 with a 5.48 ERA in four starts last season while struggling with his control. He's since developed a slider so that major-league hitters can't sit on his high-90s fastball, making him that much more dangerous in '07.

"I'm always excited when young guys take the ball," Randolph said. "He continues to improve and get better and better. You can just see the confidence growing in the young kid. That's a good thing. Obviously he has good movement on his pitches and he's starting to mix in his other pitches. Like most kids, they try to overthrow the ball every once in a while a little bit. But you've got to love his progress and what you see in him."

Mets fans already have seen Perez's and Maine's potential in the postseason. With the Mets trailing 3-2 in the series to the Cardinals in the NLCS, the duo put the Mets in position to reach the World Series had the hitting not faltered. Mets officials privately predict Perez and Maine will have 10 wins apiece by the All-Star break, perhaps overly optimistic, but a sign of the confidence they have that both are emerging as top-tier pitchers - actually, re-emerging in Perez's case after he went 3-13 during the '06 regular season as a Pirate and Met.

"I've been really impressed with the way Perez has been throwing the ball," Martinez said.

Said Perez: "How I finished last year, that's the feeling I have right now."

Among the Mets' darkest days for morale among their minor leaguers came on July 30, 2004. That's the day the Mets unloaded the top talent in their farm system, including Scott Kazmir, in the trading-deadline deals for Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano. Though this is New York, where the teams will always be aggressive in the free-agent market and at the trading deadline, there now seems a legitimate interest among Mets brass in retaining its core of young talent, which also includes catching prospect Francisco Pena (Tony's son) and young Venezuelan pitcher Deolis Guerra.

"It's exciting anytime you see your young pups doing well and getting better and better," Randolph said.