Last week, when the Mets promoted re-thread Abraham Nunez from AAA the New Orleans Zephyrs, I wondered why Omar had signed him and sent him to AAA to begin with. When Minaya signed a washed up Raul Gonzalez, and assigned him to AAA New Orleans last week, I began to wonder what AAA was designed for in the first place. Isn't AAA where good, young ball players are to play before joining the big club? Isn't that the final step/audition before playing Major League Baseball? Well, for many clubs, that is exactly how it works, and is what it is used to accomplish. For other clubs, such as the Mets, AAA is a place to stash aging veterans that should not have been signed in the first place, while their young prospects are stalled at the AA level because over-the-hill veterans are occupying their AAA roster spots. Is it any wonder why the Mets have no imminent talent arriving at Shea any time soon?

Let's look at the numbers for further proof. The Mets currently have ten players who are 31 or over playing at New Orleans. Of those ten players, none of them (other than perhaps Armas Jr) have a chance of making a significant impact for the Mets. The remaining players are:

Nate Field age 33
Nelson Figueroa age 34
Brandon Knight age 32
Juan Padilla age 31
Jose Santiago age 33
Robinson Cancel age 32
Jose Valentin age 38
Brady Clark age 35
Raul Gonzales age 34

By comparison, the Cubs AAA team (Iowa City) has just three players over 30 years of age. The Durham Bulls have just three players as well over the age of 30. Richmond (Braves), Norfolk (Orioles), and Nashville (Rockies) each have five players over the age of 30. Five players over 30 would appear to be the norm for most AAA clubs. And what about the crosstown Yankees, you may ask? Surely a free spending team such as the Yankees would have a roster full aging veterans, wouldn't they? On the contrary, the Yankees have just two 30 year old players at AAA Columbus.

This in part, explains why teams like the Yankees and Braves continue to produce major league talent, while the Mets do not. It took a while, but even the Tampa Bay Rays have a loaded farm system, and just three players over 30. For the most part, any team's minor league system can be graded based on their AAA squad. With ten players over 30 at AAA, it's easy to see why the Mets farm system is bare.

The Mets have talent Mike Carp at AA. He's currently batting .351 with 9HR and 38RBI. Wouldn't it makes sense for him to play at the AAA level, being that the Mets may need a first baseman in 2009? (You can count on the Mets bringing in a washed up player to play first base while Carp is dealt for another aging veteran. The last Met rookie to play first base was Mike Jacobs...and he was traded.) Also playing at AA Binghampton is Nick Evans, who had a brief call up with the Mets, then was shipped back to AA. He was hitting .295 with 9HR and 34RBI. Wouldn't it make more sense to have him at AAA rather than Raul Gonzales or Brady Clark?

The Mets AAA call-ups so far this season have been: Raul Casanova (35), Claudio Vargas (31), Fernando Tatis (33), and Abraham Nunez (32). Nick Evans, who spent two weeks with the Mets was a AA call-up. Perhaps he would have fared better if he had spent time in AAA, rather than jumping from AA to the Majors. While the Mets recall their aging players from AAA, other teams have called up the likes of Jay Bruce, Evan Longoria, Justin Masterson, and Homer Bailey. Perhaps players like Mike Carp, Nick Evans, and other Mets AA players could make an impact similar to those players, but while they languish at AA, their development will be stalled, and we'll never know how well they could perform at the MLB level until they're dealt to another team.


Court Adjourned!