A more recent Arizona Fall League 2008 Mets Preview Can Be found here as well.
The Mets announced a bit over a week ago 5 of their players that will be playing in the fall league (they still have a few pitchers to announce), and there are a few players that will be playing that will be interesting to watch. The quick list is as follows:
Tobi Stoner, P
Josh Thole, C
Dan Murphy, 2B
Shawn Bowman, 3B/1B
Jason Vargas, P
The most intriguing player here is of course Murphy because the Mets are returning him to the infield, where he played in the minors. The Mets could be doing this for a number of reasons, one of which is move Evans and Fmart to platoon in the OF. What ever the situation is, if Murphy can keep up his hitting, and get used to playing at a different position, then he can give the Mets a lot of options. (One thing to consider, Murphy has average to below average speed, so ultimatley he should play 1B, which he did in the minors, so he could back up Delgado sometimes or be a future option in 2010, but thats a while into the future).
I've discussed Stoner before. His strikeout to walk ratio is very intriguing, but has problems keeping runners from scoring. He solved those problems in the first half of 08 when he was with Pt St Lucie where he went 1-5 over 9 games and 52 innings pitched where he posted a pretty 2.60 ERA, walked only 9 (thats amazing), and struck out 48 batters. He wasn't as good in AA where he had a 4-6 record so far this year in 15 games, 29 BB, 59 K, and has posted a 4.33 ERA. Josh Thole is a catcher that is very under the radar, because this was the first year where he has done damage offensivley. This year he has had 347 AB, .300 BA, 25 2B, 5 HR and 56 RBI's. Is it for real? If he has a good fall and good season next year, there will be a lot more attention surrounding him.
Bowman has been playing for a while. His first season was when he was 18, and now he is 23. His first half of the year was amazing, and his second half of the year was below average. So, he is another player who is very under radar, and really hasn't impressed too much. Like for many players, a good fall, a good season, and there will be more attention surrounding him as well. In high A this year, he has 97 AB, 33 H (.340 BA), 4 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR and 11 RBI. In AA, he had 113 AB, 28 H, 7 2B, 2 HR, and 10 RBI. So lets see how he does. Should be a good fall for these palyers.
