Name:  Joshua Satin

Age/Birthdate:  26 years old / 12/23/1984

Home:  Los Angeles, CA

Height/Weight:  6'2'' / 200 lbs.

Bats/Throws:  Right / Right

Drafted:  Selected by New York Mets in 6th Round (194th overall) of 2008 amateur entry draft – University of California

Scouting Report:

Up next in our countdown is infielder, Josh Satin.  Satin makes his way to our list for one reason; Offense!  He's not a power hitter, he's not a speedster, in fact he really has no position on the field, but the boy can hit.  His approach at the plate is unique, as his hands and bat are constantly moving, but has a very good understanding of the strike zone.  He is able to adapt to the individual umpire's zone, which is a rarity for most minor leaguers.  At 26 hes is no spring chicken, however the extra years he spent at California seemed to have payed off for him in regards to discipline.  His natural extending swing leads to a number of strikeouts, however he compensates that by hitting the ball to all parts of the field.  He is primarily a line drive/gap type hitter and consistently hits the ball on the sweet spot.  In college he served as a 2nd baseman, but has since been moved to each of the corner infield spots in his minor league career.  The one comparison I've read that sticks in my mind is a right handed version of Daniel Murphy.  He's able to play multiple positions on the field, but he's not great at any of them.  Hopefully he is able to hone in on first base so that he can be used as a compliment to Ike Davis if he ever makes his way to New York.

2010 Season:

In 2010, the Mets watched Satin blossom into fruition and relevance among the organization.  He started the season in Single A ball with St. Lucie, before being promoted midway through the season to Binghamton.  Between the two clubs, Josh batted .311 with 39 doubles and 74 runs batted in.  Most importantly was the consistency he displayed between both with .316 and .308 BAs, respectively.  In June he was named a starter in the FSL All Star Game and went on to win the honor of MVP.  His seemingly easy transition from High A to Double A, was enough to warrant an extension to play in the Arizona Fall League once the regular season was completed.  His torrid pace continued in the AFL where he batted .390 in 12 games, capping off a very impressive third year.

Career STATS:

In 2 1/2 seasons with the Mets, Satin has already played at 5 different levels within the organization.  In each season he has been promoted to the next level and his numbers show he gets better with the tougher competition.  After being drafted in '08 he was immediately sent to the Appalachian League accumulating 7 hits in only 12 at bats.  From there he was shipped to Brooklyn where he spent the remainder of the season with the Cyclones.  In 2009, Josh continued to show improvement with the Sand Gnats, hitting .284 for the season with 38 doubles and 60 RBIs.  He was promoted to St. Lucie at year's end and finished the season with a .364 batting average and 1055 OPS. 

Click here to see a complete list of his career statistics (thanks to baseballreference.com)

As mentioned earlier, it will be tough to see how Satin's career develops until he is able to find a permanent residence in the field.  In 2011, I see him as the starting first baseman in Triple A with the Bisons.  He will most likely be moved around the infield (maybe the outfield as well) to see if he can find himself a niche, but the versatility may be good for him moving forward.  It will be tough for him to make the big league club as a Met as the bench spots normally are given to veterans and rightly so.  His best value may be as a trading chip to an AL team in need of young designated hitters.  If he does stay with the Mets, I think his ETA would be 2013 as a right-handed compliment to Ike Davis at first base.

thanks to scout.com for some of the imformation provided

Ahhh… nice to be doing this again.

The New York Mets are set to take on the Washington Nationals today at Digital Domain Park. Game time is set for 1:10 PM and the game will be aired on SNY. Mike Pelfrey takes the hill for the Mets against Chad Gaudin.

Here are the line-ups for today's game:

METS:

1. Luis Castillo – 2B
2. Angel Pagan – CF
3. Jason Bay – LF
4. Nick Evans – 1B
5. Fernando Martinez – DH
6. Scott Hairston – RF
7. Daniel Murphy – 3B
8. Mike Nickeas – C
9. Ruben Tejada – SS

NATIONALS:

1. Nyjer Morgan – CF
2. Ian Desmond – SS
3. Roger Bernadina – LF
4. Mike Morse – RF
5. Matt Stairs – DH
6. Wilson Ramos – C
7. Kevin Barker – 1B
8. Danny Espinosa – 2B
9. Jerry Hairston Jr. – 3B

Notes:

• Pelfrey gets his first action of Spring Training.
• Scott Hairston and Jerry Hairston Jr. are brothers who played together in San Diego last season. Now, they are playing against each other today.
• Murphy is playing third base, his natural position. Not only is Murphy trying to show he can be a starting second baseman, he's also trying to show he can be the back-up third baseman (and first baseman for that matter). 

Steve Popper reports that Carlos Beltran will play right field and Angel Pagan will be the Mets center fielder.
Beltran had this to say:

“I still believe I can play center field, but I need time, I need more time. This will make it easier for Angel. It will take it off of his mind and let him make the transition. I don’t want to have everyone worrying about, it it is easier for everyone.”

Popper also reports that Beltran has been hobbling around and is wearing a heating pad on his right knee.

I'm happy that Beltran gave up his position willing, as far as I know he wasn't told by anyone that he needs to switch from center to right. I think this is the best thing for the Mets though. At this point in their career's, Pagan is a better fielder than Beltran. That's not taking anything away from Beltran, because he's still a good fielder, but Pagan is a Gold Glove caliber type fielder right now, and Beltran isn't any more.

To make you feel better about Beltran, Ted Berg reports that he hit a ball 430 feet during batting practice from the left side of the plate.

Name:  Robert Shields

Age/Birthdate:  23 years old / 12/07/1987

Home:  Dade City, FL

Height/Weight:  6'1'' / 195 lbs.

Bats/Throws:  Right / Right

Drafted:  Selected by New York Mets in 3rd Round (103rd overall) of 2009 amateur draft -  Florida Southern College

Scouting Report:

At Florida Southern, Shields spent the majority of his time on the field as a shortstop, though he is capable of playing both middle positions at the big league level.  His footwork around second base has improved since college as he's working on the transition between the two positions.   His arm strength is average, which better suits him for 2nd base, but he possesses a nice lateral movement which kept him at shortstop for most of his career.  In the batter's box, Robbie is your typical MIF.  Not a lot of pop in his bat but some.  He is more of a contact hitter with the ability to place the ball in the gaps.  He has vastly improved on the inside pitch, attributed to his quick bat speed.  On the basepaths he has average at best speed, but appears to have good recognition and reaction to how the fielders are playing out the situation. 

2010 Season:

2010 was not a completely lost year, but it was a rough one for Shields.  The first half of the season was spent re-habbing his elbow after receiving Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2009.  It wasn't until the end of June that he was actually able to get on the field with the Gulf Coast Mets.  Robbie played 23 games for them hitting at a .244 clip with 11 walks and 7 RBIs.  Certainly not impressive numbers that jump out at you, but commendable after a 12 month break.  In the second half of the season, Robbie was promoted to Class A – Savannah, where he showed no ill-effect of his surgery.  He served primarily as a designated hitter, as coaches did not want to test his elbow at short.  He was able to bounce back and hit .290 to finish the season, in 162 at bats, including 5 homeruns and 26 RBIs. 

Career STATS:

Shields left for the Pros after his strong Junior year campaign at FSC.  Considered by many as a top 15-SS in the 2009 draft class, Robbie led the team in runs scored at 65 while hitting .345 with 37 runs batted in his final collegiate season.  Robbie then went on to the Cape Cod League to showcase his skills, but spent the majority of the summer in the duggout with an elbow injury after batting .349 in just 12 games.  Once drafted by the Mets, he spent his 1st minor league season in the short-season A, NY-PENN League.  Brooklyn turned out to be a difficult struggle due to his elbow and he never made the splash he was hoping for.  He batted .179 in his pro debut and committed 7 errors on the season, before shutting it down for half of 2010.

Click here to see a complete list of his career statistics (thanks to baseballreference.com) 

2011 will certainly be that of a redemption year for Robbie as he looks to put his horriffic 2009 performance and injury behind him.  If he is able to maintain the poise he showed throughout college and the finish of the 2010 season, I expect to see a vast improvement.  At 23 years of age, I would expect Shields to start in St. Lucie, High Single A, although with his lack of time in the field last year, there is a strong possibility that he starts in Savannah with an early call-up to St. Lucie.  He needs to prove that his arm is no longer effected from the surgery if he wants to continue to stay at SS, but I see him more as a 2nd baseman, due to the lack of mlb-ready or quality players at the position throughout the Met's organization.  With the high hopes and aspirations of Reese Havens and the hopeful re-signing of Jose Reyes, Shields is probably best suited as a utility infielder on the big league team.  If all goes according to plan, there is a chance we could see Shields on the bench of Citi in 2014.

Thanks to scout.com for some of the information provided.

“Second base, to me, has become an enormous offensive position. Why? I’m not really sure, except some of the guys that have been playing there recently have put up huge numbers at second. But it’s become an offensive position, so to me that’s a big piece to the puzzle, especially when you’ve got that guy [Ike Davis] playing first base that can eat up so much ground over there. It helps out."- Terry Collins

Right now the battle for the starter at second base is Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy, Luis Castillo and Justin Turner. I believe as of now, Murphy and Castillo have the upper hand. If Collins is looking at offense,  Murphy has to be his guy. He has the best numbers at the major league level offensively.

When Collins is talking about the guys putting up huge numbers at second base he's talking about Chase Utley and Dan Uggla, two of the best offensive second baseman in baseball who both play in the NL East. Obviously none of the guys the Mets have are going to match the numbers these guys put up, but they should try to keep up with them. Out of everyone I think Murphy is the only person capable of doing this.

Defense is still important to Collins though:

"You’ve still got to be able to get out of an inning, so you’ve got to be able to turn that double play. As I’ve said all along, and I truly believe it, we’ve got to catch the baseball. We’ve got to play defense. You’ve got to be able to catch it.”

From what I've seen and heard Murphy is doing O.K. at second. He's not going to win any Gold Gloves, but he shouldn't be too awful over there. Right now Collins is willing to sacrifice defense in order to have a stronger offense. So Murphy is your guy.