Minor moves: Aardsma, Familia, Powell, McHugh

The Mets have purchased the contract of pitcher David Aardsma from Triple-A Las Vegas. To make room for Aardsma on the active roster, Collin McHugh has been optioned to Triple-A. To make room for Aardsma on the 40 man roster, Jeurys Familia has been transferred to the 60 day disabled list. 

In Triple-A appearances, Aardsma has a 1.13 ERA with 11 strikeouts in eight innings. He held left handed hitters to a minuscule .191 batting average. 

Also, the Las Vegas 51s have announced that they have released catcher Landon Powell. Powell hit .159 with 2 home runs in 82 plate appearances for Las Vegas this season. 

Who else did the Mets snag in the draft?

Andrew Chuch

After selecting 1B Dominic Smith in the first round of the draft, the Mets decided to draft several high school players with their next few picks. 

With the 48th Overall pick, the team drafted 18 year old pitcher Andrew Church, who is listed as 6' 3" 200 lbs. His fastball has been clocked in the low 90s, and he also throws a changeup and a curveball.

"We feel like he a chance to be a solid middle of the rotation starter," Paul DePodesta, Mets VP of Player Development and Amateur Scouting, said. "Three pitches, all for strikes, with a plus breaking ball. He could work a lot of innings. He fits into our overall pitching philosophy."

Baseball America recently listed Church as their 89th best prospect. Church will attend the University of San Diego if the Mets fail to sign him.

In the third round, the Mets selected high school outfielder Ivan Wilson. Wilson is listed as 6' 3" 220 lbs. Scouts have raved about his good bat speed, with a great arm.

Keith Law of ESPN recently said this about Wilson "Wilson is all kinds of raw right now, but for a team that likes to draft athletic kids and try to teach them how to play baseball, he's got enough ceiling to be appealing in the third round or so."

With the 84th overall selection, the Mets drafted Casey Meisner, a pitcher out of Cypress Woods High School. Meisner is listed as 6' 7" and 190 lbs. Despite his powerful arm, he is currently committed to Texas Tech, and it may be hard to pry him away from college.

In the fourth round, the Mets selected 2B L.J. Mazzilli. Mazzilli, who is the son of former Met Lee Mazzilli, is a senior signing out of college, so the Mets should be able to sign him relatively soon. 

In the fifth round, the team selected left fielder Jared King out of Kansas State University. King is a switch hitter, and is listed as 6' 1" 200 lbs at 21 years of age. As sophomore this season, he hit .377 with 47 RBI in 56 games. He was listed as the 68th best prospect by Baseball America.

"I thought he was at worst a third round pick." said Jonathon Mayo of MLB.com. 

Mets draft 1B Dominic Smith with No. 11 pick

The Mets have selected first-baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Smith, 17, is a left handed hitter who has spent most of his time as a first baseman.

"This is a great honor and opportunity," Smith said. "I can't wait to get out there. It's an incredible team. David Wright is a Hall of Fame-potential player and Matt Harvey is a great young guy. I can't wait to put on my Mets uniform and get out there and play."

Smith is listed as 6' 1" and 205 lbs, and he will turn 18 next week, on June 15th.

"We're thrilled that we were able to select Dominic tonight," said Paul DePodesta, Mets VP of Player Development and Amateur Scouting. "He's a guy we have followed since last summer. Our area scout has known him since he was 12-years old. We think we have a very good all-around player, a plus hitter with plus power."

"We felt that, going back to last spring into summer, this is one of the most advanced high school hitters you can find." said Tommy Tanous, the team's Director of Amateur Scouting. "He's a special defender at first base. We think that's one of his pluses."

Last season, Smith hit .493 with 38 RBI in 27 games for his High School team. He was also named the 2013 Rawlings preseason All-American  after hitting .551 as a junior in high school in 2012.

Smith will be represented by MVP Sports. If the Mets fail to sign him, he is committed to attend the University of Southern California.

At first, I was very upset over this pick because I did not want yet another young, unproven, high school position player. However, after looking at some scouting reports Dominic Smith seems like an extremely nice pick. He appears to be, and will become, a great hitter for years to come. Scouts have compared him to the likes of Todd Helton and Adrian Gonzalez. 

I personally think that they will keep him at first base because the organization apparently loves his fielding ability there. I know Smith will be at least 3-4 years away if lucky, but I wonder what this means for Ike Davis, whose slow start has made fans doubt whether he is the long term solution at first base. This certainly can't be taken lightly for him, because there was plenty of pitching talent that the Mets passed up on in order to take Smith. 

Do the Mets have a plan for Juan Lagares?

24 year old outfielder Juan Lagares is currently up in the Major Leagues but is sitting on the bench. 

"We brought this guy up here to make sure we don't overexpose Juan, to bring him along slowly," Terry Collins said on Wednesday. "But certainly, in a perfect world, Juan Lagares would be in the lineup somewhere - if its not here, then certainly in Triple-A."

Lagares has hit .189 over 56 plate appearances for the Mets so far this season. He has only had 14 plate appearances over the last two weeks.

I've liked what I've seen from Lagares so far. Of-course, his bat is currently lacking but it is such a small sample size. I can't judge the guy after seeing him step up to the plate only 56 times. I want to see what he can do over the course of a full season, but I don't know if he is going to get that opportunity right now. He has Gold Glove potential out in center field, and has above average speed, so he SHOULD be getting more playing time. However, Collins has been, for some reason, more willing to play veterans like Marlon Byrd and Rick Ankiel. 

If he isn't going to get every-day playing time in the Majors, then the organization needs to put him in Triple-A. He needs to get a sense of every-day at-bats so he can get back into rhythm again. 

So, my idea is: put Lagares in Triple-A, play him every-day, call him up in July, August or whenever Collins gives up on Byrd and Ankiel, and let him play the rest of the season as the every-day center fielder. Lagares has the potential to be an explosive player in this game, and I hope the Mets handle his situation the right way. 

Familia likely out for the season

Terry Collins recently told reporters that pitcher Jeurys Familia will likely miss the remainder of the season. On June 4th, Familia underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow, and has been on the disabled list since May 12. Some believe that it may take 6 to 8 weeks to return from this injury, before he even starts rehabbing. 

Familia had a 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings for the Mets this year. His last appearance came on May 8. 

I really thought that Familia was going to take a big step forward this season. He has all the tools to be a dominant setup man in the game, but his control was the only thing holding him back. I don't know if he will be out for the season for sure, but this surgery seems like it will take quite some time to come back from.

The only real positive I can take away from this is that it gives the Mets some slight roster flexibility. The 40 man roster now sits at 39, and that extra space will be helpful when the team decides to activate Frank Francisco and Tim Byrdak, or promote a few of their younger players like Jenrry Mejia or Matt den Dekker. 

Collins: Wheeler will not be a "savior"

Terry Collins recently spoke to reporters and cautioned fans and the media against putting too much pressure on Zack Wheeler. 

"I hope everybody understands if and when this guy comes, he's not going to be the savior, says Collins. "There's a lot of pieces that have to work. One guy is not going to turn this around for us. It takes 25."

Multiple reports have pointed towards Wheeler's promotion to be sometime this month, and many believe that he will be promoted on the road. He currently has a 3.86 ERA in 58 1/3 Triple-A inning so far this season. 

"There's been so much made of this poor kid," Collins said. "He hasn't pitched a game in the big leagues yet and it looks like he's going to be in the finals for the Cy Young."

When talking to several fans out there, many feel like Wheeler will come up and be lights out for the remainder of the season. I honestly don't expect Wheeler to come up and make an immediate impact. Last year Matt Harvey came up in September and had an adjustment period where he learned how to become more efficient while refining his pitches to become a big-league ace.

Wheeler is going to be here soon, and has the ability to be just as mind-blowing as Matt Harvey. However, he isn't going to be an ace overnight, and will need to adapt to the Major League level. I am excited to see how he will improve his game overtime and what he can do over the span of a full season in 2014.

Captain Kirk has been impressive in Triple-A

Terry Collins recently said that outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis is back on the team's radar for a possible promotion. 

"I talked to Wally today for quite a while," Collins said. "He said [Kirks at-bats] were legitimate. He didn't care where he was playing, they were homers."

In 34 games for Triple-A Las Vegas, Nieuwenhuis has hit .241 with 10 home runs and 22 walks. Over his last 12 games, he is batting .319 with 7 home runs and 12 RBI. Before being demoted to the minor leagues, Nieuwenhuis hit just .125 in 16 at-bats with the Mets. 

The outfield situation is really bleak right now, but I do not want Kirk up in the major leagues. I understand that he is on a tear right now, and there was a point where I thought he was going to be part of the future. However, he strikes out way to often to be considered for an every-day gig in the Major Leagues. 

Honestly, he would probably be a better option than Rick Ankiel. With that being said, he could come up to the major league team and become a possible platoon candidate. However, the team already has four left handed hitting outfielders on the roster (Duda, Baxter, Valdespin, and Ankiel) and I don't think they'll consider carrying a fifth.