If the Bisons decide to cast their lot with another major league team – the Blue Jays are the obvious choice – based on the cities’ geographic proximity and the Jays strong farm system, the Mets will be forced into an affiliation in the Pacific Coast League. The Blue Jays have been affiliated with the Las Vegas 51s, so Vegas will be open. Vegas is just an awful place to develop pitching. The ball flies and the infield baked into a hard surface. Las Vegas as a team this year, is hitting .304/.371/.456 in a PCL that averages .279/.346/.432. At home, the 51s have hit .313/.386/.487. Yikes.

– Toby Hyde, MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com.

So I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, a move to Vegas — with its awful environment for pitchers and wonky offensive stats — seems like it could be bad for the Mets’ Minor League player development, which is absolutely paramount to the team’s eventual return to contention. On the other, a move to Vegas seems like it would be very, very good for Mets- and sandwich-bloggers who visit the organization’s Triple-A team once a year for work.

It makes perfect sense for both the Blue Jays and Buffalo Bisons to affiliate, so that seems pretty likely to happen. Toby also presents the possibility of a return to New Orleans. That would presumably be better than Las Vegas for player development since it’s a more or less neutral park, and even better yet for the Mets- and sandwich-bloggers visiting the Triple-A team once a year for work.

For no reason at all. With thanks to Toby Hyde, whose daily Minor League recaps constantly remind me of all the great names in the Mets’ system. I originally intended to put out only a starting lineup, but once I started plumbing the system’s depths I grew indecisive and decided to go with a full 25-man roster.

Starting pitchers

R.A. Dickey: Every team needs an ace. Dickey would probably crack the roster for the entendres alone, but adding that a) his first name is a set of initials that doesn’t include a J, which is somewhat rare; b) the initials in question are commonly used to refer to the guy confiscating your toaster oven in your freshman-year dorm; and c) his initials are RAD makes him a front-of-the-rotation guy.

Dillon Gee: Probably underrated. Obviously there’s the West Coast rap connection, but also a slew of easy headline puns — GEE WILLIKERS! Also, did you know that Dillon Gee is the only Major Leaguer ever with the first name Dillon? It’s true. Casey Stengel’s middle name was Dillon, but every other Major League instance of Dillondom has been a surname. There have been 15 Minor Leaguers to date named Dillon, including a Dillon Thomas in the Rockies’ system.

Jeurys Familia: Jeurys Familia is the only person ever named “Jeurys” to play affiliated baseball and, based on quick Googling, by far the most notable “Jeurys” in the world. As such, it seems like no one has any idea how to pronounce it. I’ve heard HAY-your-is, but the Buffalo broadcasters say “JAY-or-EES.” I tried to settle the matter myself when I interviewed him this year by introducing myself. “I’m Ted,” I said, extending my hand. “Familia,” he said as he shook.

Hansel Robles: When I see “Hansel Robles” on the organizational depth chart, I think, “Oh, that’s right — the Mets signed a couple of dutch dudes a few years back.” But no, Hansel Robles was born in the Dominican Republic in 1990. Also, that Hansel is so hot right now: He’s got a 1.34 ERA in 60 2/3 innings at Brooklyn and has walked only seven guys all season.

Rainy Lara: Another Dominican pitching in Brooklyn with impeccable control, Rainy Lara’s first name is an adjective describing a weather pattern marked by droplets of water condensing in the sky and falling to Earth. The possibilities for warmup music are almost endless, but I’d probably pick “Purple Rain.” I haven’t seen Lara pitch yet; it would help if he’s purple.

Relief pitchers

Frank Francisco: We get so caught up in wondering why he’s still the Mets’ closer that we forget how great his name is. But it is. He’s the Los Angeles Angels of pitching, at least in terms of redundant names.

Taylor Whitenton: Fun fact: Taylor Whitenton is the name of a character from Caddyshack played by William Zabka that was lost to the cutting-room floor.

Richard Ruff: Stop! Drop! Shut ’em down, open up shop! Oh! No! That’s how Single-A pitchers with 1 1/3 innings above Rookie Ball roll!

Flabio Ortega: The only Flabio to play affiliated ball (this will be a trend on the all-name team). Flabio sounds like a mean tabloid headline that’ll run whenever Fabio lets himself go.

Jack Leathersich: The only lefty in the All-Name Team bullpen, Jack Leathersich was Clint Eastwood’s arch-nemesis in the Man with No Name Trilogy.

Robert Gsellman: If I were Gsellman’s teammate in Kingsport I’d try to get the nickname “Typo” to catch on.

Nabil Crismatt: I’ve got nothing. The only Nabil and the only Crismatt to ever play affiliated ball.

Catchers

Jean Luc Blaquiere: I studied art in grad school. The main thing you learn when you’re studying art in grad school is how to b.s. your way through art museums. If I saw a little tag next to an impressionist painting that said “Jean Luc Blaquiere,” I’d be all, “I find Blaquiere’s work a little contrived, but he really knows how to use paint.” Then you’d be like, “No, that’s just a stray leftover name tag from the Binghamton Mets’ field trip to the art museum; this is a Renoir.” And I’d say, “Oh, of course — haha, I was kidding.” But I wasn’t.

Nelfi Zapata: The only Nelfi to ever play affiliated ball. Also, should team up with Binghamton outfielder Pedro Zapata and call themselves the Zapatistas, obviously.

Xorge Carrillo: The only Xorge to play affiliated ball. Hard to think of a more badass first name.

Infielders

Valentino Pascucci: I assume you realized this was coming. It’s impossible to say “Valentino Pascucci” without using your hands at least a little bit. Before I ever spoke to Pascucci, when he was but a series of impressive Triple-A statlines, Matt Cerrone and I used to fantasize that I’d get him on the phone and he’d have a hilariously stereotypical Italian voice, like, “Hey! I just-ah hit-ah the homers!” He doesn’t, but he does hit-ah the homers.

Merqui Marmolejos: The only Merqui to play affiliated ball. Another good headline name. If he’s really good at defense, maybe “Merqui De Sod!” If he turns into a talented but in some way flawed prospect, maybe, “Merqui Future.” Stuff like that.

Yucarybert De La Cruz: For the first couple days of his life, Yucarybert De La Cruz’s parents intended to call him “Burt.” But it so happened that when the guy with the birth certificate came into the hospital room, they were in a little tiff over who’d hold him on the way home. So the guy said, “Hey, what are you going to call this little fella?” And his mom, who wasn’t paying attention, was like, “You carry Burt,” and the dad said, “You carry Burt!” So the guy with the form was like, “OK, Yucarybert it is,” and by the time anyone realized what had happened he had written it down in ink, and 18 years later baseball’s professional ranks got their first ever Yucarybert. At least that’s how it plays out in my head.

Dimas Ponce: Famed conquistador of the Brooklyn infield. Also: Born on my 10th birthday.

Ismael Tijerina: Maybe not quite up to the standards of the rest of the all-name infield, but we need a shortstop.

Outfielders

Lucas Duda: I think sometimes we sleep on how great a name “Lucas Duda” is. Sounds like he could be a character in Point Break, which happens to be his favorite movie. Also, when he hits home runs, I like shouting out nonsensical combinations of words or sounds that vaguely rhyme with Lucas Duda like “Buddhist Luda!” or “Mucus Tupa!”

ZeErika McQueen: Runaway winner of the system’s Best Name honors since he changed from ZeErika Hall. May be the world’s only ZeErika. Also may have retired, but there’s no all-name team without him.

Vicente Lupo: Vinny the Wolf leads the Dominican Summer League in OBP and OPS.

Hengelbert Rojas: Affiliated baseball’s only Hengelbert ever, obviously. Not its first Rojas, unfortunately. Cookie Rojas is still cool though.

Gregory Pron: Another one for the headlines. WRATH OF PRON! etc. Also possibly from the future.

Nothing I can reasonably imagine him doing. He did hit a home run last night, which was nice. A hot month would go a long way to convincing everyone he’s not toast, but if Bay’s going to stay on the Mets through next March, his chances for staying with them through April depend a lot on what happens in camp. If he shows up looking rejuvenated, the Mets can’t find another — or a couple more — righty-hitting outfielders in the offseason and/or they endure a spate of injuries to outfielders in the Spring, maybe he cracks the club. That’s the idea of keeping him around, anyway. If there are five obviously better outfielders ready for the big leagues come Opening Day, they have to be past the point of giving Bay the benefit of the doubt based on his resume and contract.

There were a lot of questions about Jason Bay’s future with the club. My bet is the same as it has always been: He comes to Spring Training and we read all about how he’s in the best shape of his life and determined to make good on his contract once and for all, but the Mets bring in another righty- or switch-hitting outfielder anyway. Bay’s outplayed by one or more of the fringe roster candidates — Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Fred Lewis if he’s around — and for a while everyone frets that Bay will make the club because of his contract and blame the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson. Then near the end of camp, he’ll be sent off — either cut or dealt in a Gary Matthews-type deal where the Mets eat most of his salary. Which of those outcomes probably depends on how he looks in Spring Training.

https://twitter.com/MitchNYM/status/236462601654136832

Massive disclaimer: I really don’t know what I’m talking about with prospects. I defer to Toby Hyde on all things Minor Leagues. Even if I sometimes disagree with his take on young guys, I assume he knows way more about them than I do and is probably, in truth, correct.

That said, I do think much of the SABRry side of the prospecting business has strayed a little too far away from using Minor League stats to predict success. Obviously there’s a ton of value in traditional scouting for prospects, but I suspect guys like Ruben Tejada get overlooked despite consistently strong numbers for their ages when they lack any overwhelming tools.

So to that angle, two Mets prospects I like are Jack Leathersich and Rafael Montero. I haven’t seen either throw a single pitch outside of a intrasquad scrimmage in March, but there’s so much to like about their Minor League numbers.

Leathersich has struck out 36.7 percent of batters he has faced in High-A as a 22-year-old. I understand that he’s supposedly relying on a deceptive delivery, but I just don’t think you can fake those results. He’s been hit a bit harder at High-A than he was in Low-A and short-season ball, but he’s also been victimized by a high batting average in balls in play. I guess I’d be more bearish on his prospects if anyone could find me some examples of lefties who struck out nearly two batters an inning in A-ball and fizzled at the higher levels — presumably they exist, I just don’t know enough about the Minors to know them.

Montero seems like he’s a bit more on the radar so I’m not sure he counts as a sleeper, but he’s got impressive control for a guy his age. Maybe he gets hit harder as he rises through the system, but I’d bet on him over a guy who throws harder but can’t throw strikes.

Pitching prospects be pitching prospects, of course.

Going with yes. Right now it’d be hard for the Mets to deal Santana without eating a lot of his massive salary for 2013. The only way that changes is if Santana pitches the way he did in the first couple months of this season in the first couple months of next season. And if Santana pitches like vintage Santana again, the Mets could be too good to want to trade off pieces. So the only way he looks likely to be elsewhere are if he’s great but the team sucks and they want to get back some value for him while they can, or if they’re so hard-up for cash that they’re willing to eat a lot of his salary just to part with the rest of it. Both those things could happen, but I’d say the odds are better that he pitches too ineffectively to be traded, he pitches effectively enough to keep the Mets in contention, or he gets hurt again and can’t be moved.

https://twitter.com/cormac_leddy/status/236462805069479936

Depends on how much money they have to spend and if they’re ready to bro it down, because Nick Swisher always wants to bro it down, 100 percent of the time.

I’d probably lay off, though, no matter how badly and how frequently I want to bro it down. Swisher’s a nice player, but he’ll be 32 by next Opening Day, he’s benefited from Yankee Stadium the past few years, and though he’s a switch-hitter, he’s got a pretty pronounced platoon split of late — and not the type the Mets could use. He’d be another guy in the lineup that doesn’t hit lefties well, and they’ve got plenty of those already.