2015 Mets Spring Training Player: Cesar Puello

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Cesar David Puello was born April 9th, 1991 in La Romana Dominican Republic. The six foot two right hand hitting outfielder was signed as an 18 year old by former Mets GM Omar Minaya. Puello was highly touted as a five tool prospect.

 Puello started out with the Rookie League Gulf Coast Mets in 2008 & then had a short season at Kingsport (49 games) in 2009. He was promoted to A ball Savannah in 2010 where he hit .292 & stole 45 bases.

  In 2011 Puello played for the A ball St. Lucie Mets, he was second on the club with 10 HRs driving in 50 runs while batting .259. At the start of the 2011 season he was rated as the #77 prospect by Baseball America, the Mets liked his development & new GM Sandy Alderson protected his contract.

 The next season was cut short due to an oblique injury & a wrist injury as well. That year he hit .260 with 4 HRs 21 RBIs & 19 steals in 66 games. He stayed busy playing in the Arizona Fall League & Dominican Winter League. 
The Mets gave him an invite to Spring Training where he played in six games hitting .143. He was promoted to AA Binghamton in 2013 where after 91 games he was batting .326 with 16 HRs & 73 RBIs.  

 In August his career took a bad turn when he was suspended for fifty games for his relationship with the Biogenesis clinic. The Biogenesis Clinic was located in Coral Gables, Florida and provided many MLB players with performance enhancing drugs. Some players suspended & linked to the clinic are: Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Antonio Bastardo & Jordany Valdespin. 

 In 2014 Puello returned to winter ball & git another invite to Mets Spring Training. He did well hitting .364 (4-11) in ten games. Puello then got promoted to AAA Las Vegas playing for Wally Backman's 51's. He struggled in the outfield & hit just .252 with 7 HRs & 37 RBIs. He saw less playing time with the talented outfield cast in Las Vegas.

 This year he was invited to his third Spring Training camp. It is assumed he will return to Las Vegas as he heads into his eighth pro season & age 24 his time is running out. He is currently ranked as the Mets #13 prospect falling off from #9 last year.

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