It's hard to believe, I know. Any fan of the New York Mets (and any other New York area sports team, it seems. Save for the Islanders and Rangers. Yay, hockey!) knows that we are, in a word, cursed. Yes, cursed. But curses can be broken. (see: Boston Red Sox, 2004) How can the Mets be the next Bosox, before they become the next Chicago Cubs? (see: The year 1908) And why talk New York baseball in December? With baseball's winter meetings having come and gone last week, let's see what the Mets did (and didn't do) to avoid the Chicago shame...
This is the first of three parts analyzing the Mets hot stove movement so far in the winter of 2014/15. Here, I opine on the outfield and why Troy Tulowitzki should NOT be wearing orange and blue next season. Pitchers, catchers and the infield will come later...
First of all, you morons with hard-ons for Troy Tulowitzki need to step back and reconsider. Or at the very least, go away! Trading for Tulo may be the absolute WORST thing the Mets can do. He's expensive, unhealthy, unreliable and over-rated. Yes, his offensive numbers are impressive at home, but in this case, home field being Coors Field, those offensive numbers are rather pedestrian. His stats are inflated by Coors Field. Look at his less than stellar numbers on the road and intelligent people won't see a ballplayer worth the $106 million he's due over the next six years. The Mets cannot afford that ridiculous salary plus whichever starting pitcher(s) the Rockies would demand via trade. The frightening thing is, GM Sandy Alderson would make a move like that; typical Met nonsense to appease an impatient fan base.
No, no, no, no says I. The Mets cannot afford to be that stupid! Be reminded, Tulo is always hurt!!! If the Mets were to bring him in, he would get injured in spring training, leaving themselves in the same position they're in now, except two starting pitchers fewer and $106 million poorer.
The Rockies offered that contract, and Tulo signed on. He has NOT played up to expectations therefore let the buyer beware. Do not make the Rockies mistake. Tulo will never play a full season of baseball again, and the Rox deserve him. Let him descend to obscurity in Denver, counting his money.
Met fans, forget about Troy Tulowitzki, please. To the outfield-
Center fielder Juan Lagares, fresh off a gold glove award. Love him. Center field is one position where I don't mind sacrificing a little offense for exceptional defense and that encapsulates Lagares quite nicely. His offense isn't horrible, but it is barely pedestrian and the Mets plan to stick him in the leadoff spot. Yuck. I wouldn't have anyone but Juan Lagares roaming the chasmal confines of Citifield's outfield, but in order for all to go according to plan he seriously needs to step it up at the plate. His ceiling is high, but can he reach it?
The outfield corners are slightly better now than a year ago. You know what? Say what you will about the signing of Curtis Granderson last off season but he's a welcome member of my outfield, any time. Grandy is the epitome of veteran leadership that every clubhouse needs and he's hardly a liability defensively. Granted, he had possibly his worst season at the plate last year including two separate stretches where he went almost a month without getting a hit! But consider; despite those tepid slumps, at season's end Grandy hit 20 home runs, 27 doubles, drove in almost 70 runs, scored 73 more and drew almost 80 walks. IN AN OFF YEAR! Unless he spends an inordinate amount of time on the disabled list, ALL those stats will be improved upon and we will be lucky to have Grandy in Flushing.
Michael Cuddyer is, from an offensive standpoint, a slight improvement over Eric Campbell, Matt Den Dekker AND Kirk Nieuwenhuis. But at age 35 his health is an issue, and between the outfield and first base the Mets expect Cuddyer to be a full time player. It's unreasonable to expect him to play 162 games, but can he give them 120? Will that be enough to help? If not, can Cuddyer play in at least 100 games? Hey, for two years at $20 million, Michael Cuddyer is a bargain and worth the gamble. Welcome aboard.
So, with Cuddyer playing first base against lefty pitching, the Mets ideally want a right handed bat to join Grandy and Lagares in the outfield. Nieuwenhuis and Den Dekker are both lefties, and Campbell with little more than offensive flashes here and there, did NOT impress anybody.
Enter John Mayberry, Jr, the fourth outfielder and starter against righties. With Cuddyer as a part time infielder the Mets may carry five outfielders on the roster. If not, then fan favorites Campbell, Den Dekker and Nieuwenhuis will start the season at AAA Las Vegas, if in the Mets organization at all.
Check back later for part II of my Mets analysis where I opine on the infield and catchers. My thoughts on the pitching staff will be part III.
Thanks for reading, feel free to leave comments-
No comments:
Post a Comment