My Dreams Come True: Mets Pursuing 2B Adam Kennedy

by Sam Page on Dec 7, 2009 3:59 PM EST

The Mets and Diamondbacks are the teams showing the most interest in free agent Adam Kennedy, major-league sources say, viewing him as a potential starter at second base.

The Mets, if they traded Luis Castillo, could sign Kennedy as a less expensive option than Orlando Hudson. The Diamondbacks, who traded Felipe Lopez to the Brewers last July, also are looking for help at second.

Kennedy is a big favorite of mine. He plays a great 2B (8.2 career UZR/150), and would be a huge boon to our defense and a good complement to a Joel Piniero signing. A career .317 wOBA hitter, Kennedy hit .337 (wOBA) last year. I bet the Mets (and the market) think Orlando Hudson is the better player, but that's arguably not true.

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I'd love for this to be true

Espescially on a one year deal

"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green

by Stephen Schmidt on Dec 7, 2009 4:03 PM EST reply actions

Me too

I’d love a good glove-man at 2B next year. It would make me feel better about Pelfrey, potentially Pineiro and also Murphy at 1st.

by deadspy3 on Dec 7, 2009 4:05 PM EST reply actions

The start...

Of prudent moves forthcoming this offseason? Prob not

by Mike Clemente on Dec 7, 2009 4:10 PM EST reply actions

I like that the title implies

that Adam Kennedy is a recurring character in Sam’s dreams. Personally, Charles Oakley is a recurring character in my dreams.

the number one issue facing the Mets is finding that one guy who’s going to say "get on my shoulders and ride me to the championship."

by Sokojoe on Dec 7, 2009 4:11 PM EST reply actions

oh boy

i really really dont like the idea of signing adam kennedy. we have enough mediocre infielders now that we have cora

A "Zeile" for avoiding outs

by metsguy234 on Dec 7, 2009 4:28 PM EST reply actions

He's a white guy!

You like that part at least, right?

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Dec 7, 2009 4:41 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs

He's a mediocre hitter

but a great fielder. Not everyone can be as good as Jose Reyes…

by deadspy3 on Dec 7, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions

But he's the anti Reyes

he doesn’t celebrate or smile

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Dec 7, 2009 6:28 PM EST up reply actions

heh

by vivaelpujols on Dec 7, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions

It scares me that the 1st thing

Cerrone said about him is that he’s gritty

DO WHAT JOSE REYES DO!!!

by Jadden Hopkins on Dec 7, 2009 4:56 PM EST reply actions

That's the most important thing that any team needs, grission.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 7, 2009 4:57 PM EST up reply actions

Grission > Talent

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Dec 7, 2009 5:02 PM EST up reply actions

That's the one thing I've learned in the past two years or so.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 7, 2009 5:08 PM EST up reply actions

at this point, right conclusion with the wrong methods is the most I expect out of Cerrone.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 7, 2009 5:10 PM EST up reply actions

actually, it wasn't cerrone

it was baron, who is far worse at baseball analysis than cerrone.

by englishgrey on Dec 7, 2009 5:16 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Awesome

now if we can just get somebody to take Castillo off our hands…

You don't cheer for the Mets. You drink for the Mets.

by Kevin H on Dec 7, 2009 5:19 PM EST reply actions

Well, there's still that persistent Castillo-Bradley-somebody rumor

by JoshNY on Dec 7, 2009 5:45 PM EST up reply actions

I like it

what we lose in Castillo’s OBP is more than made up for when you factor in the defensive improvement and the added pop. For a 2b, he’s got decent power. He could put a few into the pepsi porch. Castillo had about 15 extra base hits last year. Imagine having a second basemen who could get 30 doubles and 10-15 homers? But, I’d still like to see a decent bench righty that can spell him now and then.

by Mackey Sasser on Dec 7, 2009 6:56 PM EST reply actions

Agree

He was a great fantasy option late in the season, and if he can hit in Oakland he can hit at Citi

by SAL R on Dec 7, 2009 8:18 PM EST reply actions

oh good, the Mets fantasy team will be fantastic next year

by KeithsMoustache on Dec 7, 2009 8:45 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Kennedy has been 3.6 UZR at 2B the last 4 years.

And he’s a year older. On the fan scouting report he got a 3.27 last year on a 1-5 scale. So i think he’s probably a slightly above average defensive 2B. Then factor in below average hitting (about .317 wOBA), and he really isn’t that good.

by EtSuKe on Dec 7, 2009 8:30 PM EST reply actions

re: fan scouting report--he was playing 3B mostly

year-by-year UZR

07: -2.9
08: 10.6
09: -4.7

hardly a decline pattern, but no, he’s probably not a +15 defender anymore.

by Sam Page on Dec 7, 2009 9:01 PM EST up reply actions

I think the fan scouting reports are supposed to be position independent,

but if Kennedy had one year with 10.6 UZR, and the rest negative, how can you expect anymore than +3?

by EtSuKe on Dec 7, 2009 10:48 PM EST up reply actions

Well

They’re supposed to be, but obviously there are problems with that when you have a player playing a relatively unfamiliar position. You’re right, +3 is probably a responsible estimate, I’m just saying that the pattern isn’t strict decline, like Castillo or Hudson, and since this is three partial seasons of data you can’t just throw out his career data. The smaller these sample sizes get, the more likely they are to “lie,” which may seem like a strange thing for me to tell you since I’m the one that brought up the yearly data. But I think you see my point.

I also suppose it’s worth noting he had bad knees in 2007 that got fixed before ’08.

by Sam Page on Dec 7, 2009 11:11 PM EST up reply actions