Make-The-Mets-O-Meter: Batters, Vol. 3
by Eric Simon on Mar 17, 2010 5:00 AM EDT
26 comments
We have less than three weeks remaining before Opening Day and the roster is beginning to take shape. If we assume the Mets will carry 12 pitchers that leaves us with 13 spots for position players. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are likely to begin the season on the disabled list, so our starting lineup looks like this in some order or another:
- Luis Castillo
- Alex Cora
- Angel Pagan
- David Wright
- Jason Bay
- Jeff Francoeur
- Daniel Murphy
- Rod Barajas/Henry Blanco
That's nine so far with four additional bench spots to fill. Fernando Tatis and Gary Matthews Jr. are locks, which leaves just two openings for the rest of the field. Smart money seems to be on Mike Jacobs and Ruben Tejada to round out the 25-man roster, but nothing is set in stone just yet.
Shawn Bowman, Andy Green, Mike Hessman, Mike Cervenak, Jesus Feliciano, Josh Thole, Luis Hernandez, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis were all reasigned to minor league camp earlier in the week. I removed Jolbert Cabrera and Chris Coste from the list because they're not really playing and there's no chance they'll actually make the team.
| Player |   |
Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Russ Adams, IF | |
Adams is probably a poor man's Fernando Tatis: He won't embarrass you in the corner infield or outfield, but the Mets already have Tatis so Adams will be shuttled to Triple-A soon enough. |
| Chris Carter, 1B* |  |
He's hitting a ton but isn't actually getting much playing time, which probably tells you all you need to know about how the Mets feel about him. With Murphy, Tatis, and Jacobs all in queue ahead there isn't really room for Carter right now anyway. |
| Frank Catalanotto, OF | |
He may be a Proven Veteran™, but he'll be plying his trade in Buffalo when camp breaks. |
| Ike Davis, 1B | |
.692 BABIP doesn't look sustainable. Still, he's hitting the crap out of the ball. |
| Nick Evans, 1B/OF* | |
Who? |
| Anderson Hernandez, IF* | |
Tejada's emergence as the likely Opening Day starter is bad news for Hernandez, who probably won't care for the early April weather in Buffalo. |
| Mike Jacobs, 1B | |
Batting .250/.429/.625 with just a .167 BABIP. Five walks and just two strikeouts in 21 plate appearances doesn't sound right, but I double-checked it. |
| Fernando Martinez, OF* | |
1.678 OPS this spring, but he'll begin the season in the minors. |
| Jason Pridie, OF* | |
Solid .476 slugging for someone with Pridie's defensive reputation. .273 on-base percentage is woeful. Could be a decent option as a fifth outfielder/defensive replacement. |
| Shawn Riggans, C | |
He's basically a bullpen catcher in camp, netting just four at-bats so far. Maybe fifth or sixth on the depth chart, so don't expect to see him again ever. |
| Omir Santos, C* | |
Santos is hitting a ton in limited action, and if the Mets don't trade him he might be a useful guy to have on the farm. You know, in case they ever need someone to hit dingers off Papelbon. |
| Ruben Tejada, SS | |
He's hitting .357 in spring training action with a gaudy .400 BABIP. He's the favorite to start at shortstop in Jose Reyes's absence, so let's hope his glove is all it's said to be. |
Key:
= Chance of making the Mets is unchanged.
= Chance of making the Mets is going down.
= Chance of making the Mets is going up.
* = player on 40-man roster
0 recs |
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Comments
It really must be an added incentive
to make the big league squad just to not have to go to Buffalo in early April.
Travis Hafner is made of gold
Stop ripping on early April Buffalo weather!
That was when it was actually warm for the first time since November and most of the snow had melted by then!
If there's ever a riot at Citi Field and Oliver Perez was the starter, I started the riot.
I just hope
They’re smart enough to pull the plug on Jacobs when he reverts to form.
But Omar and Jerry haven’t been good are forgetting the small samples for the large ones before (see Santos, Omir).
brb grabbing my torch and pitchfork
He’s hitting a ton but isn’t actually getting much playing time, which probably tells you all you need to know about how the Mets feel about him. With Murphy, Tatis, and Jacobs all in queue ahead there isn’t really room for Carter right now anyway.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Why is Jacobs still ahead on line ahead of Carter!?
I’ll give him that he’s not horribly sucking in his offensive numbers right now, but that he’s a Proven Veteran™, does that really mean so much more than Carter’s Spring Training numbers? Geeze…
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 17, 2010 10:16 AM EDT reply actions
To be fair, he's playing well
.167 BABIP and a +1.000 OPS…
by DanDotLewis on Mar 17, 2010 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions
yeah but he has 4+ years of data
that says he’s not a good player… and they traded for carter damnit if you’re gonna trade for him give him a chance to beat a player who couldn’t even get signed to a major league contract at 29 after 5 major league seasons.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
He's also got no positional flexibility
though I’m sure because Carter has a reputation of being a poor defensive first basemen the mets have no interest of giving him a shot in the outfield.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
It's not like Jacobs isn't a wiz at first or anything...
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 17, 2010 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions
exactly
so why not give Carter a shot? He can’t be worse with the glove than Jacobs. of course what would make even more sense is a platoon with Murphy and the shadow man known as Nick Evans.
I mean Jacobs has no positional flexibility
but the mets probably don’t think Carter can play an outfield spot.
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
Totally agree with you on Carter.
If it comes down to him and Jacobs, I’d rather see Carter make it.
Just an observer's thought...
It would better serve the Mets to find a deal, where they can package Castillo, open second base for Murphy, and bring Ike Davis up to first. Just as well, give Carter a shot in one of the vacant bench spots, giving them two lefty bats (Jacobs) off the bench to go along with Pagan and Matthews. Tatis is still a bat; and, of course, there’s Cora.
Danz
This has been the wish
of many, many people for about a year and a half now (the Castillo-Murphy bit anyway), but hope faded some time ago sadly
Could he handle it worse than Castillo?
"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'
it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.
That's fair
but while Murphy may (again, MAY) have comparable range to Castillo, I think people overlook how good Castillo is on the pivot. There is a lot of footwork that goes into playing 2B.
I know Castillo has been pretty bad defensively, but to think Murphy could just waltz in and be better than him defensively after only playing 17 games there (in AA, mind you) is asking a lot, imo.
Murphy needs to "learn" second base before being shifted over.
He started to in the 2008 AFL, for something like 13 games before sitting out with an injury, to results that were inconclusive, being as that I could not find defensive data. It sounds nice, in theory, but it’s a lot more complicated than just saying it, and it happening.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 17, 2010 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Nick Evans?
Are you sure we have a player named ‘Nick Evans’?
Evans is
a Hemingway character isn’t he? He’s not a ballplayer.
Carter will get his chance at some point, whether through injury or player failure. He’ll go to Buffalo and probably hit well, since that’s what he’s always done, and Jacobs will prove that he’s still Jacobs. What’s Jacob’s career pinch hitting stats, btw? Does anyone look at him like he can just pop off the bench and be a good pinch hitter? I don’t see that from him. Also, if Jerry ever used to pinch hit in the 7th or 8th inning, the opposing manager will just go to a lefty, thereby negating Jacobs’ worth. His one and only use will be to pinch hit vs. dominant righty closers that will probably just K him anyway.
And what will Jerry do
when he brings him up to pinch hit, and then a lefty is brought in? Will he let Jacobs hit, or burn him and bring in a righty. Carter has decent lefty-righty splits doesn’t he? Yet another reason to keep him over Jacobs.
beg to disagree
If Fmart continues to stay hot there’s no way i would ship him off to buffalo. I think both he and davis deserve a chance to open at citi. It would be a lot more exciting than watching frenchy and murphy.
I can't see starting Davis in the majors.
Sending him down for 2 weeks would give the Mets an extra year of team control. That alone would justify starting him in Buffalo.
Pinella: Where th f*ck was that pitch at?
Ump: Lou, don't you know that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?
Pinella: Where the f*ck was that pitch at, a$$h*le?
I found it interesting today that with Matthews and Pagan in the lineup that F! was in center.
I really wonder if the Mets feel F! can stick in center and be the Beltran replacement in 2 years.
Pinella: Where th f*ck was that pitch at?
Ump: Lou, don't you know that you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition?
Pinella: Where the f*ck was that pitch at, a$$h*le?
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