Make-The-Mets-O-Meter: Batters, Vol. 3

by Eric Simon on Mar 17, 2010 5:00 AM EDT

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:

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

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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

by Super Mario on Mar 17, 2010 7:00 AM EDT reply actions

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.

by meigs1414 on Mar 17, 2010 8:54 AM EDT reply actions

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).

by mets81 on Mar 17, 2010 9:09 AM EDT reply actions

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.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 10:08 AM EDT reply actions

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

maybe the mets secretly hired Pedro Martinez in the front office

by englishgrey on Mar 17, 2010 10:31 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

To be fair, he's playing well

.167 BABIP and a +1.000 OPS…

by Dan Lewis 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.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions

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.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions

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.

by Endys Game on Mar 17, 2010 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

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.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Totally agree with you on Carter.

If it comes down to him and Jacobs, I’d rather see Carter make it.

by keithprime on Mar 17, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

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

by Danz10 on Mar 17, 2010 11:40 AM EDT reply actions

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

by deadspy3 on Mar 17, 2010 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Eh

I’m not convinced that Murphy would be able to handle 2B defensively.

by keithprime on Mar 17, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

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.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2010 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

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.

by keithprime on Mar 18, 2010 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions

As Gina noted

it’s not like he’d have to fill big shoes.

by Dan Lewis on Mar 17, 2010 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

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’?

by erich10031 on Mar 17, 2010 11:55 AM EDT reply actions

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.

by Mackey Sasser on Mar 17, 2010 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 17, 2010 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions

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?

by Stephen Schmidt on Mar 17, 2010 7:25 PM EDT reply actions