Make-The-Mets-O-Meter, Week 3: Hitters

by Eric Simon on Mar 17, 2011 12:00 PM EDT

Last week the Mets pared our list a bit by cutting 11 players from major league camp including six position players: Kai Gronauer, Zach Lutz, Fernando Martinez, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Ruben Tejada, and Jordany Valdespin. Mike Nickeas remains on the list even though he's the only obvious candidate to back up Josh Thole for the first eight games of the season while Ronny Paulino serves out his PED-related suspension.

Check out previous MTMOMs here.

Player		Comment
Russ Adams, IF		I just don't see a fit for him. He's behind several players on the depth chart at second and third.
Luis Castillo, 2B		Collins allegedly doesn't want Castillo on the team for drama-related reasons, but smart money is still on Luis making the team.
Raul Chavez, C		Little more than a catcher's mitt at this point in camp.
Lucas Duda, OF		If Carlos Beltran isn't healthy enough to avoid the disabled list for Opening Day, Duda has a shot to break camp as a backup right fielder. A tough week at the plate has his spring OBP down to .317.
Brad Emaus, 2B		Support within the organization from J.P. Ricciardi and Dickie Scott may not be enough to keep Emaus from a return trip to Toronto.
Nick Evans, OF/1B		Still no patience or power in spring, and his lack of minor league options means he'd be exposed to waivers if the Mets don't add him to the 25-man roster for Opening Day. Some other team would certainly be interested in an inexpensive lefty-masher.
Willie Harris, OF		Harris continues to hit and draw walks this spring and has the inside track for the fifth outfielder spot. If Beltran isn't ready for Opening Day it's a near certainty that Harris will be.
Luis Hernandez, IF		Just when I thought he was out, Terry Collins pulls him back in. Still a longshot to win the second base job, that's better than the "no shot" he had last week.
Chin-lung Hu, IF		Hu has drawn a few walks this spring and generally hasn't embarrassed himself at the plate. Almost every realistic Opening Day scenario has Hu backing up Reyes at shortstop
Daniel Murphy, 2B		Murphy's stock is falling as rumors of his iffy defense have apparently been confirmed. I still favor his bat at second over anyone else in the fray.
Mike Nickeas, C		Ronny Paulino is finally stateside so Nickeas's ride with the Mets will probably only last through the season's first eight games.
Val Pascucci, DH		Move along. Nothing to see here.
Jason Pridie, OF		Might've had an outside shot at the fifth outfielder spot before doing nothing with the bat this spring.
Dusty Ryan, C		See Raul Chavez.
Justin Turner, IF		Opening Day with the Mets may not be in the cards, but from his Twitter page we've learned of his boredom in Port St. Lucie and his fondness for Victoria Bekham [sic].

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Comments

I really can't fathom how we could possibly give up on Emaus so quickly

it would probably infuriate me. I can’t see any real argument for it considering how thin we are at the position and the fact there’s about a 90% chance of Luis Castillo injuring himself shaving or something.

I feel bad for my little brother. He walked in and saw that the score of the Nugs-Magic game was 88-89 and thought it was high scoring.

All he knows is the Nets.
by Maxyboy on Dec 14 2010

Rex Ryan lobby for championship toe ring.

by Gina on Mar 17, 2011 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

There's a 0% chance of Ruben Tejada injuring himself shaving

Just saying.

"He who gets the best players usually wins" - Bobby Bowden

by Russ on Mar 17, 2011 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

It’s hard to believe that an organization that understands the danger of small sample sizes would be ready to give up on a guy based on part-time work in March. The only thing I can think of is that his defensive fundies at 2B are awful and the coaches don’t think they can fix him. In my mind, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt start him for a month or two before throwing in the towel on him.

by xnumberoneson on Mar 17, 2011 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I can see giving up on him

I mean, Toronto did too. Let’s not kid ourselves – this guy isn’t Chase Utley or Robinson Cano. He could be a serviceable second baseman, but Justin Turner may very well be better (similar minor league numbers, and Turner’s numbers translate better b/c Emaus played in a more favorable hitting environment). At some point the question becomes whether the roster inflexibility is worth holding on to him given that he’s not a really high-ceiling prospect (unlike, say, the way the Nats viewed Jesus Flores when they got him from us a few years back and basically stashed him on the major league roster and/or DL the whole year).

by dontstopbelieving on Mar 17, 2011 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

yep, the reason to punt on Emaus

would be if he isn’t even as good as Turner.

by ThnkGoodnessforHowieRose on Mar 17, 2011 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions

But Toronto didn't give up on him after 3 weeks.

Save Jenrry Mejia!

by Ogre39666 on Mar 17, 2011 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know all that much about Toronto's 40 man roster but

they didn’t necessarily give up on him. Toronto’s got a lot of good young talent and they may have decided to protect other guys instead of Emaus. Again…not sure of their 40 man status but there’s certainly a chance that they had a glut of Rule V eligible players and a full 40 man roster and in their eyes, Emaus was the most expendable of those players.

Chamption of the R.A. Dickey Face contest and "Cromulent Photoshopper Extraordinaire" of Amazin' Avenue!

by Steve Schreiber on Mar 17, 2011 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, that's a lot of Victoria Beckham

by JoshNY on Mar 17, 2011 12:21 PM EDT reply actions

I'm Not Surprised....

…. about Murphy at 2B. As neat as it would have been for him to pull it off, I couldn’t stretch my imagination enough to see him being able to handle the position. Second-base is not an easy position to handle, especially the double-play aspect of it. I guess Murphy can be some kind of low-level utility player, in that he’s tried or has been able to play first-base, third-base, left-field and now second-base. He seems to be able to handle first-base, the easiest of the positions I’ve indicated.

He tried. Kudos to him for trying. Good luck in the rest of your career, Daniel Murphy.

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgment." Friedrich Nietzsche, "Human,All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Mar 17, 2011 12:58 PM EDT reply actions