Which Part of the Couer Would You Traide?

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When Sandy Alderson says that no player is untouchable everyone (especially the MSM) immediately starts to picture David Wright and Jose Reyes in different trade situations. I'm sure every Mets fan is like me and would love to have both of them remain Mets for life and go into the HoF together as Mets with at least three WS rings. Even without Alderson leading the team however the chances of tem staying Mets were slim to none. Since the players that we actually want to trade are either untradeable or have super low value (Beltra, Rodriguez, Perez, Castillo), I thought I'd take a look at our two most valuable trade pieces and ask the question: which would you rather trade?

When I look at Jose Reyes, I don't see as big an injury risk as everyone else seems to. He has been healthy since his first full season in 2005 except for 2009. His injuries in 2010 while they did affect his performance a little were not serious injuries. They did not affect his legs (which seems to be the biggest concern wrt his health) and they did not keep him out for a significant ammount of time. In fact even with those injuries and with Jerry jerking him around in the batting order, Reyes had a heck of a rebound year hitting just below his career line of 286/335/434  (282/321/428 in 2010). Even if Reyes' speed did start to diminish (which is not likely to happen for at least another few years, read: near the end of his next contract) he is still able to hit for some power averaging 13 HR per full season (2005-2010 excl. 2009), and field a premium position well which are skills that should not diminish much by the end of another contract.

David Wright is obviously the poster boy for the team deemed "franchise player" and team leader by most. Well lets forget about any intangibles that make him a leader, because we can't project how they will help us win games. And "franchise player" is a term that really means nothing in baseball except maybe that he's the most popular player on the team. But popularity doesn't win games either and if his place on the team were solely for selling tickets because the fans like him, I would have to say that winning more games would sell more tickets than David's smiling face any day. Not to say that David Wright can't help us win baseball games. You don't get to be a five time all star just by being popular. Since Wright's first full season he has posted a total WAR of 34.3 and his lowest year, 2009 was a 3.5. Not too shabby. However his game has not been flawless since 2008. In 2009 David's K% mysteriously jumped from below 20% to 26% and rising. He is past the point where he makes an out every fourth at-bat just from striking out, and has posted a wOBA 20 points below his career average in the past two seasons. Now part of this is due to the fact that by the end of 2009 he started swinging at a lot more balls outside the strike zone, so it's potentially a problem he could fix if he worked on his plate discipline. The trend has not been going in the right direction however for Wright to regain his 2005-2008 form. In addition to his hitting woes, his fielding has been atrocious according to his UZR of -10.0 and -10.6 in the past two years. I try not to put too much weight in fielding stats, because I still think Wright plays a decent 3rd base, but even just watching him sometimes you get the feeling he trys to do too much and needs to slow it down a little. But, aside from my ameture scouting analysis, David is also older than Reyes although without any injury history.

I would love to see both Wright and Reyes stay with the Mets for a long time, and although I have no idea what kind of financial situation that would put the team in the future, it already looks like that may not be possible. Both had stellar seasons through 2005-2008 that have endeared them to us as fans and made them very valuable to any team. Each of them also has the ability to get back to their earlier success, although it is hard to tell which one will get there first if ever. I also don't know what kind of trades would be possible for either player, but they would definately be able to bring back some top level talent. So who would be the better player to trade and give the other a long extension? (There is no Keep them both answer. I want to see who people would trade with their backs against the wall)

 

P.S. I have been a reader of AA for about a year now, and this is my first post so any comments are welcome. Also I'd like to thank the writers on this site for getting me to think logically about baseball and the Mets in particular. When I go back to some other sites like Mets.com from time to time, I have to laugh at some of the comments and mailbag questions that are posted.

Poll

Who would you rather trade for the future?

44%

David Wright

26 votes

18%

Jose Reyes

11 votes

37%

Trade them both! The future is now!!!

22 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed