FanPost

Is Tulo Worth the Price to Bring to Queens?

<a class='sbn-auto-link' href='http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/players/493/troy-tulowitzki'>Troy Tulowitzki</a>Troy Tulowizki would have all-time great numbers if never hurt

Since mid-summer the Mets have been linked to four-time all-star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Why wouldn’t they? The Mets have a gaping hole at that position and they could fill it with a player in his prime that could be considered one of the best of his generation.

Through nine seasons, Tulowitzki is .299/.373/.517 with 176 homeruns and 604 runs batted in. These numbers might not pop out right away to a baseball fan. But, the reason for Tulowitzki’s stats not being higher are because of his one true con, not staying healthy. Tulowitzki has played 961 games, equal to almost six full seasons. Based on this, if Tulowitzki played every season without getting hurt, he would average 29 HRs and 100 RBIs. At that rate, if Tulowitzki played every season after his rookie year healthy, he would have 233 HRs and 806 RBIs.

Put it this way, if Tulowitzki played all nine of his seasons at full health he would have the same amount of HRs Jim Thome had in his first ten seasons, who is sixth on the all time HR list. Tulowitzki would also have 46 more RBIs than Barry Bonds in his first nine seasons. Barry Bonds is fourth on the all time RBI list. In addition, six of the seven times Tulowitzki has played 90 games or more he has posted a 5.1 wins above replacement (WAR) or higher. All-star quality is posting a five plus rating. Lastly, Tulowitzki is 13th in active total career defensive WAR. In his nine seasons, that is an average of 1.45, which is a higher average than Adrian Beltre (1.36), who is currently first in active total career dWAR.

But once again, Tulowitzki’s one con can outweigh all this production. In nine seasons, he has averaged 106 games a year. Chunks of games of been missed for Tulowitzki because of injury. In 2012 he missed 113 games from surgery on his left groin, in 2013 he missed 26 games because of a right rib fracture, and in 2014 he missed 64 games for surgery to his left hip.

Not only is Tulowitzki’s injury proneness a burden to the Mets if they pick him up, but so is his contract. He will be owed $118 Million until 2020, an average of $19.667 Million for the next six years. The average salary for the 20 highest paid shortstops is $9 Million, Tulowitzki is getting paid more than doubled that. If traded to the Mets right now, Tulowitzki would be tied for the highest salary on the Mets with David Wright and would bring the total payroll to around upwards of $101 Million, bumping them up from the 23rd highest payroll to the 16th.

If the Mets believe that Tulowitzki can legitimately help them, what would they give up? Obviously their number one prospect, pitcher Noah Syndergaard, would be the main component of a potential deal.

Syndergaard was one of the prospects the Mets received in the R.A. Dickey trade back in 2012. Currently, he is ranked as the #16 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and #11 by MLB.com. So far in his minor league career, Syndergaard has a 3.25 ERA in five seasons, from Low A to AAA, but posted a 4.60 ERA his most recent year in AAA. Although Syndergaard’s ERA wasn’t what the Mets hoped for, he did have some bright areas. Not only did he have a 9.8 K/9, but he had a 3.37 strikeout to walk ratio.

Also, Syndergaard compares to former number one Mets prospect Zack Wheeler and 2014 NL Rookie of the Year, Jacob deGrom, in terms of AAA stats. All three of these players had high ERAs. As mentioned, Syndergaard had a 4.60 ERA last year, Wheeler had a 3.93 ERA and in deGrom’s first season in AAA he had a 4.52 ERA. Syndergaard and Wheeler are also similar in K/9. Syndergaard’s strikeouts per nine innings was 9.8 and Wheeler wasn’t very far behind at 9.6. Finally, Syndergaard and deGrom both averaged around two walks per nine innings and had almost identical whips. Syndergaard had a 1.481 WHIP and deGrom had a 1.467 WHIP.

Basically, all three pitchers don’t have identical numbers but they are very close. What this means is that Syndergaard can be just as productive in the big leagues as deGrom and Wheeler, two pitchers who have a very high upside.

Although Syndergaard has potential to be a stud in the MLB, he can't cover Tulowitzki by himself. Other prospects the Rockies could be interested in would be catcher Kevin Plawecki, who hit a total of 22 HRs in AA and AAA, pitcher Rafael Montero, who spent some time in the MLB last year, and outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who is currently ranked as the #60 best prospect in baseball by MLB.com. Plus, the Rockies have been in talks to acquire Mets starting pitcher Dillon Gee, who would be just another trade chip in a big package for Tulowitzki.


When he is healthy Tulowitzki is the biggest game changer in baseball. With Tulowitzki in the lineup, the Amazins would be on the cusp of the World Series. The Mets have to find a way to get one of the best players of his era to the Big Apple, no matter the price.

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process.