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1/21/12

Mets: Lucas Duda, Gary Carter, Ronny Cedeno, Juan Lagares


Lucas Duda, New York Mets — Lucas Duda will be an outfielder this year for the Mets, but he’s qualified at first base as well.  Duda hit .292 with 10 homers, one base swipe, 50 RBIs and 38 runs scored in 301 at-bats during the 2011 season and is another one that should benefit from moving the outfield fences in at Citi Field http://www.fantasybaseballdugout.com/2012/01/20/sleepers-first-base-2012/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Gary Carter’s numbers speak for themselves, as does his dexterity in the field. Indeed, entering the Hall of Fame really silences any debate about his deeds as a ballplayer. But what made this Yankees fan so nauseated on summer nights was the fact that the hated Mets, led by Carter – affectionately and appropriately coined “The Kid” based on the glee he brought to the game, his curly hair sprouting from his blue helmet – were simply better than the Yankees at nearly every position, particularly at catcher, where the Bronx Bombers had a turnstile of deficient backstops spin through Yankee Stadium, from Rick Cerone to Butch Wynegar to Ron Hassey to Don Slaught to Joel Skinner. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/20/keidel-time-to-salute-the-kid-gary-carter/#.Txl_nYqbLqw.twitter

Ronny Cedeno's Pirate career did include a healthy share of playing time. He averaged over 475 PAs a year those two seasons, and he finally pushed the WAR needle past one, accruing 2.5 wins over two seasons by batting .253/.295/.362 and being a tiny bit better than scratch with the glove. Still, two wins per season is your average MLB player and .261/.314/.374 is your average NL shortstop, so he's not a first-division starter. And he's not plus enough with the glove to make up for the bat -- his lifetime UZR/150 is below scratch and he's no wizard in that department. He's better as a backup at the middle infield. Which, if Ruben Tejada does his part, is exactly what the 29-year-old infielder will be this season. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/20/2719116/2012-mets-player-profile-ronny-cedeno

1-20-11 – http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/01/20/the-problem-with-juan-lagares/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter  - It’s pretty simple. Lagares puts the ball in the field of play around 83-84% of the time, so if his BABIP randomly goes up 80 points, his batting average goes up about .08*.84 = .67. Lo and behold, the difference between his 2010 and 2011 batting averages was 70 points. It doesn’t seem that Lagares was rocketing the ball around the field in 2011, either: per Minor League Central, his line-drive rate was just 12.1%. Now, minor league batted ball data is notoriously unreliable, but Lagares ranked eighth in line-drive rate among regular batters on his High-A team and tenth on his Double-A team. There certainly seems to be little reason to believe he was significantly better at making hard contact in 2011 than 2010. What are we left with, then? An impatient left fielder without much home run power, and whose declining speed (15-for-23 SB in 2011) isn’t helping him either. Don’t get fooled by the gaudy batting average, as it appears to be very illusory; Lagares isn’t much of a prospect. http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/01/20/the-problem-with-juan-lagares/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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