This column is not a Wilpon-bashing diatribe about their
refusal to spend money, but rather a look at the list of players who have filed
for free agency and where underpriced value might exist. Now if that lower price tag happens to float
the Wilpons’ yacht, so be it.
One third baseman flying pretty far under the radar is
Korean import Jae-Gyun Hwang. Never
heard of him? Join the club. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants
last year but really didn’t get much of a look.
He got a Gavin Cecchini-like 52 AB trial and didn’t exactly set the
world on fire. However, he’s no an
unrestricted free agent with no posting fee.
As a result, he will be available for relatively little money and no
compensatory draft picks either.
Why should anyone consider him? Well, it’s not often a player makes positive
strides in his development as a conscious decision to work to overcome
deficiencies. For example, when he was
criticized for not generating much power, he worked to improve his strength and
health. Consequently, he went from a 12
HR/76 RBI contact hitter into a 26 HR/97 RBI power hitter. Of course, swinging for the fences caused a major spike in strikeouts.
During the offseason he worked hard on this issue and he had
a dramatic drop in strikeouts while generating 27 HRs and 113 RBIs while
hitting .335. No one paid much attention
to him and the Giants got him for chump change.
He’s still just 29 years old and plays a position of need for the
Mets. He also has 1st base
experience and could provide a right handed complement to Dom Smith against
tougher lefties. Check out his highlight reel to see his power and some of his defense.
One pitcher the Mets may want to target include the now
former Dodger Brandow Morrow who went from mediocre starter to sensational
reliever while playing for $500K. Yes,
based upon his 45 games of 2.06 ERA in relief he’s going to get a substantial
raise but it will still be in the high-value range.
A pair of former Mets have been working for their entire
careers as successful relievers. Joe
Smith’s sidearm delivery would be a very different look coming out of the
pen. Yusmeiro Petit put up some awesome
strikeout numbers. Another former Mets
is a free agent as well, but no amount of sugarcoating would make the fans
welcome back Oliver Perez with open arms.
Other successful middle relievers coming onto the free agent
market include Jake McGee, Pat Neshek, Tony Watson, Anthony Swarzak, Matt
Albers, Luke Gregerson, Pete Moylan, Koji Uehara, Bryan Shaw, Drew Storen,
Brandon Kintzler, Craig Stammen and Seung-Hwan Oh. Former closers on the market in the second
tier of pricing would include Sergio Romo and Steve Cishek.
A few speedy outfielders worth considering for bench roles
would include Craig Gentry, Rajai Davis and Ben Revere.
I was interested to see former Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario
wanting to come back to the USA but defense was never his strong suit and his
only other position is 1B which is currently occupied by Dom Smith. I don’t see a fit.
One starting pitcher definitely on the lower end of the
price spectrum worth considering is former Rockies and Padres hurler Jhoulys
Chacin. He’s not as sexy a name as Jake
Arrieta or Yu Darvish for sure. For that
matter, he’s no Alex Cobb or Lance Lynn.
However, unlike the much older and more expensive alternatives like
Jason Vargas, Chacin is coming off a $1.5 million salary and delivered a 13-10
record for a bad San Diego team while achieving a 3.93 ERA for a career mostly
spent in Coors Field. He’s durable,
healthy and could be that type of innings eater they’re seeking without
breaking the bank.
I’ve previously written about the enigma of Logan Morrison
who had his best ever season by a wide margin for the Rays while earning a
paltry $2.5 million. For that he hit his
usual .246 but upped the power output to 38 HRs and 85 RBIs. Think of him as the poor man’s alternative to
Jay Bruce. He might be a good
placeholder for Michael Conforto, but he’s probably going to want to cash in
for what may be his last chance at a long term contract.
There is another outfielder who might be interested in a
pillow contract to reestablish his value.
The once feared Carlos Gonzalez had a miserable season for the Rockies. A year ago he hit .298 with 25 HRs and 100
RBIs. This year it was .268/14/57. At age 31 it’s doubtful he’s lost it
already. Consequently he might entertain
a one-year deal which would fit nicely with the Mets’ ongoing desire for
payroll flexibility. His last season in
Colorado paid him $20 million. If he was
looking at half that then he would be a worthy gamble to play RF. For a frame of reference, a few years ago
when Adrian Beltre did a discounted one year deal with the Red Sox and
delivered. The same happened with Nelson
Cruz and a one year deal with the Orioles.
Food for thought…
So who is less of a risk going forward – one year wonder Logan Morrison or established star Carlos Gonzalez coming off a lost year?
So who is less of a risk going forward – one year wonder Logan Morrison or established star Carlos Gonzalez coming off a lost year?
11 comments:
Morning Reese -
I am being told that Bryan Shaw is the first choice of the Mets, mainly due to the fact that the new Mets manager was his past pitching coach.
I’d snap Shaw up in a heartbeat .. still want Moustakas ... but hey I still wish the Mets signed Vlad Guerrero back in the day
Reese, nice job, a lot of names to mull over. I hope their decisions, especially for Shaw and some quality starters, leaves us smiling.
Ed -
M&Ms will never stand for "Moustakas and Mets"
More like “mediocrity & Mets” lol it pains me to say that
I always thought when you saw who took the Mounds and the various Butterfingers behind them would causes Mets fans to have a case of the Snickers.
Regarding Bryan Shaw, did anyone notice that after his stellar 2014 campaign his numbers trended upward each year thereafter? Isn't that a bit of a red flag?
http://m.mlb.com/player/543766/bryan-shaw?year=2017&stats=career-r-pitching-mlb
Reese, Goober Pyle liked your pun. Go..o..lly!
Just remember if we drafted the best player in ‘67 we would’ve had Reggie Bars in Lushing
*Flushing
Ed, that bad decision forever altered the Mets' trajectory. Can you imagine Reggie J linking up with Weaver and Koosman?
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