Tom
Brennan – YEP, THAT ADRIAN GONZALEZ
The Mets recently signed a player
that in his career has received MVP votes in 8 different seasons (once as high
as fourth) and made the All Star team 5 times.
Yep, THAT Adrian Gonzalez,
not the other one.
Seven seasons with 27 or more
homers, 10 years with 90 or more RBIs.
Yep,
THAT Adrian Gonzalez, not the other one.
By now you’re wondering who the
other Adrian Gonzalez is – there isn’t one – I just thought it sounded cool to
write it that way.
Coming off a poor year impacted
by a herniated disk and turning 36 this coming May, he certainly did enough the
prior 11 years to make one think he could be a very good 1B starter if healthy.
But what about Dominic Smith the first rounder (no,
not the other one)? The one of whom
Adrian Gonzalez (yep, THAT Adrian Gonzalez) said (according to
Michael Mayer) that “Dom Smith
has a beautiful swing and he should hit for power”.
Matt Ehalt quoted Gonzalez as saying, “For
me it’s about helping him (Smith) be the best player he can be. In spring
training, we’re going to work a lot and talk a lot.”
So what do I infer from all that? That Gonzalez feels healthy enough to play
well again, and that he sees himself as a player to help transition Smith from
being a struggling rookie to a bona fide major leaguer.
But, you might ask yourself, isn’t that a harsh
way to treat Smith? Shouldn’t he get the
vote of confidence, and be given the chance to fight his way to success while
playing for the Mets every day?
My answer is two-fold: 1) The Mets want to
contend in 2018 and do not want Smith to learn on the job from day 1 (with the
failures that can accompany that learning), and 2) the Mets will groom him
further in the minors for hopefully future stardom.
Gonzalez has been a big MLB star for years –
how about his transition to the big leagues?
Was he handed the job as a youth or did he have to earn it?
Answer? Earn it, just like Smith appears he
will have to.
Gonzalez’s major league debut occurred 19
days short of his 22nd birthday in 2004, when he went .238/.272/.381
in 44 plate appearances, followed by just 162 PAs in 2005, when he underwhelmed
again at .227/.272/.407.
In 2006, though, the matured Gonzalez exploded
as a 24 year old at .304/.362/.500. And
was borderline great for years thereafter.
When Smith debuted in 2017, he was just 76
days older than Gonzalez when he debuted.
Why should we fans assume Smith will tear it up next year, when the
nearly-great Gonzalez did not blossom until the third year of his MLB career?
We as Mets fans should want to contend in
2018, and try as he might, Smith may well just need more time – he only turns
23 in mid-June. Many guys are not ready
at 22 – and some become stars as they get just a little older. Like, YEP, THAT
Adrian Gonzalez.
Assuming Smith is sent down to AAA again,
he should set as his goals three things: 1) eliminate weaknesses, like hitting
into shifts and his current struggles against lefties, 2) toughen up while
keeping weight in check, and 3) realize that Gonzalez needed time too, but then
blossomed as a star - he may need that time, too, to be MLB’s next nearly-great
Adrian Gonzalez once Smith gets some more seasoning.
Because, heck, if Smith, like Gonzalez, can
have 311 career homers, 1176 career RBIs, and a .288/.359/.488 lifetime split
as he goes into his age 36 season, he’d make Mets fans very happy for years to
come.
We just have to hope that he progresses
until he plays like:
Yep, THAT Adrian Gonzalez.
2 comments:
Terrific piece Tom
Post a Comment