One of the great conundrums for Mets fans is who should be
playing the outfield when Spring Training ends and the team flies north to the
cold March start to the 2020 season.
Michael Conforto in RF and Brandon Nimmo in CF are givens. Jake Marisnick and Dominic Smith appear to be
locks for the bench. The real question
is who gets the LF gig on a nightly basis.
Based upon what we saw in 2019, it’s entirely possible that
they could be relying on Jeff McNeil to do what he does best – play anywhere
and hit the ball. He’s certainly not a
bad option out there and he is currently fighting OBP wunderkind Brandon Nimmo
for the right to lead off in the lineup.
The issue is that with Jed Lowrie unable to take game-level
action, it leaves 3rd base open for someone to handle. Right now McNeil is a more natural infielder
than outfielder. Assuming Robinson Cano
is locked in at 2B, that leaves 3B as a good McNeil option. He can field the position well and it will
still keep his bat in the 1st or 2nd position in the
lineup.
The sticking point to both LF and 3B is currently rehabbing
JD Davis. He showed last year what he
could do with his bat. In fact, his
production was so good that no one really missed the Boar fighter at all. The problem is that he’s a bit of a worst
case scenario when it comes to defense.
You could insert him at 3B where he performed below league average or
you could insert him in LF and hope that fly balls don’t get hit in his direction. He’s a born DH. Unfortunately in the NL he has to take the
field in order to play.
Then there is the sweet swinging Boar fighter. He’s not yet entered game action because it
requires him to be able to run and he’s not moving laterally as would be
required once the season starts. As I’ve
said before, there’s a great financial incentive for the Mets to keep him in an
extended Spring Training (and it will give Jed Lowrie someone to talk to).
It is important to get Cespedes on the field at some point
in order to try to peddle him off to another team for its fight for the
post-season. He leaves as a FA at the
end of the season and I really can’t see the Mets taking the risk of extending
him a QO for nearly $20 million which he would likely take.
The bigger question is what to do with the bad investment in
Jed Lowrie. Some are saying he’s ready
to hang up his spikes. Doing so would
forfeit his remaining salary, so I can’t see him doing so until year end. Even then someone might offer him a
reasonable amount of money (say $3 million) to play parttime next year, so
retirement talk for the then 37-year-old might be a bit premature. Still, it’s unlikely the Mets see anything out
of him for several months yet at best hope, so keeping him tanning in the
Florida sun isn’t the worst option either.
They’re obligated to pay him either way.
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The final thought for the outfield could be an eleventh hour
approach to the irascible and still unsigned Yasiel Puig. A one-year deal would give the team a solid
defender with decent offensive production.
The issue is his reputation in the clubhouse and the price he’d command
even at this late date. He would offer
some attributes with his defensive skills that JD Davis cannot provide, but the
cost emotionally and financially may not make it a worthwhile gamble.
I wonder if, were it not for insurance, Cespedes and Lowrie might already be playing. Time is running short in spring for the Dented Duo.
ReplyDeleteJD Davis did work on his D all winter. I guess we'll soon find out if he is new and improved.
I see some sort of a modified platoon situation with Davis and Smith manning left field until they prove they are hurting more than helping.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a straight platoon where Smith, being the lefty, would get 70+% of the at-bats, but somehow more of an even split, with Davis probably even getting a few more starts.
I also see the playing time dependent on other positions. Giving Cano a day or two a week off moves McNeil to 2nd, Davis to 3rd and Smith in LF. It wouldn't be a bad idea to give Pete a day off once in a while, while I see Dom playing more first base in the interleague games with Alonso the DH.
Lastly, I think that we'll see a lot of Marisnick in center with Nimmo sliding over to LF in the 8th and 9th innings.
One other thought that I haven't done much research on, but remember some stats from last year is that Dom Smith proved to be an effective bat off the bench. I admit I have not looked to see if Smith or Davis had the better pinch-hitting numbers (I think it was Smith, but maybe that was just based on the last swing of the year :-) ). I would hate to have Dom relegated to a career pinch hitter at this point in his career, but I also don't want to see him traded. I think they should both be able to shag about 400 at-bats.
Oh yea … a "no" on Puig.
ReplyDeletePuig is like the Dez Bryant of baseball.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the secrecy around Lowrie's injury? Have you ever seen an injury treated like this? Even with Cespedes' violent fall explanation, the wild boar truth quickly came out. Did he actually injure it in a way that would violate his contract, so he won't talk about it?
ReplyDeleteUnless we get a true CF, who is significantly better than Nimmo on both sides of the ball, I don't think we need another OF. I think we'll get at least something from Cespedes this year, and even if we don't, we should get enough mixing and matching the guys we have in LF.
ReplyDeleteI think Marisinick will get a ton of playing time. And also think they should leave Cespedes and Lowrie in a very extended spring training for as long as possible. I see jd and smith as well sharing the load in LF with Nimmo. I also want JD to get 450-500 at bats. So him playing a lot of third when McNeil is subbing for Cano twice a week works for me as well.
ReplyDeleteLastly put a CF’s glove on Giminez already, you have nothing to lose by doing this. He has more of an option to help us if you do.
Davis and Smith will man LF in a platoon until Cespedes gets back. Then, the three of them may wind up sharing it unless one of them gets traded.
ReplyDeleteLowrie would be lucky to get a minor league deal and an invite to 2021 spring training by some team like the A's. A 37-year-old infielder who hasn't played in 2 years is not going to be in demand by anyone.