While folks are still applauding over the Steve Cohen gravy train making players and agents very wealthy, there has been some recent inactivity that has gotten under some folks' skins.
It is that very role that is perhaps causing the most angst among Mets fans right now. No one can sugarcoat the way in which Tyler Naquin, JD Davis, Dom Smith and Darin Ruf failed miserably at the endeavor. Do you need a painful reminder? Naquin as a Met hit .203 with 4 HRs and 13 RBIs over 123 ABs. That's a full season output of 16 HRs and 52 RBIs. JD Davis had issues due to injury that sapped his power. His 2022 batting average as a Met was .238 with 4 HRs and 21 RBIs over the course of 181 ABs.
By contrast, big Daniel Vogelbach was a positive All Star in comparison to this coterie of wannabes and once-weres. He hit a relatively successful .255 with 6 HRs and 25 RBIs. Now his numbers strung out over a full season would result in 24 HRs and 100 RBIs.
That output explains why the Mets picked up his very inexpensive $1.5 million option for 2023. He was well liked and if you haven't had the chance to see him with kids getting Mets Christmas presents, make yourself smile and enjoy it.
So in the quest for a DH, where does that leave the Mets for the upcoming season? Well, Dom Smith and JD Davis are both gone from the roster. Naquin is a free agent in search of a job after having at one point been a solid if unspectacular player for the then Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.
Darin Ruf is still somehow on the Mets 40-man roster. For his age 36 season he's set to earn $3.5 million. In the Cohenverse, that's pocket change to swallow if a solution was available that could improve on the .154 average and no home run power.
We've all heard from Billy Eppler that the team is looking at in-house options for the right side of the DH platoon assuming Vogelbach is returning to get the majority of the ABs from the left side. You have Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez all looking to crack the big league lineup.
Now many people are advocating the Mets do whatever they can to peddle relatively pricey ballplayers elsewhere both to open up the roster to the youngsters and to create room for a veteran DH to come on board. That approach does make some sense, but you have to consider the long term deals on board right now for both Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor.
The goal to achieve balance between expensive veterans and productive but inexpensive rookies is a businessman's dream, but the risk involved is getting them the time in front of major league pitching while accepting some long stretches without a lot of output while not losing patience during this transition to the top 600 baseball players in the country.
It seems wherever you turn now there are options being tossed around as possible DH acquisitions for the Mets. Many are in the Jose Abreu/J.D. Martinez mold in which they're coming off a reduced level of productivity as they enter the tail end of their careers. Some would like to see the Mets embrace a young player who could establish a home for himself for 4-6 years of strong hitting. Others advocate looking for another lightning-in-a-bottle solution like Ruf was supposed to be.
One name that's come up a number of times is former bench player for the Mets in 2021, Brandon Drury. He was finally given a full time amount of at bats in 2022 between the Reds and the Padres. In total he hit 28 HRs, drove in 82 runs and hit .262 while batting from the right side. Last year he earned a modest $700,000 and will be expecting a big bump as he enters his age 30 season.
For now, we can all sit around planning the holidays, drinking adult beverages with our Mets fan friends and pondering what might happen or what should happen. However, nobody knows for sure. Not even Billy Eppler.
8 comments:
Reese,
I like Drury for both a backup inf/of/dh position. He had an excellent season in 2022.
rUF MUST GO - A BAT LIKE dRURY, FOR A YEAR, WOULD BE FINE.
Drury at that price is great. Also like AJ pollock. Not the best year overall last year but still raked against southpaws, plays a good corner outfield and im sure he could still fake it if needed in CF
Give Vientos first crack.
Can we please let the kids give it shot its time to play them and then go the trade route if necessary but really don't we all think one of them has to do the job or we don't really have top prospects we have suspects.
Vientos will be a major league hitter for a long time and DH coming to NL resolves his lack of defense. I understand Cohen’s deep pockets, but it makes perfect sense to start with Vientos, Cisco steps in if he can’t get it done and if they are still short at ASB, they have plenty of trade capital to get a RH bat
So you're saying that we should buy Drury at $7M after selling him a year ago for $700k? Glad you're not my stock broker. The kid had a good year in 2022, but it's a pretty long leap to presume he has transformed into a consistent .260 hitter with power. Ruf hit .271 with a .904 OPS in 2021. Everyone laments giving him half of the $7M. One year does not make a player, especially those with power numbers. Pitchers find the holes in their swing and the results plummet. I agree with the comments above that say, "give the kids a shot".
no to Drury. Paul has that one covered.
Somebody mentioned Pollock. Better than Drury, but not sold on bringing in another 35 yr. old. He had a down year in 2022 which is probably showing his age, but he has hit well pretty much his entire career. I don't think NY is where he finds out if he actually has anything left.
I am not particularly high on Vientos, but if he rakes in the spring, let him lose the DH spot. They still need a 4th outfielder, somebody with some wheels is my preference. (Where have you gone Billy Hamilton? oh yea, just signed with the Chisox for his age 73 year . .must be, huh?)
Post a Comment