So far, we have
identified two outfielders on two teams ripe for picking:
Atlanta – Reed Johnson
Arizona
– A.J. Pollock
Baltimore – Nolan Reimold
Boston
– Jerry Sands
I spend no time here
trying to figure out who to trade them or whether the Mets should just keep
checking the waiver wire each day to see if my choice becomes available. All I
do here is try to duplicate, for you, what I assume someone (with a VP on his business
card) is doing in the Mets office this week.
We now move on to the
Chicago Cubs, who have eight (8) outfielders on the 40-man:
Tony
Campana – bats left – pre-ARB – 2012/MLB – 174-AB, .264 -
David De
Jesus – bats left - $4.25mil/2013, $1.5mil buyout/2014 – 506-AB, .263
Brett
Jackson – bats left – pre-ARB – 2012-MLB - 120-AB, .175, Prospect #3
Dave
Sappelt – bats right – pre-ARB – 2012/MLB – 69-AB, .275
Nate Schierholtz
– bats left - $2.25/mil – ARB-2/2013
Jorge
Soler – bats right - $30mil through 2020 – ETA: 2016
Alfonso
Soriano – bats right - $19mil/yr – 2013 & 2014 – 2012/MLB – 561-AB,
.262
Matt
Szczur – bats right – pre-ARB – ETA: 2013 – AA: .210
The Cubs are trying
to buy every baseball player that is defecting from Cuba, which may pay off
some day; however, for now, they are stuck with bad contracts. The worst is
Soriano’s which will simply won’t go away. The good news is he still gives you
32/108.
DeJesus will play
center, while recently signed Schierholtz will play left. According to the
Cubs, they are stil looking for another outfielder so I have no idea where
Jackson, Sappelt, Campana, and Soriano will play.
Szczur will play
2014, so Jackson is on my radar.
Mets target: Brett Jackson –
Natural centerfielder… all speed… 1st round pick in 2009 out of the
Univ. of California… will play 2013 as a 24 year old… 2012 in AAA: 27-SB,
15-HR, 47-RBI, .817-OPS.
6 comments:
Although he's lefthanded, I like Campana -- 54 SBs in 300+ ABs.
Reese:
what are we looking for here, a fast guy someone with power, or just a good player?
I'll pass on Jackson, big time. As he has risen through the Cubs' system, his strikeout rate has consistently increased (from 22% of PAs in '09 to 34% last year) while his AVG, OBP, and OPS have consistently declined, although his SLG has held relatively constant. Those stats are unlikely to improve in MLB. I see him as a potentially 200K, .250 hitter. A good glove and 25 SBs aren't enough. If I had to deal with the Cubs (which I don't) I'd try first for Tony Campana. Or , if they would pick up all but about $5 million of what Soriano is owed, I'd gladly take him off their hands. (Not likely)
I wonder why you pick Pollack over Adam Eaton. Is it because you don't think Kevin Towers will part with Eaton? I'd press hard for Eaton, even if I had to give a much better package. (So long as that package didn't contain anyone named Harvey, Wheeler, d'Arnaud or Syndergaard.)
Jerry Sands is an interesting possibility, if the Red Sox would consider moving him. I don't much like Nelson Reimold, though. I do like Reed Johnson, but since Atlanta just signed him, I didn't think they could trade him until mid June or so. Besides, Alderson could have pursued Johnson as a free agent and declined to do so. Why would he pursue him as a trade target?
Okay anon... I have you thinking about the big picture now and that's what I'm trying to do here...
Aperfect example is Pollack over Eaton... this is how teams do it... they sit around the table and everybody gets a vote...
My favorites are usually always based on what they did BEFORE they were drafted... as in the case of Jackson... I'm still looking for someone to break out.
Thanks for the reply. (I was anon, but now I've come out in the open. lol) My philosophy is once a kid has a few years of minor league experience, performance trumps potential. Hence Eaton over Pollack and Campana over Jackson. I try to take his perceived potential into account, but I don't always have access to scouting reports and pre-draft info.
Although I agree that the Mets really need another righty in the OF, you can see ( from my pick of Campana over Jackson) that I won't preclude a lefty (and I'd covet a switch hitter) if I think he brings alot to the table. For example, I'd be very happy to see Alderson deal for Alejandro De Aza.
I did a fair amount of homework prior to the Dickey trade, so I have my own list of targets from each team that might have been in the mix. I'm therefore very interested in what you have to say when you get to the Blue Jays, Royals, Angels, and Rangers. Other teams in the Dickey hunt didn't appear to have major league ready outfielders, so although they made sense as pieces in a package, I wouldn't pursue a trade for any now.
As an aside, I was disappointed that Sandy didn't claim Scott Van Slyke when he came through the waiver wire. Although 2 years older than Jerry Sands, he's not that dissimilar. Perhaps that tells us that Sandy is holding the roster space open for a more experienced outfielder that he has his eye on.
Herb:
Doesn't it feel great to be out of the closet?
It's interesting as I do this process... some teams have nobody to target other than failed players or prospects with ETAs 0f 2014 or later.
I'm assuming we're all looking for someone that can help the Mets in 2013...
There also are some teams that have more than one player that look approachable so feel free to chime in
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