Mark Vientos is the better choice.
Here’s why.
Answer to “Ruf or Vientos” might be “neither.”
Cohen may eat all but the minimum to move Ruf.
He should. He’s toast.
He’d only play against lefties, he stunk up the joint last year as an aging hitter vs. lefties, and in 2023, he will be a year older. Fossilized.
McCan’t, just older.
Mark Anthony Vientos, on the other hand?
He had 112 at bats vs. lefties in AAA last season.
Slashed .330/.408/.732.
13 HRs, 37 RBIs.
Wow.
He got his major league debut jitters out of the way in 2022.
Just 1 for his first 18, then improved to 5 for his next 18.
Me? Moi-meme? I want that dude as a DH vs. lefties in 2023.
Lucas Duda was a “Vientos ditto”, but as a thundering lefty vs. righties.
Lousy vs. lefties. You bet. First….
Painful short Duda 2010 MLB debut.
Shook it off, as any good Lebowski should, and the following season, a dandy Duda delight:
.297/.380/.506 vs. righties.
I think Vientos could do that in 2023 vs. lefties.
Mark “yes”, Ruf “nyet”. Send the Ruffian packing.
He could still be traded before the season starts, of course.
And Mark did start slowly in 2021 and 2021, so I’d be OK (as of now) with him starting out in AAA for a few weeks, but Vientos before Ruf to me is a no-brainer.
Vientos.
Alvarez, too.
22 comments:
I agree that Vientos is the way to go. Too often Ruf, who was suppose to mash lefties, stood at the plate and watched hittable pitches go into the catcher’s glove. It was beyond alarming. I am ok if you want to save some money here and give the young guy a chance. Maybe we find something or at least increase his value.
Ruf was undeniably terrible as a Met, but his career record of mashing lefties shouldn't be totally erased as a result. Let's give him ST to show if he's got anything left, unless we acquire someone much better to "bump" him.
Ruf to me, is someone the Mets will want to trade to at least get MLB minimum back in salary relief. Go with Alvarez and Vientos for now.
Of course, Cohen may want to sign another vet - if so, hopefully a one year deal.
I would give Ruf until the break
This is a roster spot that can be improved upon before ST ends. In fact, ST can be used to see who gets the first shot. I would like to see Alvarez in that spot, playing 30% of the games vs LHP as DH along with catching 20%-30% of the games, but his bat may not be ready. Ditto Vientos.
I would be reluctant to hand the job to either kid and then need to overpay for a bat if neither can produce. Also, both need fairly regular ABs at their age be it in the bigs or AAA. There likely isn't a big market for Ruf, so he provides a solid insurance policy barring a quality addition before ST.
Vientos is a definite go, except if they complete the signing on Correa, where does Escobar fit in? He would be the early season righty DH vs. LHP. Give Vientos a month at AAA unless Escobar is mashing as the RH hitting platoon at DH.
Alvarez needs to learn to catch. Yes, his bat might be important. But until he improves behind the mask, he needs to learn how to frame, call pitches and throw out runners as a catcher. Moreover, you're delaying his MLB experience at catcher if you bring him up to DH too early in the season.
BTW, would MS & JV want Alvarez behind the plate when they pitch? I don't think so. At least not until he is ready to man the plate on a major league level.
Also, Kodai is going to need to have a catcher who is familiar with (at least) the NL hitters. Alvarez is not ready to call pitches on an MLB level.
TB:
Mark Vientos, definitely.
Here's my take.
This franchise (to my eyes) has always been a little too careful (let's say) in bringing up there better young more talented players from the AAA/AA ranks. I personally think that by so doing, it has cost this NY Mets franchise considerably while trying to build strong teams for now and the future.
The last young NY Mets wave here (in the field) was namely Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, and Pete Alonso. They all kind of got their start here because the Mets needed to give them a sincere opportunity because no other players were available to them mainly. Yes, they all paid off exceedingly well for this franchise, although some started slower than others which is normal and temporary usually. My point here is that without giving deserving young talented players this MLB opportunity, a franchise then must go out and spend trillions of dollars on veteran free agents that may not have more than 2-3 good years left in them. With this travesty, also comes what I call "the deadwood years" of this FA's contract. This is where the same exact young Met MiLB's overlooked for these costly free agents, will once again have to wait their turn to play until after the established veteran free agent player's too lengthy contract has expired. Often this is a hideously long duration of time as this free agent approaches forty years of age and medicare status. From this free agent hoarding ritual log jam situations are created that should not be at this time, and these same young deserving players end up being sent to places like Toronto or Miami.
Which brings me to my next Mets question.
Q: Why didn't the NY Mets organization pick back up starting lefty pitcher Kay Anthony just recently, instead of our enemy Chicago Cubs?
He may have been a great pickup for this team. Maybe even better than Jose Quintana at $26 mill. Time will tell.
Am I being too Ruf on Darin? Possibly, they keep him into spring training, to see if there is anything left in the tank. I wanna see the kids.
I sure would like to see Alvarez get 400 at bats this year and Vientos 200. We'll see.
I think Max and JV will want a guy catching who adds WAR. That seems like Alvarez to me, when he doesn't DH
Johnny Bench in his ROY season in 1968 had 18 passed balls and 55 wild pitches occurred while he was catching. They didn't sit him. They wanted that lethal bat.
The big question for me is why didn't they try the kids last July? I really hope Buck doesn't have "TC's don't play the rooks" desease. Tom defense was also the question with Pete and Piazza wasn't exactly Yadier Molina either AND we have the DH for Alvy. Play the kid. It will be fun watching all this play out in a few months LGM's!!!
Tom,
Johnny Bench did not catch 2 HOF pitchers in his rookie season. Both MS & JV are going to specify the catcher they are most comfortable pitching (to).
Not likely that Francisco is going to be their choice.
Tom,
They didn’t use WAR or any other sabermetrics in 1968! LOL!
Lyle
Tom,
Hate to beat a dead horse, but if Alvarez has half the arm that Bench had, then you might indeed be correct!
Who was Verlander’s catcher last year?
It's clear Steve Cohen is buying his way into contention, but the long term model must be a mix of young and inexpensive players to complement the veterans at the top of their game. You don't want to buy every single position on the field year after year.
Towards that end, you need to find ABs for Vientos first, Alvarez second (once he shows his defense is getting better) and Baty third who could use more time at AAA with no place to play in the majors with ostensibly Correa, Escobar and others ahead of him in terms of experience.
Royhobbs, Alvarez has a 60rated arm. That’s a gun.
All in all, the surplus of hitters is a great problem to have.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'd prefer Ruf. Bench pinch hitter is not an easy role. Vientos needs to play every day to stay on point. Let the old guy play 1 or 2 times a week and expect more than 2022 season.
Ernest, Ruf may or may not make it to spring training. If he does, Eppler is at least open to your perspective. Fangraphs sees him with 161 at bats, 5 HR, .222, 0.3 WAR. I would not be thrilled with that. We will see.
The kids need regular ABs. If they prove they can do that in the bigs at the the bottom of the line up with less pressure, fine, Alvarez/Vientos > Ruf. But, as Ernest notes, the kids cannot sit and watch if they struggle, they need regular ABs. So, it may seem like veterans over kids, but keeping a vet around for action in 30% of games vs lefties is actually a commitment to the long approach with the kids. Vientos deserves and needs more than 160 AB this season regardless of which league. Alvarez needs a minimum of 400 AB regardless of which league.
Darrin Ruf is a good player that had a horrible year after coming to the Mets. It may have been pressure, age, New York, or some combination of the above.
Everyone gets a fresh start in spring training. He will compete for a job then as will everyone else. It makes no sense to try to dump him now, as we would get no value in return without even knowing if we should. If he excels in the spring, he has a job. If he doesn't, maybe he's done. We'll see.
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