Five Flaws

I started writing this post before pitchers and catchers, and all of a sudden spring training games have begun! While I had hoped to post this before people started hitting the field, I am full of bliss that they are. In any event, to have a little bit of fun, I'm gonna point out 5 glaring holes on the Mets starting roster, at least in the upcoming years, and maybe provide a few suggestions along the way.

1) Catcher - If the roster remains the same, I say the Mets should give the bulk of the job to Josh Thole; ease him into a full time role. I would love to see this guy get 120+ games and 400+ ABs. I realize this is a lot, but what do the Mets have to lose? Their alternate, Omir Santos, is older and does not offer any higher performance - neither offensively nor defensively. By providing a full time opportunity to Thole, the Mets might enable his growth. Then again, I wouldn't want to force him to grow too quickly (this is why I'm not in charge of the team).
On the other hand, the Mets might be getting somewhere in their attempt to sign Rod Barajas
http://www.metsblog.com/2010/02/17/buzz-mets-making-hard-push-for-rod-barajas/
It would be splendid to provide the pitching staff with a veteran, defensive-minded duo in Henry Blanco and Barajas. I am of the opinion that no catcher out there provides all that much offensively, and that the defensive aspect of the position is the more crucial. Which, of course, makes Joe Mauer absolutely priceless. If the Mets get Barajas, that could afford Thole another year learning his trade; no doubt, it would be great if the Mets sought Barajas in order to nourish Thole for the long run.

UPDATE: Rod Barajas is now the Mets starting catcher, which is excellent because Thole can learn his trade better. At the same time, why didn't the Mets sign Barajas to a 2 year contract, with equivalent terms for each year? Assuming Barajas would accept a part-time role, having him as your back-up catcher for 500k would be so fantastic. On the other hand, perhaps the Mets plan on keeping Henry Blanco as a mentor and back-up for 2011. Whatever the case may be, I'm happy that Thole has the full year at AAA to gain experience, especially with Chris Coste out there. I just hope the Mets have someone solid to be his back-up in 2011

2) 1st Base - I'm trying to be objective when I say this, but I am not so sure the Mets need to spell Murphy at 1B at all. Defensively, I think he has the raw skills to man the position admirably, although I don't expect him to be on par with the likes of John Olerud (don't worry, I'm not even mentioning Keith). In terms of his bat, he has a clear proclivity against righties (he does bat lefty, after all). If the Mets had wanted to address this point, which would probably be smart, they should have considered signing the right handed hitting Troy Glaus. He signed with (achem) the Bravos...to play 1B...for (achhhhhhhhem) $2MM. His 3 yr line vs. Lefties reads something like .267/.385/.538. couple that with Murphy's line against righties of , and you have a very solid platoon .282/.340/.436, and the total cost would be under 3MM.
But if we're not going to see a legit right handed threat, why waste precious AB's, during which Murphy can grow as hitter, on Fernando Tatis? I'm not saying Tatis is bad, in fact his numbers look some what better than Murphy's when you put 'em back to back. But they are, at best, marginally better. And Tatis is more than 10 years older than Murphy. Considering we have a promising 1B coming up in the ranks (Ike Davis), it'd be reassuring to see the Mets groom Murphy as a homegrown corner IF, someone who can be a left handed bat off the bench and offer a few positions. At least it would look like the Mets were thinking ahead, instead of investing starting time in a 35 year old bench player.

3) 2nd Base - I mentioned in my previous post that the Mets should have a plan in place to bridge the gap until Wilmer Flores can take his place beside Jose Reyes. I don't know for sure that Flores will be ready in 3-4 years, but let's go with that argument. We have Castillo for this season and next. That would leave 1-2 seasons post-Castillo and pre-Flores. It would be great if the Mets could get someone on the cheap, but I am just not that knowledgeable. Maybe Felipe Lopez would accept a back-loaded contract for 3 years/6MM or 4/8MM. Or else Orlando Hudson could finally come to town?

UPDATE: Lopez signed with the Cardinals for 1 year at something like 2MM, possibly not even as a starter. This actually leads me to something that I will possibly be booted out of the sports blogosphere for, but here I go: Luis Castillo's contract was not that bad. At $6MM a year, he has offers solid avg and obp as well as some steals. His defense has apparently declined over the years, but he is still more than capable of playing at 2b everyday. Furthermore, he has never had any problems off the field and, despite having aching knees, played 142 games last year. I realize his 2008 season was dreadful, but let's look at 2 veteran infielders who recently signed contracts for $6MM annual salaries: Miguel Tejada, who has anything but a flawless record, just signed with the Orioles for $6MM/1yr. A former MVP, he still has more pop than Castillo, but has a much lower OBP, does not steal bases, and has officially switched to 3B (which begs me to ask about his defensive ability). He's also 3 years older than when Castillo signed his contract. Another guy we can look at is Placido Palanco, another veteran who has changed to 3B to play for a new team (so defense is again a question for him). He has a very similar OPS to Castillo, with somewhat more pop (nothing impressive) but much less patience at the plate (only 36 walks in over 600 ab's). He does not have much speed on the base paths, and his numbers have declined steadily over the last 3 years. Also, he's 2 years older than Castillo was when he signed. Which all leads to my point: stop bashing Castillo. In fact, don't bash any Met player. We can be disappointed in them, and we should question the front office's approach - but we really shouldn't attack the players for making more money than you or I will ever see. He may not give you any homers, but at Citi Field who would? Answer: Mark Reynolds

4) OF: Center and Right field have some pretty tough questions in the year or two ahead of us. What happens after Beltran, whose contract expires after the 2011 season? Can we rely on F-Mart coming up as a premiere CF? I'd like to think so, so perhaps we have F-Mart and JayBay inCenter and Left. What about Right? Do we invest in Frenchy? His obp isn't so hot, but if he can become a 20 hr 100 rbi guy with a canon in right, I'm all for continuing to extend his term with the team via arbitration, and maybe eventually through free agency. Plus his clubhouse presence seem to be a real positive. I just wish I knew what (or if) the front office is thinking about these sort of long term issues.

5) SP: After Santana, who do we have? Pelfrey seems to still be a work in progress. I really have no idea what is going on with Jonathan Neise. And all of a sudden this Meija kid is starting to gain some hype. And so for 2010 we are left with Santana et al. I think john Maine is great for the team, and I have no choice but to root for Ollie for the next 2 years. But seriously, the Mets need to figure out what type of pitching staff they want (heavy on the lefties? righties to complement Johan? Power? Finesse? Work horse?) and then figure out how to attain it. Of all the "flaws," this is the most serious because a) it affects the team the most and b) it seems to be in the worst shape.

And now a quick look at my projected line-up for the 2010 Mets. Player names in parentheses are expected to get at least 25% of the starts in a split role:

C Thole (Santos) UPDATE: Barajas
1B Murphy (Tatis)
2B Castillo
3B Wright
SS Reyes
LF Bay
CF Beltran (Pagan)
RF Franceour

It makes me feel a bit better now that it's written down. Some of those parentheses could be switched, and I'm a little uneasy about the fact that there will be 3/8 positions that are not manned by full time players...but we'll see if the team can bring it together and make a fine season out of it. If there's anything I can say from my list of flaws and the current starting lineup, its that the Mets have brighter days ahead of them, which I hope makes for a bright future.
UPDATE: there's been a lot of talk about Reyes batting 3rd, and I intend on devoting a whole post just on that subject. If he ends up batting that low, it will really be interesting to watch him develop as a hitter. Given the fact that the Mets really just don't have the pitching to go deep into the playoffs (or perhaps even make the post season in the first place), maybe now really is a good time to see what Reyes can do. It might get him to grow up as a ball player; it seems spending all of last season injured may have matured him as a man.
God I can't wait for the season to start.