Thursday, December 07, 2006

Thoughts about RF for next season

There has been a lot of blame levied at Shawn Green, and a lot of Mets fans don't think he is the answer in RF next season. Some of us have even advocated waiving Green and eating his entire salary. Some have thought that Green should be traded in a straight salary dump so we don't have to pay his whole salary while getting a roster spot back.

The facts are clear. The Mets have 4 other outfielders who I project to play better than Green next season.

Carlos Beltran, of course, Moises Alou(even in a 100 games or so), Endy Chavez(who will put up great defensive numbers), and even Ben Johnson.
The problem with Green is that if he used to use performance enhancing drugs, he stopped using them. It's also might be that he's older, but he's nosedived since 2002, 2003 was his Age 30 season, not necessarily in his prime, but certainly within the time frame of the usual prime for a positional player.

With his rapidly declining defensive skills, and his bat going the way of the 10 Lost Tribes, Shawn Green has lost his right to command a starting spot in most starting lineups, especially one as good as the Mets'.

With his negative defensive values, and his league average bat, he's no longer a fit for the Mets, especially in a starting role.

Thankfully, Willie Randolph isn't handing the starting job right to Green, and surprisingly he's looking at Lastings Milledge to fight Green for the job at Spring Training. It's a refreshing tactic in this day and age when a manager might actually give the job to whoever the best player is instead of giving it to the established guy.

There are two ways to look at this, one that Willie is making these comments as a tactic to dispel the rumors that the Mets have come to believe Lastings won't be a star, and therefore the comments pronounce Lastings won't come cheap and has a place in the Mets future. The second, is that he legitimately wants to give Lastings a real chance to win the job and consign Green to the bench, or another team.

The fact of the matter is that RF is the only question mark for the Mets, the only position where the player currently projected to start is going to perform under league average or right around it.

For most teams, that's acceptable, having a weak link. Maybe for the Royals or the Pirates, but not for the Mets, especially when he hits .257/.327/.440 lifetime (.767 OPS) against lefties. Especially playing a position that requires a strong arm(which he lacks) and less than adequate range.

So no matter how nice Green is, he's not a righty, he can't hit for the power that he needs to play a corner OF slot, and he doesn't have range.

No one is saying he's a terrible player. He's just not good enough to start for the Mets and there's nothing personal about it. People look to his postseason performance as an indicator to give him a job for next year. Nothing could prove that he doesn't deserve the job more.

He hit .313/.405/.406 in the playoffs. He had three extra base hits. So, 7/10 hits were singles. All together, it means he hit singles and he walked. Which is great, except the fact that he's a corner outfielder. We need power from that position, and an OPS not around 800, if we're getting subpar defense.

So respect the possibility that the Mets would be stronger without Green than with him.

Addition, by subtraction, by addition(of Ben Johnson.)

Something that amused me greatly.

Tom O'Brien left Boston College to become the head football coach at North Carolina State, replacing the departing Chuck D'Amato.

It's never a good sign for a new hire for your school when his former school's fanbase is happy to see you go.

Fire Tob!

Not only did they have their own website, they couldn't even spring for firetomobrien.com

Somewhere some guy named Tob is fearing for his job.

Note: I am exceptionally pleased with the "Mission Accomplished!" banner on the site.