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In an article for Yahoo! Sports, Gerry Fraley ranks the Mets outfield as the fourth-best in the National League behind the Rockies, Cubs, and Diamondbacks.
On the Mets, Fraley writes…
“LF Moises Alou, CF Carlos Beltran, RF Ryan Church. Reserves: Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez.
“Alou, 41, can still hit but is having increasing difficulty staying on the field. Church needs help against lefthanders, which could create an opening for hyped prospect Carlos Gomez.”
…at first, i felt fourth was way too generous of a ranking…those are a couple of drastic understatements with regards to alou’s ability to stay healthy and church’s inability to hit lefties…but after looking closer at the rest of the nl outfields, it’s a pretty fair rating…in fact, i would argue they should be a spot higher since two thirds of the Cubs outfield hasn’t even played a full major-league season…
Fraley also ranks Beltran as the second-best outfielder in the National League, behind only Matt Holliday, saying…
“He is coming off a season in which he hit 33 homers, drove in 112 runs and won his second consecutive Gold Glove. The ding in Beltran’s game is he doesn’t hit for a high average.”
…it’s true, beltran is not likely to hit for a high average…however, he brings so many other things to the table that i wouldn’t even swap him for holliday, whose career numbers away from Coors Field are worse than beltran’s averages since coming to the Mets…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…i have a hard time evaluating beltran…i still think of him as though he’s the young, five-tool guy from the Royals…
…instead, today, as he enters his fourth season with the Mets, during which he’ll be 31 years old, he’s more of a clean-up hitter with decent speed and great instincts on the base paths…the other thing is that he’s quite brittle, and though he plays through more pain they we realize, it impacts his production and makes him painfully streaky…yet, when he’s on a roll, he can carry the team as well as any one…
For more on the team’s outfield, check out Marty Noble’s latest column for MLB.com.
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Dodgers are pretty good too, Pierre/A.Jones/Kemp with Ethier off the bench.
A lot depends on what Beltran the Mets are getting, the MVP in 06, the very good player of 07, or the so-so player of 05.
Hi Cactus, I live in LA and see a dozen or so games a year, so I’ve gotta disagree with you on the Dodgers OF. Pierre is a disaster– a fast slap hitter with an OBP that is barely above .300. Andrew Jones seems to be in freefall (and clearly not a fitness buff) who’s being way overpis (this year’s Barry Zito contract, but only two years). I do agree on Kemp and I like Ethier (I’d play him before Pierre to give him the full shot to develop; he won’t be a star, like Kemp may turn into, be I think he could be a real solid corner OF).
What the hell were they thinking with Pierre? The Dodgers new GM might wind up being one of the worst ever.
Beltran’s value will never be thought of what it truly is because of his style of game. That being said, overall, he’s the best outfielder in the NL because of the position he plays, the top level in which he does that, and the fact that he’s a force in the lineup. Sure he won’t hit .330, but frankly, why does that matter when he’s putting up 30 HR 110 RBI seasons? Avg has and will always be an overrated stat and defense will always be undervalued.
The streakiness makes it harder to evaluate his value too. When he’s in a funk, he can look awful at the plate for a long peroid of time. Then he’ll get hot and win NL Player of the week. In the end, the numbers are good (30 HR 110 RBI), but they seem to come in bunches as opposed to consistent production.
I know this is off-topic, so sorry for that, but I know the Mets are doing a lottery again for the right to buy opener, yanks, and last-game tix. Did I miss the boat on that, has anyone heard when the lottery is/was?
they haven’t even gotten close to that yet…
I’m still waiting for my season ticket confirmation, so i’d say they need to fix all the season ticket holders and plan holders before thinking about available opening day and yanks etc
I just remember tix going on sale for regular season mid-february usually, and when I got my ticket plan renewal it mentioned the lottery. I just expected to hear by now.
nah cause i’m one of the chumps who is trying to upgrade to full… I keep bugging them and they said they don’t expect to have all full season ticket plans fulfilled until Mid february
That is such crap. Lottery system for opening day, yank games, and final game? Let it come down to the most loyal fans who are willing to stay out all night on line at Shea for the opportunity to buy the most popular games. Remember those days waiting all night in line just to buy tix? The lottery system is a bad, bad idea.
Marty Noble on mets.com says from time to time that Beltran’s one of the top 5 CF the Mets have ever had, and he got the Gold this year to back it up. But one I hope that this article will do a bit to quiet the yappers who mitch and bone about Church. Our OF will be good this year (especially if Alou spends minimal time on the DL, but that’s a bit of a … stretch).
time to time top five on the Mets? that means some times there are more than 5 guys better than him?
I don’t count Willie since he wasn’t quite the same with the Mets!
Mookie? Dykstra?
Time to time meaning when he talks about it. If I remember right he lists Mike Cameron as top. Neither Mookie nor Dykstra are mentioned. Mostly it’s older players (sorry, I don’t know my Mets history too well pre ‘86), but he, like you, excludes Mays.
Man, who in their right mind would choose Cameron over Beltran? Both play Gold Glove-caliber defense, and Beltran has a clearly superior bat. That he’s unpopular with the fans doesn’t make Beltran a lesser talent.
He was talking about sheer defense. And since he’s covered the Mets since the 60’s I’ll take his view over yours.
Didn’t read the article, so I didn’t know he was talking solely about defense. If that’s the case, the argument for Cameron can certainly be made.
Factoring in offense, it isn’t that close.
He’s mentioned it in Q&A’s a few times this year. Those were some of his better responses (along with his talk about Mex). But some of those can get rather stupid and it’s almost sad the easy questions he chooses to answer. One of the reasons I’ve since switched to here for my Mets info.
I’m still angry about the Milledge trade.
Just promise not to boo Church if he doesn’t go 4-4 with 2 homeruns his first game. It’s not his fault he was traded.
I lke Church. Hopefully he will have some early success against lefties to take the heat off, but I think he can have a surprisingly good year at bat, and shore up the D too.
Actually, if they didn’t have Castillo clogging up the order, Church might make a real good 2 hole hitter. Good OBP, doubles machine, hits lefty.
If he has a solid year in the 7 hole, and picks up a good amount of the many baserunners that should be on for him, he will be a solid piece of the lineup.
If Delgado has a reasonably consistant rebound year, and while Alou is healthy, this is a scary lineup 1-6, and Church at 7 is still one of the better 7 hitters in the league.
And if the other team throws a lefty, you can go with Easley (if they don’t give me Mench!) and Castro 7-8 to really add some pop to the bottom of the lineup.
A Mench mention again? Shocker! LOL.
It’s hard to take any article citing the the fact that THE COLORADO ROCKIES have two 100 rbi guys in the outfield.
Roll… when he’s on a r-o-l-e. I guess the jacket didn’t fix your spelling and grammar issues, Matt.
My friend, you are the one in need of spelling and grammar.
Matt’s use and spelling of the word is correct.
Roll…as in a rock rolling down a hill. A moving object difficult to stop. Like when Beltran goes on a tear.
Role – a specific part in a play or film. Or like Endy Chavez – a very specific skill set the fills a need, such as a defensive specialist, not a pinch hitter with pop.
Matt was completely correct in his use of the word “roll” in this context.
Beltran could “play” a role.
He could not be on one.
If Alou can suck it up and make it for 120 games, and they have a viable RH back up (like Mench) then their OF will be a force. Or maybe Easley can handle 40 games out there?
Now, if Endy pops a Hammy and Alou only plays 70 games and has less ABs than Angel Pagan, then there might be a problem.
You really want Mench dont you stickguy? This is at least the tenth post I have read where you have mentioned Mench. You like him that much? Not being a jerk but I cant see why you want him so much. Fill me in on your mindframe.
Looked up Mench’s numbers on my own. Not too bad. I can see why you might want him for the bench but at the expense of whom? Who’s spot should he take? If we end up keeping Gomez should he be on the big club or in AAA? We have Endy, and M. Anderson to play OF already so where does Mench fit in? As a 6th OF? I like the pop he has. He definetly can knock it out of the park but the on base perct. is lacking. Just want to hear your side of it? Let me know. Thanks.
if we still have Gomez, he should play AAA. my (unrequested) $.02
He is just the front man. It used to be Mench or Nady. But, it could be someone else.
Basically, I think the team would be better if the bench had a legit RH OF/1B guy on it. Someone that can actually play regularly if needed, and that can back up Church and Delgado when they get a break.
The ideal person for them to replace would be Easley. Right now, Easley seems to be this guy, but I don’t think he brings enough D to the table.
THe bench seems to have guys that should really only be PHs, except for Endy that is a defensive replacement, but I don’t like to see him as a regualr.
Back up 3B and (especially) SS seems to be weak also.
I really don’t see anyone that can step in and start if one of the regulars has to go on the DL (other than Castillo, since 2B is well covered!)
Beltran is overrated. He’s a .260 hitter at best, he’ll likely never hit more than 35 HR in a season, he is horrible at Shea Stadum, has poor plate discipline, and he rarely uses his speed. He stole more bases in 3 months in Houston than he has the past 3 seasons.
He’s the guy that fans of other teams think he’s really good but the fans of the team he’s on see how average and inconsistent he is.
He’s a .260 hitter at best? You got that from his lifetime .280 average and .275/.276 averages the past two seasons?
Terrible at home? His .822 OPS last season would ranki him fifth overall among MLB center fielders were he to post that for an entire season.
His poor plate discipline yielded 69 walks, good for 4th among MLB center fielders, 16th among all league outfielders.
Inconsistent? Yes. Average? Absolutely ridiculous. Every single metric measuring offesnive and defensive contributions will show beyond a doubt that Beltran is one of the top outfielders in baseball. That’s fine if you don’t like him, but don’t make off-the-wall comments denigrating his value.
Never hit more than 35 HR’s in a year? He is a center fielder not a first baseman, how many center fielders hit 35 HR’s in a year?
It’s kind of funny he said Beltran will hit 35 homeruns at best, wouldn’t any fan take that out of their centerfielder, much less any baseball player on their team? I truly hope that was sarcasm on their part.
WAKE UP CALL:
HE HIT OVER 40 HRS IN 2006
Ranking NL outfields is as practically useful as counting the grains of sand on each mound. The Mets OF could be ranked 4th or 14th in the league, that still doesn’t take away from the fact that we only have Beltran and a bunch of platoon players (due to certain injuries and certain lack of everyday talent). Add to the fact that Beltran also has annual bouts of oblique strains that don’t knock him out, but do cripple his game for a month or two every year, plus Chavez has now shown glass propensities, and the severe lack of depth issue is the pink elephant in the room.
There was a reason we had Damion Easley playing the corner OF positions last year and why Carlos Gomez was in the majors where he didn’t belong and bums like David Newhan, Ben Johnson, Ricky Ledee and Jeff Conine were getting playing time out there. I don’t see how the Mets addressed this depth weakness at all. We could have upgraded from a fulltime Green to a fulltime Milledge, but instead downgraded back to a platoon Church.
Not true at all. What makes you think that Milledge would have had better numbers at Shea this year than Church will. If I were a betting man I would guess that Church still has a productive year here while Milledge is learning to play everyday in Washington.
Among those “platoon players” are David Wright and Jose Reyes, two of the best players in the game, and Carlos Delgado, who is still a solid first baseman and I expect to bounce back this year. Which team are you watching?
He probably jumped off the Mets bandwagon down the stretch and got on the Nationals one, who were on a hot streak for a time. He didn’t have time to watch the Mets.
I think he was talking about the OF, not the entire lineup.
beltran players premium D at a defensive position and can mash the ball.
and who cares about batting average. beltran’s OBP was 15th among NL OFers last year, not great but not bad. turns out his BA was the same. point is tho, quote average for traditions sake if you must, but dont talk about if your trying to critique the guys, it makes no sense to use it when OBP is just as readily available and more a important stat.
Beltran is a complete package. Beltranright now is the most complete center fielder in the game. There isn’t any one better.
BJ Upton, Curtis Granderson and Grady Sizemore could all come close to matching Beltran’s production in the near future.
However, at this point in time, you’re absolutely correct– he’s the game top all-around CF.
Beltran had a ridiculously good 06 season. I think he will this year and compete for an MVP award. He should drive in 120 batting behind wright for an entire season
he can if Delgado bounces back and Alou can stay relatively healthy.
It’s kinda weird and this is the way baseball is, but we’ve never seen Beltran go on a tear along with Delgado or Wright at the same time. If this line-up can click, it’s a pretty scary line-up.
in other words: beltran is the 4th best outfield (not outfielder) in the nl
Beltran in one of the most underrated CF in the league, based on his numbers. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t seem to be a team leader or “vocal” but he’s never mentioned among the elite, despite a consistant 30+ hr and 100+ rbi over the last few years.