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Angel Pagan hit a two-run home run yesterday. He is batting .419 with 10 RBI in 15 games this spring.
Willie Randolph, on Pagan’s early, spring-training success, while speaking to reporters after yesterday’s game:
“I’ve seen this happen a lot in spring training. The guys in a good rhythm, in a good groove, and determined to make the team. I’ve seen that before, where guys go crazy in spring training. Like I said, he’s in great shape, he’s matured a lot since the last time I saw him and he’s having a real good spring so far. Still got a ways to go, though, so keep it going…
“A lot of kids have talent. But a lot of time they do things on the bases or in the outfield that are not always instinctive. It doesn’t make it bad, but to be on a winning team - and to be a winner - you have to do a lot of things instinctively…You know, the first time I saw him he didn’t make good choices on the base paths, now he’s looking better at that. That’s what I mean by maturing. He had some really weird routes in the outfield, it seems to me that he’s learning how to get a better jump and take better routes. I remember when I first saw him he was very raw…But hopefully with a couple years under his belt he’s learned some things, and it’s good to have him. And, again, we’ll see how this all plays out. I told the guys when spring training started, you’re not necessarily going to make this team just on batting average and stats. I mean, we’re trying to put together a team that’s gonna help us win games. So, it’s nice to go out and impress, but, when you get down to the end of the day, you have to do certain things to help us win a game.”
In a report for 
, despite having a personal stake in Pagan’s success, Ted Berg wonders why we are all getting so excited about Pagan, reminding of us of past, out-of-nowhere spring success stories, such as Butch Huskey.
Lastly, speaking of outfielders, in a column for Newsday, Anthony Rieber reminds us of Endy Chavez.
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sounds to me, based on Willie’s comments, that Pagan will not make the opening day roster.
I agree from the comments and can not fathom why. I do not believe he is a future starter for us for long stretches but what am I missing here. Willie seems hell bent on letting the kid know through messages like the above quote, that he is not assured anything. Maybe he sees the bench as something like Easly, Anderson, Castro, Chavez and Gotay and nothing more. ALou being on the DL might only mean that Pagan catches a break and gets on the squad at the beginning of the year. Or maybe to start the year he feels he can go with the above 5 but must carry Michel Abreu to be the 6th man off the bench and spell Delgado. I am not sure.
Regardless…Pagan deserves to see the big club based on this spring training to date. With about 2 weeks left before the season starts…it should be clear that Pagan has earned it. What else can the kid do?
I honestly have no idea what team is going north but if Castillo and Beltran don’t hurry up and start playing and if Delgado does not stop striking out…we have issues
I agree. Delgado could not look more clueless at the plate, yet he’s assured a starting spot at 1st because of his salary. Pagan has earned himself a spot.
Delgado is really the big enigma. I think as he goes this year so goes the METS. Pitching will be terrific and relief pitching should be strong. But the offense is based in large part on him and Alou being productive. Without those two big RBI bats…we are going to struggle to score. Puts more pressure on Wright and Beltran and Castillo and Reyes to be on their games. I expect little to nothing from Church and Schneider offensively unfortunately.
I see the offense being worse than the Braves and Phills and on par with the Nats and maybe a tick better than the Nationals. That worries me.
First of all, Delgado has earned that spot by being a 2 time all star with 431 HR’s. Angel Pagan has 318 career at bats and has not earned anything. This is SPRING TRAINING. There is no room for him on this roster, we have 5 bench spots and they are all taken. The only reason he may start the season in the majors is because Alou is hurt.
You can’t seriously be advocating not giving Delgado a spot in the starting lineup. Pagan in 2 full seasons will not even approach the numbers that Delgado put up in his off year.
I am not suggesting bench Delgado and give his roster spot to Pagan. What I am saying is that Pagan appears to me to have at least earned a spot on this team. He likely will get it due to the Alou and Duque injuries. I see both starting the year on the DL and providing at least temporarily 2 more spots for the bench.
But beyond the reality that Delgado will play and is a starter…I am terribly concerned for his performance. I could not care less about his time in Tor and in FL. With us he has had one pretty good year and one pretty avg year (sub avg for his position and for his track record). Add in that he has been hurt this spring and is completely unable to hit an inside FB right now and yes I have concerns. Nothing we can do about it this year but I think his performance will be the difference between making the playoffs and not.
I ultimately believe that Willie is holding that 6th roster spot for Jose Valentin or Anderson Hernandez, because as constitued the only back up SS is Gotay or Easley, not really a viable option. Were as Easley, Anderson, Chavez can all spell the outfielders
I really feel that Delgado is done. It’s sad, but the guy has lost it. It’s okay, it happens, guys age. This team needs to recognize that.
It’s because Willie is loyal to the veteran players. Not necessarily a bad thing at times, as Shawn Green played well early on despite being garbage in spring training. What Willie sometimes forgets, though, is that he was a minor leaguer once, too. Someone had to give him his shot to sink or swim. This is that time for Pagan.
Why hate on Pagan? What’s wrong with a nice little feel good story for Spring Training. With all the negative stuff going on with injuries, plus the collapse from last year, it’s nice to see a kid like Pagan come back to the Mets, tear up Spring Training and possibly make the team. Lets keep it real, I don’t think any Mets fan is making Pagan out to be the second coming of Willie Mays, maybe Willie Mays Hayes.
If only Pagan was from th Dominican Rep., He’d
be a shure thing to start on opening day.
wow .. what bs, I thought with this one the race card couldn’t be thrown, but here it is..
Y’all stop with the race stuff already. It doesn’t belong here. May I remind you all Omar brought on Wagner, Schneider, Church, and Lo Duca. Will the neanderthals please stop it already! Keep your 17th century ideology to yourself.
Sounds to me like Willie’s saying he hasn’t made the squad yet.
But if you read everything he said - like how he likes how Pagan’s improved on the basepaths and in the outfield - he’ll make the team if he continues to do what he’s doing.
If he goes 0-20 for the rest of ST, then he shouldn’t make the team. If he keeps on tearing it up then absolutely he deserves to make the roster.
Endy is a lefty. The last thing we need is a 5-6-7-8 made up of all leftys
But Pagan can’t hit lefties either (.219 career), so having him bat right-handed doesn’t solve the problem.
Somewhere Lastings Milledge is having himself a good little chuckle over all this…
… and then his team goes on to lose 90 games.
What exactly is Lastings chuckling about? The Nationals’ pitching staff?
or the fact that he’ll hit .250 this year? maybe he should put up a halfway decent season before chuckling about anything…
He will put up a more then decent season this year… and here mets fans are drooling over angel pagan whose doing his best work against AAA guys in Spring Training….
It’s just funny that we can’t find that right handed hitting bat we need in the OF.. Hmm.. where could one of those gone…
he’s chuckling about that blastings thrilledge guy and how much he loves him.
Might as well give him a chance, since they don’t need to leave camp with five starters anyway.
I still have to wonder why the stats and batting average in this spring training don’t count but Carlos Delgarbage will make this team based on stats from 3 years ago.
Ahhhhhhh….vintage Willie.
salary????
why do stat not matter? 2 words:
BUTCH
HUSKEY
Matt, that SNY link goes nowhere
I do not get the hate on Milledge. He did not ask to be traded and he is not badmouthing the METS since he is in DC. He said only that he feels like he has a realistic chance to be himself this year as a NAt. A true statement. He said he feels more comfortable there because they treat rooks equally…also true since they are a team with few established vets and their best players are all young.
Milledge should not be on our minds except to say that we could sure use him right now couldn’t we. He would certainly help to make us feel more prepared right now in the outfield.
ok….
so lets look at that…
then we have milledge playing lf or rf…
we have…some other catcher? i guess Estrada…
So at whichever corner outfield spot milledge doesn’t play…who do we have? OH the same situation!! We still have our bench to choose from!!!
About the only thing that is better is we have a righty hitter instead of the lefty in Church…
Apparently Mrose and I are the same person. Weird…
haha
well, i’d rather be the same person as you than MANY others on this site
plus wherever Milledge is playing, you have routine flyballs dropping in for doubles…
THANK YOU!!!!! finally someone who realizes that even if we have milledge we would still be in the same predicament