In a post for MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes looks at 10 first basemen who could be traded this off season, from Adrian Gonzalez to Jorge Cantu.
…i’d like to think the Mets could acquire fielder or gonzalez, but i just don’t see it happening… i believe, if the Mets are going to dish the necessary prospects for this caliber player, it is far more likely to a pitcher than a bat, which, these days, is easier to find on the open market…
Last month for the Daily News, Adam Rubin said he believes the Mets will likely will trade for a righty-hitting first baseman with a short-term commitment to pair with Daniel Murphy in 2010, as they wait for 1B prospect Ike Davis to develop.
…cantu fits this description… he is eligible for arbitration next season, in which he will probably be paid around $4 million, after which he can be a free agent… so, there is motivation for the Marlins to trade him, and the price tag will limit demand… plus, he’s a short-term play, he’s showing signs of becoming a more disciplined hitter, he hits a ton of doubles, and he hit .322 against left-handed pitching this season, against whom murphy hit .223… he also plays third base… that said, he is not very good on defense, and he’s not particularly quick, two things the Mets should value more these days given their ballpark…
…the thing is, i see the Marlins keeping cantu, and, instead, trading 2B Dan Uggla or OF Cody Ross… but, time will tell…
…which begs the question, should the Mets acquire cantu to play second base, sacrificing defense for power…
Speaking of the Mets and Marlins…
Marlins reporter Joe Frisaro, of MLB.com, believes the Mariners, Rays, Mets and Blue Jays will be among teams interested in Marlins OF Jeremy Hermida.
{ 28 comments }
How about Cantu and No Murphy?
NICK EVANS FITS THIS DESCRIPTION.
I know he’s not a star or even a full-time player, but he kills lefties. The fact he didn’t play every game against lefties down the stretch is completely mind-boggling.
The Mets very well could have a cheap, in-house platoon option with Murphy and they don’t know it because the dope in the manager’s chair is too clueless to realize it.
NICK Evans is terrible. COME ON MAN.
Do you want to win now or have another garbage season? We dont need another below average prospect to play 1st base. You have got to be kidding.
We need a veteran PROVEN professional first baseman to play everyday and if it makes you happy use Daniel Murphy on occassion to pinch hit or give that particular veteran 1st baseman a rest once in a while..
Can we act like a big market New York team and stop acting like the Kansis City Royals or Florida Marlins!
thedude do you ever want this team to win? or would you rather them continue to make inexpensive moves and role the dice on a power hitting position at first base? How did last year work out?
They didn’t roll the dice on Murpy at 1B last year. They had Delgado who is/was a power hitting 1B that unfortunately got injured. If you argue that he was in his late 30s then you cannot argue to get Holiday if his contract ends after age 35.
I agree that Murhpy is the Black Hole of the Offence, especially at 1B – but there uis Davis. If Davis did not exist thenm go out and get someone long term.
So the arguement is reduces to “what to do until Davis is ready”. That becomes a 1 year deal with a team option. If Davis is ready mid-year then, assuming there is not a disaster in the OF, you trade the guy. If it takes until 2010 for him to be ready you trade him next year. If there is a diasater in the OF you play Davis there. If Davis tanks, then you exercise the option.
Given Murphy’s production I’d rather see Evans get a shot at full time next year. It can’t be much worse. But, I’d still rather have someone else.
I was refering to rolling the dice with unproven mid level prospects like murphy in left field last year. I didn’t mean at first base. I’m aware Delgado got hurt.
and thadude if you read any of my posts you would see I don’t want an all star at every position. However I do think the mets would be better off with a guy like Audrey huff at first short term until davis is ready. I do not want to see a platoon on murphy and Evans at a power hitters position. Not to mention both guys are below average fielders. nick Evans sucks so bad he got demoted to double a. If you want to win try being realistic with your suggestions. Why don’t you take a look at our competition next season, the Phillies, and you tell me how we could beat them by starting two mid level underachieving bums at first next season.
I was refering to rolling the dice with unproven mid level prospects like murphy in left field last year. I didn’t mean at first base. I’m aware Delgado got hurt.
and thadude if you read any of my posts you would see I don’t want an all star at every position. However I do think the mets would be better off with a guy like Audrey huff at first short term until davis is ready. I do not want to see a platoon of murphy and Evans at a power hitters position. Not to mention both guys are below average fielders. nick Evans sucks so bad he got demoted to double a. If you want to win try being realistic with your suggestions. Why don’t you take a look at our competition next season, the Phillies, and you tell me how we could beat them by starting two mid level underachieving bums at first next season.
Who do you want them to get? They’re not getting Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder. It’s not happening. Mark Teixeira isn’t a free agent.
In 100 MLB at-bats against lefties, Evans has hit 320/382/490. That’s in line with the numbers he put up in the minors. As a PART-TIME player, he can be very good and cost-effective. I know you don’t want to accept it, but the Mets have a budget. And if you want them to get Matt Holliday, you have to settle for cheaper players at some positions.
Of course I’d love a big-time All-Star at each position, but I inhabit the real word.
I’d rather they replace Murphy.
If that doesn’t happen then get a platoon player if available and cheap.
If that doesn’t happen then Evans against (at least) lefties works better for me then Murphy full-time.
Sorry about that — my response was to Lorenzo. I totally agree with you
I’m aware the mets have a budget and if we get holiday I don’t expect the mets to bring in an all star at first but we would be much better off with a veteran like laroche or huff instead of a guy with hardly any mlb baseball experience and who has recently been demoted to double a. The mets didn’t even call him up in September cause he sucks so bad. Why are some met fans so desperate to find a home grown prospect that they would sacrifice a season by playing bums? Cause that’s what you want to do thadude.
I’d love Cantu and if they brought him in I would hope he wouldn’t be platooned bc he is a legit hitter, unlike Murphy who still is developing. I’d go after cantu and let Murphy go to AAA and learn to hit and maybe even learn to play 2nd base? May be a little bit of a stretch but he clearly wouldnt play 1st at AAA bc of Davis and theres no point in letting him rot on the bench in the big leagues. Also if cantu can play 2nd like he did in Tampa you could keep murphy and try to dump castillo. That would be great.
Hermida is an interestring talent. That guy was always hyped, but he hasn’t really shown up yet. He’s got good minor league numbers, but his MLB numbers, and he’s now been in the league for 4 years, are so so. I wouldnt want to give up much for him. Also not sure where’d he go. If he’s our answer in LF we’re in trouble.
Who knows though, Jayson Werth couldn’t catch a break his first few years.
I was thinking the same thing as I read your comment regarding werth. Since platoons seem to be all the rage I wouldnt mind putting hermida in RF with franceour and basically just letting one guy seperate himself and then maybe use the other guy to trade for a reliever midseason. Theyre both similar guys, lots of potential, lots of hype, naturally gifted but never could put everything together. If you could get hermida and cantu in a package id do it but if i had to chose id go cantu since he can play either 1st or 2nd.
If Adrian really does go on the market, then I would love to see what the asking price is. He’s a talent that has to be at least considered, no matter what. Not saying we can get him, but I’d be willing to sacrifice top prospects for him…PLUS sign Holliday…that would be an off-season. Except we’d have to score at least 5 runs a game with the rotation as is.
In terms of 2b and Cantu and defense, my general, and unpopular, mantra is, ALWAYS sacrifice defense for power. When was the last time this coveted speed/defense combo won a championship in the last decade? Dominant, power pitching and power hittinh is what wins. Defense is only noticeable if it is absolutely horrible (a rarity) or Brooks Robinsonlike. How many rings does Vizquel have?
Lets look at some recent champions… Phillies were power based with Rollins giving both and Victorino adding speed. Red Sox had a 20 HR guy at virtually every spot in the order and oftend had to deal with Manny in the OF and Youkilis, a journeyman fielder at multiple positions (yeah everyone loves him with the glove but that is what he is), the Cardinals were sort of a fluke and I do not know how to label them anyway, the 2005 White Sox had Dye, Konerko, Thome, Crede, Pierzinski,, the 2003 Marlins I would say were the last team to do it with speed and defense. So we have to go back 6 years to find 1. And if you have great pitching, the field won’t eb forced to make many difficult plays. So YES, take Cantu over Castillo, and Uggla as well. Whenever possible, err on the side of power.
I absolutely agree. Speed and defense are nice, and yes you need defense from SS, C, CF to be good. and you need speed from at least 1 guy maybe 2 but beyond that its not necessary. After 1-2 in the order you need guys to rake. And considering we have plenty of speed in my opinion (reyes, wright, beltran can steel 100 bases between the 3 of them) we dont need more, what we need more of is power.
*steal
But when you don’t have dominant power pitching (and the Mets don’t), defense is of utmost importance. A great defense turns an average pitcher into a really good one.
Pelfrey pitched just as well this year as last year, his defense was just awful
For one Pelfrey walked too many and left many fat fastballs over the plate this year. For another, I agree they do not have the power pitching, so they should either fold this group and rebuild or make big strides towards fixing that. If we agree they don’t have power pitching, why am I hearing people thinking the Mets should go for the Marquis’, Garlands, Wolfs, and wheoverelses of the world rather than take a run at Chapman, who while a risk has legitimate upside. You know you are getting mediocrity from the other guys, and they will not be difference makers. What use is known entities if what is known is not that appealing? At least if Chapman fails, we can understand they had the right intentions. The Yankees did this with Contreras, the Dodgers with Nomo in his prime, the Red Sox with Dice K (it sort of worked but he is only ok), and they survived in the long term. There are always ways to undo mistakes, the Mets just get strapped to a budget (as high as it may be) and then let the world know they are desparate and can’t sell anybody.
Exactly. The last time a team could count on speed and defence to consistantly win championships Babe Ruth was pitching. Since about 1920 teams relying on speed / defence are flukes or play in caverns.
and you’re right about the power pitching. Finess pitchers generally don’t cut it for the long haul. With the number of player-years in the history of baseball you can finds exceptions, BUT AS A RULE – power pitchers dominate.
I read over and over on this site about how much easier it is to acquire a big bat on the open market. Why then does it seem that we are never able to do so?
Off topic but I just want to say I’m not sure how everyone else feels but I’m really getting sick and tired of Matt’s posts always somehow going to “speed and defense”. Why are you so obsessed with speed and defense? Are you watching the same WS as me? bc I see two teams who mashed their way there with help from some dominant starting pitching. Enough already, this isn’t the summer olympics, its baseball.
Agree in part, HTW Zeile.
These teams also have character and chemistry, although the Yankees look like high-priced pharmaceutical chemistry.
I say we go after Lackey, giving us the dominant 1-2 punch. Then see if we can somehow snag a LFer with the remaining $ (Bay?) and get a Zeile-type for 1B.
I sure as shoot agree and am tired of it. Whether it is trumping up Murphy’s defensive #s (who cares?), to dismissing Ugglas as being bad defensively, to preferring “pitchers” to gas powered “throwers” on the pitching side of things, the site is drifitng towards a passive form of player evaluation which in turn results in losing baseball. Every posting seems to have a touch of “this guy fits great in the #4 spot and eats innings” or “if so and so is aquired we would have balance with Murphy at the 7 spot.” It is advocating a weak roster! And as far as the myth of chemistry, that cannot be put together by a GM, it just is random luck. Even “good” clubhouse guys don’t fit everywhere. Teams that have made the WS hit HRs, lots of them, and even in pitchers duels, it is a HR, not a diving stop by an infielder, that makes the difference in most cases. And if finesse pitchers and defense were the model, the Maddux-Glavine Braves would have more hardware.
You’re right about the passive player evaluation. I dont like Uggla but I understand the analogy. As for chemistry, I agree its all luck and often just based on winning. How much chemistry did swisher, burnett, sabathia, tex, and arod have with each other before this season? and now they apparently have a ton, give me a break if they won 85 games and missed the playoffs people would say it was bc they had no chemistry yet they win 103 and its bc of that. Its garbage, they had by far the most talent in the AL and thus ended up winning 103 games.
Matt –
I have to disagree with this again!
“believe, if the Mets are going to dish the necessary prospects for this caliber player, it is far more likely to a pitcher than a bat, which, these days, is easier to find on the open market…”
There are a ton of FA pitchers on the markets who, while not being great, are upgrades to what we had this year.
We should trade for Adrian Gonzalez and here is why.
He is 27. He is a Gold Glove 1st baseman. He is a left-handed power bat, who could hit 35+ bombs for the power lacking Mets. He is CHEAP for the next two years. 4.5 mil this year, 5 mil the year after. He would be perfect for this team now and in the future as a piece to play with Wright and Reyes for years to come. Signing Gonzalez would leave plenty of money available for a LF or for pitching.
I personally would rather have Adrian, than Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.
Offer Davis, Pagan, Parnell, and Niese for Gonzo… I think the Pads would listen.
All this talk about 1B; why? Didn’t the mets trade for Carter and some other guy to play first base? Oh wait, the mets just wanted to trade Wagner for the heck of it, instead of snagging the draft picks. Shocker!!!
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