In a post to his blog for the New York Times, Ben Shpigel quotes ‘Captain Obvious,’ and says this off season the Mets hope to acquire another slugger and add a No. 2 starter behind Johan Santana.
Shpigel sees 22–year-old 1B Ike Davis as being on a path similar David Wright, who was promoted to Double-A in 2003, then hit well in the Arizona Fall League, returned to Double-A the following season for 90 games, he was promoted to the Mets later that summer and never looked back.
In the meantime, according to Shpigel, Omar Minaya will visit the Puerto Rican winter league to scout Carlos Delgado, “who must first prove that he is healthy before entertaining contract offers.”
To read more from Shpigel, who also writes about other off season goals for Minaya, and the type of contract Delgado can 
expect to receive, check out his blog post, here.
Delgado had been hitting .298 with four HR and 23 RBI in the 26 games before ending his season with a hip injury, which ultimately needed surgery.
…people seem to think i hate delgado, which is not true… i have actually enjoyed watching him play… i think he’s a fascinating guy, he’s super smart, his charity is amazing, he can be powerful with the bat when he’s healthy, and he’s been fun to watch… but, i just feel the Mets need to move on, in some way… and, if not in places like delgado, Fernando Tatis, Brian Schneider, etc., then where…
…i mean, every season fans and reporters argue the team is the same as those that failed, yet we all keep clinging to the same people… i believe the Mets need to, at the very least, rotate their role players, if for no other reason than to a) change up the faces and culture of the team, and b) dislodge the old leadership in favor of a new one, which i wrote more about yesterday, here…
…yes, i wrote the same thing about Pedro Martinez, who returned to help get the Phillies to a World Series… ouch… but, i still think it was the right move, despite how the season turned out… to me, delgado is a place the team can do this again especially given the unknown that surrounds him physically… plus, for him, he just seems better suited for the American League, where he can get paid, in peace, be a DH and not put a ton of stress on his hip…
Loading ...
{ 47 comments }
This is a tough question. I think the answer lies in what Omar plans on doing. I would not sign Delgado unless Murphy is traded. If Murphy is still on the team, then, what do you do with him? I am a Murphy believer, however, if the mets think that Davis is the future, then I say package Murphy and others and improve 2b, pitcher, or LF. Then I would sign Carlos for the one year, and bring Davis up in 2011.
If fully healthy, Delgado is capable of 35-40 home runs and 120 RBI. It’s a risk, sure, but he brings high upside (higher than Murphy).
Of course- because the last time he had 120 RBI was 7 years ago with Toronto. You know players get better with age and major injuries!
-He left the team early last year- I guess he got “bored” again
-He is a liability at 1B
-He was streaky when healthy- who knows what he’ll be now
-He was a major factor in the two worst collapses in MLB history
-Some AL teams will think about trying him at DH, so even a ‘low’ salary would be in the millions- money we could use for much better purposes
“-He was a major factor in the two worst collapses in MLB history”
Actually, the Phillies in ‘64 was worse. I’d say the Tigers blowing a 3 game lead with 4 to go this year was also worse. Actually, that one infamous Yankees/Red Sox series was probably worse to. So, yeah.
Anyway, he’s old. Unless he takes a crazy low contract with incentives, I’d say don’t even look twice.
Whoa you are saying that Delgado had something to do with the collapse of 2008????
Delgado had the best numbers of any hitter in the second half of 2008 he hit 23 homeruns and averaged about an RBI per game.
Delgado was the reason they still had a chance.
The last time he had 115 RBI was in 2008. Close enough to 120.
and your solution is…
The solution is easy. Leave Murphy there for this year.
Let delgado go to the AL where he should have went last year to be DH.
The guy’s a lousy fielder, and once his bat died down he was completely worthless.
He had a 4 year tenure with the mets.
2006 he was awesome.
2007 he was terrible, and ended the year injured
2008 he was a dog for half the year and quit on his team and his coach. Sure some can say it was because of his “injury” but the coincidence that Willie was fired and he got hit the same week while actually diving for a grounder for what seemed like the first time in 3 years is just too much.
2009 he gave us hope that 2007 was a fluke…. Whoops 26 games and he’s out for the year.
Now there is still talk of bringing him back. 2.5 years of no production in 4 years of service.
We need to stop believing in the 1.5 years of success he had here and move on.
And for me i always harp on him deciding in 2005 to sign with the marlins over the mets and i take to heart that he didn’t want to play here in NY in the first place.
Are you on crack Mark? Delgado had 38HR in 2008. That gets lumped into something as 2.5 bad years? Give me a break. And 2009 wasn’t a bad year, it was a year thrown away due to injury. 4HR and 23RBI in 26 games projects out VERY well (25HR 140RBI) which was in line with his 2nd half of 2008.
I say if he signs to a deal in the neighborhood of $5M w/ incentives, we bring him back in a 75/25 platoon w/ Murphy (it would help keep Delgado healthy). Then in 2011 or 2nd half of next year, we bring up Ike and the job is his for the next 10 years or so.
Mark I have to disagree with you on this one as well. Doc Strawberry hit the nail on the head. I wouldn’t mind bringing Delgado back on a one year basis (if possible) and giving Murphy or someone else 25% of the starts to keep Delgado fresh.
What is this love affair with Daniel Murphy???? The guy is an average fielder at best with NOOOOO POP in his bat. Murphy belongs to be on the bench as a pinch hitter or traded… PERIOD.
We aren’t the Kansis City Royals or the Marlins. We are a billion dollar organization and us fans pay more money to see the team than anyone else not named the Yankees. YOur idea of putting Murphy at first is absolutely unacceptable.
I’d rather have Delgado platoon with Evans. Murphy is horrible, I do not understand this love affair with him either.
I dont want either of them.
I tend to agree, but Evans is the lesser of two evils and can “play” LF in theory.
I tend to agree but Evans is the lesser of two evils and can play LF in theory.
Why is Evans the lesser of two evils? He has shown absolutely nothing at the MLB level.
see below
2008 gets the .5 of the year and the .5 of the good year. It’s split evenly.
Do we forget the months of April May and June when he hit 14 HR on only 45 RBI’s in well over 350 AB’s. While his average hovered below .230 and his OBP was right around .300.
Or do we just remember the fantastic 3 months he had to end the year?
What we are talking about here is a 1st baseman who’s had a terrific career. He’s 38. He’s coming off a debilitating Hip injury, when he was rehabbing to come back he got re-injured.
It’s just time to move on. If Delgado was say 34… I’m all for him coming back. He’s 38. He missed all of last year.
I’m sorry i’m just looking at his career as a met. He had a career Batting average that was over .290 until his tenure with the mets. He was flat out awful in 2007. He was Flat out awful for all of April, May, and June in 2008. Yes 2006 he was great. July August and September of ‘08 he was great. April of this past season he was great.
I’m not willing to pay this dude anything. If he accepts a league minimum with HEAVY incentives yea you can resign him. Otherwise let him go the the American League where he belongs.
Murphy hit 12HRs over April, May, June …. July, August, September, and October
The fact that Delgado had every reason to come back towards the end of last season but was unable to makes me question whether his body has much of anything left. I would not bring Delgado back because at this point, I don’t think he is anything more than a DH in the AL. I think his days as an everyday player at 1B are done.
He had the same injury a-rod had that cost arod a month. Chase Utley played a full season through it.
He didn’t, got re-injured coming back. He’s 38 and he can’t take the pounding of being an every day player any longer. You might get 1-2 more productive years out of him in the AL where he can take off and DH 3 or 4 days a week like frank thomas had in Toronto at the end of his career.
given the emergence of Ike Davis as a bonafide prospect and his potential for a mid-season call up and the ineptness of Murphy it follows that their 1B focus should consider:
1) an actual offensive threat with power
2) be no more than a one year deal
3) can be moved easily
4) have a small guaranteed salary
5) have financial incentive to perform
6) not cost draft picks or prospects
7) have a reasonable chance of being healthy
Other than #7 Delgado fits the criteria. His guaranteed salary would be small. His incentive to perform is obvious, both for incentives and for next year. A cheap lefthanded bat with power is always in demand and he is a FA that will not garner picks if he signs elsewhere nor cost picks or prospects. There is little risk if he is healthy. Remember, he really needs to be healthy for about half the season.
Great post brotha! I agree and well said. Whether Murphy is an everyday major leaguer is a bit up in the air. Bringing back Delgado gives you insurance if Murphy is not. The bridging of the gap to 2011 where either Murphy or Davis is the 1B is the key. What better bridge is there?
AMEN! You would think these points would be commonsense and everyone would agree with it.
Anyone who wants Murphy to play first base full time is crazy.
I agree. I would hope theyd still bring in a LFer (holliday) so we dont have to rely on delgado. If he is remotely productive even if he only plays in about 120 games due to rest that lineup could be pretty devestating and in my opinion could go head to head with philly.
That is exactly my point. To be competitive next year we need a big time left fielder AND a veteran 1st baseman.
If he can prove he is healthy sign him back. He will come cheap, is the perfect stop gap for Ike Davis since they know him and how he fits into this clubhouse, and he has legit power. The Mets can sign him on the cheap and be able to use the rest of their money on pitching. I think they sign Delgado and can get Lackey and Wolf. In that stadium those guys will win games and solidify the staff. If they sign Matt Holliday thats going to be it. So basically its Delgado, Lackey, and Wolf/Piniero/Sheets etc or Matt Holliday. I’ll take the first choice.
Let’s rotate David Wright out. He’s due for his turn in the rotation. Sure he’s a valuable asset, but let’s not discount the change in culture that would bring. Santana too. I know it’s early for his rotation, but so what, that’ll shake up the culture and the leadership.
Yes, let’s build our team based on culture and leadership rather than who is capable of not making outs on offense and creating them on defense.
I’m not arguing for or against Delgado, but if he can be a cost-effective way to bridge the gap to Davis and can perform, by all means consider him. If not, then don’t. But this culture, leadership thing is nuts.
Let’s make Eckstein our starting 2b-man, Cora our starting SS. Then we’ll have great grit and leadership and proven winners. Who cares if they suck? CULTURE!!!! LEADERSHIP!!!! Intangibles over performance, that’s the Metsblog way!
LOL, and unfortunately all too true.
haha it is. I blame that mostly on the fact that as Mets fans a lot of these people wouldn’t know what a winning team looked like if it bit them in the you know what. Intangibles are nice when the player is talented (derek jeter) but intangibles dont mean anything if the guy cant hit/catch/throw/run. Give me the 25 most talented guys you have and lets go to war. As long as we get a powerful LFer I’m fine with Delgado bc he gives us the potential to have a juggernaut lineup. Murphy for all his intangibles, does not.
Can we all agree that Daniel Murphy is NOT our 1B of the future? Can we all agree that Ike Davis is probably the future starter at 1B for the Mets?
If both of those are true then the Mets need to look at a one year starter at 1B and it would be great if that one year starter had power. So why not Delgado? He’s got power and he knows the system. Plus Murphy can be used to relieve Delgado throughout the year.
It’s really a no brainer, assuming Delgado does well in Winterball….
Amazingly after one below average major league season having only had 1,000 minor league at-bats some of us are able to stress we should all agree Daniel Murphy is NOT the 1B of the future. Further we should agree that Ike Davis after having one good minor league season is either likely the future or in some minds certainly the future.
Unless Delgado is willing to sign for the league minimum he should stay in Puerto Rico.
Davis and Murphy both arent the answer next season if we expect to win. Like you, I’m not yet sold on Ike Davis and DEFINITELY not on Murphy. I think the smart play is to bring in a veteran first baseman on a short term deal – if its Delgado and he agrees to a one year deal than I think thats the move you gotta make.
Other then Delgado there is no solution at 1st base that is available in the free agent market that is:
1. worth the contract they will get
2. a real marginal upgrade over Murphy
Now onto Why i don’t want delgado Even for a 1 year deal
1. He’s Old
2. He’s been injured a lot the last 2 years
3. He’s got no defensive ability at 1st AT ALL
4. His offensive skills have diminished over the last 5 years.
5. He’s no guarantee to play every day
6. He’s a glorified DH. He’s David Ortiz.
I know there is a love hate contingent with Murphy. I’m on the side that wants to leave him there. Yes he’s not an offensive force. But defensively he was very good there. There is no argument you can make that says otherwise. And offensively he had a very good ROOKIE campaign when you look at his total campaign. He’s not going to hit 25 HR. We all know that. But Delgado is no shoe-in to play long enough to hit 25 HR he’s going to cost money. Even on a 1 year deal. Money that can be used to upgrade much needed positions like Catcher, second base, Starting pitching, and Left field. Positions that have nobody there to be replacements or seat warmers like Murphy at 1st.
To me 1st base should be the last place the mets look to spend money this year.
The problem is that even if we add a big bat in left field it probably isnt enough to compete with the Phillies. With Murphy at first our offense would be weaker than the Phillies – much weaker in my opinion. We need a bat at 1st and left field to compete for the division. In 2006 we had an American League offense which is why we were able to win the division even with mediocre starting pitching.
And offensively he had a very good ROOKIE campaign when you look at his total campaign.
The following players received 1 vote in the NY ROY baloting:
Everth Cabrera
2 HR / 31 RBI
255 / 342 / 361
Dexter Fowler
4 HR / 34 RBI
266 / 363 / 406
Gerardo Parra
5 HR / 60 RBI
290 / 324 / 404
Murphy received not one vote, So maybe his TOTAL ROOKIE CAMPAIGN wasn’t really that good.
The reason he didn’t receive one vote was because he wasn’t eligible. 2008 was technically his rookie season because he surpassed the at bat quota.
forgot about that, but still he is not very good.
isn’t it time to move on? we all want a change so i can’t see why we’d bring back delgado
The Mets should keep Delgado simply because they can get him cheap and he is the best fisrst basemen available, then they can sign a pitcher.
I like Delgado’s stats back in the middle of the lineup. I’ve enjoyed watching him the past few years.
However, the one thing that I can’t get out of my head, that drives me CRAZY, is the fact that he almost brags about never ever working out. He always talks about how he doesn’t put in any extra work and does it on talent alone. I can’t help but feel this is a horrible influence on younger Mets, as well as an obvious example of a lack of effort and focus being put forth by the team in general.
Do you have a source for this statement?
I’m not sure why so many folks are so down on Murph. He had a pretty decent season for someone who’s been cast about from one unfamiliar position to another. He was terrible in left, but acquitted himself pretty well at first.
As for Delgado, remember that the year before last, he played with a wrist injury that I believe was the cause of his off numbers. When he was fully healthy, he was raking again last year.
How about a two-year flier on Nick Johnson? Or is he injured too much for everyone’s liking?
By the way, whatever happened to Hank Blalock? He seemed to be on a pretty strong career path, but now winds up a FA with no compensation.
Pretty much around the time that MLB started steroid testing, Hank Blalock’s stats went downhill.
to Chan Ho Parking Lot ()from above)
1) Evans is RH batter, so there is a natural platoon with Delgado. Murphy’s OPS against LHP last year was .682 and Evans had a Major League Equivalent OPS of .821 against LHP.
2) He can play LF
:
Yeah I see the point. He just seems very unimpressive, that’s all. I wish Ike Davis was 2 years older.
I like Ike, gee that sounds familiar for some reason. I think he’ll be up by August.
A 25 man roster usually consists of 12 pitchers, 8 position starters, 1 b/u catcher. This leaves you with 2 b/u OF and 2 b/u infielders. As such I prize versilitiity and tend to avoid pure platoons.
Comments on this entry are closed.