Good fielder, so from that standpoint, it would help the pitching staff.

but, he was horrible in 2008 batting (an OPS below what Castillo put up in 2009), and he has never, in his career, put up an OPS as high as what Pagan put up this year.

and at 31, how many years does he have left before he loses that step and becomes another castillo?

also, not really cheap, if it means taking the money that could go to a SP upgrade, and the prospects required to trade for one.

and, if they dont sign a long (and expensive!) extension, he is a 1 year rental. And if they do sign him, he will be a very expensive mid-30s OF with no power very soon.

Pass unless he comes way cheap, and that wont happen most likely, since the yankees probably would then jump in, or the rays will keep him until the deadline, or all the way and get the arb picks.

In the name of speculation, Crawford to the Mets has it’s ups and downs:

The Rays are not a struggling team looking to shed one expensive player and rebuild. They have Crawford for next season and will be looking to make the playoffs. TB has loads of prospects on the verge of the majors, ready to replace him but Crawford is reasonably priced at 10.5M for this year meaning he will not be cheap. The mets would need do give up a blue chip prospects to land him for 1 year. As for his fitting team needs, he is not a power bat LF so that means 1st base would need to. Also Crawford has only touched 30 doubles twice in his 8 year career, not the gap machine a lot of people imagine.

Despite this he gives energy, defense, speed and a fresh face to Mets lineup that could use it. Someone above mentioned relying on his legs as a liabilty combined with Reyes but there is that old sports adage, “speed doesn’t slump”. Crawford been consistantly healthy and averaged 45.5 SB/per season in his career. That speed with Wright, Beltran, and Reyes atop the lineup could be deadly for opponents. Also that speed allowed him to have a UZR/150 average of nearly 20 in LF for his career. Range like that with Beltran in CF would make the gaps and corners of the CitiField Outfield feel much smaller to opponent hitters. That would be a fun OF to watch go turn balls into flyouts that look like they should drop in for doubles off the bat.

For conversational purposes, Crawford is a quality player (2009 WAR – 5.5), but is he the best fit for the Mets at this point? I would think not, the prospects and money could be allocated better other places. Crawford is more of the icing on the cake type of addition; maybe at the deadline or FA signing next year type thing if at all.

He may be cheap and a good platoon with Francouer, spell Beltran, late inning whomever plays left, and be a power bat off the bench. Relying on him for fill time is probably unwise.

Regarding LF: not sure about Granderson’s salary but a platoon of him and Ankiel is open to discussion. You can’t go hog wild because you’ll see a spike in salary after two years (AGon from $5M to $20M). I don’t think it would take both FMart and Davis so you still have FMart possibly mid-season so a stop gap may be a good idea. I don’t think FMart will be a Beltran. But he should be as additive as Drew is for the Red Sox, just with a different set of skills. In that case Pagan and a platoon may hold the fort until then. With AGon you really just need someone on a a JD Drew / Swisher level