Yesterday, Tim Brown of Yahoo! made a simple post to Twitter that read, “The Mets have called on Russell Branyan.”
…hmm, did they call on him to join the Flushing Flash… or, did they call on him to make cupcakes… or, did they call on him for some other reason…
Nevertheless, Adam, the Brooklyn Met Fan, explains why the Mets should take a chance on Branyon.
The 34-year-old Branyon hit .280 with 22 home runs and 49 RBI in the first half of last season, but just .193 with nine home runs and 27 RBI in the second half.
He played 116 games last season, the most of any season in his 12–year career.
…i’ll pass, actually… i’m sorry, i just have a hard time trusting a guy who struggled to find consistency in his career, then, at 34 years old, he had half of a good season, only to return to form in the second half… not to mention he missed 28 games with a herniated disk last season, as well as missing more than a month the season before with an oblique injury… i hope he has a good season in 2010… i just don’t think the Mets are in a position to take this sort of risk…
According to the New York Post, “The Mets appear intent on using a low-cost answer at first base next season as a bridge to power prospect Ike Davis.”
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i just threw up in my mouth reading that….
.688 OPS in the 2nd half of 2009. Coming off a career year in his mid 30’s that 2nd half drop off is the reason I stay clear of him.
“He played 116 games last season, the most of any season in his 12–year career.”
thats where I started to get a little worried…
How much money, how long, and how much will he be playing??
If the answers are not : $1-2 million, 1 year, and off the bench…then please, lets move on.
I wouldn’t hate Branyan as a strictly bench guy with a little pop. Of course, That’s what Tatis should’ve been and Manuel used him in every game against lefties, so there is no way I want to give Manuel something to misuse like that.
That post just caused me to give up on the 2010 mets, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We should be planning for 2011 at this point.
Sure, go ahead and sign branyan to a 1-year deal. We may as well go ahead and sign other crappy free agents to a 1-year deal too; how about bengie molina at catcher (with the slightest of hopes that Joe Mauer doens’t sign an extension with the Twins). How about Randy Wynn for LF? How about Justin Duchscherererererer for the back end of the rotation? (at least he has some significant upside). My only hope is: SIGN THEM ALL TO ONE YEAR DEALS. DON’T LOCK UP CRAPPY PLAYERS.
I’d love to sign Lackey or Bedard to longer than 1 year deal but other than that I don’t see any big-time solutions for the Mets out there this off-season
Pass.
I think the Mets should look into Troy Glaus, I like Nick Johnson but I want to give Murphy a shot in a platoon and you just cant trust that he will stay healthy.
I say if we cant land Halladay or Adrian Gonzalez in a trade then we should make the splash and sign Matt Holliday and then go bargain hunting for free agents to fill all of the holes. If I had to pick id go with:
-Glaus at first to platoon with Murph
-Barajas to catch and split time with Omir until Thole is ready
-Wolf and Sheets and possibly another flyer for starters if someone falls in our lap. I just dont think Lackey is going to be worth the money and there arent many pitchers id want to trade for besides Doc
-Kiko Calero and re-sign Putz on a cheaper deal for the pen
-Re-sign Cora and bring in Marcus Thames for the bench
Glaus is an interesting name. I prefer a righty bat to platoon with Murph. Optimally, a Todd Zeile type. Glaus could be that guy, but he has not been healthy, so we have to be buyer beware on this… (But when healthy, he’s a nice bat.)
Never once this offseason should we be using names like Russell Branyon. Not even something like “I was at McDonald’s the other day and I saw Russell Branyon! It was really cool because I ordered a Number 8 Super-sized and then he did the same!” Even if that did happen, it shouldn’t be mentioned anywhere. So, the fact that we “called on” him is even more alarming.
Daniel Murphy, in his first full year in the big leagues, hit .266 with 12 hr’s and 63 rbi’s and 38 doubles…while playing in a lineup gave him zero protection. Isn’t that a pretty solid first step? Point being, if the Russell Branyon’s of the world are being brought up, then I say simply let Murphy play every game at first base and look to improve the team in other areas.
Which is the ENTIRE reason there is a camp of people who just say LEAVE MURPHY AT 1st. There isn’t an desirable upgrade on the free agent market at 1st base. The only possible one is Adam LaRoche but he will sign a longer term contract at over his value somewhere. All the rest are just as good as Murphy and will cost 100x as much.
Offensively the priority should be LF, LF, LF, LF, LF, SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, C, 2b, SP, ………..1st. (notice i put SP before looking for additional pieces)
I agree, if they are willing to settle for a RUssel Brayon type at 1B they would be off starting Murphy! It just doesn’t make sense! But then again it may well be another stupid rumor. I just can’t see Omar signing another injury prone player after he and the FO were lambasted last season for all the injuries and the lack of depth.
Hes a perfect guy for the Mets, not what he used to be and never was that good. The Mets seem to always pick guys like this up, instead of trying to get younger and more athletic to try to fit their new stadium, i hope they don’t go after guys like Russell Branyon, and Bengie Molina.
Russell Branyan has “Bernard Gilkey Syndrome” written all over him. Gilkey was a talented player that just could not put it all together, until he was traded to the Mets. It was then when he had a breakout year in his walk year. The Mets then signed him to an extension and he never came close to the same production again.
Stay away from Branyan!
I hope that Mets called Russell Branyan to see if he had John Lackey’s cell phone number. :P
Please no.
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