Quote: Alex Cora in place of Jose Reyes, at This Time
Last night, “Jerry Manuel publicly endorsed Alex Cora as the replacement for Jose Reyes,” writes David Lennon, in a report for Newsday.
“I thought Cora would be the guy at this time,” Manuel said, though he is still hoping Reyes will be back for Opening Day.
Manuel said, to use Ruben Tejada, who he admits he has not seen enough of yet, would be similar to using Jenrry Mejia, in that he would need to pick and choose select spots, to maximize the young player’s chances to succeed.
He believes the team will have a better read on Reyes’s replacement as they get in to the last week or so of Spring Training, when other teams begin to use their top pitchers, and raise the level of competition.
“There’s a few questions, I guess, defensively,” Cora said yesterday, as quoted by the St. Lucie News.
“People are talking about age and that I’ve slowed down defensively. There is some statistical analysis out there that says I am losing my range. I will just try to work on a few things, but if that’s something I can improve, I will just keep working on it. It’s one of those things where if you believe in it, I guess I am not the right guy because the stats say so, but if you see me play everyday, I still think I can do it. Let’s put it this way: I have been in the big leagues for 12 years and it’s not because I hit .300.”
…i think he’ll be fine… it’s just, he’s not very good in the field any more, and i don’t need stats to tell me that… he is good for about two steps before the ball is by him, which i see with my eyes… he can hit, a little… probably enough to get by… by, again, for more than a spot start here or there, the Mets are asking for trouble… like i said when they signed him, i think cora is a great 25th man, a bench coach-player type guy… but, to slot in at one of the most important defensive positions on the field, every day, is not a strong plan… sorry, alex…
