Mets Sign Chris Young
According to various reports, the Mets have signed Chris Young. Not the pitcher, the outfielder.
Somewhat unusual signing for a team already stocked with fourth and fifth outfielders, but perhaps Terry Collins can channel the ghost of Gil Hodges and platoon this collection of flawed players to success.
On the positive side, Young once hit 32 homeruns in a season. On the negative side, that was in 2007. His numbers have steadily decreased since his rookie season. It was a pretty quick fall from grace, and sad, considering how much promise he showed as a 23-year-old.
Now, Young is 30, and coming off his worst season as a pro. He still has some power, and above-average running speed, but he strikes out a ton and doesn’t get on base very often. Prior to moving to Oakland, he hit LHPs better than he did RHPs, so there is some historical evidence supporting the theory that he could do well as part of a righty/lefty platoon in a corner spot (Lucas Duda, I’m looking at you). Additionally, Young is still a very capable center fielder, which is valuable.
Certainly, there will be much sarcasm from Mets fans on Twitter and throughout the blogoshpere, but I don’t hate this signing. I can see what the Mets are thinking — or rather, hoping. Many players have a rough time in their first year in a new league, and it’s very possible that returning to the NL, combined with playing exclusively against lefthanded pitchers, will turn Chris Young into one-half of a somewhat productive corner outfield platoon. Assuming this is only the beginning of a complete roster makeover, it’s a decent first move of the winter. Now, if this turns out to be the biggest the Mets make in the offseason, well, that’s another story. And considering that the cost of this one-year contract is $7.25M, there’s a possibility that this could turn out to be the Mets’ top free-agent signing. Did they overpay? Possibly, but they’re going to have to overpay for nearly every free agent they go after.
What’s your thought?
Agreed on your other points. He could improve the team as a part-time guy, but spending 1/4 of the budget on him makes me pessimistic for 2014.
In the past, guys like this were available on the cheap late in the offseason. If someone like Hairston signs for $1 mil in February, this Young deal will look terrible. Perhaps the supply of part-time OFs has dwindle, though; I dunno.
If healthy in his age 30 season, and perhaps sitting once a week against a tough RHP, I do believe there is a. very good chance of a WAR of 1.5 or better. I am not in love with this signing, but I don’t hate it either. WAR is being valued at $6 to $7 mil which means the Mets should get their value for the money spent. However, if they fail to acquire a bigger bat than his, ie a #4, I will be very unhappy.
Young’s a high-K, low-avg guy, and his offense in the past has been based on HRs and the walks that come with being a HR threat. What happened last year? He moved from the thin air of Arizona to the cavern in Oakland, where pitchers aren’t scared of the long ball. His awful numbers there don’t surprise me. And now Citi Field? Yikes.
He has a weak arm, and his defensive metrics are in decline, not unusual for a fast 20-something approaching 30.
Young is a nice package of tools to get on a 1-year deal, but the Mets coaches probably have their work cut out for them to get a positive contribution out of him. Maybe Hudgens can wave his Byrd wand…
The really farsical thing here is the Mets signed a guy who is downright awfull compared to Byrd for virtually the same annual salary.
‘Precursor to another move…” Yes trading David Wright.