2009 Mets Evaluations

2009 Analysis: Wilson Valdez

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wilson-valdez-mets2When the backup (Ramon Martinez) to the backup (Alex Cora) went down, the Mets found themselves hunting the scrap yards for a fill-in at shortstop who had Major League skills. They found Wilson Valdez and, all things considered, could’ve done a lot worse. In fact, they DID do a lot worse — Angel Berroa was on the roster for about a week.

The 31-year-old Valdez displayed excellent defensive skills — including a rifle for an arm — but not much with the bat. He was fundamentally sound in the field and on the basepaths, and gave good effort. Though he played almost exclusively at shortstop for the Mets, he’s equally adept on either side of the second base bag, and can handle both third base and the outfield in a pinch. Whether he’ll ever

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2009 Analysis: Fernando Tatis

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fernando-tatis-skyIt was a wonderful story in 2008 when Fernando Tatis came back from the baseball dead, found his way back to the big leagues, was a key cog for the Mets in the second half of the season, and earned money to build a church in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris.

The Mets front office was obviously drunk with the feel-good story when they re-signed Tatis to a one-year, $1.7M contract for 2009 — a mere drop in the bucket for the NL’s highest payroll, but nonetheless an extreme price to pay for a 30-something utilityman with average all-around skills. As with most of their signings, the Mets were bidding against themselves, as Tatis was re-upped before he had a chance to file for free agency.

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2009 Analysis: Jose Reyes

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jose-reyes-benchObviously, Jose gets an “incomplete” for the 2009 season.

Reyes played in 36 games and was “day to day” for nearly a month before finally being placed on the 15-day disabled list — and was never seen again.

In the few games he played, Reyes hit .279 with a .750 OPS through 166 plate appearances It was a slow start for Jose, but no one was particularly concerned — he had similarly rough beginnings in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Eventually, Jose would “get it going”, and take the Mets with him.

So much for that thought. As it turned out, Jose Reyes was grounded for the season — as were the Mets.

Perhaps a better idea is to analyze the

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2009 Analysis: Argenis Reyes

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argenis-reyesIn 2008, Argenis Reyes was lauded as someone who was seemingly “in the middle of everything” — at least, according to the SNY broadcast crew. It was de rigeur to root for Argenis — the undersized career-minor leaguer getting his first big break — and boo Luis Castillo, who had become an out-of-shape, injury-prone, underperformaing albatross.

What a difference a year makes.

Castillo righted the ship and became something of an ironman at second base (compared to other 2009 Mets anyway), re-establishing himself as an on-base machine and .300 hitter. Castillo’s comeback was central to Argenis remaining in AAA.

His best position is second base, but Argenis is also adequate at shortstop, so it

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2009 Analysis: Daniel Murphy

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dan-murphy-profileDaniel Murphy tries hard. He plays hard. He works hard. He hustles all the time. He puts the team ahead of himself. He is willing to play anywhere, anytime. He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t say much at all, really. And he is a Product Of The Farm System. So as a Mets fan it’s hard not to like him.

Unfortunately, Daniel’s strength — his bat — hasn’t proven strong enough to justify penciling him into his best defensive position, which is first base. And unfortunately, his prowess at the position is unlike that of Keith Hernandez. Although UZR says that Murphy was the second-best defensive first baseman in the NL, our eyes know better — UZR doesn’t take into consideration the low balls that aren’t scooped, the over-ranging that confuses the second baseman, the bumbled tosses to the pitcher covering first, or the incorrect positioning on relay throws. It also doesn’t count the errors that were called as hits by a generous official scorer.

But even if Daniel Murphy did resemble “Mex” in the field,

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2009 Analysis: Ramon Martinez

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ramon-martinezYou may be wondering why we’re wasting precious space and bandwidth on Ramon Martinez. Some of you may even be shocked to know we’re referring to a nondescript utility infielder and not Pedro’s older brother.

Well I’m wondering why Ramon Martinez ever suited up for the Mets in 2009. In fact I’m wondering why he was on the roster in September 2008. And now I’m wondering why in the world he is still listed on the Mets’ 40-man roster.

Ramon Martinez is a 37-year-old middle infielder with limited range, below-average arm, and punchless bat. His batting average over the last three seasons in MLB is .192, which is under the Mendoza Line. Mario Mendoza, however, was a very good fielder. Martinez, on the other hand,

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2009 Analysis: Anderson Hernandez

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ahern-foldIt’s hard to believe that Anderson Hernandez was the Mets’ starting second baseman on Opening Day 2006. Harder to believe that his stock sunk so far that he was traded for Luis Ayala at the tail end of 2008. And yet even more difficult to believe the Mets were so desperate for a middle infielder that they traded a nondescript A-ball suspect to bring him back to Flushing.

Three years ago, A-Hern was a slick fielding, weak-hitting second baseman with enough arm and range to impress at shortstop in a pinch. In 2009, A-Hern was a

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