Monday, August 15, 2011

Gut Time Check For The Mets As Players Clear Waivers


As my esteemed colleague wrote this morning, the Mets are at a cross roads. We never expected this team to contend in any fashion, but have been pleasantly surprised by their guts and never say die attitude.

With all the injuries, it's no wonder the team is struggling. Problem is, the more we watch, the more we realize that this off-season there needs to be a thorough evaluation of EVERY PLAYER on this team.


Yesterday we learned that Chris Capuano passed through waivers. No surprise. He has shown a lot of moxie this year, but he can't seem to be productive past the fourth or fifth inning. He is an Elvis type of player, smart, works hard, but I don't know if that is enough to save him.



Adam Rubin just reported on ESPN New York that some other players that have passed through waivers are:
Jason Bay
DJ Carrasco
Willie Harris and
Angel Pagan

Bay isn't going anywhere with somewhere near $33M left on his contract, and two years after this one.

Carrasco still is cool on the mound because he usually wears the stirrups socks, but he has been pretty terrible on the mound.

Willie Harris has been a huge disappointment. He hasn't been anything more than average in the field, and has been awful at the plate. He seems like a real good teammate, but sometimes that isn't enough, and he has to go. That doesn't mean FMart should be his replacement. It means maybe someone like Nieuwenhuis takes his place next year, unless...

Angel Pagan is either traded, released, or not re-signed. If so, Nieuwenhuis could be the starting CF, and Pridie in RF or the fourth outfielder. A lot also depends upon how Nieuwenhuis recovers from his shoulder injury.

As my partner in crime stated, time to put the Thole project out to pasture, and bring up Mike Nickeas. He is a solid defensive catcher, and Thole isn't turning any heads with his hitting.

I would also like to see the Mets end the Fernando Martinez experiment. It has, and will continue to be a huge failure.

I believe Duda might be earning a spot on next year's team, and I am OK with that. Other than Fearless Ike, he is the only true power threat the Mets have.

Igarashi has to go. Another poor mistake by the former GM, but the bigger problem, which was caused by the present GM is keep Igarashi and allowing Takahashi to go to the Angels.

Isringhausen has had a nice storybook comeback, and would love to see him notch save #300 in a Mets uniform (preferably at GHMP), but should the Mets waste a roster spot on a 39 year old reliever with more surgeries than gray hair?

More of an analysis will be provided later this year, but with the waiver process finishing, which will make all unclaimed players available for trade, of the starting bunch the Mets have right now, I would part ways with:

Pagan
Harris
Carrasco
Igarashi
Pelfrey
Acosta

I will give the rest of the team the rest of the year to prove their worth.

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