The Mets have lost two players in the last few days who spent much of the season either with the Mets, or shuttling back and forth between Flushing and Buffalo.
Jason Pridie signed with the Oakland A's after clearing waivers. Pridie chose to become a free agent, and wasn't unemployed for very long. Pridie played well defensively in both RF and CF; a much better outfielder than Angel Pagan. If he could have hit better, he might very well have been the Mets starting CF in 2012.
Nick Evans, the everyday Nelson Figueroa, was released for the fourth time in about 10 months. He too, like the other three times, cleared waivers. This time Nick said he had enough, and according to Andy McCullough, has declared Free Agency.
I would have liked Evans to get a shot as a role player, but like with Murphy, he is virtually a man without a position in the field.
Evans was primarily the Mets starting 1B the last portion of the '11 season. He was more clutch than his .256 average would lead you to believe. Evans had some good AB's in pressure situations. He had learn to work deeper counts, and had a respectable 4 HR's, 10 2B's, and 2 3B's with 25 RBI. Not too bad for a guy who was released three times during the season.
I always liked Evans, and hope he does well. Unfortunately, he is much like many of the young players from the Mets minors; can hit well, but just no place to put him in the field (see Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, Josh Thole, et al).
I'm sure shedding Evans' approximate $450K salary will provide the leverage Elvis has spoken of. Sources:
Andy McCullough Twitter, Baseball Reference
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