Don’t look now, but there’s an epidemic shortage of right-handed hitting on the Mets bench.
Projected Lineup
1B – Carlos Delgado (L)
2B – Luis Castillo (S)
SS – Jose Reyes (S)
3B – David Wright (R)
C – Brian Schneider (L)
LF – Fernando Tatis (R) / Dan Murphy (L)
CF – Carlos Beltran (S)
RF – Ryan Church (L)
Projected Bench
IF – Alex Cora (L), Argenis Reyes (S)
OF – Marlon Anderson (L), Cory Sullivan (L), Jeremy Reed (L)
C – Ramon Castro (R)
It’s mid September, and the Mets are in the fight of their life for a Wild Card spot. Tatis is already in the game and it’s now the ninth inning, and the Mets have the tying run at second base. Jerry Manuel looks at his bench for someone to pinch hit against a tough southpaw on the mound. Who’s he gonna call?
Why did the Mets sign Cory Sullivan? What’s his purpose? The Mets desperately needed a right handed bat.
The Mets can’t use Ramon Castro to pinch hit because he is the backup catcher… Unless you want to carry Robinson Cancel as a third catcher to free Castro up, and I don’t think anyone wants to go there again. (See 2008 results.)
The Phillies are looking to sign either Moises Alou or Nomar Garciaparra to add some right handed punch to their bench. They will have one of them signed by the end of the weekend.
The Mets in the meantime, seem to be content with their bench, shockingly so…
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
Evans bats right
Pagan is a switcher hitter – if he makes the team
The reason we got Cory Sullivan is because he plays like Endy Chavez but I think Marlon Anderson is not going to be on the starting roster.
Mykey,
Pagan is the only outfielder that has options. He will be in the minors, no doubt about it.
Same with Evans.
Relax, this is not something to worry about now. The bench and the remaining pen spots are always decided in spring training. Rarely does a team have any idea in January or February who their 25th, 24th, even 23rd or 22nd guys on the roster will be. Teams need to build their team from 1-15 first once they are set then you invite a bunch of vets to camp and have them battle for the filler/role player spots. These spots are spare part roles, nothing to get overly concerned about in mid/late January.
For Evans or Pagan to make the team, either Murphy goes to AAA, or Tatis, Cora, Sullivan or Reed gets cut.
Pagan, Murphy and Evans are the only Mets with options.
All the other have Major League contracts and can’t be sent down unless they agree, which ain’t happening.
Another thing that ain’t happening is the Mets swallowing a chunk of change so they can release Marlon Anderson.
…and if we got Adam Dunn or Abreu, we would have another lefty..haha
R U sure Pagan has options? i’m fairly certain he doesn’t?
When was he first added to the 40 man roster? Had to have been when he was a Cub. If he was on the Cubs 40 man roster in 2006 or prior then he no longer has any options left.
Get Manny! It solidifies our bench with Tatis and Murphy!
I imagine if Castro stays healthy he will platoon with Schneider and start against the lefties. I also would imagine they get a veteran right handed bat. Neither Reyes nor Anderson will be on the team. How about Pudge? He wasn’t bad in Detroit last year.
there has to be someway we can trade for a right handed left fielder around a package based on murphy, sullivan, and a minor league pitcher. i would keep reed since he also plays a stellar first base and trade sullivan because we have too many OFs.
Christian,
I only said it because it came up today on WFAN, and Beningo checked it out after a break and said it.
I wasn’t sure, and it was his going nuts this morning that was the inspiration for this post.
Paul – I dont think we could trade Sullivan until June because we just signed him. Cora too for that matter.
there has to be someway we can trade for a right handed left fielder around a package based on murphy, sullivan, and a minor league pitcher. i would keep reed since he also plays a stellar first base and trade sullivan because we have too many OFs. by acquiring a LF, we can move tatis to the bench which would solidify it. imagine our lineup:
reyes s
church l
wright r
beltran s
delgado l
of r
schneider l
castillo s
castillo could be a second lead off and our lineup would be very well balanced.
and please, manny is not the answer: he will quit on the mets if he’s not happy and i wouldn’t want to expose our young players to someone like that.
You can not put Murphy on the bench, no way no how, that is a player development 101 no no. You can not put player younger then 26/27 in backup roles it seriously hurts their development. calling up a young player late in the season to play a limited role is fine but putting a young player for the longer term in a limited role has ruined careers at a remarkable rate.
Benigo is an idiot, I can not stand him.
All this talk that Manny quits on his team is untrue. Compare his OPS to any of his teammates when with Boston or Cleveland and see how many players actually out performed him for any long or short stretch. He supposedly quits on his team yet still puts up numbers that are better then 99% of the team, week after week, month after month and season after season.
HoJo, your correct on not being able to trade Sullivan. Any player signed as a free agent is protected from being traded for the first 2 1/2 month of the season, till June 15th. If the player demands a trade then he can be traded.
Currently the bench appears to be as follows
Castro – backup catcher
Tatis – Backup Corner OF & Corner INF & PH
Sullivan – 4th OF
Cora – backup middle infielder
Anderson – PH/UT
I think a perfect solution would be to trade pagan, niese and someone else for Carlos Lee!!! right handed power hitting high avg LEFT FIELDER
I just checked on Pagan and he was on the 40 man roster with the Cubs in 06 and the Mets in 2008. That would be his three option years, he can not possible have options left.
If this happens in September, there will lots of right hand hitters due to the callups.
good job, if that’s true then the Mets have to cut Reed, Pagan, or Anderson. Or Murphy and Evans don’t see the light of day. Sullivan signing looks even more curious now.
tidalmet – lol, okay make it August.
ah, thanks for enlightening me on that free agent rule. i guess reed is the one that has to go then unfortunately. i’ve heard lots of good things about him. i wouldn’t mind seeing carlos lee as a met, though he’s getting old. aren’t there any other right handed outfielders on other teams that would want a murphy/reed/p trade?
Both Reed and Sullivan have options remaining per Ken Rosenthal (see below).
Correction to an item that appeared in my previous notes column: Both Jeremy Reed and Cory Sullivan have minor-league options remaining, meaning that the Mets can demote either or both to Class AAA without risk of losing them on waivers. Reed and Sullivan are similar players, reserve outfielders who bat from the left side. The Mets signed Sullivan after trading for Reed with the goal of adding more depth …
So either Sullivan, Reed, or Pagan will make the team in the Endy Chavez role and the others will go to the minors (Pagan still has options remaining). If they are willing to eat Marlon’s contract, then Nick Evans is your righty bat on the bench and he can play 1B/3B/OF.
I think there will be a trade and I think the Mets will sign Ivan Rodriguez and either Ben Sheets or Oliver Perez.
As of now, the lineup will be something like this:
Jose Reyes SS s
Luis Castillo 2B s
David Wright 3B r
Carlos Delgado 1B l
Carlos Beltran CF s
Ryan Church RF l
Fernando Tatis LF r
Brian Schneider C l
They have zero interest in Ivan Rodriguez
one simple solution thats is ty wiggington
It’s a nice thought, but Wigginton is going to want more money than we are willing to spend for a utility infielder.
I think who we having coming off the bench is the least of our worries right now…We still need a Starting Pitcher and a corner outfield…Our bench will be find and I love the fact that we have a crowd in this outfield right now it just gives us many options. Listen guys everything is gonna pan out.
Pagan can not possible have options, he was on the 40 man roster for 3 years.
I thought Argeins Reyes was no longer part of the Mets.
Warning, don’t listen to Beningo, Roberts or Francesca if you want to have any brain cells left. Beningo is the worst – he’s a frozen food salesman/WFAN caller who got promoted cause he yells a whole lot. Guys were praising the Ibanez signing and trashing the Burrell signing, they’re complete morons.
The Sullivan signing is awful, he’s a terrible hitter and a below average fielder (don’t believe that Colorado writer who said he’s the “best CF in Rockies history”)
If the A’s are out of it by July, I wonder what it would take to rent Holliday for a few months…
Just to point out…aren’y most of them switch hitters?
not counting the bench of course.