Angel Pagan is having himself quite a season, and is making the most out of the playing time he has gotten in leftfield and centerfield.
While looking at his stats this morning, I couldn’t believe that among all Mets with 100 or more at-bats, only Carlos Beltran at .518, has a higher slugging percentage than Angel Pagan who wields an impressive .481 mark. David Wright, who is third on the team, checks in with a .453 slugging percentage, far less than Pagan’s. Pagan’s slugging percentage is higher than sluggers Ian Kinsler, Jermaine Dye, David Ortiz, Dan Uggla and Todd Helton.
Pagan is one triple away from leading the Majors in triples with 11, and those players ahead of him have twice as many plate appearances.
I don’t know if this is an indictment on the Mets offense or a telling sign that Angel Pagan may warrant some strong consideration for the everyday job in left field next season.
My opinion?
I think the Mets have themselves one heck of a fourth outfielder, probably the best in baseball, but that’s where it ends… for now.
If only I could block the fundamental mistakes he commits from time to time, I would even consider him as a worthy left fielder, but it would go against everything I believe in to reward Pagan with the everyday job next season.
I love Angel, but before we hand him a role like that, he has to know that how important it is to play smarter in the field or at the plate. He reminds me of Jose Reyes in many ways in that regard. The two of them obviously have a world of skills and talent, but come up empty in the baseball IQ department.
That doesn’t mean that we give up on either of them or God forbid trade them, it just means that we need this team to focus on fundamentals and one way we can do that is by setting an example and letting players know we will not tolerate these costly mistakes anymore.
We have to play Jose Reyes because he means so much to this offense, but we don’t have to play Angel Pagan everyday. There should be no rewards for some of the scoring opportunities Angel Pagan has cost us this season.
That said, playing time means the opportunity to earn more money for players, especially as they enter their arbitration years. Money is the biggest motivator in sports. Lets keep Pagan hungry, and lets use him as an example of how important fundamentals are to this team.
On Friday, Jerry Manuel said that next spring training the focus will be on fundamentals and that he will not tolerate some of the baserunning and fielding blunders he has seen this season by his team including the veterans.
I truly hope he means that and is not giving us the same lip service we got from Willie Randolph after the 2007 season.
As much as I admire the passion that Angel Pagan brings to the field, I have to impress on you that handing him the everyday left field job would send a wrong message to the entire team.
I know there are many of you who may disagree, but if we don’t start focusing on fundamentals now, than when?
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I agree, but mostly because we need to get a power hitter in there. I think Pagan’s flubs are overrated, and too much has been made of them.
rewarding a player for an .800 OPS does not send the wrong message. also it isnt particularly important to send anyone a message. the goal is to get players on the field that contribute to winning. if that means you have manny ramirez slugging home runs while appearing to not give a damn about anything, so be it.
He has a .748 OBP, and if you dont believe that the Mets need to send messages to some players, you may not have been watching closely this season.
if he had a .748 obp he would be better than any player that ever lived.
You know what I meant, OPS.
pagans 2009 ops is .820, which is not bad. i am not sure what your point is.
if you are saying they need better players than that, i agree. pagan is just an ok player. far better than francouer though.
My mistake, I read Tatis’s OPS instead of Pagan.
Joe I agree with you. I am so sick and tired of the lack of basic fundamentals on this team. I dont think Manuel will fix them no matter what he says. I’ve seen so many embarassing moments from this team this season it’s sometimes hard to keep wayching. Why does Manuel say he will focus next spring training? Why wasnt he focusing all year long? Isn’t that his job? Pagan has been one of the worst offenders and he easily cost this team a half dozen games single handedly.
I’ve enjoyed reading the discussion on this site lately. As for Pagan, martin is right. I understand the point you are trying to make Joe, but the Mets cannot afford to take playing time from one of their best offensive players. The bottom line is that he helps more than he hurts the team, and he has shown good production for more than half a season. I wish he would walk more, but it’s not so bad that it takes away from his overall offensive profile. If the Mets can get a .300/.350/.475 season from Pagan for less than a million bucks, they would be insane not to do it and use the savings to sign two solid starting pitchers. Keep up the good work on the site.
If fundamentals are to be apriority NEXT spring, WTF were they doing tis year? WHY does this team only REACT to last year’s issues and be PROACTIVE. OMAR MUST GO!! And if Manuel did not address fundies this past spring, then he should go as well.
I need an edit option…WHY does this team only REACT to last year’s issues and NOT be PROACTIVE..Maybe they manage like I type…
Jerry Manuel is all hot air. He runs a sloppy ship and that’s the way it is and the way it always will be if he’s in charge. If this team is to practice good fundamentals, a new field manager is required. But the Coupons are not going to hire a new one until Manuel’s contract is finished.
As far as Pagan goes, he is a 4th OF’er only. We need a genuine slugger for LF, but since the Coupons are not spending $ from the remaining nest egg, we will get to enjoy his clueless play on the bases and in the field for the indefinite future.
I’m sold on Pagan. Trade Beltran for Fielder and give CF to Pagan. Beltran is an incredible talent and one of the best in the game, but his blase fare attitude I think hurts the mets. He’s got no heart! At least he doesn’t show it. Some may think thats overrated, but I think it has hurt the mets especially down the stretch. I also think Manuel should get some of the blame for Pagan’s mental and base running blunders. Which would probably decrease givin more playing time. Pagan is not exactly a kid anymore but give him a chance I think he will just get better.
Are you kidding me? Trading Beltran to make room for Pagan is a terrible idea. And Prince Fielder is a couple of Big Macs short of a breakdown in performance. And that still leaves us without a leftfielder, or were you planning on putting Prince there? Just because his name is Fielder it doesn’t mean that he can actually field.
You know just cause you say “trading Beltran to make room for Pagan is a terrible idea”, doesn’t make it a terrible idea. Tell me why based on what we have seen out of Pagan this year. Pagan can hit, he covers a lot of ground, and he can fly. Granted he needs to cut down on the mistakes and hit a few more cut off men but he has shown a lot this year with no one else in the line up around him. Beltran is great, and Pagan has years to go to approach his status and probably never will. Beltran isn’t getting any better then he is now and I think we should trade him soon to get the most value from him. Maybe Fielder would not be a great fit. A pitcher would probably be a better idea. I just think we should give Pagan a chance based on what we have seen. The Mets never seem to do that. Also I think the Mets dugout could use a good thrashing from somebody breaking down every once in a while.
You’re talking about giving up on the consummate professional and turining it over to a hack. Beltran is the heart of the Mets. Just because he is quiet in his professional way does not mean he isn’t dedicated or that he doesn’t command the respect of his teammates. He has been seen several times guiding Reyes in approaching the game. Just because YOU don’t see his influence, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Your idea is terrible.
Beltran is a stud. Consummate professional, sure, He has a world of talent, I acknowledge that. Thats why I think you could get a lot for him. To call Pagan a hack is to completely ignore the fact that he has hit consistently all year since being put in to a line up resembling that of the B Mets. Beltran is in no way the heart of the Mets. He shys away from the spotlight not that there is anything terribly wrong with that. That is just his style. That style is what I think the Mets have to much of. Beltran may be the best player on the Mets, but no way you are going to tell me he is the heart of the Mets. Beltran is dead inside my friend.
Wow…Trade beltran for pagan?? Thank life, you do NOT work for mets management.
Because I would do so much worse, idiot.
I have never seen Jose Reyes commit the idiotic base running mistakes that Pagan has.
I don’t even see how you can compare the two at all. Pagan is not even close to being in Jose’s league.
Man, you can’t even compare Jose’s baseball “IQ” to that of Pagan’s.
Seems like you just don’t like Reyes and just want to keep the “Run Jose Out Of Town” bandwagon running. Like the rest of those dumb asses.
I hope they sign Figgins to play left,and Barajas to catch.
Figgins LF
Castillo 2B
Reyes SS
Beltran CF
Wright 3B
Francoer RF
Murphy 1B
Barajas C
bench Evans-Pagan-Santos-AHern
Why would you bring in a guy to play out of position (yes, I know Figgins can do it, but he’s not a strong defensive outfielder. He is a good defensive 3B), for the worst defensive team in baseball? The Mets need more upgrades than that in the lineup if they want to contend.
Good choices. I like both of them. You have Reyes hitting 3rd and that could be appropriate if his best running days are behind him. Even if he is a routine runner, his arm still makes him a great shortstop. One of the important to think to learn early next year will be the status of Reyes and what talents he will bring to the team. Hopefully his rehab is over by the time ST rolls around.
This was meant to be a reply to Steve regarding Figgins and Barajas. Pressed the wrong button.
That’s fine, but why put your best OBP guy in the 5-hole? I think Amazin’ Avenue had a figure earlier this season; it costs Wright about 50 PAs than if he batted third.
Hello,
Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.
Tania