Comments on: Bring Nick Johnson to Citi Field

By: WT Economist

WT Economist — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:12:42 +0000

The Mets need to give their own players a chance. Murphy and Evans had disappointing years, but it is still early. I’d give them half a season to see if they could be decent, either individually or as a platoon — Evans kills lefties.

Meanwhile, you’ve got Ike Davis. Start him in Triple-A, and see how he does. By mid-2010, or certainly by 2011, he could be better than Nick Johnson or any available player, at a lower price.

We got lucky with DelGado, compared with some other late-career signings. It’s time to start building from within, and using free agents sparingly.

By: Jessep

Jessep — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:12:44 +0000

As a team they are 24th out of 30 in HR’s with 128.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:00:17 +0000

Nick Johnson is always injuried and is not that great of a player.
Mets would be wasting money on him

By: Lifelongmetsfan

Lifelongmetsfan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:42:11 +0000

The Dogers don’t hit home runs? Aren’t the Dodgers on the verge of tying or breaking a major league record this year for the most starting players on a team with 20 or more home runs?

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:10:14 +0000

CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION

MY RESPONSE TO YOUR EXCUSES FOR JOHNSON’S “BLACK CLOUD” CAREER IS SIMPOLY , “HOLY MOISES!!!!”
QUITE SIMPLY PUT, IN MY OPINION IF DFLGADO’S BAT SPEED IS STILL THERE HE’;S BY FAR & A WAY A BETTER OFFENSIVE FIT FOR NEXT YR. YOU EXPOUNDED UPON ALL THAT JIOHNSON COULD DELIVER WITH 500 ABs. LOOK NO FURTHER THAN HIS ’06 SEASON(HIS MOST HEALTHY) WHAT I FOUND REMARKABLE IS HIS HEALTHIEST CAREER SEASON WAS 147G COMPARE THAT TO DELGADO’S AVERAGE OF 146.5 BET ’05-’08. FAIR COMPARISON, NO? HERE’S JOHNSON’S ’06 Vs DELGADO’S AVG #s OVER THAT SPAN.
G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB BA
JOHNSON 147 500 100 145 260 46 0 23 77 110 .290
DELGADO 146.5 545 85 149 285 33 2 33 108 68 .273

IF U R DISMISSING HLTH CONSIDERATIONS ON ONE WHY NOT BOTH.DELGADO’S AVG GAMES PLAYED OVER PAST 4 YRS SAME AS JOHNSON’S HEALTHIEST. JOHNSON GETS THE EDGE ON DEFENSE CERTAINLY. KEEPING RUNS OFF IS NOT AS SEXY AS PUTTING THEM ON.

By: Jessep

Jessep — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:33:28 +0000

Okay again, why don’t you look at his career OBP? Compare that # to the guys you just mentioned.

Secondly, you can’t “sign” Dunn. He’s under contract. Fielder will cost an arm and a leg.

By: Luis Venitucci

Luis Venitucci — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:17:31 +0000

Nice!! Throw in Stokes and get Okajima

By: Greg From Brooklyn

Greg From Brooklyn — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:30:26 +0000

Jessep,

If Johnson put up numbers similar to Hanley, Youk, and Dunn I’d take him in a heart beat. He’ll never come close to those guys.

Look at Johnson’s career.

Free agents tend to be over-rated during the off season. Look at Oliver Perez.

If anything I’d rather sign Adam Dunn and put him at first or left field. That’s only if we can’t get Prince Feilder.

By: the nick

the nick — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:17:22 +0000

Do you really believe that Nick Johnson would sign as a utility player when a dozen teams will be chasing him for a job as a starting first baseman. How could you even think of having him and Murphy and opting for Murphy as the starter?

By: Jessep

Jessep — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:48:38 +0000

whatdatmean: Should we throw in 1,000 of NY’s finest police and swat to stop the riots that would occur in Boston also?

By: Jessep

Jessep — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:47:38 +0000

The Dodgers are 12th in runs scored, 24th in HRs and 4th in OBP. For quite some time weren’t they the team to beat? Aren’t they still leading their division?

If players get on base, that forces other runners home. If Citi Field doesn’t allow you to hit HR’s as much, then stop trying to hit HRs.

By: Jessep

Jessep — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:45:35 +0000

Again, some of you need to get off this HR bandwagon. The Giants and Dodgers don’t hit HR… they seem to be doing quite well in the NL don’t they?

If you add a pitcher, a guy like Crawford and Johnson you havea Citi Field team.

By: Devin

Devin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:43:31 +0000

Dude!!! Are you serious, get real man!

By: Jessep

Jessep — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:43:20 +0000

He’s a utility player that gets on base on average more than guys like Hanley, Youk, and Adam Dunn. Yeah that makes sense. Great bench player. COME ON!

By: Jessep

Jessep — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:41:12 +0000

Stop it.

By: CaseStreet

CaseStreet — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:38:43 +0000

Great job Jessep. I really like him tutoring Murphy or even Davis. There’s many of us at The Real Dirty Mets Blog who would love to have Nick batting in front of Beltran and Wright. Throw in a LFer like Figgins or Crawford to lead off and you’ve got quite a lineup. Figgins-Reyes-Johnson-Wright-Beltran-Frency-Santos-Castillo. Get ‘em on, get ‘em in!

By: Greg from Brooklyn

Greg from Brooklyn — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:26:45 +0000

We don’t need Johnson unless it’s in a utility role. The Mets need an upgrade on the GM and the utility players. the utility players the Mets have now has the DNA of the 3 Stooges.

Nick Johnson is the perfect fundementally sound utility player that we need. If I was the GM, I would wait and see what type of offers Johnson gets during the off-season. I would not be in any hurry to sign him. I doubt many teams see him as a starting first baseman worth more than the 5.3 he’s making now.

By: Devin

Devin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:26:34 +0000

You made a strong case for Johnson and a good one too. It’s true that some of his injuries were flukes and not his fault. But he doesn’t cure the Mets need for power, in fact Murphy has out homered him. Defensively, theres nobody better, but what this team needs more than anything else is a bonafide power hitter and a number two starter. All these OBP guys mean nothing if you dont have some high SLG guys to drive them home.

By: Mykey

Mykey — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:26:14 +0000

I would bring Johnson in, as long as he comes cheap. HOWEVER, if you do bring Johnson in, where are you going to get your power from? I’ve been saying for a while now that the Mets need a serious power bat in this lineup. That is what Delgado provided. If Johnson is signed, then the Mets HAVE TO go out and get a true power hitting LF. I’m not saying they will get Holliday, but they need a guy who can hit around .260, with 30-40 HR’s, and around 80-90 RBI’s. You watch how Wright and Beltran, and Franceur hit with that type of power in the middle of the lineup.

Now the only problem is, where are we going to get a guy like that.

By: whatdatmean

whatdatmean — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:22:31 +0000

Just doing some facination…but with all this talk of breaking up the core while making salary cuts. Not that it would ever happen, but what about:
Reyes + Beltran + Ollie [force Ollie as a salary dump]
for
Papelbon, Ellsbury, Youklis, Bucholtz, Lowrie, and Anderson.

1. Ellsbury, cf
2. Murphy, 1b
3. Wright, 2b[he has the footwork/glove/range to be a GG'r there]
4. Youk, 3b
5. Anderson, lf
6. Frenchy, rf
7. Thole, C
8. Lowrie, ss
B-Pagan, Santos, Tatis, Hernandez, Evans
SP-Johan, Papelbon, Bucholtz, Pelf, Neise
BP-Green, Felic, Bostick, Stokes, Maine, Krod

That’s a lot of salary cut and a far more interesting team
would never happen…just fascinating…fantasy style.