20
2009
Mets Would Be Wise To Look Into DeWayne
An article by Former Writers
DeWayne Wise will forever be known for the spectacular catch that he made on July 23rd, 2009, which allowed pitcher, Mark Buehrle, to earn the second no-hitter of his caree
r.
Despite enjoying two of the best years in his career in Chicago, Wise declined an assignment to the club’s Triple-A affiliate recently and elected to become a free agent.
As a veteran journeyman, Wise has spent time in Toronto, Atlanta and Cincinnati prior to joining the White Sox in 2008. While his career numbers at the plate are rather unimpressive ( a lifetime .216 hitter), Wise is able to make himself a useful player due to his strong defense.
In 371.1 innings this season, the 31 year-old, Wise compiled a fielding percentage of .990. This is directly in line with his career number of .989.
Along with this comes a stellar attitude, which was something his former minor league coach, Rick Sweet, emphasized in an interview with the Courier Journal. In it, Sweet describes Wise as a “hard worker who always took pride in his defense”.
Sweet later adds that “he [Wise] always made great catches for us”. After a year in which fundamentals cost the Mets almost as much as injuries the team could use a breath of fresh air when it comes to players that can field their position.
To me, Wise is an ideal fifth outfielder, in the sense that he can be relied on to provide solid defense in the latter innings of tight ball games.
This is more than the Mets can say about the man, who currently fills the position, Jeremy Reed, who really didn’t seem to do much of anything during his time in Queens.
As Amazin’ Avenue’s James Kannengieser points out Reed is a likely non-tender candidate, which would open up a spot on the roster for Wise and possibly others to compete for out of spring training next year.
Wise reminds me of ex-Met Endy Chavez, a bit, in the sense that both men have a knack for making highlight reel catches while providing consistently good defense throughout the season. Both players also bring with them a positive attitude.
To be fair, however, Endy, has a bit more pop in his bat than Wise does.
Still though, Wise would be a valuable asset to the ball club, especially if they pursue either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, who are both noted for having less-than-stellar defense.
Also, Wise could spell Carlos Beltran in center-field from time to time in an effort to prevent Beltran’s knees from giving out on him midway through the season.
The question still remains, could the Mets afford to fill a spot on the 25-man roster with a guy, who brings practically nothing offensively to the team?
The answer is probably not, especially when you consider that in all likelihood the team will bring back Alex Cora, who is another defensively-orientated bench player that does not pose much of a threat at the plate.
However, if the team adds a bat or two, then the team could certainly allocate two bench positions to defensive specialists.
Regardless of what the team does this off-season, it couldn’t hurt to at least offer Wise an invitation to Spring Training, perhaps the team could catch lightening in a bottle.
About the Author: Former Writers
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Reed was definitely a non factor, but for some reason I remember him having some big pinch hits for us. I’m not so sure the Mets will non tender him because he makes very little to begin with. The thing of it is that he seemed lost in the outfield on defense, so he is a poor choice to retain if we do get Bay or Holliday. I would imagine Pagan would be the 4th outfielder in that scenario and then Wise would fit in nicely as the 5th. Where does this guy Chris Carter fit in? Isn’t he an corner outfielder too?
PERHAPS I’M WRONG; BUT WHILE WISE SEEMS LIKE A NICE ATTITUDINAL GUY; IT’S OFFENSIVE SCORING HELP THIS TEAM NEEDS MOST. DIDN’T WE ALREADY USE 3 SUCH GUYS IN PAGAN,SULLIVAN & REED? WHERE DOES WISE IMPROVE ON ANY OF THOSE 3? PERHAPS BUFFALO ON ONE OF OMAR’S FAMOUS MILB CONTRACTS ALONGSIDE CARTER & F-MART. DO WE NEED A PURE PINCH-RUNNER TO EAT A ROSTER SPOT? MAYBE CINCY CAN USE HIM THEY’RE ALWAYS ON LOOK OUT FOR INEXPENSIVE TALENTS. AS HOPEFUL CONTENDERS WE SHOULD AIM AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE
Wow, you say that Endy has more pop than Wise and this is a good person to have on the club? HUH? Endy was a liability at the bat other than when he had his momentary hot streaks so imagine Endy w/o the hot streaks = Wise.
SARGE, YOU’RE SPOT ON, IN FACT IT’S WILLIE WHO DESERVES MUCH OF THE CREDIT FOR GETTING ENDY’S CAREER BACK ON TRACK AS A CONTRIBUTING PLAYER. WILLIE SUPPOSEDLY THREATENED TO PERMANENTLY BENCH HIM IF HE SWUNG FOR THE FENCES & NOT FOR THE GROUND.
Alex Cora is a defensive-minded bench player who can’t play defense anymore.
And why not try to get Chavez back? He’s a free agent.
The reason the Mets will not be pursuing Chavez next season is because he is expected to miss part of the season due to the leg injury he suffered last season in Seattle.
Wow I didn’t realize he was going to out so long. And also, with an ACL tear, who knows if he will be the same player.
I wouldn’t mind the acquisition of Wise as a defensive and pinch running asset. That said, Holliday defensive reputation is undeserved. He has a career UZR/150 of 6.2 (his UZR has declined consistently since 2007, however).
sounds like a poor man’s jeremy reed