Last week Topps released its All-Star Rookie team for 2009 and while there were some justified selections and some questionable ones, the player that has the most intrigue for me is the Mets’ Omir Santos. He beat out phenom Matt Wieters, who most thought would be in contention to take home the Rookie of the Year award in the American League.
Did Santos’ season really justify the award? First let’s take a look at his statistics:
281 At Bats
.260 Batting Average (73 Hits)
7 Home Runs
40 RBI
28 Runs
0 Stolen Bases
.296 On Base Percentage
.391 Slugging Percentage
.287 Batting Average on Balls in Play
I know Wieters did not come close to expectations, but Santos’ performance is far from tantalizing. While he had his moments early in the season delivering some big hits for a Mets team that was desperate to grasp onto anything, Santos’ second half left little to be desired.
He hit just .250 with 3 HR and 16 RBI over 128 AB, exposing him a bit for what he truly is, a 28-year old career minor leaguer. While people want to get excited when someone like him shows signs of success, having held on for so long, there is a reason he didn’t get his first taste of the big leagues until 2008, his eighth year of professional baseball (he was drafted in the 21st round of the 2001 draft by the New York Yankees).
We are talking about a player who was a career .258 hitter over 2,229 minor league at bats, hitting just 32 HR. In fact, he only had two seasons where he surpassed the total he hit last season: he hit eight between two levels of Single-A in ‘02 and 10 at Double-A in ‘05.
It would just make no sense for the Mets to look for a catcher to platoon with that type of performance. Exactly what do they think they are going to get? After all these years do they expect him to suddenly figure things out? Do they think he’s going to become a slugger? Or even someone who can post a decent average?
Santos is none of those things, and by now we all need to realize that. What he showed in the second half is the type of production he has been showing since he was an unheralded draft choice many moons ago.
Does keeping him around in order to be the second catcher make sense? Absolutely, but if the Mets enter 2010 with expectations of him making any type of impact at the plate they are making a major miscalculation.
As far as fantasy owners are concerned, even those in two-catcher formats should be keeping their distance. He just doesn’t have the potential to be of much value to anyone, even if he is splitting time and getting a fair share of at bats.
What do you think? Am I being too harsh on Santos? Do you think he could contribute offensively for the Mets in 2010?
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Thank you for a common sense evaluation of Omir. That .296 OBP is all you need to know to see what terrible option he’d be as an everyday catcher. He is barely adequate as a backup, but I tolerate him because of that one big hit he had against Pap. Think about how bad our bottom third of the lineup is with Francoeur, Omir and the pitchers spot. Not a pretty scene.
I don’t think you’re being too harsh on Santos. One thing that struck me about Santos is how similar his BA/OBP/BABIP are to those of Benjie Molina (career .276/.308/.281). Clearly Molina separates himself from Santos on the SLG department. But is that enough to justify the financial difference? I hope the Mets don’t rely on either gentleman in 2010.
I hate to be the voice of opposition, but didnt the Mets have the second best offense from their catchers in the National League?. Gary Cohen must have drilled that into our brains all season long during every Mets broadcast.
Most teams dont have major offense from the catching position. And I thought I read somewhere last week that Omir Santos was ranked 3rd or 4th defensively in the NL. If I find that link I will post it on this thread.
Lets cut Omir some slack.
Good article with info to debate. I agree with Maniac and did hear it on broadcasts that at one point Mets had best offense from catching position even with Schneider back there until Omir started to wear down and they only finished what 2nd or 3rd? Show me a team that would not take that from a catcher whose primary duty is too guide pitchers, control flow of game, play defense, many would.
This is the first time that Omir has played as many games as has in his career and no, he is not an all star and probably not a regular but I would prefer to have him platoon with Thole when he comes up after all star break or next year and then Thole can be full time and Omir would be an excellent back up that has not had the majority of his games in his past but possibly in his future. I accept the stats but Molina maybe 5 years might have been the answer, not now nor ever. Please Omar don’t try to save your job on the bad knees of Bengie or Barrajas unless, they take a one year deal with a Mets option for 2011.
MAY I POINT OUT THAT WE’RE ALL A BIT SPOILED BY THE LAGACIES OF GARY & MIKE. EVERYONE’S CITING OFFENSIVE NUMBERS I AGREE HE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED NO BETTER THAN A CASTRO REPLACEMENT WITH MORE STAMINA. HERE’S HIS CAREER PER MLB.COM:
G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS GO/AO
SEASON 96 281 28 73 110 14 1 7 40 15 1 44 0 0 .260 .296 .391 .688 1.01
CAREER 107 291 28 74 111 14 1 7 40 15 1 46 0 0 .254 .290 .381 .671 1.02
FORGET ALL OF THE STATS, THE MOST GLARING NUMBER TO STARE AT ME IS THE CAREER 107 MLB GAMES CAUGHT. BACK THAT UP WITH THOLE? INEXPERIENCED LEADING THE INEXPERIENCED. GET U NOWHERE IN HELPING RELATIVELY INEXPERIENCED NL ROTATION THROUGH THE TOUGH MATCHUPS.