Who’s The Better Fit, Fernando Tatis or Ryan Garko?

Mike Puma of the NY Post, opined that Fernando Tatis could be re-signed by the Mets if they decide to take a pass on Carlos Delgado.

The prevailing wisdon is that Tatis would be able to platoon with the left-handed Daniel Murphy at first base.

As most of you know, I’m not thrilled with the idea of bringing back Delgado for reasons that I’v already explained on numerous occasions.

In an interesting post, James Kannengieser of Amazin Avenue, says that bringing back Fernando Tatis for 2010 was never a bad idea, and that it became especially attractive after the Gary Matthews Jr. acquisition. He also writes,

Tatis can play the corner outfield and infield positions ably. This flexibility would make him more valuable than signing an outfield-only player like our beloved Endy, or an infield-only player like Ryan Garko.

In 340 at-bats last season, Tatis hit .282 with eight homers and 48 RBIs. One thing that stood out was his glaring propensity to hit into double plays which he did 13 times last season. James K. considers it an anomaly, as do I. It could very well be that Francoeur or Bay leads the team in that dubious category this season, and it’s just one of those things nobody can predict.

Another option would be free agent Ryan Garko who was released by the San Francisco Giants this off season after being acquired before the trade deadline from the Cleveland Indians. 

At the time of the trade, he was batting .285 with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 78 games. Not bad really, but after the arriving to San Francisco, Garko’s performance went into the tank batting just .235 with two homeruns in 115 at-bats.

Garko, who is predominantly a first baseman, but has logged a few games as a corner outfielder, had his coming out party in 2007 when he batted .289 with 21 homers and 61 RBI. He followed that up with 14 homers and a team leading 90 RBI’s in 2008. Despite the terrible finish with the Giants, Garko still terrorized left-handed pitching to the tune of a .308 batting average, a .391 on-base, and a .479 Slugging percentage. He has a career .887 OPS and .392 OBP against southpaws.

Until his short stint in San Fran, the 29-year old Garko was consistently good, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t revert to form.

Tatis has already proven that he can handle the pressure of playing in New York and has provided some memorable moments as a Met, but at 35 he is six years older than Garko and could be in decline.

I thought this would make for an interesting debate. What are some of your thoughts?