Update 5:00 pm
Fernando Martinez will start the season in the minors according to Omar Minaya a guest on SNY.
Well, I’m glad we got that settled…
Original Post 7:00 am
Jon Harper of the Daily News penned an interesting piece in which he he concludes that Mets prospect Fernando Martinez should be the starting center fielder until Carlos Beltran comes back.
He does admit that Martinez looked overmatched and showed little evidence that he was major league ready last season, when injuries forced him into regular duty with the Mets and he batted just .176 in 100 plate appearances, but counters,
Yet the reality is Martnez is still only 21 years old, and he is hitting rockets all over the ballpark this spring, most impressively with that 4-for-4 day against the Nationals last week that included two home runs. Combine that with the MVP honors Martinez earned in early February in the Caribbean Series, where he hit .348 with two home runs and four RBI in six games, and he might just be blossoming quickly.
He points out that Angel Pagan is still suffering from mental lapses in the field as evidenced by his shoddy play against the Red Sox last week that caused a runner to score from third on a very shallow pop fly. he writes,
Pedroia is a heady player, and when he saw Pagan catch the ball flat-footed, unprepared to make a strong throw, he broke hard off the bag, still watching, then kept coming when he saw the throw was off-line, scoring easily. When I later asked another Mets player about it, he tapped a finger against his head and walked away. Enough said.
He points out that Angel Pagan’s baseball IQ is lacking. He doesn’t read the ball well in the outfield, doesn’t put himself in a good position to throw the ball, and he isn’t very good at running the bases.
I missed that particular game, and hadn’t heard or read about Pagan’s misadventure in centerfield. I was hoping that Pagan would return in 2010 with better instincts and heads up play. It doesn’t seem like much has changed, although it’s just one bad play and we should afford him the opportunity of a full spring training before rushing to judgment.
Harper dismisses Gary Matthews as an option, simply referring to him as “just a backup outfielder”. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Matthews simply because of all the options the Mets have, only Matthews is the proven quality major leaguer. Plus, he’s having a solid spring.
I’m glad to see Martinez playing so well and exhibiting a better understanding of the strike zone and pitch recognition. He is having a great spring, as he usually does, and I have no doubt he’s a better player than what we saw last season.
That said, it still may not be evidence enough that he can handle the task at hand. The enormous pressure and expectations that would be immediately placed on him could make him unravel, especially under the watchful eyes of the New York media.
With the prospect of an already weakened offense with Alex Cora or Ruben Tejada starting at shortstop, is now really the time to bench Pagan or Matthews and gamble that Martinez will improve on his .176 batting average or his own mental gaffes in center field?
Agreed of course, no way F-Mart’s ready to start opening day in CF. If he starts out hot & healthy in AAA & Pagan and/or Matthews don’t, makes obvious sense to call him up early, but otherwise no-brainer to let him continue his positive strides & prove himself a little longer.
Starting Fernando Martinez in CF is about the dumbest idea I ever heard of. Maybe someone should tell harper that F-Mart was so bad in CF in the minors he was switched to rightfield instead. Angel Pagan will do fine for the first 3-4 weeks of the season and he has a great bat which we definitely need leading off now that Reyes is out.
He was switched to RF because we have beltran
I agree that we should not get ahead of ourselves on F-Mart. It is a positive for the long term that he is having a very good ST so far. However, that should not put him into a starter role. He should go back to AAA for more seasoning and a possible call-up later in the season. If Pagan shows he is not up to the task, Matthews can be called upon to fill the gap until Beltran returns. He was picked up to provide a fill-in role when needed and so we should use him that way. It pays to stick with the plan and not open up any Pandora’s boxes without very good reason.
Lets remember early in spring training there are pitchers and players who log a lot of playing time. The pitching and hitting statistics should be looked at with that in mind. Just because there is success early it may not translate to the major league season. It is nice to see success,but let’s not get too excited yet!!
Rich
I was about to say basically the same thing you just did. Also in the case of F-Mart, he has had solid springs before. He has this ability to really impress for short spurts, but he has yet to translate that success over an entire season.
Regarding Matthews, although I soffed at the trade at first, I’ve really warmed up to it of late and I’ve been impressed with what littl I’ve seen Matthews play. I’m kind of glad we have him around now, and he may prove to be as useful as Sheffield was for us last season.
Agreed, lets not rush the F-Mart thing, he was less than impressive last season when he was up with the Mets.
Harper, is a buffoon. I’m not sure how many of you guys read his article Friday, when he was trying to tie Reyes’ thyroid condition to HGH usage. This guy is a joke.
In my opinion, I feel the Gary Mathews JR. acquisition was a great one, and a steal.
“Gold-Glove” Defender, and if the bat comes along “Bonus”.
While Beltran is recoverying, I see Mathews and Pagan splitting CF, while the one who is not starting that game, will be Bay’s defense replacement late in games we are leading.
I think Omar deserves some credit for beefing up our Outfield backup and taking the necessary steps to have options if Beltran were to miss time.
I know Omar gets a lot of flack by not addressing the pitching question, but a lot of very talented pitching FA will be coming on the market at the end of this year, and by not signing average pitchers this offseason will allow us to make a bigger splash in the pitching market next offseason. IE, Cliff Lee, Burnett, etc.
So Harper decides that it’s time for the Mets to make Fmart the everyday centerfielder because of one Pagan spring flub?? Is he kidding me?
Once again Harper should give all of us hope in becoming great writers because he sure isn’t. His continuing stupidity amazes me. Obviously he has never played the game, but consider it’s the Daily News not the New York Times.
Lol, I like harper, I read the article as well and was thinking the same thing, now, I sorta agree wit him, pagan is a good player but lacks baseball insticts, gmj sucks, so we basically left wit fmart, if we’re thinking tejada at short we should consider fmart at cf, the reason is, this kids will play hard, with passion becoz they know it will only be for a month, we know what cora, pagan and gmj will give us, I think this kids will do better than those mention becoz they r eager to play and prove they belong, I’m not saying that pagan gmj and cora r not eager to play or to prove themselves, but I rather see a young full of young players than have to watch “veterans” to slow this team down.. specially in the middle infield wit cora and castillo..
Go wit pagan on the bench and start martinez if it was me.. but hey, what do I know, if I bring up the fact that cora is a 244 career hitter I get blasted
Why not let ST play itself out? Is there any need to state now that FMart will start the season in Buffalo? I doubt that FMart is ready to play but if he continues to hit like he has there is no harm in starting him. There is also no harm in adding him to the compeition. Maybe Pagan concentrates a little harder if he doesn’t feel the job is his.
Aaah the easily beguiled. Omar the GM(!!!!) has clearly stated FMART will start the season at AAA !! (IF; Pagan is not traded, Sarge is not traded and we dont need a starter….) Oh PS. this part is for other GMs…we will not be pressured into a trade.
The bigger issue is if the mets don’t trade GMJ. Its been put out there that teams have had interest and he is really only needed till beltran is back. If we could get a useful peice for this team, then I’m all for it.
On the topic of F-Mart: I agree he should start in AAA. The guy has talent and u can’t take that away, but when was the last time he played a full season. In NY he will want to play with everything he has, but he’s shown that hes fragile.give him time and we have outfield depth. We don’t have that at SS so that’s why u see tejada who will get some time with the big club. He still needs work but it could help him to see time. There aren’t any expectations for him, other than playing a good shortstop
I think the GMJr trade rumors are bunk. There was only one team ever linked to them (the Reds) and they explicitly said they had absolutely no interest whatsoever. We might be stuck with him. However, he’s having a decent spring, and there are worse options for a bench player/backup-backup CFer.
F-Mart is being sent down simply so he can hit a ton and be dealt in June. Anyone else think it’s strange that the CF of the future logged ZERO innings there when the job became open after Beltran went down? The Mets were gearing Pagan and GMJ for the position until Beltran got back so Martinez can bring back a pitcher from the first team with an ace that falls out of the race. I think that’s what’s happening here.
Quiero contradecir a los que comentan que Fernando Martinez no esta listo para las grandes liga,es que ellos desconocen que Fernando fue el jugador mas valioso en la serie final en Dominicana,que luego fue el mas valioso en la serie del caribe donde participan los mejores picher de latinoamerica y donde cada juego es una presion,si a esto le sumamos su participacion que llega a la excelencia del campo de entrenamiento,todo en el 2010,entonces no me hablen de coincidencia sino de que es el resultado de su crecimiento mental acompañado de un arduo trabajo que lo ha llevado ponerse en inmejorable condicion fisica.Entiendo que por su juventud,no ser recompensado con quedarse en el equipo grande puede ser frustatorio para su futura carrera .
Jose, pero el ha estado lesionado el las ligas menores, no ha tenido una temporada entera en la cual ha jugado, es mejor k empieze en las ligas menores para k siga mejorando, creo que muy pronto el va a hacer nuestro CF y beltran va a hacer cambiado por prospectos y asi limpiamos salario y poder firmar otros agentes libres
When did this become a spanish speaking blog?
Is that a problem,,
fernado sera y brillara cuando salga de ese equipo que de mucha mala suerte le ha salido a fernando,y mas aun no le dan la confianza,los mets, ese no es el equipo que da oportunidade,al igual que los yankee,son equipo conformado por un grupo de viejo que tienen que juvilarce,fernando lo mejor que te puede pasar es que los mets te cambien como a carlos gomez,desde que este salio de ahi fue regular,ese no es tu equipo….