21
2011
Has Angel Pagan Lost His Wings?
An article by 
Angel Pagan has been off to a dreadful start, and there is no debating that. Pagan has not only batted under .170 so far, but he has also lacked the clutch hitting that the Mets relied on so heavily last season. With such a slow start in 2011, it begs the question we are reluctant to ask: Was 2010 just a fluke for Pagan?
In 2010, the 29-year old Puerto Rican native began the season as a 4th outfielder, a backup to Gary Matthews Jr. in center. Instead of complaining and feeling downtrodden, Pagan put his head down and took every opportunity to prove himself and earn his stripes. Pagan would climb over not only Matthews, but Francoeur and most recently this spring, even Beltran. Pagan would finish the year with a .290 average, 37 stolen bases and 31 doubles.
It appears that Pagan performs best when he had to secure, win or regain a starting job. Now that he has a job and it is his to lose, Pagan is not playing at the level he had last season. Is it possible Pagan is just not as motivated now that he doesn’t have as much to prove?
Or is it that he is just off to a slow start? It is hard to tell. Pagan doesn’t look like the same player as he was in 2010. His base running in 2011 is more reminiscent of his lackadaisical 2009 campaign on the base path rather that his heads-up play in 2010. This was most evident in last night’s game where Pagan, representing the tying run in the 8th inning, was thrown out at home following a wild pitch.
Pagan seemed in 2010 to be developing into the type of player that could be relied upon for great defense, heads-up plays and clutch, late in the game hitting. But now nearly 20 games into 2011, Pagan does not look anything like he did last year.
I personally thought Pagan should have been traded this winter. The Mets probably could have gotten a nice return from a team that lost out on Crawford. Teams tend to overpay when they do not get their plan A in the off season so the timing could have worked in the Mets favor. But that is in the past, what matters now is that at least for the time being, Pagan is under the Mets control and unless he regains whatever he found in 2010, he could be looking at either being traded or non-tendered before Opening Day of 2012.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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Pagan is so far down on the list of things for the Mets to worry about, it’s kind of ridiculous to go into this kind of analysis about why the guy is in a slump. And oh gee a bad hitting slump can actually cause you to play with your head up your ass in the field or on the base paths? Stop the presses! In case you haven’t realized, the Mets suck. It has very little to do with what Pagan is doing or not doing. It has much more to do with the injury to Santana. The inexplicable disappearance of David Wright. The lack of contribution from Jason Bay. The stinking rotten bullpen. The general brand of bad baseball that nearly everyone on the team plays with. Stupidball I like to call it. The Mets are the best in the league at employing Stupidball. It’s the combined effect of these important factors that are why the Mets stink so bad. Let’s forget about Angel for now cause he’s really not the reason we are where we are.
Fair enough.
Nah, the simple fact tnhat he has been the worst of the worst skips your words. Its easier to just beat on Wright even tho he hasn’t been nearly as bad as Angel.
Wright is batting .229 with 8 RBI, Pagan is worse, .167 with 6 RBI. But just what is your point “metsfan”? You honestly think Angel is as important to the Mets as David Wright? Ahhhh, then you’d be wrong.
We are talking about a glorified 4th outfielder with some talent here. The Mets should have sold high in the offseason, but as usual they played it all wrong.
Pagan is a bonehead and liability on the basepaths.
We all know he was safe last night, but it never should have been that close. Ugh!
I thought he was safe but like Keith Hernandez pointed out, his foot caught a spike and bouced over the plate. His foot was above the plate but did not touch it.
Pagan was not a liability last year but it seems he has reverted back to his 2009 basepath skills (or lack there of).
Clayton, way to get off our 2010 everyday MVP and 2009 co-MVP after 1/10th of the season. Man can’t anyone catch a break around here?
Sure he’s had a slow start so far but it’s not related to having secured a full time job with his great play last year, getting a one year 3.5 M dollar deal or anything else other than just a bad start.
He could be feeling the pressure of trying to get a guaranteed deal this coming off season, his last arbitration year, who knows. He knows the team is in transition and he’s thrived in that situation before.
Until recently his OB was still .300 so he wasn’t exactly bogging down the offense and clutch? He’s not really getting any hits now clutch or not why bring up that term? You know how that goes, clutch one year, not clutch the next anyway.
A set spot in the order would be nice. He should be hitting higher against RHP. I’d like to see him hit 3rd in front of Davis and Beltran against RHP and get him in the thick of it. No matter where he hits he’ll come around but hitting him 6th is just wasting his ability there.
the 90% of the time he takes the extra base he’s a hustler, the 10% of the time he doesn’t he’s a bonehead. I’ll tell you you just can’t win. Angel has been one of the best base runners in the entire league for a couple of years now. Trying to score with 2 outs on a wild pitch with our offense and our clutch hitting ability is exactly what he should have been trying to do. The players playing hard, maybe pressing, but playing to win. give him a break.
On the other side of the ball who covers as much ground in the NL as Angel Pagan? How would you like to see Harris or Hairston in Center? Think Beltran can play there? Bay? Duda? Murphy? Has he even had a day off? All players should enjoy a little competition on the roster, another option to go to here and there. Who’s Pagan’s?
While it may have sounded good to trade Angel he does have all the skills needed to be an all around player. He’s always in great shape, he always plays as hard as possible as just exactly WHO were we going to get to play CF here?
Angel’s arm, legs, glove and bat have kept us out of the cellar the last two years and they will again this year too, just relax.
Looking at it just defensively, Harris can cover some ground. Beltran isn’t terrible now that he is atrating to catch up to the game. But you are correct, Pagan is the best defensive centerfield option.
Even though selling high might have been a smart, safe way to go on Pagan, I can see why Alderson did not. 30-40 stolen bases, speed and a 290-300 avg makes sense for Citi Field. Unfortunately, Pagan has yet to show any glimmer of his 2009-2010 form.
Sorry, Russell. You must have watched a different game than I did.
You mean he was clearly out at home, or you think he’s a genius on the basepaths?
Humor goes a long way but it doesn’t mask the ambiguity of a very close, partially obscured play.
I made my comment after you said, “We all know he was safe last night….”
Anywory, it’s on to the next fray and I hope we get some of the close calls. We didn’t on this one.
If you had a GM who wasn’t out of touch, a GM that didn’t need an entire year to evaluate his team, a GM that didn’t think he was the only one capable opf making an evaluation, you . would have had the opportunity to do what smart in touch GMs do and that is sell high and buy low. Too late… The fluke that was Angel’s 2010 is long gone…. Whatever, I’m sure the assistants will tell the man that there are some more rule 5 guys they drafted a long time ago available to take his place next Winter.
The reality is that Pagan is an average ballplayer. Last year was a career year, yet what was his OPS, .750? Not bad, but far from otherworldly. His career minor league OPS was around .700, so that’s probably his ceiling. That’s not good enough for an everyday OF, even if he were playing a good CF (where Pagan has been severely overrated).
I too believe that Angel Pagan should have been traded in the offseason. Funny how those of us who thought that were all vilified in the offseason! I believe he had a career year and there’s this great saying about “selling high.” Unfortunately, I can see both sides of the argument for keeping him around, since Sandy Alderson really didn’t have much in the way of value except for maybe David Wright, and he had to play with the hand he was given.
Also, Pagan’s type of play when he actually performs is suited perfectly for Citi Field. So it makes sense Alderson wanted him for 2011. It is possible we could see Beltran, Pagan, Reyes, Pelfrey and K-rod go before July 31st. The way things are going, it looks like cleaning house is the likely course of action.
I see that too, so Alderson IMO was stuck between a rock and a hard place. OTOH, its evident that the Mets who play a majority of their games at CitiField need to have a masher. Something that has been lacking for quite some time. Angel Pagan or anyone on the team currently constructed isn’t doing so…
Coop did my Pagan comment on your “wall” at least give you a chuckle
that’s blank but I assume it was “oh it was hilarious”
It was supposed to say
Nice job Clayton.
I’ve never been a fan of Pagan’s really. He’s a fringe player who realistically played subpar baseball from August through the end of the season. His entire “success” from last year stemmed from April-July.
I mean don’t get me wrong, he was great during those months and I appreciate it… but an every day starting CF shouldn’t be a minor leaguer for 2 months out of the year.
If you look at Pagan objectively, you have a fringe OF who wouldn’t start for most teams yet he’s put on a pedestol because of the uniform he wears
Thanks Jessep!
And He did drop a bit in averag in the second half but according to his splits he was pretty consistant with his hits, RBIs, SBs and Runs throughout the year.
On the otherhand, his walks, OBP and SLG numbers plummited in August and September, so you can make an argument either way regarding his consistantcy throught the year.
One thing I can’t stand with a player in general is sloppy play in the field and on the basepaths. Pagan has been above average in the field but has had a few bad plays. As for the basepaths, Pagan looks to have completely reverted to his 2009 campaign. He needs a day or two off with Mookie and Hudgens in order to regain his 2010 form.
Hey Clayton! When are you going to write a blog about how badly David Wright is. Again. And how he is again letting his team and fans down?
Well he was off to a hot start but has since slowed down obviously. I think What Wright needs is a day off.
There was a chart I read somewhere that showed once he goes in slumps most of the time how he snaps out of them are a day or two off.