3
2011
Thumbs Up Or Thumbs Down: Angel Pagan
An article by 
Who is Angel Pagan?
Is he the guy who was injury plagued over his first few seasons? Is he the guy who won over the hearts of Mets fans from mid-2009 to the end of 2010 with all around great defense, speed, and clutch hitting. Or is he the guy we saw this season with his base running blunders, poor offensive showing and misplayed balls in Center? These are some of the questions Mets ownership will have to answer this off season.
2011 was a very weird season for Angel.
We saw the return of his inept play on the base baths that had us wondering two years ago if he could ever get it together. At times you saw the flashes that made us think he was the Center Fielder of the future as he would make great running catches in center. At other times he misplayed balls that flew over his head as he made a lackluster attempt to jump for it as it rolled to the wall. His bat started out slowly and never really came around consistently. His season was a mixture of fire and ice both offensively and defensively. When he struggled his whole game was off, but when he was on he looked like the guy we saw the last two seasons.
Who’s Breathing Down His Neck?
The sad part is that there really is nobody in house to take his place. The player who is closest to Major League ready is Kirk Nieuwenhuis, but he missed most of this past season due to injury. A player such as Cesar Puello who is regarded as one of out top overall prospects in the system finished 2011 playing for Single-A St. Lucie. His talent and skill set project as somone who could be on the fast track to the bigs, but at just 20 years of age, he is at best 2 years away from being the possible successor.
Angel’s Contract Situation
Pagan is a year away from Free Agency. Going into this off season he is scheduled to enter his final year of arbitration. This season he made 3.5 Million and that is bound to go up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-6 Million.
Potential Outside Replacements
Looking outside the organization at the crop of free agents does not get you very excited. Aside from the potential of the injury plagued Grady Sizemore, who has a club option of 8.5M, Angel Pagan has more potential and a better skill set then what’s left. I’m not sure about you but Coco Crisp, Rick Ankiel and Nate McLouth don’t get me very excited.
My Thoughts
If Pagan earns somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-6 Million that’s a bargain for what he gives you. The big question that the Mets need to answer is, what his future is with this team? If they plan on keeping him around past next season, then they may want to negotiate an extension now and buy out his final year of arbitration. If they don’t see a future past next season, do they explore a trade since he will be a Free Agent at the end of the season? Do they just non-tender him all together? There is always the potential that Alderson is able to bring someone back in a trade.
So Keeping Angel, THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN?
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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Thumbs down. He is, at best, average. We need a power bat.
The biggest need in CF at Citi is for someone who can play defense. We know Pagan can and we have also seen him hit well for an extended period of time and overall he is a very good baserunner.
I’m not really sure what to make of him. His illness and injury to his throwing arm hampered him at least somewhat but his head is really troubling. I don’t see much available outside and Kirk could be ready in July if Pagan has a poor first half or if he has a good one and gets traded mid season. If he were to duplicate his 2010 next year he’ll be a plan B free agent which would leave behind a supplementary round draft choice which isn’t too far out of the realm of possibilities. He’ll also be the only guy you can count on being able to get two bases on a single if Reyes were to leave and that’s important in Citi Field.
He doesn’t strike out a lot and he does hit line drives. He’s much better against RH pitching. I’d love to see him matched with a RH hitting part time CFer. His arb number should be about 4.5 M off this last year and with no commitment beyond 2012, could always just be cut if need be where as a guy like Ankiel for instance is going to want 2 or 3 years if he can get it. To me it’s just not worth it.
so what’s the answer? this is a thumbs up thumbs down question.. stop drooling over a guy who sucks even more than pagan… have you seen rick ankiel number’s? he’s a career 246 hitter, and last 2 years he’s hitting 232 with 11 HR in 500 at bats!! stop it.. we need players that help us win, not save money!!! WTF is this !!!
Well you didn’t answer the question, just made up more lies. NO ONE is drooling, more made up crap because you can’t read.
How about Peter Bourjos from Angels.
thumbs down. he’s a 4th OF at best imo, as others i don’t care about the money situation, is just the fact he’s soo inconsitant is not even funny, he was supposed to be our CF for a few years, i thought he was past his issues with the baserunning blunders he was making, but he just got worst, to the point he’s consider a dumb baseball player if there is such a thing. imo he should’ve been traded this past offseason for anything of value since his value was up, either way, some ppl here are talking about ankiel, well, he SUCKS worst than pagan, and all he has is a strong power and occasional power, but, didn’t we already had a guy like that in RF a few years back in francour? how did that work out? anyways, THUMBS DOWN FOR PAGAN. what’s next the GM?? i have my thumbs midway down already…
Thumbs down. I love Angel as a 4th outfielder, but nothing more than that. Also for all the big fuss that was made about him needing to play centerfield everyday, I think he wasn’t even half the player that Beltran was on defense, even now. Most of Pagan’s diving catches Beltran would gracefully get to without all the theatrics. Thumbs down.
I’m going to say Thumbs Up, but not because I think highly of Pagan or believe he will get better but mostly because there aren’t any better options out there.
Pagan’s problems are all FOCUS related. And that applies to Bat and glove!
A quick look at his splits relveals something about his bat.
April was horrible for him but it was horrible for everyone, considering the new Hitting coach needed some time to get into their heads and swing mechanics lets just throw out that first month for now.
He missed a good part of May due to injury and in what few Abs he had (21) he hit .429
June he hit .300 then Reyes got hurt before the ASG and Pagan was made leadoff hitter.
He stayed there till mid-late July where he hit .194.
August he went back up to .318 followed by his career average .269 in September
Thats not bad when you come right down to it just not great.
I have said before I would not be too upset if Pridie was given his chance to show he can be the CF. He has shown better bat when given regular playing time and he might improve on Pagan a bit. Is he a long term solution there? Hardly but he’s not a liability either! He plays the field as good as anyone we have right now and if we truly believe Capt Kirk is the future and needs another year to be promoted then it makes sense to either offer arb to Pagan, or play Pridie there for the time being until Kirk is ready to take over.
If trades are the play here then trading for a CF is probably not worth doing considering Kirk’s near promotable status.
So trade for something else and just bring Kirk up early!
thumbs up but not enthousiastically. I also am on record saying that he is a great 4th OF. So, if they can find someone else to start, but keep him as a back up, then I am all for it.
But, unless they can swing a trade, I just don’t see anyone on the farm ready by opening day, and the FA pool is pretty damned mungy this year. So, still thumbs up as a starter, since it is just for 1 year.
Hopefully by mid season an heir apparent is stepping up to take over the job. if not, might have to be on the off season shopping list.
Well Any I have to ask…ready for what?
What do they need to be ready for? A Playoff run? Is having Pagan or Pridie there going to hurt the team’s chances at competing?
Or are you suggesting the Kirk merely isn’t ready to face MLB pitching?
ready to come up to the majors and play everyday, hopefully for good.
Kirk has to prove he is healthy first. And other guys in the system (den dekker, lagares) have to prove they can move up a level and thrive there.
No, I am not saying they need to be ready to step in to win ROY and lead the team to the WS, but I also don’t want to throw a guy out there that is not ready to try and learn on the job. No need to rush someone. Like you said, if Pridie plays for a couple months, not a big deal most likely.
Fair enough…
Just don’t see why he needs to show he is healthy in the Minors and could not do the same here early in the season. At least get a sense and give him a taste of MLb pitching to see what he does.
Pagan had one good year and many (not necessarily the readers on MMO, but on many different sites) were ready to crown him king and get rid of Beltran. He obviously is not the answer in center.
I do not know today what the answer is, but I’m not confident Pagan is it.
Thumbs down. 5 million is too much. Play a platoon of Pridie and F Mart. Togeather they cost less than 1 million. We were winning with Pridie in center this year. As for F Mart, he deserves a make or break (no pun intended) chance.
couple of problems. Both hit lefty, and F Mart seems to officially been moved out of CF for good due to his knee issues.
Now, if they can find someone to be a speedy glove guy for CF, play Duda in left and platoon bay/F mart in RF.
solves a couple of problems:
- Duda is in the spot best suited for his defense
- bay only hits against LHP, since he actually can still hit lefties (and it prevents his option from vesting for 2014)
- F Mart needs to play or get cut, and this could be a good way to keep him on the field and maximize what you get from him (not facing lefties).
I’m going to say thumbs up because it’s not our most pressing need at the moment. While I was surprised he took a step backward mentally this year I’m not gonna kill him for not hitting as good as he has in the past. Since he’s returned to the Mets this was his worst offensive season and I’m not going to hold it against him too much because ballplayers are always up and down and fans more than ever seem to want to make decisions solely based on the latest production.
He’s a nice supplemental player so I can live with him depending on what type of team is built around him. So he’s on the back burner for now unless included in a deal. We didn’t have big names in the OF when we won in 99 and 00.
And this nonsense of wanting to make a moves based SOLELY on saving money and has completely gone off the charts. Win first, money later- relatively speaking.
it’s called reality. Like it or not, they have a salary cap imposed by the owners. So you have to keep it into account when playing arm chair GM.
Sucks being on a budget, but they are. So the 5 to Pagan has to come from somewhere.
I still like the idea of getting a young hot shot for the future for CF via a trade, and keeping pagan for a 4th OF. With bay and Duda manning the corners, they should have plenty of use for him.
I understand the budget is not big but some people want to make moves just to save money without regard to winning, period. Like the poster above me who suggested to go with a platoon of Pridie/F-Mart. That’s suicide. I’m not crazy about Pridie although i was at first until I found out he was older than I thought and we don’t know where F-Mart is. He may be injuring himself as we speak.
When I say winning first i always include relatively speaking because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea that i want to spend without taking the budget into consideration BUT it’s called a budget for a reason, If it takes all of that budget to make the proper moves that I FEEL will give this team the best chance of winning than I’m going to do what i have to do. That’s why it’s called a budget and if you can do the same thing without spending all of it GREAT, but if you have to use all of that budget you do that too if necessary. Winning is the only reason you get into this business.