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2012
Scott Hairston: Wants Expanded Role, Will Cost Mets Much More
An article by 72MetsFan
Anthony DiComo of Mets.com, posted about Scott Hairston before the weekend who told him that where he signs after this season will be dependent upon getting more playing time.
Scott Hairston started his 10th consecutive game in the outfield Sunday, a notable feat. Signed last winter to serve as a right-handed bench bat and platoon outfielder, Hairston has played nearly every day down the stretch and will finish with close to 400 plate appearances, his highest total since 2009.
He is also enjoying the most productive season of his nine-year career, swatting a personal-best 19 home runs while slugging over .500. All of which leads Hairston to believe that when he becomes a free agent again this winter, he will be able to market himself as an everyday player.
“Wherever I wind up next year, I just want to have an expanded role,” Hairston said. “I’ve been able to get around 360 at-bats this year, and I would hope to get at least that many next year, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
I can’t fault Hairston for wanting an expanded role based on what he’s done overall, but a look at his splits shows that he’s clearly done most of his damage against left-handed pitching against whom he’s enjoyed a .885 OPS – over 150 points higher than his .716 OPS against right-handed pitching.
Adding even more fuel to the debate about whether the Mets should bring Hairston back is the issue of money – always a major consideration with the Mets these days. Hairston was signed to a $1.1 million contract for the 2012 season. The 32-year old provided a lot of thump for the Mets in his limited role, racking up 25 doubles and 19 homers while driving in 54 runs in 386 plate appearances. That’s a lot of bang for the buck, but he could easily fetch a $4-5 million dollar per year deal for a team that’s craving right-handed power this offseason.
Hairston’s likely loss will be a big blow to the Mets who are already among the worst in the majors in the power department. Losing their third leading home run hitter is just another thing they will have to try and replace this offseason. If you add David Wright or Ike Davis to those not coming back, it may be 4-5 years to get back on the grid in terms of offensive output.
About the Author: Drew Staley
On June 1, 2012 Johan Santana officially became my favorite current Met! I'm a Queens native who grew up in the shadows of Big Shea. I was a huge Ron Darling, Dave Magadan and John Olerud fan. Honored to be a part of such a great site for Mets fans. Ya Gotta Believe!
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If another team is dumb enough to offer Hairston a full time starting job, then we need to just wish him the best of luck and be on our way. I like the guy, but he’s proven that he’s a platoon player. A good platoon player, but a platoon player all the way. Frankly, ideally he’d get even less playing time next year, since I really don’t want to see him ever playing against righties, which he’s done a lot this year.
We are gonna have no righty power next season and we were already lacking.
He is a solid hitter but is below average as a fielder. At 32 he is not a key to a winning Mets team. I wish him well. Why was it that Sandy did not trade him in July?
Hi Jersey,
Sandy did not want to trade Hairston this summer because he wanted the team to still be “competitive” after falling out of the race and would not settle for anything less than a top minor league prospect in return.
The complete opposite of last year when Sandy wanted to trade Beltran when we were still in the wildcard race – which is much more than just being “competitive” – and said he would have even settled for monetary consideration in return.
I like that Sandy has sought out cheap veterans. Most do not work out. I wish that he would capitalize on those that do. Even if he just sold them off, as he did with Quintenilla. Hairston will most likly walk as did Cappy last year.
Hi Jersey,
Didn’t think much of Cappy last year except that it was indeed a feel good story about one coming back from such injury, however, his record reflected more or less cheap wins (except for two gems) with a high ERA and the seventh best run support in the league for starting pitchers.
Best Sandy didn’t re-sign him for it would have only set up the Met’s GM for even more ridicule about his role causing the second half swoon. By that I mean, Chris ERA:
As of 6/23/12 (approximately first half): 2.60
As of 9/27/12 (all since that point and in second half): 3.69
Second half ERA approximately 4.78
Capuano is also pitching half his games in a pitcher’s ballpark. His ERA+ is only 104, making him a tad over average.
Cappy had a good year. Yes his second half did dip but was still acceptible. No doubt the Dodgers are happy with him. 5 million for a free agent starter is quite acceptible. We paid similar money to Pelf this year. Last year Sandy locked up Byrdak durring the season. He turned down an offer for Cappy from Boston in September. We got nothing and Cappy walked.
Hi Jersey,
Regardless of my opinion, it was Sandy last year who said when he released Cappy that he was very happy with his performance but that Chris did not fit in their plans for the future.
But what does that say about a general manager who releases his one and only good acquistion (out of how many) last season?
To me it says Cappy wanted a multi year deal and SA wasn’t giving one to him.
SP turned out to be the least of our problems this season – even considering all the injuries by season’s end to the starting 5 on Opening day.
The only real bad decision IMO was starting Batista – should have just rolled with Harvey sooner rather than later.
I believe the reason no FA SP was getting a multi year deal coming into 2012 was because SP depth was the one area coming into 2013 they probably figured would not be a problem. So a 2 year deal with Cappy probably did not fit into their plans.
The only deviation from that was the 5 year extension for Niese. Probably because he does figure to be a part of their long term plan.
Hi SRT,
You’re right with that. We all knew Cappy was looking for a multi year deal and that we had starting pitchng returning in the form of Santana/Dickey/Gee/Niese/and Pelfrey with Harvey on the horizon. And even though I disagreed with Sandy’s assessment of Cappy’s performance in 2011, I thought he made the right move releasing him nevertheless.
This, of course, is just an after-thought – and very novice one at that – but if he had it to do over again, wonder if Sandy would have re-signed Capuano for that $9 million two year deal and used the other $3 million he saved from the Francisco signing to apply to somebody else?
Good question.
Also…could have taken a chance and signed Cappy to a 2 year deal – then if he no longer needed him b/c the depth continued to be good, could have traded him. Of course, that meant crossing his fingers Cappy would stay healthy and put up good numbers, along with having to pony up the money for at least the 2011 contract to begin with.
Sorry…..2012 season, not 2011.
Thanks SRT,
I figured the question I posed would have gotten a chuckle more than anything else considering how the rotation looked going into 2012. I too thought he could have been used as trade bait or even, if necessary, having him or another starter go to the bullpen for middle relief since we did know that was a problem.
But by re-signing Cappuano he would have had some money left over for another, less expesnive relieve on the free agent market even if for one year – and there were about 45 who signed for less that Francisco did.and many have worked out much better for their new clubs.
Hey Jersey, My exact thoughts!!!
4 mill or so as a set platoon guy does not seem unreasonable. But he really does not handle RHP well enough to be a FT guy. And he is not spring chicken or defensive marvel to make up for it.
so, his primary attribute is he rakes lefties for power, and that is certainly valuable.
does he think some team is going to give him a 3/30 contract to be an everyday OF? Hard to imagine, but you never know what a GM is going to do.
Still, there are always RH hitting COF veteran bats that can hit LHP available, so Hairston is not unique, and if he gets paid like a FT starter, there should be someone available to replace him for the same few million that he would get as a platoon guy.
What does Torres get paid—over $2.5 million? I can see paying Hairston $6 million for two years, but that’s it.
Hairston was a fluke this season and now he wants to cash in. Let him, but not on our team.
Hairston made this season a little less worse than it could have been. He has some nice highlights and clutch hits, and he will be missed.
Let him go! And send Torres with him as well! With the upcoming FA outfielder class I’d take Swisher over them any day If only we could afford him…..
No freaking way he gets an expanded role. Scott, you had a nice year, but you’re a bench player and a starter ONLY if the two other outfielders are STARS. It’s ain’t happening, bro.