19
2013
If The Mets Season Started Today…
An article by 
Here I am—counting down the days until the regular season begins. Then I thought about the Mets starting lineup and cringed. I’m not a big believer in looking forward to the future because I’m not Nostradamus. I’ve watched too many seasons where the Mets looked good and then had a Fukushima-like meltdown.
I don’t know what the Mets have in Noah Syndergaard, I don’t know if Johan Santana will ever be a fraction of what he was and I don’t even know if Travis d’Arnaud will ever play a game in a Mets uniform. I hope the answers to those questions are all positive, but I just look at things for what they are. If the season started today, The Mets lineup would look something like this:
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Ike Davis – 1B
- Lucas Duda – RF
- John Buck – C
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis – CF
- Jordany Valdespin – LF
- Matt Harvey – P
Rough.
No real leadoff hitter, power guys engulfed in ambiguity and a catcher that rivals Josh Thole in futility. There are glimmering beacons of hope in this lineup though. If you squint hard enough, you can see them.
But instead of writing about what the Mets could do, what the Mets should do or what the Mets have the potential to be, I’m going to write about what they are now.
Ruben Tejada:
Tejada is not a leadoff hitter. It frustrates me to no end, but he just doesn’t have the tools to be one. He hits the ball well enough, but he doesn’t get on base enough for a leadoff hitter. His lack of speed at the shortstop position baffles me. Granted, he’s not as unconventional as Jhonny Peralta, but he has to gain a step or two if the Mets want him to properly fill the No. 1 spot. I don’t think the Mets plan on him doing so though.
Daniel Murphy:
I hear people complain about Murphy’s power numbers a lot. I don’t know why though. He’s not a power hitter. He probably never will be. He’s a slap-hitter who takes the ball to left field almost as good as any other left-handed hitter. He plays a mediocre second baseman, but he’s one of the best players the Mets have—No. 2 or 3 in my opinion. That’s not good news though. Murph is a utility player. He should be a guy who anchors the bottom of a lineup.
David Wright:
Oh captain, my captain. I think Wright’s problem last year was that he tried to carry the team during its second-half tailspin. I guess he thought he needed to hit 50 home runs and upper cut every pitch to do so. In most cases, I believe contracts affect the way players play. I believe they try to elevate their play during contract years and I believe they become lackadaisical after they sign big contracts. With that being said, I don’t think Wright is one of those players. I really, really hope I’m right. I think Wright will pick up where he left off at last year’s All-Star break. I wouldn’t be surprised if he won a batting title this season. He’ll continue to be a stellar defensive stopper at third base and lead the Mets in almost every category—except one…
Ike Davis:
Davis is going to mash 40 this year. I can feel it in my bones. I can’t rationally sit here and think that Davis is going to be as bad against lefties and off-speed pitches as he was last season. Something’s got to give. Unfortunately, Davis is a real Jekyll and Hyde player so he’s going to have to be more consistent if he’s going to get there. He either tears the cover off the ball or looks like Charles Barkley swinging a golf club.
Lucas Duda:
This might be a defining season for Duda. At 26 years old, he’s shown flashes of what he’s capable of. He’s a streaky hitter though and doesn’t have the wheels to play decent defense in the outfield. He gets a spot in this lineup by default because the Mets don’t really have anyone else. At this point, Duda is more of a platoon outfielder that would be best suited to pinch hit off the bench. I hope he changes my mind this year.
John Buck:
Mets fans had plenty of opportunities to see Buck on the Marlins last year. He’ll play until the Mets can get Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate. Buck batted below the Mendoza line last year and the Mets can expect more of the same this year. It’s hard to imagine, but he played just about as bad as Thole did last season.
Buck: BA – .192 / HR – 12 / RBIs – 41 / OBP – .297 / SB – 48 / CS – 18 / DWAR – 0.9
Thole: BA – .234 / HR – 1 / RBIs – 21 / OBP – .294 / SB – 57 / CS – 17 / DWAR – 1.1
Kirk Nieuwenhuis:
I thought Nieuwenhuis had a decent first half in his rookie season (BA – .268 / HR – 7 / RBIs – 25). Then Terry Collins sent him to Buffalo in July after Mike Baxter came back from the DL and a 9-for-73 slump. I think his problem was that he hit the rookie wall and pitchers figured out he couldn’t hit anything besides a fastball. Nieuwenhuis strikes out way too much and has to improve his pitch recognition. He’s a decent center fielder who seems to be getting better. He has a fluent stride and takes good routes to ball. Sometimes I can’t tell though if I’m saying these things because Andres Torres playing center field made him look much more appealing.
Jordany Valdespin:
Between his pinch-hit home runs and questionable hat choices, Valdespin sure has a flare for the dramatics. Many of you are not going to like what I have to say about ‘Spin, but I like the guy. I think he has a lot of character and is a poor-man’s Manny Ramirez (ensue trolling). With regular playing time, I think ‘Spin can be a 20/20 guy. It looks like he’ll get the opportunity to if the Mets continue on their current offseason track.
Matt Harvey:
I included Harvey here because I think he should start Opening Day. The goal for the Mets is to get Johan to play the first half of this season like he did the first half of last season so they can get some trade value on him. If the Mets want to do that, they’ll need to be careful with him. They don’t need him getting all juiced up for Opening Day trying to throw 90 MPH fastballs all game. Harvey is fully capable of being the Mets ace this year. It just depends on how he can hold up for an entire season. I considered putting Harvey at least above Buck in the lineup due to hitting ability, but I thought that might be a little disrespectful.
What would your lineup look like if the season started today? Give me your thoughts.
About the Author: Daniel Nelson
Dan Nelson is a junior at San Francisco State University majoring in Journalism and minoring in Economics. He was born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey where he grew up watching the Mets. Dan was also the recipient of the 2013/2014 Otto J. Bos Memorial Scholarship, the largest scholarship the SF State journalism department has to offer. You can follow him on Twitter @pacific_theme
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More likely to see Cowgill and not Valdespin
Unless the Mets face a lefty on Opening Day, it will be Valdespin.
This is EXACTLY why I am in no hurry for the season. I don’t care at all. This team is garbage.
Duda will be the LFer while RF remains very much in the air, for now probably Baxter or Valdespin vs R and maybe Brown vs L.
And based on the ” unwritten” rules of Baseball the opening day SP will either be Johan Santana or Jon Niese.
Still expect some action before spring training – nothing, of course, that will change the 2013 outlook substabtially, save for a massive breakout by young players.
Say, trade for Coco Crisp or re-sign Hairston, sign Chris Young for the 3rd time and add a veteran reliever with closing experience – be it Wilson, Valverde, KRod or Rauch again.
Still, 2013 will be all about development. If the team wins more games than expected, great. Still, getting everything lined up for 2014 / 2015 seems to be the plan.
You have uda in RF, pretty sure it’s been established he’ll be playing mostly LF. No way Harvey starts Opening Day but it would be nice to see.
I’ll just sum it up with this…
marketing a product is easy…when the product markets itself.
marketing a product is hard…when the product sucks.
if the mets put as much effort into the product as they did into the marketing, we would be in a much better position.
This is New York
A very simple town.
You win, we come
You don’t, we won’t
It doesn’t matter who the name on the back of the jersey is, what country he came from, how well he relates to fans in Spanish Harlem or Farmingdale, how much he smiles for the camera, what team he rooted for when he was 12.
I can write a book called
How to make money in NY running a sports franchise
and it would only need 8 words
You win, we come
You don’t, we won’t
its really that simple.
a poor man’s manny ramirez?
lmao
thats like saying kirk is a poor man’s mickey mantle
manny and jordany have nothing in common ( aside from place of birth )
I wish jordany was a poor man’s manny
Ok, Duda plays Left Field not right, Valdespin might be in the minors to start the season although I think he should be in competition to actually start in right field, point is he is not scheduled to be the right fielder. I kind of stopped after that because if your making those mistakes than whats the the point of even going on.
I agree that no one can predict the future or what will happen with prospects, but there are actual people called scouts that get paid to do that. Also if your thinking in the terms of not knowing what can happen with players and what not, you should feel some comfort that it is a solid fact the season does not start today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Think it’s likely to be Johan on the mound come opening day.
Yeah, we’ve basically got no OF and no lead off hitter. No arguments from me on that. Still, I can’t wait until the season begins.
If Santana starts, I would put Harvey next with Niese and Gee following. In the outfield… I want more Cowgill.
I think Baxter opens in right. Depending on the pitcher it’s either Kirk or Cowgill in center. While the whole #1 starter thing becomes immaterial once you start through the rotation (they’re all just getting XX number of starts….the breakup of righty/leftie and different styles/looks is far more important than the ranking) — still….Santana has to get that nod. When Pelfrey took the opening day start he put too much pressure on himself and folded. Harvey’s not Pelfrey….but he also shouldn’t bear the burden of carrying the role of de facto “ace” at this point.
Yep the team will suck but HEY the Wilpons can afford it so Sandy must have done a GREAT JOB you know….
This is what rooting and building based on Money not Baseball gets you!
LETS GO WILPONS!
The mets will open the season at home vs. the padres
it will probably be Santana vs Edinson Volquez
Omar ( who still lives in NJ ) will probably be in attendance
I would love to be a fly in the wall for that moment Omar bumps into Sandy lol
Omar: Hey Sandy, how are you loving NY so far?
Sandy: It sucks, now I see why you hated Adam Rubin so much. Is everything you say and do under a friggin microscope ?
Omar: Pretty much. You have to master the art of getting their hopes up w/o looking like a liar. I did that and all they did was focus on my grammar. Youknowhatimsayin
Sandy: Fawk this crap. I cant wait to go back to Park Ave. I can be obnoxious and snooty w/o the backlash. When are we going to Santo Domingo again? I said I’ll teach you how to negotiate with free-agents if you teach me how to speak Spanish without sounding like the a-hole I do in English.
Omar: Let’s go get some empanada’s after the game.
Sandy: Vamanos pal monte
Omar: What?
Sandy: Jordany Valdespin is teaching me Spanish
Omar: That’s the title of a famous salsa song…
Sandy: What does it mean
Omar: Let’s go to the mountain…
Sandy: Oh, I was close, not bad for a gringo
Omar: Just make sure when you go to DR, never leave the resort…ever…
Lol. Nice job.
From what I’ve heard, Sandy and Omar actually get a long quite well.
And one thing Alderson & DePodesta stated right from the get go was that the farm system left behind by Omar wasn’t nearly as bad as Rubin and other members of the media claimed it was.
It would have been nice to retain Omar in a more scouting oriented role – however it would have been awkward stepping back from the first to the third row, so I understand Omar’s decision to hook on elsewhere.
I disagree on Daniel Murphy. Watching him on Mets Hot stove this week he is working on his footing to hit more HRs & says his legs are now strong after the two injuries. I think you will see 18-20 HRs this year. he is more relaxed because he has a year at 2nd base & knows he has the position this year. He is tweeking his defense with Teufel & will play a good 2nd base.
I share what I think was Murphy’s power problem…..
Second consecutive Knee Surgery in two years….
Power Hitting comes and starts in your legs….
He was just coming off surgery and could not get the leg drive needed….
Now that he has a year of building up those legs and muscles around the knees he will find his power again and maybe for the first time break the 15 HR mark because BOTH knees will have a year of work to strengthen them.
He hit 15 after the first surgery mostly because it wasn’t as dominant as the other in producing power….
Then the second one went that WAS dominant….
I might even go out on a limb and say Murphy could hit 20 this year if he stays healthy and doesn’t have some other injury issue…
I think it would be a bold move for Collins to announce Harvey as the opening day starter. Why not it would not hurt in the least. Harvey, Niese, Gee, Santana, & the 5th starter (Wheeler maybe). If not Wheeler, then Jurjens, Marcum, or McHugh? The rest of the team seems set, maybe a couple of bullpen arms, but barring a miracle (Stanton/Upton) it is what it is. They will play above their heads till the All Star break, suck us in, Alderson will say his usual b.s. and do nothing to keep momentum, and the team will flounder again in the second half.
“Why not it would not hurt in the least…”
Well it could hurt Harvey…Too much pressure to put on a kid when there is enough on him already….
Besides Niese really deserves it since Dickey got traded.
In the end It will be Johan because it’s not important enough of a thing to take a chance on slighting your highest paid Pitcher and make a story about it.
My prediction Johan will be your opening day Pitcher unless we start on the road and then they may wait and have him pitch opening day at Citi….
We know this is a transition season, if people don’t see that they’re blind. I see what your saying about it most likely being Santana, if not Niese. This season is a wash and I would like to see what the young guys can do. No pressure, the Mets are not competing for a play-off spot, nor are they picked to finish above .500, don’t just run these guys out there, put them in a position to succeed, but I think we could be looking at the makings of a great rotation by 2015. Niese, Harvey, Wheeler, perhaps two of Fulmer, Tapia, Montero, the pitcher from Toronto?
33 year old pitchers who make 31 million a year and have pitched 5 innings of September baseball since 2008 are not getting traded.