23
2013
Byrd and ‘Spin Are In, While Duda and Baxter See Their Stocks Fall
An article by 
Updated 3/23
On Friday, Sandy Alderson told reporters that there are no plans to add anyone to the outfield and that what you see is what you get. ”We’re going to go with the guys we have,” Alderson told Marc Carig of Newsday.
“How exactly they’re used is something that we’ll talk about over the next week or so. What we have is what we’re going to have, and we’re not entirely displeased with that.”
Lucas Duda, Collin Cowgill, Marlon Byrd, Mike Baxter and Jordany Valdespin are all likely to head north after the Mets break camp next week and of the five, only Byrd is assured of an everyday job according to manager Terry Collins.
“Due to his background, we need to find out what he brings to the table, because he’s got a track record of being a pretty good player, a pretty good offensive player,” Collins said.
Byrd is expected to split time playing both center and right field depending on whether Cowgill is in the lineup who will play center when the team faces a lefthanded starter.
As for left field, Collins continues to downplay any suggestion that Duda would be his regular left fielder saying only that it’s a possibility.
The biggest winner in the Mets outfield battle this spring is clearly Byrd, with Valdespin a close second. However, both Duda and Baxter have seen their stocks drop considerably.
Byrd and Spin… Who saw that coming?
Original Post 3/20
Marlon Byrd is a very lucky man. Less than a year ago he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was slapped with a 50-game suspension. To his credit, and unlike most users who get caught, Byrd manned up, admitted his guilt and issued a remorseful statement.
“I made an inexcusable mistake. Several years ago, I had surgery for a condition that was private and unrelated to baseball. Last winter, I suffered a recurrence of that condition and I was provided with a medication that resulted in my positive test.”
“I am mortified by my carelessness and I apologize to everyone who loves this game as I do. I will serve my suspension, continue to work hard and hope that I am given an opportunity to help a club win later this season.”
When the Mets signed Byrd, now 35, it didn’t bother me too much. I did a little research and I saw someone who made a mistake and took his punishment like a man. I can respect that.
It’s amazing how the world has turned for Byrd since joining the Mets. Initially looked upon as as just minor league fodder for Triple-A Las Vegas, he is now on the verge of becoming the Mets everyday right fielder.
A team source told Andy Martino of the Daily News that it is “99.9% certain that Byrd will get the job.” The outfielder is moving his family to New York, according to a source close to Byrd.
It’s more of an indication of just how awful the outfield candidates were to begin with, but lets give some credit to Byrd for busting his ass and having a great spring. His .324 average in 34 at-bats is trumped only by the other spring surprise, Jordany Valdespin and his .341 showing at the plate.
How many of you laughed last month when Terry Collins told Mike Francesa that Byrd was going to be his starting right fielder? I must confess, I did…
There’s a couple of prominent Mets sites that love to get on their soapboxes every February and say that spring training stats don’t matter. Shortsightedness like that is why their sites don’t matter. Here on MMO, we know better, and our readers know better…
Like it or not, Marlon Byrd is going to be the Mets Opening Day right fielder… He earned the job because he outhit and outplayed his competition this spring.
Mike Baxter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who were initially considered locks to make the team, are now looking at the real possibility of roaming center and right field in the hot, Nevada desert when the season starts. Pack plenty of sunscreen, boys…
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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I feel most understand Spring for some players is about impressing enough to hopefully make the team and for others it’s just to get your work in. So for example Ruben Tejada Spring Stats don’t matter. At least not so much that he is in danger of not making the team. While for others like a Brown or Byrd they need to impress to take advantage if someone else doesn’t.
I’m still unsure about Byrd. I still have that suspicion that he’ll suffer from “Butch Huskey Syndrome” if you know what I mean. I still say the Mets need to make a late trade for another piece in the OF like Craig Gentry of the Rangers. Big pickup off the bench against LHP.
Share your concerns. Byrd has been playing all winter. Let’s see what happens when everyone else’s skill level heat up.
In that vein, keep an eye out for Andrew Brown – he could be the team’s best outfielder and is not even in the conversation at present. In the last 2 season, Brown has hit 49 home runs and he plays the corner outfield positions with ease. He has a cannon for an arm, keeps his throws down and on target. Here’s a series of videos you may wish to see:
http://mlb.mlb.com/search/media.jsp?player_id=518500
Last year, he hit a ball OUT of Coors Field. Currently, he’s beginning to rack up ABs, but he’s been given very few opportunities to start, if any. The sooner Met brass appreciate his high ceiling, and the more opportunities he gets, the better his bat will look in the 6th or 7th slot.
Here’s a proposed line-up with Brown & d’Arnaud in it, perhaps a preview of July 1st:
cf – Cowgill/Kirk
2b – Valdespin/Turner
3b – Wright
1b – Davis
c – d’Arnaud
lf – Duda/Brown
rf – Brown/Baxter
ss – Tejada/Quintanilla
Pitcher
Bench: Buck, Baxter, Turner, Quintanilla, Kirk
We should revisit trade of Murphy for Gregerson, who’s pitching stats are outstanding:
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=502381#gameType='R'§ionType=career&statType=2&season=2013&level='ALL‘
Bullpen: Parnell, Gregerson, Lyon, Burke, Hawkins, Feliciano, Carson
Rotation: Harvey, Niese, Wheeler, Marcum, Gee (Hefner, Laffey in ready reserve)
NOTE: Rotations and bullpens are never static. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Edgin, Gorski, Familia or Mejia break through.
I had high hopes for Brown. Really wish he was the one that put up some ST #s instead of Byrd.
still, even though he will start in Vegas, would not shock me at all if a month into the season, Byrd is pulling a GMjr. and getting released, while they call up Brown who is crushing the ball in Vegas.
This is going to be so bad. I still dont know how they think Byrd was an improvement over Hairston and that Cowgill was better than Bourne or BJ Upton. It’s things like this that make me wonder about all the other decisions they’ve made. While Beltran continues to rake, we’re still waiting for Wheeler and again he’s going to the minors. All these pieces we’re counting on are minor leaguers with no MLB creds. Doesn’t that worry anybody?
LA Met fan, It does. It worries me and the true mets fans, however, I am not sure if you have notice how many supporters sandy alderson and his FO have. IT’s actually prohibited to criticize them over anything, and if you do you’re a hater.
They’ve already pegged wheeler as a HOF, d’Arnaud as the next Johnny Bench and every little acquisition he does is thought to be the best move of the offseason… That’s kinda like the way it’s been for the past 3 years around here. Sabermetricians and moneyballers got together to form that never criticize the lord sandy group/
Arent you the guy who always pegged Wheeler to be a bust from the day he was acquired? Boy, were you wayyyy off.
Hitverysoftman, has wheeler pitch in the majors? Has he thrown a single pitch yet? has he won CY awards? Am I missing something here? Get out of here with that weak stuff, with the amount of pressure that’s been put on him to be sandy’s savior we’d be lucky as hell if the kid wins 10 games a year…
BTW, PLATANO POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hitverysoftman? Baiting, aren’t we? Way to change the subject, as usual. From the day he came in, you were on the kid’s jockstrap until he tore apart AA and from there….”I like this kid….” Now you come up with “Has he thrown a single pitch yet? has he won CY awards?” You’re phony act is wearing very thin. Tell you what, when he proves you wrong AGAIN, just don’t say anything for the rest of the season.
Spring training stats actually do not matter, considering the small sample size and uneven opposition.
However, how a player looks in practice, BP ( or bullpen sessions) and of course in games does matter a lot – and in Byrd’s case he has looked surprisingly good, just like Valdespin who should also see plenty of action.
At this point, I assume it’s Byrd in RF, Cowgill and at times Valdespin in CF and Duda in LF with Baxter being the 5th OF and main PH vs. RH late in games and will occasionally spell Byrd in RF.
The Las Vegas OF of Den Dekker – Nieuwenhuis – Brown – Lagares – Hoffman will be on standby and ready to take over for anyone of the major league group that struggles.
An educated guess: Half of these 10 players won’t be in the organization anymore a year from now.
Doobs,
I think the ST stats matter for some and not for others, but I agree it is not only stats due to small sample size. If you are hitting .200 in 35 AB with 5 line-outs or deep flies held in a park by the wind, or if you faced Strasburg throwing 98mph peas for 10 of those ABs, the mgmt is savvy enough to realize that. If you are Marcum with a 7.00 ERA it doesn’t matter, but if you are Hefner or Carson with a 7.00 it matters.
Reuben Tejada better hope they dont matter given his .100 batting average. Anybody catch Jose Reyes last night….pure joy. Now back tothe NY Met ghost town and reality
It would be nice if MLB allowed for easy rotation between minors and majors for AAAA players. I’ve seen this quite often where one guy gets hot and can run for a month or so and then drop off. It would rock if when a guy drops off for a week or two you could rotate them to AAA and call up the next guy. We do not have any real outfielders but by rotating them when they are hot we could have decent production, the thing is they have to stay fresh and need work. Kirk languishing on the bench will not help anyone especially him.
no reason to think any of what byrd said is true.
I’ve got nothing against Byrd and i like it when ‘effort’ and ‘achievement’ is rewarded, but i do not favor this move. We are not contending this year (unfortunately); Byrd is not the guy to put us over the hump or even further along to contending; he’s 35 yrs old.
We are a team pining to contend in 2014. Why not play / start a gaggle of the younger guys–like ‘Spin, MDD, Brown, Baxter and have Byrd for ‘depth’ in AAA? And why has Duda been annointed our starting LF-er?
‘Spin should start.
Because we have to pretend as if we really want to get to .500
Getting to .500 is like winning the WS for Sandy fans
I knew the second they signed him, he’d be starting opening day. Look at this roster…the OF is garbage.
matt, I think he’s a good solid pick up. cheap but with MLB experience. doesn’t hurt to try this guy out there. 2 years ago he was an All Star. who knows if he does regain form again.
Like I said before…hopefully, he is back on PEDs…then he’ll regain that all-star form.
You can only hope for the best with Byrd. His signing could be a low cost, added value addition to the team. It’s exactly those additions that everyone raves about for the Yankees every year. The Yanks seem to find guys at the twilight of their career who provide added value every season. I prefer to look at the addition of Byrd through those lenses rather than simply shoot it down because of the overall condition of our outfield. Everything the guy has said and done in the spring indicates he could be a real plus for the Mets during a transition season. That’s really all we can ask of Byrd, and to date he’s delivered.
and here is the question about direction that may come up again….
If the mets are 5 games under .500, 10 games out of the WC chase…and Byrd is hitting well…
will Sandy keep him in the hopes of hitting .500…or trade him for a prospect
aka Scott Hairston Part Deux
Captain, he’d like another wheeler for him as well if that’s the case SMH. Wanna know what’s even more astonishing? How there are still people out there that somehow, somehow believe in this guy.
BTW….
guess who is having a nice spring
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=494686#gameType='S'§ionType=career&statType=1&season=2013&level='ALL‘
It seems like F-Mart has been around since the stone age and yet he just turned 24? Meanwhile we’ve got quad-A players that are much older and Byrd will be our RFer. I don’t even remember who we got back for F-Mart is he still on the team?
The Martinez thing was weird because they just cut him after protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft. No, they didn’t get anything for him.
I wonder if they were aware of his name being on that list from the “anti-aging clinic”. Not that his name being on some list is proof of anything itself, but maybe they asked questions and got answers they didn’t like.
wasnt Cesar Puello on the same list ?
I doubt it had anything to do with that
It isn’t that ST performance and stats don’t matter for hitters; they matter in helping men fighting for a chance to make a team make that team.
Unfortunately, however wonderful a man’s ST ABs were, they have absolutely no bearing on how he will perform for the ACTUAL season. This is the reason why it makes absolutely no sense getting one’s hopes up for any particular player because he’s tearing it up in ST. But ST provides one great benefit: it gives all of us the chance to hope and be positive, even when we know the odds say otherwise.
There are plenty of interviews where the FO talks about this. They look at everything (ST, track record, winter ball, last season in the minors) and take it all into account.
IMO, ST #s mean little for an established guy, but if you have a couple of hanger-ons fighting for a job, it certainly can be the difference (reverse say the #s for Byrd and brown and you have a different guy making the team).
But that’s my entire point: the ST #s may help the strugglers make the team; those same #s won’t tell you bull dinky about how said player will perform three-four months down the road, even in April b/c conditions are so, so different.
Think about it: the journeyman who hits .440 in ST. Who are the pitchers he’s faced? And even the studs…are they throwing the stuff in March that they will be throwing in May or August?
We don’t know how up front Byrd is with his admittance – we’ve heard that story before. That throws a question mark into his earlier accomplishments. As it is, a starting rightfielder who will be 36 in August and coming off a suspended season in which he hit just .210 doesn’t say much for the depth on this ball club.
Sandy isn’t punting 2013 – it almost seems as if he is forfieting it.
one thing I would bet with the current roster mix in the OF is that starting OD does not mean you will be starting come 6/1. Or even on the roster.
so Byrd will get a shot to prove he has something left in the tank in the regular season. if he doesn’t, he won’t be around long.
Well, that’s the case with pretty much every PO’s sandy brought in this past offseason no?
To think I got sent to the drunk tank when I said Brandon hick suck, the man will be put on waivers in favor of get this, Omar Quintanilla….
Byrd doesnt seem like a PED guy and his explanation makes a lot more sense than the others out there. He admitted embarassingly what his condition was and his guilt for his error. His numbers last year dont even whisper PED.
Byrd has the reputation of a very hard worker. Lets give him first shot to hold RF and if he breaks down or flops cut bait.
My first thought too when I saw the suspension was last year. His numbers in ’12 certainly didn’t indicate any help from PEDs.
I guess these players need to check with MLB on anything they put into their bodies.
I’m still a little curious how someone like Byrd tests positive, but others that have consistently been linked to steroids and/or PEDS (*cough ARod cough*) somehow never fail a drug test.
I’m not averse to forgiving someone who tested positive for PEDs and giving him a second chance. As some above have said, let him prove he can still hit once the regular season starts. if he shows that it was a ST fluke, then you just hope the front office will shunt him aside for one of the younger players. I think they will do that and are not wedded to Byrd for the entire season.
I don’t like Bryd as our Right Fielder
Who were are last several right fielders?
Ryan Church
Jeff Francour
Carlos Beltran
Lucus Duda
and now…………
Marlon Bryd
Lets just work through this now or a second….
Ryan Church had the head injury and never developed….ok I can see getting rid of him
Jeff Francour- production did not match salary?? Attitude? ok. questionable trade to Texas but
Carlos Beltran- !!!! This is This bothers me! Why NOT take the option for 1 year in rf?? Why? Because the Wilpon’s DO NOT want another productive player..
so…. we get Lucas Duda under the guise of “Oh WOW! new exciting young talent all sorts of power potential!!” *see Daniel Murphy, Josh Thole, Fernado Martinez??
and now that it is obvious Duda is not a major league starting player bring on……
Marlon Bryd
I’ll say it once again… When the Wilpon’s have rehabilitated their finances we will get a competitive team. I began saying that 3 years ago… we have 3-4 more years to go…
Does taking projects like Brandon Nimmo on the draft rather than more talented, developed talent make more sense now?
Brandon Nimmo is not going to be a 6 yr player BEFORE the Wilpon’s have rehabilitated their fiancees Matt Harvey might. Wheeler might if he comes up this year…..
Put all the pieces together and the Wilpon’s seem to make more sense.
If the Mets can’t land Stanton, I wonder if the Mets would seriously consider bringing Beltran back. Seems to be a perfect fit for 2014…
If Beltran doesnt win a ring this year for St. Louis, I can see him going back to the AL and finishing his career there..
he can probably extend his career another 8 years if he just stayed on as a DH…
if he did that, he has an outside shot at 3,000
meaning he’ll probably do it in the Bronx and forever be remembered as a Yankee
the thing is with ST, while the stats don’t really count, some count less than others.
what that means is that you can split ST into 2 halves, so roughly Feb and march. In the first half, it is really about getting rust off, timing back, stretching out, etc. And that is where odds are guys that played all winter will shine.
once you hit into March, guys are more dialed in, you are seeing more ML guys, and they are starting to get ready for the season (trying harder). You often see the SPs starting to look normal here, and pitch much deeper.
so IMO you should look at what a guy is doing now to help weed out the mirages. And when you do that, Duda has actually been very productive in March so far (a 1.000+ OPS, decent enough D (for him) and a couple of HRs. Spin also is cranking along, not slowing down.
Byrd, however (and cowgill too I believe) has been tailing off for the most part.
so a big part of the decision now comes down to who looks dialed in and “hot”.
bottom line though with this group, odds are they all get decent PT out of the gate, and the ones that show anything will keep getting it. And Byrd looking like Byrd would not surprise me at all.
Byrd has an 11 season major league track record with a .278 career batting average. That BA alone is a high level mark as compared to Met offensive standards. Byrd’s past major league performance plus his winter ball and spring training performance warrant a look. That’s only common sense. And, maybe Duda is making progress. The last few weeks has seen Lucas really hitting the ball. Remember he struck out 6 of his first 7 at bats this spring and only 8 of his next 49. He’s ties with Spin going long. I sure wouldn’t write him off yet. Novel idea: Maybe he and Spin should play at the same time.