The final of the outfielders will be reviewed tonight. We’re short one staff member, but he’ll be back to review on Tuesday. Carlos Beltran, Lastings Milledge, Marlon Anderson and Shawn Green will all be reviewed in this blog. Here we go!
Center Field (Carlos Beltran)
Ryan P. – Carlos Beltran played a great 2007. He hit for power and average, much like his season in 2006. He had more at-bats this year and played a phenomenal defense. There wasn’t that one streak where Carlos was struggling. If someone else on the team was, however, he would try and pick up the team. His numbers are there, he just needs to raise his average up a bit. If he does, he’ll be a legit candidate at MVP, that’s if, David Wright doesn’t get it.
Grade: A
Joe D. – Despite the sore knees and other assorted injuries, Carlos Beltran delivered another solid season for the New York Mets, belting 33 homeruns and driving in 112 runs. It was the second consecutive time that Beltran topped the century mark in RBI’s, and the second straight season he has eclipsed the 30 HR mark. He also caused some havoc on the basepaths and swiped 23 bases including third base 5 times. Besides his potent bat, Beltran played stellar defense and led all centerfielders in range factor with a 2.87 unseating the 5 year reigning champ Andruw Jones. He was recently selected as the Best Centerfield Arm by Baseball America. He is also one of the few free agents in Mets history to have the best seasons of his career while playing for the Mets.
Grade: A
Brian M. – Carlos Beltran produced across all aspects of the game in 2007. He provided power (33HR), speed (23SB), average (.273), OBP (.353), and of course gold glove defense with only 5 errors. Beltran did struggle at times on offense as he is a streaky player. However, defense and speed do not slump and he contributed game after game in center field making highlight reel catches and turning adventurous hits into routine outs. Overall, par for the course in 2007. Lastings Milledge improved in his second year with the Mets finishing .272/.341/.446. Yet as a center fielder, Milledge hit .340 with a .386 OBP. Lastings also made a few run saving plays in replacement of Beltran.
Grade: A
Andrew V. – Carlos Beltran, what can I say. He is one of the most consistent hitters on the team, with power, speed, and one of the best gloves on the team. He battles through injuries, which may be a good thing or a bad thing. He gets hurt a lot, but still seems to hit 25 homers and knock in around 100 RBI’s year after year. His defense is spectacular. Sans a few game span where he just didn’t play well at all, he has gold glove caliber skill, and is deserving of one. One of my favorite players on the team, even though he is not vocal towards the team. He is a quiet guy, silently putting up good numbers at the plats and good numbers in the field.
Grade: A
Jon C. – Beltran, when he’s heatlhy, is a solid center fielder. He plays the position so flawlessly and covers so much ground. A lot of you get on me when I call him out for not playing hard and milking his injuries. But, the truth is, it bugs me that he’s not a leader and doesn’t play hurt(Milledge filled in admirably). LoDuca does. Alou does. Delgado tries to. He puts himself over the team, and that bothers me. Having said that, I have to digress. Few Mets were leaders on this team and at the end of the year, Beltran put up the numbers at a position not known for power numbers so much- he just wasn’t nearly as clutch.
Grade: B+
Right Field (Shawn Green, Lastings Milledge, Marlon Anderson)
Ryan P. – I admit, right field wasn’t the brightest spot for the Mets. Yeah, it wasn’te ven close. However, Shawn Green made it look good in early April. He was hitting like he was in Toronto in the early 00’s. He was hitting for clutch like he was, in the early 00’s. But, once he got hurt, *poof*, it just went away. Enter Lastings Milledge. Milledge was on fire in late July into early August. But like most of the Mets, that fire faded, and it faded fast. He had an average around .310 by early August, but that average dropped to below .275 before the season ended. He had attitude problems and even had a major blow up that suspended him. If he wants to start for the Mets in the next coming years, he’s going to need a major makeover. Enter Marlon Anderson. Sure, he didn’t play alot of the field, but he can sure deliver off the bench. There is no doubt in my mind that he’s staying with the Mets. He was amazing and clutch even providing a few late inning sparks. Most in what the Mets really needed. Without him, the Mets would’ve lost even more games.
Grade: C+
Joe D. – When the season first started, Shawn Green gave the Mets a hot bat at the bottom of the order. By the time June rolled around his bat had cooled and he landed on the DL with an injury. When he returned, his play in the field and his performance at the plate was so bad, that he finally lost his everyday job and went into a strict platoon with Lastings Milledge. Milledge had his moments, and showed some flashes of brilliance, but the bottom line was that he continued to lose focus in the field and on the basepaths. His play became so frustrating that by September Shawn Green worked his way back into playing almost everyday. It was a confusing year at rightfield for the Mets, and the overall production from a position that is supposed to provide solid offense, ended up being disappointing.
Grade: C
Brian M. – Shawn Green started at a torrid pace hitting .355 in April. However, he fell back to Earth in May and was eventually placed in a platoon with Lastings Milledge post All-star break. In September he was an integral part of the offense’s revival playing against righthanders and hit .407. If he feels comfortable continuing his career as a role player perhaps he has carved out a future with the NY Mets in 2008. Lastings had his ups and downs yet improved off of 2006 to hit .272. As a right fielder Milledge hit lower however, finishing the year at .239. Not a great year for right field.
Grade: D
Andrew V. – Shawn Green had such an up and down season. When he was hot, he was smokin’, and when he was cold, he was ice cold. He finally started to give up swinging for home runs, and started going with pitches and ripping doubles all over the place. His defense is not the best, but it’s so much fun to watch his hat fly off almost every play. Green also has a secret weapon in the field with a great arm. Milledge will be good. Key word there is "will." He’s young. Give him time to mature, learn how to hit a breaking ball, and realize how to get under pop ups isn’t too hard, and he’ll be a great player. His attitude is a little brash, but that doesn’t mean its all bad. He’s no Milton Bradley, so I like his energy and tenacity. Marlon Anderson is the man off the bench. What great late inning heroics from him. Please let us resign him.
Grade: B-
Jon C. – Shawn Green did a lot better than we expected him to do this year – let’s be honest. Still, he was a bench player in a full-time role. Milledge proved he could be a starti
ng outfielder, but Willie kept him on the bench for the most part. So you had a bench player playing full-time and a full-time player being a bench player – which makes this grade difficult. Throw in Endy who didn’t do much at all, and the Mets had a very erratic right field spot this year – thanks to Willie. Bottomline: You need more power from the right field spot, they should’ve played Milledge every day when he came back from the injury. My gut tells me though – Milledge will be #1 trade bait this winter. It’d be a mistake. I was sour on him in the beginning, but I’m convinced this team is better with him in RF.
Yeah, we were short a guy, but that’s alright. It is Sunday you know. Anyways, a pretty much positive review of Carlos Beltran was obvious. However, a mysterious right field puzzled us all. We weren’t sure what to expect from this never ending revolving door. With a few crazy games in right field, we’re not even sure what’s going to happen next year.
Tuesday is a big day. We’re gonna review Starting Pitching. Oh boy, this is gonna get interesting.
