With Curtis Granderson and Chris Young entering the mix, a logjam has emerged in the Mets 2014 outfield plans as several talented players will now look to fill a limited number of starting positions.
Responding to a question posed by Steve Keane of Kranepool Society at Citi Field on Tuesday, Mets GM Sandy Alderson shed some light on what the playing time may look like for the Mets outfield in the upcoming season.
“Well, Granderson’s going to play, and we’ve promised Chris Young some at-bats so you may see some variation in the configuration,” said Alderson when asked about his newly refurbished outfield. “You know Juan Lagares has got some great qualities and so does [Eric Young Jr.], I mean he led the league in stolen bases; that speed doesn’t really help you sitting on the bench.
“So we’ve got some things that we need to sort through but right now we’re happy with those four and presumably we’ll have a fifth outfielder at some point and be able to work all of them in. But it’s a nice dilemma to have given where we were last year with the no-name outfield.”
It sounds like Granderson is the only one who is guaranteed to be out there on a daily basis; rightfully so given his large contract. As for the likes of Eric Young, Chris Young and Lagares, it should be an interesting situation. To what extent of this “variation of the configuration” will involve them remains to be seen.
An interesting story-line nonetheless that is worth keeping an eye on come Spring Training.
