During the Winter Meetings on Tuesday, Mets manager Terry Collins met with the media to discuss the current state of his team. One of the subjects broached was about the outfield and its log-jam of starters.
Collins believes if the outfield were to stay the same as it is today, entering spring training, Curtis Granderson would be the team’s center fielder.
“With the dynamics and the way the club is shaping up at this moment with all we have, I think you’ve got to say Grandy has to move to center field,” Collins said.
“We’ve got to be aware that he has to keep his legs underneath him and do a good job of making sure he has time off. We’ve got a Gold Glove guy [Juan Lagares] sitting on the bench and we can certainly rest him on certain days, but as we sit here today he’s going to have to play center.” (NJ.com)
Mets General Manager, Sandy Alderson has been hard at work in attempting to solve the team’s current problem of having too many outfielders on the roster, though he has found it a tough sell in finding a home for Jay Bruce. Thus far, potential trade partners have had more interest in Granderson than Bruce.
The Mets of course though would like to keep the Grandy-man, he just means way too much to this team to let go in what is likely to be his final season in Queens. Granderson has built himself such a great reputation of being a huge plus in the clubhouse as well as a pillar in the community.
It is hard to imagine the Mets going into the 2017 season with both Bruce and Granderson. More than likely it will work itself out via a trade, it may just not come as soon as many had thought it would. If Granderson though must play center field in 2017, his manager is very confident of his skills while doing so.
“I thought he did very well,” Collins said. “I know he didn’t want to, but you know Grandy, he will do whatever you want him to do. And he went out there and I thought he handled himself very, very well out there. If we start the season tomorrow and he’s in center field, we will be fine.”
