Jayson Stark of ESPN, reported yesterday that scouts who have seen Delgado try to play first base in Puerto Rico are not impressed. He writes,
“He’s got no range at first — none,” said one scout. “He actually limps out there. He can’t play first on a day-to-day basis. I think he can still DH, because he’s still got power. But to play first for a team like the Mets? Can’t see it.”
This report should probably put any thoughts of the Mets re-acquiring Delgado to bed, finally. If Delgado is limping, we know that his only motivation for being on the field is a new contract. We all know of Delgado’s propensity for being unwilling to play while hurt. As soon as he signs a contract, rather than limping, he’ll be spending time on the DL instead.
We had an interesting debate this weekend, between two possible options in Fernando Tatis and Ryan Garko who could platoon with incumbent first baseman, Daniel Murphy. The majority of our readers seemed to prefer Garko over Tatis, but one commenter, Metstem, threw another name into the mix.
I like Mike Jacobs for this role. He bats left handed but he can play first and the corner outfield positions and has more legitimate power than Garko or Tatis. Last year in an off-year, he hit 19 homers for a bad team. When he was on a contender, his numbers were much better. He would be perfect for this team. For 1 million or so, he may be the best guy available for that sort of price.
There would be some irony in the Mets re-acquiring Jacobs as he was the player we traded to the Marlins to get Carlos Delgado in the first place.
I like Jacobs, but I’m not really interested in coming full circle with him just yet. For me, Garko would still be the better option.
