Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that Todd Frazier and Eduardo Nunez are the leading candidates to be signed to fill the Mets infield need. He reports that the Mets are “reluctant” to bring back former-Met Neil Walker and that they have “no traction” in trade talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates for Josh Harrison.
So if it is true that it is down to Nunez and Frazier, they still have one more decision to make.
That decision should be to sign Todd Frazier.
The 31-year old hit .213/.344/.428 clip with 27 homers and 76 RBIs to give him a 108 wRC+between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees in 2017.
However, possibly the most impressive part about Frazier is his defense. In just over 1,100 innings at the hot corner in 2017, Frazier was good for 10 DRS and logged a 6.7 UZR.
That is the difference between him and Eduardo Nunez, who is not good at any of the positions he plays.
Nunez isn’t adept at playing the keystone rather well. He logged 213.2 innings at the position in 2017, and had -4 DRS and a -1.8 UZR. At shortstop, he wasn’t much better, registering -5 DRS and a -1.6 UZR in 123.0 innings.
However, while his numbers aren’t flashy at the hot corner, they’re OK. In 447.2 innings in 2017 at third, he had zero defensive runs saved and a -1.9 UZR. He did commit nine errors, though.
While versatility does have a lot of value, especially in the game of baseball today, it is not all that valuable when the player cannot play any of the positions adequately.
Just being able to be named a second baseman does not mean anything unless the player is able to actually field the position. Otherwise, it is is just a meaningless ability that really does not serve any practical interests for the team.
Eduardo Nunez is essentially a mixture of two players on this team: Wilmer Flores and Jose Reyes.
He has good hitting and baserunning (24 stolen bases in 2017) abilities, but is a butcher in the field everywhere he goes on the diamond.
The point with the comparison is to say that the Mets do not need another player like this. They have players on the roster that possess those same skillsets. While by no means is that saying that a skillset of that nature isn’t valuable, it can be redundant and unnecessary to build a roster with duplicates of that same type of player.
While, yes, Nunez could solve our lead-off hitter situation, that alone is not enough to justify picking him over Frazier.
So what makes Todd Frazier so appealing?
Well, the defense is probably his best attribute and difference he could make to this team. However, he also has a leadership quality that the Mets really could use right now, after a season in which the clubhouse broke down somewhat once most of the veterans on the team were dealt.
The team needs to fix that clubhouse and while Mickey Callaway and his coaching staff are going to do their best to help change it, the clubhouse culture comes from the players.
Frazier very well could be one of them as he has been liked on every team he has played for and even still is trying to improve, as detailed by Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.
The Mets could use this type of player and clubhouse presence right now and should not pass on him just because he is a little more expensive than Nunez and isn’t a lead-off hitter.
When there is a player that fills a need better than the others, that needs to be the team’s target. In this case, Todd Frazier is that guy.
