An MMO Fan Shot by yfern328
Now that Texas declined Alex Rios‘ option, should the Mets be interested in Rios on a one-year deal? Something like a Chris Young deal?
Although Rios’ drop in power numbers was a bit alarming, he still managed to hit 30 doubles and 8 triples. I like him as a buy-low guy who could be a great one year stopgap until prospects like Brandon Nimmo are ready. I also really value Rios’ batting average of .280.
Personally I think the Mets could benefit from having guys that put the ball in play more often. Rios managed 3.92 pitches/plate appearance (52nd in MLB) so he works the count and manages a .280 BA overall which I like. More importantly he managed to post a .325/.353/.545 line against LHP with a 142 wRC+.
He strikes me as a guy that you could easily platoon with Matt den Dekker or Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Considering that Rios also stole 17 bases last year, he’s a prime guy to bat lead-off with den Dekker/Nieuwenhuis in a platoon. I like the idea of having the lead-off spot capable of posting a .350 OBP with the platoon and also bringing some speed.
If Rios returns to his 15-20 HR self, then we have a guy we can move down in the order to around 6th-7th. Additionally he can serve as trade bait mid-season. Rios also had very even Home/Road splits which is encouraging.
This type of lineup would work for me:
Alex Rios (Matt den Dekker or Kirk Nieuwenhuis)
Daniel Murphy
David Wright
Lucas Duda
Travis d’Arnaud
Curtis Granderson
Wilmer Flores
Juan Lagares
Rios wasn’t the best defender last year, but late in games he can always be swapped with den Dekker or Kirk.
Additionally I like that we get to have a longer look at MDD, and it gives Nimmo some time at AA/AAA in 2015 to iron out the kinks. Rios wouldn’t be a splashy addition, but I think it can be a very practical move for this front office on the right deal.
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This Fan Shot was contributed by MMO reader yfern328. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
