The decision on how the Mets handle Eric Young Jr. this offseason is tricky for me. On one hand, he played really good defense in left field this season, is one of the best base-stealers in the league, by all accounts is a team first player, and for whatever reason, the Mets seem to win, more often than not, when EY is in the lineup.
On the other hand, he isn’t very good in center field, and doesn’t have the arm to play right, so having him restricted to left field limits the construction of the roster, and more specifically, the lineup, as LF is traditionally where you put your worst defensive outfielder, to add some pop to the offense. For whatever reason, Young has been terrible offensively at Citi Field, which I find very odd as the park is seemingly tailored for his game.
Young batted .210/.267/.283 at Citi last season while slashing at .246/.329/.338 on the road. A .329 OBP, with his speed is an asset in the NL, but his overall numbers are not.
The decision to tender him a contract and offer arbitration becomes a bit risky for me because they have to do it at the beginning of the offseason. If the Mets strike out on acquiring an outfielder, Young would make sense as a backup, occasional leadoff hitter, pinch runner, and defensive replacement. I guess the safe thing to do would be to offer him arbitration, which will cost the Mets roughly $2.5 million, just in case we don’t acquire a regular outfielder. If we do add an OF with some pop, or maybe more importantly, a leadoff hitter, I think you could always move Young in a trade to a team that is looking for speed.
Here is what some of my MMO colleagues had to say:
Gerry – Eric Young should be non-tendered to free up roster space ahead of the Rule 5 draft. While useful, his skills are best employed as a bench player and his limitations tend to be exposed over periods of extended playing time. At this point he clearly is what he is and shouldn’t be retained at the risk of losing a decent prospect. I would try to re-sign him to a lesser deal after the draft.
XtreemIcon – I wouldn’t be so quick to get rid of Young and he should be offered arbitration. He’s a good and useful piece off the bench. Young shouldn’t start regularly (maybe once a week to give a guy a rest), but he’s a solid defender in left field, and gives the Mets a fast baserunner off the bench. He should be guaranteed that bench spot.
Connor – It depends on how the offseason plays out, but I can see Young being a fifth outfielder or someone shuffled back and forth between Triple-A and the majors. I’m afraid though that if he is put in the hands of Terry Collins, he will see regular playing time. If that’s going to happen, non-tender him.
