Thoughts from Joe D.
I wanted to chime in on a post that appeared here yesterday. It was an excellent discussion about the possibility of trading Travis d’Arnaud for Jurickson Profar, where Kevin Plawecki would fit in, and the possibility of taking a flyer on the currently injured Corey Hart who becomes a free agent after this season.
First, I disagree that a lot needs to fall in place for Plawecki to be a solid major league catcher. He already has a leg up on D’Arnaud defensively and that’s not even a debate. Plawecki is also a better contact hitter, understands the strike zone, and doesn’t have a noisy swing like D’Arnaud. His swing has a natural upper cut as it moves across the plate which may suggest a power spike in his future. His 38 doubles and 14 home runs in 550 pro at-bats is an indicator of his power potential. What strikes me and a scout I spoke to most about Plawecki, is his mean streak and toughness behind the plate. He’s had three collisions at the plate that not only saw him make the out, but also being able to shake the dust off, rise up and sneer at the runner. I like that.
Second, D’Arnaud’s stock in trade has tumbled, while Profar’s has risen. No way they make an even swap and the second piece we give back has to be a top-level prospect as well.
So would I try and trade for Profar? Absolutely, but it would take more than D’Arnaud who is 25 already next season. We have nothing on the horizon at shortstop and Ruben Tejada is still just a stopgap. But I certainly wouldn’t keep from trading D’Arnaud to improve the team because of concerns about Plawecki. It’s not his fault he in St. Lucie and most feel he should have been in Triple-A by now. Problem is Mets have logjams at first base and catcher and too many prospects are playing at levels that are not even a challenge to them.
Finally, as for Hart. I don’t see the fascination other than rolling the dice on another player looking to establish value. If the player breaks out the Mets let him walks like all the others, if he flops he’s released by Memorial Day. It’s time for this team to stop thinking little picture with these scrap heap stopgaps, and instead acquire players for the purpose of adding to our longer term success.
Original Post 7/24
In an effort to be a little more interactive with the readers, since I’m not usually around during the day to respond to comments frequently, I grabbed two comments that I thought were great discussion starters off MetsMinors…
Dave in Spain commented…
Satish — Ideally this would be great. I wonder if the Mets would take a look at Corey Hart on a short-term, incentive based deal this offseason. He hasn’t played this year due to injury, but he´s a monster power threat. If the Mets are ready to move on from Davis and Duda, he might be an option.
Good thinking here, Dave…
Corey Hart would fit nicely into our line-up as a right-handed power threat and could play not only first base, but the corner outfield spots. However, I think his history of consistent play beforehand may put him in a place to command more money than we’d be willing to give him. In addition to that, the Mets seem to be grooming Wilmer Flores to play first base, and if so, he could fit in nicely as a right-handed power threat. I’m pretty high on Flores, who has basically shown improvement offensively and defensively in each of the last few years, so I’d actually be comfortable with that. I still haven’t given up on Ike Davis yet, by the way, although my hope for him has severely diminished.
Don’t be afraid to throw Allan Dykstra‘s name into the conversation at first base as well…
BadBadLeroyBrown commented…
Hey Satish,
Interesting question or scenario…It was said by Sandy that he attempted to trade RA Dickey to the Rangers for a package[after investigating rumors] that presumably included Mike Olt and Martin Perez or Justin Grimm and he was rejected… But after acquiring d’Arnaud for Dickey Rangers were offering the same package (Olt & Perez or Grimm) straight up for d’Arnaud.
Joe D. mentions it here in this article as well.
And what brings more credence to this rumor, the Blue Jays and the Rangers were really the only two teams at the forefront that were seriously after Dickey. Not to mention the fact that the Rangers GM Jon Daniels was already reported to be hot for d’Arnaud that offseason before the RA Dickey trade went down as you can read here. So there was a connection between these 3 teams and said players….
So it leads me to this….My whole point for this post….
Would you consider calling up the Rangers and starting talks to swap players????
Travis d’Arnaud for Jurickson Profar?
Obviously my opinion is YES!!! Profar the younger player higher upside both play premium positions with offense to go with it…
At the very least it is worth investigating on Aldersons part…And it makes sense for both teams.
Sign me up if the Rangers were interested — but I doubt they are. Trading TDA would be putting faith in Kevin Plawecki as the catcher of the future, which most people have mixed feelings about, including me. Do not get me wrong here, I think Plawecki is a very talented young catcher who could turn into a good major league catcher, but there’s a lot that needs to fall into place for that to happen.
In addition, Here’s the issue with trading d’Arnaud at this point — his trade value is as low as it can get. His highest value is likely with us and that means we’re going to have to ride or die with the young man. This is not as bad as it seems at all, because d’Arnaud still embodies the potential to become a future all-star and provide above-average offense as a premium position. However, it is extremely unlikely the Rangers would jump on that offer, perhaps even more-so after emptying some of their farm for Matt Garza.
