Would Jose Lopez Make Sense For The Mets?

This morning on WFAN, Terry Collins appeared on WFAN and said that the second base job for the Mets is unsettled and up for grabs.

Some might say it’s a nice way of saying he isn’t thrilled with his options at second base which includes 20-year old Ruben Tejada – who many believe is not major league ready, Justin Turner – who is with his third organization as a minor leaguer and is a poor defender, Luis Castillo – who has drawn the ire of the fan base and has no range, and Daniel Murphy – who has never played a major league game at second base and is getting a crash course in the Dominican Republic.

According to Mike Salk of 710 ESPN Radio in Seattle, the Mariners will non-tender Jose Lopez tomorrow. This comes as no surprise as it was widely expected after the M’s declined their option for Lopez after the 2010 season ended. Could he garner any interest from the New York Mets?

Back in October, Joe D. penned this post which he dedicated to Lopez and wrote,

The 26 year old Lopez, had a very disappointing season in 2010 as did just about any Seattle Mariner not named Ichiro Suzuki. He batted only .239 with 10 home runs and just 58 RBI, and while those numbers would have still been an upgrade over anything Ruben Tejada or Luis Castillo produced, it was a significant drop-off for Lopez.

Lets throw away this season for a moment and look at how productive Lopez has been in the last three previous seasons.

Year Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BA SLG

2007 23 149 524 58 132 17 2 11 62 64 .252 .355

2008 24 159 644 80 191 41 1 17 89 67 .297 .443

2009 25 153 613 69 167 42 0 25 96 69 .272 .463

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com

You could safely assume that the 2010 season was the fluke for Jose Lopez, and not the norm. As Lopez enters into his prime years, you have to believe that he will only get better or at the very least return to his previous form.