Note: This is a continuing short series comparing (at a high level) where the Mets roster stood last year at this time and where it stands heading into Spring Training 2014.
We’re quickly approaching the reporting date for pitchers and catchers and the start of baseball for 2014. The off-season may not have gone as well for the Mets as some would have liked. It also may have gone better than some would have expected. That’s baseball, for you. Although the off-season is not over and the Mets will continue to make small additions to the roster, the big moves are likely in the rear-view at this point. So where does the team stand as compared to this time last year?
This week we discuss the infield.
The infield was one of the few aspects of the team without too many question marks going into the 2013 season. To be clear, it wasn’t that there weren’t questions about the ultimate quality of the players. There just weren’t any questions about the identity of the starting infielders and/or whether or not they’d be healthy. In the context of the Mets’ 2013 roster, that was a win.
At first base Ike Davis put together one of the worst offensive performances in the majors during the first half of 2012. Additionally, it appeared as though he carried his offensive woes onto the field with him. After posting an UZR/150 of 12.4 in 2010 and 7.5 in 2011, it plummeted to -3.5 in 2012. However, he turned it around offensively in a big way in the second half. He knocked 20 homer runs and his OPS was over 200 points higher during that span. His great finish to the season seemed to ease any concerns about him moving forward.
Second baseman Daniel Murphy continued to improve on his defense in 2012. He hadn’t become the disaster at the position that some had predicted, though he was firmly in the bottom half of the league defensively in 2012. In contrast, he was in the top half of the league offensively for second baseman that year.
Ruben Tejada had the unfortunate task of replacing Jose Reyes as the full time shortstop in 2012 after Reyes signed with the Miami Marlins. Tejada posted an unspectacular season in 2012, though he did provide above replacement-level value with room to grow. David Wright was entering 2013 fresh off of his eight-year, $138 million extension. There was really no reason to expect him to be anything less than one of the top third basemen in the league again. Catcher John Buck was acquired in the R.A. Dickey trade; though realistically he was just a placeholder until top prospect Travis d’Arnaud finally got the call.
So how did the 2013 infield perform? Wright did his Wright thing, slashing .307/.390/.514 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs through 112 games. He did miss time with a hamstring injury that everyone but the Mets seemed to see coming, though. He still managed to accumulate 6.0 fWAR in limited time, which was pretty incredible. Murphy managed to improve both offensively and defensively during 2013. Although he still posted a negative UZR/150, it was a full eight points better than it was in 2012. He more than doubled his home run output, though his increased slugging came at the expense of his batting average and on-base percentage. He also managed to vastly improve on his base running, an unexpected but nice addition to his general offensive production. His 3.0 fWAR ranked eighth among second basemen.
Beyond those two, things weren’t so rosy. After Davis once again started the season on an absolutely dreadful note, the team finally succumbed to pressure to demote him in June. Likewise, Tejada found himself in Las Vegas during the summer. Davis hit his way back onto the major league roster in July and he finished the season relatively strong. Tejada, on the other hand, didn’t find his way back onto the Mets until September while Omar Quintanilla played the majority of shortstop in his absence. The Mets were near the bottom of the league in production from the shortstop position.
Buck started the season on fire and hit nine home runs in April. He cooled off substantially after that and was supplanted as starting catcher by d’Arnaud by August. Buck was traded with right fielder Marlon Byrd to the Pirates just before the waiver trade deadline, beginning the d’Arnaud era in Queens. It wasn’t a particularly successful debut for the young backstop. He slashed .202/.286/.263 and really just looked overmatched at the plate. He gets the benefit of the doubt since his MLB debut came on the heels of a foot injury and relatively small number of rehab games. The pitching staff seemed pleased with his skill behind the plate, specifically his pitch framing ability.
So what can we expect going into 2014? In strict contrast to the 2014 outfield situation, the outlook for the infield is dimmer than it was going into the 2013 season. Murphy has established himself as a quality second baseman, and Wright is still one of the top third basemen in the league. D’Arnaud will start the season as the primary catcher and all hopes are that he can stay healthy and start to show signs of fulfilling all of his potential. After that it gets murky.
Shortstop and first base are real question marks heading into Spring Training. The team has been aggressively trying to trade Davis so that they can plug Lucas Duda and his potential platoon-mate there. At this point that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, so there will be a full blown competition between Davis, Duda, Josh Satin, and possibly Wilmer Flores. Tejada may end up the starting shortstop by default. The team has publicly stated that they are prepared to go into the season with him as their starter, but there still remains a chance they bring someone in either through trade or free agency. Tejada has twice attended fitness camp this off-season and the Mets are reportedly pleased with his progress, so that’s something.
The 2014 Mets are going to need better production out of first base, shortstop, and catcher if they have any hope of being competitive. That seems entirely possible even with the options they currently have on the roster. How far this team goes just may depend on how creative manager Terry Collins can be with what he has to work with, however. He’ll need to squeeze every ounce of production he can out of them.
This off season the Mets needed to upgrade the shortstop position and resolve the first base situation. I am disappointed that neither one was addressed. The most games that Tejada has played in a season is 114 and the Mets don’t even have a backup. In November it was rumored that Matt Joyce was offered for Davis. That trade should have been done. If Davis starts off slowly then he will have even less trade value. Looking at the bright side, if Duda/Davis/Satin post a 1 WAR it will equal the cost of contracts! Not very competitive but cost effective. ;S
I really want to see someone other than Tejada at shortstop. I can Iive with the first base situation and let it resolve itself during Spring Training but it’s so frustrating to see Drew lingering out there and the Mets not pulling the trigger on any deal. It’s maddening.
1B and shortstop are both disasters, and d’Arnaud at catcher is a wild card at best. Not only are we waiting to see his promise to hit mlb pitching, we have no clue whether he can even stay healthy for more than 3 months. To me first base is a shameful situation Alderson has engineered: sure, a competition is great, but none of the competitors are genuine mlb every day players. A competition between the weak and the damned hardly seems like a worthy drama. Shortstop is less drama simply because the options have been few, but Alderson has not been creative at finding a solution, particularly with no real hopes in the farm from what I gather. The infield is quite a worry to be sure.
I don’t like being negative, but I doubt Tejada is the Mets shortstop by the All-Star break. If our young pitching develops like we all hope, I think we could trade a few pieces away for a legit star, or high prospect at the position.