Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken a look at the worst players of each section of the 2014 New York Mets roster: the starting fielders, the starting pitchers, the bullpen and the bench players. We’ve narrowed down a short list for each category and named a Least Valuable Nominee from each list to bring us to the final four of sorts.
While there has been some debate on a few of these, overall, the following players stand out. The worst of the worst nominees are starting pitcher Dillon Gee, starting outfielder Chris Young, reliever Jose Valverde and bench player Josh Satin.
First was Dillon Gee. In a section of the roster that saw a lot of success, it was extremely difficult to say that one of these everyday starters was bad. In Gee’s case, it wasn’t so much that he was bad as it was that he wasn’t as good as his peers.
In 22 starts, he posted a 4.00 ERA and a 7-8 record. These numbers aren’t horrible. In fact when added to the fact that he struck out 94 batters while walking 43 in 137.1 IP, they point to an otherwise successful season. It’s only when taking a deeper look into his performance that we see how his season failed to measure up.
Among the starting pitchers (double digit starts) Gee gave up 18 home runs. That’s second to only Bartolo Colon, but it took Colon 202 IP to give up his 22 home runs. He also posted the lowest strikeouts per nine innings at 6.2. In addition, he posted the second highest WHIP with 1.245.
Even given all of this, he managed to keep the team in games that he started. He only lost a third of his starts while winning another third. With that said, there is some good that can be taken from his season.
Next, is Chris Young. With 88 games played and only a .205 AVG to show for his efforts, it’s easy to see why he made this list. He was brought in to be able compliment David Wright and Curtis Granderson in the lineup.
Young was supposed to bring additional power to an offense that had struggled to hit the long ball. He only connected on eight of them. He struck out 54 times while only drawing 25 walks in 287 plate appearances. He drove in 28 runs in his 88 games. All of these were well below expectations.
Young was released and later caught on with the cross-town rival Yankees where he found minimal success batting .282 in 23 games. With this adding to the fact that the team paid him $7.25M to struggle in Queens but excel in the Bronx, he was an obvious candidate for this discussion.
Next is Jose Valverde. He was brought in to compete for the role of closer at the back end of the bullpen and solidify the 9th inning for a young team. He struggled mightily. He posted two saves in 20.2 IP while earning a 5.66 ERA and a 1-1 record.
These numbers alone are enough to put him in this conversation. However, the fact that he came in as the veteran presence that was supposed to add consistency makes it all the more unbelievable. On top of all of that, he was paid $1M to pitch so bad that the team gave up on him after two months and released him.
Finally is Josh Satin. He struggled as a pinch hitter and spot starter this season. With the rise of Eric Campbell and mainstay players like Matt den Dekker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis continuing to make their occasional appearances in the lineup, the opportunities became fewer and fewer for Satin.
He had to make the most of his limited chances. He didn’t. Satin hit .086 in 35 at bats with zero home runs and just three RBI. He had five total bases in his 35 at bats and struck out 14 times. His struggles went virtually unchecked, however, as the majority of the bench had issues driving in runs in key situations as well. Yet, his numbers stand out as the very worst among them.
In conclusion, when comparing all four of these players in the scope of their roles, team expectations and ability to impact the team overall, the one that stands out the most is Chris Young. Given his salary, his final statistics with the Mets, his overall impact on the roster and his move across town, Young is the most logical choice.
His salary shows what the organization expected. They paid him to be a key player. Instead, he was a major let down. There were many games where fans were left wondering why Young was starting over other, more qualified outfielders and we were left to conclude that it had to be due to his salary.
Whenever a player performs so poorly that his salary is possibly the only thing preventing his benching there is a major issue that develops. When payroll dictates who plays regularly there is a massive flaw inherent in the system.
While it was never proven that his salary was the only reason the team stuck with Chris Young for so long, ask yourself a question. If he were making the league minimum, would he had been given that many starts with an AVG barely hovering over the Mendoza line? The answer is obviously no.
Given this logic, Chris Young is the Least Valuable Player of the 2014 New York Mets.
I think a more appropriate phrase would of been CY’s overall lack of “impact” on the playing field! Talk about a player taking the money and doing absolutely nothing to justify his salary. I thought SA was a better judge of talent than that.
Couldnt help but chuckle thinking that the picture that leads the article is really your least valuable Met in 2014! Thats right, “Captain Lefty-Lefty, Righty-Righty”, The “lover of LOOGY”, “Mr. I got no time to play the future stars”, none other than Teflon Terry Collins.
TC was definitely the least valuable member of the organization in my opinion. Unfortunately, I had to stick with just the players. In that respect, CY was dreadful. He basically robbed the team of $7.25M.
Frank,
If you are going to name “the least valuable member of the organization” you should be thinking of jeffy wilpon. That, along with “least palatable” or “least intelligent” or least “desireable co-worker” or “least likely to accept responsibility for his actions.” Boy, his shelves could be filled with all kinds of “least” awards. Daddy’s li’l boy.
“least likely to inherit a sports franchise”