The Mets went all-in on Michael Cuddyer, signing him to a multi-year deal and surrendering a first-round pick. It was a bad decision at the time and one that only looks worse after watching him up close for a year. With that in mind, check in on our original piece to see what we thought coming into the year. Here was our group forecast:
PA – 430
AVG – .274
OBP – .340
SLG – .460
HR – 12
RBI – 59
UZR/150 – (-8.5)
Here’s how Cuddyer actually did, with the best and worst individual projections among our group.
PA – 408
Best – Hangley (412)
Worst – Koehler (585)
AVG – .259
Best – Parker (.255)
Worst – Walendin (.301)
OBP – .309
Best – Joura (.324)
Worst – Hangley (.362)
SLG – .391
Best – Joura (.397)
Worst – Rogan (.490)
HR – 10
Best – McCarthy (11), Parker (9)
Worst – Rogan, Vasile (16)
RBIs – 41
Best – Joura (43)
Worst – Koehler (75)
UZR/150 – (-11.8)
Best – Rogan (-12)
Worst – Ferguson (-5)
We came pretty close on playing time with our group projection but we bought into the “proven hitter” tripe too much. We did nail some individual forecasts, though. The problem was that four people thought he would match in Citi Field what he had done in 2011 in his last non-Coors year. Compared to the big boys, while we had the most accurate playing time forecast, we predicted the highest OPS, which was not good. Bottom line is that this was not one of our better predictions.
Coming into 2016, no one expects much from Cuddyer. At the end of 2015, he was relegated to platoon player and he might not even see that much playing time in the final year of his contract. Perhaps Collins will always play him when a lefty is on the mound, rotating him among LF, RF and 1B. But that seems to be the most optimistic scenario out there for him. He’s certainly not going to be in a straight platoon with Michael Conforto anymore.
This has never been about Cuddyer, the individual, who has always been praised for being a great teammate. But ideally, these intangibles are what you get from the 25th man on your roster, someone you’re paying something close to minimum wage. Sandy Alderson deserves a lot of praise for getting the 2015 Mets into the World Series. But his decision to sign Cuddyer is one that he should be raked over the coals for, one that was easy to see being a bad deal at the time.
Ugh. I thought he had more left in the tank.
You and me both. Ha!
I always felt that the Cuddyer signing was always just a piece and not a solution. There was a need a year ago for a LF upgrade so a move was necessary but this move has turned out to be the wrong option. He had a disappointing season in the slugging department with only 10 homers and sub 400 slugging %. His role in 2016 should be as the author described which means the Mets have a very expensive bench player.
There wasn’t any more of a need for a LF upgrade than there was for a SS upgrade. The Mets chose LF and whiffed.
Since you’re allowed to mention the club turning down the chance to trade Ike Davis for Mike Joyce, I’d like to point out that the Mets turned down the chance to trade Dillon Gee for Eduardo Escobar. Perhaps the team wouldn’t have played so terribly in May & June if they had prioritized getting a SS rather than a LF.
The Twins jerked Escobar around last year, trying to convert him to an outfielder. But they finally put him back at SS in the second half and he hit great when playing his normal position. I don’t think an .864 OPS is his true talent level but he would have been an upgrade over what the Mets put out there.
Brian, I totally agree that Gee should have been traded for Escobar. Gee should have been traded for Uribe in May. Who did they trade Gee for ? DenDecker ? Denaurd ? DeGrom ? No, it was for De Nada ! (translated as Nothing in Spanish)
Well done
At least with passing on the Uribe trade, there’s the paper-thin defense that they thought Wright was nearing a return. And they later got him anyway. The team would have been better all year with Escobar.
A trade back to the American
League where he can DH. Eat half his salary and he becomes attractive to others.
Crash Davis might have a great future as a bench coach, but his playing days are over. I said at the timeit was a bad signing and I stand by that. Hopefully we can get aomething out of hin backing up Duda and maybe DHing and pinch hitting.