James Loney, simply put, is a below average baseball player. He started a promising major league career in 2006 (albeit in just 102 at bats) and followed it up with an even more impressive season in 2007 as a 23 year old. He showed offensive skills well better than most first basemen in the game and flashed gold glove caliber defense. If he was not on a path to superstardom he definitely looked like a star in the making or at least a solid big league regular.
Let’s peruse his major league stats to watch as things have gotten worse and worse.
| Year | Age | Tm | AB | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 22 | LAD | 102 | 4 | 18 | 0.284 | 0.342 | 0.559 | 0.901 |
| 2007 | 23 | LAD | 344 | 15 | 67 | 0.331 | 0.381 | 0.538 | 0.919 |
| 2008 | 24 | LAD | 595 | 13 | 90 | 0.289 | 0.338 | 0.434 | 0.772 |
| 2009 | 25 | LAD | 576 | 13 | 90 | 0.281 | 0.357 | 0.399 | 0.756 |
| 2010 | 26 | LAD | 588 | 10 | 88 | 0.267 | 0.329 | 0.395 | 0.723 |
| 2011 | 27 | LAD | 531 | 12 | 65 | 0.288 | 0.339 | 0.416 | 0.755 |
| 2012 | 28 | LAD/BOS | 434 | 6 | 41 | 0.249 | 0.293 | 0.336 | 0.630 |
| 2013 | 29 | TBR | 549 | 13 | 75 | 0.299 | 0.348 | 0.430 | 0.778 |
| 2014 | 30 | TBR | 600 | 9 | 69 | 0.290 | 0.336 | 0.380 | 0.716 |
| 2015 | 31 | TBR | 361 | 4 | 32 | 0.280 | 0.322 | 0.357 | 0.680 |
| 2016 | 32 | NYM | 289 | 6 | 27 | 0.260 | 0.302 | 0.370 | 0.672 |
As bad as the declining numbers are one should also factor in two things: Loney plays first base and he plays only first base. First base is the position where you want a formidable bat. For many teams in the National League their first sackers are their very best hitters.
Here’s a small table showing you the OPS by position in the NL in 2015.
| C | 687 |
|---|---|
| 1B | 810 |
| 2B | 703 |
| SS | 686 |
| 3B | 768 |
| LF | 751 |
| CF | 737 |
| RF | 777 |
So the average first baseman was putting up an OPS over 800 where Loney hasn’t reached that since this 32 year old was 23 years old! He has now settled in as a sub 700 OPS player. His bat is the equivalent of an NL shortstop. That’s ugly.
The Tampa Bay Rays, the team with the next to lowest payroll in baseball (payroll was $64.1 million as of April 2016) decided they would release Loney and eat the $9.7 million that he was due this season rather than carry him on their roster.
Think about that. Loney was going to occupy about 10/64ths, nearly 16% of the entire payroll but wasn’t worth keeping at all. And what had he done to be considered this useless? He put up a 680 OPS in 2015 for which he was paid $8.7 million.
He signed on for the minimum with the Padres a few days after being released by the Rays in April. They later sold his contract to the Mets on May 28th.
As of Tuesday afternoon Loney had a 672 OPS for the Mets which is a smidge worse than what the Rays found intolerable.
It is true that Loney is a somewhat better than average defensive first baseman and defensively superior to anyone the Mets have above the double-A level but defense at this offense-first position is not a major consideration. And the Mets, more than most teams, give little regard to defense anyway. This is the team that played Wilmer Flores at SS last year and Michael Conforto in center this year.
For certain those that disagree with this idea that Loney should be released will point to the fact that the Mets are not paying the player much and we are now in September which allows for expanded rosters.
Were the Mets managed by someone other than Terry Collins I could almost buy that argument. The problem is that we know Collins to be an old-school manager who will use anyone and everyone on his roster, especially if the player is a veteran.
If Loney sticks around he will get two or more starts a week against right handed pitching. You can book it.
Meanwhile the team has outfielders Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, and Conforto all of whom one would like to have in the lineup when a righty is on the hill. So an outfielder with offensive potential sits while a proven failure plays at first.
The first base choices after Loney aren’t glorious but at least they are numerous: Wilmer Flores and Kelly Johnson lead the field. Both T.J. Rivera and Ty Kelly have played the position, Kelly only sparingly. There’s a sliver of a chance that Lucas Duda may resurrect this season. We won’t hold our breaths on that.
Then there’s Bruce who has started two major league games at first. He would probably be pretty bad at the position but to have his bat in (or more correctly Conforto’s) in lieu of Loney is a swap that is worth considering.
If manager Collins could be trusted just to use Loney as a defensive sub that could work. But that’s not the Terry we know and tolerate.
Hopefully the front office will finally wise up and give Loney the release he justly deserves.
Really, and keep De Aza??
Your nuts…
“If manager Collins could be trusted just to use Loney as a defensive sub that could work. But that’s not the Terry we know and tolerate.”
That nails it. It wouldn’t save us any money to cut him now, nor would it open up much playing time. Given how little infield depth we have now, I see no issue in letting him finish out the season as a sparsely used day off player and defensive replacement. While no gold glover, he is clearly our best defensive option at the position. I like the idea of going back to Duda in 2017, but if he appears unhealthy, we may have to go outside the organization for a replacement because Dom Smith won’t be ready and Loney is not a long term answer. In fairness, Loney cost us nothing and was a decent pickup to fill in.
I believe everybody sees what’s going on with Loney, TC included. Darling mentioned that he’s hit a wall — which means he’s been thinking it for weeks. At present, Terry doesn’t have much in the way of options that do not come with associated defensive shortcomings.
It’s hard to stick a glove on an inexperienced player at this point in the season.
He’ll play less and less, I think, and can still dink a single as a PH.
There’s no point releasing him now. Guy has been part of the team.
You do recall the ending of last season, right? There was a certain nightmarish play . . .
Speaking of which, I wonder if they have a faint hope of Duda making it back. I’m aware that he’s been hitting soft toss.
Loney is not a better than average defensive first baseman. He’s tied for fourth in errors (despite significantly less playing time) and only has a relatively high number of scoops because of his refusal to stretch for balls. He’s league average by DRS (0) and he has a (-5.2) UZR/150, which ranks 31st among 38 1B with at least 300 innings played at the position.
Again, I don’t think anyone on the planet who has been following the Mets has delusions about James Loney’s game. But he’s still better defensively at 1B than any other option, for what that’s worth. In addition, there should be — and I think there are — serious concerns about Johnson at 2B. As the pieces shift, more cracks appear.
I am not a fan of James Loney. And he needs to sit more often, which I think is happening. This is an imperfect situation. But kicking him to the curb would mindlessly eliminate the team’s only — only in caps! — experienced first baseman. It would be idiocy to make that move.
BTW, on today’s lineup: Both Conforto and De Aza had PH appearances last night. The right guy is in CF today.
I have no problem stating that Loney is the best that the Mets have defensively as long as Duda is on the DL. That doesn’t make him an above-average fielder.
Serious concerns about Johnson at 2B? I don’t get that. He seems adequate there to me.
I have no preference between De Aza and Granderson in CF. In their limited time, DRS has them both at 0 while UZR has them both in negative numbers, with Granderson worse. I’m happy to defer to the manager on this choice.
I misstated that a bit. Meant that in the decision between Conforto or De Aza, TC went with the guy who hit the homer, not the guy who struck out looking.
Also: Never said Loney was an above-average fielder.
Johnson at 2B can’t really move or turn the DP. Surprised you haven’t noticed. But I won’t argue it.
Sorry but Collins the Imbecile is not going to sit his pet project and the Genius GM won’t interfere. There are plenty of options but Collins will fight them all.
Are any of you people really Met fans? This guy helped keep us afloat when we were awful. And he’s not hurting us now.
Will he be here next year? No
Will he get 100 at bats the rest of this year? Not even close
Should he play as circumstances warrant? Absolutely
Sandy and TC have done things with mirrors except for the first month and the last three weeks — they deserve praise not the BS I’m reading here both in the post that misses the point and the clueless and baseball-stupid commenters (most of them).
If we don’t make the playoffs it won’t be his fault. If we do, he gets a fair share of the praise.
Larry, we just need to get him going…
so whats your solution? wait for the return of the immortal lucas “dodo’? he who gives us 10 dingers in a two week span, followed by a .170 ba over the next six weeks. oh, but i guess youre one of those brilliant lights who think batting average doesnt matter? do i want to go into 2017 with loney as a part of a 1b platoon? of course not! but what better do you expect in september 2016, huh?
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Loney helped when he first came in to replace Duda. Cheap too.
If Duda is healthy, he is back in, period. Loney can come in for defense in late innings if the team is ahead,
if behind, need the “Dude’s” bat.
All she wrote, nothing else to see here…Duda signs one year deal to right his ship in 2017, 2018 and beyond belongs to Dominic Smitty, nuff said…next issue …
Just to let you know guys, we don’t have a Keith Hernandez playing first for us but to say give Kelly Johnson, Wilmer Flores or anyone who has a firstbase mitt is really insane. Like it or not Loney has to be our guy for now ! It’s not the best move but he has saved some runs with his glove since he has been here. You’re getting a veteran who has to help in the clubhouse. I’ll take his glove anyday of the week with what we have now. I wish he can only contribute with his bat a little more and I think he is going to get hot for the remaining games down the stretch, I hope !!!