Justin Turner and the competitive lineup of ex-Mets

As we all know the Met roster has undergone quite a shake up, and a lot of familiar faces are gone. Let’s see what kind of lineup we could field from these ex-Mets. Rules are simple, players must have been in the Met’s organization within the past three years, and are now employed by another MLB team.

1b…Lucas Duda. The long time Met is now the first sacker for the Tampa Bay Rays, having been acquired at the end of July. His slash line for the Rays is an odd .186/.293/.486, with 12 homeruns in his 43 games. That’s a horrible BA, but Duda has hit for power.

2b…Daniel Murphy. After leading the Mets into the 2015 World Series, the Mets did not offer a multi-year contract to him. He then took his talents to Washington and nearly won the MVP award last year. He is playing almost as well this season with a slash line of .318/.379/.538 and 22 home runs in 134 games for the division-leading Nats. He was selected as a starter for the NL All-Star team this season.

SS…Justin Turner. Okay, he’s a third baseman, but he has played short in the majors at times. He was not tendered an offer by the Mets after the 2014 season and he then signed a deal with the Dodgers. He’s now well established in LA, and he is an MVP contender this year. His slash line for 2017 is .323/.416/.535 with 20 HR in 121 games, and he made the All-Star team.

3b…Neil Walker. The switch-hitter was dealt to the Brewers in August. He has produced at a .268/.406/.488 rate with four home runs in 27 games, helping keep Milwaukee alive in the battle for the Central Division.

LF…Curtis Granderson. Granderson has had a rough go of it with the Dodgers, with an anemic stat line of .113/.268/.263 and 4 homers in 25 games. He cleared waivers in August and the Dodgers nabbed him.

CF…Alejandro De Aza. De Aza spent one year with the Mets and his contract was not picked up after 2016. He managed to catch on with Washington and has hit .149/.176/.234 in 21 games, he’s probably not going to make the postseason roster.

RF… Jay Bruce. Bruce has been a key piece in Cleveland’s success this year as they run away with the AL Central Division title. Bruce was dealt in August, and his slash line for the Indians is .253/.328/.467 with 5 home runs in 31 games. He seemed to be making clutch hit after clutch hit during the Indians’ epic 22 game winning streak.

C….Rene Rivera. He was sent to the Cubs in August for just the waiver price. The Cubs needed a backup catcher and Rivera has filled the bill. In 15 games for the Cubbies he has a slash line of .343/.410/.543 with one home run. This level of production is not sustainable for him and is far above his career norms, but he has been very useful as the Cubs fight to win the NL Central.

SP… Michael Fulmer. Fulmer was a top Met prospect who was part of the haul the Tigers got for sending Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets at the trade deadline in 2015. He was ROY in 2016. This season has ended for him via injury, but he did pitch 164.2 innings with 114 strikeouts and a 3.83 ERA. He did make the All-Star team this year.

RP…Addison Reed. Reed was the Met closer for a good part of this year, before being dealt to the Red Sox on July 31 for three minor league pitchers. He has pitched in 21 games for Boston with an ERA of 4.34, he has racked up 21 strikeouts in 18.2 IP.

With the notable exception of the Fulmer trade fetching Cespedes, most of these trades have yielded minor league relief pitchers and salary relief for the Mets.

Looking at the lineup that could be created from the ex-Mets, it’s definitely a mixed bag. The lineup is very strong in the middle of the order with Murphy, Turner and Bruce. The bottom of the order would be weak with Granderson and De Aza. Still would have to say this imaginary lineup is better than a fair amount of MLB lineups this year, including the ones the Mets have been fielding recently.