This is a fairly mystifying move for pretty much everybody involved. Michael Cuddyer put up a fantastic slash line last year, .332/.376/.579. He put up a similar line in 2013, .331/.389/.530. The problem is he appeared in just 179 games over both seasons and in just 101 in 2012. He will also be 36 years old by Opening Day of 2015.
It was a bit mystifying as to why the Rockies would give Cuddyer a QO, although I suppose one season at $15.3 M is not an excessive risk. Why Cuddyer did not accept the QO is every bit as mystifying. He ended up getting just $6 M more total and spread over 2 seasons from the Mets. I suppose $21+ M is more than $15.3 M and you never know what might happen, but you have to think there was a strong chance that he would get more than $6 M in a new contract for 2016.
Now for the REALLY mystifying part. The Mets gave up a #15 overall draft pick to sign Cuddyer! Maybe the Mets are just one batter away from pulling off what the KC Royals pulled off this year, but man, it sure doesn't feel like it! Cuddyer can hit, for sure, but those slash lines from the last two years? They were put up while he played half his games in Coors Field. He is not a good defensive player except maybe at 1B. I just don't see this helping them that much. On the other hand, maybe they are planning on signing other QO FA's and were going to lose the draft pick anyway?
It looks like the Rockies gambled that 1. Cuddyer would not accept their QO and 2. He would sign with a team without a protected pick. They come out smelling like a rose!
Nice little bonus for the Giants here as they now move up to #21 in the draft order!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
If memory serves, they had a good run at some point during the 2nd half...or at least that's what Keith Hernandez had me convinced of during their broadcast. A Cuddyer, Duda, Granderson lineup does start to sound a lot more formidable. I don't think it's about competing though, it's about selling tickets and paying the electric bill.
ReplyDeleteYou hit it on the head Doc - head scratcher for sure. The Rockies surely won this exchange and the Mets, well, if they weren't already sure that they'll break the bank for another big FA, this literally makes no sense. However, as you noted, #21 instead of #22 may look small, but you just never know! I guess we can all chuckle because it's not our team... Does seem like there are some franchises out there with a lot of head scratchers over the years (Cubs come to mind) and none of them are winners...
ReplyDeleteAndy in SD
What happened to David Wright? His OPS dropped over .200.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if Wright can get healthy/get his swing back, Grandy Man does well, and they trade for Castro or Tulo, they could make make some noise in the NL East. I imagine their pen needs a lot of work too.
The Mets might have a pretty serious rotation if Matt Harvey comes back fully healthy.
DeleteI suppose losing the draft pick is ok when you're trying to make moves to compete. Cuddyer is a good professional hitter whom I'm glad the Giants won't have to face playing for a west division rival.
ReplyDeleteLG
Sabes has been kicking the tires on Torri Hunter it seems. I guess I wasn't paying attention but he had a good year last year with 33 doubles and 84 RBI's! Would have been our best player practically with those stats. We would have Hunters at the corners and a bat and a glove in LF. Oh damn I forgot... all attention towards getting Panda resigned or at least making it seem like we really want to resign him!
ReplyDeleteHunters at the corners, and a bit of a bat in LF, but no glove. Fangraphs has him as execrable in the field; his "good year" was worth 0.3 fWAR. Lots of Giants fans would also think we would have a bigot in LF, since Hunter lent his ballplayer's prestige to boost a Republican Arkansan because said Republican supported "traditional values"--gay marriage? No way! Marketing would have a fit even if Baseball Operations were to give a go-ahead, and I can't imagine that they will or should.
ReplyDeleteI'll let this one go, but let's try to not bring bring in hot button political issues into the discussions. Those get out of control really fast. But yeah, someone who is too outspoken on the right hand side of social issues might not be a great fit in SF.
DeleteI do wonder if Torii Hunter might be an adequate defender in LF. I find it hard to believe that he has descended to Morsian levels of defense in the OF.
I think Morse proved last year and Pat the Bat in 2010 that we can afford to give up a little D in left for some O. That being said, Hunter should be able to run circles around the D that those guys gave us. Almost everyone deserves a second chance and a 1-2 year deal for Hunter would be a lot less risky than going after Cruz or Melky.
DeleteAu contraire! I think Morse proved this year you cannot afford to give up so many runs on defense in LF.
DeleteThey were doing just fine for the first two months with his D and bat in LF. Most of the struggles came when he was out of the lineup. So they made the playoffs in spite of him? Why would Bochy put yet another defensively challenged LF for practically every playoff game in LF if D was that important? Seemed to work out pretty well if I'm not mistaken.
DeleteAs defensively challenged as Ishikawa was in LF, he looked like Alex Gordon in comparison to Morse. And did you notice who Bochy put out there for Game 7?
DeleteDespite all of his hitting, Morse was no better than replacement in LF as every bit of his positive WAR value came from the games he played 1B. Do you remember a game shortly after Jake Peavy arrived where 2 fairly flagrant misplays by Morse in LF ruined what had been a no-hitter up to that point and then Peavy came unraveled? Well, Peavy and Bochy are pretty tight and that was the last time we saw Morse in LF, the last! I'm guessing Peaves went into Bochy office and gave him a piece of his mind in a private conversation about Morse playing LF.
So yeah, when Morse was absolutely crushing the ball, he was barely replacement level in LF. As soon as his bat cooled off, he was way worse than that.
I could be wrong here, but I predict we will see a much better fielder manning LF next year.
I was at that Peavy game. The game was really flying along with Peavy and (RoY) DeGrom pitching really well.
DeleteDeGrom batted 8th. Guess his bat was better than EY Jr in LF. Guess that is why the Mets got Cuddyer. Yup, came back around to the main post.
Now that I think of it, there may have been a subsequent game in which Morse mangled a couple of plays early behind Peavy and Peaves got visibly upset. I do seem to remember that it was after such a game that Morse disappeared from LF, never to return.
DeleteHunter had a markedly worse defensive fWAR than Morse in 2014, and Steamer projects them as equally bad in 2015.
ReplyDeleteSince Steamer predicts a puny 1.1 WAR for Hunter in 2015, we could get an actual bat and actual glove in LF by signing Nori Aoki, who has been above 2 fWAR the last couple of years. He has no power but he is very good at what Bochy calls keeping the line moving as to his BA and OBP.
DeleteOn hot button political issues: it's easy to see why you, DrB, are wary of the savage antagonisms here, impeding our talking about baseball. But here I expressed no opinions on "traditional values." The Giants have made it their team business to be gay-friendly in San Francisco, and it seems to me absolutely germane to a discussion of baseball to say that they would avoid a player who made political spots that praised his candidate's opposition to gay marriage. I hope that caution on this blog doesn't rule out any issue, including political fervor, that bears on the Giants' marketing their team within the San Francisco community.
Negative about Aoki, he's left handed, like Blanco. Positive is that he's close to the top of the league in contact, over 90%, with low strikeout and an excellent K/BB ratio. He thus fits a type, the Panik type and Scutaro type, in which the Giants have been very interested recently. Clearly it's a type that they think has a high chance of success nowadays, perhaps generally but certainly in AT&T.
DeleteWe are trying to maintain a baseball only discussion here. I think I did say that I agree with you that a player who is too outspoken on the right hand side of social issues might not be a good fit in SF. I'd like to leave it at that.
DeleteAs for Aoki, yeah, if you are going to go with him, why not just put Blanco out there? He has been 2 fWAR or above for 3 consecutive years now. That is exactly why Blanco is so hard to upgrade on and why I predicted last year that Blanco would be the starting LF by the end of the season.
Absolutely, Blanco. I suggested Aoki because Pagan has been so fragile that the team has needed an extra high-competence outfielder. Weak-hitting Perez, weak-fielding Morse, and displaced Ishikawa have none of them filled that bill. The team can always start Blanco, keep fingers crossed as to Pagan's health, and hope that Mac Williamson will be ready to be called up from Richmond or Sacramento around August 1, as some writers have foreseen happening. I wouldn't be sad to see that.
DeleteI have cautiously high hopes that at least one out of Williamson, Carbonell and Horan turns into an everyday OF for the Giants by 2016.
DeleteHunter probably goes back to Minnesota. Perfect.
ReplyDelete