Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Mike Cameron out, potential for mispronunciation in
The Mets have opened up a spot in their outfield and at the same time acquired Xavier Nady. Two things should be obvious. The first is that Mike Cameron is a better offensive player than Nady. In every season in which Nady has played more than one major league game, both his on base and slugging percentages have been lower than those of Cameron. And it's never really been all that close. This past season Nady hit .261/.321/.439 compared to Cameron's .273/.342/.477. The second obvious thing is that Cameron is a better defensive player than Nady. Even though he is certainly past his prime, Cameron is a two-time Gold Glove winning center fielder. Nady played forty-four games at first base last year. So what sense can we make of this trade?
Well, there were certainly some factors preventing the Mets from getting full value out of a trade involving Cameron. The gruesome injury that ended his season raises questions about his ability to play like his old self in 2006. A team trading for Cameron couldn't be sure of exactly what they were getting. And Cameron has more value to a team that can play him in center field than he does to the Mets. He does not hit like a right fielder and his ability to contribute defensively is diminished by being stationed to Carlos Beltran's left. Still, none of this quite explains the Mets ditching Cameron in favor of an inferior player, so what does Nady have going for him?
He is younger than Cameron by nearly six years. This would be more useful if the Mets had Cameron under contract for more than one year or Nady was the sort of player you'd like to have on your team for a few years, but it is a point in his favor in any case. Cameron's injury only exacerbates the concerns about his decline as he nears his thirty-third birthday. His OBP was up this year due to the highest batting average of his career, but his ISO (SLG minus BA) was down for the third straight year. A repeat of his 2005 rate stats wouldn't be bad for a center fielder, but he was even less likely to be the Mets' starting CF than he is to miraculously stave off the ravages of age. Nady once seemed like a somewhat promising young outfielder, but he turned twenty-seven on Monday. Chances are very high that whatever he has to offer, he's already shown us. I suppose he's got more breakout potential than someone like, say, Kris Benson, but that's not saying much.
The other advantage Nady presents over Cameron is that he'll cost the Mets about six million dollars less. That would be more useful if the Mets were the Oakland Athletics, but still, it's something. Nady is basically a cheap guy who can play any corner position if you really need him to, but hopefully you won't, because he doesn't hit well enough to start at any of them. Yes, he hit better than the average Mets first baseman in 2004, but that is really not that impressive.
So, in the end, the Mets have six million bucks to play with and a hole in their lineup where a right fielder should be. If all else fails, they can plug it with Victor Diaz, but I doubt that's the plan. This move only makes sense as a prelude to another move. Whether this means the Mets are going to take a run at Brian Giles or package Nady in a trade for something useful (or do both), we'll need a little more information before we can fairly judge this move. But right now, it doesn't look too good.
On an unrelated note, this is about the best summary of the 2005 Mets season that I've seen. If anyone reading this can read Korean and would like to translate it for me, I would greatly appreciate it. But I can hardly imagine how the words could top the brilliance of the pictures. ¶ joe | 10:23 PM |
The Mets have opened up a spot in their outfield and at the same time acquired Xavier Nady. Two things should be obvious. The first is that Mike Cameron is a better offensive player than Nady. In every season in which Nady has played more than one major league game, both his on base and slugging percentages have been lower than those of Cameron. And it's never really been all that close. This past season Nady hit .261/.321/.439 compared to Cameron's .273/.342/.477. The second obvious thing is that Cameron is a better defensive player than Nady. Even though he is certainly past his prime, Cameron is a two-time Gold Glove winning center fielder. Nady played forty-four games at first base last year. So what sense can we make of this trade?
Well, there were certainly some factors preventing the Mets from getting full value out of a trade involving Cameron. The gruesome injury that ended his season raises questions about his ability to play like his old self in 2006. A team trading for Cameron couldn't be sure of exactly what they were getting. And Cameron has more value to a team that can play him in center field than he does to the Mets. He does not hit like a right fielder and his ability to contribute defensively is diminished by being stationed to Carlos Beltran's left. Still, none of this quite explains the Mets ditching Cameron in favor of an inferior player, so what does Nady have going for him?
He is younger than Cameron by nearly six years. This would be more useful if the Mets had Cameron under contract for more than one year or Nady was the sort of player you'd like to have on your team for a few years, but it is a point in his favor in any case. Cameron's injury only exacerbates the concerns about his decline as he nears his thirty-third birthday. His OBP was up this year due to the highest batting average of his career, but his ISO (SLG minus BA) was down for the third straight year. A repeat of his 2005 rate stats wouldn't be bad for a center fielder, but he was even less likely to be the Mets' starting CF than he is to miraculously stave off the ravages of age. Nady once seemed like a somewhat promising young outfielder, but he turned twenty-seven on Monday. Chances are very high that whatever he has to offer, he's already shown us. I suppose he's got more breakout potential than someone like, say, Kris Benson, but that's not saying much.
The other advantage Nady presents over Cameron is that he'll cost the Mets about six million dollars less. That would be more useful if the Mets were the Oakland Athletics, but still, it's something. Nady is basically a cheap guy who can play any corner position if you really need him to, but hopefully you won't, because he doesn't hit well enough to start at any of them. Yes, he hit better than the average Mets first baseman in 2004, but that is really not that impressive.
So, in the end, the Mets have six million bucks to play with and a hole in their lineup where a right fielder should be. If all else fails, they can plug it with Victor Diaz, but I doubt that's the plan. This move only makes sense as a prelude to another move. Whether this means the Mets are going to take a run at Brian Giles or package Nady in a trade for something useful (or do both), we'll need a little more information before we can fairly judge this move. But right now, it doesn't look too good.
On an unrelated note, this is about the best summary of the 2005 Mets season that I've seen. If anyone reading this can read Korean and would like to translate it for me, I would greatly appreciate it. But I can hardly imagine how the words could top the brilliance of the pictures. ¶ joe | 10:23 PM |
