In Goes Frazier!

[seawolf17]

[tweet:3elbrv0w]

[/tweet:3elbrv0w]

[Edgy MD]

Whoah!

[seawolf17]

That seems like a *very* reasonable deal.

[nymr83]

WHAM!

I like the deal a lot.

he'll be 32 this year which would worry me for a speed guy who plays middle infield, not a power/walks guy who plays a corner spot. 2 years at a pretty cheap rate per year. reasonable defender at 3B

this is better than the Bruce deal even!

[Edgy MD]

Go get Joey Votto and let's complete the rebuild of the Dusty Baker-era Reds.

[seawolf17]

Edgy MD wrote: Go get Joey Votto and let's complete the rebuild of the Dusty Baker-era Reds.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Go get Joey Votto and let's complete the rebuild of the Dusty Baker-era Reds.

I'd rather Big Red Machine-type Reds so we wouldn't have to look at Dusty Baker spit sunflower seeds in those closeups, but I'll take some of that era's Reds mojo.
Later

[Guest 41Forever]

Yeah!

So does this mean Cabrera plays second and Wilmer and Reyes are subs?

[nymr83]

41Forever wrote: Yeah! So does this mean Cabrera plays second and Wilmer and Reyes are subs?

I would think Wilmer is 1B against lefties.

Reyes to the bench.

[Frayed Knot]

So let's see here:
- mgmt is admitting that they're not counting on Wright -- Good
- not signed to a long term deal -- Good
- another low-BA/high-K/high-power addition to the lineup -- mixed at best
- solves the 3B vacancy & the 2B one as well which is where Asdrubal recently said he'd prefer to play -- Good
- Wilmer platoons with Smith -- Good, at least we hope so
- aging but not yet old -- if not Good then at least not yet Bad
- local kid but also MFY connections both recent and from childhood -- more bad than good but largely irrelevant

So definitely a positive grade overall

[nymr83]

Mets need to hand-deliver a jersey and get some photos of him on a baseball field ASAP so we can stop seeing hideous yankee pinstripes in the news articles.

[Edgy MD]

On the other hand, if they can drag their feet on finalizing the deal and getting him medically cleared for another nine days, they can avoid having to DFA a guy.

[Zvon]

I'm gonna have to like this deal/move.

Yep, I'm having a problem breaking off with David, but it's much better to be prepared. And, to me, this indicates that Wright's tenure is more than likely coming to an end. But I guess we all knew that.

And so it goes.

[nymr83]

Relying on David Wright, who has played 75 games over the last three years, none last year, and hasn't had a really healthy season since 2012 would be really bad planning.

Forget him. He isn't here.

If he shows up later, you figure it out then. Frazier can play 1B. Maybe Wright can too. Flores can move to 2B with Cabrera to SS if Rosario isn't hitting, Smith can be sent down. the Mets infield isn't full of veterans without options or position flexibility. the Mets have many different viable combinations around the diamond depending on who is performing.

[Fman99]

Reasonable rate to get him for 2 years/17 mil. Got a lot of guys in this lineup who could potentially hit .235, though, and that makes me nervous.

[Edgy MD]

It was fated to be.

[nymr83]

Wow!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well. Well, well.

Even with a diminished bat, he was worth 5.5-6 WAR over the last two years, and can fill holes at third or first. Even if you’re a believer in Wilmer... he doesn’t make Flores redundant; he doubles Flores.

AND with the savings, perhaps you go Cobb-ling?

[Mex17]

Frayed Knot wrote: - Wilmer platoons with Gonzalez -- Good, at least we hope so

Fixed.

[Mex17]

In the Post article that I read, Callaway claims that Frazier was becoming more selective later in the season and stopped chasing as much (Callaway would know this since, as pitching coach for Cleveland, he was advance scouting the Yankees lineup in anticipation of the postseason). Frazier's September splits corroborate this to a pretty significant degree by revealing a .229/.389/.529/.918 slash line for that month. So let's keep our fingers crossed.

[bmfc1]

Fangraphs makes the same point, late in the column:

After having never once produced a double-digit walk rate in his career, Frazier posted a 14.4% mark last season while also cutting his strikeout rate by three percentage points (21.7%). It was the sixth-best walk rate in the game amongst qualified hitters. Frazier cut his out-of-zone swing rate by a whopping eight percentage points to a career-low 24.5% in 2017, and his swing rate fell to a career-low 58.6%, down from 72.6% in 2015. His swinging-strike rate fell to 9.3%, another career low.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mets-add-todd-frazier-at-bargain-price/

[duan]

There's not a lot to dislike here!
Strange how that's the first immediate instinct isn't it - to check what's wrong.

He's by no means one of the best players in baseball, but as a piece to improve the offense he's a decent one without any long term fears.

[Lefty Specialist]

It's a definite improvement. He just better not hit .213 again. This is basically sayonara to Wright, not that I ever expected him to come back.

Lots of jangly pieces on this roster- Cabrera, Reyes, Flores, Gonzales. Hope Callaway finds a way to make everything fit.

[Valadius]

Good stuff.

Start prepping for David Wright Day at Citi this summer.

[Edgy MD]

If he's already brought duan back, the deal pays for itself.

[Ceetar]

They'll find room for David to get 50 games in if he can. Don't get too attached to Jose Reyes or Wilmer Flores.

[seawolf17]

Flores becomes an interesting trade chip, actually. I could see him somewhere hitting 30 home runs in 2019 and us being like OMG WHAT DID WE DO.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't know much about Todd Frazier, but lately I've been hearing a lotta good things. (He's much like Frederick Douglass in that regard.)

I know we're not supposed to care about batting average anymore, but jeez, .213? The 27 homers and 83 walks helps make that look not so bad.

But yeah, the wrighting has to be on the wall for David. It's a shame about him, but this move does appear to make the team better, and that's what we all want. This also means that we can stop talking about Neil Walker and Josh Harrison and Eduardo Nunez.

[Centerfield]

Spent the night trying to convince myself of this move, but the more I think about it, I'm not crazy about it. I mean, it's not a bad move. $8.5/per, 2 year commitment for Frazier is a great deal, and signing him certainly beats not doing anything, but more and more I just don't like the philosophy behind this roster construction.

I mean, Todd Frazier is kinda like Jay Bruce. A good, but not great player. Makes some money but doesn't kill you. And despite landing both of them at reasonable deals, no one realistically believes we can compete with the Nationals.

The Mets spent $6 million (net of the buyout) on Cabrera. $13 million on Bruce, $8.5 million on Frazier, $2.5 million on Reyes. That's $30 million. And there's some pretty good bang for your buck type deals in there. But another way to spend that money is $25 million on JD Martinez, then fill in the infield with Flores/Rivera/Cecchini/Phil Evans. Maybe call up Guillorme for IF Defense.

Similarly, the Mets have Ramos making $10 million and Swarzak signed at $7 million. Is that necessarily better than Wade Davis at $17.5 million?

And I get that the years committed is a huge factor and it's not apples to apples. But if you're going to go for it, then fuck, bring in some star players and go for it.

The obvious answer here is increase payroll, and sign JD Martinez AND Todd Frazier. Sign Swarzak AND Wade Davis. But that's a story for another thread.

[Ceetar]

They've praised Frazier's adjustments last year. Plus his BABIP has been crazy low the last two. If he's truly learned how to walk and can build on that with the new team, he'll be good.

Plus he plays defense. In that regard, he's much better than Bruce, who is _just_ a slugger.

So does Rosario. Smith has been at least reasonably well regarded there and if Gonzalez is good enough to actually play he's a fine 1B as well. But just Rosario and Frazier over last year probably saves a half dozen earned runs per starter.