Centerfield

[Centerfield]

So now what.



I guess I would ask the Brewers about Cain.



I could also live with Juan Lagares until the Marlins fall out of it and make Marte available.



I think Bradley is a waste of money.

[batmagadanleadoff]

All I knowldg6 is that I'm so gLsd the Mets didntv6sign Realmuyo because otyerwisez they wouodnt have been abkento trade for Lindor. So maybe we should give Lindoe bacon so we could get a centerfuekder.



I'm sick and tired of correcting everything I type of my smartphone.

[whippoorwill]

Lol I hope London likes bacon

[smg58]

Bradley did appear to modify his approach at the plate last season (higher walk rate, lower K rate) with favorable results, plus his best season came with Chili Davis as his hitting instructor and he's still a solid fielder. I'd have much preferred Springer, but I'm not against Bradley at this point.

[bmfc1]

Yes, there has been a lot of Jackie Bradley, Jr. speculation.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jackie-bradley-jr/12984/stats?position=OFhttps://www.fangraphs.com/players/jackie-bradley-jr/12984/stats?position=OF

Look at his D-WAR!!! Also, it appears that he has trouble hitting righties which is a concern on a team that leans left (not a political comment).

There are interesting comments here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Bradley_Jr.#2018https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Bradley_Jr.#2018



Interesting point, smg58 about his success w/Davis.



Some speculation about trading for Lorenzo Cain:

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/lorenzo-cain/9077/stats?position=OFhttps://www.fangraphs.com/players/lorenzo-cain/9077/stats?position=OF

[Chad ochoseis]

I just wanted to acknowledge what is probably the first ever eponymous thread in the CPF.



I'm in the minority here, but I'm fine with continuing to run Nimmo out there with a defensive specialist on the bench for late innings. I know what the defensive metrics say, but defensive metrics aren't as clear cut as offensive metrics, and my lying eyes can't think of any particular plays that Nimmo missed that made me say "jeezus, a competent centerfuekder would have gotten that!"

[Frayed Knot]

If you sign a JBJ or Almora type it would be with the idea that he'd be a part timer/defensive replacement which would allow both Nimmo and Dom to get their ABs in where as one or both would have lost time if Springer signed. And, make no mistake, the defense you'd get from Cain/Almora/Bradley will be far above whatever you'd get from Nimmo OR Springer. One of those guys wouldn't really be a replacement for Springer,, more like a different approach to filling the same hole.

[Edgy MD]

Well, he may be easily forgotten, but the Mets already have Guillermo Heredia to be that guy.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't really have a feel for how the Mets outfield will look this year.



Let's say there's no DH, and no more moves. Does that mean (left to right) Smith, Nimmo, Conforto?



And if there is a DH? Maybe McNeil, Nimmo, Conforto, with Guillorme at second base? Am I overlooking anyone?

[Edgy MD]

Currently, it's Smiff, Nimmo, Conforto, with Guillermo Heredia and Mallex Smith in reserve.



And infielders J.D. Davis and McNeil certainly still available for outfield duty.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I just like saying Jackie Bradley Junior. JBJ. Sounds like a ballplayer or a flyweight boxer or a soul singer. Love it. JBJ. LGM. YGB. JBJ.

[Edgy MD]

And José Martinez may have already displaced Mallex on the depth chart.



Jackie Bradley Jr. to me sounds like the comic opening the late show for Steve and Edie at the Sahara.

[dinosaur jesus]

Edgy MD wrote: And José Martinez may have already displaced Mallex on the depth chart. Jackie Bradley Jr. to me sounds like the comic opening the late show for Steve and Edie at the Sahara.

You may be thinking of Jackie Rogers Jr.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It definitely sounds more like a showbiz name than a sports name.

[Frayed Knot]

Like Buddy Young Jr.



[FIMG=250]http://www.needcoffee.com/html/dvd/images/msnight0.jpg[/FIMG]

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Steve J. Rogers Jr.: Gadfly social media influencer and sports personality

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm disappointed they didn't get Springer. Cheap-ass Cohens. STOP- JUST KIDDING!

[nymr83]

Chad ochoseis wrote: ...and my lying eyes can't think of any particular plays that Nimmo missed that made me say "jeezus, a competent centerfuekder would have gotten that!"

This is the DEREK JETER defense.

[Chad ochoseis]

Chad ochoseis wrote: ...and my lying eyes can't think of any particular plays that Nimmo missed that made me say "jeezus, a competent centerfuekder would have gotten that!" This is the DEREK JETER defense.

Must...resist... arguing...on...internet...



Oh, screw it. That's absolute nonsense. The "Derek Jeter defense" is this: "I know his stats are weak, and I've seen him play and he has no agility whatsoever and lacks the basic tools to play short, but he plays hard and is a leader and makes his team better just by his very jeterly jeterness." The "Derek Jeter defense" is as bad as, well, Derek Jeter's defense.



What I've said is that I've seen Nimmo play and although it's clear he's not the second coming of Carlos Beltran, I don't see the same pathetic skills of, say, Daniel Murphy in left field (or even second base). I'm no baseball expert; I never even played Little League. So I may be wrong.



I do know a hell of a lot about statistics. I've had a career in the field for 27 1/2 years and counting. Statistics are useful and valuable tools. But deifying statistics is as wrongheaded as ignoring them, particularly when you're looking at a field as newly developed as defensive metrics.



Defensive measurements are the Amed Rosario of sabermetrics. They're new. They're raw. They're still young. They have a lot of potential, and if we stick with them they'll probably be great down the road, but right now they haven't proved a whole lot consistently and I wouldn't depend on them to carry a whole argument on their own.

[Fman99]

dinosaur jesus wrote: Edgy MD wrote: And José Martinez may have already displaced Mallex on the depth chart. Jackie Bradley Jr. to me sounds like the comic opening the late show for Steve and Edie at the Sahara. You may be thinking of Jackie Rogers Jr.

I always think of this in my brain every time JBJ comes up in conversation.

[bmfc1]

Deesha says that the Mets are looking closely at Albert ("That's") Almora. (Did the Wilpons recapture the team?)

[bLOCKQUOTE]Two years removed from his MLB debut during Chicago's 2016 championship run, Almora played a career-high 918.1 innings in center and posted a 10 DRS (defensive runs saved) in 2018, tied with Billy Hamilton for third-best in MLB among qualified center fielders, according to FanGraphs. His 10 OAA (outs above average) that year was sixth-best in the league, complemented by a 3.4 defensive fWAR (wins above replacement).

When Almora is playing regularly, he's a defensive-first center fielder who could drastically improve the Mets' -5 center field DRS and overall -22 DRS in 2020, the latter of which was fifth-worst in MLB. He can be a fourth outfielder with Brandon Nimmo sliding over to left field and Dominic Smith either playing first base or hitting DH.

But it's hard to imagine Almora getting regular playing time with the numbers he's put up offensively. His OPS has dipped every year since his debut in 2016, culminating in an awful .465 OPS and 29 OPS+ over 28 games and 30 at-bats in 2020. His strikeout rate even jumped from 17.1% to 26.5% last season. Though last year's small sample size — and generally weird pandemic-impacted 60-game season — is hardly a good indicator of Almora's plate performance, he has a career .707 OPS and .271/.309/.398 slashline — numbers that are slightly better than Juan Lagares.[/bLOCKQUOTE]

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-center-field-options-20210121-d6nr447bavfhflbr44sd74pr4m-story.htmlhttps://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-center-field-options-20210121-d6nr447bavfhflbr44sd74pr4m-story.html

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/albert-almora-jr/14109/stats?position=OFhttps://www.fangraphs.com/players/albert-almora-jr/14109/stats?position=OF

[ashie62]

Almora? NOOOOO

[Frayed Knot]

Chad ochoseis wrote: What I've said is that I've seen Nimmo play and although it's clear he's not the second coming of Carlos Beltran, I don't see the same pathetic skills of, say, Daniel Murphy in left field (or even second base). I'm no baseball expert; I never even played Little League. So I may be wrong.

"Pathetic" is too strong a word for it but, yeah, there have been enough balls that Nimmo hasn't reached that I believe most CFs would have gotten to most of the time.

It's not bad athletics but more just the occasional bad route, bad jump, of missed first steps in a position where you'd want to put your guy who's the best in that kind of stuff.

Ideally Nimmo is a LF'er (he also has an LF's arm) but less than ideally he's often had an even-less-good fielder already over there (Dom, JDD, McNeil) so that's not an option.



Can you live with his defense in CF? ... yeah, if he's putting up near-.400 OBAs. Signing Springer would have allowed him to move over but then someone loses time in the

shuffle. Almora or JBJ have been starters during parts of their careers but (barring injuries) don't figure to be that here. It becomes just a different way to fill the same hole:

much less offense than Springer but off-set by a better (part-time) glove and significantly more ABs for Dom/Nimmo/Davis and without the fear of hitching yourself to an

expensive six year deal where you wind up paying someone in his 30s based on the production he gave some other team while in his 20s



And, yeah, even the most ardent stat hounds acknowledge the less than exact nature of defensive metrics. They're getting there but are still less dependable than what we've

come to expect from those on the offensive side of the game.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: ... without the fear of hitching yourself to an expensive six year deal where you wind up paying someone in his 30s based on the production he gave some other team while in his 20s

So when that time comes, you dump him and eat the salary. That's what the Dodgers are doing. That's what the Yankees always do and they haven't had a losing record in 30 years. 30!. That's the advantage of having more money than just about everybody else.



I can live without Springer on the Mets. Lindor was the best catch anyways, by far. And the upgrade from Amed and Gimenez to Lindor will be bigger than the upgrade from whoever would've been the odd man out from acquiring Springer to Springer himself. Springer won't be the same player at the end of his contract that he is today and he might not be able to play center well before he gets to the end of his new contract. And Lindor's a better player than Springer right now, as we speak. And write. And while we might not have yet seen the best of Lindor, we likely have already seen the best of Springer. Springer will decline. So will Lindor, eventually, but probably not before he gets better than he already is.



What annoys the shit out of me though, is this apparent line in the sand drawn at the luxury tax. Oooooh! The luxury tax.

[nymr83]

I still think the luxury tax is a fake line. A negotiating tactic sort of line.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I still think the luxury tax is a fake line. A negotiating tactic sort of line.

I agree. I can't believe that someone as wealthy as Steve Cohen would be so concerned about a $75 charge.



https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/66/dd/d266dd4788fbd6076dfec3974844f90e.jpg>

[nymr83]

That is probably exactly how he really sees it too. Of course he isnt going to say so, he would rather tell agents "oh man we really love your guy but you gotta understand every dollar we give you is really $1.25 to us..."

[batmagadanleadoff]

=nymr83 post_id=54634 time=1611369515 user_id=54]
I still think the luxury tax is a fake line. A negotiating tactic sort of line.

[Frayed Knot]

That's assuming that the luxury tax was the reason for no Springer signing.

Maybe it was just that Steve & Sandy thought a player turning 32 this year was worth a $125 million risk over the next six years but not worth $150

There is always a price at which you need to be willing to walk away.





As far as the luxury tax itself goes, I personally have zero rooting interest in whether Uncle Stevie chooses to go over it or not.

That's up to him and his accountants.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: That's up to him and his accountants.

Doesn't mean that as a fan, you can't root for or against. It's also up to Cohen and his accountants whether or not to set the budget at $90M, as it would be up to the owner of any baseball team and his accountants whether or not to set the budget at $90M. Or $200M. Or $250M