It's not like left field has been pretty either

[Guest Edgy DC]

It struck me today in thinking about right field that the Mets haven't gotten too many seasons out of leftfielders in recent history that can be fairly termed complete.

Personally I think it's defensible to not treat the corners as a high priority, as the supply of decent major league hitters who can play corner outfield is not tight, but the Mets have run through their share of failures while coming up with decent fill-in jobs from an Agbayani, a Valent, or a Tatis.

Year	Opening Day Dude	Games in LF	What Happened	Most Prolific Dude	Games in LF
2010	Jason Bay	93	Concussion on top of a slumpy season.	Jason Bay	93
2009	Daniel Murphy	27	Played his way out of the job with bad defense.	Gary Sheffield	46
2008	Angel Pagan	21	Was just playing there in place of Moises Alou, who missed the start of the season after hernia surgery. Pagan would himself end his season with a spectacular play running into the wall (I think in Dodger Stadium) to catch a foul ball.	Fernando Tatis	51
2007	Moises Alou	84	Knocked out from May until August with a torn quadracep.	Moises Alou.	84
2006	Cliff Floyd	92	Sprained ankle and achillies tendonitis.	Cliff Floyd	92
2005	Cliff Floyd	150	Nothing!	Cliff Floyd	150
2004	Cliff Floyd	106	Strained right quad.	Cliff Floyd	106
2003	Cliff Floyd	95	Achilles tendon soreness.	Cliff Floyd	95
2002	Roger Cede�o	132	Hung in there, but played very poorly on defense.	Roger Cede�o	132
2001	Benny Agbayani	84	Slumped his way out of everyday status.	Benny Agbayani	84
2000	Rickey Henderson	29	Productivity deflated and attitude inflated.	Benny Agbayani	102

That's two complete seasons, and the Cede�o one is hard to term a success. The tough part ist hat they've failed even when they have treated the positions as a priority --- with Floyd, Alou, and Bay. Maybe a key is that, when you do get a solid fill-in season, don't bank too optimistically on a repeat from the same guy. You like to think the Agbayanis can hold the fort while you develop the guy you really want there, but development hasn't happened for the corner outfielders either. Not since the calendar stopped starting with 19.

[Ceetar]

Well, I think they started with the not a high priority thing. Alou wasn't exactly making billions and was a one year deal. They've actually run through dozens of corner outfielders of various failure and injury even on the backup front from Ben Johnson and David Newhan to shawn Green.

I think Bay was an attempt to identify a longer term solution that would be semi-complete and satisfying. We will probably get there next year. you'd hope. It'll be interesting though. Assuming that guys that are here are here, both corner positions are pretty set next year in Bay and Pagan. Not that anything ever seems to work out as it's assumed.

[Gwreck]

Alou was a 1 year deal with an option. In 2007, when he was on the field, he was fantastic. .916 OPS in 360 plate appearances.

They then exercised the option for 2008 and got a grand total of 54 PAs that year.

[ashie62]

"Bay, concussion on top of a slumpy season" That almost seems kind.

I didn't realize what a black hole LF had been for the decade. To think that Bay was the cure for this. I guess he still may be, but it is hard to feel it.

This is off topic but in the OF I find myself wondering when the Mets go all in and throw Fernando Martinez into the deep end of the pool or wish him well in another organization. I know he is young but I don't see that much more time in the minors will benefit him.

[Ceetar]

Ashie62 wrote: This is off topic but in the OF I find myself wondering when the Mets go all in and throw Fernando Martinez into the deep end of the pool or wish him well in another organization. I know he is young but I don't see that much more time in the minors will benefit him.

Eh, in the "long term solution in the outfield" it does sorta fit the topic.

I don't think players need to dominate the minors before being 'ready'. I'm not willing to roll with F-Mart right now (Bay-Beltran-Pagan atm anyway) as I think the Mets need to be a little more serious than that. Unless we're somehow sure Ike will have a good year and we're not going with a hole like Tejada at 2B I don't think the Mets should roll the dice with another rookie. Martinez will definitely be part of the 'creative' problems the Mets have this offseason involving how to treat the outfield(ers).

[Guest Edgy DC]

I didn't mean to imply it was a black hole. More that things haven't regularly worked out.