2nd Base 2011: Who do you WANT it to be?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Who would you like to see at second base for the Mets next year?


(Separate thread for predictions is here)

[MFS62]

I want it to be Reese Havens. From what I've seen as his progress, he has the biggestupside. Only his health is standing in his way. But that has been a big problem.
So, I would be OK with Turner, very OK.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

I like a lot of these guys for different reasons, and dislike them for other reasons. I'll throw a dart at the picture of Justin Turner, who may have a little Wiggnton-Keppinger DNA of overloooked dudes not taken seriously by anybody until they were the only option left for somebody and started slugging like nobody's business.

Fun Turner fact: with his 1-for-8 as a Met and his oh-for-9 as an Oriole, he completes 2010 with a Dudarian .059 batting average.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This was a tricky one. I voted Turner mainly because I'd like to see Tejada spend more time at Buffalo learning how to hit. I was tempted to vote for Murphy, because I'd like to see him get recovered and back on track, but I don't think he'll be doing it as a second baseman. I'd also like to see Castillo earn his salary next year, but maybe his time has passed. So I voted for Turner. He had a good season at Buffalo, so let's see what he can do.

[Guest Edgy DC]

MFS62 wrote: Only his health is standing in his way. But that has been a big problem.

And, related, is his utter lack of experience in the high minors, with only 75 trips to the plate above A ball.

He may see Flushing in 2011, but it's hard to see a scenario where he starts there.

[smg58]

Turner has nothing left to prove in the minors. I don't think that Havens and Tejada can say that. I think we have enough in-system depth at the position to justify not bringing somebody in right away. If it's June, we're in it, and we can do better at the position, we can go shopping then (provided all our spending money isn't already tied up).

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: Fun Turner fact: with his 1-for-8 as a Met and his oh-for-9 as an Oriole, he completes 2010 with a Dudarian .059 batting average.

Dude, uh... that's a Double Duda.

[metirish]

Tejada , I really think with another Spring training under his belt he will be fine. Will the likes of him be sent to winter ball ?, is that good or bad for his development , maybe he needs a blow after this season.

[ashie62]

I'm ordering a Ruben.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wait, didn't you last have him as the 2011 shortstop?

[Vic Sage]

i'm not feeling any love for Tejada.
Has he done anything in the majors to indicate that the .696 OPS he put up in the minors over the course of 1500 or so minor league ABs at 4 different levels was an anomoly?
Sure, he might hit a punchless .270 while striking out a bunch, and he might steal 20 bases, but that's his upside and he's nowhere near that yet. And sure, he's only 21, so if he actually produces a significant minor league season, we can talk. But the notion that he's our leading candidate for 2b is sad to me. Even as a SS, his production would be mediocre at best, and that's only if he reaches his potential.

i guess i'm missing something.

Turner is 25 and has hit .300 with some xbh pop and a few SBs at every level, accumulating a career .815 OPS over 1900 minor league ABs. He's got nothing left to prove. In fact, his numbers are comparable, and a bit better, than "slugger" daniel murphy. except Turner is clearly able to play the middle infield.

Did he run over somebody's dog, or something?

Edited September 15, 2010 by Guest

[seawolf17]

Want? Ryne Sandberg, circa 1984.

Expect? Ryne Sandberg, circa 2011.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I had to look up this Justin Turner character and now am an expert. His #'s probably indicate the best chance of 'better than good' performance of the dudes listed above. Don't think Havens has shown he can do it over an extended period of time, so he'd have to wow the new skip with a helluva spring or give some great HJ's to win that spot. I'm not 'into' Tejada.

Justin Turner Overdrive.

[Vic Sage]

With Tejada, if everything goes right, and he learns how to take a walk, he's a poor man's Castillo. If it goes wrong, he's Jose Lind.
Turner has some legit thump, and is much readier to play right now.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Actually, I think you can see some upside for Tejada if you consider a pretty strong walk rate at his age, along with some confidence that he'll adjust to better pitching (which I think he did by the end of the year). No, he's not gonna be an offensive star, but a strong glove and some Castillo-ness ain't a bad thing, especially if you're 22 years old.

I think we have too many internal options at 2B, and too many issues elsewhere, that we can afford to go with some combo of Tejada/Muffy/Turner/etc until Havens is ready to rock.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Reese Havens is the best name for a major league secondbaseman since Chase Utley.

Of course, Kirk Presley was a great name for a major league thirdbaseman.

[Vic Sage]

I think we have too many internal options at 2B...

yeah, but none of them are very good options.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Vic Sage wrote: I think we have too many internal options at 2B... yeah, but none of them are very good options.

And none are so bad, or so far away, that you'd have to move talent or $$ to get a guy just to get through 2011.

[Vic Sage]

lets agree to disagree...

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Vic Sage wrote: lets agree to disagree...

I disagree.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Vic Sage wrote: I think we have too many internal options at 2B... yeah, but none of them are very good options. And none are so bad, or so far away, that you'd have to move talent or $$ to get a guy just to get through 2011.

Course, it could be that if you do move talent or $$ to get a guy, you're not just getting through 2011, but competing for a playoff spot.

Not that I think the Mets are only a second baseman away from competing, but they're probably not that far from the 88-90 wins they'd need to compete, and second base is the most obvious (and probably easiest) spot to upgrade, seeing as the team got absolutely atrocious production from the position last year.

They could definitely improve the position short-term without hurting their long-term plans.

[Guest Edgy DC]

How? Trading means you're giving up something somewhere.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Edgy DC wrote: How? Trading means you're giving up something somewhere.

Well, free agency would be one option. Another would be to trade for someone who would be your long term plan at second.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The thing is... the high-minors internal options we've got are also plenty versatile (1B-LF-3B? Murphy, SS-3B Turner, SS Tejada) so they'd have bench-value even if they proved not-so-startable (or not-so-startable-at-the-moment).

Unlike the differences for a hitter (not as many good breaking balls; consistent fastball command and/or superlative velocity from nearly everybody), it's been shown that defensive differences between the high minors and the majors are pretty minimal-- if you can turn a DP at AA, you can do the same at CBP or AT&T. So... if Murphy can handle the glove in winter league/early in the season (maybe he starts at AA or AAA, wherever Havens ain't), he can start at Citi.

Or... assuming the glove's not embarrassing, how about a Turner-Murphy sorta-platoon?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Well, one possibility would be to sign Orlando Hudson to a two-year deal. They don't give up anybody in a trade, and they give themselves two years to cultivate Hudson's replacement, who could very well be Tejada.

[ashie62]

Kirk Presley was a pitcher.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah it was Jim Presley who was the mid-'80s era Seattle 3rd sacker.
No relation to former NYM 1st round draft pick Kirk or 'The King'.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I haven't made myself clear. Kirk was a two-way star, playing third as well as pitching when he was a celebrated schoolboy athlete, getting publicity for his game as well as his name. And his name to me sounded --- for the purposes of my stupid point ---like he could be a star thirdbaseman because he shared it with both a star and a thirdbaseman. Plus his first name sounded randy.

The Mets drafted him, pulled the plug on his third base career, and then pulled the plug on the whole shebang a few seasons later.

It was just a rhetorical what's-in-a-name? post.

[Vic Sage]

If they can both field the position no worse than barely adequately, a Turner / Murphy platoon could actually work for this year, while Tejada learns how to hit playing SS in AAA and Havens learns to play a full season in AA. It would maximize their strengths, and surely result in something significantly better than the worst production at the position in all of MLB. Adding either of them to Evans and Carter would also give us a bunch of versatile bats off the bench. Add 1 UT glove and a backup catcher, and it would be good to go.