Chris Young Is a Met

[Edgy MD]

The athletic Athletic joins the Mets for one year and $7.25 million. We shouda polled this at the time. Shoulda, but didn't.





[fimg=600]http://snymetsminors.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/chrisyoungoaklandathletics.jpg[/fimg]

[fimg=600]http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/media/ALeqM5iwNHmkpoMnVnpOKy9-c8zjv6m_Og[/fimg]

[metirish]

I'm going to be optimistic and hope he has a bounce back year.

[Edgy MD]

That's two guys the Mets have signed for the outfield who wear their socks high.

[Fman99]

I'm neutral. He hit .200 last year. That's pretty cruddy.

[smg58]

I don't think he came at enough of a discount given his current career trajectory, but one year won't kill us. I guess I want to see how the rest of the market plays out before deciding if the Mets got value, so I'm neutral for the time being.

[Zvon]

My feelings are not listed. Like and confused until things shake out a bit further. If the shake out involves Murphy being gone I'll be changing that, possibly to something unprintable.

[Edgy MD]

I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention the gun to your head? Because it's, like, this enormous gun. And the guy holding it has big beefy, sweaty arm. His whole body is sweaty, I think he's been up for about 70 hours by jacking up on energy drinks.

I'd answer if I was you.

[Frayed Knot]

- He should supply power on a team and at a position where we lacked it pretty severely.
- the BA is likely to be low but his above average walk rate partially makes up for that.
- can play all OF positions (reportedly quite well) including CF which is a biggie. So instead of now needing Lagares to hit better there's a Plan B if he doesn't.

Given all that plus the idea that the downside to this deal is so minimal due to the short-term contract, it's hard to dislike the signing too much.
Granderson, by contrast, has both the better upside but also a bigger downside as a result of the approx 2X price and, especially, the 4X length of his deal.

I am, therefore, going with the mild version of 'Like'. Optimistic? Yeah maybe. But baseball fans are often in the optimism business.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Agape? I'm dying here.
Took neutral.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

My mouth IS a little open, but that might be the tetanus.

He walks enough to make his bat worth something, even with the platoon issues and .230ish average. He also adds a bunch of value with the glove and legs, and if he does more than that, he'll be a VERY movable piece/worth extending as the Mets grow into big-boy-contender shoes. Considering what some slightly-less-flawed outfielders are getting/likely getting in this market -- hell, multiple middle-inning relievers have gone for $8M-plus-- 1 year/$7.25 million is VERY amenable.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Brings useful skills to the table, and provides the potential to be Byrded in July or August if he goes well and we do not. Like.

[Vic Sage]

yup.

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Brings useful skills to the table, and provides the potential to be Byrded in July or August if he goes well and we do not. Like.

He might hit 40 HR's, too. Or win the MVP. But if I was a betting man, I'd say that the likeliest outcome is that Young'll suck, and so will the Mets.

[Vic Sage]

He doesn't have to hit 40 hrs or win an MVP to be valuable. Young has had some OK years, so his age (30, in his prime) and talent level (high) would indicate a greater likelihood of decency (.235/80r/80rbi/20hr/20sb) rather than outright suckitude, barring a significant injury. In fact, I would bet that he has a higher likelihood of making a positive overall contribution to the lineup in 2014 than Lagares does.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That's a bold assertion, with a robust, malty aftertaste.

Young was really good with the glove in center. Lagares is better there than Young ever was.

[Vic Sage]

I said "a positive overall contribution to the lineup", not to the OF defense. As flawed as he is, Young is a better offensive player than Lagares, and good enough defensively to play over him.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hey, I'm thinking Young can start. But what I'm saying is, what you said may not be true. As a matter of fact, it's likely untrue.

Lagares' defense-- one season of UZR is hardly conclusive, but Good GOD does he pass the eye test-- is apparently so good, it's a weapon. Like, the value he provided with his glove and legs last year-- while providing NEGATIVE bat value-- was better than anything Young's ever done with the bat/glove/everything, and better than all but two years of Young's career. In 3/4 of a season.

Young's a nice roster piece, and worth a semi-regular starting gig, at least. OTOH, if Lagares can provide even slightly better offensive results than he did last year, he's a borderline All-Star, value-wise.

[Edgy MD]

I think the value we got from Lagares throwing out runners is highly likely to regress, as it's a contribution that's both situation-dependent and choice-dependent.

Young, meanshile, may be a paragon of a new market inefficiency.

[Ceetar]

I think the value we got from Lagares throwing out runners is highly likely to regress, as it's a contribution that's both situation-dependent and choice-dependent. Young, meanwhile, may be a paragon of a new market inefficiency.

So hard to measure. Does reputation alone now (damn that no gold glove thing) make runners think twice about rounding second? How to you determine if they stayed because they wouldn't have made it, or they stayed because they thought they only wouldn't make it against Juan? Tricky bit of defensive value there.

Interesting post though. If Sandy is thinking along those lines, it might help explain his willingness to let Turner go and his dissatisfaction with Tejada (well, his seeming disinclination to think Tejada can be valuable again). Granderson has a 2:1 FB/LD:GB ratio as well. (and 63 bunts)

[Vic Sage]

the implication seems to be that the effect is relatively small and outweighed by other factors unless you totally rebuild your lineup to amplify the effect. So I don't think signing 1 or 2 guys either indicates a change in our team's philosophy or a basis for the team's improvement next year. But I would like to think it does show Sandy's effort to gain every possible advantage for our "small market" team.

[ashie62]

I don't see Chris Young making the Mets any better or any worse..I'm really hoping he is not washed up and 7 million went down the bucket.