Shortstop 2015

[ashie62]

Its like Gee is blacklisted.

Matt Reynolds, moving up quick!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: A Boy Named Seo wrote: Heyman sez we're interested in 27-year old, power-hitting shortstop Jung-Ho Kang (39 HR's in Korea last year). Sounds like a mythical beast to me. Sounds like a super-villain to me!

Nah. He's an alien from the planet Rigel VII.




"We're Gung Ho for Jung-Ho".

[Centerfield]

Saw a blip this morning on how the Mets might be willing to trade Noah for a guy on Texas. Hey Sandy...

DON'T TRADE SYNDEGAARD FOR A GUY WHO IS NOT GOING TO HIT MORE THAN FLORES.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If they trade Syndergaard, I want them to at least get someone as good as Victor Zambrano.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm not gonna squash the Mets for dangling Syndergaard. Let's see where it could lead.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Doyers apparently wiling to trade Dee Gordon cause he can't get on base. Sandy would probably not be in love for the same reason, BUT...

He reached base 36% in the minors (though it's 31 in the majors so far.) He scored 92 and stole 64 last year. He'll be 27 in April. Is cheap and can't be a FA til 2019, so I think he'd be pretty steep. Interested?

[Edgy MD]

He could be a shortstop-playing version of Eric Young --- the leadoff hitter who bats ninth.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Another reason he'd be Eric Young, SS edition: he'd be a "leadoff hitter" that isn't actually, like, a good leadoff hitter.

[Frayed Knot]

While a .326 OBA is hardly great for a leadoff hitter, in this current era it's hardly bad and it's up from .280 in 2012 and .314 in '13
My bigger concern is what kind of a SS he is. He has played there some in the past but was exclusively a 2B last season while the Dodgers went with five different SSs headed by the 235 pound Juan Uribe (98 starts) backed by Justin Turner (45)

If we're going to trade for a SS then trade for a real SS. We've already got makeshift ones.

[seawolf17]

Frayed Knot wrote: If we're going to trade for a SS then trade for a real SS. We've already got makeshift ones.

That's what bothers me about a lot of this. I'm all in on Flores for '15. Let's see what happens. If we're in contention, and an Ian Desmond-type becomes available, then let's talk. But trading Thor for another team's project is dumb.

[Frayed Knot]

Ken Davidoff in the Post does some detective work on Kang the Conquerer

His various observations:
- he can hit: career .298/.382/.502 with 138 homers in nine seasons, and a career-best .354/.457/.733 with 39 homers in 116 games/497 PA in 2014
- says that the Mets have scouted him via video and in person and have met with his agent - A's & Giants may also be interested
- players from Korea work via the old posting system that used to be in effect for Japanese players: teams bid for his rights and only the winner gets to negotiate with him


He then talks to Brandon Knight whose brief ML career finished with the Mets in 2008 (I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO MEMORY of this guy) but has since played four seasons with Kang in Korea, and he describes a good news/bad news situation:

- �He is the best overall position-player prospect in that league,� says Knight. �He certainly doesn�t see the same sort of fastballs that he sees in the big leagues � it�s more often in the low-90s � but I�ve seen him get after guys who are throwing in the mid-to-upper 90s ... I think the biggest thing that�s changed with Kang is his approach, he�s more patient now and better hitting the breaking ball than he used to be. He likes hitting sliders.�

but then he says:
- �I�m just not sure if he�s what you would look for as a big-league level shortstop ... He definitely has the arm [but] the actual effort level he has to play the position is the only concern there. There were times when balls were definitely a ball that a good shortstop would dive for, and he just doesn�t. With his arm, he can make those plays if he dives. I�ve certainly seen him make good plays when he does decide to dive, but not on a consistent enough basis.�

before adding:
- �He�s a fantastic kid [who] constantly does want to get better. It could be that the whole diving thing is that he�s kind of saving himself. He could be better if someone got to him and said, �We need more effort defensively.� He�s certainly a well-rounded player.�

[Edgy MD]

Knight was the pilot of this looping biplane of emotional fury.

[Centerfield]

Seems like the 39 HR's was more of a career year than the norm.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: Knight was the pilot of this looping biplane of emotional fury.

Just curious. Did you actually remember that or just search it?

Seriously, I'm kind of worried of the effect the Google has had on my memory. It's almost as if I don't bother to recall anything anymore.

[Edgy MD]

I remembered a spot start that included a recovery after a rough first inning. I did not remember it turning into one of the excruciating LaRussa/Manuel let's-bunt-our-way-out-of-any-and-all-rallies wars of attrition.

It isn't clear from the IGT, but Carlos Muniz was the bullpen goat.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: - �He�s a fantastic kid [who] constantly does want to get better. It could be that the whole diving thing is that he�s kind of saving himself. He could be better if someone got to him and said, �We need more effort defensively.��

Do coaches have... um... a different function in the Korean game?

Also... I don't know how much better the kid's attitude/defensive game/ability to wake up in time for practice is going to get, as the kid is old enough to run for Congress.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Maybe "Mr. Baseball" has tainted my perception of stuff, but how common is diving in the Asian game?

[Frayed Knot]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Maybe "Mr. Baseball" has tainted my perception of stuff, but how common is diving in the Asian game?

Not sure, but remember it was back when Kaz Matsui got here that we learned of the oddity that Japanese infielders rarely played balls to the backhand (or at least that was the story at the time).



Anyway, Mr. Kang is to be posted by his Korean Lg team on Monday with the Mets, Giants, & A's being listed as the ones with the most interest.
As mentioned before, Korean players become available via the 'old' posting system that governed the early generation of Japanese players until those rules were updated a few seasons back. So interested teams will need to win a bidding process (with all that money going to the club) for the right to negotiate a deal with the player.


The article announcing this on mlb.com warns that the 1.189 OPS that Kang put up this past season [39 HRs, 115 RBI in 116 games, and a career .298/.382/.502] comes from a league where offense is much more plentiful than in MLB. Runs scored in the Korean league were 11.4 per game combined this past year as compared to 8.2 in MLB 2014. Even during the height of the steroid era in MLB teams runs scored topped out at just over 10 Runs/G
And then there's the question as to whether teams view him as a SS or 2B

[Benjamin Grimm]

Well, the Mets have an incumbent at second base whose time is almost certain to end after 2015, if not before.

[Frayed Knot]

Sure, but the idea this winter is that we need a SS.
If you sign Kang it's not going to be for him to sit around for a year waiting for Murphy to hit FA status.
And if they're going to trade Muffy first then they've already got 2B alternatives (Flores, Herrera) and we'd still be sticking a pseudo-SS out there every day.




In the meantime, Sherman in the Post is crowing: Damn the risks and go for Tulowitski

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: A Boy Named Seo wrote: Maybe "Mr. Baseball" has tainted my perception of stuff, but how common is diving in the Asian game? Not sure, but remember it was back when Kaz Matsui got here that we learned of the oddity that Japanese infielders rarely played balls to the backhand (or at least that was the story at the time).

I don't remember that, but in Kang's highlight reel, the first defensive highlight they show there is him going into the hole and nailing a runner going from second to third. Nice, but his refusal to backhand the play gets him so turned around that third base was his only option.

[Edgy MD]

Reports suggest the bidding is expected to be in the (reasonable, to my eyes) $5-10 million range, with the player seeking (again, reportedly) four years and $24 million.

While that's not risk-free, it's the same (minus $750 thou) as Omar gave Luis Castillo after the 2007 season. But there's that posting fee, of course. The only thing the Mets had to post to get Castillo was Dustin Martin and Drew Butera.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Frayed Knot wrote: Sure, but the idea this winter is that we need a SS. If you sign Kang it's not going to be for him to sit around for a year waiting for Murphy to hit FA status.

My thinking was that Kang could play shortstop in 2015, and if it turns out he's better suited to second base, he could move there in 2016.

[seawolf17]

I'd prefer they went after Kodos.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Sure, but the idea this winter is that we need a SS. If you sign Kang it's not going to be for him to sit around for a year waiting for Murphy to hit FA status. My thinking was that Kang could play shortstop in 2015, and if it turns out he's better suited to second base, he could move there in 2016.

I think the emphasis needs to be: if you're going to get a SS, get a SS rather than someone pretending to be one.
But as we're finding out on this great SS odyssey this off season, there are lots of choices out there but all of them have flaws in some way in the same way that the incumbent choices do.

[ashie62]

Kang sounds a lot like Kaz. I'll pass.

Wait on the Red Sox for Xander Bogaerts.

Or, just plain wait.

[Edgy MD]

Kang may be risk-intensive and a defensive question mark like Kaz, and a shortstop who may turn into a second baseman when the exchange rate is applied, but he comes with a somewhat different skill set --- chunky slugger whomping skills versus slick-and-skinny slap-and-run skills.

I don't know if that gives him more or less of a chance to make the adjustment.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

What the fark's all this you-can-always-move-him-because-there'll-be-a-vacancy-at-second shipoopi?

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: What the fark's all this you-can-always-move-him-because-there'll-be-a-vacancy-at-second shipoopi?

Last I checked prospects don't always pan out.

But then, sometimes you just sign the guy you have to a nice deal and don't worry about it.

How about "You can always DH him when the NL adopts it"

[Benjamin Grimm]

The National League has avoided the DH for over 40 years. What makes you think that will change in the next few years?