Sadly, we are constrained to discuss Gerardo Parra

[Centerfield]

Hot, hot rumors connect him with the Mets.

Parra basically sucks. .730 career OPS. He has played his entire career in hitter-friendly parks (Arizona, Milwaukee, Baltimore). Had a great first half in 2015, but then after getting traded to Baltimore, remembered that he sucked and tanked.

Not a full-time centerfielder, not a great defender.

But lots of positives too:

1. bats left-handed
2. will steal about 10 bases a year.
3. Projections before the season had him getting a 3 year deal around $10 million per.

Sounds perfect. Once we get him, the Asdrubal Cabrera signing will look great in comparison!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Don't knock yourself out kid. Hoping that the Mets'll land a star free agent in his prime is like believing in Santa Claus. It happens once every 15 or 20 years. And that's when they're not in poverty row. And if you bitch about it here, you'll eventually just get pummeled.

What? You thought they'd spend more because they said they would?

[Edgy MD]

Whose turn is it to pummel batmag?

[Centerfield]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: What? You thought they'd spend more because they said they would?

Yes. I thought they would. I thought that once the pitchers arrived and the Mets had a strong young talent base, then they would open things up, surround them with elite talent and go for it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Centerfield wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: What? You thought they'd spend more because they said they would? Yes. I thought they would. I thought that once the pitchers arrived and the Mets had a strong young talent base, then they would open things up, surround them with elite talent and go for it.

Well then maybe it's your turn to get pummeled some.

Who's the head pummeler around here?

[Guest d'Kong76]

Down to Plan D already and it's only mid-December.

[TransMonk]

Centerfield wrote: Hot, hot rumors connect him with the Mets. Parra basically sucks. .730 career OPS. He has played his entire career in hitter-friendly parks (Arizona, Milwaukee, Baltimore). Had a great first half in 2015, but then after getting traded to Baltimore, remembered that he sucked and tanked. Not a full-time centerfielder, not a great defender. But lots of positives too: 1. bats left-handed 2. will steal about 10 bases a year. 3. Projections before the season had him getting a 3 year deal around $10 million per. Sounds perfect. Once we get him, the Asdrubal Cabrera signing will look great in comparison!

Not a great defender? He has two Gold Gloves!!!

Is Parra the best there is (was) out there? Probably not, but it seems like you are underselling him in order to make a broader point. I'm not pro-Parra, but if the Mets signed Parra tomorrow, they would be better than they are today.

[Edgy MD]

The data seems to suggest the defense has fallen off meaningfully the last two years.

They almost all lose weaponized defense before they hit free agency age. It's a tough thing to go shopping for.

[Centerfield]

His Gold Gloves were in the corner OF spots. And as Edgy mentions, his defense has fallen off.

No underselling here. None needed.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/seeking-clarity-on-gerardo-parras-defense/

To summarize:

He might not be as much of a liability as last year�s numbers suggest, but we�re now 2,000 innings removed from his Gold Glove 2013 season, and everything seems to be trending the wrong way. It would be fair to assume that Parra is now something like a league-average defensive corner outfielder, which matches his 2016 Steamer projection exactly. But an average corner outfielder isn�t the same as an average center fielder. Parra is a fine, cost-effective option in a corner moving forward, but if you�re a team in need of a center fielder and you prioritize defense, you may want to look beyond Gerardo Parra.

[TransMonk]

It does seem hard not to prefer Span (if healthy) to Parra.

[Ceetar]

Mostly bleh and I'd be surprised if the Mets actually signed him for more than peanuts and gave him anything more than the Kirk role.

[Centerfield]

Ceetar wrote: Mostly bleh and I'd be surprised if the Mets actually signed him for more than peanuts and gave him anything more than the Kirk role.

Holy crap. We agree on something. Something must be wrong. WTF is going on.

[nymr83]

Not a great defender? He has two Gold Gloves!!!

Derek Jeter has Gold Gloves and Rafael Palmiero once won it while playing DH most of the year. lets not cite that award as meaning anything.

I certainly remember a time when Parra's defense was being cited as a positive by talent-evaluator type people, I don't really know how those skills have aged.

[TransMonk]

Got it. Parra's not a great defender because Jeter's won Gold Gloves too.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

TransMonk wrote: Got it. Parra's not a great defender because Jeter's won Gold Gloves too.

Well, no. Parra's not a great defender because, by most reports/statistical measure (for what it's worth), he's meh-to-bleh in a mostly-corner-OF-role over the last two years (-10 UZR/150), and he's never really been good at center field (-8.9 UZR/150 career), which is where we need him to play, right?

Parra's basically a really good leftfielder (assuming that the last year-and-a-half has been an aberration), who can fake the other two positions. Depth is nice and all, but hell, he's a worse fit than Cespedes or Upton, needs-wise.

[Edgy MD]

Well, they're better players, for whom smashing square pegs into round holes is a valid, if clumsy, way to make a fit.

But, if he's to take the Nieuwenhuis role, he fits in there more or less, doesn't he?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I sometimes wonder if the Nieuwenhuis role wouldn't be better served by Nieuwenhuis. Or Brandon Zimmo.

[Edgy MD]

Brandon will take it right soon enough. But I'm all for putting short-timers in the way of prospects instead of handing them jobs.

Met prospects who will surely debut in 2015: Nimmo, Reynolds, Cecchini, Walters, Smoker.

[Centerfield]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I sometimes wonder if the Nieuwenhuis role wouldn't be better served by Nieuwenhuis. Or Brandon Zimmo.

Exactly. In the second half of last year, Kirk out-OPS'ed him by over 100 points.

Look, Parra is an ok player. But his best asset is that he has a little bit of power. And I don't know how well that would translate from his bandboxes to CitiField.

If he better than Kirk? Yes. Definitely. But is the marginal upgrade worth the salary? I don't think so. Like the Cabrera signing, Parra improves the team in a vacuum, in that both are better than our incumbents. But when you factor in their salary, this type of move seems like "spending for the sake of spending".

If you sign Parra for the rumored $10 million, and throw in Cabrera's $9 million, that is $19 million dollars that the Mets are spending on marginal upgrades.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: Brandon will take it right soon enough. But I'm all for putting short-timers in the way of prospects instead of handing them jobs. Met prospects who will surely debut in 2015: Nimmo, Reynolds, Cecchini, Walters, Smoker.

Agreed on this as well. But Parra is said to be seeking a 3 year deal around $30 million.

[Fman99]

Centerfield wrote: If you sign Parra for the rumored $10 million, and throw in Cabrera's $9 million, that is $19 million dollars that the Mets are spending on marginal upgrades.

This. They are re-Cuddyering the roster. YUK

[TransMonk]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I sometimes wonder if the Nieuwenhuis role wouldn't be better served by Nieuwenhuis.

[nymr83]

TransMonk wrote: Got it. Parra's not a great defender because Jeter's won Gold Gloves too.

I think my rather obvious point was that Gold Gloves are not really a good indicator of who is a "great defender" and you could cite better evidence,