Soothsaying for Sixteen: Asdrubal Cabrera

[Edgy MD]

I was pretty psyched when the Mets signed me. Met fans, not so much. They thought my name was Asdrubal Notcespedes. Then we got Cespedes. So who am I now?

So life is tough. I get that moral stay of execution, but then I go injure my knee. I'm already an infielder with rough edges on his game, trying to use veteran wiliness to make up for the lost spring in my step. But it looks like I lost some more spring.

I got heart though. And a Mets uniform. And a bat and a glove and some spikes. What will that get me in 2016? You tell me.

[MFS62]

148 games .265-15-68.
Decent defense at short, but still removed for defense late in some games. (I don't know why. Ask Terry)

Nice signing.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He needs to make a good impression but instead got hurt. That's never a good omen.

[Edgy MD]

I ain't much for omens, but it's also worth noting that the guy he was brought in to displace is hitting .467.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The right word might not be "Omen" but I'm thinking Chris Young the outfielder, or Bay in his second Mets season. Both those guys needed a little momentum going in, both got sidelined near OD, and neither guy got established afterward. Especially in the case of Young, he was Cabrera-like in that he wasn't so great he couldn't be replaced but at peak efficiency and health probably the best choice. That's all muddied now.

We dunno how serious the Cabrera injury is but bad knees and shortstops don't mix.

So I'm shifting from cautiously optimistic to pessimistically optimistic. If you figure on a small decline in playing time/productivity across the board, suddenly you've got a shortstop controversy, only one that's between 2 limited guys.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Wasn't and now really don't expect much from him. I hope Tejada and
Flores make the most of this.

First one to call him Assdribble gets a prize. Oh wait.

[Edgy MD]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The right word might not be "Omen" but I'm thinking Chris Young the outfielder, or Bay in his second Mets season. Both those guys needed a little momentum going in, both got sidelined near OD, and neither guy got established afterward. Especially in the case of Young, he was Cabrera-like in that he wasn't so great he couldn't be replaced but at peak efficiency and health probably the best choice. That's all muddied now. We dunno how serious the Cabrera injury is but bad knees and shortstops don't mix. So I'm shifting from cautiously optimistic to pessimistically optimistic. If you figure on a small decline in playing time/productivity across the board, suddenly you've got a shortstop controversy, only one that's between 2 limited guys.

That's all true, but he has more than Tejada and Flores breathing down his neck, but Cecchini and Reynolds.

Some guys are brought in to hold a job as long as they can, but go in knowing the team's plan is to ultimately have that job wrested from them before their contract is up. Some of them (like Bart) heroically and unexpectedly hold down that job until the end of their deal. Some of them (Rey Sanchez) lose the job almost immediately.

And yeah, he may have purchased a ticket to Rey Sanchezville.

[Centerfield]

Didn't like the signing at all at the time. I felt like those resources could have been put to better use. I still think that.

But despite the injury to start the year, goes out and hits 25 HR's! Plays good enough defense to get by. Makes me eat my words!

[Edgy MD]

Injuries, competition, and dry spells keep his season from ever getting a lot of traction, and his role diminishes, bouncing between full-timing and part-timing, platooning and rehabbing. He gets into 109 games, hits .240, but has two or three BIG MOMENTS, never fully becoming marginalized. If it's 1986, he's Howard Johnson. In all post-game celebrations, he's as prominent a figure in the scrum as anybody.

[Ceetar]

He's the best shortstop on the team and I expect him to put up better numbers than the rest of them too.

.260/.320/.415 100 wRC+ on the nose.

10 HR. 3 fWAR. 140 games.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

A little more time missed than expected at first, then part-time fun?

109 G, 367 PA, .260/.312/.426, 9 HR, 48 RBI, 39 R, 33 XBH

[Edgy MD]

Hey, I said 109 games first!

Wait, let me check out that Sayonara Tejada thread. That could impact this one.

[Guest d'Kong76]

d'Kong76 wrote: I hope Tejada and Flores make the most of this.

I put the whammy on Ruben.