POLL: 1ST BASE

[nymr83]

What would YOU do until Duda gets back?

Assume for purposes of this vote that the Regular lineup is C d'Arnaud; 2B Walker; 3B Wright; SS Cabrera; RF Granderson; CF Cespedes; LF Conforto with a big gaping hole at 1B.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Has Walker ever played first?

[nymr83]

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: Has Walker ever played first?

No, and Conforto hasn't either. These are all the options as I see them, I don't claim they are equally valid.

[Ceetar]

I choose Keith out of retirement.

[Edgy MD]

All of the above.

A little bit of of Walker on the sack
A little bit of Wright despite his back
A little bit of Campbell's what I like
A little bit of Kelly gets me psyched
A little bit Conforto couldn't hurt
As long as Wright don't throw it in dirt
A little bit De Aza gets me hot
I'd give 'em all a try, an honest shot!

[Guest d'Kong76]

I like the Conforto scenario the best, sounds early on like the Mets
do too. That's weeks away though. They'll just have to score 7-8 runs
every game and the field slots will take care of themselves.

[dinosaur jesus]

I had a dream one time that the Mets would be playing a big piece of lasagna at first. I still like that better than any of these options.

[Zvon]

I was a little surprised to hear the booth talking about this and making it sound like it's a consideration at the forefront. Flores could possibly step up. He usually does when he has nothing to lose.

This might not make sense but I like Conforto for first, but all in. If they re-train him during a season to play 1st, and if he does well, he stays @ first and is our first baseman for the next 15 years. When Duda returns he bats off the bench. Duda's the kinda guy who could be great off the bench.

[TransMonk]

I like using Conforto at first to get Lagares' bat and glove on the field everyday. It doesn't hurt to try.

If Lagares can play well offensively, I think it gives Terry a lot of room to play with the lineup card.

[MFS62]

Wilmer, once he returns from minor league rehab.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I'd bet against anything lasting 15 years.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Do keep in mind that Conforto is playing above-average defense in left field, and that he has never-- not in the minors, not in high school, not in little league-- wielded a first-baseman's glove in anger.

[Lefty Specialist]

Wilmer short-term, Conforto longer term. Ty Kelly really, really short-term.

No Panic trades. And Dom Smith is not ready yet, but he will be, perhaps as early as next season. Then you move Conforto back to the outfield.

[Fman99]

Wilmer.

[bmfc1]

I don't consider this a "panic" move but a trade for Kelly Johnson could be done quickly and for minimal cost. He's no Duda but he can play 1B and would be a stop-gap while Sandy and the Mets organization figure out something bigger. If/after another move is made, Johnson stays (even though they now have a "Kelly" who wears 55) in the role he played last year.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was curious, so I checked to see if Curtis Granderson has ever played first base in the majors or minors.

He hasn't.

[Edgy MD]

Lefty Specialist wrote: No Panic trades.

Sniff!

[Lefty Specialist]

Also, no Panic! At the Disco trades.

[seawolf17]

Wilmer.

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Do keep in mind that Conforto is playing above-average defense in left field, and that he has never-- not in the minors, not in high school, not in little league-- wielded a first-baseman's glove in anger.

I'm not sure I'd call what he's doing above-average.

[Frayed Knot]

Wilmer's going to get the majority of the time, and that should start as soon as Friday.
So we'll patch through with Campbell/Kelly for the next two games at which point one will be sent back (and it pretty much doesn't matter which).


Or they could send both back and call Dilson up. That would allow Walker to play the all-purpose IF guy, swapping at 1st with Wilmer, at 3rd with Wright, and with Herrera at 2nd.
I'm not against Conforto trying his hand at 1st also but I don't see that as anything more than an occasional thing.

[Centerfield]

I don't know. To me, Dilson Herrera seems to be the pretty obvious choice.

Reasons For:

1. He's our best hitting prospect and he's ready. A lot of scouts say he's a future star. His minor league stats back that up. He's hit at every level.
2. We are going to have to make a decision about him at year's end when Walker is available for FA. Why not use these 2 months to see what he's got? If he's Conforto we let Walker go. If he's Plawecki, we have to make a bid to keep Neil. If we don't find out about him we are dealing with hypotheticals in November.
3. Flores is not very good. I love Wilmer, but he's had nearly 900 ML AB's and hit to a .655 OPS. He hits for some power but is not very good at anything else. I'd go with Herrera and the upside.
4. The other option, Lagares, is also not that good. Career .655 OPS. Plus, this requires moving Conforto, and I think Walker makes that transition easier.

Reasons Against:

1. Walker has never played first. Really, this is the only reason, and I grant you, this is a big reason. But I think he can do it. Duda did it, so did Murphy. And Flores, and Campbell. And Walker is the best athlete of all of them. I think he's a much better candidate to move over than both Conforto and De Aza, considering Walker has been an infielder his entire career.

My Plan:

Call up Herrera. He plays every day. Walker plays first. So long as Walker keeps hitting lefties (which he's done this year, but has not over his career), he plays every day. If he starts struggling as a RH batter, Wilmer is there. Wilmer spells Wright and Cabrera as necessary. The OF stays the same, except that Granderson and Lagares platoon. The splits make that one a no-brainer. When Lagares plays, he plays center. Cespedes and Conforto draw straws to play RF. Either one should be able to do it. Conforto is much more likely to handle RF than 1B.

Save all of our trade bullets for a catcher. Travis is always hurt and Plawecki sucks.

Win the fucking division.

[TransMonk]

I gotta say...this thread has lowered any PANIC! impulses I have had in the past 18 hours.

I think this shows that the team has a number of viable internal options. Will any of them be successful? It's hard to say...but it's nice to have options.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think Hererra is the future at second base but only when Walker leaves -- but that's by a trade, not by moving to first base.

As a pending FA it's just not in his best interest to be moved off his best position and essentially treated like a backup.

I think the short term answer is a combo of Flores, Soupy and De Aza, with eyes on the trade market/waiver wire for an affordable veteran masher-type.

[Edgy MD]

In fairness, Duda and Murphy played plenty of first base throughout the minor leagues.

I'm sure we'll see more of Herrera soon enough.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Do keep in mind that Conforto is playing above-average defense in left field, and that he has never-- not in the minors, not in high school, not in little league-- wielded a first-baseman's glove in anger. I'm not sure I'd call what he's doing above-average.

Fair enough. But the metrics-- Fangraphs, BR, BP-- do seem to like him fine.

Herrera's not our top hitting prospect by a longshot. He's our closest-to-ready non-pitching prospect, granted. And Walker does make the transition easier than Conforto, only because he's played, like 60 innings there. In his life. With a good portion of that coming in winter-league ball (which, defensively, is a little more than a little "fuck it," at least at first). Walker would be a subpar first baseman with both bat AND glove; it's not worth the effort, methinks, to train a guy in-season in order to weaken your squad at two positions simultaneously, JUST so you can get another look at Dilson a LITTLE earlier than you would, otherwise. (And Lord KNOWS I love me some Dilson.)

The medium-term (read: pre-Smith) solution isn't yet on the roster. I vote with the pu-pu platter (led by Wilmer and AmishBeard McEwing), while Team Sandy hawks the wire/trade market.

[Centerfield]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think Hererra is the future at second base but only when Walker leaves -- but that's by a trade, not by moving to first base. As a pending FA it's just not in his best interest to be moved off his best position and essentially treated like a backup. I think the short term answer is a combo of Flores, Soupy and De Aza, with eyes on the trade market/waiver wire for an affordable veteran masher-type.

Do you think it would hurt his value? I mean, it's not like anyone's going to think he forgot how to play second. I would think the ability to slide to 1B would be a plus. At least so long as the position change doesn't screw up his hitting.

I was thinking about possible outside the organization options as well:

1. Kelly Johnson (someone else mentioned it)
2. That guy that used to be in Pittsburgh that hits HR's but strikes out a lot. Forgot his name and where he ended up. He was non-tendered.
3. Freddy Fucking Freeman
4. Adam LaRoche and his Son. What happens when a guy retires? Is he still under CWS control?

[Ceetar]

A reason not to experiment at first might be for Wright's sake. He's always done best with an experienced guy there. I feel like if you go back and look at his defense when Murphy was playing there compared to say Delgado or Davis or even Duda, it's stark. With him maybe being a little stiff at times and messing around with this side-arm stuff, there's probably more value in a better glove guy there. Then again, that might be true regardless of David Wright, I'm not sure we properly quantify first base defense.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In a best-case scenario-- Duda returns directly after some rest/healing, and begins producing again-- a Kelly Johnson reunion leaves us with another lefty on the bench, and a multi-position infield-playing one, to boot (strengthening our one real weakness there).

Of course, if Ty Kelly goes all Vail/Murph2008 on us, this is mooted.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Apparently, Justin Morneau-- recovering from surgery-- is out there (if not in bat-swinging form until June).

Also available: Jeff Baker, Corey Hart, Kevin Frandsen.