Mets Need To Sign Yasiel Puig Now
We haven’t completed the first week of Spring Training games, and suddenly, the Mets are moving towards being put in a position where they will need to find their Opening Day left fielder. Arguably, we are not yet at that day, but from the looks of it, that day of reckoning may soon come.
Yoenis Cespedes has been rehabbing from his double heel surgery, and according to indications, he is doing roughly 85% of what the other Mets players are doing. Cespedes has been pushing hard, but no one quite knows if he is going to be able to be ready for Opening Day, and if he is, no one knows if he can play everyday.
To some, Cespedes was seen as a luxury because the Mets had other options in the outfield. Depending on how things shake out, that may no longer be true.
J.D. Davis dove for a ball at third, and he is being at least temporarily shut down. He has a “pre-existing” labrum tear and inflammation. Davis says he will be ready for Opening Day, but we heard the same refrains from Jed Lowrie last year, and when we look at history, the Mets have a terrible history diagnosing and handling injuries.
Brandon Nimmo, who was supposed to be ready to go for Opening Day, is now dealing with a cardiac issues. He is undergoing cardiac screening, and at this point, we don’t know what the exact issue is, and really, we don’t know how this issue (to the extent there is one) will limit him.
Right there, the Mets are potentially down three outfield options. That leaves Jake Marisnick, who was a below average hitter even when he knew what pitch was coming, and Dominic Smith, who suffered a stress fracture playing the outfield last year. Keep in mind, where the Mets stand right now, they are in a position to play Marisnick and Smith everyday with their backup outfielder being Jeff McNeil, who is also their everyday third baseman.
The question is what then happens when or if either Marisnick or Smith go down? There just isn’t the depth in Triple-A to sustain an injury. When you look at it, the Mets are getting increasingly shallow in the outfield, and that is before the season even begins.
Fortunately for them, Yasiel Puig is still a free agent, a player the Mets arguably should have already signed this offseason.
With Puig, the Mets are getting a good fielder, who even at his worst, is a league average bat. No, Puig is not the superstar many thought he’d be when he debuted with the Dodgers. Rather, he is a solid, good, durable, and reliable everyday Major League outfielder. Put another way, he is exactly what the Mets don’t have.
Now, it is possible Cespedes will be ready by Opening Day. Davis’ shoulder and Nimmo’s heart may not keep them out of the Opening Day lineup. Marisnick could have a career year, and after a full offseason, Smith could be ready to play everyday in the outfield. Still, that is a lot of question marks, and it is unwise to hinge your season on all of that breaking in the Mets favor.
Seeing that is the case, the Mets should be acting quickly to sign Puig. If nothing else, they’ll put themselves in a position to have too many player for too few spots. That’s a much better problem to have than not having Major League caliber players to play the outfield because the Mets waited too long to act and some other team signed Puig at the precise moment they needed him most.
Yes yes and yes
We need some distraction !!
Someone loved in the clubhouse like him !
What a great idea !!
Being in denial as you are, MetsDaddy, doesn’t change the well documented facts of Puig’s behavioral history on field and off. In the game and outside of it. Negative facts can’t be erased. What they can be however, is forgiven if he’s genuinely changed over a substantial period of time.
Would you put your kid or in a car with Yasiel Puig?
They’re not well documented, and I’ll note, his teams have won
Metsdaddy, what’s not well documented? His bad behavior?
As for being on a winning team, it’s irrelevant. Bad behavior is bad behavior, and creates negative energy regardless. The Dodgers also went to the World Series without him last season, and the Reds didn’t become a playoff team with him last season. He also instigated a brawl the year before as Dodger, which got him suspended for two games. He got into an on-field brawl as a Red, which got him a 3-game suspension as Indian.
He’s been caught twice for reckless driving, 97 MPH and 110, and, if I correctly recall doing so with passengers, including if I also correctly recall with his grandmother. As I asked in prior post, would you, Metsdaddy, as a parent put your kids in a car with Puig? If the answer is yes, your kids should be taken from you. Puig could have killed someone in my family who actually live in the same town in which he was arrested. He could have killed me on that same road if I was in town to visit. He could have killed others. This is a guy who got caught once and opted to put others in danger again, just as he instigated a brawl in 2018, got suspended, and then did so again the following year. What kind of a person does that?
This is just as short list of Puig’s behavioral history. I hope he’s grown and makes efforts to change. I believe in growth and change. That no one has signed him with March around the corner,, should cause him to seriously look in mirror for extensive and honest soul searching.
You also choose to be in denial about Puig, about the obvious,. and it’s me who’s asking what it is you’re running from that compels you to routinely try to defend the indefensible, with positions that make you look like you have intrinsic issues you’re running from and then project and leak outward through hundreds of articles in a common theme that appears in many.
And I write this as a private post between us, for your sake, with the assumption it won’t be posted automatically without your intervention. And that it won’t be posted after unless you want to.
With respect to Puig, his supposed bad behavior and not getting along with teammates is not well documented. In fact, what has been documented has been refuted. I’d also note the Reds argument runs counter to the argument he’s a bad teammate as he was caught up defending his teammates, and they appreciated it.
In terms of the reckless driving, you raise a fair point. A very fair point. However, that was over six years ago, and I don’t see any indications he hasn’t grown as a person.
As for MMO, you really have zero idea what happened. I’ll choose to keep all of that between Joe D. and me, including but not limited to who and what drove that decision; one, I’ll note I had a say in making.
Its an interesting idea. Puig is the player they accuse Cespedes of being. Having said that, whats the price? Give him the deal where he can request his release if he doesnt make the team. Chances are there is a reason no one wants Puig but could you imagine if it ever DID work out and they both play well?
If that’s the case, you may win the World Series
You must be a FOOL!!!! 1st off the Mets Don’t need all of those things to happen they just need one of those things to happen!!! Cespedes,NImmo,or Davis!!! 2nd and most IMPORTANTLY…… Puig is an ABSOLUTE CANCER!!!! He will NEVER fit in this clubhouse!!!
So much of a cancer, the Dodgers made the postseason every year he was there, and the season after he left the Dodgers went from three straight NLCS and consecutive pennants to losing in the NLDS.
The question is, how much would you pay for a player who’s value was 1.3 wins last year? 2 wins = starting player. Maybe the reason he hasn’t signed is because he wants a big contract. For Puig, it’d have to be an incentive laden contract. He’d have to make the team, and then get rewarded for abs.
A one year around $10 million seems about right.