Jax430
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Mets sign Moises Alou
NEW YORK -- The Mets' offensive shortfall against left-handed pitching that afflicted the club in late summer has been addressed, so too the situation involving Tom Glavine. The Mets announced Monday two moves that had been widely anticipated" the signing of Alou and their decision not to exercise their option on Glavine's contract.
Call them moves for the ages; in one day the Mets added a 40-year-old outfielder to their roster and, in effect, removed a 40-year-old pitcher. Alou came as a free agent, signing a contract worth $7.5 million that covers next season and includes a club option for 2008. And because the club didn't exercise the option on Glavine's contract, the veteran pitcher no longer is a provisional free agent. He is a free agent, period.
The Mets weren't put off by the age of either player and still hope to re-sign Glavine.
Singing Alou, a right-handed hitter with a history of abusing left-handed pitching, eliminates the chance Cliff Floyd, also a free agent, will re-sign with the Mets. And it reduces the chance of Lastings Milledge playing regularly with the Mets.
The club's plan to have Alou play left field regularly, or close to regularly, pushes Milledge aside at the position the Mets think suits him best, given their other personnel. The 21-year-old right-handed-hitting 2006 rookie conceivably could be used to spell Shawn Green in right field, but any sort of time-share arrangement probably would afford Milledge so little playing time that his development would be slowed.
Chances are Milledge will begin next season in the Minor Leagues, where he would play regularly or he would be moved to a different team in a trade that would upgrade the starting pitching.
How much Alou will play is open to speculation. He started 90 games in left field and appeared in two others for the Giants in 2006, playing 725 2/3 innings. In contrast, Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell, who fell into disfavor and had his time limited down the stretch, played 987 2/3 frames. Alou missed time in '06 as well 2005 because of injuries, most of then involving his right ankle and hamstring.
When Alou did play, he was quite productive, batting .301 with 74 RBIs and 22 home runs in merely 345 at-bats. His on-base and slugging percentages were .353 and .571, making his rates of production comparable to or better than David Wright's.
Moreover, Alou batted .349 with a .407 on-base percentage and .687 slugging percentage in 91 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Wright, the Mets' primary right-handed-hitting run producer, became troubled by left-handed pitching in the second half of the season, particularly in August. Wright was the leading hitter in the National League against left-handed pitching as late as June 22, with a .436 average. It had dropped to .367 by July 30, the day before Xavier Nady was traded.
Wright batted .160 with three RBIs and one home run in his subsequent 50 at-bats against left-handed pitchers while the Mets, in general, struggled against them.
Presumably, Alou, a career .330 batter against left-handed pitching, would be deployed in a modified platoon, batting against all or most left-handed starters and against some who are right-handed. With the roster as it is now, Endy Chavez, a left-handed hitter, probably would replace Alou in left field late in games and start the games Alou didn't; that or switch-hitter Jose Valentin -- more productive from the left side -- could spell Alou in left, either as a starter or after shifting from second base late in games.
Ben Johnson, the right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder-type, might share right field with Green in a similar scenario.
Message edited 11/20/2006 8:00:59 PM.
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