Mets Scouts Will Watch Arruebarruena Showcase

The Mets announced yesterday that they will have scouts present for the showcase of recent Cuban defector, Erisbel Arruebarruena.  The twenty-three year old, who was the starting short stop for Cuba in the recent World Baseball Classic is supposedly a dominant defender with good range and even better hands.  However, he is less than average offensively.

When news of his defection when public a few weeks ago, Ben Badler of Baseball America had the following to say about Arruebarruena:

A righthanded hitter, Arruebarruena has a long swing, struggles with pitch recognition, swings through breaking balls in the strike zone and is prone to chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone. He has a pull-oriented approach and minimal power, so several scouts are skeptical he could hit better than .220 or hit a .300 on-base percentage against major league pitching. His lack of foot speed would also limit his appeal as a potential defensive-oriented backup, since he wouldn’t have as much value as a pinch-runner.

I think that tells you all you need to know about where the Mets' interests should lie on this Subject. The Mets are in the market for an offensive upgrade. If they were looking for a .225 hitter at the position with poor discipline they could simply stick with Ruben Tejada, because that's his absolute floor.

Expect the Mets to come away impressed with his defensive abilities, hesitant about his offense and uninterested in paying the premium price to obtain his services.  If Badler's assessment is correct, that's exactly where they should stand.