Mets Should Never Have Been Suitors For Nelson Cruz

I disagree very much with all the Sandy-bashing re: Cruz. A soon-to-be-34-year-old rock of a defender coming off a PED suspension? (1/2)
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 22, 2014

(2/2) ...And you all just assume Cruz will be good? Criticizing the #Mets for not signing Stephen Drew is much, much more valid, IMO.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 22, 2014

Bingo.

Citi Field is too big for Nelson Cruz to be loping around in at his decelerated pace. I'm sure his offense, even if down without the PED's, would have been an uptick from some of what we saw last year, but he was not that good away from Texas anyway. I happen to think Chris Young will also turn out to be a mistake, but it doesn't mean Nelson Cruz was the way to go. Additionally, when the Mets were in the market for an outfielder, Cruz was requesting an absurd contract.

To his last point, people are up in arms because Cruz was not pursued more aggressively, but waffle back and forth on Stephen Drew. Here's what we know about the Mets right now:

They don't want to commit to anyone long term.

They don't have a ton of money.

Their shortstop is terrible.

There is a free agent out there who can accommodate all of those criteria. And for the crowd that says the addition of Drew doesn't put them over the top or make them a playoff team: of course he doesn't. No one player is going to do that for this team. You build a better team through a series of improvements.