The Mets And an Open Wallet...

So, going into the off season the Mets had needs for more production and defense in the outfield and shortstop as well as filling the void left by Matt Harvey after season ending Tommy John surgery. This was done by adding Chris Young, Curtis Granderson, and Bartolo Colon. Now mind you these transactions were all made with a certain degree of financial restrictions be it from the banks or whatever the Wilpons have going on in the back ground. Nothing at shortstop has come to fruition and probably won't.

The Grandy and Colon deals I think were good. Both have star power, Colon was one of these best pitchers in the league last year at age 39 and if Granderson can stay healthy should be productive while being a presence in the clubhouse and community.

Now let's pretend for a moment that money isn't an issue. Say we didn't sign Young or let the Ike/Duda saga play out the way it did all winter and sign Nelson Cruz and Kendrys Morales. Are the Mets now contenders?

Suspension aside, Cruz hit .266/.327/.526 along with 27 homers and 76 batted in. Young on the other hand hit .202/.280/.379 with 12HR and 40RBI. So essentially Nelson had double the production playing in the same division. Offensively there isn't much comparison based on last years results but defense there is no question Young is better. I supposed the thinking is that Young has a bounce back year at the plate and comes close to that?

Morales hit .277/.366/.449 with 23 bombs and 80 knocked in. And between Ike and Duda they hit more home runs, were close in RBI's but not close in average or slugging. Defense comes into play on this one as well especially with Ike. Once again, they are more than likely hoping for Davis to regain his form and if he does comes as a much cheaper option but remember we aren't worried about dollars in this post.

Clearly, signing both of these FA's would be more sexy than what we have now and would satisfy the fan base but it becomes a question of which is more important. Defense and the hopes for better offense or just plain offense and take our lumps here and there in the field. What say you Mets faithful(un)?

Photo Courtesy: mets360.com

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