Mets Sign Other Chris Young
The Mets have made their first big move of the off-season, reportedly signing outfielder Chris Young to a one-year, $7.25 million contract. Let’s hope this works out better than the other Chris Young.
Young is 30 years old and plays all three outfield positions, but mostly center field. He will likely play one of the corners with the Mets with Juan Lagares manning center.
He has power, which the most so desperately need — Chris Young hit 32 home runs in his first full season in 2007 and hit 27 in 2010. But that was in homer haven Chase Field in Arizona. Last year in the larger O.co Coliseum in Oakland he managed just 12 homers in 107 games.
Young also hit a paltry .200 last season and is just a .235 hitter for his career. For a team that claims it values on-base percentage, Young’s career mark is a mediocre .315. He also strikes out a lot.
The Mets seem to be sticking to their plan of signing mid-tier free agents. But with the price of free agents expected to be through the roof, this is apparently the best the Mets could find at this price level.
I will not pass judgment on Chris Young since I do not know much about him, but his numbers are a cause for concern. More alarming is whether this signing sets the tone for the Mets off-season. If Young is a complimentary piece, fine. But if this is the best player the Mets acquire this winter, then we are in for a very long 2014 season.
This will be THE move of the off-season I’m afraid. Until the Wilpon’s sell, we will never contend again.
This is a good signing. Even with his strikeouts and .200 batting average he’s still better than what the Mets put out there and was a cheaper option (and younger one) than trying to sign Marlon Byrd.
The problem with Young was just that didn’t fit in with the A’s and the only reason they even traded for him was for insurance in case Reddick or Cespedes went down (which both of them did). He knew that he wasn’t in their future plans so maybe that had something to do with his stats being down from last season. Plus trading for him cost the A’s hardly anything so what little he did was about what they needed to make the playoffs.
He will bring a very good glove and a good arm to the corner and to be honest with you big power isn’t what’s needed to win at Citi. He has 216 career doubles and can steal a base or two for this club. Hopefully the Mets can find one more just like him and they might win 75 games next season.
I agree that this is a good signing BUT I also agree that it sets the tone for what is going to happen this off-season – another bust year of signing washouts while watching the Yankees skim off all the cream.
How about taking a flier at Justin Morneau?