The Crane Pool Forum

RH hitter, spare outfielder. Injury insurance, DH, probably better than Ruf

36 years old. Free agent. .237/.316/.384 with the Brewers last year. Played 134 games. 580 plate appearances. 25 doubles, 17 homers, 66 runs, 69 RBI, 8 steals.

Very likely to be better than Ruf!

Feels like we were gonna get Andrew the last decade or so so might
as well get it done. Better late than never?

There was another guy with an 'A' first name whose name escapes me.
Went on for seemingly fifteen off-seasons and never happened...

I'm not sure I'm going to put my ducats on "very likely" to be better than Ruf. But likely? I'll take that.

Ruf probably ain't the guy we saw last season. But he probably ain't that much better. He could hit five homers in a week and then disappear into the same hole he fell into in August.

He's the same age as McCutcheon, though he probably has less mileage. I think McCutcheon's an upgrade, but I kind of like the Ruf fighting for his last bit of baseball and being pressed from behind. That's certainly not ideal, but I like it better than Ruf being bigfooted out of the picture by somebody who isn't much better but is more likely to last the full year.

A lot depends on the Mets' disposition toward Francisco Álvarez and his readiness, and they ain't talking.

I imagine that Alvarez will play somehow or other. Because he has to. I cant see Alvarez making the team just to play once or twice a week.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:22 am RH hitter, spare outfielder. Injury insurance, DH, probably better than Ruf

I scooped Wilmer + Cookie's litterbox this morning. Its contents were better than Darin Ruf.

cutch... better than ruf was with the mets last year. worse than ruf was with the giants last year. better defender but still not good. brings veteran presence. is somehow two months younger.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:28 am I imagine that Alvarez will play somehow or other. Because he has to. I cant see Alvarez making the team just to play once or twice a week.

Indeed, if he makes the team, he certainly plays. My guess is that he would initially be the primary righthanded DH and catch one game in five.

Whether that comes to pass in April or June, I guess, remains to be seen.

Cutch is one of those guys like Strawberry or Mattingly who seemed HoF-bound in his 20s, and definitely not in his 30s. I play a little game sometimes, sorta crude game that really doesn't work (because artificial parameters), where I take a guy's stats in his 20s and double them, to see the sort of career I projected for him through his age-29 season. Cutch rates, by that metric, through 2016 doubled, with just over 2600 hits, 350 HR, a 138 OPS+, a GG, a MVP (and two close finishes)--not quite HoF-worthy, but not too far.

Since 2016, of course, he's OPS+ed 113 for five teams in six years, so it's completely OOTFQ now, but once upon a time....

Been saying for years….pirates fans loved him. I loved him

If he can’t be a Pirate, let him be a met

I scooped Wilmer + Cookie's litterbox this morning. Its contents were better than Darin Ruf.

And lol!

kcmets wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:59 am There was another guy with an 'A' first name whose name escapes me.
Went on for seemingly fifteen off-seasons and never happened...

Adam Dunn? Just popped into my head.
Still I think it was a black dude with an 'A' name.

Probably both and I'm mixing and matching...

Anthony Rendon?
Andruw Jones?
Al Oliver?
Alan Alda?

Adam jones?

kcmets wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:59 am Feels like we were gonna get Andrew the last decade or so so might
as well get it done. Better late than never?

This. Seems like there have been articles about the Mets going after him for ten years every time a need arose in the outfield.

As opposed to Ruf, he could not only carry a glove, but use it.
If the Mets got him, Ruf could be relegated to Fmann's cats' litter box.

Later

Still can't figure out why they got rid of JD Davis. I remember reading all season long right up until they traded him how his batted balls were among the hardest hit in the majors. And that's about as good an indicator as anything out there.

And they paid a premium for the honor.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 7:20 pm Still can't figure out why they got rid of JD Davis. I remember reading all season long right up until they traded him how his batted balls were among the hardest hit in the majors. And that's about as good an indicator as anything out there.

Billy got soaked in that trade. Davis didn't produce reliably enough for a team with the Mets' ambition but to throw in Szapucki and NICK ZWACK was a crime. Giants with those guys and Conforto now. That will be a series

Cutch isn't nearly the player he once was but he'd slot in nicely to that RH DH/4th OF role.

I think they might want to let Alvarez sharpen up in AAA by playing every day for a little bit which is why they got Narvaez.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 8:45 pm

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 7:20 pm Still can't figure out why they got rid of JD Davis. I remember reading all season long right up until they traded him how his batted balls were among the hardest hit in the majors. And that's about as good an indicator as anything out there.

Billy got soaked in that trade. Davis didn't produce reliably enough for a team with the Mets' ambition but to throw in Szapucki and NICK ZWACK was a crime. Giants with those guys and Conforto now. That will be a series

Yeah, it seemed soaky enough at the time. By the end of the season, J.D. had produced 0.9 bWAR for the Giants, and Ruf -1.0 for the Mets. Szapucki added another 0.5 on the San Francisco side of the ledger. So the difference is 2.4 bWAR (2.0 fWAR, if you prefer).

I know the world doesn't work this way, but if you add two wins to the Mets ledger, they're cooling their heels and resting their arms in the first round of the playoffs while the Braves are the ones with a short series against the Padres.

Billy shouldn't have tried to be a hero.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 8:45 pm

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 7:20 pm Still can't figure out why they got rid of JD Davis. I remember reading all season long right up until they traded him how his batted balls were among the hardest hit in the majors. And that's about as good an indicator as anything out there.

Billy got soaked in that trade. Davis didn't produce reliably enough for a team with the Mets' ambition....

That's a good way of putting it. One could forget that the Mets aren't fucking around anymore after 10+ seasons of being baseball's laughingstock. There's an entire generation of Mets fans who are young enough that, until about a year ago, knew no other Mets team firsthand besides the Madoff plagued one.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:58 pm

Yeah, it seemed soaky enough at the time. By the end of the season, J.D. had produced 0.9 bWAR for the Giants....

That's 0.9 bWAR in just 158 PA's. That's pretty damn good. Davis's 140 OPS+ with the Giants last year was the best of Davis's career, though granted, it represents just a partial season. But still.

I was on a Zoom call earlier this evening with Will Clark (which, admittedly, sounds a little Mad Libs-ish) in which he was asked, in his official special assistant capacity, to predict a breakout season for a 2023 Giant. His choice was J.D. Davis.

I also learned that whenever he was in New York on a road trip, Will made a point of dropping by the restaurant of his fellow Jesuit High School of New Orleans alumnus, Rusty Staub.

That's good stuff. And when the Rusty Staub Foundation gets relaunched, as it ought, Clark should be on the board.

Cutch a Buc again.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pir ... 2301130059

I'm beginning to think he doesn't like us.