The Crane Pool Forum

The Mets have signed utility player Nick Madrigal to a split major/minor league contract.
Later

1.35 Million

Decent signing for depth. Maybe he can mirror Jose Iglesias' success

I have a rookie card of his I'm going to send out to get autographed.

But he probably won't sign like 99.5% of active players these days.

I first thought of Warner Madrigal when I read the headline. I was like, "is he still playing?"

I thought of "Breaking Bad"

Nick, among other things, is a man out of his time with his propensity to rarely strike out, whiffing only 33 times in 821 minor-league plate appearances — about once every 25 trips to the place. That skill, building off his collegiate reputation, has never quite carried over to his MLB career, where he has fanned once every 11 or so trips.

His twin brother Ty is a former-White Sox minor-league pitcher, currently laboring in the Mexican Winter League.

On one hand he doesn't strike out, on the other hand he has little power. His highest HR total in any year (college or pro) was 4. A college radio station usually has more power.
He must be a good fielder to have stayed around this long.
Later

I don't like this one. I'd much rather have Iglesias on the major league roster, and with Williams, Acuna, and Mauricio all at AAA the need for organizational depth is zero.

Yeah. I see no point in this move.

He’s a utility infielder that can’t play SS. So he can’t fill in for Lindor. He has no power, doesn’t walk. A singles hitter who hit .221 last year. OPS in the .500s two of the last three years, sandwiching a .663 OPS in 2023.

The only role I could see him filling is “guy who gets cut in April and we later forget was ever on the team.”

Or he'll be stashed at Syracuse for most of the season, and kept around "just in case."

Benjamin Grimm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 10:55 am Or he'll be stashed at Syracuse for most of the season, and kept around "just in case."

Don't dump your trash on my lawn

Per DiComo, Nick dislocated his left shoulder in today's game in West Palm Beach , MRI needed to see severity

Yikeys.

Jose Iglesias anxiously waits by the phone.

The team has announced (SNY) that they will fill the position from within.

https://sny.tv/articles/nick-madrigal-i ... eplacement
I guess he was to be the backup shortstop. Is Acuna the next man up?
Later

Fractured left shoulder. Out a "long time," Mendoza says. Ouch for Nick and depth.

Losing a guy who's hit .250 with a 73 OPS+ since 2022 isn't that big a deal. Players like him are what might be called "fungible."

Yeah I would think Madrigal would be the Joey Wendel of 2025.

Opportunity awaits for Bret Baty and Luisangel Acuna. I suspect Baty has the edge after hearing how Sterns talks about Acuna needing more seasoning and playing every day.

You blew the chance to maximize one of my more frequent typos, "singing" and "signing."

Marshmallowmilkshake wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 1:24 pm Sterns talks about Acuna needing more seasoning and playing every day.

Is this purely a matter of holding Acuna back a month or two to delay his eligibility for Free Agency by an extra year?

Just playing-wise, I think he showed last year that he can play right now at the MLB level, and certainly can sit on the bench right now.

I am pretty sure the reason that they didn't bring back Iglesias is that they preferred a disposable guy (for lack of a better term) who wouldn't get in the way as they give opportunities of to their younger infielders.

Sadly, they are forced to exercise his disposability early.

Was this his first chance at SS?

So one of the questions they had was whether Madrigal could play a passable SS. Early returns suggest no.

Edgy MD wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:14 pm I am pretty sure the reason that they didn't bring back Iglesias is that they preferred a disposable guy (for lack of a better term) who wouldn't get in the way as they give opportunities of to their younger infielders.

Sadly, they are forced to exercise his disposability early.

I know that's what Stearns is thinking, but this isn't Milwaukee. You don't want to bring up Acuna/Williams/Mauricio to be a reserve, at least not right now, and I'm inclined to think that Cohen would not be bankrupted by whatever Iglesias would cost at this point.

I feel bad for Madrigal because he just got an absurdly bad break. But I feel bad for Iglesias because teams are being stupid towards him. He's well-liked here, plus there are at least a dozen infields around the league he could start for (and he wouldn't have to leave New York to find one), and he's being ignored by everybody again?

We certainly have reason to think he's a good guy, but maybe there is more than we know.

If I'm editing The Athletic, I'd certainly be assigning a staffer to do a deep dive on why the market for him is so cool.

Donovan Walton is an invitee with about 90 games of MLB experience. Mariners I believe