A Breakdown of the Outfield

The outfield is often overlooked when evaluating a team. Although many outfielders are well known for their offensive prowess most do not get credit for their defensive game with the exception of the gold glover's. Although the Mets have a single gold glover out there in Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd did lead National League left fielders in assists last year, and neither Xavier Nady nor Victor Diaz are poor defensively. With left field and centerfield set in stone lets take a look at the lone question mark right. Your rightfielder traditionally has the strongest arm in the outfield but this will not me the case for the '06 Mets. Willie Randolph has repeated that he will not go with a right field platoon this year so either Xavier Nady or Victor Diaz will be our everyday rightfielder. If Nady wins the job look for Diaz to go down to the Triple A. Nady who was acquired for Mike Cameron seemingly has the advantage for that reason, but then again the trade enabled the Mets to cut off a lot of salary as Nady made just $488,000 last year. Nady is extremely versatile and in 120 career games in right field he has compiled a fielding percentage of .970 with 12 assists and a zone rating of .884. In retrospect Diaz has played 92 games in right field while compiling a fielding percentage of .974 with 2 assists and a zone rating of .812. Offensively Diaz has drawn comparisons to an up and coming Manny Ramirez and there should be no complaints there. Originally Diaz was a bit free swinging but once Willie Randolph really got on him about his strike outs his total went down significantly. Last year Diaz hit .257 with 12 HR, and 38 RBI in 89 games. He had a slugging percentage of .468 but he had nearly triple the amount of strike outs as he did walks as he walked a meager 30 times while struck out in 82 appearances. Nady also had great potential as a prospect as he set nearly every single offensive Pac-10 record surpassing Mark McGwire with a .729 slugging percentage compared to McGwire's .718. Last year Nady hit .261 with 13 HR and 43 RBI in 124 games. Nady is still relatively young at 27 but his transition to the major league level was not all that smooth. Up until last year Nady has had great struggles staying off low breaking pitches leading to easy outs for pitchers. Nady especially had trouble making solid contact to rightfield as he was a pull first type of guy. All in all it's Nady's job to lose and he got off to a hot start today opening up the exhibition season with a home run, either way were not getting Vlad Guerro production out there, but who needs Vlad honestly? In centerfield we have the highly coveted Carlos Beltran. Beltran started his career out in Kansas City as a September call up in the '98 season, they had some hope he would become the five tool player scouts projected him to be. In 1999 in his first full big league season Beltran impressed hitting .293 with 22 HR and 108 RBI. Beltran went out to win rookie of the year and draw the eye of those outside of Kansas City. Beltran had a bit of a Sophomore slump as he played in just 98 games the following year unable to remain healthy. He hit .247 in 2000. Beltran truly broke out during the 2004 playoffs with Houston as he hit 8 home runs leading them to the NLCS. During that post season Beltran batted .435 as he went 20-46, with 3 doubles, 14 RBI, 21 runs scored and six stolen bases. Big Bucks were sure to follow as he was to test the free agent market that winter. The obvious suitors were to be the New York Yankees, but for whatever reason the free spending Boss never made a serious bid at Beltran. Instead the recently hired Mets general manager Omar Minaya wooed Beltran in with their common heritage. Although Beltran wasn't an immediate hit in New York he had to battle injuries and be the heart and soul of this team. Now that Carlos Delgado is roaming the lineup look for the pressure to be off Beltran and for him to thrive again. Defensively Beltran has a career fielding percentage of .982 in centerfield to along with 75 assists and a zone rating of .905. Beltran can cover the vast Met outfield making up for whatever lapses right field might cause, he has a strong arm to go along with it and is looking to finally display all five tools at the same time throughout the season. In left field we have our clubhouse leader of sort Cliff Floyd. Last year the Mets were coming together but with Piazza's production decreasing and Martinez in his first season in NY, and Beltran shying away from the spotlight the Mets didn't really have a clubhouse leader. Floyd stood up and took the responsibility that alone could prove more valuable then his production itself. Floyd was the Mets lone power left handed bat in the middle of the lineup as he hit .273 last year with 34 HR and 98 RBI. Last year Floyd had a .992 fielding percentage as he made just 2 errors while compiling 15 assists. Floyd who previously had been hindered by his Achilles heel gained back some later mobility and had a zone rating of .895. Floyd began last season on a tear as he had a .366 average through March and April to go along with 6 HR and 21 RBI. A slow May cooled off Floyd but he was able to regain form. Shea proved to be more friendly to the lefty as he hit .286 there while managing a .260 average on the road. Floyd sees right handers considerably better then he does lefties as he hit .290 last year against right handers while mustering a .224 average against south paws. All in all Floyd is concentrating on this year and not his expiring contract which is rare in this day and age. Although many people believe prospect Lastings Milledge will be roaming left field opening day 2007 lets take it slow. If Floyd has a productive year maybe we'll be able to resign him and stick Milledge in right, what ever it is it is, this outfield will be a potent one offensively and above average defensively. To go along with these four on the Mets current roster includes Endy Chavez the left hander from Venezuela. Chavez and Tiki Redman are looking to make the Mets as role players. This 2006 Mets team is one full of potential and high expectations, but unfortunately expectations are not what carry you to October. In order for this to be a season to remember the Mets must start rolling on all cylinders early and often. As long as the starting rotation remains healthy the sky should be the limit for this personable group. Ya Gotta Believe this season is 20 years in the making.