The only major move the Mets made this off-season* was signing Cuddyer, and that was fairly early on in the off-season. At the time it was deemed a controversial move because of how it early it was made. Turns out that OF moved a lot during the winter meetings, and since the Mets ended up doing nothing else, the move was made in a vacuum, which hurt the perception of the move some more. That being said, Cuddyer could still be a critical part of the Mets season and be that extra push. Let’s take a look at his 2014 Stats with the Rockies:
2014 Stats: 205 PA, 32 R, 15 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 31 RBI, .332 BA, .376 OBP
He had an injury shortened season last year, but it was his second straight year of hitting .331. While I’m pretty sure he won’t do that again, shades of that would be incredibly beneficial to the Mets offense. Let’s take a look at what the computers say is on tap for 2015:
PECOTA (BP): 265 PA, 29 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 31 RBI, .260 BA, .320 OBP
PECOTA (MLB.com): 465 AB, 57 R, 14 HR, 60 RBI, .258 BA, .319 OBP
MLB.com: 412 AB, 60 R, 14 HR, 60 RBI, .279 BA, .340 OBP
ZiPS: 372 PA, 42 R, 21 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 44 RBI, .271 BA, .325 OBP
Steamer: 597 PA, 543 AB, 63 R, 28 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 69 RBI, .254 BA, .313. OBP
ESPN: 66 R, 19 HR, 67 RBI, .265 BA
Average: 411 PA, 473 AB, 52.8 R, 21 2B, 1.7 3B, 14 HR, 55.2 RBI, .265 BA, .323 OBP
It’s difficult to aggregate the data. The more complete models that run different stats have Cuddyer platooning a lot where the Mets right now see Cuddyer playing more often and taking time at first base. I’m not going to lie, 14 homers would be disappointment, especially if he takes away considerable time from Duda at firstbase. That being said, I would take the .265 BA from Cuddyer in a heart beat after how “prolific” our offense was last season.
*This article was written on 2/20, so there’s the possibility the Mets made some other major move, but I doubt it.
