Every spring at 213 we gather a whole bunch of projections for players and average them together to see what a conglomerate of baseball sources think a given player will perform over the year. It’s wholly unscientific – averaging averages and not weighting them for previous accuracy or amount of playing time they feel a player will see.
You know what feels like forever ago? T.J. Rivera on the Mets. But he was on the Mets last year! He became a fan favorite essentially instantly, had a great 2017 and then injuries kept him away from the field much of 2019, until the Mets cut him and then he started playing independent ball. Last year we wrote about how his health, J.D. Davis and Gavin Cecchini were all in his way from getting a roster spot. Despite all that, many outlets still wrote projections for him:
Ultimately, Rivera was released about a week after we wrote the preview article for him last year. After playing in independent ball he was picked up by the Nationals but never saw any major league playing time with them and was released in November. He’s still a free agent.
Rivera hit .304/.335/.445 in 344 PA’s for the Mets across 2016 and 2017. It’s a shame that so many things prevented him for getting on the field again. We appreciate the memories with him, and although it doesn’t feel like the Mets have any room for him, we wouldn’t be against the Mets signing him to a minor league contract.
I believe if he was high draft pick and some team had a lot of money invested in him he would be on a major league team. He’s a proven major leaguer batting at 304…..The Mets should pick him up and slot him in at the minor league level in case a player goes down. Honestly……….He’s more productive and less expensive than Robinson Cano. In my opinion Cano is a bust and an expensive one at that. Brody probably would never admit that because it was his decision. TJ could of given the Mets better production at a fraction of the cost. I hope TJ gets a second chance as he’s a very good ball player. Let’s not forget that he hit .304…….Brody Van Wagonen ……..sign him.