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Mets, Spencer Come To Terms

According to Newsday, the Mets have come to terms with free agent outfielder Shane Spencer on a minor-league deal worth a reported $500,000.

Spencer is expected to be a strong contender for playing time in rightfield because of his home-run prowess and solid defense. His acquisition will give the Mets five veteran rightfield options and incite additional speculation that Roger Cedeño could be released.

In light of yesterday's move, this one seems to makes a lot more sense. Back in December, I talked a bit about platooning, and apparently Jim Duquette might have been reading. With Spencer sharing time in right field with newly-acquired Karim Garcia, the Mets could expect decent production from a position that has been an offensive and defensive black hole for a number of years.

Here's what the two players have done over the past three seasons against opposite-handed pitchers.

SHANE SPENCER VS LEFTIES (2001-2003)

 AB   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS   HR  RBI
305  .282  .345  .456  .801   12   53


KARIM GARCIA VS RIGHTIES (2001-2003)

 AB   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS   HR  RBI
360  .297  .327  .528  .855   24   69

Together, they make a pretty decent player. The sample sizes aren't huge, but comprise a total of about a half of a season for each player, which is not insignificant. Given a full season of left/right platooning, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a .275 hitter with 25 homeruns and 85 RBI. All for the grand total of $1.3 million dollars.

It may be presumptuous on my part to suggest that a strict platoon for these two players is what Mets management has in mind. If that's what it turns out to be, though, I consider it a huge step in the right direction (after several bungled mis-steps in the wrong direction), and represents the kind of forward-thinking that you might expect from other, seemingly-more-enlightened organizations.