One of the primary trade deadline rumors surrounding the Mets is the question of whether or not they will make a move for a starting outfielder to replace the likes of Endy Chavez and Fernando Tatis having to play everyday.  Sure, the Mets missed out on Xavier Nady and plenty of fans are disappointed that the Mets failed to acquire him.  But in all reality people making Nady out to be super-stud that he’s not, because somehow this year he has managed to bat .43 points above his career average. 

There are some bigger names out there like Manny Ramirez and Matt Holiday, both of whom are amazing but to acquire them we would have to unload what’s left in our already ransacked minor league system.  I like Adam Dunn, but he’s not worth what the Reds are probably asking for him.  Randy Winn’s name has been involved in a trade rumor to the Mets more than once. 

Winn is a career .285 hitter with below average power and slightly above average speed.  However, he’s being paid $8 million this year, most of which the Mets would likely have to cover in a trade.  In addition to that, he’s under contract for next season at $8.25 million.  I don’t know about you, but this off season I think $8.25 million could be used much more productively. 

The notion of trading for Randy Winn isn’t terrible at first glance - he’s an adequate starter that would fit decently into the Mets lineup.  Yet, when the peripherals are examined like his contract the idea becomes more and more nonsensical.  Trading for him and his inflated contract becomes even more questionable when Kenny Lofton is sitting at home waiting for a phone call from a team. 

Lofton is a career .299 hitter and plays a similar style of baseball to Winn.  He’s not a power hitter, but on average he’ll hit you about 10 HRs in a season.  He’s definitely as good of a base stealer as Winn, if not better.  To sign Lofton, it will likely only cost a few million dollars and a guarantee of playing time on a contender - all of which the Mets can offer.  For other players like Winn it will cost us more money and a prospect or two - all of which for a player comparable and possible worse than Lofton. 

It would be silly for the Mets to get caught up in the trade deadline market where everyday teams are driving up the price on each other for players that are average to mediocre.  It is made especially silly by the fact that there is a quality player (Kenny Lofton) sitting at home waiting for a call from a team like the Mets. 

With Moises Alou likely out for at least the first month of the season, it remains somewhat of an open question who’ll be filling Mo’s shoes and playing left field for the Mets to kick off 2008. Here’s my take on some of the names that have been tossed around. I’ll give you the perspective both as a stats guy, and purely as a fan.

Barry Bonds

Stats guy says: Fantastic! This guy has a career OPS of 1.051, and his OPS last year was even higher! That shouldn’t really even be possible. We can play him in left for a few weeks, spelling him in the late innings and in day games with Endy Chavez, and it will be even better than if Alou were healthy. Come to think of it, why don’t we just sign this hitting machine to be our left fielder for the entire season?

Fan says: Barry Bonds? Are you kidding me? You want me to root for Barry F’ing Bonds? This guy is not only a cheater, he desecrated one of the most sacred records in all of sports and did it with a smile on his face. Plus, haven’t you noticed he’s just a tad on the surly side? I was booing this guy back when he had a normal-sized head. And now I’m supposed to root for him? I want a world championship as much as the next guy, but I seem to remember renouncing Satan somewhere along the way. Also, we’re not seriously thinking of replacing Moises Alou with a guy older than Moises Alou, right?

Endy Chavez

Stats guy says: Meh. His career OPS is under 700, and even during his renaissance of the last three years it’s 720. Sure, he’s a great glove and a good baserunner—an excellent choice for a fourth outfielder. But Chavez doesn’t have the bat to be an everyday player.

Fan says: How can you not love Endy Chavez? Don’t we all remember that catch he made? When Scott Rolen’s ball was heading towards the wall, even though we all knew it had the distance, we somehow all believed that Endy would make that catch. It’s not just that, though—he won a game with a drag bunt last year, and he hit a homer against the Yankees, and he made about a million other awesome catches that weren’t quite as well remembered as that other one. Yes, let’s make Endy Chavez the left fielder. That will have me smiling every day.

Kenny Lofton

Stats guy says: He did a very serviceable job in the AL last year, compiling a 781 OPS and 23 stolen bases to go with only 7 CS. He’s a lefty, though, which would mean we’d likely have a lineup that goes SSRSLLLLP (S = switch, P = pitcher), if you care about such things. Still, he’d be a fine fit for a month, in my opinion.

Fan says: You really want to replace Moises Alou with a guy who’s almost as old as Moises Alou?

Xavier Nady

Stats guy says: Well, at least we know he can hit left-handed pitching—to the tune of an 881 OPS over the last three seasons. He would give us the lineup balance we’ll be missing in Alou’s absence. But it’s not as though we can just go out there and grab Xavier Nady. The Pirates are now run by someone intelligent, and why would he hand over Nady without us giving him something of actual value in return? And since we’re not looking to give up any value, we’re just looking to plug a hole for a month, we probably shouldn’t be trading for Xavier Nady.

Fan says: I love Nady! Remember when he was here and he hit the hell out of everything? (Stats guy interrupts: actually, his numbers last year were basically the same as his numbers with us.) And the only reason we ever traded him in the first place was because Duaner Sanchez got in a car accident. And remember when Nady had that appendicitis? We all felt bad for him then. We should do whatever it takes to get Nady back. I miss him.

You can imagine that overall I’m a little conflicted about the whole left field situation. I’d probably be in favor of just living with Endy and the rest of the bench for a month. What I’m really in favor of is getting Alou healthy as soon as possible.

Mets Refugees posts a great rundown of possible options to replace Moises Alou in left field while he recovers from hernia surgery.

Among the players examined by Dan at Mets Refugees is Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan, Brady Clark, Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, and Xavier Nady.

Shawn Green and Barry Bonds are not happening, but I can see the Mets maybe picking up Lofton. I like Nady but I think the Pirates want more than the Mets are willing to give, otherwise someone would have made a deal for him in the offseason.

David Lennon of Newsday relays information from the New York Mets who announced that Moises Alou will have surgery tomorrow to repair a hernia and will miss the next four to six weeks.

Alou was sent back to New York earlier today for further tests after complaining of discomfort in the groin area and the Mets got word of the results this evening.

The Mets have a few options within the organization that they could look to. Angel Pagan who has been killing the ball this spring seems like the most logical choice. Obviously, Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley are also options. The long shot option is to see Fernando Martinez in left field.

The Mets also have a couple of options available on the free agent market still such as Kenny Lofton or Preston Wilson. Lofton would be a solid choice, who hit .296 last season with 7 home runs, 38 RBIs, scored 86 runs and stole 23 bases at the tender age of 40. They could also try to convince Shawn Green to come out of retirement.

Buster Olney, on his ESPN blog, gives a list of 10 free agents who could be good value signings.

Tony Clark, Matt Clement, David Eckstein, Kenny Lofton, Mike Lamb, Reggie Sanders, Jeremy Affeldt, Kris Benson, Shannon Stewart, and David Wells are the players that Olney believes could be the best bang for any team’s buck.

Olney thinks Tony Clark could fit on the Mets as a bench player. He also points out that Clark has the third highest home run rate, behind Alex Rodriguez and, wait for it…Ramon Castro. Clark had a .563 slugging percentage in 32 at-bats last season.

The Mets have been reported to have some interest in David Eckstein,  whose batting average in each of his last three seasons is .294, .292 and .309.

Affeldt might be a good pick up for the Mets, who need to upgrade their bullpen. Right-handers hit .211 against him last season, left-handers .250.