When I first saw the subheading of Joel Sherman’s most recent column – "Mets Would Get Much-Needed Jolt From Rowand And Eckstein" – I had the knee-jerk stathead reaction. That is: Eckstein’s overrated, Rowand’s coming off a career year, and the grinder element either doesn’t exist or doesn’t add wins.
But Sherman doesn’t seem blind to the numbers and his plan to move Carlos Beltran to right field and use Eckstein at second base seems reasonable. Who am I to say that adding two guys who play with such enthusiasm wouldn’t have an intangible effect? Sometimes the pendulum swings too far the other way with stats people (I am guilty of this). Rowand and Eckstein are above average players, even if their attitudes earn them too much media extra credit. There are immeasurable but valuable traits in baseball.
Rowand might end up costing $60MM over five years at the high end. Eckstein, $10MM over two years. Should the Mets make this investment? Sherman’s plan also calls for using Lastings Milledge/Carlos Gomez/Fernando Martinez to acquire a workhorse arm like Jon Garland, Nate Robertson, Joe Blanton, Bronson Arroyo, or Dontrelle Willis. Thoughts on that?
Meanwhile, John Delcos of The Journal News wants Glavine, Lo Duca, Castillo, Easley, and Alou back plus trades for Adam Dunn and Chad Cordero.
