Of the 19 players selected in December's Rule 5 Draft, only a handful made it through Spring Training and remained with their new club when the season began. One such player is Brad Emaus of the Mets (formerly of the Blue Jays), and manager Terry Collins told Newday's David Lennon that the team is going to give him the chance to develop into an everyday second baseman.
"When Brad Emaus made this club, there were some things discussed, and one of them is to give him a legitimate chance," said the skipper, who spoke with GM Sandy Alderson about Emaus on Friday. "Putting him in and out of the lineup — we're not going to get answers out of that, so I got him back in there."
Emaus has appeared in 12 of the team's first 13 games, but he's started just eight of them and only one in the last week as Daniel Murphy gets more playing time. The Mets also acknowledged that Emaus is being given greater leeway given his status as a Rule 5 Draft pick, since he must first clear waivers and be offered back to Toronto before he could be sent to the minors.
In 34 plate appearances, the 25-year-old is hitting just .200/.294/.200 with seven strikeouts and three GIDP's. Emaus did hit .290/.397/.476 with 15 homers and 13 steals between Double and Triple-A last year, so he certainly has offensive potential. Baseball America ranked him as New York's 21st best prospect in their Prospect Handbook.
Give him a chance – good player
They could simply make a deal with Toronto, right? Toronto is like any club, right? Give them a player to be named later or cash. He can then be sent to the minors to work out his issues.
The Mets have nothing to lose by letting him play or even just keeping him on the big league roster the whole year. He’s a good talent and the Mets need all the talent they can get.
…why? He deserves more than 13 games.
The guy is not a good player.
He’s not the 2B of the future, he’s a bench guy. He’s shown nothing at any point in his career that would make you think he’s above replacement level. Not sure how exactly he became a hot commodity and amazing talent that a lot of my fellow Mets fans think he is (my hunch is because he’s Not Luis Castillo).
His minor league stats from last year were completely average in context, given his age and where he was playing.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see him dumped in the near future, you might as well see what you have with Daniel Murphy at 2B, as well as some other guys. That being said I’d keep Emaus on the team just on the bench, would just give the large share of 2B play to Murphy who is realistically more likely to be on the team long term there.
What makes you think Murphy can play 2B? He couldn’t even catch a flyball in LF, what chance does he have of playing a more demanding defensive position well?
I wish it was easier to get video of MLB highlights. I’d make a montage of all his defensive gaffes set to the Benny Hill music.
Murphy is a 3rd basemen, he’s blocked by Wright, but his Bat his ML ready. He can catch groundballs, there is no doubt in anyones mind that Murphy can catch ground balls, he did it at first quite well a couple of years ago too. Now he’s blocked by Davis, and he definitely doesn’t have the range for SS, SO yes I believe he can play 2b averagely with a little trouble turning the double play… do we have anything better in our organization that isn’t named reese havens and isn’t injured?
His bat is ML ready? That’s news to me. I’d rather continue to play Emaus who, while he may not hit incredibly well, at least knows how to play the position.
Murph puts up serviceable ML numbers, .273; 313; .427 and those numbers were primarily put up in age 23 and 24 seasons. Not great by any means but certainly serviceable at any position besides 1b. it’s a step up from .235 .337 .267 (guess who that belongs to) The only reason why Emaus is being given such a shot is his high minor league OBP, something our new front office greatly values. But that average and slugging of his are non comparable to anything thanks to the league he played in
A slash line of 273/313/427 is almost identical to Francoeur’s career line of 269/310/426. That’s the opposite of great, that’s bad. I’ll take my chances with Emaus and his higher OBP than play Murphy who is putting up Francoeur numbers.
MLB league average for a second baseman is about a .720 OPS, Daniel Murphy put up a .740 OPS in what was essentially his rookie season, for his career he’s got a .762 OPS. Even if he only plays up to that level, it’s a slightly above average bat for the position, and that’s ignoring any potential to improve. The offense isn’t in question with Murphy, it’s the defense. But hey, it’s not like the Mets have any other great options for the position right now. Might as well play the kid and see what he’s got, he hasn’t looked horrible so far with the glove.
I guess Mets fans seem to think this guy is Jesus because they’ve had Luis Castillo on second for the past few seasons? I can’t think of any other reasons…
There are reasons that you and I don’t understand-but the Mets like him, no matter the reason, no matter if they’re right or wrong, and they picked him up for a small amount of cash and a roster spot. Since they didn’t have to lose someone they wanted to keep, and got him basically for free, they should honor their instincts and stick with him until he does prove them right or wrong.
It’s what well run organizations do. I know it’s the Mets, so lets see if the new leadership turns the Mets into a well run organization.
He is Jesus. That being said, Jesus should be doing more important work than playing 2B for the Mets.
By keeping this guy in the majors is not only doing a disservice to the Mets, but also to Brad. The guy simply is not ML ready at the plate. Will he ever be, remains to be seen, but he cannot hit the ball out of the infield and really looks lost at the plate. I would be a bit surprised if Toronto wanted him back because since coming over to the Mets, very little stands out about this player. The only time I have been impressed with him was with the glove, and even that isn’t spectacular. He’s gotta go to the minors to just find himself and boost his confidence, he sure as hell won’t find it playing in the majors or with the Mets.
toronto is having their own problems at second so i think they would take him back
Lawrie (unless he’s shifting to 3B permanently)? Even Woodward I think is better than Emaus right now if they even have to go deeper.
lets all jump ship on aaron hill after 13 games. . solid reasoning.
Murphy on 2nd base? Not so sure he can do that very well…Great article!
If the Mets really liked Emaus, they should have worked out a trade with the Jays and then kept him in AAA ball this year. It is obvious he is not ready for MLB level and the in-and-out of the line up will only degrade his development.
Hey, I’d love to have him back in the Jays organization. He has solid tools, he’s never going to be a superstar but he’s a 60 RBI guy with decent defense. I’d rather him than E.E…
he is also a pretty decent person