The Mets have at least “some curiosity about” Padres first baseman James Loney, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). Loney’s representatives at the Legacy Agency are expected to contact the club today to see if there’s a fit.
While Loney remains under control of the Padres, he’s reportedly able to opt out of his contract if a major league opportunity arises with another organization. As I explained this morning in breaking down New York’s options with Lucas Duda sidelined, Loney looks to be one of the most viable targets for the club.
Playing at Triple-A to open the year, Loney owns a .333/.368/.417 slash over 155 plate appearances with two home runs and just ten strikeouts to go with his nine walks. That’s not a terribly surprising batting line for the 32-year-old, who is a somewhat atypical hitter for a first baseman. Over his decade of major league experience, Loney has slashed .285/.338/.411, relying on average and low strikeout tallies to make up for a lack of pop.
Loney has also generally graded out well with the glove, though defensive metrics viewed him as a slightly below-average performer at first in each of his last two major league seasons. He also won’t require any kind of payroll hit beyond the league minimum, as the Rays released him this spring when trade partners failed to materialize. Tampa Bay remains obligated for his $8MM salary.
With San Diego rostering both Wil Myers and Brett Wallace, it doesn’t appear as if the Padres will be motivated to move Loney up to keep him in the organization. Wallace is hardly untouchable, but his salary is guaranteed and he’s capable of playing third base. On the other hand, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney has noted on Twitter, San Diego would have the option of elevating Loney if another team offers him a big league job, which also means the club could potentially extract some trade value.
The Mets will, no doubt, consider alternatives. The left-handed-hitting Loney wouldn’t make much sense on the roster when Duda returns, after all, and it’s probably worth at least checking to see if there’s a better match elsewhere. As covered in the above-linked post, there are a lot of possibilities out there, though ultimately a low-risk fill-in would make plenty of sense.
One hypothetical candidate, Nick Swisher of the Yankees, does not appear to be a fit. Sherman notes that the Mets don’t have interest in the veteran, who has continued to post meager numbers at Triple-A.
He’s not very good, but at least he has the potential to put the ball in play with a guy at 3rd and less than 2 out. Silver linings and all.
His defense, while not as good as it was, would still be able to hide Wright at 3B in the interim.
Unless of course they just decide to finally make the move and put Wright at 1B where he belongs.
Did Justin Morneau retire? Also, what about Mike Morse? On another board, it was suggested that David Wright move to 1b and they play someone else at 3rd. Didn’t think that was a bad alternative solution either.
Those two guys are discussed in the linked post re options.
I know, but I think I was looking at what other people thought of the possibility. Not much commentary regarding those two players on what you wrote.
Morneau is hurt, won’t pick up a bat until June at the earliest. Then factor in getting back into game shape, another couple weeks at least
Cool. Morneau just doesn’t seem an option now – maybe come July. Morse is out there for the taking, though, so he’s a good one to debate.
Collins said yesterday that Wright to first base isn’t a consideration.
Really hope that doesn’t mean they are Jetering him and making us all watch that horrible defense get even worse over an extended period of time.
I think wright should be and just have Eric Campbell play 3B
I know he is having an awful start to the year but what about Joey Votto. The Reds are in full re-build mode and maybe we can put together a package without Wheeler to get it done. It would cost more to get him in terms of prospects but the ceiling is so much higher if Kevin Long can get him straightened out – he is so much better than the also-rans being discussed. I’m sure his contract is expensive too but its a name to consider if we cant get a player like Freeman.
Votto is owed $199MM on his contract still and has said recently that he’s not interested in waiving his full no-trade clause.
I love reading futile comments like these, as if you have any knowledge on managing a baseball team. Not only is Votto hitting at .220, not even Kevin Long can help him, he is also owed $200 million dollars and is contract for ANOTHER 7 YEARS!!!!! Are you kidding me ? Duda is out for 4-6 weeks, why would they trade for a bat that will be on contract until 2023?
Expectations seem to be that he’ll be out longer than that – it was given as something of a baseline – but it’s still unclear.
Even if you could get Votto or Freeman, and pay them, what would you do when Duda comes back? Until we hear that this is a career-threatening injury I don’t see the Mets going for anything beyond a quick fix
You trade him, he has a year and a half left. Is he that good that you can’t think about replacing him long term? I’m sure when he comes back a team like white sox might be interested.
He’s a hard guy to put together a trade on with so much time/money on his deal. Don’t envision the Mets being interested in taking that contract.
Kind of package they’d have to part with to get Loney ?
Per the article, nothing, since he is a minor-leaguer with an opt-out clause in his contract.
Cash for their troubles.
Done!
Not much at all.He’d be very affordable.
Good move!
Did you even bother to read the third sentence of the article? Why comment at all?
He can’t displace Brett Wallace? Mercy…
Besides stupidly using Wallace at 3B, he has way more pop than Loney, so if you need a late game pinch hitter who can tie game with 1 swing I’d take Wallace over Loney.
That .386 SLg sure scares the heck out of other teams.
18% bb, something scares them. He is hitting .204 hence the low slugging, but he has more extra base hits than singles.
His SLG is down to .384 now. .174 ISO. His BB% is more than twice his career average so that will come down. His BABIP is 22 points lower than league average so his BA may come up a bit as time goes by to the .225-.230 range. I really see nothing that would scare opposing pitchers.
Adam LaRouche
I think the last thing the Mets need is having a distraction like the Adam/Drake LaRoche saga breaking out in their clubhouse.
We had the guy – Daniel Murphy who can play third , second and first . We should have resigned him for back up to Wright and I would have put him on first over Duda who is so inconsistent
Ryan Howard is available for a song. You don’t even have to get the lyrics correct.
I’d get him. To counter, I think he does make sense to the Mets roster when Duda returns because he’ll move to the bench, where we only have one left-handed hitter (De Aza).
Some package including at least one of wheeler, DeGrom, Harvey and Cespedes should be good enough to land Loney. Mets might have to take on Melvin Uptons contract too though.
Wallace can play 3B about as well as Kemp plays RF. Not very well. His teammates in AA nicknamed him Ole for his defense at 3B. His robust .205 BA is not a very good reason to keep him instead of the red hot Loney who plays great 1B defense.
You know as well as anyone that OPS is a better stat than batting average.
BA is just fine. His OPS is inflated by a BB% that is twice his career best It will regress to the norm and with it his OPS will drop by 50+ points. His current OPS is 18th of 3B, would rank 20th of 1B, while his defense is 27th out of the 36 players with 110 PA. Take 50 points off that OPS and he becomes one of the bottom 5. Really nothing to indicate that the guy should be in the majors other than a guaranteed contract. With Solarte and Amarista back we have no need for Wallace in the majors, but Loney could provide a defensive replacement at 1B that can hit for average.
Oh, so you don’t like OPS because it runs contrary to your biased narrative. I get it now. Can’t wait to see what stat you cherry pick next.
How bout trade for ryan rua or Mitch Moreland
Would love to see Yulieski Gouriell become a free agent soon. Mets could then put him at 3B and wright to 1B. Trade wise, Texiera makes perfect sense but Yankees won’t do it unless they are completely out closer to trade deadline and mets can’t wait that long. Personally, I’d rather try Conforto at 1B despite lack of experience there and put Lagares back in CF.
Any validity of a Zach Wheeler for Freddie Freeman trade?