As a shortstop, Gavin Cecchini had all of the tools. He had both the range, arm, and the bat to play the position.
Despite having all the tools, Cecchini struggled defensively making 33 errors last season. Most of the errors were throwing errors. Cecchini’s struggles and the rise of Amed Rosario have led to Cecchini making the transition to play second base.
The hope was that with a shorter throw Cecchini would reduce the amount of throwing errors he made last year.
Well, it is only 14 games (one at shortstop) into the Las Vegas season, but it is notable Cecchini has not made an error at second base this season. Cecchini has played 12 games at second and one at shortstop.
Just as important, Cecchini has not allowed the transition to affect him at the plate. In those 14 games, Cecchini is hitting .269/.377/.462 with four doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, and three stolen bases. Overall, Cecchini seems well suited to the position.
With each and every good game, Cecchini looks more and more like he could be the second baseman of the future. If Cecchini keeps this up, he is eventually going to force the Mets to call him up to the majors. That pressure increases with every good game he has and with every poor game Jose Reyes has have at the plate with the possibility of moving over Neil Walker to third base.
Cecchini has more offensive potential than Rivera. Reyes has looked horrible. Alderson will have to force Collins hand before he removes Reyes.
I still wonder what happens if Neil Walker heats up again later and finishes year with .270 AVG and 20+ homers. Yo is already signed and millions should b off books with guys like grandy and Bruce. Even if Terry is FINALLY gone I still don’t see Sandy and Co having checcini, Rosario, dom and conforto all in lineup together plus a role for Nimmo etc
At some point Reyes needs to either be sent down to sort himself out or be benched for Rivera and Maybe we do get Cecchini who so far so good looks like a good 2B and does have the bat to follow. He looked good in the very brief time last season. Unless they start having Conforto take grounders at 3rd just to get his bat in the everyday lineup, this is probably the best option if Reyes doesn’t sort himself out.
Reyes can refuse an option to AAA so I’m not sure that’s an option. Certainly getting someone else like TJ (weird timing for demotion) or Flores can’t hurt.
Walker to 3B (if willing) and Cecchini to 2B seems like the most likely option if Reyes continues to struggle.
Not sure why you assume that each and every one of these guys should or will be ready to play in the starting line-up of a pennant contender. The Mets are a baseball team. Not a fan league. In the real baseball world, Young players do not automatically come to the majors and become starters every day. Only the rare ones do. Some of these guys will make the jump easily, some will have to spend time on the bench, and some may even need more time in the minors.
Its oe option. But “most likely”? Has Cecchini truly earned a major league starting job at this juncture? More to the point: Is he more deserving of playing time than Flores?? The most likely option is some mixing and matching based on platoon splits, etc. And what you’re all forgetting is that someone needs to be sent down to make room for Cecchini (or anyone else being called up).
Why not? This seems premeditated. Having the expiring contracts of Duda, Walker, Reyes, Cabrera, Granderson and Bruce all acquired at different times, while all your top hitting prospects are honing therir crafts in AAA, it’s almost too good to be true. What this accomplishes is:
1) A ton of depth at every position
2) Your prospects have all the time they need to develop
3) A great bargaining chip when looking to acquire FAs
4) A chance for a blockbuster trade
5) A chance for all your next wave players to create chemistry and camaraderie on the field (e.g. Rosario and Cecchini DP combo) and off
The Mets screwed up by not moving Cecchini earlier. His throwing problems did not start last year. They’ve been there all along and there’s never been any sign of the error rate improving. At the very latest, Cecchin should have started playing 2b every day instead of Reynolds once Dilson was traded. Rosario was already having a monster year, and the opening was there, and Reynolds was not hitting anyway.
Had Cecchini established himself at 2nd by now, the Mets could start experimenting with him in the OF, as well, given that they have no depth out there come 2018.
Thanks for being specific!
This is true, forgot about that part. TJ demotion was ill timed in hindsight. Mets didn’t think that 16 inning game would hurt them for the next 3 games. TJ/Flores should get the shot 1st. I think TC likes using Flores against LHP since he mashes them and just spreading him out as the Ben Zobrist of the team.
Mets are grooming these youngsters to replace the vets. We should see significant change by next season with most of our pending free agents gone.
This is Alderson game plan as it is across the majors – draft, develop and build from within – and develop versatile players. These youngsters will be paired with choice vets to guide them but make no mistake, the goal is to put a young, dynamic, energetic homegrown team on the field some of whom have already made their major league debuts. I think we should also expect both Rosario and Smith to make their debuts this season no later than September.
Money saved after 2017 can be used to sign choice free agents. An expensive impact bat and stabilizers on short term basis, I think Mets are going to make free agent splash after 2018 season. But for 2018, I think Cabrera’s option is picked up to move around the infield and as mentor while these youngsters establish themselves.
At this point I don’t see the Mets extending Walker for second base. With Cecchini playing the way he is on both sides of the ball – and Walker struggling – the seed’s been planted for Cecchini to be the leading candidate to start at 2nd in 2018. And not necessarily because of stats – but because of youth, energy, base running, contact, mental make up, development and solid tools. With Cechhini proving he can play second base and learning to steal, he’ll be providing tools the Mets need and seek.
Could Walker be signed for Zobrist type role? Maybe. But that depends on a whole bunch of factors for both sides that will weighed be after the season.
I expect Cecchini, Nimmo, Conforto to have significant roles next season while the younger and lessor experienced Rosario and Smith mature into their games at slower pace.
I do not think Reyes would refuse, if the alternative was being release. He wants to play in NY and he knows he is not producing. Why not go to AAA to fix things.
It’s a nice thought though. Having a lineup with Rosario, Cabrera, Conforto, Cespedes, Smith, d’Arnaud, Cecchini, Lagares/Nimmo sounds fun. But chances are someone will be signed, they do need a CF that can hit, probably let Grandy and Bruce go to give Conforto a corner. Also barring any big trades either.
The center field options for next year are Cain and a bunch of mediocre, passed prime players. Cain will be 32 and is a speed based player who’ll be asking for serious baksheesh.
I’m not saying anything specific, more than I’m saying that the Mets have created so many possible scenarios that they can play the market better than any of the other 29 teams. In other words, they could trade for Manny Machado and still have a lot of depth…
Will we ever know if Cecchini is an MLB player with him not having some MLB ABs? Can we reasonably expect Cecchini to produce comparable to what Reyes did last year (forget what he’s doing now)? … I think that’s a reasonable expectation, but we wont know until he proves that in the Majors.
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At the way Reyes is hitting now, I really can’t see Cecchini being worse than that. I mean why not? If he comes up and starts hitting doubles, grinds out at bats and jacks up the fans bc we know we love when Kids come up and play well.
Yeah CF FA crop looks pretty bleak. Hoping the can do a Nimmo/Lagares CF platoon if both can stay healthy. Nimmo can be a good OBP guy and Lagares needs to improve his bat. It could work. Key word: Could.
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