MLB: Carlos Delgado v. Mike Jacobs
Last August, a tall, lanky, lefty first baseman with a sweet swing helped trigger a late (ultimately futile) playoff push. No, it wasn't John Olerud. It was Mike Jacobs, the Mets 2nd ranked hitting prospect at the time according to Baseball America.
In the offseason, Jacobs was traded, along with two other prospects: pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and infielder Grant Psomas. Petit, a righty, was the Mets best pitching prospect in 2005, while Baseball America called Psomas the prospect with the Best Strike-zone Discipline.
But neither have played a major league game. So we'll leave them aside for a couple years and focus only on Jacobs and Delgado.
As far "selling high," the Mets couldn't have chosen a better moments. Check out Jacobs' numbers:
(I'm sure these won't format right. Sorry. You can open up their player pages in seperate windows if you want. Jacobs. Delgado.)
I know it's ridiculous, but let's project some of those numbers for 500 ABs:
95 R, 155 H, 55 HR, 115 RBI, 50 BB, 110 K
Now let's look at one of Carlos Delgado's 2003 season (the last time he hit over 40 HRs, his 2005 season, and his career 162 game average:
Clearly, Delgado could never meet those fantastical power stats for Jacobs last year. I guess the question is, can Jacobs? Maybe.
Delgado is 33 years old. He'll turn 34 on June 25. He is just hitting the downslope of his career. Jacobs, 25 years old, is just starting his.
Delgado his three more years on his current deal. The Marlins traded him as part of their massive salary dump, getting three solid young players in return. They are satisfied. As a Mets fan, I am not. First off, I would rather have Mike Jacobs three years from now, than Carlos Delgado three years from now. That is worth the gamble. The next question is would I rather have Carlos Delgado over the next three years than Jacobs? Well, this year I think we can expect 30HR and 100RBI, with a .285 avg from Delgado. The Mets would love that. There is a chance that Jacobs matches those numbers. We can argue how likely that is, but there is a chance. Jacobs might rise fast and Delgado might fade fast.
The greater issue for me is the Mets' penchant for mortgaging the future for a quick payoff that doesn't payoff. They've been making the same mistake for 15 years, in their desperate attempt to keep up with the Yankees. I say build from the ground up. Keeping Wright and Reyes is a good start. They might even be our best players this year. I'd like to see us do more of that. Delgado is just a little too old, and not quite fantastic enough for me.
Bottom line: if Delgado helps us win the World Series, I'm wrong. But otherwise, this trade will be judged by comparing this stats. Check back here throughout the season; I'll keep an eye on it.
In the offseason, Jacobs was traded, along with two other prospects: pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and infielder Grant Psomas. Petit, a righty, was the Mets best pitching prospect in 2005, while Baseball America called Psomas the prospect with the Best Strike-zone Discipline.
But neither have played a major league game. So we'll leave them aside for a couple years and focus only on Jacobs and Delgado.
As far "selling high," the Mets couldn't have chosen a better moments. Check out Jacobs' numbers:
(I'm sure these won't format right. Sorry. You can open up their player pages in seperate windows if you want. Jacobs. Delgado.)
| SEASON | TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2005 | NYM | 30 | 100 | 19 | 31 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 22 | 0 | 0 | .310 | .375 | .710 | 1.085 |
I know it's ridiculous, but let's project some of those numbers for 500 ABs:
95 R, 155 H, 55 HR, 115 RBI, 50 BB, 110 K
Now let's look at one of Carlos Delgado's 2003 season (the last time he hit over 40 HRs, his 2005 season, and his career 162 game average:
| SEASON | TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2003 | Tor | 161 | 570 | 117 | 172 | 38 | 1 | 42 | 145 | 109 | 137 | 0 | 0 | .302 | .426 | .593 | 1.019 |
| 2005 | Fla | 144 | 521 | 81 | 157 | 41 | 3 | 33 | 115 | 72 | 121 | 0 | 0 | .301 | .399 | .582 | .981 |
| Career | |
|
Clearly, Delgado could never meet those fantastical power stats for Jacobs last year. I guess the question is, can Jacobs? Maybe.
Delgado is 33 years old. He'll turn 34 on June 25. He is just hitting the downslope of his career. Jacobs, 25 years old, is just starting his.
Delgado his three more years on his current deal. The Marlins traded him as part of their massive salary dump, getting three solid young players in return. They are satisfied. As a Mets fan, I am not. First off, I would rather have Mike Jacobs three years from now, than Carlos Delgado three years from now. That is worth the gamble. The next question is would I rather have Carlos Delgado over the next three years than Jacobs? Well, this year I think we can expect 30HR and 100RBI, with a .285 avg from Delgado. The Mets would love that. There is a chance that Jacobs matches those numbers. We can argue how likely that is, but there is a chance. Jacobs might rise fast and Delgado might fade fast.
The greater issue for me is the Mets' penchant for mortgaging the future for a quick payoff that doesn't payoff. They've been making the same mistake for 15 years, in their desperate attempt to keep up with the Yankees. I say build from the ground up. Keeping Wright and Reyes is a good start. They might even be our best players this year. I'd like to see us do more of that. Delgado is just a little too old, and not quite fantastic enough for me.
Bottom line: if Delgado helps us win the World Series, I'm wrong. But otherwise, this trade will be judged by comparing this stats. Check back here throughout the season; I'll keep an eye on it.
posted by Prof. A at 7:45 AM
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