I used to watch the mets rather frequently (i had more free time) and when he was on that team, he was terrible. I’m glad he wasn’t signed.

Hmmm and how many elite centerfielders were on the open market this past winter?
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Define “elite”

Andruw Jones? Torii Hunter? Mike Cameron? Aaron Rowand?

Don’t think the Yanks would’ve signed Hunter to the contract that the Angels signed him to. Cameron’s a bit up there in years. While I was surprised that Jones lasted on the market as long as he did, I don’t think the Yanks were ever players for him. Cameron would’ve been an interesting gamble, given his defensive rep.

FWIW, it looks like Christian is starting in CF tonight.

Hmmm and how many elite centerfielders were on the open market this past winter? What a shock that Cashman saw fit to bid on precisely none of them. Anyone with eyes could see that Cabrera is nothing but a fourth outfielder—if that.

Brett Gardner did not look good and his numbers reflect that. He had more problems making contact than Melky does and he demonstrated even less power. Gardner – at least what we saw from him – is not the answer.

I have been waiting for someone on the internet to do a post of the most unproductive players because I had a feeling Melky was the worst starter in all of baseball. Thanks for running these numbers Steve, so that I could see I was almost correct in thinking he was the worst starter.

Sunday’s game was the first game I’ve been to on the season and I couldn’t believe how much worse Melky looked in person than on TV. It looks like he is really struggling to get the bat through the zone. His swing is just awful right now.

I’m surprised that Giradi hasn’t sat him more because I think he really needs a break in order to regroup. I don’t mind having Damon in center every once in a while, it’s only a problem to me if he’s out there more than 25% of the time or more. 20-30 games of Damon in CF would not hurt the team too much.

If that title is a question, the answer is a certain yes. Sit him down. Even if it’s not full time, just get him out of the lineup every now and again and see if someone else can provide some more value from the CF spot.

Gardner did look good in his time. I know his batting average did not indicate this, but he took a lot of pitches and always had a good AB, and I think over a larger sample size it would bear out that he is a more productive player than Melky Cabrera.

Since it’s only temporary, I’d rotate Nady, Christian & Damon in/out of CF.

I don’t see a full time benching in Melky’s future, given other options as well as what he brings to the table defensively, but a “break” may do wonders for him.