The Delgado Dilemma

I want to like Carlos Delgado. He honestly sounds like a very nice, thoughtful, hardworking guy. He's intelligent and articulate and has deeply held convictions. For over a decade he was also an amazing hitter, a feared slugger and RBI machine who terrorized the American league. His arrival with the Mets in 2006 was a key to their getting all the way to the NLCS. We can't overestate the impact he had by providing protection for Carlos Beltran both in the batting order and in the clubhouse (ensuring Belty had plenty of juicy pitches to hit and shielding him from the blistering NY media). Beltran of course was a serious MVP candidate for 3/4 of the season--a tremendous turnaround considering his dismal first year with the club. All in all Delgado sounds like a winner. Or maybe it's "sounded".

Since '06 he's been wildly inconsistent at the plate, suffered a number of injuries and has seen his reputation tarnished by his seeming nonchalance in the face of the Mets disastrous end to the '07 season (though that might be overblown). 

For all his character, his wise words and veteran presence the bottom line is this: he stinks. 

Fans are almost always willing to buy into the possibility that the end of a slump is just around the corner. We're just as willing to believe that an older player has something left in the tank. This is the dilemma the Mets are facing now with Carlos. To the naked eye it appears that he has become an overpriced singles hitter. He's late on fastballs and too quick on sliders. He always seems to be swinging and missing at pitches up near his face or down by his toes. In a game recently I watched him Added to that, he's quickly becoming a huge liabilty in the field (though I would contend that without him digging throws out of the Wright would be in serious trouble).

Personally I don't think Delgado is as bad as he's looked recently. I also don't think there is any chance he will regain his form from '06. Instead I think his best bet is to focus completely on adapting his hitting style, much as former teammate Shawn Green did when he came to the Mets. In other words, if teams are going to shift against him, hit GROUND BALLS to the left side. Focus on taking those outside pitches the opposite way (we know for a fact that he does have power to that side). If Alou comes back or the Mets can settle on a productive hitter behind him I think Delgado should aim to get himself on base, hit .270 or .275, pop 20-25 homeruns and drive in 80-85 runs. I would be willing to trade his power for a higher BA if he's willing to make the adjustments. But then again, he claims that he's seeing the ball better and making good contact. So for all we know this could be an early season slump. I'm certainly willing to believe. For now.

As I side note, I think the hullaballoo over Delgado's curtain call is ridiculous. I understand that the fans were trying to show that they're still behind him (when he's hitting 2 homeruns a game of course). On the other hand, as the man said, two solo homeruns during a game in April DOES NOT warrant a curtain call. I believe that Delgado does respect the game, I also think his decision probably had little to do with being bitter about the way the fans had been booing him (Couldn't blame him though). Good for you Carlos, now you better concentrate on earning a few more of those.