I was wondering the other day when the last time the Mets had a solid offensive/defensive second baseman in the past decade. The only person who really came to mind was one of my childhood favorites, Edgardo Alfonzo. Heres a breakdown of Met second basemen from the past decade. They are the players who played the most amount of games at second base in their given year.
1998: Carlos Baerga: .266 avg, 7 HR, 53 RBI, 27 2B, 0 SB/9 Errors (144 games)
1999: Edgardo Alfonzo: .304 Avg, 27 HR, 108 RBI, 41 2B, 9 SB/5 Errors (158 games)
2000: Edgardo Alfonzo: .324 Avg, 25 HR, 94 RBI, 40 2B, 3 SB/10 Errors (150 games)
2001: Edgardo Alfonzo: .243 Avg, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 22 2B, 5 SB/7 Errors (124 games)
2002: Roberto Alomar: .266 Avg, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 24 2B, 16 SB/11 Errors (149 games)
2003: Roberto Alomar: .262 Avg, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 17 2B, 6 SB/6 Errors (73 games)
2004: Danny Garcia: .232 Avg, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 7 2B, 3 SB/6 Errors (58 Games)
2005: Miguel Cairo: .251 Avg, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 18 2B, 13 SB/5 Errors (82 Games)
2006: Jose Valentin: .271 Avg., 18 HR, 62 RBI, 24 2B, 6 SB/6 Errors (94 Games)
2007:Luis Castillo: .296 Avg, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 8 2B, 10 SB/2 Errors (50 Games)
2008:Luis Castillo: .245 Avg, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 7 2B, 17 SB/6 Errors (81 Games)
2009:Luis Castillo: .302 Avg, 1 HR, 40 RBI, 12 2B, 20 SB/11 Errors (137 Games)
The numbers are kind of shocking, first of all, Kaz Matsui didn't even qualify to make the list due to games played at 2B, which is kind of funny. If you look back at the 1999 and 2000 seasons of Edgardo Alfonzo, he was the best second basemen offensively (and defensively arguably). If you take him out of the picture, and don't count Castillo's trade shortened 50 game season the stats are pretty startling. Jose Valentin was the best second baseman we've had in a decade? Really? No one has batted over .275, (I'm still convinced that Castillo's 2009 season was a fluke) no one has hit 20 homeruns, no one has driven in over 65 runs, and no one has hitten 25 doubles. One could say, "Well, second base is a speed position." Good point, but why hasn't any met stolen over 20 bases? In the post-Alfonzo era, (not including the abysmal 149 game season by Alomar) Only one person has started the majority of the games at second, and that was Miguel Cairo with 82! (you really want to count Luis Castillo?) The Mets really could use a second baseman who can hit for average, power, steal some bases, and for God's sake, stay healthy!
The 2008 Phillies had Utley, The 2007 Red Sox had former MVP Pedroia the 2009 Yanks (yuck) had Cano (look at his regular season hitting statistics). I believe Championship teams are built through pitching, and up the middle. We have Reyes, and a perennial All-Star and Gold Glover in Beltran. We need that piece to the puzzle to compliment Reyes in the double play combo. No more of these over-aged over-paid second basemen.
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