Apr 19, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Rick Ankiel (28) rounds third after a home run against the Cleveland Indians in the second inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Ankiel, 33, had been recently released by the Houston Astros, who are the worst team in all of baseball.  He was hitting .194 with a .231 OBP.

I’m trying to stay even keeled right now, but I’m afraid my vitriol is about to come through the computer screen.  So, I’ll keep this short before turning it over to a series of tweets from fans and writers that will adequately express my rage regarding this signing.

Not only did the Mets sign Ankiel, who’s atrocious, they’re opting to insert him in the lineup at the expense of Juan Lagares, who will now only play against lefties.  The move will also likely nail Jordany Valdespin to the bench.  What the HELL is going on here?  This is supposed to be a season when the Mets evaluate which young players should stick, not a season where they sign players who weren’t good enough to stick with the Houston Astros.

As is noted above and according to Terry Collins, Ankiel will start in center field against righties, while Juan Lagares gets the starts there against lefties.  I guess Matt den Dekker, who is a few weeks away from returning to action, should get comfortable in AAA.  Apparently, Sandy Alderson would rather fill the roster with a player he knows is useless when the alternative is evaluating a kid who could turn into something useful.

Now,  onto the tweets (from when the signing was rumored through when it became official):

At least we get to have fun every time he strikes out! “anKKKKiel” #mets

— Susana (@SusiMJK) May 13, 2013

I didn’t expect to get fired up about anything #Mets related until tonight’s game. I was wrong. — St Lucie To Flushing (@PSLToFlushing) May 13, 2013

430 players have at least 150 PA since the start of 2012. All 429 not named Rick Ankiel have a lower strikeout rate than Rick Ankiel. — Chris (@tpgMets) May 13, 2013

Sandy has got to be trolling at this point: “You want a new OFer? HERE’S ONE, BWAHAHAHAHA!”

— Maggie (@maggie162) May 13, 2013

The Mets definitely need more “Cold Map” players. Here’s Rick Ankiel’s 2013yfrog.com/esh1nxp — Mark Simon (@msimonespn) May 13, 2013

Crazy numbers: 35 K, 3 BB, 4 singles, 5 HRRT @msimonespn: Rick Ankiel has missed on 42% of swings. Average MLB pitcher misses on about 31% — Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) May 13, 2013

@metsgm: Rick Ankiel is NOT A MAJOR LEAGUE QUALITY OUTFIELDER. — Tejesh (@MetsProspectHub) May 13, 2013

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ORIGINAL STORY:  Per Adam Rubin, citing a source, the Mets will be promoting right handed hitting outfielder Andrew Brown from AAA.  He’s set to join the team for tomorrow’s game in Atlanta.

Feb 21, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets right fielder Andrew Brown (77) poses for a picture during photo day at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Brown, a 28 year old corner outfielder, was hitting .357 with a .431 OBP for AAA Las Vegas to go along with 2 homers and 27 RBI’s.  Brown’s BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is an insane and unsustainable .434.  Still, his callup will change the dynamic of the outfield a bit and give the Mets a righty bat with a bit of power.

Brown has previously had cups of coffee in the bigs in both 2011 with St. Louis and 2012 with Colorado.  He has a combined 148 plate appearances in the big leagues, so the sample size we have to draw from is too small to delve into.

Rubin noted in his article that it’s unclear who Brown would be replacing on the roster.  It’s likely that either Juan Lagares or Collin Cowgill will be the casualty.  Both have been playing sparingly – Cowgill has seen his playing time sliced to almost nothing since he was named the starting center fielder before opening day, and Lagares has been riding the bench for the most part since being called up recently.

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Mar 10, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Shaun Marcum (38) warms up against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

First of all, Mr. Klein implies that because Marcum started the season injured, the whole signing was a bust. If Marcum’s neck discomfort had kept him out for four months it would have been a major disappointment, but it’s been four weeks, not four months. He tossed five solid innings in an extended spring training game in Port St. Lucie on Monday afternoon and is expected to make his season debut on Saturday against the Phillies. Passing any judgment on free agent signings 17 games into the season is beyond premature and irresponsible.

Second, the one silver lining Mr. Klein gave to the signing outshines the rest of his gray cloud. The bone he gives to the transaction is that it was cheap for the Mets. Indeed it was – Sandy Alderson inked Marcum for $4 million. Calling the signing “cheap” is an understatement; in an offseason that was, to say the least, a bull market for free agents, especially pitchers, the Marcum signing could be considered a steal. The Los Angeles Dodgers are giving $19 million this season (not to mention $128 million the five seasons after) to a guy who had a 3.77 career ERA coming into the season (Zack Greinke). The Detroit Tigers are giving $16 million for the next five seasons to a guy who is expected to be their fourth starter (Anibal Sanchez). Both of those pitchers have combined for a single All-Star appearance between 18 years of major-league experience and are making close to a quarter of a billion dollars over the next decade. Meanwhile, the Mets brought in a guy with a better ERA than Greinke (3.76) who, at age 31, is still in the prime of his career, but for a fraction of the price and one season of commitment. The price alone affirms the value of the Marcum signing; even if he missed the entire season, it still would have been a steal.

Finally, Mr. Klein asserted that once Marcum recovered, he’d only be taking a spot in the rotation from Zack Wheeler, whose promotion to the big leagues is imminent. The author seems to have forgotten that modern-day rotations require five starters, not four. The Mets barely have a four-man rotation right now; Opening Day fifth man Aaron Laffey got in two starts before being demoted in favor of Robert Carson on Sunday night. When Marcum returns he’ll immediately slide into the fourth man role, and once Wheeler comes up, Jeremy Hefner will be the one to lose his starting job, not Marcum. Hefner is better suited to the long relief role, and while he might make a passable fifth starter, he doesn’t stand up as a regular number four, a role he has been forced into. However, once all the pieces fall into place, the Mets would have an emerging ace (Matt Harvey), a strong lefty (Jonathon Niese), a hot rookie (Wheeler), and two other starters (Dillon Gee and Marcum) who could pass as third men on other teams filling in at four and five. As hard as it is to believe now, by the end of the season, the New York Mets may have one of the top rotations in the National League. And Shaun Marcum could be a big part of it.

For the reasons provided above, and despite Mr. Klein’s flimsy justifications, the Mets made the right decision in bringing Shaun Marcum to New York for at least 2013. The Bleacher Report sports a vast lineup of beat writers, but for this particular collection, they gave a team-based assignment to an author who didn’t have a grasp on the team he was writing about.

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