Sep 09, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Bourn (24) looks back as he steals second during the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

First, there’s the obvious concern, money and length of contract (I think 3 years would make sense, at around $13 million per year). The second potential issue with signing Bourn is that the Mets would have to surrender their first-round draft pick this year. As explained here on Metsblog, the Mets are challenging the need to forfeit the pick to Atlanta, as New York feels it should have the 10th overall pick in the draft, not the 11th, and therefore have their pick protected under the new CBA. The heart of the matter is that the Pirates have been slotted 10th in the draft due to their inability to sign their first-round pick last year, and the Mets are not in agreement with this. However, before MLB will consider the Mets’ argument, the Mets will have to sign or further increase their efforts to sign Bourn.

The “Bourn discussion” has been rather intense among the fan base. Some say that giving up a draft pick while in rebuilding mode is counter-productive. I understand that argument, and generally agree with it. However, it’s safe to say that the outfield must improve, whether in 2013 or in subsequent years. That being the case, there are three ways this improvement can happen.

First, quality players can get to the major leagues organically. While the Mets’ system holds some interesting outfield options (Matt Den Dekker, Cesar Puello, Cory Vaughn), none of these players has succeeded beyond the AA level, so organic help may be a few years away. Next, the Mets could trade for outfielders, as they attempted to do for Justin Upton. This is an interesting situation, as other teams seem far more interested in the Mets’ prospects (especially pitching prospects) than players on the Mets’ MLB roster. In fact, the Mets big-league roster is quite dichotomous. There are some players whom the Mets will not trade (Davis, Wright, Tejada, Harvey among others), and many other players who may not be able to yield a worthwhile return. In the trade scenario, it may cost the Mets a couple of prospects to net a quality outfielder. This leads us to option three, signing a free agent. While signing free agents and sacrificing draft picks contributed to the Mets current payroll, roster, and system problems, strategically and occasionally signing a free agent can allow the Mets to improve while preserving their current prospects, and allowing them to continue to develop in the system. Given the current state of the outfield, and the relative difficulty inherent in  improving via other methods, signing Michael Bourn to a 3-year deal (if he and Scott Boras would accept that) may make sense.

While we may not agree on how to proceed with free agents and draft picks, there’s one point of universal agreement among fans. We’re getting anxious, and would like to see some action, on any front, to improve the ball club. With the first Grapefruit League game less than a month away, the time has come. Next Friday is February first. Let’s hope that something to help the outfield can happen by then.

Only weeks after being coached by Tony Gwynn at San Diego State University, Vaughn was playing in the preview of The Show. If there’s any Minor League town that is going to show a young player what it’s like to play in the Big Leagues, that’ll be Brooklyn, a City starved of it’s own brand of baseball for almost 50 years. The fans root for this team as if it’s the only League in the land. Brooklyn is a great place to teach young players how to play as a team amidst the buzz of the Beachside Palace, as most are recently drafted, and none of them will be promoted (sometimes demoted.) Wally truly brought this team together, and Cory was a core piece. He batted .307, with a .396 OBP, 14 HR and 56 RBI in 313 AB. He scored 45 times, stole 12 bases and slugged .557, though he did have a 20.1% Strikeout rate.  I had been excited for Vaughn after he got drafted based on his background, and I was thoroughly entertained the entire summer. Cory Vaughn, Wally Backman and the Cyclones of 2010 brought amazing Brooklyn Baseball memories to every fan that witnessed them.

Things, unfortunately, have not quite panned out for the 2nd generation ballplayer. After beginning his full-season career on a good note in 2011 Low-A Savannah (.282 AVG, .402 OBP, .404 SLG, 12.1BB%), the bottom fell out for him once he was promoted to High-A St. Lucie. He batted a putrid .219, with a .308 OBP, slugging a very unVaughn-like .395. In roughly 200 ABs, he hit 9 HR with 29 RBI.

Today, he is still working through things down on the Port Saint Lucie Farm. His AVG has improved, but only slightly at .240. He is also striking out at an alarming rate, with 107 strikeouts in 115 games. He’s walking a bit more with a 12.2% rate and a .351 OBP, improved from his awful 9.5% and the .308 of yesteryear. He is producing runs, with 21 HR and 62 RBI in 420 AB.  Still, according to Metsminorleagueblog.com, “Scouts remain concerned that his complicated swing will prevent him from making consistent enough contact to hit for enough average.”

If the Mets don’t see improvement over the last bit of the Minor League season, I could see there being a possibility the 23-year-old starts next season back in High-A, hoping he could have gone through a transformation in the off-season and force them to promote him to AA.

The truth is he’s profiling a lot like his father, who hit .242 with 355 HR and 1072 RBI. He got On Base at a .337 clip while slugging .470 in 7070 Plate Appearances spanning a 15-year career. He struck out 1,513 times.

The Mets don’t have one sure-fire everyday outfielder in the high areas of the farm. If Cory Vaughn could somehow get it together, he’d fill a huge hole for the outfielder-starved Mets quite possibly by 2014.

Thanks for reading! You can read Sam Maxwell’s personal Mets Blog here.

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