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Should the Mets go after Starlin Castro or Josh Harrison?
Both Starlin Castro and Josh Harrison are attractive options at second base if the Mets are able to pull off a deal, but the latter is slightly more enticing.
The Mets are still searching for a second baseman to help fill the void left by Neil Walker this season. I don’t think any of us really want Asdrubal Cabrera playing there anytime soon, so the Mets will undoubtedly have to check into potential trades or free agents to address this need.
Two names that have been circling around the Mets sphere are Starlin Castro of the Miami Marlins, and Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both would need to be traded for which obviously puts some roadblocks for a deal to happen, but it’s not entirely impossible.
How good has Castro been lately?
Castro was traded this offseason to the Marlins from New York in that blockbuster traded to put Giancarlo Stanton in pinstripes. He has made his displeasure known this week and has asked for a trade. The fact that an obvious rebuild is underway in south Florida being the motivating factor behind his request, Castro will probably be moved at some point before the season kicks off. Whoever lands him will have a pretty good second baseman that can also play on the other side of the diamond.
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Castro has a .733 OPS over the eight years he’s been in the league as a member of the Cubs and Yankees. He had a career year offensively with the long ball in the Bronx in 2016 when he hit 21 home runs on a .270 average. Last season, he didn’t go deep as much, but his batting average improved to .300 while still hitting 16 home runs. From a middle infield position, this was still pretty great.
The former Cubs second baseman is signed through 2020 with a guaranteed $10 million this season, $11 million in 2019, and a team option of a whopping $16 million for 2020. If that option isn’t picked up, a $1 million buyout would have to be paid.
Defense is where Castro unfortunately lacks. For most of his career, Castro has been below average defensively. He’s young, it’s true, but at 28, his range doesn’t seem to be getting better. In 2017, he posted a -5.9 UZR at second base. While this may have to do with the fact that his natural position was shortstop, it’s still a shame that Castro hasn’t been able to adjust to the other side of the diamond.
With the Mets, Castro would likely never play shortstop with Amed Rosario patrolling it for most of the time going forward, so it would be best if the Mets acquired a better second baseman to compliment Rosario’s style.
To understand just how bad Castro was at second base statistically in 2017, we can just look at Asdrubal Cabrera who actually posted a 0.9 UZR at second base. Granted, he played a third of the total number of innings that Castro did, so small size alert, but it’s still pretty shocking overall.
This is arguably one of the biggest reasons why the other trade option the Mets could be looking at in Josh Harrison is probably a better choice.
The Pirates second baseman may be a couple of years older than Starlin Castro, but his numbers, versatility and contract make him a better fit for the Mets.
Josh Harrison has been consistently offensively for the past few seasons with a new power surge coming last season. In his breakout 2017 campaign, Harrison went deep 16 times which helped his OPS grow to .771 from .699 the previous season. While some could argue that Harrison just had an unusual offensive season, that can be easily dismissed when you point to his 2014 season when he hit 13 home runs and had an OPS of .837 over 143 games in Pittsburgh.
Even if you don’t get that type of greatly over average production from Harrison going forward, his flexibility on the infield is another reason that really makes him attractive.
Harrison can play, and pretty much has played, every position out there except center field, catcher and first base (yes, he actually pitched for the Pirates in 2014). He’s obviously more comfortable at second base as it’s his natural position, but he can definitely man the hot corner and shortstop if needed too. In the event that an outfielder goes down, Harrison can also step in and give you some games in one of the corner positions. This is probably the biggest difference between him and Castro.
The Mets are going to need that versatility if they’re unable to create a deep bench or roster to fill in should guys get hurt. And let’s be honest, that’s probably going to happen at some point.
Harrison also has some wheels on the base paths. While he’s not 2006 Jose Reyes by any stretch, he steals a dozen or so bases annually. This added speed would definitely be welcome in a lineup that’s pretty thin in this department.
When it’s all said and done, it may end up being all about the money. If both the Pirates and Marlins are willing to go with less prospects in a trade in order to get rid of the money on those contracts, the Mets will have to weigh which one is better in the long term.
Harrison is a little bit cheaper than Castro which would be more appealing to the Mets. Like the Marlins’ second baseman, Harrison is signed through 2020, but instead of one team option, Harrison has two team options in his last two contract years. Both are also a little bit cheaper than Castro’s ($10.5 million in 2019, and $11 million in 2020).
If the Mets want some assurance for at least three years, Harrison would be a pretty great route to go. Now, the hard part is figuring out what the Mets have to give up in order to make either of these trades happen.
Next: Howie Kendrick for second base?
The farm system is pretty thin, but as stated before, maybe they can get away with a lesser package in exchange for monetary relief. I mean, Sandy Alderson did trade Jonathon Niese for Neil Walker one time, and that worked out really well for us. Maybe he can figure out another piece the Pirates are interested in and send it out their way.